JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
US JEWISH SECURITY OUTFIT OPENS BOOT CAMP FOR VOLUNTEER SYNAGOGUE GUARDS.
INVENTION OF THE ATOMIC BOMB.
2 PETER 3:10-11
10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
(NUKES) shall melt with fervent heat,(BLAST) the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.(BUT ITS NO END OF THE WORLD
HOGWASH)
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,(BY
NUKES INCLUDING 3 BILLION PEOPLE) what manner of persons ought ye to be
in all holy conversation and godliness,
NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.
JESUS
SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US THAT WE CAN BE SAVED FOREVER.AND DURING WW3
PEOPLES BLOOD WILL BE SHED AS A JUDGEMENT FOR HATING HIM AND ISRAEL.GOD
IS NOT MOCKED.
ZEPHANIAH 1:2-3
2 I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
3
I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven,
and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I
will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
PSALMS 97:3
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
EZEKIEL 5:15-17
15
So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an
astonishment unto the (ARAB/MUSLIM) nations that are round about
thee,(ISRAEL) when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in
fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.
16 When I
shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their
destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase
the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
17 So will I
send upon you famine and evil beasts,(WHEN RUSSIA/MUSLIMS GET DEFEATED
THIER BODIES GET EATEN BY BIRDS,ANIMALS IN ISRAEL MIGRATION SEASON) and
they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through
thee;(NUKES) and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have
spoken it.
REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out
from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to
him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and
gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully
ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and
gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of
the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the
city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the
horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200
MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)
ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold,
the LORD will come with fire,(NUKES) 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.
17
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens
behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination,
and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I
know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather
all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
ISAIAH 26:21
21
For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants
of the earth for their iniquity:(GOD/ISRAEL HATE AND BRAKING OF HIS
COMMANDMENTS) the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more
cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die - 3 BILLION).
ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them;
they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed
one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of
the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land
desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For
the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their
light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall
not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for
their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the
arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the
terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13
Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of
her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his
fierce anger.
ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18
And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the
fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of
the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are
open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed
like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it;
and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass
in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that
are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they
shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and
shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be
visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed,
when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and
before his ancients gloriously.
2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
JOEL 2:3,30
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the
people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume
away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and
their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)
and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM
ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD
PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they
shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand
shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN
WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say
to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour
every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall
not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be
burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor
their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath;
but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for
he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC
BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be
stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of
hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
REVELATION 8:7
7
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with
blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees
was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
REVELATION 9:18
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(ATOMIC BOMBS)(RUSSIA CHINA DESTROYED BY ISRAELS ATOMIC BOMBS)
REVELATION 16:12-16
12
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river
Euphrates;(WERE WW3 STARTS IN IRAQ OR SYRIA OR TURKEY) and the water
thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be
prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of
the mouth of the dragon,(SATAN) and out of the mouth of the beast,(WORLD
DICTATOR) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(FALSE POPE)
14
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth
unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to
the battle of that great day of God Almighty.(WERE 2 BILLION DIE FROM
NUKE WAR)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a
great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is
done.
JOEL 3:2 (YOU WANNA DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF (HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION KILLED AS A RESULT)
02-I
will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley
of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my
heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted
my land.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given
unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with
sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE
DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18
By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their
mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE
17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS
KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE
BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND
DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in
that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN
WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4
billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto
them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against
Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten
by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE
SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE
CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH
IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
NAHUM 3:13
13
Behold, your troops are women in your midst. The gates of your land are
wide open to your enemies; fire has devoured your bars.
DR DOCTORION-ANGEL OF THE MIDEAST
"The
angel showed me that the United Nations shall be broken in pieces
because of the crisis in the Middle East. There shall be no more United
Nations. The angel with the sickle shall reap the harvest.
FIRST ANGEL: ASIA
But
the angel said: "Millions will die in China and in India. Nation will
be against nation, brother against brother. Asians will fight each
other. Nuclear weapons shall be used, killing millions."Twice I heard
the words, "Catastrophic! Catastrophic!"Then the angel said, "Financial
crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world."I was trembling while
the angel was speaking.
SECOND ANGEL: MIDDLE EAST
Then I saw that
the second angel had a sickle in his hand, such as is used in
harvesting.The second angel said: "Harvest time has come in Israel and
the countries all the way to Iran."I saw those countries in a few split
seconds."All of Turkey and those [inaudible] countries that have refused
me and refused my message of love shall hate each other and kill one
another."I saw the angel raise the sickle and come down on all the
Middle East countries. I saw Iran, Persia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, all of
Georgia - Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, all of Asia Minor - full
of blood. I saw blood all over these countries. And I saw fire; Nuclear
weapons used in many of those countries. Smoke rising from everywhere.
Sudden destruction – men destroying one another. I heard these
words:"Israel, Oh Israel, the great judgment has come."
ITS
TIME FOR TRUMP AND ISRAEL TO BOMB THE QOM OR THE WELL WERE MAUHDI SO
CALLED LIVES.AS WELL AS THE JAMKARAN MOSQUE. ISRAEL POUR TONS OF PIGS
BLOOD ON THE MOSQUE AND MAUDIS WELL.
Jamkaran Mosque
Jamkaran
Mosque in Iran’s central holy city of Qom is an important pilgrim
center for Shiite Muslims.Located near Qom, the mosque draws pilgrims
from all parts of Iran as well as other countries, who stream in to Qom
where all roads head to the mosque on Tuesday evenings.The Mosque was
built in the year 393 AH (1003 by the Gregorian calendar) by Hassan Bin
Maslah by the order of Imam Mahdi (AS), the Twelfth Imam of the Shiite
Muslims.His Excellency recommended his Shiites to come and pray in this
mosque, and he has said: “whoever prays in this place, it is as if he
has prayed in Ka’bah”.That’s why his countless needful lovers take
refuge in this mosque and find the realization of their prayers under
the attentions of His Excellency.The building of this mosque has been
changing over the centuries, it is now considered one of the largest
mosques of Iran in which the lovers of Imam Mahdi (a.j).
The Hidden Imam and His Cult-by BABAK SARFARAZ-25 Jul 2010 19:42
Because
of a new injunction by the Suprme Leader, this year's birthday
celebrations for the Hidden Imam on July 27 will be a relatively subdued
affair. Babak Sarfaraz examines the reasons behind this development.
Photos of the Jamkaran celebration that he took two years ago appear
above.[ analysis ] Although Mahdaviat, or the cult of Mahdi --
associated with Shia Islam's 12th Imam, believed to be in occultation
before he returns to save the world -- is over a millennium old, it has
only attained the status of a mass movement in modern Iran in the last
20 years. Today, millions of Iranians worship the Hidden Imam with a
devotion and adoration that rivals, and in some instances even
surpasses, that paid to the Prophet of Islam.Scholars identify two
primary factors underlying this remarkable development: the
sociocultural transformation Iran has undergone over the past few
decades and a political realignment at the top of the factional
pyramid.While the idea of a coming redeemer is as old as civilization
itself, social scientists agree that messianic movements flourish at
times of great social upheaval or trauma. This was the case with certain
periods of Zoroastrianism, sundry Jewish sects, various Roman plebian
cults, and the early Christian church. So it is with the Mahdi cult in
Iran. Years of socioeconomic and political dislocation have taken a
heavy toll on the psyches of the poor and dispossessed masses who are
the mainstay of the present movement.As for the political factor,
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, like all Shiites, venerated the Hidden
Imam; at the same time, he was wary of the overexaltation of the Mahdi
cult, which he rightly associated with the ultra-reactionary
millennialist Hojjatiyeh Society. The rituals surrounding the Jamkaran
mosque, the main loci of the veneration and celebration for cullt
followers, were generally kept low key while the ayatollah was still
alive. All that changed with Khamenei. In tandem with the rise of new
aspirants to power such as Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi and his lay followers,
as well as the forces loyal to the Revolutionary Guards, Khamenei
sanctioned a major apotheosis of the Imam and his cult. Millions of
people soon joined the movement.Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was one of the first
to see how enormously useful the cult could be. As the mayor of Tehran,
he asked the City Council to reconfigure the capital to accommodate the
Imam's imminent coming. Once he became president, he repeatedly invoked
the name of the great Imam and had his cabinet members visit the
Jamkaran mosque at the outskirts of Qom and drop notes of allegiance in
its famed well. Later, his government augmented budgetary allocations to
the mosque-complex by millions of dollars while plans were discussed to
build a direct rail link from Tehran to it.In 2007, Iranian radio
claimed that the mosque would soon be the third most important in the
Muslim world -- presumably after Masjid'ul Haram and Masjid'ul Nabi and
supplanting Masjid'ul Aqsa.Unwanted complications-The formula seemed
perfect, at first. By making Imam Mahdi attractive and accessible to
everyone, a new wave of religiosity would sweep through the country,
deflecting public grievances to safe, controlled channels. Every Tuesday
night, thousands of people flocked to the Jamkaran mosque to seek
absolution and happiness, dropping their written wishes into the well.
On the Imam's birthday, hundreds of thousands of worshipers were bussed
to the mosque in search of redemption and answers to their prayers. The
cult was catching on.Soon, however, complications arose. The movement
was growing so large that it was attracting the attention of parties
interested in manipulating it for their own ends. By 2008, the
newspapers were replete with reports of self-proclaimed "Mahdis"
announcing their reappearance and offering various prophesies or
end-of-the-world scenarios. Every week, someone claimed to be the Mahdi
or to be in special communion with him. There was also the ever-present
danger that protest movements by the very poor could take shape under
the banner of Mahdaviat.Even more worrying for Khamenei was the threat
posed by two groups of newly ascendant players to his power base. One
group, the maddahs, or lay preachers, openly challenged the power of the
clergy by claiming to establish a direct link between worshipers and
the Imam, without clerical intercession. The other group, young
neo-rightists like Ahmadinejad, began vying for influence among the same
social groups that Khamenei himself targeted.Criticism began to mount
from several quarters. On the left, reformist-leaning grand ayatollahs
like Hossein Ali Montazeri and Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili, along with
some Muslim intellectuals, questioned the wisdom of abetting the cult
and suggested it was entirely heretical. In 2008, Abdolkarim Soroush, a
leading Shia intellectual, called the cult a form of polytheism.On the
right, traditionalist clerics decried the jettisoning of their
historical role by the maddahs. Grand Ayatollah Vahid Khorasani was one
of the first to raise his voice against the trend. Many other clerics
soon joined him.What finally convinced Khamenei that the Mahdaviat
movement had gone far enough was last year's presidential election and
its aftermath. For instead of aligning closer to the Supreme Leader, the
ungrateful and ambitious president has decided to become a major rival
to his erstwhile benefactor.
05 settembre 2006-Iran, Ahmadinejad and the 12th Mahdi-July 7, 2006-By George Thomas-CBN News Sr. Reporter
CBN.com
– QOM, Iran - Whether it is his belief that Israel should be wiped off
the map, denials of the Holocaust, obsession with going nuclear, or
support for radical Islamic terrorist groups, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a
man on a divine mission.To understand him and that mission, you have to
travel to a small dusty village called Jamkaran that is tucked into a
corner of Iran's holy city of Qom.On a recent Tuesday afternoon, CBN
News made that journey, heading south from Iran's capital of Tehran.
Some 95 miles and a couple of wrong turns later, we arrived at the
Jamkaran mosque on the outskirts of Qom.Behind the Jamkaran mosque,
there is a well. And according to many Shiite Muslims, out of this well
will one day emerge their version of an Islamic savior.They call him the
Mahdi, or the 12th Imam. Ron Cantrell has written a book about him."The
Mahdi is a personage that is expected to come on the scene, by Islam,
as a messiah figure. He is slotted to come at the end of time, according
to their writings -- very much like how we think of the return of
Jesus," said Cantrell.Cantrell said the Mahdi, a descendent of the
Prophet Mohammed, vanished in the middle of the 9th century. No one
knows what he really looks like."The 12th Imam disappeared around the
age of 9,” said Cantrell, “with a promise that he would return and bring
Islam to its total fruition, as the world's last standing
religion."Enter Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Since becoming the president of
Iran in August 2005, Ahmadinejad has emerged as the Mahdi's most
influential follower.“He has stated that his mandate is to pave the way
for the coming of this Islamic messiah," Cantrell explained.In almost
all his speeches, the president begs Allah to hasten the return of the
Mahdi.During one speech, he is talking to soldiers at a military parade
in Tehran, which was also attended by CBN News.“Oh, Allah, please
facilitate Imam Mahdi's early return and make us one of his supporters,"
said Ahmadinejad.He said something similar last September, just before
ending a speech at the United Nations in New York."Oh mighty lord, I
pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the
promised one, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill
this world with justice and peace," Ahmadinejad prayed.A few days later
in Iran, Ahmadinejad told a group of religious leaders that, during his
UN speech, he felt a bright light around him.His reactions were captured
on video and later posted on a conservative Iranian Web site."I felt it
myself. I felt that the atmosphere suddenly changed, and for those 27
or 28 minutes, all the leaders of the world did not blink. When I say
they didn't move an eyelid, I'm not exaggerating. They were looking as
if a hand was holding them there, and had just opened their eyes to the
message of the Islamic Republic,” Ahmadinejad recalled.Ahmadinejad is
reportedly tied to a radical Islamic society in Iran that believes man
can hasten the appearance of the Mahdi by creating chaos in the
world.Ahmadinejad has stated that this chaos must take place before the
Mahdi can come on the scene.Some wonder if Ahmadinejad believes these
are the end times. And, whether his calls for the destruction of Israel
and nuclear pursuits are ways to accelerate the divine timetable."With
him, it is a win-win situation,” Cantrell said. “If we attack him, he
wins because chaos happens. If we don't attack him, he gets to create
the chaos, which he has said he is willing to do."In Shiite Muslim
belief, the Madhi's second coming will be marked by apocalyptic times.
