Last month, some 2,000 delegates from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) gathered in Bethlehem for a convention led by Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. This was the first formal PLO political gathering in over 20 years. Shockingly, the Netanyahu government allowed a number of prominent Palestinian terrorists to cross Israeli security lines to attend the Fatah convention. Among them was Khalad Abu Asba who participated in the worst ever PLO terror attack in 1978, known as the Coastal Road Massacre. 

One of the surprising outcomes of this convention was a resolution put forth, and unanimously approved by conference delegates, placing blame on Israel's leaders for Yasser Arafat's death in 2004. The resolution said "Israel bears full responsibility" for the late PLO leader's death at the age of 74. No evidence of this claim was presented.  The resolution stated that an "investigative committee" with "international participation" would be established to confirm this statement. This action follows a statement made in Jordan last month by the PLO's former "Foreign Minister" Farouk Kadoumi. He claimed Arafat had revealed to him that Ariel Sharon and other Israeli leaders were plotting with American intelligence agents to assassinate him, with the implied connivance of Abbas and other Fatah leaders. In the minds of the Israelis, this resolution greatly harmed any hope for peace in the region.

Regarding Arafat's death, doctors never revealed the exact cause, but mentioned that he suffered from cirrhosis of the liver and a low blood platelet count, which some suspect was a byproduct of Aids.  Later unsubstantiated reports claimed he had been poisoned to death.  (ddolan.com, August 2009 newsletter)

Last month, I reported on the "huge" pressure from the Obama Administration for Israel to agree to a complete freeze of Jewish construction in the strategic West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. This pressure is also coming from the European Union. An article in this month's Israel Today describes this pressure with a term coined by the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria: "the New Anti-Semitism." Why? Because the pressure is for the purpose of making way for a new Arab state devoid of Jews. In a word, it is racism. It is a reminder of WWII. The demand to halt construction is aimed solely at Israelis who are Jewish and not at Israelis who are Arab. The Arab Israelis are free to continue to build. Yet this is the only land in the world that is home to the Jewish people because it is the Land God gave to His people - bound by an unconditional, eternal covenant.

"A complete freeze of settlement activity including natural growth [essentially] means no more children are allowed to be born in the settlements, and no more Jewish immigrants are allowed to come to Israel because - in order to make room for them - the settlements would have to expand...Reminiscent of Pharaoh, who also wanted to stop natural growth and condemn the Hebrew nation to dying out,...The settlers...published a poster saying, 'Obama!!! Let My People Grow.'" The poster is a picture of settlement construction in the background. In the foreground is a very pregnant woman with her young son. The message to the world is this: Israel is growing! (Israel Today, September 2009)

A Kuwaiti report said that a mysterious explosion in a Hizbullah weapons warehouse six weeks ago involved chemical weapons, adding to the mounting evidence that the terrorist organization is preparing for chemical warfare against Israel.

Eight Hizbullah terrorists were killed in the blast, and the Kuwaiti al-Siyasa newspaper now reports that three others inside the warehouse died from the chemicals that were stored there. The report was based on information from European security sources.

Al-Siyasa previously reported that Hizbullah has been smuggling chemical weapons into southern Lebanon, along with thousands of gas masks. The weapons and equipment reportedly were provided from Iran and smuggled via Syria. 

The chemical weapons include mustard and nerve gas that were produced in North Korea and are destined for Katyusha rockets aimed at Israel. President Shimon Peres recently stated that Hizbullah has rearmed to the point where it has 80,000 missiles, nearly three times the number in its stockpile before the Second Lebanon War three years ago. Lebanon has dismissed his estimate as exaggerated.

Middle East Newsline this week quoted military sources as saying that Hizbullah is expanding its presence along the border, although the ceasefire resolution that ended the Second Lebanon War requires United Nations Interim Forces (UNIFIL) to make sure Hizbullah remains unarmed.

IDF officers and security officials said that Hizbullah terrorists, posing as civilians, have been renting houses to store weapons and for use in another war against Israel.

A terror analyst for the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) revealed a week ago that an Arab government official recently told him. "You're going to be reporting a lot on Hizbullah in the future. They already have people on the ground in Europe and elsewhere. They will be making front-page news soon. They are just waiting for the orders to act - they are not in a hurry."  (prophecynewswatch.com, 9/8/09)

Reported in the Jerusalem Post last week, evidence has piled up that Iran is not years away from being capable of building nuclear bombs at will. It is months away. The latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Teheran's nuclear program makes it clear that at its present rate of uranium enrichment, Iran will have sufficient quantities of enriched uranium to build two atomic bombs by February. What is most notable about this IAEA finding is that it comes in a report that does everything possible to cover up Iran's progress and intentions.

A study by Israeli missile expert Uzi Rubin shows that Iran already has several delivery options for its nuclear arsenal. Rubin has documented that Iran has the capacity to develop solid-fuel-based intermediate ballistic missiles with a range of 3,600 kilometers. Thus, Iran has the capacity to attack not only Israel, but also other states in the Middle East, as well as Europe.

Moreover, Teheran's successful upgrade of its ballistic missiles to satellite launchers has given it the capacity to launch nuclear weapons into the atmosphere. This renders Iran capable of launching an electromagnetic pulse attack (EMP) from sea against just about any country in the world. An EMP attack can destroy a state's electromagnetic grid and thus take a 21st-century economy back to the pre-industrial era. Such an attack would cripple a country's economy, and render the country's government at all levels incapable of restoring order or preventing mass starvation.

What is evident is that Iran is absolutely committed to becoming a nuclear power, and it is committed to building up the capabilities of Hizbullah and Syria.

What can Israel do to prevent Iran from further expanding its nuclear capacity and block it from emerging as a nuclear power? Various leaked reports indicate that Saudi Arabia has given Israel a green light to over-fly its airspace en route to Iran.

Avinu She'BaShamayim:

We cry out to you on behalf of Israel for you are Israel's Helper, and Israel desperately needs your help. Israel is hemmed in and pressed on every side by those who promise peace for concessions of land, and by others who more boldly pronounce complete annihilation. We know for certain that a man-made peace is not the answer; it can never bring lasting peace. We also know that a military option will not bring lasting peace for we know that Israel's real enemy is an unseen enemy, the rulers, authorities, and powers of this dark world who incite hatred of your people. So we use the weapon you gave us to demolish strongholds; the weapon backed by divine power - prayer.

We ask that you pour out your Ruach HaKodesh upon your people bringing them to a knowledge of Yeshua that they may be saved. May the Good News of salvation made possible by the blood atonement of Yeshua refresh their souls. We ask that your Spirit awaken your people and turn them from all manner of rebellion against you. Transform them into a holy nation, a nation of priests. Fill their deepest longing, and reveal to them the wisdom of surrendering to your rightful reign in their heart. Pour out to them your peace that passes understanding and your love that surpasses knowledge. Clothe them with your strength. Clothe them with garments of splendor. Build up Israel. May Israel grow - to spiritual maturity in Messiah Yeshua.

Father, continue to bring your people home to the Land in fulfillment of you promise to them. Turn the hearts of Israel's enemies to be supporters of Israel that they, too, may be blessed and not cursed. Continue to reveal yourself through dreams and visions, through satellite broadcasts and through believers courageously bearing the Good News so that your kingdom may greatly expand among those who are oppressed, deceived, even brainwashed. Break down the strongholds. Fill the hearts of Israel's enemies with your love and move them to bless Israel. We know this is not too much to ask of you, for you do not desire that anyone perish. We ask this in the name of our Cohen HaGadol, Yeshua M'shechaynu. Amen.