(FOJ) Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday that Israel had sent a "deeply negative signal" about the US-Israeli relationship and urged him to take immediate steps to demonstrate it was interested in renewing efforts at a Middle East peace agreement.

March 13….(Ha Aretz) United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that his government sent a "deeply negative signal" by taking steps which undermined renewed Middle East peace talks. Clinton telephoned Netanyahu and expressed frustration over Israel's announcement on Tuesday of new settlement construction, a move that deeply embarrassed visiting US Vice President Joe Biden and imperiled US plans to launch indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Clinton told Netanyahu the announcement was a "deeply negative signal about Israel's approach to the bilateral relationship, and had undermined trust and confidence in the peace process." The secretary said she could not understand how this happened, particularly in light of the United States' strong commitment to Israel's security," Crowley said. "She made clear that the Israeli government needed to demonstrate not just through words but through specific actions that they are committed to this relationship and to the peace process," he said. The "quartet" of Middle East peace mediators, the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, on Friday issued its own condemnation of the settlement plan and said it would assess the situation at a previously scheduled meeting in Moscow next week. "The Quartet has agreed to closely monitor developments in Jerusalem and to keep under consideration additional steps that may be required to address the situation on the ground," the group said in a statement, without providing further details. Clinton's rebuke of Netanyahu capped a week of tense exchanges between the United States and Israel, which on Tuesday announced it was building 1,600 new settler homes in an area of the occupied West Bank it annexed to Jerusalem. The announcement infuriated the West Bank-based Palestinian leadership, which threatened to pull out of US-brokered indirect "proximity" talks with Israel that Washington hoped would be the first step toward relaunching full peace negotiations after more than a year.

Vice President Biden Embarrassed

It also embarrassed Biden, who repeated calls for talks despite Palestinian demands that Israel first cancel the settlement project. Crowley said US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell and Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman had made numerous calls to regional leaders, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and underscored continued commitment to the plans for the indirect talks. Mitchell is due to return to the region next week and US officials hope the indirect talks might begin then. Israel has so far balked at Palestinian demands that the indirect phase include talk of so-called "final status issues" including the delineation of borders, the fate of Jewish settlements on the West Bank and the status of Jerusalem. The Obama administration wants indirect talks to cover issues of "consequence" but has yet to spell out publicly what that would entail. Palestinians have called the settlement announcement a deliberate attempt by Netanyahu to sabotage peace talks in which he could come under pressure to trade land for a deal. Netanyahu has said he did not know the announcement was coming and castigated his interior minister, while noting that nothing would actually be built in the area for years. Netanyahu’s relationship with the Obama Administration was already under heavy strain, and Clinton made clear that Washington would hold him responsible.

Biden Damages Israel Relationship

I’ve spent the last week traveling across Israel as part of a delegation from Christians United for Israel (CUFI). I’ve had individual meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Ehud Barak, President Shimon Peres, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and others. As always, it has been an eye opening experience. Vice President Joe Biden also spent the past few days in Israel, consorting with many of the same leaders I met with, visiting some of the same historic sites and perhaps walking many of the same streets in Jerusalem and elsewhere. But what he seems to have missed on his trip is at the heart of the troubles that the Obama administration is having in the Middle East. Despite having similar itineraries, Biden and I come to strikingly different conclusions about America’s relationship with Israel, and what it will take to resolve the world’s most intractable conflict. The vice president (and the administration he works for) treats Israel as the primary obstacle to peace in the Middle East. They seem blind to the Islamic fundamentalist who want Israel and the US wiped off the map. But I regard the Jewish state as a lonely outpost of Western Civilization deserving and in dire need of our unwavering support. Biden’s trip has been dominated by controversy over new settlements. The Israeli government this week revealed plans to build 1,600 new housing units in response to a housing shortage in an Orthodox community of East Jerusalem. Because much of the so-called “international community,” including the US, refuses to recognize Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem, the new settlement plan has prompted the usual anti-Israel outrage. In a particularly harsh condemnation, Biden said, “The substance and timing of the announcement, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now.” But the timing of the new housing announcement was drafted three years ago and is under the authority of district planning committees, not Israel’s political leadership. And according to Ehud Barak, the settlement area “is an ultra-Orthodox city very close to the green line, and these are housing units for people who are struggling and cannot buy elsewhere.” Biden’s blistering response is emblematic of the Obama administration’s antipathy toward Israel. Obama, who has made outreach to the Muslim world a feature of his presidency, has left Israelis skeptical about his support for them. A poll last August found that just four percent of Israelis viewed Obama’s policies as more “pro-Israel” than “pro-Palestinian” or neutral. Most Israelis doubt that the Obama administration understands the singular importance of the US-Israeli alliance. Administration officials will sometimes sound reassuring. Biden told an audience at Tel Aviv University this week that the US has “no better friend” than Israel. But his boss has exasperated the Israeli leadership by berating it over natural growth expansion of West Bank housing settlements. Even worse have been Obama’s overtures to Iran, a regime that by arming Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon has become Israel’s greatest menace. Iran’s leadership rejects freedom and individual rights for its own people. Its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a Shiite fundamentalist who believes a Muslim messiah will soon appear to kill Jews and Christians. With Iran’s nuclear program in full force, Ahmadinejad may soon be able to deliver on his promise to “wipe Israel off the map.” I confess that I have always had a deep instinctual love for Israel that has deepened during each of my numerous trips here. My faith teaches me that God blesses those who bless Israel. But it has become increasingly apparent that one doesn’t need a theological view to understand that Israel is an outpost of Western Civilization that’s threatened by the same death-worshipping wave of radical Islamists that targets the US. Many Israeli Jews are Americans too. More than 110,000 American Jews have immigrated to Israel, and 2009 saw the most immigrants from North America in 36 years. Most of those who come do so for religious, ideological and political reasons; not financial ones. They come, risking death and enduring the constant anxiety of knowing that they are rich targets of Muslim hatred, to live in solidarity with fellow Jews. They come also because, in the middle of a region dominated by tyrannical regimes, Israel stands as the lone beacon of democracy. And that’s the reason I, with hundreds of other Christians, have come to Israel. We recognize that abandoning Israel would not only seriously threaten Israel’s existence, but also imperil the United States. One of the most moving activities I participated in this week was a solidarity march through Jerusalem’s Old City. We marchers were met with the astonished faces of city residents more accustomed to witnessing anti-Israel rallies. Some passersby began weeping at our display of support, and one man threw rose petals at our feet. Many ran up to offer their heartfelt “thank-yous.” I wish Joe Biden had been able to witness the outpouring of love and appreciation we’ve received from the Israeli people. In late January, President Obama tried to explain his lack of success thus far in brokering Middle East peace by saying, “This is just really hard.” Middle East peace will remain really hard for the Obama administration until it stops accommodating those who seek to destroy both Israel and the United States and begins treating Israel like the “no better friend” Joe Biden insists it is.

Atheist Battling to Remove 'In God We Trust' From US Currency

(An atheist has claimed in court that the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" on US currency should be removed on the grounds they breach his constitutional rights as a non believer)

March 13….(Telegraph) The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected two legal challenges by Michael Newdow, a doctor, who said the references to God are unconstitutional and infringe on his religious beliefs. The same appeals court caused a national uproar and prompted accusations of judicial activism when it decided in Mr Newdow's favor in 2002, ruling that the pledge violated the First Amendment prohibition against government endorsement of religion. President George W Bush called the 2002 decision "ridiculous," senators passed a resolution condemning the ruling and Newdow received death threats. That lawsuit reached the US Supreme Court in 2004, but the high court said Dr Newdow lacked the legal standing to file the suit because he didn't have custody of his daughter, on whose behalf he brought the case. So Dr Newdow, of Sacremento, filed an identical challenge on behalf of other parents who objected to the recitation of the pledge at school. In 2005, a federal judge in Sacramento decided in Dr Newdow's favor, prompting the appeals court to take up the case again. Judge Carlos Bea, who was appointed by Bush in 2003, wrote for the majority in Thursday's 2-1 ruling. "The Pledge of Allegiance serves to unite our vast nation through the proud recitation of some of the ideals upon which our Republic was founded," he said. Judge Bea noted that schools do not require students to recite the pledge, which was amended to include the words "under God" by a 1954 federal law. Members of Congress at the time said they wanted to set the United States apart from "godless communists." Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who was part of the three-judge panel that ruled in Dr Newdow's favor eight years ago, wrote a 123-page dissent to the 60-page majority opinion. "Under no sound legal analysis adhering to binding Supreme Court precedent could this court uphold state-directed, teacher-led, daily recitation of the 'under God' version of the Pledge of Allegiance by children in public schools," wrote Reinhardt, who was appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980. Dr Newdow, who is also an attorney and founded a group called the First Atheist Church of True Science, said he would ask the appeals court to rehear the case. If it rejects that request, Newdow said he'll appeal to the US Supreme Court. "The whole argument that 'under God' wasn't placed into the pledge for religious purposes is bogus," Dr Newdow said. "I hope people recognise this is not against God or people who believe in God. It's about the government not treating people equally on the basis of their lawful religious views." Dr Newdow said he isn't optimistic the Supreme Court will agree to hear the case because the justices will likely be reluctant to hear a case that could invalidate the pledge. "They don't want to do what's politically unpopular," he said. "The Supreme Court will not hear a case that upholds the Pledge of Allegiance. It's very unlikely at least." Rory Little, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, agreed. He said the Supreme Court is unlikely to review the case because Thursday's ruling is the third appellate court decision upholding the pledge. In addition, Congress passed legislation reaffirming the pledge in 2002, following the 9th Circuit's ruling that struck it down. "I think this is the last word on this particular lawsuit," Little said. "It's an important ruling." In a separate 3-0 ruling Thursday, the appeals court upheld the inscription of the national motto "In God We Trust" on US coins and currency, citing an earlier 9th Circuit panel that ruled the phrase is ceremonial and patriotic and "has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion." Greg Katsas, who argued the case on behalf of the US government when the appellate court heard the case in December 2007, said the panel made the right decision Thursday. "I think these two phrases encapsulate the philosophy on which the nation was founded," said Katsas, who now works in private practice. "There is a religious aspect to saying "One nation under God," but it isn't like a prayer. When someone says the pledge, they're not praying to God, they're pledging allegiance to the country, the flag and the ideals of the country."