Wars, famines, and floods will ravage the Earth -- followed by Judgment
Day and a battle between good and evil.On this Tuesday, as the sun dips
behind the mountains that surround Jamkaran, the faithful -- many of
whom voted for Ahmadinejad -- arrive by the thousands from across Iran
to pray for the Mahdi's return.Ezatallah Alimoradi, a follower of the
Mahdi, said, "I feel so refreshed in my spirit when I come here to
Jamkaran.""This day belongs to the Mahdi,” said another follower, Akram
Alsadat Emmami, “and I've come to share my heart with him."The night
begins with a visit to the sacred well. CBN News was given a rare
opportunity to film people praying there. The opening of the well is
covered by a green-like metal box to prevent people from jumping in.Most
of the time here is spent praying and kissing the metal box. Others
scribble prayer requests to the Mahdi on pieces of paper that are then
dropped into the well.One man asks the Mahdi to forgive his sins. "If
you ask in the right way, your prayers will be answered," he
explained.Another seeks healing for family members. "I don't come here
just to pray for myself,” he said. “I also ask the Mahdi to take care of
my family and their needs."Many, like one young boy with a flashlight,
believe the Mahdi is actually hiding at the bottom of the well, reading
those prayer requests."I was looking into the well with my flashlight,”
the boy said, “hoping to see the Mahdi -- but not tonight."Shia
tradition teaches that if you come to Jamkaran 40 weeks in a row, you
will "see" the Mahdi.A woman said, "I have not had the privilege to see
him yet, but I've had many dreams about him. In one of my dreams, I saw a
big bright light in the sky and this figure standing over me."The next
few hours are spent praying inside the Jamkaran mosque.At the Jamkaran
mosque, I've been told that, as a non-Muslim, I am not allowed to go
inside. The truth is, though, every day tens of thousands of men and
women come through the mosque to say their prayers -- and also to pray
that one day soon the Mahdi would return.Nadal, a follower of the Mahdi,
said, "And because we believe that he is going to come back soon, we
can believe in heaven and hell and we can believe in the life after
death."Ahmadinejad's government reportedly gave $20 million to help
renovate the Jamkaran mosque. There are rumors that he is planning to
build a railway line connecting Tehran and Jamkaran, to ferry the
faithful.And apparently, Ahmadinejad has also drawn up plans for the
road that the Mahdi will take when he returns.Cantrell said, "...that
will actually serve as the red carpet rolled out in Iran for the Mahdi
to appear."And if all this wasn't mystical enough, there is also the
belief that when the Mahdi comes back, he will be accompanied by Jesus
Christ, who is referred to as the prophet Isa."The Mahdi will take Jesus
to Mecca,” Cantrell explained. “They will circumambulate the Kabah
together. The Mahdi will teach Jesus to pray, at which time Jesus will
then replace the Gospel with the Koran, and then all of us -- as
Christians -- wherever you are on the face of the Earth, will convert to
Islam because Islam will be deemed the one lasting pure religion."As
the West drifts closer to a potential showdown over Iran's nuclear
program, followers of the Mahdi are getting ready for Judgment Day.And
many of them are convinced that President Ahmadinjead, who is considered
by some as Allah's shadow on Earth, will fulfill his divine mission to
prepare the world for the coming of the Islamic
savior.http://voanews.com/english/2006-07-07-voa5.cfm?textmode=0
As Israel plans Gaza 'conquest', how strong is its army?-By Michael Blum.
Jerusalem
(AFP) May 6, 2025-Israel's military has called up tens of thousands of
reservists for its planned expanded offensive in Gaza, which an official
said entails the "conquest" of the Palestinian territory.With one of
the best equipped armies in the world, what forces are available to
Israel?A large part of the adult population has completed military
service and they are required to remain reservists until at least the
age of 41, depending on rank and branch of service.But it is not
compulsory for reservists to respond to the call-up.Israel's army has
169,500 soldiers, both conscripts and professionals, according to the
Military Balance annual report by the London-based International
Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).It also has 465,000 reservists.In
January 2024, 295,000 reservists and 45,000 volunteers joined to take
part in the war triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel,
according to the latest available army figures.Brigadier General Rami
Abudraham, head of planning for ground forces, told a parliamentary
committee on Monday that the voluntary mobilisation rate for reservists
is more than 75 percent."It's more than a miracle... after a year and a
half of war," he said.According to the Mediterranean Foundation for
Strategic Studies (FMES), Israel's army has 12 ground divisions and five
independent brigades -- such as paratroopers or commandos.An Israeli
army division has between 13,000 and 20,000 troops and a brigade between
3,000 and 7,000, according to experts.Israel's Air Force has 316 combat
aircraft, including 175 that can operate within a radius of more than
1,000 kilometres, according to the IISS.By comparison, Britain's Royal
Air Force has 146 fighter jets.The IISS also says that Israel has five
submarines, seven small warships known as corvettes and 42 patrol boats,
including eight able to fire missiles.Israel has never confirmed or
denied that it has nuclear weapons, but according to the Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) it has 90 nuclear
warheads.- No shortage of soldiers -Since the Hamas attack in October
2023, Israel has operated on several fronts outside Gaza.These include
the West Bank, a separate Palestinian territory which Israel has
occupied since 1967, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen from where Iran-backed Huthi
rebels have launched missile and drone attacks, and Iran itself, which
directly attacked Israel twice in 2024.In Lebanon, a November ceasefire
agreement ended more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the
Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah.But Israel has maintained several
positions in south Lebanon and continues to carry out deadly strikes
inside the country.Since Islamist-led forces ousted Syria's former
president Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel has carried out hundreds
of air strikes against military targets there also.It has also sent
troops into the demilitarised buffer zone in the Golan Heights -- much
of which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 war.The Huthis, who
control swathes of Yemen including the capital Sanaa, have launched
missiles and drones at Israel throughout the Gaza war, saying they are
acting in solidarity with Palestinians.Israel has responded with several
retaliatory strikes."There is no problem with a shortage of soldiers,"
former brigadier general Yossi Kuperwasser, an expert at the Jerusalem
Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS), told AFP.He said operations
in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen do not currently require the mobilisation of
reserve forces."On most fronts, the army does not need to mobilise many
men and there are enough soldiers and reservists for the upcoming
operation in Gaza," he added.
IDF to receive twenty
'Tigerbulance' armored ambulances for advanced medical care-These
vehicles, equipped with the latest medical technology, are designed to
evacuate injured soldiers even under fire.By JERUSALEM POST STAFF-MAY 7,
2025 02:50
The armored ambulances will be designed to meet the
specific requirements of the IDF, featuring advanced medical systems and
strict safety protocols designed to ensure maximum protection for
soldiers, the press release included.Omer Sheferbar, CEO of Shefer-Bar,
commented, “We are in the final stages of outfitting these armored
ambulances to the highest standards for the IDF. Each vehicle is
meticulously tailored to operational needs, with cutting-edge
technology, fully protected medical equipment, and rigorous safety and
performance standards."Our goal is to deliver high-quality medical care
directly in the combat zone, in a secure and protected environment.
These vehicles will serve as mobile emergency rooms, offering advanced
treatment, efficiency, and peace of mind for our soldiers. We are proud
to play a key role in this vital mission.”
Huckabee honored in
Jerusalem event as families of hostages call for action-US Ambassador to
Israel Mike Huckabee was welcomed at a major ceremony in Jerusalem,
where officials praised his support for Israel and released hostages
urged him and Trump to act-By THE MEDIA LINE STAFF-MAY 6, 2025 22:50
The
Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem hosted a reception on Tuesday for
Mike Huckabee, marking his formal welcome as the incoming United States
Ambassador to Israel. The event, spearheaded by Mike Evans, founder of
the Friends of Zion and a close advisor to President Donald Trump, drew
an influential crowd of ambassadors, lawmakers, and Trump associates
from both Israel and the US, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and
Senator Ted Cruz.Huckabee, who was presented with the Friends of Zion
Award, opened his speech by praising Evans and reflecting on his
decades-long support for Israel, condemning antisemitism as “a hatred
toward God.” “It is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob upon which
everything I believe is held,” he said. “And God decided to bring His
light into the world and His law into the world through the Jewish
people. It wasn't my decision.”He referenced the power of prayer and
faith in dark times and spoke of his deep spiritual and personal
connection to Israel, crediting the Jewish faith as the foundation of
his own Christian beliefs. “Without the Jewish people, I don’t have a
faith. I have nothing,” Huckabee said. “No greater honor could be
bestowed upon me than to be called a friend of the Jewish people.”Omer
Shem Tov spoke as well-Additionally, Omer Shem Tov addressed the crowd
in his first major public appearance since his release from Gaza after
505 days in captivity. “I woke up every day and thanked God that I had
air in my lungs, food on my plate, and that my family was safe,” Shem
Tov said, describing how he performed Kiddush alone every Friday night
in captivity. Turning to the ambassador, he said, “Thank you, Ambassador
Huckabee. Thank you, President Trump. I am here today because of you.”
His mother, Shelly Shem Tov, equated the experience of waiting for a
child’s return to “more than a million minutes of hell.” Directing her
words to Huckabee, she said, “You and President Trump have the power to
give all the hostage families the miracle we received.”Huckabee
recounted meeting Omer earlier in the evening. “I was overwhelmed,” he
said. “Through all the horrid things you've been through, you were able
to smile. That's God's gift.”Minister of Foreign Affairs Eli Cohen also
addressed the crowd, praising Huckabee and Trump for their staunch
support of Israel during a time of heightened regional conflict.
“President Trump did a great deal for the State of Israel,” said Cohen.
“He moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem, initiated the Abraham Accords,
and appointed you, Mike — a close friend of Israel — as
ambassador.”Huckabee closed by sharing a personal story about his wife
Janet’s hike up the Snake Path at Masada while carrying pictures and
biographies of hostages. He said that at every stop, she and the US
embassy delegation paused to pray, adding, “That strength came from
God.”
Rabbis from 40 countries strategize mass Israeli expat
surge after Oct. 7-Over 100 Chabad rabbis gathered last week in
Montenegro to discuss the mass migration of tens of thousands of
Israelis following Oct. 7.By JERUSALEM POST STAFF-MAY 6, 2025 22:49
Faced
with the mass migration of tens of thousands of Israelis abroad in the
aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attacks and the ongoing war, more than
100 Chabad rabbis from 40 countries gathered last week in Budva,
Montenegro, to plan an urgent response to this growing diaspora
challenge.According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics,
approximately 82,700 Israelis left the country in 2024 – the highest
number since the country’s founding. Nearly half (48%) were aged 20 to
45, while 27% were children or teens. The cities with the highest
emigration rates included Tel Aviv, Haifa, Netanya, and Jerusalem.The
two-day conference brought together Chabad emissaries from across
Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, focusing on how to support Israeli
and Jewish émigrés seeking spiritual and communal connection. Emissaries
described an uptick in demand for Jewish identity resources, reporting
the launch of new youth and young adult initiatives, including CKids,
CTeen, and CYP, even in countries where Jews have historically concealed
their identity.Remembering the late Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, a key Chabad
leader-The event also honored the late Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, a key
leader in Chabad’s global operations. His son, Rabbi Menachem Kotlarsky,
emphasized the importance of emissaries acting as immediate contact
points for Israelis arriving in unfamiliar destinations. “This
conference sharpened our strategy to ensure every new immigrant finds a
home from the moment they land,” he said.In a symbolic gesture,
participants dedicated a new Torah scroll intended for rotating minyanim
in Jewish communities across Muslim-majority countries. The gathering
also included a cornerstone-laying ceremony for Montenegro’s first
mikvah and a memorial service for Israel’s fallen soldiers.Security
remained a core concern at the conference. Rabbi Moshe Fleishman of the
Chabad World Assistance (CWA) organization delivered a lecture on safety
protocols and operational procedures, which participants described as
“mandatory” for all emissaries and their spouses.“Our quiet streets
turned into a hub of Jewish continuity,” said Rabbi Aidelkopf, who
hosted the gathering. “We shared challenges, discussed solutions, and
mapped out the future of Jewish life in the region.”
