The Enemies of B'nei Yisrael - Attacking on All Sides

Today there is much going on in the world and, apparently, much, (probably most) of it, is clearly centered around the Jewish People - especially in Israel.

The Jewish People, or, in Hebrew, The B'nei Yisrael, are being attacked both by those outside of Israel and those inside Israel.

RECENT NEWS

TRANSFER OF THOUSANDS OF U.S. MADE M-16'S TO TERRORISTS - APPROVED BY ISRAEL'S GOVERNMENT

The government of Israel has, this week, approved the transfer from Jordan of 3,000 M-16 assault weapons to Abbas' "Presidential Force 17" - one of the Palesitinian terror groups which has used the transfer of weapons against Jews in previous terror attacks - in fact, they, along with the Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for every terrorist attack in Israel over the past two years. Furthermore, Hamas, in the past, notably in their recent Gaza "takeover", claimed to have obtained $400 million worth of U.S. munitions from the Fatah terrorists, including over 7,000 M-16's, 800,000 rounds of bullets, armored jeeps, and armored personnel carriers, among other U.S. produced weaponry. As well, even if Hamas will not be able to "take control" of the Palestinian populated areas of Yehuda and Shomron (the "West Bank"), they claim to be able to obtain the weapons in any case, as they have deeply infiltrated Fatah. No surprise, they both aspire to rid Israel of all of the Jews, just that Fatah "leaders" groom themselves better and wear the dress of the "Western World". So, Israel has approved the transfer of 3,000 American-made weapons to terrorists who "aspire" to murder Jews.

If such decision as the above would be left up to American and Israeli citizens, the Palestinian terrorists would effectively be guaranteed to never obtain any weapons from Israel or the United States.

THE PLAN OF THE U.S. AND ISRAELI GOVERNMENTS TO EXPEL APPROX. 500,000 JEWS FROM YEHUDAH AND SHOMRON (ALSO KNOWN AS "THE WEST BANK")

According to a recent report in Israel National News (INN), Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, bluntly said that "the occupation of the West Bank will have to end" - in other words, "the occupation" of the approximately .5 million Jews who live beyond the pre-1967 borders of Israel, consisting of approximately 260,000 who live in non-annexed parts of the "West Bank", as well as a similar Jewish population which resides in parts of the "West Bank" which have been annexed by Israel, including outlying neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

Condoleezza Rice's position reflects the position of President Bush, who, on May 26, 2005, stated, as follows:

"Any final status agreement must be reached between the two parties, and changes to the 1949 Armistice lines must be mutually agreed to. A viable two-state solution must ensure contiguity of the West Bank, and a state of scattered territories will not work. There must also be meaningful linkages between the West Bank and Gaza. This is the position of the United States today, it will be the position of the United States at the time of final status negotiations."

In effect, Israel would have to get the Palestinians to agree to receive only part of the "West Bank" in order to be "permitted" to maintain Israeli sovereignty over part of the "West Bank". Of course, the Palestinians, whose avowed mission is to rid Israel of all Jews, would never agree to that!

THE FORCED EXPULSION OF SPANISH JEWS IN 1492 AND THE PLANNED FORCED EXPULSION OF ISRAELI JEWS

Perhaps surprisingly to many, the famously notorious expulsion of Spain's Jews in 1492 is comparable, at least in magnitude, to the expulsion of up to approximately .5 million Jews from the "West Bank". In the Spanish expulsion, approximately 200,000 Jews were forcibly expelled from their homes in Spain, or close to half the number of Jews that currently live in the West Bank (which came under Israeli control during the 1967 Six-Day War.

Prime Minister Olmert has reportedly made public his willingness to relinquish Israel's highly-strategic Golan Heights to Syria, thereby not only putting Israel at a great strategic disadvantage physically, but would thereby force the expulsion of the approximately 18,000 Jews who currently reside in the Golan Heights, Heaven Forbid. Olmert made the strong implication that Israel would be willing to relinquish the Golan Heights by saying that he couldn't agree to Israel's complete withdrawal from the Golan Heights until negotiating with Syria. Doing the math, approx. 480,000 Jews expelled from the West Bank and the approximately 18,000 who would be expelled from the Golan Heights would be close to .5 million Jews who would be expelled from their homes in Israel. In other words, out of the roughly 5.3 million Jews who currently live in Israel, approximately 10% of the Jews in Israel would be forcibly expelled from their homes and land in the "West Bank" and "Golan Heights", only to strengthen the Palestinian terrorists in Israel and the Syrian enemy. The magnitude of such a massive expulsion of Jews would easily double the Spanish expulsion of Jews in 1492. For greater perspective, such a massive expulsion would be proportional to the forced expulsion of all legal citizens from California (approx. 30 million legal Californians out of approx. 300 million Americans). No Californian in their right mind would agree to a government proposal to give California to Mexico right now, all the more so if Mexico would hypothetically be a terrorist state.

