“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may they prosper who love you.” Psalm 122: 6
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Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire Offers No Hope for Peace
We can speculate about the outcomes of Operation Protective Edge, but this much is certain: the cease-fire won’t last. Hamas is celebrating its humiliating defeat by proclaiming victory, and Iran joined in the celebration and announced that it is arming the West Bank. (See this article below: “Iran says it has begun arming West Bank.”)
That’s not a good end of a military campaign or a good beginning of a cease-fire because it offers no hope for peace. I didn’t say that it offers no hope for a “peace treaty”.
Hamas leaders see Operation Protective Edge as the third round of a war with Israel that won’t end until Hamas is marginalized or ceases to exist. Hamas won the global PR campaign this time around, and Israel is back at square one:
- Hamas has Gaza firmly in its grasp even though its offensive capabilities have been diminished.
- Hamas is doing everything that it can to take control of the West Bank and making progress because Fatah is becoming more vocal about joining the fight against Israel.
- PA president Mahmoud Abbas is totally inept and corrupt, and he’s no match for the Islamists in his ranks.
- The next round of the Israel-Hamas war will probably see more involvement by Iran and Hezbollah.
Therefore, the cease-fire was a terrible mistake. It’s not a good deal for Israel, and it’s not a good deal for the rest of the world.
Israeli security officials tell us that the people of Gaza are furious with Hamas. (See this article below: “Security Officials Say Gaza Street Seething and Hamas in Disarray.”) That may be true, but there are still plenty of potential jihadists in Gaza. Besides, it doesn’t matter what the people think because Hamas arrests and murders its own citizens at will.
The attitude on the streets of Gaza is totally irrelevant. As long as Hamas has money, weapons, and the willingness to engage in summary executions of its citizens, they will remain a force to be reckoned with.
Gaza today is like Germany during the Nazi era. Germans who opposed Hitler eventually learned to keep their mouths shut, because if they spoke out, they were killed. That’s exactly what is happening in Gaza under Hamas. (See this article below: “Will Hamas Be Held Accountable for War Crimes?”)
To determine more precisely what the future holds, we need answers to these questions:
- Why are the mainstream media and political leaders, particularly Barack Obama, downplaying Hamas’ war crimes especially now that we know radical Islamists are on the rampage throughout the world?
- Will the butchery of radical Islamists have to reach our doorsteps before we decide to defend ourselves?
- At what point will Western governments admit that we should give Israel our complete support because it’s in our interest as much as theirs?
- Will European political leaders have the courage to deal with their growing internal Islamist threat, or will they yield to the radicals in their midst? The same question applies to the United States.
Time will answer all of these questions, but given our lack of resolve, I fear that this old adage applies for at least the near-term: things have never been so bad that they can’t get worse. I expect things to get worse.
Now that’s a sobering thought. Am I being pessimistic or realistic?
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Herb Keinon: Security Officials Say Gaza Street Seething and Hamas in Disarray— As Operation Protective Edge enters its eighth week on Tuesday, Hamas has taken a severe military and morale blow, but its military arm is preparing for another round of fighting believing the price its people are paying is tolerable as long as its goals are achieved. This is the assessment of senior Israeli security officials who nevertheless say there is growing skepticism among Hamas operatives about whether the fighting continues to be worthwhile considering the number of Hamas fighters who have been killed, the destruction of key military installations, the hit on the rocket manufacturing capabilities, and the destruction caused to the terror tunnels, which Hamas viewed as its “Day of Judgement” weapon.
