Be Alert! Communiqué: Israel & Jerusalem; the prophetic pieces are falling into place

Alert Focus: A Burdensome Stone Zechariah 12:2-3 "Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. "It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. Hamas confirms meeting with group of Democrats WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - December 10, 2006 -- TEL AVIV – A key Hamas official has confirmed reports from last week the terror group held meetings with "important Democrats." Ahmed Yousuf, chief political advisor to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, told the Maannews Palestinian news website that Hamas officials met recently with high-ranking American figures, "especially members of the Democratic party." He said Hamas also met with European leaders, including members of the British parliament. Yousuf did not say when the meetings took place or which members of the Democratic party the terror group allegedly held dialogue with, but he stated the meetings were fruitful in introducing the Hamas political vision. Last week, Maannews quoted a Hamas source claiming the terror group met with a delegation of "important Democrats" who expressed interest in relations with Hamas even if it doesn't recognize the right of Israel to exist. Stacie Paxton, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, told WND the party was not aware of any meeting. According to the report, the alleged meeting with the Democrats took place in a European country following a series of preliminary meetings with representatives from the British and French governments. The source told Maannews the Democrats expressed an understanding with the Hamas principal of not recognizing Israel and applauded Hamas' willingness to accept a long-term cease-fire with the Jewish state in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal to what is known as the pre-1967 borders – meaning an evacuation of the Gaza Strip, West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem. Last month, overall Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said his group would accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem. ... more http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53312 Syrian guerrillas 'to launch resistance within months' WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - December 11, 2006 -- GOLAN HEIGHTS – If Israel does not vacate the Golan Heights within months, a guerrilla organization allegedly formed in Syria will soon launch "resistance operations" against Israeli positions and Jewish communities in the Golan, an official from Syrian President Bashar Assad's Baath party told WND in an exclusive interview. "If in the coming months an agreement is not forged between Israel and Syria [for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan], the Committees will begin attacks," said the official, who spoke on condition his name be withheld during an in-person interview with WND and with the G. Gordon Liddy national radio show. The official was referring to the Committees for the Liberation of the Golan Heights, a Hezbollah-like guerrilla organization Baath party sources claim was formed in Syria to attack Israeli positions in the Golan.... The Baath official told WND Syria's new Committees for the Liberation of the Golan Heights was formed this past June and that the group consists of Syrian volunteers, many from the Syrian border with Turkey and from Palestinian refugee camps near Damascus. He said Syria held registration for volunteers to join the Committees in June. The official said attacks by the Committees may include the infiltration of Jewish communities in the Golan, rocket attacks against Israeli positions or raids of Golan-based Israeli military installations. He said all attacks would be launched from the Syrian side of the border.... Israeli warning: Syria preparing its army for war The Baath official's claim of possible attacks against Israel follows a warning yesterday by the intelligence branch of the Israeli Defense Forces that Syria is preparing its army for war against the Jewish state. Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz, head of the IDF's intelligence research division, said the Syrian army has been placed on high alert for attacks. He said Assad ordered increased production of long-range missiles and instructed the Syrian military to position antitank missiles closer to the Syrian border with Israel. But Baidatz said while Assad is preparing for war, "on the other hand, he is not ruling out the possibility of reaching a political settlement with Israel." IDF holds military exercises near Syrian border In response to the information, senior military officials say the IDF is preparing for a possible breakout of hostilities by the summer. Israeli military positions in the Golan have been put on heightened alert, according to military sources. Border fences and checkpoints have been fortified. Golan residents say they noticed the placement of additional IDF positions the past two months.... Military officials here said the past few weeks Syria and Iran have been smuggling weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon. They said the smuggling is taking place in front of a contingent of international troops stationed in Lebanon. "Israeli overflights have detected the weapons smuggling," said an Israeli intelligence official. "We've shared the information with the U.N. and yet nothing is being done about it. Hezbollah is openly re-establishing itself in south Lebanon," an Israel military intelligence official told WND. Assad: 'War with Israel coming' The IDF actions come amid statements by top officials in Damascus saying Syria is preparing for a war against Israel. The officials, including Assad, claimed the Jewish state would attack Syria first. "We must remain ready at all times. We have