Global SITREP B3-13: ISRAEL'S FINAL WARNING ON IRAN

This image is of PM Netanyahu before the UN General Assembly in September 2012 explaining that Israel's red line for Iranian nuclear weapons program would be crossed in mid-2013. Was he bluffing? Did he make a fool of himself and the State of Israel before the entire world with empty rhetoric? Or did he mean what he said and is Iran now 3.5 months inside of this drawn red-line? Will PM Netanyahu be giving the same speech to the UN General Assembly in 2014?

UPDATE 28 October 2013: With respect to the ISIS update posted below two days ago, Danny Danon, Israel's Deputy Defense Minister, went on-the-record concerning the true meaning of that analysis:

Israel Deputy Defense Minister (Likud) Danny Danon

"We have made it crystal clear - in all possible forums, that Israel will not stand by and watch Iran develop weaponry that will put us, the entire Middle East and eventually the world, under an Iranian umbrella of terror."

26 October 2013: Many have questioned and some have even denied that PM Bibi Netanyahu has reached the end of the rope with Iran and its drive for indigenous nuclear weapons capability. Some see him as weak and ineffective, prone to cave-in to whatever an American president demands of him. But then again, such people do not know what Bibi Netanyahu and several of the world's leading nuclear weapons experts have been aware of since last month. Not only will Iran be able to produce about 7 nuclear weapons by Christmas, but the first of those weapons could be constructed and deployed before we can cook our turkey dinners this coming Thanksgiving Day. 

This is news that comes not from a leak inside Israel, but from an analytical study (.pdf file: Iranian Breakout Estimates, October 24, 2013) conducted by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) as revealed in yesterday's edition of USA Today. And, yes, ISIS is an American institution. And, unlike the Obama Administration, the ISIS is under no illusion nor are they in denial about what 19,000 spinning Iranian IR-1 and IR-2m enrichment centrifuges can accomplish within the next month without anyone on planet earth knowing that it had occurred until after the weapon was detonated in a test. This is likely the urgency driving Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu's final warnings to Iran and the world-at-large.

20 October 2013: The key intelligence item that has emerged from the recently adjourned P5+1 nuclear negotiations in Geneva is this: Iran has arrived at the technological point of its military applications of uranium enrichment and weapon design and delivery where it could construct approximately 7 deliverable weapons in just 8 weeks time. Put another way, the apocalyptic Iranian regime could construct and deliver its own nuclear weapon by Christmas 2013. This level of Iranian achievement is non-negotiable in further talks, nor will it be reduced in any manner whatsoever. Iran has determined to retain this technological capability in perpetuity and to execute the final sprint to weapons construction without any outside party being aware of it. The question is: How comfortable is Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu with this fact?

16 October 2013: "The first lesson is to never underestimate a threat, never underestimate an enemy, never ignore the signs of danger. We can’t assume the enemy will act in ways that are convenient for us. The enemy can surprise us. Israel will not fall asleep on its watch again. 

We can’t surrender the option of a preventive strike. It is not necessary in every situation, and it must be weighed carefully and seriously. But there are situations in which paying heed to the international price of such a step is outweighed by the price in blood we will pay if we absorb a strategic strike that will demand a response later on, and perhaps too late.

A preventive war, even a preventive strike, is among the most difficult decisions a government can take, because it will never be able to prove what would have happened if it had not acted. But the key difference between the Six Day War (June 1967) and the Yom Kippur War (October 1973) lies first of all in the fact that in the Six Day War we launched a preventive strike that broke the chokehold our enemies had placed on us, and on Yom Kippur the government decided, despite all warnings, to absorb the full force of an enemy attack." 

--The above are the essential words of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as spoken on Tuesday, 15 October 2013, on the 40th Anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War in a speech to the Israeli Knesset.

Assessment: If the negotiations currently underway in Geneva, Switzerland between the five permanent members of the United Nation Security Council P5+1 (US, UK, France, Russia and China, + Germany) and the Islamic Republic of Iran results in the easing of its imposed economic sanctions against Iran and fails to dismantle Iranian nuclear weapons capabilities, then the amount of time that remains before Israel launches preemptive strikes on Iran might well be counted in single digit days.


14 October 2013: A final warning is a final warning. Anyone who thinks that the Prime Minister of Israel is bluffing about his intent to prevent apocalyptic Iranian Shi'a from possessing nuclear weapons had better THINK AGAIN because "never again" means exactly that, never again.

