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Damascus Will No Longer Be a City
"An oracle concerning Damascus: See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins."
The Prophet Isaiah - Chapter 17, verse 1 NIV
By Paul Robertson.
Copyright 1997, 1998, 2004
truthresearch@hotmail.com
__________________________
"Go, Daniel! For the matters are obscured and sealed until the time of the End. They will be elucidated and clarified and refined by many [people]; the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand; but the wise will understand." Daniel 12:9-10 1
Introduction
Many who study Bible prophecy believe that the world's next imminent prophetic event is the destruction of Damascus prophesied in Isaiah 17. This document presents a hypothetical scenario for the fulfillment of this prophecy based on biblical research and current events. Please note that Isaiah made this prophecy approximately 2800 years ago. It is possible that this prophecy will not be fulfilled for many centuries. It is also possible that God relented or will relent from fulfilling this prophecy, depending on the actions of the people of Damascus. In studying Bible prophecy, times and dates generally elude us, and 20/20 hindsight is the general rule. However, it is interesting to speculate as to our current location on the prophetic timeline as presented in the interwoven prophecies of the Bible. With that in mind, I present this document. Please do not take my reasoning in this document too seriously, as my premises may be incorrect; please test and refine this document with your own study of the scriptures; and please remember that one of the primary duties of all believers is to spread the good news that Jesus paid for our sins on the cross so that we can live forever in the presence of God.
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20, New American Standard Version)
Bible Prophecy
With perfect accuracy, the Bible predicted such events as:
The 70-year Babylonian captivity of the Jews.
"And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years." (Jeremiah 25:11 NKJ) 2
The military campaigns of Alexander the Great.
"And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. Then he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing beside the river, and ran at him with furious power." (Daniel 8:5-6 NKJ)
"The ram which you saw, having the two horns -- they are the kings of Media and Persia. And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king." (Daniel 8:20-21 NKJ)
The crucifixion of the Messiah.
"For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots." (Psalms 22:16-18 NKJ)
The destruction of the second Temple after Messiah's first appearance.
"And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary." (Daniel 9:26 NKJ)
The international exile and dispersion of the Jews.
"So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds." (Ezekiel 36:19 NKJ)
The spread of the good news of the Messiah to all nations.
"Indeed He says, 'It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.'" (Isaiah 49:6 NKJ)
Jewish persecution, the Holocaust, and related events.
"And I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I will deliver them to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth -- to be a curse, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, because they have not heeded My words, says the LORD, which I sent to them by My servants the prophets." (Jeremiah 29:18-19 NKJ)
The dispersed Jews' return from the nations to the land of Israel.
"In the latter years you will come into the land of those ... gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations..." (Ezekiel 38:8 NKJ)
Three Chronological Prophetic Events
Although many Bible prophecies have happened, others have not. Can we determine when prophecies will happen chronologically with respect to other prophecies? Many prophecies give clues that appear to link them to other prophecies. Isaiah 17, an oracle concerning Damascus, is such a prophecy. It gives clues that link it to Ezekiel 38-39, the prophecy of the 'Gog/Magog war,' a multinational attack against Israel. Ezekiel, in turn, seems to have written chapters 36-43 in the sequence the events in those chapters will happen.3 That sequence indicates that the third Temple will be standing after the Gog/Magog war. Let us now look at these three future events: the destruction of Damascus, the Gog/Magog war, and the construction of the third Temple. These events appear to be chronological and, perhaps, imminent.
Event 1. Isaiah 17: An Oracle Concerning Damascus
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:
"Among ancient cities of the world, Damascus is perhaps the oldest continuously inhabited. Its name, Dimashq in Arabic ... derives from Dimashka, a word of pre-Semitic etymology, suggesting that the beginnings of Damascus go back to a time before recorded history."4
Isaiah, however, prophesied that in the future Damascus will no longer be a city. Isaiah chapter 17 reads:
"An oracle concerning Damascus: 'See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer* will be deserted..." (Isaiah 17:1-2 NIV)5
* Aroer is in south central Jordan.6
"...and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,"* (Isaiah 17:2-3 NIV)
* The land of Ephraim is the central West Bank.7 Currently, Palestinian Arabs populate this area.
