Israel

Damascus To Become A “Ruinous Heap”?: Syria Threatens To Attack The Golan Heights And Israel Prepares For War

The winds of war are blowing once again, and it isn’t going to take much to spark a major conflict in the Middle East.  This week is the eighth anniversary of the beginning of the civil war in Syria, and after the nightmare that the people of Syria have been through, you would think that the Assad regime would be eager for peace.  But instead, Assad appears to be ready to go for broke.  If Syria can spark a Middle East war that results in the complete destruction of Israel, Assad would be remembered as a hero in the Islamic world forever.  Instead of a legacy of civil war and crushing poverty, Assad’s legacy would be one of wartime leader that brought total victory over Syria’s most hated enemy.  But of course such a conflict would be a huge risk, because if it went badly the city of Damascus would be completely flattened and the nation of Syria as we know it today would be entirely destroyed.  And considering how overwhelmingly powerful the Israeli military is, it would seem to be a very foolish risk to take.  Unfortunately, Assad does not appear to be thinking rationally.  On Thursday, Syria officially threatened “to attack Israel unless it withdraws from the Golan Heights”.  The following comes from the Jerusalem Post…

Syria vowed to attack Israel unless it withdraws from the Golan Heights, World Israel News reported on Thursday.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad submitted an official warning to the head of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) Kristin Lund, in what seemed to be an attempt to prevent official US recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the Golan.

Of course Israel is never going to leave the Golan Heights.  We all know how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu feels, and on Monday his main opposition in the upcoming election expressed similar sentiments…

Blue and White party politicians Gabi Ashkenazi, Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz and Moshe Ya’alon visited the Golan Heights on Monday and vowed never to give it up.

“We will increase the numbers of residents in the Golan, sending a resounding message to all – we will never relinquish the Golan Heights,” Gantz said.

Let us hope that Syria is bluffing, because if Syria attacks the Golan Heights it will start a war.

And it is a war that Syria could not possibly hope to win on their own.  But Assad doesn’t plan to take on Israel by himself.

Over the last several months, Israel has repeatedly attacked Iranian forces inside Syria.  The Iranians have been fighting on Assad’s side in the Syrian civil war, and the Israelis are afraid that when everything is all said and done that the nation of Syria will end up being totally dominated by Iran.  The following comes from Haaretz…

For Iran, its domination of Syria is key to achieving its long-standing dream of a “Shiite crescent,” extending through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, to the Mediterranean and of establishing a permanent ground, air and naval presence on Israel’s border. Iran’s ability to do so has been impeded to date only by the small and dwindling U.S. force in eastern Syria and hundreds of Israeli airstrikes that have, so far, successfully thwarted Iran’s efforts.

Although Israel has become a powerful and essentially secure state, capable of demonstrating restraint in the face of the many challenges it faces, this would constitute a dire and unacceptable change in the balance of power, one that Israel cannot tolerate and must prevent – even at the expense of war.

The Iranians have stated that they are no longer going to tolerate Israeli airstrikes, and their military leadership is fully ready to go to war.  If war does erupt between Israel and Syria, it seems very unlikely that Iran would stay out of it.

And without a doubt, Iranian targets would be among the first to get hit in a war between Israel and Syria, and the Netanyahu administration has been very clear that Israel is preparing for a war with Iran…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu startled Iranians and even the White House on Wednesday with a strident call for Israeli-Arab action against the government in Tehran that was translated by his office as urging “war with Iran.”

Although Israeli officials tried to soften the reference by altering the English translation, the provocative comment was likely to further the perception that Israel, its Gulf Arab neighbors and the United States are interested in using military action to topple the government of Iran. It comes at a particularly delicate moment, as the Trump administration uses a U.S.-organized summit in Warsaw and this week’s 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution to try to rally the world against the government in Tehran.

Such a war would be incredibly bloody, and the moment that missiles began to fall on Tel Aviv the Israelis would not hesitate to use nukes on Damascus and Tehran.

Let us hope that cooler heads prevail.