9 October 2013: Make no mistake, one week ago yesterday at the meeting of the 68th General Assembly of the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered to the world what can only be understood as Israel's final warning prior to taking action, unilateral if necessary, against the Iranian nuclear weapons program. You can view the video of PM Netanyahu's U.N. speech HERE. 

Contrary to and well-beyond how the majority of western media portrayed this speech as Netanyahu's use of mild "wolf in sheep's clothing" euphemisms to describe Iranian President Rouhani's charm offensive, the Israeli PM delivered a lesson in 4000 years of Jewish history dating back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; that this 4000 years of history is at this moment challenged by a nuclear armed Iran that unambiguously seeks Israel's destruction. 

In his speech Netanyahu emphasized what we know as the 2500-year old Biblical historical account of Persian King Cyrus famous edict liberating the Jews from the Babylonian exile and proclaiming their right to return to their ancestral homeland in Israel and to rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Netanyahu emphasized that this was a well-known historical Persian decree, which thereby declared as invalid all current Islamic edicts regarding Israel's existence as mere modern-day fabrications of deceived minds.

Prime Minister Netanyahu made clear that Israel's struggle is not with the Persian people, nor with the Arab people for that matter. Israel's struggle is with the false religious construct that is Islam and which has thoroughly deceived those under its dictates in more modern times. In Iran's case, since as recently as 1979, just 34 years ago. The poignant contrast was drawn by Netanyahu between 2,500 years of Jewish-Persian friendship and the past 34 years of blind hatred brought about by the "unforgiving creed" and "unforgiving regime" that is Islam which has conquered and crushed the Persian people's hope for democracy.

Prime Minister Netahyahu's speech speaks for itself. I urge you to click the link above and watch it for yourself. "Facts are stubborn things" stated the Prime Minister of Israel. The fact is these words are the final warning that will be given prior to Israel doing what it must in exercising its vigilance to ensure its own future from the Iranian nuclear threat.

The primary prophetic reference here is to Jeremiah 49:34-39 as has been discussed many times on Eschatology Today.  However, the Lord also spoke through the angel Gabriel with respect to the extent of Persian ascendency among the gentile nations, and this can be found in its fullest extent within the text of Daniel 10:10 and 11:4.

Daniel 11:2 is a single prophetic sentence that encompasses over 200 years of history. This verse takes us from the first year of Darius, through a total of four subsequent Persian kings to the end of the Persian (Achaemenid) Empire when it is crushed in verse 3 by Greece, and which is the Biblical introduction to Alexander III of Macedon, more famously known as Alexander the Great. From the Bible's prophetic perspective Persia is no longer relevant as a great power and appears only briefly in Ezekiel 38:5 as a second tier ally in the final pre-70th Week military engagement of significance.

Global SITREP B2-13: Syria Phase III

UPDATE 24 October 2013: The full-blown international war described in the original 2 October post below has effectively moved into Lebanon where open sectarian warfare between Sunni and Shi'a neighborhoods in Tripoli, Lebanon have raged out of control all week long. Saudi Arabia is warning of full-blown civil war erupting in Lebanon and has directly threatened the Lebanese homes and loved ones of Hezbollah's troops in Syria with "great cost" to be borne if it does not withdraw its forces from supporting Bashar al-Assad's army. Saudi Arabia is now directly targeting Hezbollah in its war against Iran in both the Syrian and Lebanese fields of battle.

8 October 2013: Two or more brigades of Bashar al-Assad's armored divisions were detected moving south from Damascus to assembly areas anticipated to be along the M5 highway. Another armored force appears poised on Highway 7 opposite al-Quneitra. The first battle was engaged at rebel-held Khan Ar-Nabeh, a town 2 miles from the Golan Heights 1974 cease-fire "Line Alpha" of disengagement and no-man's land, and 4 miles from the main highway interchange before al-Quneitra. Not much will remain of Khan Ar-Nabeh after this battle, the southern edge of which lies on the 1974 cease-fire "Line Bravo."

The objective of the Syrian force appears to be to sever the rebels from their Jordanian supply corridors through Dara'a and from medical treatment of its wounded across the Golan in Israel.  This maneuver will present the Syrian army with a "kill box" from the Jordanian border to the mountainous Lebanese frontier in which rebel forces will be trapped and exterminated. Once the maneuvering is completed, and short of any significant foreign intervention, the Syrian force appears likely to achieve this objective and be in a position to deal far more effectively with the newly created Liwa al-Islam put together by Saudi Arabia.