"...and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram* will be like the glory of the Israelites," declares the LORD Almighty." (Isaiah 17:3 NIV)
* Aram refers to the Syrians.8
"In that day the glory of Jacob will fade*;…" (Isaiah 17:4 NIV)
* 'Jacob' represents the Israelites.
"...the fat of his body will waste away. It will be as when a reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the grain with his arm— as when a man gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. Yet some gleanings will remain, as when an olive tree is beaten, leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches, four or five on the fruitful boughs," declares the LORD, the God of Israel. In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made. In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites*,9 will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth." (Isaiah 17:4-9 NIV)
* This highlighted statement indicates that the Israelites are combatants in this prophecy.
" And all will be desolation. You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress.*" (Isaiah 17:9-10 NIV)
* This may be the reason God allows the events of this chapter to happen.
"Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines, though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing* in the day of disease and incurable pain." (Isaiah 17:10-11 NIV)
* This passage may give a clue to the time of year this prophecy will happen.
The next verses describe an ensuing uproar of many nations and God's judgment on those nations:
"Oh, the raging of many nations— they rage like the raging sea! Oh, the uproar of the peoples— they roar like the roaring of great waters! Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale. In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us." ( Isaiah 17:12-14 NIV)
The above final verses of the chapter transition Isaiah's oracle concerning Damascus into a prophecy of a multinational alliance that rises against Israel to "loot and plunder."
Event 2. Multinational Attack (Gog/Magog War)
Ezekiel 38-39
Isaiah's clues indicate that the multinational attack that follows the destruction of Damascus is the Gog/Magog war of Ezekiel 38-39.
"The word of the LORD came to me: 'Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him and say: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army--your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops--the many nations with you.'" (Ezekiel 38:1-6 NIV)
"Gog" is a man. He is the political leader of the leading nation of the multinational alliance. The only clue we have concerning his identity is found in the book of 1 Chronicles.
"...the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. The descendants of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son..." (1 Chronicles 5:4 KJV)10
Gog was a descendant of Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob, the patriarch of the twelve tribes of Israel. It is possible that the commander of the multinational attack is a direct descendant of Gog, a descendant of Reuben, son of Jacob.
Ezekiel describes Israel's condition at the time of the invasion, through God's prophetic words to Gog.
"Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hords gathered about you, and take command of them. After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety." (Ezekiel 38:7-8 NIV)
The people of Israel now seem to fit the above description for the first time in history, but with one major exception: they do not yet live in safety. Terrorist attacks continue, and hostile neighbors border Israel. However, if the threat of invasion by Israel’s neighbors ceased, and if the Palestinian unrest ceased, Israel would probably fit the above description. This will may be Israel's situation after the prophecy in Isaiah 17 is complete (described in the previous section).
Gog, the leader of the multinational alliance, devises a scheme and will say:
"I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land." (Ezekiel 38:12 NIV)
The reason for Gog's multinational attack is to plunder and loot Israel. At the time of Gog's attack, Israel will have recovered from war. After the war in Isaiah 17 in which Damascus is destroyed, many nations will rise against Israel to loot and plunder. These clues may indicate that Isaiah 17 transitions into Ezekiel 38 and 39. After Damascus is destroyed, the Gog/Magog war may happen next.
Isaiah 18's Mystery Nation--China?
Isaiah 18 gives further insight into the Gog/Magog war. Jewish commentators agree that Isaiah 18 concerns the Gog/Magog war.
"Isaiah... speaks to the nations involved in the wars of 'Gog and Magog.'"11
After Isaiah summarizes the Gog/Magog war at the end of Isaiah 17, he further explains the war in chapter 18, discussing two nations involved. One is along (or beyond) the rivers of Cush (Ethiopia). This could be the Sudan.
"Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush,* which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water." (Isaiah 18:1-2 NIV)
* Cush is the upper Nile region, south of Egypt. The Sudan and Ethiopia are located there. Cush is an ally in the Gog/Magog war: "Persia [Iran], Cush [vicinity of Sudan and Ethiopia], and Put [Libya] will be with them..." (Ezekiel 38:5 NIV; the brackets [ ] are mine).
Isaiah then describes a mystery nation to which Cush will send messengers. Although the mystery nation is not named, a riddle is given that helps us deduce the identity of this nation.
"Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers." (Isaiah 18:2 NIV)
The above translation does not accurately translate the Hebrew text. Using a computerized Hebrew Masoretic Text, I did an exhaustive computer cross-reference of each word that describes the mystery nation. Here is a better description of the mystery nation:
"...a nation led along according to someone else's will, smooth (or hairless), a people feared from himself and beyond, a nation that stretched measuring lines and subjugated, whose land the rivers plundered." (Isaiah 18:2, translated by exhaustive computer cross-reference of the Hebrew Masoretic Text) 12
Let us try to identify this 'mystery nation.' We will assume that the description of this nation is its condition in the future, when messengers from Cush arrive.
The first clue is based on the Hebrew word "mushach."13 This word means "led along according to someone else's will." It indicates that the people of this nation are led to do things not by their own free will, but by the will of someone else. The people of this nation are not free.
The second clue, "smooth-skinned" (or hairless), comes from the Hebrew word "morat,"14 This word probably means smooth, or hairless. The people of this nation are either clean-shaven, or, more probably, they do not naturally grow facial hair and body hair.
The third clue is that its people are "feared from himself and beyond." The Hebrew phrase reads, "nora min-hu vahalea." The descriptive Hebrew root-words are "yare" and "min...halea."15 The people of this nation are afraid of their own government and the nation is feared worldwide. Their nation may be a world power.
The fourth clue, "a nation that stretched measuring lines and subjugated," is from the Hebrew words "kav-kav" and "mevusa."16 he combination of these words indicates that this nation stretched measuring lines (like a carpenter does before he cuts a piece of wood) and then subjugated, or subdued [people].
The fifth clue, "whose land the rivers have plundered" is based on the Hebrew word "bazu." The verb "bazu" is found nowhere else in the Old Testament except in this chapter in Isaiah. The word, however, is similar to the noun "baz,"17 which means "loot," or "plunder." The verb "bazu," therefore, probably means "looted," or "plundered." The passage indicates that rivers will have plundered, or carried off the wealth of this nation's land before messengers from Cush arrive. The rivers of the 'mystery nation' will have severely flooded.
Let us review all the clues. When messengers from Cush go to this 'mystery nation,' the nation has the following characteristics:
The nation is not a free (or democratic) society.
The nation's people are smooth-skinned (have little or no facial and body hair).
The nation is a world power.
The nation stretched measuring lines and then subjugated or subdued [people].
The nation will have just experienced massive river flooding.
If this prophecy is imminent, China may be the modern nation that best fits the Biblical description of the mystery nation of Isaiah 18.
Isaiah 18 continues, giving further insight into the Gog/Magog war.
"All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it. This is what the LORD says to me: "I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches."* (Isaiah 18:3-5 NIV)
* This sentence may give a clue to the time of year of the Gog/Magog defeat.
"They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter. At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers*— the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD Almighty." (Isaiah 18:6-7 NIV)
* again the 'mystery nation' passage is better translated: "...a nation led along according to someone else's will, smooth-skinned (or hairless), a people feared from himself and beyond, a nation that stretched measuring lines and subjugated, whose land the rivers plundered." (Isaiah 18:2 & 7)
Isaiah 17 transitions into the Gog/Magog war at the end of the chapter. Isaiah 18 continues, giving further insight into the Gog/Magog war and describing a nation that may be China.
Event 3: The Third Temple
Ezekiel's Sequence
The prophet Ezekiel described a Jerusalem Temple in chapters 40-43. The passage opens with a vision.
"…I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. The man said to me, 'Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the house of Israel everything you see.'" (Ezekiel 40:3-4 NIV)
As the vision unfolded, Ezekiel saw and described, in detail, a Temple that had never been built, nor has it ever been built. Two temples have been built in Jerusalem to date—Solomon’s temple, and the post-Babylonian exile temple that King Herod later renovated. Ezekiel had a vision of the third, future Temple. Modern Jewish Temple movement groups are currently planning to build this 'Ezekiel Temple' when the opportunity arises.19 (endnote #18 was omitted)
In chapters 36-43, Ezekiel gave a chronology of three major future events in Israel.20 The first is in Ezekiel 36-37. These chapters describe Israelite people coming out of all nations and returning to Israel. This prophecy has already happened and is still happening as Jews return to Israel.