Caroline Glick: Embracing the obvious truth—Four-year-old Daniel Tragerman was murdered on Friday afternoon in his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz by Hamas terrorists. They shot him with a mortar launched from a school in Gaza’s Zeitoun neighborhood. At the time of the launch, the school was filled with civilians who had fled to the school for shelter. They fled to the school for shelter because they were forced to vacate their homes. They were forced to vacate their homes because Hamas terrorists were launching mortars and rockets at Israeli civilian sites, like Daniel Tragerman’s home, from their apartment buildings. THE MORAL and ideological divide between Israel and Hamas is so self-evident that the only way to ignore it is by embracing and cultivating ignorance.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Is the Gaza War Really Over?— Statements made by Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders and spokesmen following the announcement of the long-term cease-fire agreement with Israel this week serve as a reminder of their true intentions and strategy. Over the past two months, the two groups, together with several armed factions in the Gaza Strip, repeatedly announced that their main goal was to end the “siege” on the Gaza Strip and build their own airport and seaport. During the cease-fire talks in Cairo, the Palestinian groups repeatedly and stubbornly insisted that complying with these demands, along with opening all the border crossings with the Gaza Strip, was the only way to end the violence and achieve a long-term cease-fire with Israel. However, it is important to note that these cease-fire demands are not part of Hamas’s or Islamic Jihad’s overall strategy, namely to have Israel wiped off the face of the earth.
Bassam Tawil: Hamas’s “Victory”— An Arab proverb says, “First he hit me, then, before I could accuse him, he complained” — meaning, “It all started when he hit me back.” These days, every loyal Palestinian finds it very frustrating to listen to Hamas boast about its great victory against the Jews in Albunyan Almarsus, what the Israelis call Operation Protective Edge, while it complains that the Jews committed war crimes in Gaza. These complaints recall the pathetic way Arabs boast to convince themselves that they won every war the Israelis defeated them in. There is nothing more bizarre, though, than Hamas’s complaints about the “war crimes” it accuses Israel of committing. According to Article 7 of the Hamas charter, the Hamas movement has a religious and national duty to kill all the Jews in Palestine — and everyplace else.
Interview with Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror: Hamas Gave Us 50 Days to Destroy Its Capabilities—Former Israeli National Security Advisor Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror told Israel Channel 2 TV on Tuesday: “Hamas, in its stupidity, gave us 50 days to destroy its capabilities, to strike its infrastructure, to destroy its network of attack tunnels, to reach a point where its ability to manufacture weapons is close to zero. The number of rockets it has left is very small, and to rebuild what it had will take a long time, if at all, because the government on the other side of the border, the Egyptian government, is not like the previous government….[Hamas] also has more than 1,000 dead.” “This does not mean that Hamas will not open fire in another month if it comes to the conclusion that it has received nothing so far. This is more or less a cease-fire agreement. It didn’t receive anything, and it may be that it will understand that it received nothing and will open fire.”
Ron Ben-Yishai: Hamas Blinked First—After a war of attrition of just one week, Hamas blinked first and agreed to the outline of the initial cease-fire proposed by the Egyptians weeks ago. Israel has not ceded on anything. It was Hamas who sought the cease-fire, but the organization is known to be a serial violator of cease-fires, and the need to shed the blood of Israelis has often overcome its survival instinct. Even when the negotiations do begin, we should be prepared for Hamas trying to pressure us to accept its demands by renewing its attacks. In terms of the rehabilitation of Gaza, Israel has a simple equation: Gaza reconstruction for the demilitarization of heavy weapons – rockets, mortars, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, UAVs, and the dismantling of facilities used to produce rockets. Israel’s demand for demilitarization is not off the table. The campaign is not over, it has just moved to the political, diplomatic and international judiciary arenas.
Ehud Ya’ari: A Good Agreement for Israel—The Hamas leadership in Gaza decided that it was not prepared to accept more scenes of destroyed high-rise buildings and targeted killings. Hamas did not receive any of its demands except for a promise to discuss them, but at the same time the Israeli demand for the demilitarization of Gaza will also be discussed.
Dan Smith: Assessing the UN’s “Gaza Crisis Atlas 2014”—Last week, the UN published a 100-page “Gaza Crisis Atlas” showing the location of 12,000 points representing damage caused between July 9 and August 5. Several patterns are discernible: The attacks are in no way “random” or “indiscriminate.” 72% are within 3 km. of the border with Israel, the location of dozens of terror tunnels dug from Gaza into Israel. The IDF has published a map of known terrorist infrastructure. By overlaying the IDF’s map with the UN’s damage points, the correlation is uncanny. It now becomes clear that the rest of Gaza was, for the most part, undamaged. Less than 5% of the land was affected.