Almost half
of Gazans willing to leave enclave, Palestinian research center
finds-The survey also found that 48% of Palestinians in Gaza supported
the series of anti-Hamas demonstrations that sprang up across the
enclave.By JERUSALEM POST STAFF, REUTERS-MAY 6, 2025 21:11
Almost
half of Gazans may be willing to apply to Israel to help them leave to
other countries, according to a survey on Tuesday that also showed
significant support for anti-Hamas protests.The survey by the
Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research was based on polling
of people across the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank between May 1-4,
some six weeks after Israeli forces resumed operations in Gaza following
the breakdown of a brief ceasefire.The Center, a think tank based in
Ramallah and funded by Western donors, said in the report that 49% of
those surveyed declared that they would be willing to apply to Israel to
help them emigrate via Israeli ports and airports, against 50% who said
they would not be willing to do so.Israeli officials have said that
Israel will help Gazans who wish to leave the enclave, but it has made
little headway persuading other countries to accept them.Although
Israel's 19-month campaign has reduced most of Gaza to rubble, and a
blockade on aid since March has left the 2.3 million population
increasingly short of food, many Palestinians believe that leaving would
mean effectively surrendering their home to Israel.Hardline Israeli
ministers have made little secret of their wish to see the whole Gaza
population moved out of the enclave, in line with US President Donald
Trump's plan to redevelop Gaza as a coastal resort under American
control.The survey also found that 48% of Palestinians in Gaza supported
the series of anti-Hamas demonstrations that sprang up in various
places around the enclave, a much higher level than among Palestinians
in the West Bank, where only 14% backed the protests, a rare public show
of opposition to the group.At the same time, 54% of Gazans also thought
the protests, which Hamas said were set up by Israeli intelligence
services, were steered by outside hands, and only 20% said they
expressed the real opinion of the population.Gazan reaction to Hamas'
October 7 attack dipping-Gazans and West Bank Palestinians were asked
for the fourth time for their opinions on Hamas' decision to launch the
October 7 attack, whether it was correct or incorrect. 50% of
respondents said it was the right decision, down from 54% in September
2024 and 71% in March 2024. In the West Bank 59% of respondents believed
it was the right decision, while in Gaza only 38% percent agreed.The
Center said the survey's sample was 1,270 with a margin of error of
+/-3.5%.
How much does a strike on Sanaa International Airport
cost Israel?-Israel's airstrikes on Sanaa, conducted on Tuesday, likely
cost approximately 13 million shekels.By UDI EZION-MAY 6, 2025 21:09
Israel's
airstrikes on Sanaa, conducted on Tuesday, likely cost approximately 13
million shekels based on reservist payments, the deployment of rescue
planes and helicopters, fighter jet fuel, and other operational
costs.The flight to Yemen and back takes Israel Air Force jets
approximately four hours, meaning a total of 80 flight hours based on 20
fighter jets.That could cost at least five million shekels just for
their flight hours, plus one million for escort planes.The cost of
munitions could easily have exceeded seven million shekels.The military
and defense industries may say that national security has no price, but
every military action by Israel carries substantial economic
consequences.During discussions prior to executing such an operation,
the operational need, strike capability, risks to crew members, and
weapon systems are considered, but the cost of each strike mission is
not typically calculated.Striking Yemen is one of the more expensive
military operations due to the approximately 2,000 km. distance from
Israel, requiring a fleet of support aircraft to accompany the fighter
jets, including refueling facilities and intelligence planes.Such an
operation also typically involves the deployment of rescue helicopters
in case of pilot ejection due to malfunction or damage, in which case,
ejected pilots would not have to wait hours for a rescue helicopter to
arrive from Israel.'Dozens' of Air Force fighter jetsThe IDF confirmed
that "dozens" of fighter jets participated in the attack on Sanaa
International Airport, but it is unconfirmed whether the jets were
F-15Is, F-16Is, or F-35 Adir jets.The Pentagon's operational figures
state that the F-16 is the least expensive of the three to operate, at
approximately $15,000 per flight hour, and the F-35 Adir costs $17,000
per flight hour. The F-15I is notably more expensive, costing
approximately $27,000 per flight hour, in part due to its twin engines
and larger size.A fleet used to strike Yemen in an operation this large
would require at least two refueling planes. The Israel Air Force still
uses 50-year-old Boeing 707 "Ra'am" planes for this task. These planes
have their own large fuel consumption engines and require significant
maintenance due to their age.The US Air Force prices a similar aircraft,
the KC-135, at $19,000 per flight hour. However, the Israeli cost is
likely higher as the US Air Force have replaced the engines with newer,
more fuel-efficient ones.One of the IAF's "Nachshon" aircraft, which
provides air control far beyond Israel's borders, was also likely in the
area. This aircraft, a modified Gulfstream G550, is relatively
economical, at approximately $7,500 per flight hour.The IDF
Spokesperson's Unit released photos showing jets carrying Joint Direct
Attack Munition (JDAM) bombs, which include GPS guidance kits
manufactured by Boeing that turn regular bombs into precision-guided
munitions. The US Air Force pays approximately $25,000-$30,000 for each
kit.The cost of a heavier MK-84 bomb, which weighs approximately 900 kg.
is approximately $15,000 without adding the expensive guidance kit.
In
first, US Jewish security outfit opens boot camp for volunteer
synagogue guards-New Community Security Service facility drills trainees
in surveillance, intel, threat response and Krav Maga, as Jews build
out defense array to counter antisemitic threats-By Luke Tress Today,
1:35 am-MAY 6,25
WESTCHESTER COUNTY, New York — A woman in a
black jacket, black pants and dark sunglasses emerged from a bank and
stepped into the bright morning sunlight on the main street of a small
town north of New York City. A passerby with a flannel shirt tied around
her waist snapped a furtive photo of the woman, and a man began to tail
her from the opposite side of the street, noting the precise time and
location of her stops and movements.An hour later, all three were
debriefing in a nearby conference room. The woman in black was a trainer
for the Community Security Service, a nonprofit that trains volunteer
synagogue guards throughout the US, and the two surveilling her were
participants in a training program. The exercise was part of a three-day
course for 10 CSS volunteers at the organization’s new facility in
Westchester County.The facility, the first in the US dedicated to
training synagogue guards, is part of the group’s expanding efforts to
protect Jewish institutions, as American Jews build out an array of
connected security measures amid a global surge in antisemitism.CSS
granted The Times of Israel exclusive access to the training facility on
the condition that it not divulge the building’s location, volunteers’
identities, or certain details of the group’s protocols, due to security
concerns.CSS was established as a non-profit by several congregants at a
New York City synagogue in 2007. The group is modeled on volunteer
guard programs for Jewish communities in Europe, where security became a
concern before it became one in the US.Richard Priem, the group’s CEO,
got his start as a volunteer guard when he was a teenager growing up in
Amsterdam in the early 2000s. At the start of the training, the group
watched a short documentary on a deadly shooting at a Jewish school in
Toulouse, France.“We never thought that in the United States people
would start feeling that way as well. We always thought that this is
something that happens in Europe, in the Middle East, but there are two
places where Jews are safe. One is Israel,” Priem told the guards at the
start of the training. “The other was the United States, and we’ve seen
now that’s no longer the case.”Security efforts for US Jews gained
steam after the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh in 2018.
More deadly attacks on Jews followed, in Poway, California; Jersey City,
New Jersey; and Monsey, New York. The October 2023 Hamas assault on
Israel and ensuing wave of antisemitism was another shock to US Jews.CSS
expanded as those fears grew, and now counts around 5,000 active
volunteers in 25 states. In the past five years, CSS’s staff has grown
from two to 20.One of the guards at the course, a woman in her 50s from
New York, started with CSS eight years ago. She saw attitudes toward
security start to change with the Tree of Life shooting.“That really
brought it home. It could happen to any synagogue, any school,” she
said. “When I first started, people didn’t take it as seriously. ‘Why do
we have to do this? Why do you have to check my bag?’ It was a pain.
Over the years, people are used to it and they appreciate it.”CSS
trained local leaders on an ad hoc basis, using a one-on-one mentoring
model in their communities. Those local leaders would then pass the
training on to rank-and-file volunteers.As the group grew, its
leadership realized it needed a more formal training system, an
established curriculum, and a central location to bring together
volunteers from around the US for more advanced training. In 2022, CSS
started hosting annual retreats. The first year, 50 volunteers showed
up. Last year’s retreat in Pennsylvania brought in more than 200
applicants, but could only accommodate 75 trainees.The training facility
located in CSS’s headquarters, is the next step in building the group’s
infrastructure. CSS opened the headquarters, housed in a nondescript
office building, in December to streamline its operations and bring in
groups of volunteers from around the US year-round to train as synagogue
guards.The participants are expected to bring those lessons back to
their local communities, where a vast majority of the training still
takes place. CSS held around 700 training sessions throughout the US
last year, Priem said.The synagogue guards, who work with local law
enforcement and often volunteer alongside paid armed guards hired by
individual synagogues or provided by local federations, are meant to be
part of an interlocking system of Jewish security organizations that has
developed over the years.The array includes the Secure Community
Network and the Community Security Initiative, which collect
intelligence, with CSI focusing on the New York region.The
Anti-Defamation League does research and advocacy. Groups such as
Guardian Self Defense teach Krav Maga. The organizations collaborate
with each other and with law enforcement. CSS volunteers train in Krav
Maga with Guardian Self Defense, and the group receives threat alerts
from other partners, for example.The cohort last week was the fourth
group to train at the facility. Moving boxes still litter the office,
and framed photos of two synagogue guards who were killed in attacks
abroad — Dan Uzan and Yoel Kohen Ulcer — hang on a wall.Local volunteer
leaders identify rank-and-file members from their community with
leadership potential and refer them for the advanced training. During
the three-day course, the trainees learn security skills and how to lead
security teams in their communities.The guards train in surveillance,
questioning, intelligence, decision-making, security planning, and Krav
Maga, both at the office and at synagogues in the community that lend
space to CSS.Six men and four women attended the training session. The
volunteers came from New York, Florida, California and Massachusetts.
They included a college student, a retired lawyer, a Coast Guard veteran
and an ex-fireman, ranging in age from their mid-20s into their 60s.
Some were secular and others were Orthodox.Most were there to learn how
to guard their local synagogue, though a few of the younger volunteers
were there as part of a separate CSS group, called ROAM, which
dispatches young professionals to secure Jewish community events in the
tri-state area.The trainers included a veteran of an Israeli infantry
unit with around 15 years of post-army experience securing Israeli
diplomats and consulates, and Chuck Berkowitz, a former senior detective
for the New York City Police Department.One of the trainees, a woman in
her 20s from New York, said she had joined ROAM after looking for
community security programs following October 7.“It feels like I’m
making a tangible difference,” she said. “You can go to bed knowing that
there was a Jewish event that did not get blown up, that was protected,
was safe.”“That’s felt more constructive for me than getting stuck in
my head, thinking how much the world hates us. You can do something,”
she added.At the start, the group trained in “red teaming” — getting in
the head of a bad actor to probe their own vulnerabilities.“We’re going
to think like an attacker. We’re going to try to put ourselves in their
shoes, in terms of operational planning, so we can deter and detect and
disrupt them,” one of the trainers said.The street surveillance drill
was not meant to train the guards in doing surveillance, but to teach
them how it feels to do “hostile reconnaissance” in a live environment,
the kind of surveillance a would-be attacker might perform while on a
synagogue. The experience is meant to help the trainees identify bad
actors carrying out surveillance, the instructors said.Each group was
assigned a target — one of the trainers — and instructed to observe them
without being caught, take notes about their movements, and look for
patterns. Berkowitz led the drill, which was coordinated with local law
enforcement.In the next exercise, a CSS intelligence staffer trained the
group in open-source intelligence techniques. Trainees were made aware
of their own online exposure and vulnerabilities.The guards also
practiced questioning, with some volunteers role-playing while others
questioned them. The drill trained the guards to identify suspicious
behaviors, to learn access control and effective screening.The guards
left the facility to train emergency responses at a local synagogue. The
trainers separated them into two groups — one charged with protecting
the synagogue, and the other role-playing as bystanders or attackers.
The trainers laid out a scenario for that group to surprise the guards.
