Israel and All their Enemies are preparing for War!
March 25, 2007
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Luke 21:24 – And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
In AD 70 this prophecy was fulfilled and, except for a very brief period of limited freedom under Bar Kochba, some 62 years later, Israel did not have to prepare for war against the enemies around her until the last half of the nineteen forties. She has had to stay on constant alert since that time, and has experienced several wars.
Christianity has settled into complacency regarding the Second Advent of Christ and most of Judaism has, or is, turning more and more secular concerning the coming of their Messiah. The following Scriptures are more appropriate now than at any time since the modern industrial revolution began.
II Peter 3:1-4 – This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: [2] That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: [3] Knowing this first, that there shall come IN THE LAST DAYS scoffers, walking after their own lusts, [4] And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
II Peter 3:8,9 – But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. [9] The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
I Thessalonians 5:3-6 – For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness,
that that day should overtake you as a thief. [5] Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
[6] Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
Isaiah 66:15,16 – For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
[16] For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
More and more believers are becoming inclined to think Christ’s return may not even occur in this century, and there is a growing falling away from the Biblical instructions God left as to how he wanted mankind to worship him.
The March Articles, which follow, are from a variety of sources, and give a good overview of a Middle East scenario that is not going to show anything except a very brief period of false peace, just before all their great preparations for the final war are completed. My guesstimate is that it could begin as early as 2008, or as late as 2012, but the winds of war in the Middle East will eventually blow into a whirlwind.
Begin Haaretz Article
Ashkenazi: IDF needs years to become satisfactorily prepared
By Aluf Been and Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondents
March 22, 2007
Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi warned the security cabinet Wednesday that the Israel Defense Forces would need time to reach the necessary level of preparedness.
“Do not think the army will be ready in three months,” Ashkenazi told the security cabinet during the meeting. A team of senior IDF officers briefed the ministers on the lessons of the Second Lebanon War.
Ashkenazi said several years would be needed.
Preference would be given to forces likely to participate in dangerous operations.
He told the security cabinet that when he took over as chief of staff, he considered interfering with the IDF’s in-house investigations into its problems and performance during the war, and said he decided not to do so. Dan Halutz was chief of staff during the war.
The head of the General Staff’s doctrine and training department, Brigadier General Danny Biton, presented the security cabinet with the main findings of more than 20 IDF in-house investigations since the war.
The ministers commended the army on its openness in exposing shortcomings. “We are dealing with the debriefing of the army, irrespective of the Winograd Committee,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said. “It is no replacement for the lessons that we must learn regarding the political-military connection, and the translation of government decisions into military objectives.”
“We always say it is necessary to move the fight onto enemy territory as quickly as possible,” Olmert added. “But, when you are faced with ballistic missiles and indirect fire, even when you have penetrated enemy territory to a certain point, the enemy can still fire missiles. The question is how to apply this principle to the contemporary battlefield.”
Begin Toronto Star Article
Hizbullah Preparing for the Next Round of War
Andrew Mills
March 12, 2007
Hizbullah forces have returned to the mountains north of the Litani River, beyond the jurisdiction of UN soldiers stationed in southern Lebanon, to build a new line of attack. “We know that they’re here,” says Hafez Kirwan, 42, leader of the Druze village of As-Srairi, 20 km. north of the Israeli border.
During last summer’s war between Israel and Hizbullah, its fighters used the thick underbrush of these mountainsides as cover to fire missiles into Israel. Locals say those fighters are back, in greater numbers, moving more frequently and, everyone suspects, stockpiling more weapons than ever before.
Hizbullah says it has spent the last seven months preparing for another major battle with Israel by regrouping and amassing some 33,000 missiles.
“We are completing our preparedness for a greater and more dangerous stage,” Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address last month. (Toronto Star)
Begin Tehran Times Article
Iran, Syria sign defense cooperation protocol
March 13, 2007
TEHRAN (FNA) — Tehran and Damascus Monday took a further step in expansion and deepening of their defense ties by endorsing a new protocol on defense cooperation.
The document was signed at the end of the second round of talks in Damascus between Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa-Mohammad Najjar and his Syrian counterpart Lieutenant General Hassan Ali Turkmani.
Development and consolidation of defense and military ties, efforts to base regional security on local actors and continued exchange of views and consultations to secure the two countries’ interests are among the pivotal points stressed in the protocol.
Najjar, leading a senior military delegation, arrived in Damascus on Friday evening on an official visit to Syria.
During his three-day trip, the Iranian minister attended talks with senior Syrian officials, including President Bashar al-Assad and Defense Minister Hassan Ali Turkmani, and discussed bilateral relations and important
regional and international issues.