2 October 2013: The war in Syria has finally morphed into the full-blown international war most had hoped would not take shape in the wake of recent U.S. threats of direct intervention and the Russian Federation's military and diplomatic countermeasures against it. 

Now the war has become a battlefield directly pitting Sunni Saudi Arabia against the apocalyptic Shi'a Islamic Republic of Iran. Tehran versus Riyadh. It's the same Sunni versus Shi'a inter-Islamic war, but more defined than ever before. The immediate objective of the new Sandi-controlled rebel formations will be full control of the city of Damascus and all of southern and eastern Syria. The central front is headquartered in the Ghouta/Jobar areas of eastern Damascus where the chemical attack of 21 August occurred. The theological and eschatological ramifications of a great battle between the armed forces of Sunni and Shi'a Islam over the city of Damascus and Aram/Syria will be immense among all parties involved. This will be a defining battle for them.

On one side is Iran and its IRGC controlling Syrian government forces and Lebanese Hezbollah. On the other is Saudi Arabia and its newly created Liwa al-Islam or Brigade of Islam. Riyadh's Army of Islam is a confederation of many thousands of jihadist fighters from 43 to 50 different "brigades" that have been in operation in and around Damascus without any higher headquarters directing their operations or unity of purpose. This force is now under the direct command of Zahran Alloush and his father Abdallah Alloush, a Syrian Salafist based in Saudi Arabia. Salafists are the theological fundamentalist brethren of the Wahhabists of the Saudi Royal family. The ultimate goal here is the Saudi-funded formation of an opposition Syrian National Army.

Left out in the cold in this realignment of rebel forces without any foreign government backing are the Al Qaeda-aligned jihadists of Jabhat al-Nusra and their Iraqi cousins of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). These formations will be marginalized or absorbed by the now better equipped, organized and commanded Brigade of Islam.

So begins what may well be a final battle for control of Damascus and southern Syria, a head-on collision between Saudi Arabian and Iranian aligned forces with the prospect for escalation to direct conflict between the two regional rivals facing each other across the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf. How this all manifests itself in the prophecies of Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49 remains to be seen, but it does appear that the Sunni's will prove to be the superior force before biting off more than they can chew in taking on Israel in the fulfillment of Psalm 83.

Global SITREP A16-13: "I Will Set Egyptians Against Egyptians"

UPDATE 9 OCTOBER 2013: The promised criminal trial of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has been announced to commence on 4 November by the Middle East News Agency (MENA). Morsi will be tried by Judge Ahmed Sabry Youssef along with 14 other defendants. In addition to compromising Egyptian national security, Morsi will also be charged with "inciting his supporters to commit premeditated murder."

5 October 2013: Yesterday, in the discussion going on within the comments of SITREP A30-13, an Eschatology Today reader asked:  "Are the Egyptians really planning an attack against Gaza?"

The response was: Yes.

HAMAS has been put on notice by the Egyptian military that it bears full responsibility for any and all attacks on Egyptian forces in the Sinai, and for any deterioration in the security situation with Israel; that Egyptian forces will strike HAMAS and its leadership directly.

In anticipation of the necessity for strikes against HAMAS the Egyptian military has been flying reconnaissance drones over Gaza in order to select high priority targets in Rafah and Khan Younis.

Intense Egyptian army operations are ongoing in the northern Sinai. It would not take much for these forces to spin around and take aim at Gaza.

Now, why is this important to Eschatology Today readers?  Because of the critically information posted originally in this SITREP back in July regarding Isaiah 19 and Ezekiel 29. Even more to the point are the details I gave in my response to the above question:

"I am of the opinion that the reference to Hagarenes in Psalm 83 is a direct reference to Islamic jihadists. Prior to Muhammed and the rise of Islam, Hanif Arabs were fundamentalists in Arabia who adhered to monotheistic believe in the God of Abraham. Mohammed came along and these ancient Hanif Arabs were deceived and adopted his Al-Lah as being the same as their Al-Lah.

The Hanif Arabs came from Hagar's (Arabic: Hajar) son (by Abraham) Ishmael, so they are a descended branch of the "Ishmaelite" family tree and originated in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia (near Mecca).

Many modern Arabic words have their root in Hagar/Hajar, words such as: mujahir/mujahid, hajir (the Hajj pilgrimage all muslims must make) and hijra. In today's language a Hagarene (Hajarene) can mean any Muslim or Ishmaelite, and the most fundamentalist of them are the mujahideen, or Islamic jihadists, a/k/a Al Qaeda et al. Even the al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (MB) of Egypt."