Russia Blasts 'Unacceptable' Israel Settlements Plan

March 13….(AFP) Russia criticized as unacceptable Thursday a decision by the Israeli government to build new settlement homes in annexed Arab east Jerusalem. “We consider such actions by Israel as unacceptable,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that Moscow had learned of the decision with “great concern”. “The actions contradict the generally accepted international legal basis for a (Middle East) settlement (and) predetermine the results of the negotiating process,” it added. Israel’s interior ministry said Tuesday it had approved construction of 1,600 new housing units in Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish settlement in the mainly Arab eastern sector of Jerusalem. A permanent UN Security Council member, Russia is also part of the international quartet for peace in the Middle East that includes the European Union, the United Nations and the United States.

Arab League Pulls Palestinians Out of Talks With Israel

(FOJ) US Vice President Joe Biden has told the Palestinians that they deserve a "viable" independent state with contiguous territory. Biden's reassured Abbas of US support a day after Israel announced plans to build 1,600 new homes in disputed east Jerusalem. Biden said Israel's plan was undermining Palestinian faith in new peace negotiations. Biden kept Netanyahu and wife Sara waiting for 90 minutes at a dinner they were hosting for him Tuesday, after the project was made public. "I condemn the decision by the government of Israel for new housing units," Biden said after he finally arrived for the meal.

March 11….(YNET) Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Wednesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told him he would not enter indirect talks with Israel. "The Palestinian president decided he will not enter into those negotiations now, the Palestinian side is not ready to negotiate under the present circumstances," Moussa told a news conference following an urgent meeting of Arab delegates at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo. The Arab League, which recently endorsed indirect talks between the Palestinians and Israel, convened on Wednesday an emergency session following Israel's decision to build 1,600 new housing units in east Jerusalem. The league's Arab peace initiative committee called on Arab foreign ministers to reconsider their support for the talks they extended on March 3. "In case of the failure to stop the Israeli measures immediately, the committee concludes that the proposed talks are irrelevant," the committee's statement said. Secretary-General Moussa cut short his visit to Qatar in order to attend the meeting. Syrian representative to the Arab League, Ambassador Yosef Ahamad said that Israel's decision justifies Damascus' objection to the renewal of negotiations with the Jewish State. During a joint press conference with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr al-Thani, Moussa said, "We will study Israel’s position and formulate recommendations that will be presented to the ministers and later on to the Arab Summit slated to convene in Libya at the end of the month." Al-Thani condemned Israel's plan to expand construction around Jerusalem and said that a clear Arab response must be put forth. He added that Israel's position is placing the Arab League's decisions at risk. "We demand peace with Israel, and demand an immediate peaceful resolution. This is not a warning but an advice for the leaders of Israel," he said. The construction plan, which was announced during US Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel, stirred a diplomatic flurry and embarrassed the Prime Minister's Office. Biden publicly criticized Israel's decision and said during a news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, "Yesterday the decision by the Israeli government to advance planning for new housing units in east Jerusalem undermines that very trust, the trust that we need right now in order to begin, profitable negotiations." Abbas, for his part, urged Israel to commit to the peace process and refrain from taking steps that might impede it. He had agreed to a proposal to resume the US-mediated negotiations after a 14 month hiatus due to the backing from Arab countries. "The Palestinians remain committed to peace as a strategic choice on the basis of two states co-existing side by side according to the '67 borders, with Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state," he said.

(FOJ) US VP Biden poses in front of a smiling photo of Yasser Arafat, the master terrorist of the 20^th century. The Vice President then publicly scolded Israel on Wednesday over a Jewish settlement plan, saying it was undermining peace efforts after Palestinians had agreed to US-mediated talks. Biden Blamed Israel for any interruption in future talks, even as the Arab League issued orders for Abbas to walk away. Biden called on president Shimon Peres and explicitly warned Israel against venturing to attack Iran without prior American permission.

Biden called on President Shimon Peres, his first meeting with an Israel leader. He then explicitly warned Israel against venturing to attack Iran without prior American permission. Even the oft-repeated American commitment to Israel's security was delivered with a notable reservation: I can promise the people of Israel that we will confront every security challenge that we will face, said Biden. This statement ruled out unilateral Israel operations in its defense. Forget unilateral, he was saying: From now "we" make the decisions about the levels of "security challenge" facing Israel and how to "confront it." And there was no false modesty about who the senior decision-maker was to be in this "alliance." Israel was also taken aback by the US vice president's assertion that Iran was isolated as never before. A distorting prism appeared to be held up by the Obama administration to justify its backtracking on painful sanctions for Iran. These sanctions were explicitly promised by the White House to Netanyahu and defense minister Ehud Barak in return for Israel's consent to hold back from striking Iran's nuclear facilities. (Now there are no sanctions, and no sign of any forthcoming) The Biden visit to Israel, therefore, far from meeting its avowed goal of smoothing over the differences between the Obama administration and Israel, has left Jerusalem more distrustful than ever. The climate was not improved Monday, March 8, by Yukiya Amano, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, announcing that the IAEA board would get back to discussing Iran's nuclear program and making decisions only in five months' time. Israel attributed this delay to Washington's intervention as another gambit for shunting Israel and its demands for harsh sanctions aside, while also holding its hand against exercising any military options.

Gates Clarifies US Iran Policy in Riyadh after Biden Fails in Israel

March 11….(DEBKA) US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrived in Riyadh Wednesday, March 10, flying in unexpectedly from Kabul in Afghanistan, after the Saudis demanded urgent clarifications of the Obama Administration's Iran policy. Debkafile's military sources report that the demand followed the failure of US Vice President Joe Biden's talks with Israeli leaders to resolve their differences on Iran. As a result, two senior US officials are visiting to Middle East capitals at the same to under pressure to deal with the Iranian nuclear question. Gates was closeted with Saudi rulers although it was as recently as Feb. 15 that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Riyadh and explained Washington's strategy on Iran to King Abdullah and several senior Saudi princes. But she failed to allay her hosts' intense concerns that the US was doing enough to abort Iran's nuclear weapons program. Then on Sunday, March 7, US Centcom Commander Gen. David Petraeus, asked by a CNN interviewer, whether countries in the Persian Gulf wish to see a US military attack on Iran, said: “there are countries that would like to see a strike, us or perhaps Israel, even.” In Israel, where the media are obsessed with the slightest Arab or Palestinian utterance, none cited the US general's comments. Debkafile's military sources report that Petraeus' comments referred mainly to the two main Persian Gulf state, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In fact, the UAE foreign minister, referring to the assassination of Hamas member al-Mabhouh, noted this week that his country and Israel see eye to eye on the Iranian issue. Reports of the Biden conversations in Jerusalem Tuesday have reached Riyadh. They reveal that not only is the Obama Administration leaning hard on Israel to abstain from attacking Iran, but is even retreating from harsh sanctions. Such penalties have no been put on hold for five months. The Saudis are as deeply alarmed by the latest American stance on Iran is as the Israelis. US sources reported that no sooner did the US defense secretary land in Riyadh from Kabul when he was summoned to dinner with King Abdullah and the Saudi defense minister, Crown Prince Sultan. They admitted that he would be required "to present an update to Saudi officials who are intensely concerned about Iran's nuclear program and the fate of the American-led effort to impose new sanctions on Tehran."

Israel Exerts Sovereign Right to Jerusalem and Biden is Angered!