The instructor repeatedly told the guards to act with urgency, to
practice going “from zero to 100 in a split second.”“I need you to take
control of a situation,” he said. “It’s a mental change you need to work
on.”“Every time I go on shift, I’m thinking, ‘Today something is going
to happen,'” Priem told the group.In one scenario, the guards questioned
the role-playing community members as they lined up at the synagogue
door. One of the entrants told a guard, “I saw something weird by the
bushes,” where the trainers had stashed a fake explosive wrapped in
cloth. The guard told his associates via radio that he was going to
check. After he left his post, a shooter with a fake gun emerged from
behind a cherry blossom tree bursting with pink flowers, opened fire,
then retreated. Two people dropped to the ground, wounded.“Lockdown,
lockdown. Active shooter,” the guard said into his radio. Another guard
slammed the synagogue door shut.After the exercise, the instructors
debriefed the participants, giving them pointers on how they could have
responded more effectively.Antisemitism has spiked in the US and
internationally in recent years, and in the US, authorities have foiled
repeated attack attempts on Jewish communities.In the past year,
authorities arrested a suspect who threatened a New York synagogue,
after receiving a tip from the Community Security Initiative; detained
an armed man in Florida for planning an attack on the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee; arrested a college student who planned a
terror attack on the Israeli consulate in New York City; detained a
suspect in Canada who was attempting to enter the US to attack a Jewish
center in Brooklyn; and indicted a neo-Nazi for planning to distribute
poisoned candy to children at Jewish schools in New York.CSS and other
security groups have proven their worth in recent years. In 2022, a CSS
volunteer noticed a threat on social media and sent the information to
CSI, which sent the threat to law enforcement. Police arrested a pair of
suspects armed with a knife, a handgun and a Nazi armband.A year
earlier, volunteers in the Bronx pursued and snapped a photo of a
suspect who had carried out a string of vandalism against Jewish
institutions in the area, leading to his arrest. In 2023, in Washington,
DC, volunteer guards blocked an assailant who attempted to attack
congregants with a foul-smelling spray outside a synagogue while
shouting “Gas the Jews.”In other incidents, volunteers have screened out
protesters from attending Jewish events, preventing disruptions and
allowing the events to go forward.Priem said volunteers have reported
around 200-300 suspicious incidents a year in recent years. Around half
of those incidents are referred to law enforcement for
investigation.Synagogues use volunteers because hiring security is
expensive, and some government security grants that are already onerous
to obtain offer only limited funding for guards. CSS also says that
volunteers are familiar with their synagogue’s members and culture, so
are better able to spot outsiders or suspicious behaviors. In some
states, strict laws regulate police interactions with the public, such
as prohibitions on any kind of profiling, rules that do not apply to
volunteers.According to Priem, another benefit to using volunteers is
that they will be able to continue their work on their own should
funding dry up altogether.“My feeling, especially the time that we live
right now, I feel that I am part of a big family and I’m protecting that
family,” said a volunteer who does up to six shifts a week at his New
York synagogue. “There is a feeling of belonging and giving back to the
community.”
Briefing: Israel’s 3 Options for Stopping Turkey in Syria-April 11, 2025-Turkey-Israel tensions (GPT)
Initial
talks between Israel and Turkey on deconfliction in Syria failed to
produce results. Turkish hostility remains high, and Ankara appears
committed to establishing a permanent military foothold in Syrian
territory, despite Israeli warnings.Israel has drawn red lines for
Turkish entrenchment in central and southern Syria, while targeting
Syrian airbases reportedly slated for Turkish drone and air defense
deployments. However, Israel wishes to avoid a direct clash with Turkey.
What are Jerusalem’s options? The first and most conventional path is
to exert diplomatic pressure on Turkey through allies, primarily the US.
This is a low-risk method of signaling opposition to Turkish activity,
but its effectiveness is in question.So far, Washington and Europe have
been hesitant to confront Ankara on its Syria strategy. However, this
path has not been fully explored.A more aggressive alternative is covert
action. Israeli Special Forces or cyber units could target Turkish
assets in ways that allow for plausible deniability. This would give
Turkey the option of de-escalating by ignoring or downplaying the
attacks.Still, the risk of Turkish retaliation persists, particularly if
Ankara views such operations as crossing a red line.A third option
focuses on striking at Turkey’s allies in Syria rather than Turkish
forces directly. Israel has already threatened to attack the new regime,
which serves as the centerpiece of Turkish influence in Syria.Targeting
Al-Jolani’s government and forces would undermine Turkey’s strategy
without sparking a direct clash, as long as Ankara chooses not to
escalate. This, too, is uncertain.While Turkey likely also wishes to
avoid a dangerous conflict, its calculations may differ. Ankara aims to
change the status quo and is willing to take military risks to achieve
this, analyst Yonatan Adiri wrote on X. Turkey’s declared aim is to
undermine Israel’s regional status, he added.While Israel still retains
the option of a direct attack on Turkish targets in Syria, deconfliction
efforts will be prioritized for now. Despite deep mistrust, both sides
seem to recognize the high cost of open conflict, and are still
exploring ways to avoid it.
Attacks on Port Sudan point to
escalation of war amid humanitarian catastrophe-The war between Sudan’s
army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continues to wreak death,
destruction and displacement as it spreads to previously quiet areas of
the Northeast African nation.By Linda Bordoni-MAY 6,25
For the
third day in a row, multiple explosions have been heard and a huge fire
has erupted in Port Sudan, Sudan’s main maritime port, where hundreds of
thousands of displaced people have sought refuge during the two-year
war.Drone attacks launched by the RFS on Tuesday reportedly hit multiple
locations, including a fuel depot. A hotel and Sudan’s main power
substation were also reportedly struck, causing a blackout across the
city.Civilians have been evacuated from the airport and the hotel,
reporters said, adding that many of them are panicking as they try to
seek refuge in other parts of the city that have become a safe haven for
hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict.Humanitarian
crisis-The war between Sudan’s army and the RSF has created the world’s
worst humanitarian crisis, one likely to be worsened by these latest
attacks on Port Sudan, where the United Nations and other aid agencies,
as well as army-aligned government ministries, have set up
headquarters.The attacks on the Red Sea coastal city, which began on
Sunday, represent a sharp escalation in fighting, as Port Sudan had
remained untouched by ground or air attacks until this week.The war
between the army and RSF erupted in April 2023 when a dispute over a
transition to civilian government triggered a power struggle between the
two parties.The conflict has displaced more than 12 million people in
Sudan and pushed half the population into acute hunger.(Source: Reuters
and other news agencies)
Putin tells Iranian president Russia wants 'fair' US-Iran nuclear deal-by AFP Staff Writers.
Moscow
(AFP) May 6, 2025-Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday told his
Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian that Moscow wants a "fair" nuclear
deal between the United States and Iran and was ready to help advance
talks, the Kremlin said."The Russian side confirmed its readiness to
contribute to the promotion of this dialogue with the goal of reaching a
fair agreement based on the principles of international law," the
Kremlin said in a readout of a call between the leaders.The latest round
of the talks between Tehran and Washington, initially set for May 3,
was postponed, with mediator Oman citing "logistical reasons" for the
delay.The two countries have held three rounds since April 12, their
highest-level contact since the United States withdrew from a landmark
deal with Iran in 2018, during Donald Trump's first term as
president.Russia has deepened its military and diplomatic ties with Iran
since it launched its offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.The two
countries, both under massive Western sanctions, signed a strategic
partnership earlier this year. Most recently, Moscow has sent two planes
to help put down a fire after a deadly explosion in Iran's biggest
commercial port.Russia earlier confirmed its readiness to help find a
diplomatic solution to the stand-off between Washington and Tehran, and
to play any role in the talks.
India launches strikes deep
inside Pakistan and Pakistan claims 5 Indian jets shot down, in major
escalation-Sophia Saifi Rhea Mogul Helen Regan-By Sophia Saifi, Vedika
Sud, Jerome Taylor, Ross Adkin, Rhea Mogul and Helen Regan, CNN-Updated
11:46 PM EDT, Tue May 6, 2025
Islamabad, Pakistan / New Delhi,
India CNN — India launched military strikes on targets in Pakistan,
both countries said on Wednesday, with Pakistan claiming it had shot
down five Indian Air Force jets in response, in a dangerous escalation
between the nuclear-armed rivals.India’s missile strikes early Wednesday
morning targeted “terrorist infrastructure” across nine sites deep in
Pakistan’s densely populated Punjab province and Pakistan-administered
Kashmir, it said. They come more than two weeks after a massacre of
tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on its
neighbor.Pakistan said eight people were killed in Wednesday’s strikes –
including women and a three-year-old girl – and 35 wounded after six
locations were targeted, in what the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz
Sharif described as “an act of war.”The escalation puts India and
Pakistan, two neighbors with a long history of conflict, in dangerous
territory, with Islamabad vowing to retaliate against New Delhi’s
strikes and the risk of tit-for-tat responses spiraling into an all-out
war.Indian jets have previously bombed Pakistani territory during bouts
of rising tensions but Wednesday’s operation is the deepest India has
struck inside its neighbor since the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971, the
biggest of several wars between the two countries.The situation is now
“obviously serious and fluid,” said Fahd Humayun, an assistant professor
of political science at Tufts University. “Retaliation to India’s
actions will likely now be inevitable.”The Indian Army, which dubbed its
military action Operation Sindoor, declared “Justice is served,” on X.
“Jai Hind!” it added, meaning “Victory to India.”But world leaders have
expressed concern over the operation and have urged restraint from both
countries, with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
warning that “the world cannot afford a military confrontation between
India and Pakistan.” The US Department of State said it was “closely
monitoring” the flare-up.Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority
India have inched closer to open conflict since the massacre last month,
with India’s Hindu-nationalist government under intense pressure from
its base to respond to the attack, in which gunmen killed 25 Indian
tourists in a popular holiday spot.Pakistan says it shot down five
Indian Air Force jets and one drone in “self-defense,” claiming Rafale
jets – sophisticated multi-role fighters made in France – were among
those downed as well as a MiG-29 and an SU-30 fighter. Indian
authorities have not yet confirmed any planes lost. CNN cannot
independently verify the claim and has reached out to the Indian
government for a response.However, a local resident and government
official told CNN that an unidentified fighter aircraft had crashed on a
school building in Indian-administered Kashmir, in the village of
Wuyan.“We heard the sound of a flying plane and then there was a big
explosion. We rushed out of our homes in panic and saw it was on fire.
Luckily no one was injured,” said Wuyan resident Abdul Rashid.Photos
published by AFP news agency showed aircraft wreckage lying in a field
next to a red-brick building. But it was not immediately clear from the
pictures of the wreckage who the aircraft belonged to.Witnesses in
Indian-administered Kashmir’s biggest city Srinagar had previously told
CNN that a blast had rocked the city, around the time when India said it
was conducting airstrikes against Pakistan.The strikes have put the
region on alert, with commercial airlines keeping almost entirely clear
of Pakistani airspace, flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed. The
airport in Srinagar has been closed to civilian traffic, and several
airlines have suspended or diverted flights to Pakistan and northwest
India.Hospitals have been put on alert in Pakistan’s Punjab and schools
have closed in both Pakistan and Indian territory.What was
targeted-India has defended its military operation in Pakistan, claiming
that its actions in response to last month’s massacre were “focused,
measured and non-escalatory in nature.”“No Pakistani military facilities
have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in
selection of targets and method of execution,” India’s defense ministry
said in a statement.Pakistan has denied any involvement in the attack on
the tourist spot of Pahalgam. It has also rejected India’s claim,
saying Wednesday’s strikes largely harmed civilians and targeted mosques
across six locations in its territory.Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif
said his country “has every right to give a befitting reply.”“The
Pakistani nation and the Pakistani Armed Forces know how to deal with
the enemy very well,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
“The enemy will never be allowed to succeed in his nefarious
objectives.”The Indian Army said three civilians in Indian-administered
Kashmir were killed in shelling by Pakistani troops from across the Line
of Control that divides the disputed territory of Kashmir.“The world
must show zero tolerance for terrorism,” India’s Foreign Minister
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in a post on X.From early Wednesday the two
sides have exchanged shelling and gunfire across their border and a CNN
journalist in Pakistan-administered Kashmir heard multiple loud
explosions.Senior Indian officials have spoken with counterparts in a
number of countries to brief them on the steps taken by New Delhi, a
senior Indian government official told CNN. Among the countries briefed
were the United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates and Russia.US President Donald Trump called India’s operation
“a shame,” and that he hopes “it ends very quickly.” Meanwhile,
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to the national security advisers
from India and Pakistan and urged “both to keep lines of communication
open and avoid escalation,” a statement said.The UAE has asked for both
countries “to exercise restraint, de-escalate tensions, and avoid
further escalation that could threaten regional and international
peace,” according to a statement.Flashpoint-Kashmir is one of the
world’s most dangerous flashpoints. It is controlled in part by India
and Pakistan, but both countries claim it in its entirety.India and
Pakistan have fought three wars over the mountainous territory since
their independence from Britain in 1947, the most recent in 1999. And
the divided region is now one of the most militarized places in the
world.For decades, several domestic militant groups, demanding either
independence for Kashmir or for the area to become part of Pakistan,
have fought Indian security forces, leaving tens of thousands killed in
the violence.India has long accused Pakistan of harboring these militant
groups – a charge Islamabad denies – and had vowed to retaliate against
those they deemed responsible.Tensions over Kashmir have also surged in
recent years, after Indian Prime Minister Modi’s government revoked the
region’s constitutional autonomy in 2019, bringing it under the direct
control of New Delhi.Wednesday’s operation is the first time India has
conducted strikes inside Pakistan’s territory since 2019, when Indian
jets targeted multiple locations after it blamed Islamabad for a suicide
car bomb attack that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary personnel
in the region.The massacre in Pahalgam sparked immediate widespread
anger in India, putting Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under
tremendous public pressure to retaliate with force.“Modi and his
government believe it is imperative to respond to Pahalgam,” said Derek
J. Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, a
US-based think tank.“Indians are very likely to support New Delhi’s
response – regardless of what it is, perhaps except for a nuclear
response – because they believe Pakistan must be deterred in the
future.”In the days after the tourist attack, both countries swiftly
downgraded ties with each other and have since been engaging in
escalating tit-for-tat hostilities.CNN’s Manveena Suri and Azaz Syed
contributed to this story.