Update 09 July 2013: Based upon the released transcript of the last meeting between Mohamed Morsi and General Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi it seems apparent that the military and judiciary now running Egypt have planned from the outset to place the former president on trial on charges of compromising the national security of Egypt. Here is the English-language translation of the transcript released on 5 July by Al-Watan ("The Nation") one of Egypt's most popular daily newspapers.

Morsi: What’s the military’s position concerning what’s going on? Is it just going to stand by watching? Shouldn’t it protect the legitimacy?

Sisi: What legitimacy? The entire army is with the will of the people, and the overwhelming majority of people, according to documented reports, don’t want you.

Morsi: My supporters are many and they won’t be silent.

Sisi: The army will not allow anyone to destroy the nation, no matter what happens.

Morsi: What if I don’t want to leave?

Sisi: The matter is settled and no longer up to you. Try to leave with your dignity and tell those whom you call supporters to go back to their homes in order to prevent bloodshed, instead of threatening the people through them.

Morsi: But this way it will be a military coup, and America won’t leave you alone.

Sisi: The people concern us, not America. And since you’ve started to talk this way, I’ll talk to you candidly. We have evidence to condemn you and to condemn many governmental officials of compromising Egypt’s national security. The judiciary will have its say and you will all be judged before the whole people.

Morsi: Okay, can you permit me to make a few phone calls and then afterwards I’ll decide on what to do?

Sisi: You are not permitted; but we can let you check up on your family only.

Morsi: Am I imprisoned or what?

Sisi: You are under arrest from this moment.

Morsi: Don’t think the Brotherhood is going to stand by if I leave office. They will set the world on fire.

Sisi: Just let them try something and you’ll see the reaction of the army. Whoever among them wants to live in peace, he’s more than welcome; otherwise, [if they try anything] we will not leave them alone. We will not single anyone out, and the Brotherhood is from the Egyptian people, so don’t try to use them as fuel for your disgusting war. If you truly love them, leave office and let them go to their homes.

Morsi: Anyway, I’m not going, and the people outside of Egypt are all with me, and my supporters are not going.

Sisi: Anyway, I’ve advised you.

Morsi: Okay, but take care—I’m the one who hired you as minister and can remove you.

Sisi: I became minister of defense due to the military’s will and not yours—and you know this very well. Moreover, you can’t remove me; that’s it—you no longer have any legitimacy.

Morsi: Okay, if I agree to be removed, will you allow me to travel abroad and promise not to imprison me?

Sisi: I can’t offer you any promises. It’s the justice [department] that will pass its verdict.

Morsi: Okay, if that’s the case, I’ll make it war, and we’ll see who will prevail in the end.

Sisi: Naturally the people will win.

It appears to me that it was this conversation which set in motion the events which will bring the last days "Egyptians against Egyptians" prophecy of Isaiah 19 and "The Proclamation Against Egypt" prophecy of Ezekiel 29 to fulfillment over the coming days, months and years. I believe this will be a long-term process of fulfillment stretching well into the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Coming soon, I will address some details about what those dire prophecies foretell for Egypt.

03 July 2013 (Updated 4 July): Today the Egyptian military made good on its 48-hour ultimatum and sacked the Islamist al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun President Mohamed Morsi. The announcement was made on Egyptian TV by 58-year old Army Chief of Staff General Abdul-Fattah Khalil el-Sisi this evening because President Morsi "did not meet the demands of the masses."

In the announcement General el-Sisi suspended the Egyptian constitution and effectively removed the Islamist Ikhwan from governance, replacing it with a technocratic interim ruling council led by the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, 67-year old Justice Adly Mahmud Mansour, while preparations for a new round of transition elections are planned for per the Egyptian army's plan to return to civilian rule.
  

General el-Sisi's announcement was greeted with wild jubilation and fireworks in Cairo's Tahrir Square while to the north, in Alexandria, armed clashes between Islamists and anti-Ikhwan protesters are raging this evening on its streets.

The situation in Egypt is extremely dangerous and a new phase of the Isaiah 19 prophecy concerning Egypt is unfolding before our eyes. The Islamists can be counted on to launch a counter-coup with the goal of killing the popular Egyptian style democracy and replacing with a totalitarian, clerical Islamist regime like that of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Egypt's troubles are just beginning.