March 11….(JWR) In the midst of a high-profile visit by Vice President Joe Biden, Israel on Tuesday unveiled plans for new housing in disputed Jerusalem, a surprise step that embarrassed and angered the highest-ranking Obama administration official yet to visit the country. Biden, who had come to promote new peace talks and to smooth the Obama administration's strained relations with a longtime ally, instead denounced Israel's plans to build 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem as a threat to the search for peace. "I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem," Biden said, calling it "precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now." "We must build an atmosphere to support negotiations, not complicate them," Biden said. The sharp turn of events abruptly changed the tenor of the trip in its second day, coming just hours after the vice president proclaimed his love for Israel and declared enduring US support. Biden's visit followed a year of tension brought on by Israel's defiance of the Obama administration's admonitions on precisely the same issue: housing settlements in disputed areas. In Washington, the White House added its own criticism. But it was unclear how deeply the latest step by Israel would affect ties between the two countries, which have been strained by tensions over the Jewish state's hardline security measures. Aides said Biden raised the issue with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a dinner given in honor of the vice president's visit. US officials have repeatedly warned Israel that such development in Jerusalem would anger Palestinians and further threaten prospects for peace. Biden is to deliver a major address on US-Israeli relations on Thursday. He will also meet with Palestinian and Jordanian officials. However, Israelis sought to downplay any relation between Tuesday's announcement and Biden's visit, saying the housing plans have been years in the making and that Netanyahu, who appeared in public with Biden only hours earlier, had no idea it they were being unveiled. Nonetheless, the plans by the Israel Interior Ministry to build the 1,600 homes for Israelis in the Ramat-Schlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem cast a dark shadow over Biden's visit, which was aimed at strengthening frayed ties between the two allies. Palestinian leaders consider such housing moves a threat to the future Palestinian presence in a city they hope will someday be their capital, and the announcement brought quick protests. Palestinian officials said the announcement was timed to Biden's visit and called for a strong US response. A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described the Israeli move as "dangerous" and said it would "torpedo negotiations and the American effort even before they start."

UN’s Weak Response to Muslim Slaughter of Christians

March 11….(IsraelNN.com) Hundreds of Christians were brutally slaughtered with axes and knives by a Muslim Nigerian mob on Sunday. The Muslims attacked three small Christian villages in central Nigeria in an early-morning raid. They blocked off all exits, shot in the air, and then set upon the Christian residents of all ages as they tried to escape with axes, machetes and gunfire. Reports of the number of dead range from nearly 400 to more than 500. Two months ago, violence between the sides claimed more than 300 people when rival youth gangs burned mosques, churches and businesses. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with over 150 million people, is about equally split between the mostly-Muslim north and the chiefly-Christian south. The center, however, is largely mixed, and native Christians vie with relatively-recent Muslim immigrant arrivals for control of fertile agricultural areas. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressed sorrow Monday night at the slaughter. In a fairly restrained response, he told reporters that he is “very disturbed” at the situation, and “called upon all sides to act with maximum restraint.”

FOJ Note: The UN does not plan to have any meetings or investigations into the massacre. One cannot help but wonder at the hypocrisy at the UN. Had this situation been reversed, there would have been an immediate resolution passed before the General Assembly condemning the Christians, but as it was a Muslim assault, the UN just calls for restraint. I guess the attackers are allowed a quota on how many Christians they can kill!

Netanyahu Encourages Christian Zionists to Stay the Course

March 10….(Israel Today) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday addressed a Christians United for Israel (CUFI) summit in Jerusalem and encouraged Christian Zionists around the world to stay the course in their defense of the Jewish state. Netanyahu reiterated the amazing turn of events that the presence of Israel-loving Christians in the Jewish state represents after centuries of Christian persecution of Jewish minorities. "Your presence here today represents a profound transformation in the relationship between Christians and Jews," said the prime minister. "This transformation has its roots in the 19th century when the early Christian Zionists came to the Land Israel and when they began exploring the land of the Bible, when they began to yearn for the Jewish restoration in this land, the restoration of our numbers, the restoration of our sovereignty." Netanyahu noted the Christian Zionism actually preceded modern Jewish Zionism, and acted as a stepping stone for the reestablishment of Israeli sovereignty. In the same spirit as those 19th century Christian Zionists, Netanyahu said leaders like CUFI Director John Hagee are continuing to hold Israel aloft in both prayer and advocacy. "Time after time, through thick and thin, you have stood shoulder to shoulder with our state, and I have come here tonight to thank you for your unwavering friendship," said Netanyahu. "I salute you, the people of Israel salute you, the Jewish people salute you." The summit was attended by 1,000 Christian delegates and led by Hagee, who took the opportunity to reaffirm his support and the support of tens of millions of American Christians for Israel.

Israel Partnering in Africa Against Terror

March 10….(IsraelNN.com) Israel is increasing its partnership in Africa, united with factions which are battling fundamentalist Islam. Following talks between Israel and the Kenyan government in which the African country requested Israeli assistance in fighting terror, Israel and Kenya may form a joint force to guard against the entry of terrorists through the northern Kenyan border with Somalia. In addition, Israel has reportedly expressed an interest in being the first country to recognize the autonomous province of Somaliland as a country, according to a report in Somaliland's Golis News. Somaliland broke away from Somalia, Kenya's eastern neighbor, in 1991, rebelling against Somalian military dictator Siad Barre. A positive relationship with Somaliland could have important geo-military significance for Israel, due to the province's position at the northeastern tip of Africa, on the southern bank of the Gulf of Aden. Somaliland's northern coast is located just south of the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait at the southern end of the Red Sea. A deputy leader of al-Qaeda recently announced the terror group's aim to re-enforce Somali militants in order to turn Somaliland into a bastion of Islamic fundamentalism and hamper the ability of Israeli vessels to sail south out of the Red Sea. He said al-Qaeda wants to put Bab al-Mandab "under the protection of Islam," according to a report by the al-Malahim Establishment for Media Production. The Somali press has also reported that Israel may establish an outpost at the port of Berbera in Somaliland, to guard the entrance to the Red Sea. Up until now, Somaliland, which is overwhelmingly populated by Sunni Muslims, has been unable to receive any kind of foreign aid, development assistance, or military equipment because of a lack of international recognition.

Yousef Went 'to the Crux of the Problem'

March 10….(Culture) A former member of the Palestine Liberation Organization believes the Christian convert and son of a Hamas terrorist got to the crux of the situation when he recently said the biggest terrorist is the god of the Quran. Mosab Yousef testifies that he now worships a God who will never disown him, and since leaving Islam, Yousef has come to believe that the more closely Muslims follow Allah and Muhammad, the more they become "inhuman" terrorists. "The biggest terrorist is the god of the Quran," he recently shared with The Associated Press. "I know this is very dangerous, and I know this will offend many people, but my goal is not to offend them. What I'm saying is that the biggest terrorist is Allah of the Koran, the god of the Koran, the god of Islam." Like Yousef, Walid Shoebat is a former Muslim who converted to Christianity and is now an outspoken critic of Islam. He believes that Yousef's comments are right on the mark. "I was elated to watch brother Mosab speak on the TV and saying the problem is Allah," Shoebat stated. "He's going to the crux of the problem." The fellow convert adds, however, that Yousef's life is now in danger. "The Quran also says if they leave the faith or they renege on the faith, then kill them wherever you find them," he explains. "So it becomes the duty of every Muslim to try to find these people who left Islam to kill them. So now he lives in danger. I live in danger." Shoebat concludes that it is the mission of ex-Muslims to wake up America about the threat Islam poses to the world.

Machete Wielding Muslim Group Attacks, Kills Christians in Nigeria

March 9….(Telegraph) UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Washington led calls for restraint on Monday after the slaughter of more than 500 Christians in Nigeria, as survivors told how the killers chopped down their victims. Funerals took place for victims of the three-hour orgy of violence on Sunday in three Christian villages close to the northern city of Jos, blamed on members of the mainly Muslim Fulani ethnic group. While troops were deployed to the villages to prevent new attacks, security forces detained 95 suspects but faced bitter criticism over how the killers were able to go on the rampage at a time when a curfew was meant to be in force. Media reported that Muslim residents of the villages in Plateau state had been warned by phone text message, two days prior to the attack, so they could make good their escape before the exit points were sealed off. Survivors said the attackers were able to separate the Fulanis from members of the rival Berom group by chanting 'nagge', the Fulani word for cattle. Those who failed to respond in the same language were hacked to death. One local paper said the gangs shouted Allah Akhbar (God is Great) before breaking into homes and setting them alight in the early hours of Sunday. Churches were among the buildings that were burned down. "People were attacked with axes, daggers and cutlasses, many of them children, the aged and pregnant women." The attacks, blamed on mainly Muslim nomadic cattle rearers, targeted the local Berom ethnic group, which is predominantly Christian.