India launches strikes on Pakistan, Islamabad vows to 'settle the score'By Sajjad QAYYUM with Bhuvan BAGGA in Poonch.
Muzaffarabad,
Pakistan (AFP) May 7, 2025-India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery
along their contested frontier on Wednesday, after New Delhi launched
missile strikes on its arch-rival in a major escalation between the
nuclear-armed neighbours.Dead were reported on both sides. Pakistan said
Indian strikes had killed at least eight people, and India said
Pakistani artillery fire had killed three civilians along the de facto
border in contested Kashmir.New Delhi announced it had carried out
"precision strikes at terrorist camps" at nine sites in
Pakistan-administered Kashmir, days after it blamed Islamabad for a
deadly attack on the Indian-run side of the disputed region.The Indian
army said "justice is served", with New Delhi adding that its actions
"have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature".Pakistan's
Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told AFP: "The retaliation has
already started. We won't take long to settle the score."He accused
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of launching the strikes to "shore
up" his domestic popularity.Islamabad reported eight civilians --
including one child -- killed in the strikes, which hit at least six
locations.Earlier, Pakistan's military said three locations in
Pakistan-administered Kashmir had been hit along with two -- Bahawalpur
and Muridke -- in the country's most populous province of Punjab.AFP
correspondents in Pakistani-run Kashmir and Punjab heard several loud
explosions.Shortly after, India accused Pakistan of "indiscriminate"
firing and artillery shelling across the Line of Control (LoC), the de
facto border in Kashmir, with bursts of flame as shells landed seen by
AFP reporters."Three innocent civilians lost their lives", the Indian
army said, adding it was responding in a "proportionate manner".India
had been widely expected to respond militarily to the April 22 attack on
tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir by gunmen it said were from
Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN-designated terrorist
organisation.That assault left 26 people dead, mainly Hindu men, in the
tourist hotspot of Pahalgam. No group has claimed responsibility.New
Delhi has blamed Islamabad for backing the attack, sparking a series of
heated threats and diplomatic tit-for-tat measures.Pakistan rejects the
accusations, and the two sides have exchanged nightly gunfire since
April 24 along the LoC, according to the Indian army. Pakistan also said
it has held two missile tests.- 'Maximum restraint' -Wednesday's
strikes are a dangerous heightening of friction between the South Asian
neighbours, who have fought multiple wars since they were carved out of
the sub-continent at the end of British rule in 1947.For days the
international community has piled pressure on Pakistan and India to step
back from the brink of war."The world cannot afford a military
confrontation between India and Pakistan," the spokesman for UN chief
Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement, adding that
Guterres called for "maximum restraint."Asked about the strikes, US
President Donald Trump told reporters in Washington he hopes the
fighting "ends very quickly".India's embassy in Washington said New
Delhi's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had briefed US Secretary of
State Marco Rubio after the strikes.Rubio also spoke with Pakistan's
national security advisor, Lt. General Asim Malik, a senior Pakistani
military official told AFP.US National Security Council spokesman Brian
Hughes confirmed that Rubio had spoken with his counterparts from both
India and Pakistan."I am monitoring the situation between India and
Pakistan closely," Rubio said on X, adding that he will "continue to
engage both Indian and Pakistani leadership towards a peaceful
resolution".- Explosions near LoC -India's army said it had
"demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method
of execution", adding that "no Pakistani military facilities have been
targeted".Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, calling the Indian
attack "unprovoked" and "cowardly", said the "heinous act of aggression
will not go unpunished."Indian fighter jets could be heard flying over
Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir.Loud explosions
could also be heard in the town of Poonch, only about 10 miles (16
kilometres) from the LoC.Rebels in Indian-administered Kashmir have
waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with
Pakistan.India regularly blames its neighbour for backing armed groups
fighting its forces in Kashmir, a charge that Islamabad denies.Iranian
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected in New Delhi on Wednesday,
two days after a visit to Islamabad, as Tehran seeks to mediate.India
was also set to hold several civil defence drills Wednesday, while
schools in Pakistan's Punjab were closed, local government officials
said.The strikes came just hours after Modi said that water flowing
across India's borders would be stopped. Pakistan had warned that
tampering with the rivers that flow from India into its territory would
be an "act of war".Modi did not mention Islamabad specifically, but his
speech came after New Delhi suspended its part of the 65-year-old Indus
Waters Treaty, which governs water critical to Pakistan for consumption
and agriculture."India's water used to go outside, now it will flow for
India," Modi said in a speech in New Delhi.
Trump hopes India-Pakistan clashes end 'very quickly'.
Washington
(AFP) May 6, 2025 - US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he hoped
clashes between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan end "very quickly,"
after New Delhi's forces launched strikes and Islamabad vowed
retaliation."It's a shame, we just heard about it," Trump said at the
White House, after the Indian government said it had hit "terrorist
camps" on its western neighbor's territory following a deadly attack on
tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir."I guess people knew something
was going to happen based on the past. They've been fighting for many,
many decades and centuries, actually, if you really think about it," he
added.India and Pakistan have fought three full-scale wars since gaining
independence from the British in 1947. Both claim Kashmir in full but
administer separate portions of the disputed region."I just hope it ends
very quickly," said Trump.India had been widely expected to respond
militarily since gunmen shot dead 26 people in Indian-administered
Kashmir, mostly Hindus.New Delhi has blamed militants that it has said
were from Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba, a UN-designated
terrorist organization.Pakistan's army said the Indian strikes targeted
three sites in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and two in Punjab province,
the country's most populous.Islamabad said that three civilians,
including a child, had been killed in Indian strikes.The Indian strikes
came just hours after the US State Department issued a fresh call for
calm."We continue to urge Pakistan and India to work towards a
responsible resolution that maintains long-term peace and regional
stability in South Asia," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told
reporters.Her statement came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
warned of stopping water from flowing across borders following the
Kashmir attack.
India and Pakistan: a history of armed conflict.
New
Delhi (AFP) May 7, 2025 - Long-running tensions between nuclear-armed
rivals India and Pakistan soared Wednesday after New Delhi launched
deadly strikes at Pakistani territory.The missiles killed at least eight
people, according to Pakistan, which said it had begun retaliating in a
major escalation between the South Asian neighbours.India accuses
Pakistan of backing the deadliest attack in years on civilians in
Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, in which 26 men were
killed.Islamabad has rejected the charge. Both countries have since
exchanged gunfire in Kashmir, expelled citizens and ordered the border
shut.Since the April attack soldiers on each side have fired across the
Line of Control, the de facto border in contested Kashmir, a heavily
fortified zone of Himalayan outposts.The two sides have fought multiple
conflicts -- ranging from skirmishes to all-out war -- since their
bloody partition in 1947.- 1947: Partition -Two centuries of British
rule ends on August 15, 1947, with the sub-continent divided into mainly
Hindu India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.The poorly prepared partition
unleashes bloodshed that kills possibly more than a million people and
displaces 15 million others.Kashmir's monarch dithers on whether to
submit to Indian or Pakistani rule.After the suppression of an uprising
against his rule, Pakistan-backed militants attack. He seeks India's
help, precipitating an all-out war between the countries.A UN-backed,
770-kilometre (480-mile) ceasefire line in January 1949 divides
Kashmir.- 1965: Kashmir -Pakistan launches a second war in August 1965
when it invades India-administered Kashmir.Thousands are killed before a
September ceasefire brokered by the Soviet Union and the United
States.- 1971: Bangladesh -Pakistan deploys troops in 1971 to suppress
an independence movement in what is now Bangladesh, which it had
governed since 1947 as East Pakistan.An estimated three million people
are killed in the nine-month conflict and millions flee into India.India
invades, leading to the creation of the independent nation of
Bangladesh.- 1989-90: Kashmir -An uprising breaks out in Kashmir in 1989
as grievances at Indian rule boil over. Tens of thousands of soldiers,
rebels and civilians are killed in the following decades.India accuses
Pakistan of funding the rebels and aiding their weapons training.- 1999:
Kargil -Pakistan-backed militants seize Indian military posts in the
icy heights of the Kargil mountains.Pakistan yields after severe
pressure from Washington, alarmed by intelligence reports showing
Islamabad had deployed part of its nuclear arsenal nearer to the
conflict. At least 1,000 people are killed over 10 weeks.- 2019: Kashmir
-A suicide attack on a convoy of Indian security forces kills 40 in
Pulwama.India, which is busy with campaigning for general elections,
sends fighter jets which carry out air strikes on Pakistani territory to
target an alleged militant training camp.One Indian jet is shot down
over Pakistani-controlled territory, with the captured pilot safely
released within days back to India.
China's Xi aims to beef up 'no limits' Putin partnership.
Moscow,
May 7 (AFP) May 07, 2025-Chinese President Xi Jinping headed to Moscow
on Wednesday for a key three-day visit including a grand Victory Day
parade and a show of support for Vladimir Putin.Moscow and Beijing
declared a "no limits partnership" weeks before Putin ordered Russia's
Ukraine offensive in February 2022. The expanded military and trade ties
since have troubled the West.The visit comes with rising China-US
tensions over biting US trade tariffs, while President Donald Trump has
also made overtures to Putin in a bid to mediate the conflict in
Ukraine.On Tuesday, the Kremlin praised Russia-China relations as a
"genuine example" of cooperation and said they were "at their highest
point".It said Putin and Xi will discuss Ukraine and Russia-US relations
at a one-to-one meeting.China's foreign ministry said the leaders will
"rally the Global South, shape global governance in the right direction,
unequivocally oppose acts of unilateralism and bullying, and jointly
promote an equal and orderly multipolar world", state broadcaster CCTV
said.- Guest of honour -Putin will address the "grandest" ever annual
Victory Day parade in Moscow on Friday for the 80th anniversary of
defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II to rally support for his troops
fighting in Ukraine.Xi is to be the guest of honour at the May 9 parade
among 29 other foreign leaders, three of whom come from non-recognised
or partially recognised states.Putin has ordered a three-day ceasefire
on the Ukraine frontlines to coincide with the celebrations.Kyiv has
dismissed the gesture as an attempt by Moscow to secure the safety of
the parade and called for a month-long ceasefire instead.Ukraine --
which hit Moscow with drones just days before the parade -- has said it
cannot take responsibility for what happens in Russia.Some countries had
approached Kyiv to ask for safety for their leaders attending the
parade, it added.China has sent 102 soldiers -- the largest foreign
military contingent among the 13 participating nations -- for the
event.Ukraine warned Tuesday against any foreign troops participating in
the parade, calling it "unacceptable" and helping Moscow "whitewash its
war crimes".World War II, officially remembered in Russia as the "Great
Patriotic War", had a devastating impact on the Soviet Union, resulting
in more than 20 million civilian and military deaths.Throughout his
rule, Putin has tapped into this national trauma, making May 9 Russia's
most important public holiday and championing his army as defenders
against fascism.The Kremlin has also drawn parallels between its
offensive against Ukraine and the fight against the Nazis.- Fine line
-China has portrayed itself as a neutral party in the more than
three-year conflict, although Western governments say its close ties to
Russia have given Moscow crucial economic and diplomatic
support.Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in April accused China of
supplying arms to Russia and alleged Beijing knew of at least 155
Chinese nationals fighting alongside Russian forces.Beijing denied that
its citizens were being recruited en masse by Russia and urged Chinese
nationals not to become involved in conflicts.It also rejected claims it
was supplying weapons to any side in the war.Over the past decade,
China and Russia have deepened their ties however, with Beijing becoming
Moscow's largest trading partner following sweeping Western
sanctions.But Russia ranks only as China's fifth-largest trading
partner, with Beijing primarily relying on Moscow for its vast supplies
of natural gas and oil.Chinese companies quickly stepped in to fill the
void left by the exodus of Western firms -- particularly in the auto
sector -- after Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine.The two
countries have shifted nearly all their bilateral transactions to local
currencies, with 95 percent of payments now settled in rubles and yuan.
EDF complaint blocks Czech-Korean nuclear deal.