Below is a map of what Israel would look like after the creation of a Palestinian State (with the Golan, the "West Bank", and Gaza in orange, not being included as part of the State of Israel):

RUSSIA'S LARGEST ARM'S DEAL IN THREE DECADES - TO IRAN AND ITS' MISSILE DEFENSE OF MOSCOW

Russia is reportedly close to signing a massive arms deal with Iran - so large, in fact, that it would be the larger than any other arms deal that Russia has made in the past three decades. The deal includes the sale of 250 of Russia's advanced Sukhoi-30 MKM long-range fighter planes which is reportedly comparable to the F-15E. Iran's planned acquisition of the fighter planes Russia is also reportedly now setting up the world's most advanced missile defense system around Moscow.

AMERICAN DEFENSE DEAL WITH SAUDI ARABIA

President Bush has expressed his desire to sell $20 billion of advanced weaponry to Saudi Arabia, as well as five other Persian Gulf states (and has proposed in increase in Israel's military aid from $2.4 billion to $3 billion each year). The defense deal would provide Saudi Arabia with a significantly larger air-force and military, which, ostensibly would be used to counter Iran. However, as much as Saudi Arabia may feel threatened by Iran, they also strongly differ from Israel, and, as do Israel's other neighbors, pose a military threat to Israel, especially if any war were to break out. When the United States sold advanced fighters to Saudi Arabia in the 1990's, Saudi Arabia agreed to not station any of the planes in close proximity to Israel. Since then, Saudi Arabia has violated their agreement and has, indeed, stationed planes in close proximity to Israel.

Perhaps the planned dealing with Saudi Arabia has to do with the below teaching:

Rabbi Yitzchak said: "The year that the King Mashiach reveals himself, all of the nations of the world will be provoking one another. The king of Persia will provoke the King of Arabia and the King of Arabia will go to the King of Aram to take advice from them. The king of Persia will [then] return and destroy the entire world and all the nations of the world will be in an uproar and will be confounded and they will say 'Where shall we come and go, to where shall we come and go.' And He (HaShem) shall say to them (the Jewish People), 'My sons, do not fear, everything that I have done, I have done only for you. For what are you fearing, do not fear, the time of your redemption has arrived..." Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer, Yishayahu, 499

Either way, it would seemingly be better for Saudi Arabia to not have the added military strength which they could use against Israel if a major Middle-Eastern war breaks out.

UNPOPULARITY OF THE CURRENT ISRAELI GOVERNMENT

The current Israeli government, which is "miraculously" holding onto power despite Olmert's 3% (possibly lower) approval rating, apparently wishes to expel up to approximately .5 million Jews from their homes. Olmert stated that anyone who believes that Israel can hold onto the areas captured in the Six-Day War is "living in a dream". Olmert argues that it is necessary for Israel to maintain a Jewish majority, and one of the ways to do so is by giving away the "West Bank". Olmert's plan to "maintain a Jewish majority" runs at odds with a recent major demographic study which states that Jews comprise at least 60 percent of the total population between Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. Deputy Prime Minister Ramon recently stated that Israel should make peace with the Palestinians now, by giving away (at least) most of the "West Bank". Ramon was quoted as describing the "West Bank" as a "threat" to Israel. In addition to his support for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the "West Bank", Ramon stated that he wants NATO troops to be stationed in the "West Bank" once it would be transferred to the Palestinians.

In light of all of the above, according to a recent poll conducted on behalf of "Kol Israel", the government in Israel, democratically elected on March 29, 2006, currently enjoys complete trust by as much as a full 2 percent of Israel's citizens! In contrast, 45 percent of Israelis expressed "complete distrust" in the Israeli government and another 35 percent said that Members of Israel's Knesset "contribute nothing to society or democracy" - that a total of 80 percent of Israel's citizens who have a completely negative outlook on the government of Israel, or a 40:1 ratio of people who are completely unhappy with Israel's government compared to those who are completely happy with the government!