Direct Israeli-Palestinian Talks Next Week in Washington

March 9….(DEBKAfile Exclusive Report) The delegations will be headed by Israeli prime minister's adviser Yitzhak Molcho and senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. debkafile's Middle East sources disclose that Special US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell notified Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas Monday, March 8, that his mission on behalf of president Barack Obama was to get direct peace talks started without delay at a venue near Washington. The US president, he said, was out of patience with the two sides' objections, gripes and maneuvers. According to our Washington sources, administration officials were charged with finding a location around the US capital isolated enough for Israel and Israeli negotiators to talk in private. They recommended the 11th Wing's facility at Bolling Air Force base, which best answered the White House's request for a venue where the Israeli and Palestinian delegations could be kept out of reach of US, Israeli and Palestinian media, so that Mitchell could act as the negotiations sole spokesman. The US envoy's immediate plan now is to ensconce the two delegations for a couple of days in separate rooms at a place in Israel still to be selected to preserve the semblance of indirect talks. After that, they will be transferred to Washington early next week. debkafile's sources stress that the reports leaked from Israeli and Palestinian quarters about the subjects of the talks are irrelevant because the US envoy is still pondering the agenda and has not yet decided where it will start. Our sources disclose that the Palestinians spent most of Monday finding ways to clamp their delegation's wheels because the Fatah doest not trust Erekat enough to give him a free hand. His opponents finally established a "national committee" to monitor his decisions at the negotiating table. Its members are Jibril Rajoub, Muhammad Dahlan and Nasser al Kidwa. The Palestinian team will therefore operate under the close scrutiny of two commissions, one Palestinian, the other appointed by the Arab League. The Israeli prime minister and defense minister Ehud Barak both warned Mitchell against Abbas' plan to attach representatives of Palestinian terrorist groups to the monitoring commission, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Damascus-based extremist groups, all of whom are determined to derail the US peace initiative.

Dire Warning: Israel Must Strike Iran Now, US Will Nottt

(Tehran will have nukes before UN, Obama do anything, says diplomat)

March 9….(WND) The only action that can stop Iran from building nuclear weapons is an Israeli strike on Tehran's nuclear facilities, argued John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the UN under the Bush administration. Speaking in a radio interview with WND senior reporter Aaron Klein, who hosts an investigative program on New York's WABC 770 AM, Bolton warned time is running out for an Israeli attack. "Right now we know about the facilities. We know where they are," he said. "We know exactly what their dimensions are, and I think they are susceptible to an Israeli attack." Bolton said an Israeli military option "isn't there forever. If Israel is going to use military force, it needs to use it sooner rather than later." Bolton posited, "Right now, basically the only scenario that I see other than Iran getting nuclear weapons is military strikes against their nuclear program that result in breaking Iran's control over the nuclear fuel cycle." Continued Bolton: "Since I don't see any possibility that the Obama administration will use military force, I think what that means, to cut to the chase, is this comes down to a decision by Israel whether or not it will use military force against Iran's program." Bolton said he believes there is no doubt Israel possesses the military capability to hit Iran's nuclear sites, but he said the Jewish state would need to act soon. "I think the problem is that the military option is declining day by day," he said. "Every day that goes by is another day where the Iranians can build alternative facilities for uranium conversion, uranium enrichment weaponization, that are in unknown locations that are deeply buried or hardened and that Israel's capabilities just can't reach." Bolton said he sees "almost no chance" for the UN to pass the crippling sanctions that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded. "I think it's just a mistake to believe the Security Council, which has already passed three sanctions resolutions against Iran, will do anything much more than a marginal increase in sanctions that are already in place," he stated. "At this point there is very little that will stop Iran," Bolton added. "The most likely outcome, unfortunately, is that Iran is going to get nuclear weapons, and I think sooner rather than later."

Iran Unveils First Cruise Missile: Ahmadinejad to Afghanistan

(FOJ) Factfile explaining the enrichment of uranium. The United States and the European Union said recently that there must be more sanctions against Iran's nuclear program standoff if diplomacy fails to shift Tehran away from developing nuclear bombs and the missiles to deliver them.

March 8….(DEBKA) If the Iranians are to be believed, they have launched production of their first cruise missile, the short-range Nasr 1 (Victory 1), which was claimed by Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi Sunday, March 7 to be capable of destroying warships of up to 3,000 tons when launched from the ground or sea vessels. The new weapon imperils US naval carriers and US and Israeli submarines stationed in the Persian Gulf. The next Nasr version will be designed for launching from helicopters and submarines, said Vahidi. Last month, Tehran inaugurated production lines for new Qaem (Rising) ground-to-air and Toofan (Storm) surface missiles. debkafile's Iranian sources say Tehran and its allies Syria and Hizballah feel they are in the midst of rapid military and diplomatic momentum compared with American ineptness and Israeli inertia. Sunday, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suddenly announced he would pay an official visit to Kabul Monday and hold talks with Afghan president Hamid Karzai. He prepared his visit 48 hours earlier by calling the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers of New York "a big fabrication" and "a provocation" to justify America's war on terror and invasion of Afghanistan. The Iranian president has therefore embarked on a verbal offensive to undermine the legitimacy of the US military presence in Afghanistan in the eyes of its population, at a time when the new Afghan strategy composed by Barack Obama last year is in full swing with 30,000 extra US troops on the way. In Kabul, he is expectedly to call stridently for an immediate pull-out of US troops. Ahmadinejad used the same trick when he denied the Nazi Holocaust ever happened in order to question Israel's right to exist. This time, he is aiming at two targets: He arrives in Kabul at around the same time that US Vice President Joe Biden lands in Israel. Biden's overriding mission (alongside the US envoy George Mitchell's effort to revive Israel-Palestinian peace talks) is to make sure Israel does not exercise its military option against Iran's nuclear facilities in view of the fading prospects of international harsh sanctions. The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman poured salt on Western wounds Sunday by asserting that "sanctions would not materialize" in view of the lack of consensus among the six powers working to halt Tehran'

WEEK OF MARCH 1 THROUGH MARCH 6

US Vows to Assign Blame if Israel-PA Talks Fail

March 5….(Ha Aretz) The United States government has committed to playing a role in indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and promised that if the talks were to fail, the US will assign blame and take action, according to a document sent by the US to the Palestinian Authority, which Haaretz obtained on Friday. The US government sent the document to the Palestinians responding to their inquires regarding the US initiative to launch indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians. "We expect both parties to act seriously and in good faith. If one side, in our judgment, is not living up to our expectations, we will make our concerns clear and we will act accordingly to overcome that obstacle," it was written. This commitment by the US was a determining factor in the Palestinians' and the Arab League's decision to agree to the US proposal on indirect talks. The document also reveals that US involvement will include "sharing messages between the parties and offering our own ideas and bridging proposals." The US also emphasized that their main concern is establishing a Palestinian state. "Our core remains a viable, independent and sovereign Palestinian State with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967," the document read. Regarding the settlements, the US noted its continued commitment to the road map, which dictates that Israel must freeze all construction in the settlements, and dismantle all outposts erected since March 2001. A prominent Palestinian official told Haaretz that the Palestinian leadership welcomed the US response, and the only reason PA President Mahmoud Abbas delayed responding to the US initially was so he could receive support from the Arab League. The Palestinians are especially satisfied from the US commitment to put the blame on the side responsible if the talks fail.

Syria: Israel Trying to Frame Us With Nuke Charges

Damascus blames Israel for uranium traces; US, EU, urge Syria to drop nuclear secrecy.

March 5….(JPOST) Fiercely backed by allied Iran, Syria on Thursday denied hiding nuclear activities from the world and said Israel was the source of suspicious uranium particles found at a Syrian desert complex, allegedly bombed two years ago by IAF jets. The Syrian and Iranian comments to the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors came in response to Western demands that Damascus stop stonewalling IAEA attempts to investigate suspicions that it ran covert nuclear programs, some with possible weapons applications. While Iran remains the main focus of the board, Syria's refusal to allow IAEA inspectors into the country for follow-up visit to sites possibly linked to secret nuclear work was the principal theme of Thursday's closed board meeting. A recent IAEA report prepared for the board said for the first time that uranium particles found at the desert facility allegedly destroyed by IAF warplanes in September 2007 indicate possible covert nuclear activities at the site. The finding lent backing to Western allegations that the bombed target was a nearly completed nuclear reactor that Washington says was of North Korean design and meant to making weapons-grade plutonium. Syria has put forward several explanations for the source of the uranium at the bomb site and of uranium traces found at its Damascus research reactor that IAEA inspectors say would not normally be found at such a facility. One Syrian suggestion, that Israeli munitions used to bomb the desert location contained depleted uranium, has been all but ruled out by the agency. Delegates inside the meeting told The Associated Press that Bassam Al-Sabbag, Syria's chief IAEA delegate offered a new theory Thursday, suggesting that Israel had dropped uranium particles from the air after the bombing to implicate his country. Separately, Iranian chief delegate Ali Asghar Soltanieh said Israel, not Syria, should be criticized at the meeting, describing the bombing of the Dir A-Zur desert site as "an aggressive act, committed by the Zionist Regime." He accused the US and its allies of making an issue of "a few uranium particles." But the USand the European Union said the onus was on Syria to disprove suspicions by cooperating with the agency. IAEA experts inspected the Dair Alzour site in June 2008 but have been barred from revisiting since. Damascus also has turned down requests for visits to three linked sites which have undergone major landscaping work since those requests were made. The IAEA has also been attempting to probe possible connections between the uranium traces found at the desert site and those detected during a separate 2008 visit at a research reactor in Damascus. "Over the past two years, we have noticed a troubling pattern in Syria's behavior," Chief US delegate Glyn Davies told the meeting. "The more evidence the agency uncovers that Syria was engaged in serious safeguards violations, the more Syria has tried to actively hinder the agency's investigation." On behalf of the EU, Spanish chief delegate Jose Luis Rosello expressed deep regret that Syria "has not been cooperative and transparent with the agency."

