Mideast Prophecy Update 2010 - 2011

PART TWO – What Should We Watch For In 2011

Read part one now

By Bill Salus

Israel is prepared to strategically strike Iran’s nuclear sites. This past September I spoke with retired Israeli Defense Forces General Shimon Erem who confirmed Saudi Arabia opened up a thin strip of air for Israel to attack Iran. It’s interesting that no Jewish Synagogue can be constructed in Saudi Arabia, but Israeli war planes are now allowed to fly overhead as long as they are on route to attack Iran. (Picture of Bill Salus and I.D.F. General Shimon Erem)

The open Saudi airspace, pending $60 billion arms deal with America, and the Wikileaks statements that the Saudis told the U.S. to “Cut off the head of the (Iranian) snake,” add credence to suspicions the Saudis are desperately concerned about Iran’s nuclear program. This clock is ticking.

The apparent reasons Israel has refrained from attacking Iran thus far:
1. Sanctions needed time to work.
2. Diplomatic efforts toward Mideast peace were underway and remotely possible.
3. The Stuxnet virus and other related covert efforts inside Iran partially disrupted some aspects of Iran’s nuclear program.
4. It could provoke Hezbollah, Syria, and Hamas to join Iran in a multi-front war imposing significant Israeli casualties.
5. It could initiate unpredictable retaliatory responses from Iran and its proxies, like international terror and / or restricted oil production that could adversely affect America and other parts of the international community.

Interestingly, end time’s expert Jimmy DeYoung informed a group of us attending the Pre-Trib rapture conference in December, 2010 that Prime Minister Netanyahu informed him there were two red lines Israel would not allow Iran to cross;

1. The receipt from Russia of the S-300 missile defense system,
2. The development or acquisition of a weapon of mass destruction.

The missile defense system, which Iran has contracted Russia to deliver, would hinder Israel’s ability to attack Iran through surface to air missiles and endanger Israeli Air Forces in an air assault. Netanyahu takes Ahmadinejad’s genocidal threats to wipe Israel off the map literally and seriously.

Additionally, DeYoung informed us a movement for a Palestinian state within the United Nations is already underway. This movement threatens to set retro borders for the Palestinian state based upon the territories as they were before June 6, 1967 when Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and other additional land. Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay have already accepted such a Palestinian State against harsh rebuke from Israel. Similarly, Venezuela is expected to soon follow course.

Possible events to be watchful of in 2011 are;
1. Continued politically charged threats from Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to step down and for the PA to disband. Speculations about his resignation are circulating.

2. The release of the UN STL (United Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon) report implicating Hezbollah with the death of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. (Pictured here) This report could provoke an internal uprising within Lebanon against Hezbollah. However, military confrontation is becoming increasingly doubtful because the Lebanese Armed Forces are fully integrated into Hezbollah’s military structure which, in turn, is led by Iranian IRGC officers and under the command of Ahmadinejad and the Supreme Command of the Ayatollah. (See briefing from Sean Osborne below for further explanation.)

3. Increased claims to littoral rights by Lebanon and their allies, including Russia, of Israel’s large 2009 (Tamar One) and 2010 (Leviathan) natural gas discoveries in the Mediterranean Sea. When fully developed these resources are expected to make Israel energy self-sufficient as well as an international exporter of natural gas.

4. Russian arms contracts to Israel’s enemies to increase. This is prophetic as per Ezekiel 39:9. Additionally, the global economic crunch has not slowed down Russian arms exports which totaled 7.4 billion in 2009 and will likely exceed that in 2010. (Military export totals not yet available for 2010).

5. Iran’s nuclear program to be severely damaged, if not destroyed, by either the continued uncontrollable spread of the Stuxnet virus or an Israeli military attack. Stuxnet has the potential to run out of control causing explosions to occur within the affected Iranian nuclear sites. If so a Chernobyl effect could occur inside Iran.

6. Expect covert actions from unidentified sources, probably Israel and America, to continue inside Iran. These are primarily intended to hinder the further development of Iran’s nuclear program, assassinate key Iranian leaders and nuclear scientists, and potentially bring forth a regime change.

7. Israel to be blamed for the breakdown of peace talks and to become increasingly isolated from the international community as a result.

8. Trilateral relationships between Russia, Venezuela, and Iran to improve and weapons exports between them to increase. Venezuela is presently negotiating with Russia to purchase the state of the art S-300 missile defense. This is the system Russia owes to Iran, but due to international sanctions levied against Iran, has failed to deliver it. It is also the system Netanyahu has drawn a red line against as stated above. Additionally, Iran is in negotiations to deliver the deadly Shahab 3 missile to Venezuela. Given the missile’s range, parts of America would be at risk.

9. Rumors of Mideast war to increase rather than decrease.

10. Diplomatic efforts toward Mideast peace to continue and likely fail. Remember when diplomacy fails war often results.