Meanwhile, the situation in Venezuela continues to unravel as well.  Sunday was the fourth day for the nationwide blackout, and Nicolas Maduro is blaming the failure of the power grid on a U.S. cyberattack…

Socialist President Nicolas Maduro – who is facing a challenge to his rule by the leader of the opposition-led congress, Juan Guaido – has blamed the blackout on an act of “sabotage” by the United States at the Guri hydroelectric dam, but experts say it is the outcome of years of underinvestment.

“The national electrical system has been subject to multiple cyberattacks,” Maduro wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “However, we are making huge efforts to restore stable and definitive supply in the coming hours.”

Hopefully the U.S. was not behind the cyberattack, because a cyberattack is an act of war.

And since nobody has asked the U.S. Congress for permission to go to war, such an attack would be in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution.

In addition, relations with North Korea are rapidly deteriorating as well.  In fact, Kim Jong-Un appears to be preparing to provoke the U.S. by launching a missile…

Following President Donald Trump’s stalemate talks with Kim Jong-Un, it appears North Korea may be preparing to launch a missile or rocket some time soon.

Earlier this week North Korea sparked outrage after satellite images revealed the nation was ‘rapidly rebuilding’ its Sohae Launch Facility, a long-range missile launch site.

New images reveal activity may have also resumed at a second site near Pyongyang, known as Sanumdong, where intercontinental ballistic missiles and satellite-launching rockets are assembled.

We truly do live at a time of “wars and rumors of wars”, and this could very easily be a year of war for the United States.

Unfortunately, our military is not in very good shape right now.  In fact, in RAND’s recent “simulated World War III scenarios” the U.S. just kept on losing…

In simulated World War III scenarios, the U.S. continues to lose against Russia and China, two top war planners warned last week. “In our games, when we fight Russia and China, blue gets its ass handed to it” RAND analyst David Ochmanek said Thursday.

RAND’s wargames show how US Armed Forces – colored blue on wargame maps – experience the most substantial losses in one scenario after another and still can’t thwart Russia or China – which predictably is red – from accomplishing their objectives: annihilating Western forces.

“We lose a lot of people. We lose a lot of equipment. We usually fail to achieve our objective of preventing aggression by the adversary,” he warned.

Over the past decade, the U.S. military has been dramatically transformed, and not for the better.

But even if our military was in the condition that it should be, we should still not desire war, because in this day and age weapons of mass destruction have made full-blown war between major powers absolutely unthinkable.

About the author: Michael Snyder is a nationally-syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is the author of four books including Get Prepared Now, The Beginning Of The End and Living A Life That Really Matters. His articles are originally published on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News. From there, his articles are republished on dozens of other prominent websites. If you would like to republish his articles, please feel free to do so. The more people that see this information the better, and we need to wake more people up while there is still time.

World War 3 Alert: Iranian Forces Fire Rockets Into Israel, And The IDF Responds With “Waves Of Guided Missiles”

Israel and Iran are edging dangerously close to a state of all-out war.  On Sunday night, Israeli forces rained missiles down on Iranian forces based in the Damascus area “for nearly an hour”.  According to the IDF, this was a response to “dozens” of missiles that were fired by Iranian forces in Syria toward targets in Israel earlier that day.  The Israelis were able to intercept the Iranian missiles, but if any of them had gotten through they could have caused a tremendous amount of damage.  Some of the missiles that Israel fired at the Iranians were reportedly intercepted, but quite a few of them did hit their intended targets. If the violence continues to escalate, we could potentially soon be talking about an all-out war between Israel and Iran in which both sides use their weapons of mass destruction.

The missile strikes against Iranian targets in Damascus made headlines all over the globe.  According to Syrian state media, there were “consecutive waves of guided missiles”…

Syrian state media cited a Syrian military source as saying Israel launched an “intense attack through consecutive waves of guided missiles”, but that Syrian air defenses destroyed most of the “hostile targets”.

Witnesses in Damascus said loud explosions rang out in the night sky for nearly an hour.