Prague,
May 6 (AFP) May 06, 2025-A Czech court said Tuesday it blocked a
multi-billion-dollar deal between Prague and South Korea's KHNP on the
construction of two nuclear units following a complaint by France's
EDF.KHNP won the contract last July after beating EDF in the tender, but
the French giant filed an appeal with the Czech antitrust watchdog
UOHS.When the UOHS rejected the appeal last week, EDF filed a
lawsuit.The regional court in the second Czech city of Brno said it had
"issued a pre-emptive ruling banning the signature" originally scheduled
for Wednesday.It added that if the deal were signed, EDF would lose a
chance to compete for the contract for good even if the court ruled in
its favour later on.The deal cannot be signed until the court passes a
verdict on the case.KHNP is due to build the two units at the southern
Czech nuclear plant of Dukovany run by the state-run CEZ group.The Czech
Republic, an EU member of 10.9 million people, relies on nuclear power
-- produced by Dukovany and the Temelin plant also in the south -- for
40 percent of its electricity consumption.With the two new units and
small modular reactors due to be built by 2050, the share of nuclear
energy is expected to rise to 50 percent as the country shifts from
burning fossil fuels.EDF hailed the postponement, saying it "provides
the necessary time for a thorough assessment of any potential
infringement of its rights".It also told AFP it was ready for "all legal
actions".EDF said earlier its appeal was designed to make sure the
selection process was fair and transparent.It also insists it can offer
60 percent of the value of the contract to Czech companies, while the
share offered by KHNP is lower.The Czech news agency CTK quoted KHNP as
saying it acknowledged the postponement but was sure the tender was
correct, and that it was ready to go to court too.Czech Prime Minister
Petr Fiala said after the tender that KHNP's bid was "better in all
criteria assessed".CEZ insisted on Tuesday that the tender was "fully
transparent in all phases" and called on EDF to make its bid public to
"rule out any doubt" that KHNP's bid was better.The UOHS also earlier
rejected an appeal by US-based Westinghouse, eliminated from the tender
in January 2024 over flaws in its bid.KHNP has offered to build the two
new units for around 200 billion Czech koruna ($9 billion) each.Prague
expected to finalise the deal with KHNP by March this year, but the EDF
appeal delayed the process.CEZ expects construction to begin in 2029 and
the first new reactor launched in trial operation in 2036.frj/jza/lth
Boris Pistorius, party soldier in charge of Germany's defence-by AFP Staff Writers.
Berlin
(AFP) May 6, 2025-Germany's Defence Minister Boris Pistorius -- who has
led the push to make the military "ready for war" so it doesn't have to
fight one -- was the only cabinet member to survive the new government
taking office.Hailed as a straight-talking politician, the Social
Democrat has earned the respect of troops and voters for his efforts to
strengthen the Bundeswehr, Germany's armed forces, and support Ukraine
in its fight against Russia.That saved his seat at the cabinet table
when conservative Friedrich Merz officially took over as chancellor
Tuesday from Olaf Scholz of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).The
SPD -- staying on as a junior partner to Merz's CDU/CSU alliance --
decided that Pistorius would remain in charge of Germany's defence
ministry, a job he has held for over two years.Pistorius, 65, now has at
his disposal an unprecedented budget to make the armed forces
battle-ready in the face of sabre-rattling from Moscow and an uncertain
future for the transatlantic alliance.The new government intends to
borrow hundreds of billions of euros to upgrade the military after years
of underinvestment in the post-Cold War era which has drawn the ire of
US President Donald Trump.Pistorius took the job in January 2023, as
Berlin stepped up arms shipments to Ukraine, making Germany the
country's second biggest military backer after the United States.In a
job that has derailed many politicians before him, he quickly became
Germany's most popular politician according to opinion polls, a position
he has maintained ever since.Under Pistorius, Berlin also decided to
deploy a German brigade to Lithuania by 2027 to help strengthen NATO's
eastern flank.- 'Red general' -Born in the northern city of Osnabrueck
on March 14, 1960, Pistorius completed his own compulsory military
service in the early 1980s.He went on to study law and work as an
attorney before entering politics in the 1990s.He became mayor of his
hometown and later interior minister of Lower Saxony state, where he
gained a reputation for his work in renewing the police force and
boosting it to combat extremism.When Pistorius became defence minister,
Der Spiegel news magazine nicknamed him the "red general" for the colour
of the centre left Social Democrats party and his hard-charging
style."Pistorius is considered impatient, occasionally comes across as
brash and can sometimes barely conceal it when he is annoyed with
others," public broadcaster NDR wrote of him.As Scholz's unwieldy
three-party government engaged in open bickering last year over fiscal
and economic policy, Pistorius stayed above the fray.After Scholz's
government came crashing down in November, some voices within the SPD
begged Pistorius to take the helm to try to turn around its dire poll
ratings.But Pistorius refused to make a move for the party crown and
played the loyal soldier, backing Scholz.As the SPD went down to its
worst defeat in history, with around 16 percent of the vote, Pistorius
is now the last man standing from the old ministerial lineup.He has two
daughters and was widowed in 2015 when his wife died of cancer. He
remarried in December 2023 to academic Julia Schwanholz.
Lithuania to spend $1.2 bn to fortify Russia, Belarus border-by AFP Staff Writers.
Vilnius
(AFP) May 5, 2025-NATO member Lithuania on Monday said it will spend
1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) to fortify its border with Russia and
Belarus, with the bulk of this sum used to buy anti-tank
mines.Lithuania, which is on NATO's eastern flank, and fellow Baltic
states Latvia and Estonia -- all bordering Russia -- fear they could be
next in Moscow's crosshairs were it to win its war against Ukraine.All
three countries have been ramping up defences since Russia's invasion of
Ukraine in 2022 and boosted border security over what they allege was a
Russia-inspired influx of migrants at the border.The latest spending
push would allow Lithuania to "block and slow down the actions of
hostile states", the defence ministry said.It added that Lithuania would
"allocate approximately 1.1 billion euros to the countermobility
project over the next 10 years".In January, Lithuania announced plans to
spend an annual five to six percent of its GDP on defence from 2026 to
2030.The defence ministry said "intensive" work was ongoing to identify
how to "ensure the integrity of the Baltic defensive line".It said 800
million euros of the overall sum would be spent on anti-tank mines.The
Baltic states also joined Finland and Poland in deciding this year to
leave the Ottawa Convention that bans acquiring, producing, stockpiling
or using anti-personnel mines.The mines, designed to be buried or hidden
on the ground, often mutilate victims, who do not immediately die, and
aid groups denounce their long-term impact on civilians.Human rights
groups, including Amnesty International and the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC), have condemned the decision to abandon the
treaty.As part of the planned measures, Lithuania will stockpile weapons
like anti-tank systems and harden defences near the so-called Suwalki
Gap -- a strategically important area where Lithuania borders Poland.The
stretch of land is flanked by the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on one
side and by Moscow's ally Belarus on the other.Military strategists say
it is the Achilles' heel of NATO's eastern flank since its capture
would cut off the alliance's three Baltic members.Lithuania plans to
deepen irrigation ditches that could serve as trenches, reforest border
areas and plant trees on key roads to protect civilians and the
military.Additional measures include "electronic warfare capabilities,
anti-drone systems and the strengthening of the observation and early
warning system", the ministry said.
FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of
Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE
HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an
angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all
the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves
together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the
flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men,
and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of
all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS
TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN
FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING
BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @
39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the
earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY)
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS)
and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U
WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS)
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had
received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were
filled with their flesh.
Zephaniah 2:1-15
1 Gather together, yes, gather,O shameless nation,
2
before the decree takes effect[a] -before the day passes away like
chaff—before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before
there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 Seek the
Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands;[b] seek
righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of
the anger of the Lord.
4 For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon
shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the
seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against
you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no
inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, with meadows[c] for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7
The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of
Judah, on which they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they
shall lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will be mindful of
them and restore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab
(JORDAN) and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my
people and made boasts against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I
live,” declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall become
like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles
and salt pits, and a waste forever.The remnant of my people shall
plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11
The Lord will be awesome against them; for he will famish all the gods
of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the
lands of the nations.
12 You also, O Cushites, shall be slain by my sword.
13
And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy
Assyria,(SYRIA) and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like
the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst, all kinds of
beasts;[d] even the owl and the hedgehog[e] shall lodge in her
capitals; a voice shall hoot in the window; devastation will be on the
threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the
exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, “I am, and
there is no one else.” What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild
beasts! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.Sa'ar: No
free meals; talks possible if more hostages freed Israel halts aid into
Gaza, citing Hamas refusal to extend first phase of truce
Footnotes-a
-Zephaniah 2:2 Hebrew gives birth, b-Zephaniah 2:3 Or who carry out his
judgment, c-Zephaniah 2:6 Or caves, d-Zephaniah 2:14 Hebrew beasts of
every nation, e-Zephaniah 2:14 The identity of the animals rendered owl
and hedgehog is uncertain
DANIEL 2:37-45
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38
And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and
the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made
thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after
thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third
kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And
the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh
in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these,
shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the
feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom
shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron,
forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43
And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle
themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to
another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of
these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never
be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it
shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand
for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of
the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the
brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known
to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is
certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
DANIEL 7:17-26
17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
19
Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from
all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his
nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue
with his feet;
20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of
the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn
that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was
more stout than his fellows.
21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
22
Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of
the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
23
Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,
which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole
earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the
ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and
another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first,
and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words
against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High,
and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his
hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
THE WORLD IN 10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS LEAD BY THE EUROPEAN UNION THE WORLD LEADER, NOT AMERICA.I PREDICT.
THE EUROPEAN UNION AND REVIVED ROMAN WORLD GOVERNMENT
DANIEL 2:31-33,36-43, DAN 7:3-8,17
First From Daniel Chapter 2
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (HEAD OF GOLD) DAN 2:31-32,36-38, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (CHEST & ARMS OF SILVER) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (WAIST & HIPS OF BRONZE) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (2 LEGS OF IRON) DAN 2:33,40, ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) (FEET IRON & CLAY) DAN 2:33,41-43,10 TOES
Now From Daniel Chapter 7
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (LION WITH EAGLES WINGS) DAN 7:4, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (BEAR ON HIND LEGS) DAN 7:5, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (LEOPARD 4 WINGS, 4 HEADS) DAN 7:6, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (HUGE IRON TEETH) DAN 7:7 (10 HORNS), ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) DAN 7:8,19-20,23-25 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS
REV
17:9,12, 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS, 7 HILLS ROME. REV 13:1 BEAST WITH 7 HEADS.
THE E.U LEADER OF WORLD GOVERNMENT DAN 2:40-45, 7:7-8,23-25,27, 8:23,
REV 13:3,7,8,12,14,16
REVELATION 17:10-12
10 And there are
seven kings (7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY) five are fallen, (EGYPT,
ASSYRIA, BABYLON,:MEDO-PERSIAN,GREECE and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS
DAY-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he
cometh,(FUTURE-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE-EUROPEAN UNION TODAY) he must
continue a short space.(7 YEARS OF WORLD DOMINATION-BUT 3 1/2 YEARS OF
NEW WORLD ORDER OR ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT)
12 And the ten horns (10
WORLD TRADE BLOCS OR REGIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which
have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour
with the beast.
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (10
WORLD TRADE BLOCS-NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have
received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the
beast.
13 These have one mind,(WORLD SOCIALISM) and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
We
shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only
question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or
consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February
1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in
1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a
man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection
to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten
to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept
him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
DICK
MORRIS-This truly creates a global economic system. From now on, don’t
look to Washington for the rule making, look to Brussels.
THE CLUB OF ROME FOUNDER AURELIO PECCEI WANTS THE WORLD IN 10 REGIONAL TRADING BLOCKS.
REVELATION 16:1-2
1
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels,
Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the
earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth;
and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the
mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16
And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, (SLAVE) to receive a mark in their right hand, or in
their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred
threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
I KNOW THIS MARK WILL
BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP WHAT THE WORD MARK
SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE
VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS DICTATORS MARK. NOW
LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE.
UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW
AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION
13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION
AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO
IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA, KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE
SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS A BADGE OF SERVITUDE),
OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM 5482 XAPAE CHARAX,
KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A POINT; AKIN TO 1125
THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E (BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR
RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM
1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO "GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE;
FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING, -TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 -
STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα, στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick;
(cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German stechen, English stick, sting, etc.;
Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in or branded upon the body. According
to ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or stamp of
their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to
indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even
some devotees who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their
gods (cf. Deyling, Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα
τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.) Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in
Galatians 6:17 says he bears branded on his body, are the traces left
there by the perils, hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by
him for the cause of Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and
approved votary, servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on
Galatians, the passage cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian,
Plutarch, Lcian, others.)
THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo
THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND OR FOREHEAD.