"For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land." (Ezekiel 36:24 NIV)
"…'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel…'" (Ezekiel 37:21-22 NIV)
The second major event is in Ezekiel 38-39. It is the Gog/Magog war, discussed above.
"Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal…" (Ezekiel 38:2 NIV)
The third major event is in Ezekiel 40-43. In these chapters, Ezekiel described the future third Temple in Jerusalem. Based on Ezekiel's chronology, Israelites will return to Israel (this has already happened and continues to happen), then the Gog/Magog war will be fought, then the third Temple will be standing.
The Prophet Joel: The Porch and the Altar
The prophet Joel, in chapter two, further describes the Gog/Magog invasion (see endnote 21 for an explanation). In Joel chapter two, Joel indicates that before the Gog/Magog war ends, two components of the Temple will exist: the porch and the altar. The altar is the brazen altar used for sacrificing animals.
"Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar..." (Joel 2:17 KJV)
This passage indicates that efforts to rebuild the Temple may begin before the Gog/Magog war ends.
How Imminent Are These Prophecies?
IIn the 20th century, with the establishment of the state of Israel came the beginning of the fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy that the Israelites would be gathered from the nations and would resettle the land of Israel, which had long been desolate (Ezekiel 36-37; Ezekiel 38:7-8). Now that this prophecy is being fulfilled, the following prophecies appear to be upcoming events. Here they are, in their probable chronological order:
Damascus will be destroyed (Isaiah 17).
The Gog/Magog multinational war will be fought against Israel (Ezekiel 38-39, transition at end of Isaiah 17, Isaiah 18, Joel 2).
The third Temple will stand in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 40-43).
How imminent are these events?
The Third Temple
The Red Heifer
Before Israel can hold ceremonies in the third Temple, an unblemished red heifer must be sacrificed when it is in its third year of life (between its second and third birthday).
"The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 'This is a requirement of the law that the LORD has commanded: tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without blemish and that has never been under a yoke…'" (Numbers 19:1-2 NIV)
The red heifer's ashes must be mixed with water, and this mixture must be sprinkled on Temple priests to purify them.
In the late summer of 1996, a red heifer was born in Israel to a black and white cow and a brown bull.22 This red heifer, named Melody, was not born as a result of red heifer breeding efforts. Its birth was a surprise. Initially, this heifer was thought to be the first flawless red heifer to be born in Israel in over 1,900 years, and the 10th in the history of the Jewish people.23 According to the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, to qualify as 'flawless' under Halacha (Jewish law), a red heifer cannot have two white or two black hairs growing from the same follicle. This red heifer was originally thought to meet this requirement. Melody, however was proven to be flawed and inappropriate for sacrifice.
Israeli Temple movement groups later set their hopes on a herd of Red Heifers bred in Nebraska, the United States.24
Are red heifer breeding efforts an indication that Temple construction is imminent? If so, then even more imminent are the two events that precede the third Temple's existence: the destruction of Damascus, and the Gog/Magog war.
The Temple Institute
In the mid 1980s, the Temple Institute was founded in Jerusalem. As of autumn, 1997, this institute has built a collection of...
"...vessels, implements and musical instruments associated with service at the Temple in Jerusalem. These artifacts are not mere models. They have been created in strict accordance with Halacha (Jewish Law) and historical sources. Each one represents close collaboration of the Institute's rabbis and scholars with respected artists and craftsmen. They have been reconstructed to be eligible for use in holy service at the Temple in Jerusalem, G-d willing. Of 93 artifacts used in the Temple service, 60 have been recreated."25
The remaining 33 artifacts are being recreated. The Temple Institute expects the 93 artifacts to be used in the third Temple once it is built.
The Dome of the Rock
At the present, Israel cannot build the third Temple without sparking a war. This is because the third holiest shrine of the Muslims sits on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. That shrine is the Dome of the Rock. However, if the military forces of many Muslim nations are severely weakened, there will be little, if any, resistance to keep Israel from building the Temple.
On an interesting note, in January, 1998, I phoned the Temple Institute, Jerusalem, Israel and asked whether the brazen altar (the altar of animal sacrifice mentioned in Joel 2:17, and quoted in "The Porch and the Altar" section above) has been built. A representative from the institute told me that the altar has not yet been built because it must be built in place on the Temple mount, which is currently occupied by Muslim buildings. I then asked whether the Israelis now had the capability to construct the altar. The representative answered, "No problem." He also said that a metal replica of the future altar is currently being used for rehearsals.