Burak Bekdil: Sorry to Remind You, but Golda Meir Was Right – Part I of IV— Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri said: “All Israelis are legitimate targets.” What would the Palestinian death toll have been if Mr. Netanyahu’s spokesman declared all Palestinians as legitimate targets? Underdog-nation romanticism tells us Israel should not respond when under rocket attack because it is capable of intercepting the rockets. That there are fewer Israeli casualties does not mean Hamas does not want to kill; it just means, for the moment, Hamas cannot kill.
Burak Bekdil: Sorry to Remind You, but Golda Meir Was Right – Part II of IV— Jihadists keep on saying that “they love death more than we love life.” Good for them. Then there are the proxy jihadists. In 2012, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, Mohammad Ali Jafari, said that, “Iran provided the Palestinian organizations the technology to produce Fajr-5 and other missiles, and they can now produce these missiles themselves in large quantities.” Apparently, Iran will fight Israel down to the last Palestinian. And so will Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the Sunni mullah. It’s one of the rare qualities Sunni and Shiite Islamists feature: They have an obsession about fighting Israel at times when their Sunni and Shiite militants are not busy killing each other.
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Police find body in Jerusalem, suspect it may be missing American yeshiva student
PA to tell UN: Force Israel out of W. Bank, or we’ll seek war crimes charges in The Hague
Rebels capture 43 UN peacekeepers at Israel-Syria border
Palestinians riot, throw stones at Gaza border fence
Sinai terror group decapitates four alleged Mossad spies
Europe must take on bigger role in Israel-Palestinian conflict, says France’s Hollande
Shin Bet arrests 16 Israeli Arabs allegedly linked to drug dealings with Hezbollah
Report: Israeli drone shot down in Iraq
Hamas leader Haniyeh reportedly hospitalized in Gaza after emerging from bunker
Media are Hamas’s main strategic weapons, says visiting US historian
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Security Services ‘Foiled Massive Cyber-Attack on Israel’
PFLP-GC Denies Reports that Ahmed Jibril is Dead
Arch-Terrorist Barghouti Calls For Fatah Revolution
Likud MK: Despite Criticism Coalition Gov’t Stable
After Gaza Operation, How Are the Parties Polling?
Korean Air Set to Resume Flights to Israel
David’s Tomb ‘Quiet War is Dangerous as Arab War’
Spanish Cleric: ‘Allah Destroy Every Single Jew’
NY Jewish Couple Attacked by Men Waving PLO Flags
Mumbai Chabad to Reopen 6 Years After Attack
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The war Netanyahu won, and the one he may lose
Poll shows sinking support for PM in wake of war
Opposition head accuses Netanyahu of losing public’s trust
No guarantee of quiet, but we’ll hit Hamas hard if attacked, PM says
Iran says it has begun arming West Bank
‘No innocent Israelis,’ says senior Fatah official
Syrian jets bomb rebels close to Golan Heights
France rules out cooperation with Syria against Islamic State
Poll: 1 in 6 in France support Islamic State
Shin Bet busts Hezbollah arms smugglers in north
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Report: Netanyahu, Abbas met secretly in Jordan days before truce began
In Gaza, Cease-Fire Celebrated with Massive Gunfire
Poll: 89 Percent of Gaza Palestinians Support Firing Rockets at Israel
The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: The International Determination Deficit
Will Hamas Be Held Accountable for War Crimes?
Israel Vindicated by UN Damage Assessment in Gaza
Top UK Anti-Terrorism Officer Says Syria-Related Arrests Soar
Muslim Children Parade The Heads Of Their Victims, While A Crowd Of Muslim Adults Praise Them
Crisis deepens as Ukraine says Russian soldiers back rebel thrust
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Genesis 27: 30-38
30 Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” 32 Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” 33 Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” 34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” 35 And he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” 36 Then he said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37 But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” So Esau lifted his voice and wept.
SnyderTalk Comment: These blessings are critically important because they relate to Yahweh’s promises. Read His Name is Yahweh.
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His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback. It’s also available for free in PDF format.
- God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
- “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
- “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
- Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)
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It’s time to remove the veil and tell the world who God is by Name.
Click here to download the entire audio presentation for free and with no strings attached. Share it as often as you want.
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Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now. There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Other Books by Neil Snyder
- Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming. Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days. Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall. Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace. With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