LEVETICUS 19.28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
HERES WHAT THE WORLD WOULD LOOK LIKE (SINCE THERE WILL BE WORLD GOVERNMENT IN THE FUTURE)-UPDATED VERSION
01 CANADA, U.S.A, MEXICO
02 EUROPEAN UNION,WESTERN EUROPE
03 JAPAN
04 AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND, S AFRICA, ISRAEL AND PACIFIC ISLANDS
05 EASTERN EUROPE
06 SOUTHERN, CENTRAL AND LATIN AMERICAS
07 NORTH AFRICA, AND MIDEAST (MOSLEMS)
08 CENTRAL AFRICA
09 SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
10 CENTRAL ASIA
THE
CLUB OF ROME WANTS A WORLD CHARISMATIC DICTATOR (EITHER RELIGIOUS,
POLITICAL OR SCIENTIFICAL) TO HEAD THIS WORLD GOVERNMENT. REV 13:3,7-8,
DAN 7:23-24
WORLD POWERS IN THE END TIME
NORTH - RUSSIA EZEK 38:1-2, 39:1-2
SOUTH - EGYPT DAN 11:42
EAST - CHINA DAN 11:44,REV 16:12
WEST - EUROPEAN UNION DAN 7:23-24 (NOT THE U.S.A)
http://israel7777777.blogspot.ca/2012/03/10-world-trade-blocs-one-world.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2006/09/how-eu-takes-world-control.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2012/05/one-world-religion-crislam.html
FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of
Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE
HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an
angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all
the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves
together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the
flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men,
and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of
all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS
TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN
FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING
BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @
39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the
earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY)
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS)
and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U
WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS)
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had
received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were
filled with their flesh.
TRUMP
GAVE A HINT THERE IS GOING TO BE A BIG SIGNING IN THE MIDEAST. I SAY IT
WILL BE SAUDI-ARABIA SIGNING THE ABRAHAM ACCORDS.IT COULD ALSO BE THAT
THE HOSTAGES COULD BE FREED.OR ISRAEL WILL TAKE LAND IN GAZA. AND EVEN
IF THE HOSTAGES ARE FREED. ISRAEL WILL KEEP THE LAND. TO GET RID OF
HAMAS FOR GOOD.
Mediators looking to establish new Gaza ceasefire proposal in coming hours - report-By JERUSALEM POST STAFF-MAY 7, 2025 10:03
Mediators
are looking to establish a new Gaza ceasefire proposal in the coming
hours, Saudi state-owned news outlet Al-Arabiya reported on Wednesday,
citing sources.The proposal reportedly includes establishing "safe
corridors" and humanitarian aid distribution points. The efforts come
amid US President Donald Trump's planned visit to the Middle East next
week.
Trump teases 'very, very big announcement' ahead of Middle
East trip, Carney says he's 'on edge of my seat'Trump teases 'one of
the most important announcements that have been made' ahead of trip to
Middle East-Danielle Wallace By Danielle Wallace Fox News-Published May
6, 2025 12:35pm EDT | Updated May 6, 2025 1:54pm EDT
President
Donald Trump teased a "very, very big announcement" ahead of his trip to
the Middle East, as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was "on
the edge of my seat."President Donald Trump teased a "very, very big
announcement" ahead of his upcoming trip to the Middle East. Trump has a
planned visit to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in
the coming days. "We're going to have a very, very big announcement to
make, like as big as it gets," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office,
where he is meeting with Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney. "And I
won't tell you on what … and it's very positive."ISRAEL SAYS TRUMP’S
MIDDLE EAST VISIT IS THE ‘WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY’ FOR HOSTAGE DEAL Trump
and Carney in Oval Office"It is really, really positive. And that
announcement will be made either Thursday or Friday or Monday before we
leave," Trump added. "But it'll be one of the most important
announcements that have been made in many years about a certain subject,
very important subject. So you'll all be here." After that, the
president asked Carney if he'd like to say a few words. "I'm on the edge
of my seat," Carney said, drawing laughter from the press before
thanking Trump for his "hospitality" and "leadership."It the start of
the meeting, Trump announced that the Houthis in Yemen "don't want to
fight" any longer and agreed to stop its attacks on shipping lanes. In
turn, the president said, the U.S. would stop its bombardment of the
Iran-backed terror group. The U.S. has been launching daily airstrikes
on Yemen since March 15 to defend the freedom of navigation.The Houthis
claimed responsibility for a missile that struck near the main terminal
of Israel's international airport outside Tel Aviv over the weekend. The
Israeli Cabinet voted to approve a plan to increase fighting in Gaza,
and a senior Israeli defense official reportedly said Monday that
Trump's trip to the Middle East brings a "window of opportunity" for a
potential deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages taken by
Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, which killed 1,200
Israelis and prompted the war. "If there is no hostage deal, Operation
'Gideon Chariots' will begin with great intensity and will not stop
until all its goals are achieved," the Israeli defense official said,
according to Reuters. Trump greets Carney outside White HouseTRUMP
CLAIMS HOUTHIS 'DON'T WANT TO FIGHT' AND SAYS US WILL STOP BOMBING
CAMPAIGN-In the Oval Office, Trump did not say whether the forthcoming
announcement was related to the Israel-Hamas war. The president went on
to discuss trade relations with Canada, the impact of the 145% tariff on
China prompting major automobile and tech companies to invest in
onshoring in the U.S., as well as the prospect of the U.S. one day
obtaining control of Canada. The president then circled back to clarify
that the announcement would not necessarily be related to that
subject."We're going to have a great announcement. And I'm not
necessarily saying it's on trade," Trump said. "We're going to have a
great announcement over the next few days. Announcement that will be,
so, so incredible, so positive. And I'm not saying… I don't want you to
think it's necessarily on trade." Trump said the United
States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), which was agreed upon in 2020,
would be renegotiated shortly, but was a "transitional" and "very
positive step" away from the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA.)Trump places hand on Carney's shoulder outside White House-Trump
said NAFTA was the "worst trade deal in the history of our country,
probably in the history of the world." Asked about a potential new trade
deal with Canada with Carney in power, Trump said he has "a lot of
respect" for the prime minister, who "ran a really great campaign."
"Yeah, something could happen," Trump said. "Regardless of anything,
we’re going to be friends with Canada," he added. Carney reiterated that
Canada was not for sale, but Trump said, "Never say never." "I've had
many, many things that were not doable, and they ended up being doable,
and only doable in a very friendly way," Trump said. "If it's to
everybody's benefit, you know, Canada loves us and we love Canada.
That's, I think, the number one thing that's important. But we'll see. I
mean, over time, we'll see what happens." Danielle Wallace is a
breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can
be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on X: @danimwallace.
Abraham
Accords: Full text-Declaration of peace, cooperation, and constructive
diplomatic and friendly relations between the State of Israel and the
Kingdom of Bahrain.By THE STATE OF ISRAEL, THE KINGDOM OF
BAHRAIN-SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 01:53
ABRAHAM ACCORDS: Declaration of
peace, cooperation, and constructive diplomatic and friendly
relations.Announced by the State of Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain on
15 September 2020
His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman
al-Khalifa and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have agreed to open an
era of friendship and cooperation in pursuit of a Middle East region
that is stable, secure and prosperous for the benefit of all States and
peoples in the region. In this spirit Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel
and Foreign Minister Mr. Abdullatif Al Zayani met in Washington today,
at the invitation of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of
America, to endorse the principles of the Abraham Accords and to
commence a new chapter of peace. This diplomatic breakthrough was
facilitated by the Abraham Accords initiative of President Donald J.
Trump. It reflects the successful perseverance of the United States’
efforts to promote peace and stability in the Middle East. The Kingdom
of Bahrain and the State of Israel trust that this development will help
lead to a future in which all peoples and all faiths can live together
in the spirit of cooperation and enjoy peace and prosperity where states
focus on shared interests and building a better future.The parties
discussed their shared commitment to advancing peace and security in the
Middle East stressing the importance of embracing the vision of the
Abraham Accords, widening the circle of peace; recognizing each State’s
right to sovereignty and to live in peace and security, and continuing
the efforts to achieve a just, comprehensive, and enduring resolution of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In their meeting, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani agreed to
establish full diplomatic relations, to promote lasting security, to
eschew threats and the use of force, as well as advance coexistence and a
culture of peace. In this spirit, they have today approved a series of
steps initiating this new chapter in their relations. The Kingdom of
Bahrain and the State of Israel have agreed to seek agreements in the
coming weeks regarding investment, tourism, direct flights, security,
telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the
environment, and other areas of mutual benefit, as well as reaching
agreement on the reciprocal opening of embassies.The Kingdom of Bahrain
and the State of Israel view this moment as a historic opportunity and
recognize their responsibility to pursue a more secure and prosperous
future for generations to come in their respective countries and in the
region.The two countries jointly express their profound thanks and
appreciation to President Donald J. Trump for his untiring efforts and
unique and pragmatic approach to further the cause of peace, justice and
prosperity for all the people of the region. In recognition of this
appreciation, the two countries have asked President Donald J. Trump to
sign this document as a witness to their shared resolve and as the host
of their historic meeting.
The peace treaties between the UAE,
Bahrain and Israel are signed-Netanyahu: 'Treaty could end Arab-Israel
conflict once and for all'By LAHAV HARKOV-SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 14:35
WASHINGTON
– Marking the "dawn of a new Middle East," Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu signed on Tuesday historic and groundbreaking normalization
agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, the third and
fourth ever between Israel and Arab states.“This is an incredible day
for the world,” said US President Donald Trump at the start of the
ceremony.The courage of the Israeli and Arab leaders has enabled these
countries “to take a major stride toward a future where people of all
faiths live together in peace and prosperity," Trump said.The text of
the peace accord with the UAE and the declaration of peace with Bahrain
were not made available to the public before the signing. Among the
details Israeli officials divulged before the signing ceremony were that
the agreements would not go into effect until the Israeli cabinet
ratified them. UAE officials said there would be references to a
two-state solution.The president added that the Abraham Accord – as he
has called it – opens the door for Muslim, Jews and Christians “to live
together, pray together and dream together." He emphasized that Muslims
from around the world would be to visit the holy sites in Israel,
including Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.Netanyahu
spoke next, reminding the audience that the Jews have prayed for peace
for thousands of years and the citizens of Israel have for decades. The
day “brings hope to all of the children of Abraham," he said.“To all of
Israel's friends in the Middle East – those who are with us today and
those who will join us tomorrow – I say, salaam aleichem, peace unto
thee, shalom," he continued.“The blessings of peace that we make today
will be enormous,” he continued, “first because this peace will
eventually expand to include other Arab states, and ultimately, it can
end the Arab-Israel conflict once and for all.”UAE Foreign Minister
Abdullah bin Zayed expressed similar sentiments, reinforcing that “we
are witnessing today a new trend that will create a new path for the
Middle East."But he also emphasized that the Abraham Accord “will enable
us to stand with the Palestinians and enable their hopes of
establishing a Palestinian state.” He thanked Netanyahu for “halting
annexation of Palestinian territories.”Bahrain Foreign Minister
Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani spoke as well.Trump and Netanyahu met in
the Oval Office ahead of the ceremony. During that meeting, Trump said
that he expects that Israel will make peace with “about five different
countries... "not very far down the road.”He added that the Jewish state
made peace with two Arab countries in 72 years and an additional two in
just one month.The two Gulf States become only the third and fourth
countries in the Middle East to recognize Israel and establish formal
diplomatic relations with the Jewish state since Egypt did so in 1979
and Jordan in 1994, drastically re-drawing the political map in the
region. Palestinian leaders have reacted furiously to the deals, which
were reached before a resolution could be found in their dispute with
Israel. But Trump, who hosted the signing ceremony, and whose
administration brokered the agreements between the parties, predicted
that the Palestinians would eventually join in normalizing relations
with Israel, or else will be "left out in the cold."“The Palestinians
will absolutely be a member at the right time,” Trump said on
Tuesday.The president shoved off a question regarding annexation, saying
that “we are not talking about that right now – it is working out
well.”He continued, saying that “they’re tired of fighting” and that he
thinks what Israel gets out of the deal is “peace.” Israelis want peace
very much, Trump said, adding that "even Bibi gets tired of war."On the
sale of F-35 warplanes to the UAE, Trump simply said that "we'll work
that out. It's going to be an easy thing."The UAE's Minister of State
for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on Tuesday that his country's
decision to normalize relations with Israel had "broken the
psychological barrier" and was "the way forward" for the region,
creating more leverage.Several diplomatic sources have hinted that the
Sultanate of Oman – which Netanyahu famously visited in 2018 – would be
the next country to announce a normalization agreement with Israel.
Oman's leader spoke with Trump last week.Saudi Arabia, which allowed an
Israeli and American delegation to cross its airspace in August for the
first direct flight between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, is also
said to be considering a warming of ties with the Jewish state, even
though Saudi leaders have said publicly that they are not yet ready for
full normalization."Instead of focusing on past conflicts, people are
now focused on creating a vibrant future filled with endless
possibilities,” White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who helped
negotiate the agreements, said in a statement late on Monday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Pope
Francis and Part Two of the Abraham Accords-Coming on the heels of
Israel’s treaties with several Muslim countries, the meeting between the
head of the Vatican and the spiritual leader of Iraq’s Shiites is
particularly significant.