Conclusion
It appears that one could argue that the prophesied destruction of Damascus, the prophesied Gog/Magog war and the prophesied erection of the third temple may be chronological events. If recent movements in Israel to prepare for the construction and dedication of the third temple indicate that its erection is imminent, then the destruction of Damascus and the Gog/Magog war may also be imminent.
Perhaps these events will take place soon. Perhaps they will not take place for centuries. Perhaps the reasoning in this article is flawed and the events are not chronological. Perhaps God will prevent the destruction of Damascus from happening if its people repent. Perhaps the city was completely destroyed at one time and the archaeological record has not yet produced the evidence. Through further prayer and Bible study, may the Lord help us to refine our understanding of the meanings of His prophecies.
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..............................................................................benny
This topic from the Jerusalem post,...seems to reveal current developements from the above article.............................Oct. 30, 2006 23:12 | Updated Oct. 31, 2006 14:14
Our World: Israel's encirclement
By CAROLINE GLICK
Talkbacks for this article: 79
Last week Iran began enriching uranium in a second network of centrifuges. Just as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dropped nearly all pretenses about his intention to achieve nuclear weapons, so too he makes it clear daily that he intends to use such weapons to annihilate Israel.
The world's reaction to Iran's behavior is depressingly instructive. Russia tells us that we are being paranoid and continues to build the Bushehr nuclear plant. The Europeans cluck disapprovingly and threaten to pass a weak, "reversible" sanctions resolution in the UN Security Council whose main target is American security hawks. For his part, US President George W. Bush continues to adhere to the call for sanctions.
And so we have Israel. With Iran speeding up its program, Israel may have as little as six months to launch a strike on its nuclear facilities before they can start churning out atomic bombs.
Unfortunately, at this critical moment in Israel's history, we are led by Ehud Olmert, Amir Peretz and Tzipi Livni. Although Olmert claims that he is taking every step to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, through his government's actions in recent months, he has steadily undercut the IDF's ability to take decisive action against Iran.
Over the past two and a half months, the Olmert government has deliberately and willingly enabled Israel's encirclement by hostile forces.
Deployed along Israel's northern and southern borders, these forces constrict Israel's ability to maneuver, and prevent the IDF from taking preventative actions against Iran's proxies in Lebanon and Gaza thus increasing the risks that Israel will face in the event that action is taken against Iran's nuclear facilities and constraining Israel's ability to stealthily launch any attack.
Nearly 10,000 French-commanded UNIFIL troops today protect Hizbullah in south Lebanon. And increasingly, they do so while provoking Israel. Last week two incidents took place between German naval forces and the IAF. Last Tuesday and Thursday IAF jets were scrambled when a German naval helicopter entered Israeli airspace after taking off from a German naval ship off Rosh Hanikra without permission or prior coordination.
What is most remarkable about the story is its repetition. Last Tuesday the German helicopter elicited a strong Israeli response. Rather than desist from provoking the IAF, the Germans repeated their action on Thursday. So what could have been viewed as a regrettable incident was transformed into a provocation.
Germany's hostile behavior is par for the course with UNIFIL. Two weeks ago French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie called the IAF's overflights of Lebanese airspace "extremely dangerous," and threatened that France's forces in Lebanon were liable to fire on the IAF flights "because they may be felt as hostile by forces of the coalition." By word and deed, UNIFIL forces are making clear that they view the IDF, not Hizbullah as their enemy. As they increase their provocations against Israel, UNIFIL forces turn a blind eye to weapons being smuggled daily to Hizbullah from Syria. Were Israel to attempt to take action against Hizbullah or Syria to prevent them from attacking in anticipation of an Israeli strike on Iran, there can be little doubt how UNIFIL would respond.
AND THERE is little that Israel today can do about UNIFIL. Olmert and Livni have been UNIFIL's most enthusiastic cheerleaders. They expended Israel's political capital convincing these hostile forces to perch themselves at our border. They then promised the Israeli public that the French would protect us. They are not in a position today to make demands.
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And then there is Egypt.