Not Just Zionism: Lousy Economy Pushes US Jews to Move to Israel

March 4….(In The Days) When Nisan and Gilan Gertz stepped off the plane at Ben-Gurion International Airport with their children last August, they were seven of almost 4,000 North Americans to make aliyah in 2009, the largest number to do so in a single year since 1983. There were a lot of reasons that the Gertzes chose to move their new home in Beit Shemesh, some 25 miles west of Jerusalem, from their home in the US. There was "inspiration and spirituality," as Nisan describes it. "For the first time in 2,000 years, we can live in a sovereign nation that's Jewish." But money was also an issue. Four of the Gertzes' five children enrolled at Jewish day schools, which together cost the family upward of $50,000 per year in tuition. "All of our money was being dumped into the increasing cost of education and the increasing cost of health care," said Nisan, With unemployment rates hovering at around 10 percent (more than double what they were two years ago), one ripple effect of America's recession is increased immigration to Israel. It is no panacea. But unemployment there is hovering at around 8 percent, while the economy overall has contracted less than in the United States and now appears on the way back to growth. "Israel has proved to be resilient to this particular global shock," the International Monetary Fund noted admiringly in a January report. Then there are the actual cash incentives Israel offers to ease the way for those immigrating under the country's Law of Return, which offers automatic citizenship to anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent. The Ministry of Immigrant Absorption provides about $4,000 per adult and about $2,000 per child to these immigrants, paid out over seven months. Immigrants are also entitled to free education up to the master's degree level and are customarily granted a 70 percent to 90 percent reduction on their property taxes. Plus, they receive discounts and tax waivers on Israeli-made appliances. If that is not enough, additional financial help is available from Nefesh B'Nefesh, a relatively new non-governmental organization that facilitates immigration for American Jews. Cash handouts alone are not likely to cause American families to pick up and move to Israel, of course. But the number of North American Jews immigrating to Israel has been, on the whole, rising in recent years. And the last time there was an uptick as high as this year's, 17 percent, was in 2003, one year after Nefesh was established in Israel with private funding and a mission "to revitalize Aliyah and to substantially increase the number of future olim," or Jewish immigrants. Life in America for Jews is safe and good," said Mark Robbins, a Conservative rabbi who made aliyah in August with his wife and two young children. Unlike the majority of olim, who come to Israel fleeing oppression and political instability elsewhere in the world, for Americans, Robbins said, "in order to make the move, you've really go to be pulled. The push for me came, truthfully, from the incredible cost of raising Jewish kids in the States," Robbins said. The economy is "not the reason, but it's a reason American Jews are making aliyah," said Michael Jankelowitz, the foreign press spokesman for the Jewish Agency. "They have Israel in their hearts. That's coupled with an economic crisis." The economy was an issue even for those without children, and the rates of aliyah among this group seem to be rising. According to Nefesh, almost half of olim in 2008 and 2009 were between the ages of 18 and 35. Freelance music producer and marketer Yoni Leviatan of Miami was among them. "I was always a Zionist," said Leviatan, 31. "I always used to say, I'll be buried in Israel. But I always thought it would be later in life. If I was making a lot of money and I was secure, I don't know if it would have entered my mind to leave." Now that he's there, Leviatan has been impressed by the country's cutting-edge technology sector, both for the jobs it creates and for the quality of life it facilitates. Israel is "not the Third World country that we used to think it was," he said. The largest number of Americans ever to move to Israel in a single year was 8,122, 1n 1971, part of the extended afterglow of Israel's victory in the 1967 Six Day War. "There was a euphoria in the Jewish world after the Six Day War," Jankelowitz said, "that Israel, instead of being annihilated, survived." Moving to Israel back then was a political statement as much as a personal choice. Now, he said, "These people are coming because they're looking for a Jewish way of life.

Arab League Approves US-Brokered PA-Israel Talks

March 4….(IsraelNN.com) In a meeting of 14 foreign ministers in Cairo, the Arab League has approved "indirect negotiations" between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. The indirectness of the talks will be due to American mediation, an element proposed by the United States. According to a report by The New York Times, Arab League approval will politically enable PA President Hamoud Abbas to agree to resume talks with Israel. Up until now, Abbas has refused any discussion with the Jewish state until Israel ceases to build in any Jewish communities in the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu imposed a 10 month building restriction on Jewish residents in those areas, but the PA was not satisfied, because the cessation did not include construction which had already begun, or that which takes place in eastern Jerusalem. According to the present initiative, the US will engage in shuttle diplomacy between the parties until Israel meets the Arab demands in their entirety, at which point Abbas will be allowed to agree to direct talks with Israel. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa of Egypt said that the League agreed to talks "despite the lack of conviction in the seriousness of the Israeli side to facilitate the US role.'' Representatives of Syria and of the Hamas terror organization rejected the Wednesday decision. The League limited the talks to a preliminary four-month period. The Arab League is comprised of 22 member countries and four observers. Member countries are Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia, Somalia, Libya, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Mauritania, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Djibouti, Bahrain, and Comoros, as well as 'Palestine', which is not legally recognized as a country. Observers are Venezuela, Brazil, Eritrea, and India. As of 2007, the Arab League is believed to represent countries with a total population of approximately 340 million people, at least 88% of whom are Muslim.

Mideast War in 'Very' Near Future?

(Dramatic escalation in cooperation between Israel's foes)

Egyptian trucks cross a bridge laid across the Suez Canal during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In the north Syria timed its crossing from the Golan into Israel in conjunction with Egypt’s attack .

March 4….(WND) Egypt is concerned Israel could be in a conflict in the very near future with Syria or the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, a senior Egyptian security official told WND. The security official said in any future war with Syria or Hezbollah, both actors have been preparing to storm the Israeli border with guerillas and commandos, an act unseen here since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the last conflict in which Syria was openly involved. In previous conflicts with Hezbollah, the terrorist group fired rockets into Israel. In addition, the security official said Syria has separately been contemplating launching low-grade attacks against Jewish communities in the Golan Heights to pressure Israel into negotiations aimed at relinquishing the strategic territory. The official said his country is concerned about a coming conflict but did not mention a specific timeframe. "It's possible either side may misinterpret moves and launch the opening salvo very soon," he said. The official also said Israel is concerned Syria has recently passes advanced weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon. He said his country believes Israel may want to engage in a conflict with Hezbollah to minimize that group's capabilities before any future strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. Hezbollah could be used as part of Iran's strategy of retaliation against Iran in a future war, the official said. Recent weeks have seen a war of words between Israel and Syria, as well as a dramatic escalation of public cooperation between Israel's foes Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas. Last month, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned Syria's president, Bashar Assad, that any war with his country would topple his regime. "Assad should know that if he attacks, he will not only lose the war. Neither he nor his family will remain in power," Lieberman said. Lieberman was responding to a Syrian threat against Israeli cities one day earlier. "Israel knows that if it declares war on Syria, such a war will reach its cities as well," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said following a meeting last week with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos. Syria has long demanded the Golan Heights as part of any deal with Israel. The Golan looks down on Israeli population centers and twice was used by Damascus to launch ground invasions into the Jewish state. Last week, Syria hosted a summit with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Khaled Meshal, head of the Hamas. All participants expressed solidarity with each other and vowed the destruction of Israel. The meeting was followed up with another confab in Iran last weekend entitled "Islamic and National Solidarity with the Palestinian People." The summit was attended by the leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria. All three again denounced Israel.

Psalms 83 War Clouds

Psalms 83:1-8 Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot.