The Syrians are boasting that they were able to destroy quite a few of the Israeli missiles, but independent observers confirm that quite a few Iranian targets were destroyed.

In the past, the Israelis have not always publicly acknowledged their attacks in Syria, but on Sunday night they released an immediate statement…

“We have started striking Iranian Quds targets in Syrian territory,” Israel’s military said in a statement.

“We warn the Syrian Armed Forces against attempting to harm Israeli forces or territory.”

You can see some footage of the missile strikes right here.  Among the targets were “weapons warehouses at the Damascus International Airport”…

Targets striked by the IDF, which number at around 10 according to its statement, include weapons warehouses at the Damascus International Airport and in other locations, an Iranian intelligence site and an Iranian training camp in Syria’s south.

Now that the Iranians have been hit so hard, will they respond by striking back at Israel?

If both sides continue to escalate the violence, eventually a “point of no return” will be reached, and then all hell will break loose.

Prior to the IDF missile attacks on Iranian targets, rockets were fired toward the Golan Heights from inside Syria, and Israel blamed those attacks on the Iranians…

The Israeli military said earlier on Sunday that missiles fired toward the northern Golan Heights were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. It added in a statement on Monday that an Iranian force fired these missiles, but said it holds the Syrian regime responsible for any activity in its territory.

It seems extremely unlikely that this conflict will be resolved any time soon.  The Iranians are certainly not going to leave Syria, and they are definitely going to continue to funnel arms and resources to Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon.

And the Israelis have clearly stated that they are going to resist any Iranian attempts to strengthen Hezbollah or to establish a permanent military presence inside Syria.  In fact, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu couldn’t have been any clearer when he said this to reporters…

“We have a permanent policy, to strike at the Iranian entrenchment in Syria and hurt whoever tries to hurt us,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

If a full-blown war erupts in the days ahead, Israel will almost certainly find itself fighting Iran, Syria and Hezbollah simultaneously.  Of course Hezbollah is essentially an Iranian proxy, and at this point they have between 130,000 and 150,000 missiles aimed at Israel.  When war finally comes, it will be extremely bloody and extremely destructive.

Tonight, we are closer to such a war than ever.  The Iranians and the Israelis absolutely hate one another, and now they are firing missiles at one another.

It isn’t going to take much to push the two sides over the edge, and if that happens we are just a hop, a skip and a jump away from the start of World War 3.

Get Prepared NowAbout the author: Michael Snyder is a nationally-syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is the author of four books including Get Prepared Now, The Beginning Of The End and Living A Life That Really Matters.  His articles are originally published on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News.  From there, his articles are republished on dozens of other prominent websites.  If you would like to republish his articles, please feel free to do so.  The more people that see this information the better, and we need to wake more people up while there is still time.

Nation Will Rise Against Nation: Israeli Tanks Mass Along The Border As War Between Israel And Hamas Appears To Be Imminent

Another extremely bloody border protest on Friday has pushed Israel and Hamas to the brink of war.  The Egyptians had been urging Hamas to tone down the border protests, but that did not happen.  Instead, Hamas is pledging to continue the border protests for as long as it takes to end the Israeli blockade.  So Israel has a choice to make.  Either it can end the blockade, accept the endless violence that is currently taking place along the border, or invade Gaza.  The Israelis have already stated very clearly that the blockade will not end, because everyone understands that weapons and fighters will pour into Gaza if that happens.  So it looks like the choice will come down to living with the border violence or invading Gaza, and living with the border violence does not appear to be an acceptable choice either.  On Friday, 10,000 Hamas protesters showed up at the border fence, and 130 of them got shot during the violence that erupted…

Israeli soldiers shot and wounded 130 Palestinians during protests near the Gaza Strip border on Friday, the enclave’s Health Ministry said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said about 10,000 demonstrators massed at the border and that some threw burning tires, grenades and explosive devices at the troops across the fence.