NATO AND ISRAEL

It is not only Deputy Prime Minister Ramon who has expressed his desire to have NATO troops stationed in the "West Bank" subsequent to an expulsion of up to .5 million Jews from the area, but President Bush and NATO themselves have expressed an interest and willingness to participate in the plan. According to a report in a Jordanian newspaper, the Bush Administration has a plan in place to station 20,000 American troops, under the aegis of NATO, in Gaza and the "West Bank". NATO has similarly expressed its interest of sending their army in alone as part of a deal to create a Palestinian state in the "West Bank". However, NATO would prefer to enter the "West Bank" as part of an international force.

In light of NATO's great willingness to assist in the forced expulsion of as many as 500,000 Jews from their homes, NATO's explicit lack of support for Israel concerning the survival of the Jewish State in the face of an Iranian nuclear threat, is of no surprise. Though Israel estimates that Iran will have an operational nuclear warhead by the middle of 2009, NATO has officially informed Israel that they would have to "go it alone against Iran". NATO has informed Israel that she should be prepared to defend herself from Iran on her own and not expect any international support in Israel's struggle of survival in the face of an Iranian nuclear threat which would put over 6,000,000 Jews under great danger, chas v'shalom.

Of course, us, as Jews, should always rely only upon HaShem, and that may be our test in our trying times. Of course, it is important for us to take the proper physical measures to defend ourselves as well as improve ourselves through additional Torah study, prayer, improvement of Torah observance, and improvement of our middos (character traits). Notwithstanding, the above illustrates how NATO, in particular, as well as many in the world, are willing to volunteer to kick Jews out of their homes in Israel, but are straightforward in their lack of interest to help Israel fight for her survival.

FRANCE TO DEAL WITH IRAN?

According to a recent report in Debka, the United States has given France the responsibility of dealing with Iran. What is especially troubling is that France isn't known for being tough militarily. The above is especially troubling in light of the recent diplomatic exchanges between Iran, Hezbollah, and France - all of this with the approval of Washington. It seems as if the "world", especially the part not in immediate danger from Iran's missiles, seem to be lax in showing any serious military opposition to the real Iranian nuclear threat. The "world" seems to not have learned (or not cared to have learned) about the consequences of diplomacy with an enemy which has made numerous statements about their desires to get rid of Israel. A similar thing happened prior to WWII, and the world was dragged into WWII. Preemptive military attacks tend to accomplish much more than waiting. The world, and every individual, must learn that, though (assuming the "best" intentions), may seem preferable to be passive and not preempt real problems which threaten everyday life, that it is truly preferable, more rewarding, and safer to take the action that we all know is necessary. This is the lesson that the world should take and this is the lesson that we should take in opposition to the wrongs that we witness all around us.

By doing so, with HaShem's Help, we will experience the coming of Mashiach sooner than otherwise and lead to a world where we, and the world as a whole, will not experience such real dangers.

In the meantime, it is up to us to work on ourselves in our daily lives, help make the lives of others better, spread The teachings of the Torah to others, benefit ourselves through the learning and living of Torah, and improve our middos. Through our prayers, with the benefit of the increased merit gained through our fight to improve ourselves and the world around us, may we merit to experience great miracles in the near future and welcome the true Mashiach, who's identity is unknown to us, but will be revealed to us by HaShem at the proper time.

THE POWER OF OUR PRAYERS (TEFILLOS)