March 4….(FOJ) It is a matter of fact that Bible prophecy is literally being fulfilled in our lifetime, especially since the reconstitution of the state of Israel amongst the community of nations in 1948. We have witnessed the 1947 war, with wars followed in 1956, 1967, 1973, and numerous terrorist campaigns followed by many retaliatory conflicts throughout the area. Where is all this turmoil heading? Bible scholars can easily see that Iran (Persia) is quickly asserting itself for its role in the Ezekiel 38 scenario in prophecy. Most concerns today are about Iran’s nuclear weapons program and whether or not Israel of the US might strike against Iran. But little attention is given to the fact that both Iran and the Arab League are using the Palestinians as pawns in their separate chess-war game against Israel. The prophecies from Pslams 83 indicate that the mutual ideal throughout the Middle East is the concept of confederating against Israel to destroy it forever. The Palestinians (tents of Edom, Moab, etc) scattered throughout Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and the Gaza-West Bank areas have long (since 1948) been whipped into a maniacal frenzy of hatred against Israel. It is the position of FOJ that Iran is pushing Assur (verse 8-Syria) to assist in leading the Palestinian confederation of terror machines against Israel, while they (Iran/Persia) seek to escape the brunt of a full-scale war with Israel. The attached photo shows the diminutive devious Israel hater Ahmadinejad striding alongside Syrian leader Bashar Assad, and the Iranian terror proxy Hasan Nasrallah. Just as surely as Mr. Nasrallah has usurped power for Iran in Lebanon via the Hezbollah terror machine, Syria is just as much chained down to the Iran mullocracy and its goals to exterminate the nation of Israel. Damascus has become the domain of the Palestinian burden, and thus the lynchpin of the push of Iran on one hand, and the Arab League on the second hand in confronting the existence of Israel. The Pslams 83 war almost certainly precedes the Ezekiel 38 campaign, which will involve Iran’s great benefactor and guard, Russia. Syria is not listed among the allies of the Magog coalition, and therefore it is FOJ ‘s contention that the Psalms 83 war is very near, and this is evidenced by the combative news that we see daily between Israel and Syria.

Syria Offers Hezbollah Greater Support Than Ever

March 3….(YNET) Syria is crossing previous red lines in supplying Hezbollah with weapons, handing over arms that it never before dared transfer to the Lebanese terror group in he past, the head of the IDF's research division of Military Intelligence says. "Syria is handing over to Hezbollah components that it would not dare hand over before," Yossi Baidatz told the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday. Addressing the Hezbollah threat, the senior IDF official said the group was facing a dilemma between its Jihadist identity and commitment to Iran on the one hand and Lebanon's domestic arena on the other hand. "For that reason, although it has maintained the quiet and is uninterested in a clash, it attempts to carry out a revenge attack for Mugniyah's death, especially against Israeli targets abroad," Baidatz said. "Simultaneously, it continues to build up its strength for a confrontation against Israel, deploys its members broadly throughout south Lebanon but also deeper, and accumulates advanced weapons, long-range missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, and anti-tank missiles, with Iran's and Syria's assistance."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the issue, noting that "there is a process of military buildup and very methodical provocation by Iran." "We are not seeking any kind of confrontation with Syria. The talk about us preparing for an offensive against Syria is unfounded," the PM said. "This false impression is being created by Iran." Baidatz added that "Iran continues to tighten its ties with the radical axis." "Just look at the three-way meeting held in Syria," he said. "It included the commander of Iran's revolutionary forces, who are responsible on behalf of Iran for supplying weapons to all terror groups at all regions." Also in respect to Iran, Baidatz said that hopes for an imminent collapse of the Ayatollah regime are premature. "The potential for something taking place within the Iranian population exists, but there's a great distance between the riots we saw and the regime's collapse," he said. "The Iranian regime is not about to collapse, and those who expect that Iran will soon collapse will be gravely disappointed."

Nasrallah: Arabs Must Help Palestinians

(Hezbollah leader lashes out at Arab states, tells them to learn from Iran, Syria)

March 3….(YNET) Arab states should actively support Islamic resistance, as Iran and Syria do, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said in an aggressive speech Monday. Speaking on the occasion of Prophet Muhammad's birthday, Nasrallah accused Israel of annexing territory and desecrating Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque, but directed most of his criticism at Arab states. "Netanyahu convenes his government and annexes everything, the Golan, the Cave of the Patriarchs, everything. And what did the Arab world do? Nothing," the Hezbollah leader said, while praising young Arab rioters in east Jerusalem for their sacrifices. "The Muslim nation must assume its responsibility and not leave the resistance movements alone on the ground," Nasrallah said. "When Syria and Iran stand by us clearly they assume their responsibility and should be thanked for that. Assist the Palestinians as Iran does and this will resolve the problem; assume your responsibility." Nasrallah added that Hezbollah managed to deter Israel, but said the Jewish State still threatens Lebanon's stability and the arms smuggling from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah. Israel is aware of Hezbollah's strength and views it as a "powerful organization embraced by its people," he said.

Muslim Leader Issues Anti-Terror Fatwa

(Suicide bombers heading to hell, al-Qaeda evil, Pakistani-born scholar says)

March 3….(YNET) The leader of a global Muslim movement has issued a fatwa, or religious edict, that he calls an absolute condemnation of terrorism. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former Pakistani lawmaker, says the 600-page fatwa bans suicide bombing "without any excuses, any pretexts, or exceptions." "They can't claim that their suicide bombings are martyrdom operations and that they become the heroes of the Muslim nation," Qadri told a press conference in London. "“No, they become heroes of hellfire, and they are heading towards hellfire.” Qadri also slammed Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, referring to it as an "old evil with a new name" and saying it has not be challenged adequately thus far. "There is no place for any martyrdom and their act is never, ever to be considered jihad," he said. Tahir-ul-Qadri has issued similar, shorter decrees, but Tuesday's event in London was publicized by the Quilliam Foundation, a government-funded anti-extremism think tank and drew strong media attention.

Al Qaeda Desperately Wants Nuclear Device

March 2….(Newsmax) Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said the agency has taken it as “a matter of faith” that if al-Qaida obtained a nuclear weapon, they wouldn’t hesitate to use it against the United States. “If they had the ability, they would do it,” he told Newsmax in an exclusive interview. “Now as a practical matter, if you’re asking me in my professional persona, it’s weapons of mass destruction they’re after. It’s probably easier for them to work with chemical or biological weapons than with a nuclear device. “And if they work with a nuclear device, our judgment was that it would more likely be a dispersal device, where you’re just throwing radiation into the atmosphere, rather than the actual nuclear detonation. But we took it as an article of faith that if they could they would, and they wouldn’t hesitate.” Hayden echoed the concerns of FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, who told Newsmax’s Ronald Kessler in May 2007 that al-Qaida’s paramount goal is to detonate a nuclear device that would kill hundreds of thousands of Americans. Muller said New York City and Washington, DC were prime targets for a terrorist detonation. The FBI director said that the nuclear threat is so real, he sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night worrying about that possibility.

Iran ‘Hell-Bent’ on Getting Nuclear Weapons

March 2….(Newsmax) Iran remains “hell-bent” on obtaining a nuclear weapon, and that deeply worries former CIA Director Michael Hayden. Newsmax asked Hayden if the Iranians, once they obtain a nuclear weapon, would use it against Israel or the US. “I don’t know and I don’t want to find out,” he declared. That’s one of the most disturbing things. Usually I’m able to maintain this kind of professional detachment from these kinds of things. I can stay a bit removed. This one really worries me personally,” Hayden said. Hayden, a former four-star Air Force General, served as CIA director under President George W. Bush and departed the agency shortly after President Obama took office. He is now with the Chertoff Group, a security-consulting firm headed by former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “As I watch what the Iranian government is doing, and frankly I think they’re operating against their own self-interest, but they seem hell-bent on getting this weapon,” he said. A new study released this month, based on UN inspection and intelligence findings, disclosed that Iran is on course to produce enough highly enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic has adjusted some centrifuges to enrich uranium to a higher grade than that needed to generate electricity, stoking Western concern that it is working to produce a nuclear weapon. “I’m worried about the irresponsible use of such a device, given some of the things they’ve said,” Hayden added. “But beyond that, let’s just assume for a moment, and that’s a big assumption, that they get the device but that’s simply what they wanted to have. They wanted to own it for the deterrent effect. Even that would be incredibly destabilizing in the neighborhood. This is just bad all over.”

Israel Shows China Evidence of Iran Bomb Program

March 2….(Ha Aretz) An Israeli delegation that traveled to Beijing last week presented detailed intelligence on Iran's nuclear program in an attempt to persuade China that Tehran seeks atomic weapons, a senior diplomatic source told Haaretz. The group, led by Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon and central bank chief Stanley Fischer, tried to persuade China to support sanctions on Iran by offering "the full intelligence picture available to Israel," the diplomat said. The Israeli officials also told the Chinese that a nuclear Iran would push up oil prices, China depends on Iran for a significant proportion of its imported oil. Israel is trying to recruit China's support for a fourth round of sanctions on Iran, and the UN Security Council is due to vote on the issue in the coming months. At the very least, Israel wants to ensure that China does not oppose the sanctions when they come to vote. Israel also wants to make sure that China supports the report on Iran published by the new head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano. Unlike his predecessor Mohamed ElBaradei, Amano discussed in his report the possibility that Iran might secretively be developing nuclear weapons. The IAEA's annual conference is set to open in Vienna today. The diplomat said that the delegation's main aim was to present the Chinese with evidence that Iran is developing nuclear arms. China's official position is that Iran has a right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful, civilian purposes and that there is no proof Iran has a military nuclear program. The Chinese were given the full intelligence picture Israel has about the Iranian nuclear program, which clearly shows Iran is developing nuclear weapons," the source said. "The delegation also stressed how concerned Israel was, and that all options must remain on the table," the source added. According to the source, the Israelis spent two hours presenting the Chinese with an overview of the intelligence information Israel has on Iran's nuclear program. This was the most detailed overview given by Israel to China in more than three years, since prime minister Ehud Olmert's visit in January 2007. Fischer detailed the implications a nuclear Iran would have for the world economy, stressing a dramatic rise in oil prices. Alternatives to importing oil from Iran were also discussed. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia and the United States proposed to China that it buy oil from Arab states at much lower prices than oil imported from Iran. China is also concerned about possible sanctions because of its deals with Iran on developing railroads, tunnels and oil fields. These contracts are expected to be highly profitable, so the Chinese fear that sanctions would put them at risk.