Dr. Fiamma Nirenstein is an
Italian-Israeli journalist, author, and senior research fellow at the
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. An adviser on antisemitism to
Israel’s foreign minister, she previously served in the Italian
Parliament (2008–2013) as Vice President of the Foreign Affairs
Committee. A founding member of the Friends of Israel Initiative, she
has written 13 books, including Israel Is Us (2009), and is a leading
voice on Israeli affairs, Middle Eastern politics, and the fight against
antisemitism.(March 9, 2021 / JNS)-Our father, Abraham, has had a lot
on his plate lately—always for the good of humanity, as is his habit.
“Lech lecha,” the Creator commanded him, “go from your land and from
your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land that I will
show you.”From that time on, the adventure of monotheism began.
Unfortunately, the task was left to Abraham’s two sons, Isaac and
Ishmael, whose eternal dispute has relentlessly pursued us to this
day.Pope Francis bravely went to Syria on Friday—to Mosul, Najaf and
Ur—where he led a prayer reminding attendees of Abraham’s message: that
God is invisible, infinite and very close; full of love towards and
demands of man, foremost among them to live in peace.Peace is a moral
attribute of monotheism, the son of Judaism, as well as the founder of
what has come to be called the “human spirit,” which includes
Christianity and Islam.Pope Francis’s meeting with Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, a key spiritual leader of Iraqi Shiite Muslims was
significant. After years of atrocities committed against Christians at
the hands of ISIS particularly and by political Islam in general, he
traveled from Rome to the Middle East to talk to the most suitable of
interlocutors among Shiites, who have not only traditionally suffered as
a poor minority within the Sunni-majority Islamic world, but today—due
to the regime in Tehran—represent the thorniest current issues:
imperialism, uranium enrichment and the persecution of minorities.Yet
Sistani is a notable exception. A balanced character, he was born in
Iran but significantly distant from his homeland, which is dominated by a
group of Khomeinists who, according to Islamic religious law, will
become the recognized leaders—only with the coming of the Mahdi, Imam
Hussein—of the world’s redemption.He is a moderate, cautious with
politicians, but powerful within his community. He tried to placate the
former after the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a combined force of troops
from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland, while
also attempting to contain attacks against Americans. He pushed hard, as
well, for the war against ISIS. Moreover, he maintains a relationship
with Iran without demonstrating devotion to it.Pope Francis has studied
this situation well. Just as he connected with the Sunnis in
2019—signing the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and
Living Together” (also known as the “Abu Dhabi Declaration”) with the
Grand Iman of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb—he has now found the
appropriate Shiite partner to help him protect Christians in the name of
Abraham.The Pope’s invoking of Abraham comes on the heels of another
historical event: Israel’s signing of the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords
with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and subsequent normalization
agreements with Sudan and Morocco—Muslim-majority states traditionally
hostile to the Jewish state.Today, he is inspired by the ecumenical
father of the three monotheistic religions to design a future of peace
in which the Christians of the Middle East who have suffered immensely
are included. As he knows full well, in pre-2003 Iraq, there were more
than 1.5 million Christians; less than 200,000 remain. The situation is
similar in Syria, where the Christian population has dropped from 2
million to less than 700,000, as a result of expulsion and murder by
Muslim terrorists.Though even while repeating Abraham’s name during his
visit, the Pope didn’t mention the fact that Jews have also been
persecuted by Muslims in the Middle East. Nevertheless, the peaceful
tectonic upheaval that brought the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco to
accept Israel and the Jewish people as indigenous to the region—is still
a train in motion. And it is producing results close to his description
of Abraham as one who “knew how to hope against all hope,” and who laid
the groundwork for “the human family.”The revolutionary notion of
people’s common interest in the future of their children, as well as for
good relations and civil progress exhibited in the Abraham Accords, is a
genuine example of how peace must be undertaken: not only between
leaders, but among peoples. Indeed, the treaty was immediately welcomed
warmly by Jews and Muslims in the countries in question; it was not
merely a matter of bureaucracy spurred by calculated cold-blooded
interests.It has been amazing to observe the flurry of contacts between
Muslims and Jews that have been developing during the past few months in
every field. The passion for the realization of Abraham’s envisioned
peace, forbidden for decades by the Palestinian and Iranian veto, is
tangible in the enthusiasm brought about by the thousands of trade
deals, collaborative scientific efforts and human exchanges, even in the
midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.Pope Francis’s sojourn to Iraq
illustrates another facet of Abraham’s work in action. We can only hope
that the path he has cleared will be equally fruitful. It’s a pity that
the Iraqi government ignored the country’s Jews in this context, against
Vatican hopes, by not inviting a Jewish delegation to the event. It was
a dismissal of Jewish history and expulsion from Muslim countries,
along with their synagogues and traditions, by the hundreds of
thousands.During his interreligious prayer for peace in Ur, the Pope
thanked the Lord for having given Abraham to Jews, Christians and
Muslims, together with other believers. Despite the absence of an
official Jewish delegation, there was in attendance their most famous
representative, Avraham Avinu (“Our father, Abraham”).Now, with the
solidification of the Abraham pacts, the three religions have the
opportunity to march together against the fierce opponents of peace,
ranging from ISIS to Al-Qaeda, from Hamas to Hezbollah, and to all the
states that support them, first and foremost Iran.Maybe the Pope’s
meeting with and message to al-Sistani indicates that he understands the
need to summon Abraham spiritually, the way in which Israel and its
peace partners have done through concrete action.Journalist Fiamma
Nirenstein was a member of the Italian Parliament (2008-13), where she
served as vice president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the
Chamber of Deputies. She served in the Council of Europe in Strasbourg,
and established and chaired the Committee for the Inquiry Into
Anti-Semitism. A founding member of the international Friends of Israel
Initiative, she has written 13 books, including “Israel Is Us” (2009).
Currently, she is a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public
Affairs.This article was translated from Italian by Amy Rosenthal.
Reporter's
notebook-Left in ashes by wind-whipped inferno, Canada Park grapples
with near-total devastation-Some 70% of the reserve was torched in last
week’s fires, laying waste to hiking and cycling trails, but forester
Nitai Zakharia says park will be back, even if it takes decades-By
Charlie Summers Today, 6:46 am
The scent of charred wood hung
heavy in the air, though the flames had been extinguished days earlier.
Skeletons of trees loomed over the ash-whitened hillside, some still
emitting wisps of smoke as they smoldered. Canada Park, once a haven for
hikers and cyclists, lay empty and desolate early Sunday afternoon in
wake of the wildfires that devastated central Israel last week.The
woodland park, one of the hardest-hit sites during the blazes that tore
through the hills west of Jerusalem on Wednesday and Thursday, will take
decades to recover, said its chief caretaker at the KKL-JNF Jewish
National Fund.“It was a gem. It was heaven on earth that was burned,”
lamented Nitai Zakharia, the park’s head forester.Zakharia, who has
managed the park for seven years as a KKL field director, looked
despondent as he surveyed what remained of the forest in his pickup
truck that day, passing large swaths of ashen ground where bushes and
trees once stood.Canada Park, also known as Ayalon-Canada Park,
stretches across some 12,000 dunams (3,000 acres) in the Judean
foothills. Located in the West Bank just over the Green Line, the park
attracted 2-3 million visitors each year.That is, until the fires
came.According to Zakharia’s rough estimate, the blaze torched around 70
percent of the park’s flora, covering some 8,000 dunams (2,000
acres).According to official estimates, at least 20,000 dunams (5,000
acres) burned across the area of the Jerusalem hills, devastating
forests, though there was only minimal property damage and only a
handful of minor injuries.Firefighters managed to bring the blazes under
control by Thursday, but many were still working overtime as of Sunday
to combat sudden flare-ups that threatened to reignite conflagrations.As
he drove, Zakharia’s walkie-talkie chattered with reports of small
fires breaking out. Flames were kicking back up in Kula Forest, near
Elad, which also falls under his purview.In Canada Park, several tree
trunks were burning idly Sunday afternoon, producing small flames and
billows of smoke three full days after firefighters managed to contain
the outbreak.Pointing to leaves that had turned orange-red, Zakharia
somberly noted that many of the trees that weren’t burnt to a crisp had
still sustained irreparable heat damage and would likely die in the
coming weeks.‘Farewell to the park’In years past, Canada Park had seen
small brush fires that spread across two to three dunams before being
quickly extinguished by KKL’s own firefighting division.“We weren’t
deluding ourselves,” Zakharia said. “It was clear to us that we were
sitting on natural resources that were liable to burn, but we never
expected a fire like this.”At 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, as
Israelis marked Memorial Day, fire broke out in Eshtaol Forest,
immediately south of Canada Park on the other side of Route 1, a major
highway connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Flames were carried north by
dry winds that reached 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph), and it was not
long before sparks leapt across the highway into Canada Park.The staff
in Zakharia’s region had been spread thin that morning, helping fight
fires near Elad and Eshtaol, leaving Canada Park largely undefended.
While on his way to the park around noon, Zakharia telephoned a
colleague responsible for Eshtaol.“I told him: ‘Look, Yaakov, make sure
you have tons of forces on the border so that it doesn’t pass over Route
1 toward us.’ He told me that they had 10 fire engines ready to
extinguish the fire,” he said.By the time he reached Canada Park, flames
had already begun to engulf its trees.“It was clear to me that no one
would be able to stop the fire in time,” Zakharia recalled. “That was my
farewell to the park.”From a lookout point, the forester watched as
some firefighters left the scene to defend nearby communities threatened
by the flames.“I went to meet the departing group and asked them how
they could leave at a time like this. It turned out that they had almost
got trapped in the fire, and that their fire engine even went up in
flames,” he said.Days after the fire, the burnt-out frame of a a fire
engine stood on the edge of the forest near the highway. Blackened
remains of fire extinguishers and nozzles lay strewn about alongside
melted metal that was still warm to the touch.Investigators have yet to
determine what started the fires but are thought to believe negligence
was the trigger, despite rumors of arson committed by Palestinian
saboteurs.Zakharia dismissed the notion that human activity was to
blame, noting the day’s hot and dry conditions and high gusting winds,
as well as the topography.“A large wildfire is almost always the
consequence of the weather conditions. You almost never encounter big
wildfires like this one if the weather conditions aren’t already very
severe,” he said.The fact that the fires came at the park from an
incline only worsened the situation, he said, since “as we know, fire
loves to rise upwards.”“Nothing was working in our favor here,” he
concluded.‘Struggling to manage’As Zakharia showed The Times of Israel
around what remained of Canada Park, Environmental Protection Minister
Idit Silman arrived unannounced with two of her aides.She rolled her
window down from the back seat of her black government-issued Audi and
asked how he was doing.“We could really use some government backing.
We’re really struggling to manage here,” he told her.Last week, as the
fires stretched resources, prompting pleas for help from abroad, many
noted that the government had cut funding for the Fire and Rescue
Authority by NIS 217 million ($60 million) in the national budget passed
just weeks earlier.Silman vowed a government resolution without going
into detail, took Zakharia’s phone number, and went on her way.Further
down the trail, Zakharia explained that the ideal form of government
support, in his view, would consist of fire buffer zones and other
preventative measures in populated areas, to slow the spread of fires
there.Such barriers would lessen the strain on Israel’s small
firefighting force, allowing more firefighters to deploy to forests
rather than cities and towns.“If a town isn’t well taken care of, you’ll
have 100 teams stationed there, but if it is well taken care of, maybe
20 teams will go to defend the town from the fire, while the other 80
can go and save the forest,” he explained.According to the Fire and
Rescue Authority, manpower falls far below the ideal
firefighter-to-resident ratio determined by the OECD, which makes policy
recommendations for developed countries. While the global norm stands
at one career firefighter per every 1,000 residents, Israeli fire teams
are only able to employ one firefighter for every 4,500 people.“We are
stretched from end to end,” said Fire and Rescue Authority spokeswoman
Tal Volvovitch to The Times of Israel in January.But no amount of
government backing will be able to speed up the decades-long process
needed for Canada Park to return to what it once was.“In order to once
again call this place a forest, we’ll need at least 20 years, and that’s
only on the condition it doesn’t catch fire again,” Zakharia said,
pointing to decades-old oak trees planted in the 1970s, when the park
was founded. Even saplings will likely take at least three years to
bloom.Many ecologists say periodic wildfires are a natural process and
key to maintaining healthy woodland ecosystems, cleaning out dead
organic material and helping to support species diversity by putting
nutrients into the soil and opening up space for new growth.Over the
next few years, Zakharia hopes to turn the disaster into a fresh start
for Canada Park, including adopting a more fire-conscious approach to
how it is reforested.To this end, he and his team intend to replant
trees further apart from one another along the park’s main pathways and
to create more vegetation-free buffer zones throughout the site.“Just
minutes after witnessing the fire, I began to think about the forest’s
rehabilitation,” he said. “This is what puts wind in our sails.”