Friday’s chaos followed more violence earlier in the week.  On Wednesday, a rocket that was fired from Gaza obliterated a home in southern Israel, and another rocket landed not too far from Tel Aviv.  The Jewish people have been greatly outraged by these attacks, and their patience has worn very thin.

In response to those attacks, the IDF hit targets in Gaza with airstrikes.

In an article just a few days ago, I noted that Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman is now saying that he believes that war between Israel and Hamas is “inevitable”.  And on Thursday, Israel made a major move in that direction by massing tanks along the Gaza border…

On Thursday Israel had ramped up armored forces along the Gaza border, a day after a rocket fired from the enclave destroyed a home in southern Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed “very strong action” if attacks continued.

In fact, it is being reported that this massing of tanks along the border represents “the largest mustering of forces since the 2014 war”…

Reuters has reported some 60 Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers now stationed at a deployment area along the border as of Thursday, which is the largest reported mustering of forces since the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas.

This would be a war that would not benefit anyone, but it is very difficult to see how it will be avoided at this point.

Hamas could avoid war by simply ending the protests, but they have pledged not to do that.

Israel can keep hammering Gaza with airstrikes, but that definitely will not stop the violence.  The only thing that could permanently stop the violence is a full-blown invasion of Gaza with the intention of completely eliminating Hamas.

But that would be an exceedingly bloody mission, and it could potentially spark a much broader Middle East war.

The mainstream media in the United States has been mostly silent about this looming conflict, but the truth is that this is an extremely serious situation.  Just check out what Nickolay Mladenov told the UN Security Council on Thursday…

Special UN envoy for the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, told the UN Security Council on Thursday that “we remain on the brink of another potentially devastating conflict, a conflict that nobody claims to want, but a conflict that needs much more than just words to prevent”.

If someone was constantly sending rockets, grenades and incendiary devices across the U.S. border, the American people would be screaming and yelling for the military to do something, and rightly so.

Israel is not going to put up with all of this violence for much longer, but there is one huge problem.  If Israel invades Gaza at this point, they will be considered to be the “aggressor” by most of the rest of the world.  And in order to eliminate Hamas entirely, Israel would have to be ruthless, and images from the very bloody war would be endlessly broadcast throughout the Islamic world.  This could greatly galvanize Israel’s other enemies, and it could very easily spark a broader conflict.

Israel is surrounded by nations that would love to see it wiped off the map, and if the right opportunity arose they would gladly join forces in an all-out attempt to defeat Israel once and for all.

But if that scenario were to unfold while Donald Trump was in the White House, the Trump administration would most certainly intervene militarily on the side of Israel, and that could potentially be the start of World War 3.

It isn’t true at this point, but U.S. relations with Israel will soon once again become one of the most divisive issues in U.S. politics.  And a major war in the Middle East would go a long way toward destabilizing the entire globe.

We truly do live in apocalyptic times, and many are anticipating that global events will greatly accelerate during the months ahead.

Throughout much of human history, Israel has been at the center of attention, and now it is happening again.

Watch Israel very carefully, because the things that are happening over there right now are going to have very serious implications for all of us.

About the author: Michael Snyder is a nationally syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is publisher of The Most Important News and the author of four books including The Beginning Of The End and Living A Life That Really Matters.

The Last Days Warrior Summit is the premier online event of 2018 for Christians, Conservatives and Patriots.  It is a premium-members only international event that will empower and equip you with the knowledge and tools that you need as global events begin to escalate dramatically.  The speaker list includes Michael Snyder, Mike Adams, Dave Daubenmire, Ray Gano, Dr. Daniel Daves, Gary Kah, Justus Knight, Doug Krieger, Lyn Leahz, Laura Maxwell and many more. Full summit access will begin on October 25th, and if you would like to register for this unprecedented event you can do so right here.