11. The likelihood current U.S. Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell will step down and be replaced by Dennis Ross, the former Middle East peace envoy during the Clinton administration. Rumors to this end are already circulating.

12. A major regional war fulfilling the Psalm, Isaiah and Ezekiel prophecies noted above.

On a prophetic side note, amidst all the noise of war drums beating in the region, the Temple Institute in Israel is stitching and selling priestly garments to genetically identified Levites. Several dozen have already been purchased and are hanging in closets waiting for the Dome of the Rock to come down so these garments can come out. In a matter of hours after the Dome is destroyed and the rubble removed, the sacrificial altar can be constructed and operational. Estimates are the prophesied third Jewish Temple could be built around it within one to two years.

Will 2011 be the year the Dome comes down, the altar goes up, the priestly garments come out, and the animal sacrificial system begins? Has humanity progressed that far along on the end time’s line? What will cause the Islamic Dome to come down, could it be the result of the Psalm 83 and / or Ezekiel 38 wars?

Look for 2011 to be a prophetically eventful year. The Israeli war prophecies are coming, just how soon we can only speculate. However, the weapons are fashioned, national relationships formed, adversarial attitudes in place, and technologies developed, suggesting the stage is set for the final showdowns to begin.
_____________________
Email briefing to me from Sean Osborne of Northeast Intelligence Network on 12/11/10

U.N. STL indictments of Hezbollah's leadership (minus the now deceased Imad Fayez Mughniyeh who was also assassinated on 2/12/2008 outside Syrian military intelligence headquarters as retribution for his role in Hariri's assassination) could spark a revolt of Lebanon's popular pro-Western coalition -- a/k/a the March 14 Alliance. This alliance is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon that call for sovereignty over all Lebanese territories, led by MP Saad Hariri, younger son of assassinated Rafik Hariri

Details: The assassination of Rafik Hariri ignited the March 14 Alliance to revolt in the so-called anti-Syrian "Cedars Revolution." The revolt took the form of mass public demonstrations against suspected Syrian responsibility for the assassination and which led directly to both the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and the creation of the U.N. STL to investigate Hariri's assassination in order to determine those responsible. The Syrians are considered foreign occupiers in the March 14 Alliance's view.

Hezbollah on the other hand are predominantly Lebanese Shi'a Muslims recruited by an advance force or cadre of Iranian IRGC (Islamic or Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) officers who arrived in country in 1983. Today Hezbollah's leadership is under direct Iranian control (the Ayatollah/Ahmadinejad/IRGC/Qods Force) with a few Lebanese also holding key positions. With the U.N. STL indicting the Iranian-Lebanese Hezbollah leaders instead of the Syrians a popular revolution led by the March 14 Alliance against Hezbollah could result as their beloved Rafik Hariri's assassination would then be seen as an Iranian plot, and Lebanese members of Hezbollah would be seen as traitors to Lebanon and its sovereignty.

To forestall the March 14 forces in advance of the U.N. STL indictments Hezbollah issued its "Zero Hour" option to take over the country and thereby preempt the popular Lebanese revolt against itself. A Hezbollah coup d’état would essentially be an Iranian coup d’état orchestrated through its proxy. Military confrontation is increasingly doubtful because the Lebanese National Army (LNA) as a whole is under Hezbollah's thumb and has been integrated into its structure. Elements of the LNA would almost certainly defect to the cause of the March 14 Alliance, but a sustained armed conflict against Hezbollah would be short lived and probably devolve into an insurgency.

Lastly, the Syrian military withdrawal from Lebanon forced Iran to take matters into their own hands and has resulted in the situation we have today. Iran needs Lebanon (and Gaza) for its long-planned war to annihilate Israel.

Mideast Prophecy Update 2010 -2011

PART ONE - Looking Through the Rear View Mirror At 2010

By Bill Salus

As the door shuts on 2010, American led Middle East peace efforts have officially unraveled. The Obama administration has backed away for now from pressuring Israel into extending its moratorium on settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In the absence of peace we are reminded Israel, which equipped its citizens earlier this year with gas masks, remains war ready as 2011 approaches.

Even though 2010 has as of yet escaped a Mideast military conflict and a global financial collapse, by no means did it insulate humanity from the potential for either. The fact that Mideast war was averted in 2010 means it’s overdue in 2011. As we stand on the unstable threshold of the New Year it is helpful to review some 2010 Mideast events. In so doing it might reasonably be concluded that 2011 could be the year the Middle East goes apocalyptic.

In November 2009 the Obama administration hailed Israel’s decision to temporarily halt all residential building in the West Bank. This good will gesture opened up a ten-month window for Mideast peace talks to resume. However, as the world entered into 2010 Mideast peace remained elusive. Throughout most of 2010 Mideast peace talks were at best “indirect.” It wasn’t until September 2, 2010 that the Obama Administration seriously attempted to jump start “direct” Mideast peace talks.