begun preparations within the framework of our options," Assad told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anba last month. He gave a series of interviews to other media outlets making the same statements. Assad said Israel could attack Syria "at any moment" and that Israeli leaders have abandoned the peace process and are seeking a war. Last month, in a rare visit to the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, Syria's information minister, Mohsen Bilal, delivered what amounted to a pep speech to Golan residents, telling them Damascus would use "resistance" to liberate the strategic territory if a "political solution" does not ensure Israel vacates the Golan Heights within the next few months. "If in the next coming months there will not be a political solution, military resistance will be the only solution for Syrians," announced Bilal, shouting on a loudspeaker from the Syrian border just feet from a fence that separates the Israeli controlled sections of the Golan from Syria. 'Damascus prepping public for war' Security officials here told WND there have been indications Syria is seeking to launch a provocation. Besides Assad's statements, the officials say state-run Syrian media have been broadcasting regular warlike messages unseen since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which Syria and Egypt launched invasions from the Golan and the Sinai desert. "The tone [in Syria] is one of preparing the public for a war," said a senior security official. He said any Syrian provocation would likely be coordinated with Iran. Tehran and Damascus, which both support Hezbollah, have signed several military pacts. Reuven Erlich, a Syrian expert and director of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at Israel's Center for Special Studies, told WND Assad's threats "are to be taken seriously." "Assad's support for terrorism, for the insurgency in Iraq, for Hezbollah and his alliance with Iran are all indication of the direction in which Syria is headed. Assad needs to demonstrate he is willing to sue for peace, but everything seems to indicate the opposite. Especially following the war in Lebanon," Erlich said. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53310 Olmert agrees to release $100m. in PA tax revenue THE JERUSALEM POST - IBy Herb Keinon And Khaled Abu Toameh - December 23, 2006 --Israel will turn over $100 million in tax revenue that it has collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority but held up since Hamas came to power earlier this year, Israeli officials said after a surprise meeting in Jerusalem Saturday night between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The tax issue was one of several, including the release of Palestinian security prisoners and Cpl. Gilad Shalit, that Olmert and Abbas discussed at the Prime Minister's residence. ... http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1164881957035&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull DEBKAfile Reports: The Israeli gestures “agreed” at the first Olmert-Abbas talks Saturday night in Jerusalem were conferred weeks ago DEBKAFILE - December 24, 2006 -- The same package of gestures, concessions and benefits was doled out in the three weeks leading up to the first heart-to-heart Saturday night, Dec. 23, between prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas at the prime minister’s private home in Jerusalem. DEBKAfile reports it consisted of automatic weapons and ammunition (as disclosed by DEBKAfile), a portion of the frozen Palestinian assets and permission to move the PLO’s Badr Brigade from its Jordanian base to the Gaza Strip. The last concession is stalled by the Palestinian insistence on the incoming troops bringing their families and settling permanently, which looks to Israel suspiciously like a back-door migration of Palestinian refugees, rather than a military boost for the Palestinian Authority. In any case, according to DEBKAfile’s military sources, the Badr troops have not had any military training in years. The Americans and Europeans knew about the concessions; not so the Israeli public. The disclosure would have added to Olmert’s deepening unpopularity at a time when Qassam missiles continue to ravage towns and villages in the south, there is now word on the fate of the Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit,and the Hamas-ruled Palestinian government has forged an alliance for war with Tehran. Therefore, the Israeli prime minister needed the meeting with Abbas to show he was capable of some diplomatic momentum. US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice leaned hard on both leaders to get together to demonstrate successful US-sponsored diplomacy in at least one corner of the Middle East. She turned to Jerusalem in Ramallah in a region where everywhere else Washington’s fortunes are in reverse. The White House must cast about for a new strategy to save Iraq, Lebanon’s prime minister turns to Moscow for help against Hizballah, the UN Security Council is helpless to halt Iran’s nuclear program and Syria carries on defying the UN and the West. Therefore, both the US and Israel pushed the meeting forward, even though the Palestinian leader, because of his chronic weakness and the violent feud between his Fatah and Hamas, can offer nothing. As to what he received, $100m of Palestinian assets frozen since Hamas took power in March has already been released; and the joint Israeli-Palestinian committee the release of jailed Palestinians in return for Gilead Shalit will stand idle until Hamas’ boss, Khaled Meshaal in Damascus gets the go-ahead from his Syrian and Iranian masters. http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=3673 FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of religious, environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.