Middle East Braces For Apocalyptic Conflict Between Israel And Hamas As Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman Declares “War Is Inevitable”

It appears that a major war between Israel and Hamas is imminent.  For the past six months, Hamas has been staging violent protests along the Israeli border in an attempt to end the Israeli-Egyptian blockade.  Those protests have escalated in recent weeks as Egyptian efforts to broker a long-term ceasefire have faltered.  During these violent protests, large numbers of incendiary devices have been launched into Israel, and this has resulted in thousands of acres of land being burned on the Israeli side of the border.  On Friday, approximately 14,000 Palestinians gathered along the border fence, and it was being reported that they were “throwing rocks, firebombs and grenades” at Israeli soldiers on the other side of the barrier.  Needless to say, after six months of such violence Israeli patience is wearing very thin.

And now some members of the Israeli cabinet are openly advocating for war with Hamas.  According to the Jerusalem Post, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman believes that a “harsh IDF military strike against Hamas” is the only way to end the violence…

A harsh IDF military strike against Hamas is the only way to halt the continued Palestinian attacks against Israel, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Tuesday morning as he met in the south with some of his top military staff.

“Now is the time for decisions. My position is very clear: We must deal a heavy blow against Hamas. This is the only way to return the situation to its previous state and to reduce the level of violence to nearly zero,” Liberman said.

Ultimately the decision whether to strike Hamas or not will be made by the entire cabinet, but in Liberman’s mind it has gotten to the point where “war is inevitable”…

Liberman told the Hebrew language Ynet website that “We have reached the moment – we must strike Hamas with the hardest blow. We have made every effort and exhausted every possibility… War is inevitable.”

That is a very powerful statement to make, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stopped just short of essentially saying the same thing on Sunday…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday threatened “very painful blows” against Gaza’s Hamas rulers if they don’t halt protests along the perimeter fence that have led to clashes with Israeli troops.

Netanyahu said Israel is very close to waging a “different kind of activity” against the Islamic militants. He said “if it has any sense, Hamas will cease its fire and violent outbursts — now.”

And here is how another news outlet reported on Netanyahu’s comments…

Speaking at the beginning of the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, Netanyahu said that “Hamas has yet to get the message that if it fails to stop its aggression it will be halted through other means and it will be painful, very painful.”

Netanyahu’s comments came after mass protests on Friday, during which several Palestinians breached the border fence and attacked an IDF position. Five Palestinians were killed in the incident and two more were killed during the violent protest along the border fence.

So is there any chance that Hamas will stop the protests?

Absolutely not.

And it will probably just take one of two more extremely violent border protests such as the one that we witnessed on Friday to push Israel into action.

Of course the reality is that both sides are already exchanging fire.  On both Monday and Tuesday, the Israeli air force struck targets in Gaza…

Earlier Tuesday, Israeli aircraft fired at a Palestinian terror cell as it launched firebomb balloons from the northern Gaza Strip into Israel. No casualties were reported.

The airstrike followed a similar incident on Monday, in which the IAF targeted a Hamas position in southern Gaza after Palestinian terrorists tried to plant explosives along the security fence on the border. One of the explosives exploded on the Gaza side of the fence. No injuries were reported, but the fence sustained some damage.

But what Liberman and Netanyahu are talking about would go far beyond such limited action.

What they are talking about would essentially be an invasion of Gaza with the intention of ending Hamas rule in the area.

Let’s talk about what such a scenario would mean for the Middle East as a whole.  Hamas would fight back with everything that they have got, and it would be an extremely bloody conflict.  Seeing an opportunity, Hezbollah would likely start striking Israel from the north, and the Israelis could suddenly find themselves fighting a war on two fronts.  And since Hezbollah is heavily funded and supplied by Iran, it is easy to imagine Iran getting involved in the conflict as well.

And once missiles start flying back and forth between Israel and Iran, all hell could break loose.

If a major regional war erupts in the Middle East, the Trump administration will not hesitate to intervene.  U.S. forces would be used to protect Israel, and such a move would inevitably unleash chaos and protests all over the globe.

We are just a hop, skip and jump away form World War 3, and most Americans don’t have a clue.