Over the weekend, Egypt announced that it was deploying 5,000 troops (or "police" forces) along its border with the Gaza Strip in northern Sinai. The deployment was necessary, Egypt announced, to prevent Israel mounting a serious operation against the massive weapons smuggling that is quickly providing Palestinian terrorists with the means to transform Gaza into south Lebanon.
The fact that Egypt wishes to prevent Israel from stemming the flow of weapons to Gaza - which Egypt itself is supposed to be cutting off - should tell us all we need to know about Egypt's intentions. But apparently the government and Southern Command weren't listening. Sunday, Defense Minister Amir Peretz denied that Egyptian forces had been deployed along the border. An IDF commander in the Southern Command strangely expressed satisfaction at Egypt's move arguing that with the larger force Egypt would finally take action to prevent the arms transfers. The Foreign Ministry assured the public that the peace treaty with Egypt allows Cairo to deploy an unlimited number of "policemen" in the Sinai.
It is hard to decide which is more frightening, Egypt's move or Israel's response to it.
As MK Yuval Steinitz, former chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee explains, Egypt's sudden decision to deploy a massive force along the border is a strategic threat of the first order to Israel. "Egypt," he explains, "is taking advantage of the weakness and incompetence of the government."
Over the past decade, Egypt has been assiduously preparing its military for war against Israel. From the ideological indoctrination of its forces, to its massive armament programs, to the relocation of its military installations, units and logistical bases to both sides of the Suez Canal, to the training of its troops to fight "an unnamed country on Egypt's northern border," Steinitz warns that Egypt has done more than Iran to ready its forces for war against Israel.
Rather than protest Egypt's actions, successive Israeli governments have swallowed whole Egypt's strategic deception. Egypt protests friendship and pretends to combat terrorism and prevent weapons smuggling into the Sinai.
Yet under this friendly guise, Egypt has legitimized Palestinian terrorists and stood behind the massive weapons smuggling operations. As Steinitz puts it, "Egypt is to Palestinian terrorism what Syria is to Hizbullah.
"The weapons to the Palestinians are brought in through Egyptian ports and El-Arish and are imported by land from Sudan. Those latter imports have to traverse Egypt on their way to Gaza. There is no way that the Egyptian government is not colluding with the weapons shippers."
AS STEINITZ notes, over the past eight months the weapons being shipped to Gaza have been sharply upgraded. Egypt today is overseeing the import of sophisticated anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, as well as upgraded Katyusha rockets to Palestinian terror groups.
And now Mubarak is sending 5,000 "policemen to the border." As Steinitz notes, Israel has no way of knowing who these forces are, whether they are police or commandos or infantry or anti-aircraft units. He warns, that "If Israel does nothing to prevent their deployment today, there is no reason to doubt that in a year or two there will be tens of thousands of Egyptian troops along the border with Israel."
As Steinitz notes, not only does every single Egyptian soldier deployed along the border have a job to do in time of war, today they are perched along the border with the Negev, where, as the government turns its back on them and the IDF applauds their deployment, they are within striking distance of some of the IDF's most important military bases and strategic installations.
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Since 1993, Israel's leftist governments have consistently followed a strategy of transferring responsibility for our national security to our enemies. First it was Yasser Arafat who was supposed to fight Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Now it is his deputy Mahmoud Abbas, UNIFIL and Mubarak who are all supposed to fight Israel's enemies. Far from learning from our bloody experience that our enemies have no interest in protecting us, in recent months, the Olmert government has expanded tenfold our reliance on our enemies.
As if having hostile Europeans guarding genocidal Iranian proxies in the north, and hostile Egyptians guarding and arming genocidal Palestinians in the south weren't enough, Sunday it was reported that the Olmert government is considering allowing thousands of armed PLO terrorists from the Badr Brigade in Jordan to relocate to Gaza.
It doesn't have to be this way. Although barring a major Hizbullah provocation, it isn't clear what Israel can do against the UNIFIL forces now enabling Hizbullah to rearm, Israel can still prevent the Egyptian deployment. If the government loudly protested the move and publicly requested the Bush administration order Egypt to remove its forces, Mubarak would do so. But in light of the Olmert government's mishandling of every military challenge Israel has faced since it came to power just six month ago, it is hard to imagine it will act responsibly.
But really, we don't have to worry. Olmert won't let Iran get nuclear weapons.
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