As the West Woos Syria, Assad Aligns Himself With Iran

March 2….(Ha Aretz) There is something provocative in Syria's behavior over the last few weeks. Compared with Iran, the messages coming out of Damascus are still moderate. But the Syrians certainly seem attracted by the Iranian strategy of baiting the West. Precisely as the United States strives to buy good will by returning an ambassador, Robert Ford, to Damascus; and just after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton turned to Syria with a request to curb arms smuggling to Hezbollah, Syria has responded by convening an 'Axis of Evil' summit at the presidential palace in Damascus. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah, and Khaled Meshal, head of the Hamas politburo, were the star guests at the meeting last week. The message was clear. Efforts by the Americans and Europeans to cozy up to Damascus are all very well; but in Syrian eyes, the real strategic partnership remains in the east, with Teheran. To emphasize the solidity of ties between them, Iran and Syria announced at the summit that their citizens would no longer need visas to visit each other. And in terms of intimacy with Hezbollah, Syrian President Bashar Assad is outdoing even his father. Hafez Assad always remained wary of the Lebanese group and in the 1990s even dispatched forces to Lebanon to fight it. Bashar, in contrast, has supplied Hezbollah with weapons more deadly than any it had in the past, weapons which threaten to ignite the entire region. It is true that overtures from the West could keep Syria from giving itself wholly to Iran. And persuading Syria to negotiate with Israel could even significantly weaken its axis with Tehran and might neutralize the threat of regional war. But with the Damascus summit, Assad is signaling unease over American and French attempts to woo him and, moreover, that he has no interest in reopening talks with Israel. Ahmadinejad has been to Damascus before, of course, and Bashar has visited Tehran. But the presence this time of Hamas and Hezbollah hints at more than the usual show of deterrence to Israel and the West. America appears to understand this: in the last 24 hours there have been reports Washington has urged both Israel and Syria to calm tensions between them, as well as stepping up pressure on Syria over the transfer of sensitive weapons to Hezbollah.

On Saturday, two days after the Damascus summit, a conference on 'Islamic and National Solidarity with the Palestinian People' opened in Iran. All the confident predictions of the Zionist entity's demise aired in Damascus were repeated, largely by the same cast of characters (Nasrallah excepted). Meshal, a guest of honor, denounced Israel from the podium. While the rhetoric is not new, Hamas' growing loyalty to Iran is worrying. Until just a few years ago, before the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Palestinians were on the whole suspicious of the Iranians and the group tried to keep its links with Tehran inconspicuous. But power in Hamas has since shifted from the West Bank and Gaza to the organization's political leadership in Damascus. The now dominant Syrian branch has crept gradually closer to Iran and Hamas policy has hardened accordingly. Its leaders, especially in Damascus, show no sign of softening their stance and have time and again scorned attempts to reconcile them with Fatah. Relations between Meshal and Gaza are increasingly febrile, to the point where one of the group's Gaza chiefs, Mahmoud Zahar, resigned last week from a team negotiating the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Zahar's departure is unprecedented and it can only be wondered just how deeply the Hamas elite is split, and how far the moderate faction in Gaza has been swept aside to leave control in the hands of Ahmadinejad.

Obama Plans to Eliminate ‘Thousands’ of US Nuclear Warheads

March 2….(Newsmax) The Obama administration is formulating a new nuclear weapons policy that would include the elimination of thousands of warheads and the possible withdrawal of all American tactical warheads from Europe. Obama is also under pressure to abandon the Bush Doctrine allowing preemptive action, including the use of nuclear weapons, against any nation threatening American security, The New York Times reported on Monday. The new strategy will be included in a document called the Nuclear Posture Review, which every president must complete. “It will be clear in the document that there will be very dramatic reductions, in the thousands, as related to the stockpile,” a senior administration official told the Times. Many of those warheads are in storage. The administration is also discussing whether to withdraw American nuclear weapons from Europe, “where they provide more political reassurance than actual defense,” according to the Times. A number of influential Democrats, including Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, are urging Obama to declare that the “sole purpose” of America’s nuclear arsenal is to deter a nuclear attack. But some officials in the Pentagon and the White House want Obama to declare that deterring a nuclear attack is the primary, but not the only, purpose of the arsenal. “Any compromise wording that leaves in place elements of the Bush-era preemption policy, or suggests the United States could use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear adversary, would disappoint many on the left wing of his party, and some arms control advocates,” the Times disclosed. In describing what became known as the "Bush Doctrine," President George W. Bush asserted in a June 1, 2002, speech that the United States has a unilateral right to act against any government or organization that is deemed a threat to America. "If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long," he declared. The new strategy will include a heavier focus on missile defenses, especially near the Persian Gulf. Obama last year ended financing for a new nuclear warhead sought by the Bush administration, bunker-busting weapons that could be used to strike buried targets such as the nuclear facilities in Iran and North Korea. But Obama’s recently published Quadrennial Defense Review supports the development of new non-nuclear weapons, called “Prompt Global Strike” missiles, that could be fired from the United States and strike targets anywhere within an hour. The weapons could provide a new form of deterrence against nations that possess or are working to develop nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, without the United States' using the nuclear option.

Iran: Palestinian Resistance Key to Demise of World Powers

March 2….(IsraelNN.com) Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalil, says that Palestinian Authority resistance is the key to freedom for Muslims and the demise of western dominance. Jalil also is the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). He told the government-controlled Fars News Agency Sunday, that world powers should accept their fate. Speaking to an international conference on “National and Islamic Solidarity for the Future of Palestine” in Tehran, he insisted that "the era of supremacy of certain power clubs has ended.” According to Jalil, “Palestine and the resistance are symbols and keys to an understanding of the relations dominating the world. Palestine is the key to resistance, standing and honor which will spread throughout the world day by day." He reasoned that world powers are worried that Arab resistance in Judea, Samaria and Gaza will become a model in international relations. Jalil also charged that the "power club” fighting terrorism “officially supported and equipped a terrorist group [Israel] and this signals the end of the era belonging to the 'power club.'" Iranian Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi told the Islamic conference that “resistance movements” should launch an all-out media and Internet campaign against Israel. “The social networking sites could provide the ground for exposing the Zionist regime’s atrocities; and through these networks the Palestinian groups can start a full-scale war against global arrogance and Israel,” Moslehi said.

*FOJ Note: This (Persian) Iranian strategy exposes exactly the scenario that Bible prophecy conveys concerning the Palestinian burden against Israel in the Last Days. Psalms chapter 83 reveals that the “tents of Edom” and Ammon will be led by the forceful power of Assur (Syria/Damascus) against the nation of Israel. It is my position that Iran is using the Palestinian resistance (terrorists) forces logistically headquartered in Damascus as cannon-fodder for the schemes of the “prince of Persia.” Later, Ezekiel reveals that Persia will engage Russia for another coalition of forces upon the mountains of Israel.

King of Jordan: Protect Holy Sites from Israel

(In meeting with Abbas in Amman, King Abdullah warns of 'dangerous consequences of provocative Israeli moves and aggressive acts against al-Aqsa Mosque.' He adds that steps taken 'constitute dangerous provocation that threatens efforts to achieve regional peace')

March 1….(YNET) Israel's eastern neighbor makes a call for action: King Abdullah of Jordan said Sunday that the international community must take immediate measures to protect the holy sites in east Jerusalem from unilateral moves on Israel’s part. According to him, Israel's moves seek to alter Jerusalem's identity and constitute a dangerous provocation that threatens all efforts invested in achieving regional peace. Jordan's official news agency, Petra, reported that during a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman the Jordanian king warned against "the dangerous consequences of provocative Israeli moves and acts of aggression against the al-Aqsa Mosque, moves with Jordan condemns." King Abdullah emphasized that his country will continue to invest efforts in protecting the holy sites in Jerusalem. In addition, Abdullah highlighted Jordan's rejection and rebuke of Israel's decision to include Rachel's Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs on its list of national heritage sites. During the meeting, which was attended by senior Jordanian officials, including Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, and senior Palestinians, including their head of negotiation team Saeb Erekat, the two sides discussed efforts being put forth in order to overcome the hurdles to renewing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process on the basis of a two-state solution, a set timetable, and the Arab Peace Initiative. The Jordanian king reiterated his country's support for the Palestinian Authority and efforts to reinstate the rights of the Palestinian people, particularly their right to an independent country

Israel Distributing Gas Masks to Citizens

March 1….(Ha Aretz) Israel has begun distributing new gas masks to its 7 million citizens to offer protection against a possible chemical attack. Israel's postal service is handing out the equipment in a process, it says, that will take about three years. Avi Hochman, CEO & President of the Israel Postal Company stated that they have made the necessary preparations for the task, including a state-of-the art technological and logistical infrastructure. The Israeli military says it is routine and not in response to a specific threat. Israel believes a chemical attack could potentially come from Syria or Iran. Israel has distributed gas masks and kits with antidotes in the past, beginning with the first Gulf War in 1991.