Najjar also paid visits to some military and industrial centers in Syria
Begin YNet News Article
At this rate, we’ll lose the next war
Reservist goes to training exercises, tells about experience with disorganized headquarters, apathetic commanders
Oded Shalev
March 11, 2007
“Th is i
s an enlistment exercise. You have eight hours to get to the base,” said a voice on the phone Monday afternoon. Immediately the phone tree to friends from the reserve unit was activated; no one thought of blowing off the training exercise. After the Lebanon war, we all knew reserve unit training is important. Or is it?
A few hours after the call, two friends and I headed for the headquarters up north. When we arrived on base, we saw that the mess was already in full swing.
“Get a kitbag and a weapon,” I was told.
“The bag holds your emergency gear.
Check that everything is inside.” When I did, I discovered equipment that looked as if it had been used by Jewish fighters during the War of Independence.
We brought this up later with our battalion commander who said, “This is the last time you’ll see such outdated equipment. Next time you’ll have new supplies.” Needless to say, I had heard the same sentence from his predecessor, in 1998.
The training exercises were amusing, if you ignored the fact that their purpose was to prepare us to implement similar maneuvers in the event of a real crisis. Sirens and artillery fire could be heard, but, for us, the exercise boiled down to hiding behind a military truck.
When military inspectors arrived they were baffled to see soldiers disoriented. Perhaps this was because no one had actually taken pains to brief us about the training exercise prior to starting it.
The planners of the exercise also seemed to have forgotten to take into account the need for soldiers to rest. Beds only arrived at three in the morning.
“It is regrettable, you are right,” the commander said, in response to soldiers standing in the freezing cold.
At five in the morning, after barely any sleep, we returned to the exercise, where the commander of the anti-aircraft division apologized for passing on erroneous information.
If this training exercise was meant to serve the purpose of preparing soldiers for the eventuality of war, then blunders like these are a travesty and endanger the lives of reservists who dropped everything and came when they were called.
We have become used to the old equipment and the miscommunication between reservists and standing army soldiers. But we cannot come to terms with the mistreatment of reservists, an attitude that borders abandon, which was one of the main blunders of last summer’s war against Hizbullah.
If, God forbid, war breaks out tomorrow, the situation will be very bad. At this rate, we will not win it.
Begin YNet News Article
Syria Seeking New Russian Warplanes
Aryeh Egozi (Ynet News)
Syria has approached Moscow with a request to purchase new Sukhoi 30 fighter aircraft as part of Damascus’ drive to upgrade its army.
The Sukhoi 30 has been compared with the U.S.-made F15 E Super Eagle.
Begin DEBKAfile Article
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Hamas recycles Gush Katif rubble to fortify 50 sq. km of war bunkers on Gaza Strip-Egyptian border
March 5, 2007, 11:24 AM (GMT+02:00)
Beneath the Rafah-Philadelphi border region between Gaza and Egyptian Sinai, the Palestinian Hamas has built a vast underground stronghold. A separate series of secret tunnels snakes under another Gaza border into western Israel.
Senior Israeli military sources describe the Rafah-Philadelphi warren as spreading over 50 sq. km. It consists of a net of multipurpose, well-furnished tunnels, designed by Syrian and Hizballah army engineers for combat against tanks and armored infantry and equipped with thousands of the latest anti-tank missiles. It takes Hamas two and a half weeks to excavate one kilometer under ground.
“They should never have been allowed to build this fortress. We should have stopped it long ago,” said one high officer.
DEBKAfile’s military sources disclose that Israel’s heads of government and military knew what was going on, but did not raise a finger to stop the construction of Hamas’ buried stronghold. Neither did any responsible official or officer question Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s decision to abstain from military action to knock it out before its completion.
Rather than feeding the Palestinian population, Hamas is sinking every incoming cent in its war preparations.
“We are no longer looking at dirt trenches that cave in but military bunkers in every sense, modeled on the ones used by Hizballah in southern Lebanon last summer. Destroying this monster facility or putting it out of action at this point will mean heavy casualties.”
Composed of narrow subterranean tunnels that link the broader passages connecting Gaza and Sinai,
the Hamas facility provides passage for troop reinforcements and ordnance supplies. Their walls are made of reinforced concrete that can withstand shelling and bombs. Ceilings and walls are lined with concrete debris taken from the ruins of Gush Katif, the Israeli community whose homes the Israeli army tore down during the pullback from the Gaza Strip in 2005.
Hundreds of laborers employed by Hamas have hauled 30,000 blocks and chunks of concrete from the rubble of Ganei Tal for lining the walls of their bunkers. The Hamas fortress has installed the water pipe system of Netzarim and Netzer Sereni.
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