To the Obama administration’s chagrin, but to nobody’s surprise, three weeks later on September 26, Israel’s temporary moratorium freeze on settlements and direct peace talks concluded. At the time Obama seemed content to leave Mideast matters alone as he was preoccupied with the November 2, 2010 midterm elections. Some analyst attributed Obama’s decision to concerns many of his Democratic colleagues were running against pro-Israel Republicans and pressuring Israel further could complicate their already compromised campaigns.

In June, 2010 I wrote an article outlining a series of alarming Mideast events spanning April to June linked here called Mighty Muscles Flex in the Mideast. It would be helpful to read the chronology of events outlined in the article before going further.

These events clearly signaled the Middle East was ramping up for war. However, events then and since suggest it may not be a war waged only between Arabs and Jews. The potential for conflagrations between Jews and Arabs, Jews and Persians (Iranians), and Arabs and Iranians also existed.

For instance, in September, 2010 a $60 billion arms deal was announced between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Many analysts believe this arms deal, rapidly rubber stamped for congressional approval, evidences Saudi concerns Iran intends to do more than wipe Israel off the map if it obtains nuclear weapons. As I wrote in an article entitled Iranistan, the Saudis fear a nuclear Iran would seek the formation of a Shiite Crescent in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, primarily Sunni, is the lead producer of OPEC oil and the host country of Islam’s two holiest cities making it a prime target for Iran.

Additionally, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Lebanon in October, 2010 in what the Jerusalem Post likened to a “Landlord Visit.” The apocalyptically minded Iranian leader paid homage to Hezbollah during his visit which took him to the southernmost borders of the country. From there he rattled his saber against Israel and snubbed his nose at UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

UNIFIL is responsible for the enforcement of UN resolution 1701 issued in the aftermath of the August, 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. This resolution called for the total disarmament of Hezbollah. However, according to 2010 estimates Hezbollah has approximately 60,000 rockets in their arsenal.

This is extremely troubling when you consider Syria equipped Hezbollah with Scud missiles in April, 2010. Further complicating matters, in July, 2010 Southern commander, Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, announced Hezbollah has a bank of prime Israeli targets and nowhere in Israel is safe.

Getting back to Iran, it went “Red Hot” in August, 2010, meaning Iran began loading fuel into its Bushehr nuclear facility. At the time former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton warned time was short for Israel to strategically strike key Iranian nuclear sites. Adding further fuel to the fire Iran announced in December, 2010 that it can produce its own “Yellowcake” uranium eliminating the need to import it from elsewhere. Although, Iran’s nuclear program was adversely affected by the Stuxnet cyber virus in the summer of 2010 and yet ongoing, the production of yellowcake uranium suggests Iran is still rapidly advancing its nuclear development program forward.

It is safe to conclude the Middle East could go apocalyptic at any time. This statement is qualified by the fact Palestinians and their Arab and Iranian friends are no longer lobbing protest stones at the Jews but have amassed high tech arsenals that could easily wipe Israel off the map. The adversarial attitudes and arsenals in place suggest the next Middle East conflict will be a regional war rather than another minor skirmish.

Christian eschatologists are at the edge of their seats watching Mideast events closely. Isaiah 17, Psalm 83, Ezekiel 38 & 39, and Jeremiah 49:34-39 are a few of the prophecies they cite that teach the Middle East is destined to become an end time’s warzone. These prophecies involve Israel, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinians, and many more nations and / or terrorist populations.

Although Israel has peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan and presently doesn’t seem to be threatened by Saudi Arabia’s pending $60 billion arms deal with the U.S., things can change dramatically overnight. For instance, Jordanian King Abdullah II has warned on several occasions in 2010 that Mideast war was likely in the absence of a peace agreement between the Jews and Palestinians. He expected one could occur by the summer and when it didn’t, he forwarded his forecast to the end of 2010.

Additionally this year the Jordanian King made adversarial statements threatening the longevity of his deceased father’s peace treaty with Israel. He suggested Jordan was better off before his father signed the peace treaty with Israel in 1994.

Both Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, now 82 years of age, and Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, now 86 years old, are fighting cancer. This has many in their respective countries concerned about power struggles when their reigns terminate. These fears include the possibility of a Muslim Brotherhood takeover in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood openly supports Jihad against Israel. Hamas, the democratically elected government of the Palestinians since January, 2006, is their political arm inside Gaza.

These anecdotes regarding Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia are prophetically troubling when you consider they are all identified in Psalm 83:6-8 amongst several other Arab nations destined to someday confederate against Israel.

PART TWO – What Should We Watch For In 2011 (to follow soon)