Ahmadinejad Says Israel's Existence is "an Insult to All of Humanity."

March 1….(YNET) In a rant that reeked of old-fashioned anti-Semitism, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday that the "Zionist regime" was seeking to control the world. Addressing the International Conference on National and Islamic Solidarity for Future of Palestine, Ahmadinejad said that the existence of the "Zionist regime" is an insult to all of humanity, asserting that it had lost its raison d'être. He said it was "well-known for all that the Zionist regime’s mission is threat, violence and beating drums of war," according to an IRNA translation. "Supporters of the Zionist regime who are shouting slogans of human rights and anti-terrorism, support systematic crimes of the occupying regime," he said at the Teheran conference, adding that "everybody knows that the regime is seeking hegemony over the world." He said that the "Zionist regime" is the "origin of all the wars, genocide, terrors and crimes against humanity" and that they are "the racist group not respecting the human principles." "With God's grace and thanks to the Palestinian resistance the occupying Zionist regime has lost its raison d'être," Ahmadinejad continued. "The only way to confront the Israelis is through the Palestinian youths' resistance, and that of the regional nations.” Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shalah and the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Ahmed Jibril were among those in attendance at the conference.

Big Quake Question: Are they Getting Worse?

This color-coded map shows earthquakes that have been recorded over the previous seven days. The size of the box indicates the quake's strength, and the color indicates how recently the quake occurred. Notable quakes include the cluster of red boxes in Chile, and the blue box indicating a seismic event in Japan.

(Seismic shockers are to be expected, but planet is definitely more active)

March 1….(MSNBC) Chile is on a hotspot of sorts for earthquake activity. And so the 8.8-magnitude temblor that shook the region overnight was not a surprise, historically speaking. Nor was it outside the realm of normal, scientists say, even though it comes on the heels of other major earthquakes. One scientist, however, says that relative to the time period from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, Earth has been more active over the past 15 years or so. The Chilean earthquake, and the tsunami it spawned, originated on a hot spot known as a subduction zone, where one plate of Earth's crust dives under another. It's part of the active "Ring of Fire," a zone of major crustal plate clashes that surround the Pacific Ocean. The largest quake ever recorded, magnitude 9.5, occurred along the same fault zone in May 1960. Even so, magnitude-8 earthquakes occur globally, on average, just once a year. Since magnitudes are given on a logarithmic scale, an 8.8-magnitude is much more intense than a magnitude 8, and so this event would be even rarer, said J. Ramón Arrowsmith, a geologist at Arizona State University. Is Earth shaking more? The Ryukyu Islands of Japan were hit with a 7.0-magnitude quake on Friday night. News of that tremor, the Haiti quake and now Chile may make it seem as if Earth is becoming ever more active. But in the grand scheme of things, geologists say this is just Mother Nature as usual. "From our human perspective with our relatively short and incomplete memories and better and better communications around the world, we hear about more earthquakes and it seems like they are more frequent," Arrowsmith said. "But this is probably not any indication of a global change in earthquake rate of significance." Coupled with better communication, as the human population skyrockets and we move into more hazardous regions, we're going to hear more about the events that do occur, Arrowsmith added. However, "relative to the 20-year period from the mid-1970s to the mid 1990s, the Earth has been more active over the past 15 or so years," said Stephen S. Gao, a geophysicist at Missouri University of Science and Technology. "We still do not know the reason for this yet. Could simply be the natural temporal variation of the stress field in the earth's lithosphere." (The lithosphere is the outer solid part of the Earth.) Chile liesreside within the Ring of Fire, which is a zone surrounding the Pacific Ocean where the Pacific tectonic plate and other plates dive beneath other slabs of Earth. The Chilean earthquake occurred at the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates. These rocky slabs are converging at a rate of 3 inches (80 mm) per year, according to the USGS. This huge jolt happened as the Nazca plate moved down and landward below the South American plate. This is called a subduction zone when one plate subducts beneath another. (Over time, the overriding South American Plate gets lifted up, creating the towering Andes Mountains.) The plate movement explains why coastal Chile has such a history of powerful earthquakes. Since 1973, 13 temblors of magnitude 7.0 or greater have occurred there, according to the USGS.

North Korean Yellowcake was Bound for Syria when Israel Struck

March 1….(DEBKA) At the time of Israel's bombardment of the Syrian-Iranian plutonium plant under construction in northern Syria on September 2007, 45 tons of North Korean yellowcake, enough for several nuclear bombs, was on its way to the plant, Japanese intelligence sources have revealed. It was this information, debkafile's intelligence sources add, that prompted the Israeli attack with President George W. Bush's approval. The administration in Washington sought not merely to prevent a large consignment of weapons-grade material from reaching Syrian hands, but equally to make it clear to Pyongyang that the US meant to enforce the UN Security Council ban on its nuclear proliferation activities. Straight after the Israeli bombardment, Syrian president Bashar Assad is said to have urgently advised the North Korean ruler Kim Jong-Il to turn the uranium-laden ship around because the Americans and Israelis would likely attack it or seize its cargo if it reached the Mediterranean. Two years later, in the summer of 2009, that same yellowcake consignment was secretly reshipped to Iran, attesting to the integral nuclear partnership between Tehran and Damascus. So, even without 1,950 kilo- stock of enriched uranium Iran has produced at Natanz, the Islamic Republic has piled up enough material to make three or five bombs or warheads. Revelation of the North Korean delivery suggests Tehran may have more secret enriched uranium hoards, probably from black market sources, such as Central Asia. The New York Times Sunday, Feb. 28, reported that IAEA inspectors were taken by surprise two weeks ago when Iran moved almost its entire fuel stockpile in Natanz above ground. According to one theory, Iran was taunting the Israelis to strike first; according to another, it was escalating the confrontation with the West to extract more concessions in negotiations. But some US nuclear and intelligence experts opt for a simpler explanation: Iran has announced its intention of enriching low-grade uranium up to 20 percent purity and has now moved its stock to a new site for reprocessing. The real question, according to debkafile's sources, is not how much banned enriched material has been observed and recorded by international inspectors, but how much is hidden in caches concealed from and undeclared to the IAEA.

Israel Prepares for Two-front War with Hamas and Hizbullah

(Israel's military has been exercising for the prospect of a multi-front war)

March 1….(World Tribune) Officials said the Israeli Army has been conducting exercises in preparation for a two-front war. They said the military envisions fighting along the southern Israeli frontier with the Gaza Strip as well as with Lebanon and Syria. "The exercises enable us to prepare for possible scenarios, improve our readiness and implement lessons," Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said. On Feb. 25, the military concluded a command exercise that simulated a two-front war with Hamas and Hizbullah. The exercise included a scenario of massive missile and rocket strikes on Israel from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. "Israel has no interest in seeing escalation in the region," Ashkenazi said. "Yet, we closely monitor developments and make sure to maintain a prepared, deterring, and motivated military." Officials said the military was preparing each of its major elements for a regional war. In the latest exercise, the General Staff tested the response and decisions of senior commanders in such areas as combat, intelligence, logistics and media relations. "During the exercise, forces were trained in the management of joint combat methods," the military said. "Inter-branch operability procedures amongst air, ground and naval forces were examined under various scenarios. Multi-arena combat management were also tested, with the support of logistics, intelligence, communications and home front coordination, as was communication between the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli government." Military intelligence has warned the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of the prospect of war in 2010. Officials said the intelligence assessment said Iran could order a war by Hamas and Hizbullah in an effort to divert Western attention from its campaign to halt Teheran's nuclear program. "A wind of tension is blowing again in the north of the country," chief armored officer Brig. Gen. Agai Yehezkel said. "Despite the fact that the challenge might be more difficult than during Operation Cast Lead [Hamas war], we are prepared for it." Officials said the next war would require a rapid Israeli ground advance into the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria. They said this would require the integration of air, infantry and armored forces, with support from the navy in coastal operations. Some of these goals were said to have been achieved in the 22-day war with Hamas in 2009. "The work is comprehensive, systematic and deep, with the ability to see a general picture of headquarters operations, a necessary condition for effective force operations," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said

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