Once again, the eyes of the entire would will soon be glued on a tiny sliver of extremely important land in the Middle East, and we are going to watch a drama play out that will have enormous implications for the entire planet.

War is coming, and once it begins everything is going to change.

About the author: Michael Snyder is a nationally syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is publisher of The Most Important News and the author of four books including The Beginning Of The End and Living A Life That Really Matters.

The Last Days Warrior Summit is the premier online event of 2018 for Christians, Conservatives and Patriots.  It is a premium-members only international event that will empower and equip you with the knowledge and tools that you need as global events begin to escalate dramatically.  The speaker list includes Michael Snyder, Mike Adams, Dave Daubenmire, Ray Gano, Dr. Daniel Daves, Gary Kah, Justus Knight, Doug Krieger, Lyn Leahz, Laura Maxwell and many more. Full summit access will begin on October 25th, and if you would like to register for this unprecedented event you can do so right here.

Donald Trump’s Recognition Of Jerusalem As The Capital Of Israel Will Shake The Middle East To The Core

This is one of the most historic things to happen in the Middle East in decades.  Just a few days ago I reported that Donald Trump would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel “in December”, and now we are being told that Trump will make this announcement at 1 PM eastern time on Wednesday.  Administration officials are stressing that this move is a “recognition of reality”, because of course the seat of the Israeli government has been in the holy city for a very long time.  But without a doubt this announcement will shake the Middle East to the core, because Israel’s neighbors are extremely displeased that Trump is doing this.

According to the Jerusalem Post, President Trump phoned leaders all over the Middle East on Tuesday to inform them about what would happen on Wednesday…

US President Donald Trump called the leaders of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Egypt on Tuesday to inform them of his intention to move the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, 22 years after the US Congress called on the White House to do just that.

What Trump didn’t say, however, was when the move would take place, something that could provide some maneuvering room for him to try to tamp down Arab anger over the highly contentious step.

The recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel will be immediate, but the U.S. embassy will probably not be moved for six months.  The following comes from CNN…

The President is expected to make a public announcement Wednesday declaring his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and his intent to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv, diplomatic officials and a person familiar with the plans tell CNN. Trump is also expected to sign a waiver delaying the embassy move for six months, citing the logistical challenges of moving US personnel.

By not moving the embassy immediately, administration officials are hoping that this will pacify Israel’s neighbors a little bit.

Unfortunately, that may not work.  One prominent Arab leader has already stated that he believes that Trump is “a pyromaniac who could set the entire region on fire with his madness”, and the Saudis are calling this “a flagrant provocation of Muslims”…

In Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency said that King Salman bin Abdul Aziz had received a call from Trump, as well, and that the two discussed the potential moves. Using the Arabic name for Jerusalem, the king “reiterated that such a dangerous step of relocation or recognition of Al-Quds as the capital of Israel would constitute a flagrant provocation of Muslims, all over the world,” the agency said.

Once Trump’s announcement is made, all eyes will be on the Palestinians, and Palestinian leaders have already planned for protests to begin on Wednesday…

The Palestinian factions said protests will start on Wednesday and last until Friday at the very least. According to Palestinian leaders, marches against the decision are being backed by the Palestinian Authority.

Fatah Central Committee member Jamal Mahisan told Haaretz that Trump’s decision was an inflammatory material that will inspire Palestinians to take to the streets in rage. “The Palestinian people know how to protect their rights and we are in consultations regarding [our moves] in the coming days.”

The three days stretching from Wednesday to Friday are being called “three days of rage”, and it is very likely that we will see widespread violence.  The following comes from the Jerusalem Post…

In a joint statement, the Palestinian “national and Islamic forces” announced three days of rage that would begin Wednesday and end on Friday. “We call on all our people in Israel and around the world to gather in city centers and Israeli embassies and consulates, with the aim of bringing about general popular anger,” the statement said.