Remember, never say "what can I do?", never think that you have less ability on world events than do any of the world's leaders. The Jewish People have a special power - the power of speech. In order to drastically increase our power of speech and of our tefillos (prayers), we must do our utmost in avoiding forbidden types of speech such as slander and libel - lashon hara and motzi shem ra. Remember, we learn from the phrase "the voice is the voice of Ya'akov" (B'reishis: 27; 22) that the power of the B'nei Yisrael (Jewish People) is in our mouths - "for we cry out and we are answered" (RaSh"I on Bamidbar: 20; 16). Similarly, we read shortly before the Shemoneh Esrei prayer, that "[HaShem] answers His nation at the time that they cry out to Him." This follows that which it says in Parshas "Shmos", when some of the Jewish People prayed to HaShem to redeem them from the slavery of Mitzrayim (2; 23), "...and their cries arose to G-d from the servitude". The Kli Yakar on this pasuk, explains that there were two groups of people - the good people who prayed to HaShem to rescue them from the heavy burden of the slavery and the more lowly of the people were crying out against HaShem in complaint. The Kli Yakar explains that the pasuk specifies that it was the prayers of the people who asked HaShem to rescue them, which were answered. The Kli Yakar points out that the essence of the prayers of the people, (those who were not complainers), was in the heart. From here we can see that our tefillos (prayers) should not simply consist of the utterance of words, but we should understand and mean what we are saying. It was these people who's tefillos were answered. Similarly, prior to the splitting of the Yam Suf (Red Sea), Moshe said to The B'nei Yisrael, "HaShem will fight for you, and you shall be silent." (Shmos: 14; 14) On this pasuk, the Or HaChaim explains that the Jewish People should stand in prayer and thereby you shall silence the Attribute of Judgment. By increasing their prayers as Moshe had recommended, the prayers of The B'nei Yisrael would be heard in the Heavens, thus successfully silencing the Attribute of Judgment against The B'nei Yisrael. May we, as well, through our actions and our prayers, merit to overcome any negative decrees against ourselves and override any of the negative designs against The Jewish People (The B'nei Yisrael). Amein!

Major Middle-East War this Summer

There is word about an impending war to take place in the Middle-East involving Israel - this war, as word has it, will take place this summer. The "rumor" that war will take place this summer, comes from great rabbis in Israel, Kabbalists, intelligence sources, and, l'havdil, leaders in the arab world. Leaders in the "Arab world" have regularly made statements prior to the previous major wars that they fought with Israel, promising a great victory on their behalf, only experiencing miraculous defeats to Israel, at the Hands of HaShem. This follows, that which we learn by the miraculous defeat of the Egyptian army thousands of years ago, at the Hand of HaShem - "HaShem will fight for you, and you shall be silent." (Shmos: 14; 14) Shortly after the miraculous destruction of the Egyptian army at the Hand of HaShem, the B'nei Yisrael sang the following to HaShem, recognizing the great miracles that He had performed on their behalf. One of the things which they said was, "Your right [Hand], HaShem, is girded in power, your right [Hand], HaShem, smashes the enemy." (Shmos: 15; 6) RaSh"I, on this pasuk, comments that HaShem's "right Hand" did something which is impossible for a person to do - two different actions performed simultaneously - HaShem saved The People of Israel from her Egyptian pursuers, while, simultaneously, smashing the Egyptian army.

SOME RABBIS WARN OF "GREAT, MIRACULOUS" WAR IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE

Arutz-Sheva recently reports that some Kabbalists and other leading rabbis are predicting that a major Middle-East war will break out in the near future. The report quotes Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Shlit"a, as saying that "HaShem will soon perform great miracles for the Jewish People." Other rabbis, according to the report, have either noted that Israel is currently in a position to quickly destroy her enemies and even experience miracles on the level of the miracles that occurred at the Exodus from Egypt.

Im yirtzeh HaShem (G-d Willing), The B'nei Yisrael will achieve a major victory over our enemeis, replete with miraculous miracles, in the near future. We should all do our part in achieving this victory by learning Torah, praying to HaShem with more kavana, improving our character traits and our relationship with other people, as well continually growing in our observance of the mitzvos.

INTELLIGENCE REPORTS AND ARAB THREATS OF WAR

According to a recent report in DEBKAfile, the leader of Iran met with the leader of Syria recently. Ahmadinejad - yimach sh'mo v'zichro v'nimach z'chur m'lihazkiro - told Assad, that he should stop expressing any willingness to discuss peace with Israel, as that is hampering his plans for a war this summer. He also explicitly declared his desire for a war with Israel, this summer. According to a recent report from Arutz-Sheva, Iran has agreed to finance Syria with a great deal of armaments, valued at 1 billion dollars, including 400 takes, fighter planes, and helicopters. Furthermore, Iran has attained approval from Syria to station part of their air-force in Syria - within close striking range of Israel.

WHAT WE SHOULD DO IN THIS CONTEXT

In addition to working on ourselves, by improving ourselves through the learning of Torah, improvement in middos (attributes), and our performance of our performance of the mitzvos, we should recognize that the victory comes from HaShem and should act in accordance. The power of The B'nei Yisrael is in our mouths - "the voice is the voice of Ya'akov" - this teaches us that the Jewish People possess a special power in our mouths. We should increase in our learning of the Torah and in our concentration during prayer, as well as avoiding speaking negatively against others, and we will, G-d Willing, see victory in the near future. Amein!