The statement added that “a huge protest should be launched in order to reject out of hand the attempts of the US administration to transfer the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem or recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. The right of the people and the nation to act in all legal and diplomatic ways within the international community, the international law in the Hague, in order to torpedo this attempt,” the statement said, calling for an emergency meeting of the leaders of the Islamic countries and the Jerusalem Committee to emphasize their rejection of the American moves in Jerusalem.

Some U.S. officials had urged Trump not to make this sort of a move, but it is the right thing to do.  U.S. policy should never be dictated by threats of violence, and I greatly applaud President Trump for refusing to be intimidated.

Hopefully things will not get too crazy over the next few days, but without a doubt U.S. facilities around the world will need to be on very high alert.  In fact, one anonymous State Department official is concerned that U.S. embassies all over the globe could be targeted by violence…

“The impending Jerusalem announcement has me very worried about the possibility of violent responses that could affect embassies,” one State Department official told Politico. “I hope I’m wrong.”

And according to CBS News, U.S. government officials are being ordered to stay away from the Old City and the West Bank for now…

U.S. government employees and their families are being banned by the U.S. from personal visits to Jerusalem’s Old City and the West Bank, including Bethlehem and Jericho, amid the potential for demonstrations. The demonstrations are being planned as President Trump indicated that he intends to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He’s also expected to announce that the U.S. will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a move that’s inflaming Arab sentiment against the U.S.

It takes a lot of courage to do the right thing even though you know that the other side may resort to violence.

Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is going to tremendously shake the entire Middle East, and nobody is quite sure what will happen next.

Let us pray that peace will prevail, but even if it doesn’t, Donald Trump has made the right choice and for that he should be greatly commended.

Michael Snyder is a Republican candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District, and you can learn how you can get involved in the campaign on his official website. His new book entitled “Living A Life That Really Matters” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.

It Is Being Reported That Donald Trump May Recognize Jerusalem As The Capital Of Israel In December

Is President Trump about to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel?   If so, this would be one of the most historic events to happen in the Middle East in a very long time.  Needless to say, the government of Israel would be absolutely thrilled by such a move, while the Palestinians and Israel’s neighbors would not be pleased at all.  In fact, some Palestinians have suggested that if the Trump administration actually moves the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem that it could spark widespread violence or even war.

But Donald Trump promised that he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel during the campaign, and it looks like he intends to keep his word…

A senior U.S. administration official said on Thursday that President Donald Trump is considering recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel without moving the embassy to the Israeli capital, at least for the time being.

Trump wants the recognition of Jerusalem to be a gift to Israel on the occasion of its 70th Independence Day, and he may even announce this recognition by means of a statement to be made by Vice President Mike Pence, who will visit Israel in December.

Pence will be visiting Israel next month, and he is scheduled to deliver an address to the Knesset.  If the Trump administration is going to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, it is believed that it may happen at that time.

Israel became a nation in 1948, and so 2018 will be Israel’s 70th anniversary.  There will be independence celebrations throughout the year, and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as we approach this highly significant time would be considered a great gift to the Jewish people.

For the moment, however, the Trump administration will not be moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.  The White House recognizes that such a move could spark violence in the region, and so administration officials are treading carefully…

President Donald Trump and his senior aides are mulling a plan to eventually move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a decision that could derail Trump’s attempts to restart peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

A leading option under consideration: temporarily keeping the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv while also outlining a longer-term strategy to begin the process of moving the embassy to Jerusalem, according to two administration officials. The plan is meant to strike a middle ground on the politically treacherous issue.

We shall see how this plays out, but Vice-President Mike Pence sure sounds optimistic that moving the embassy will actually happen.  Earlier this week, he posted the following message on Twitter…

While for the past 20 years, Congress and successive administrations have expressed a willingness to move our embassy, @POTUS Trump is actively considering when and how to move the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Of course moving the embassy would have very serious ramifications, and without a doubt many those surrounding Trump are advising against such a move…

American intelligence circles may caution Trump against the move, warning of the security-related ramifications that could ensue and danger that it could pose to American embassies around the world.

Rumors of Trump’s planned announcement were met with warnings from Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who said during a visit to the US that “the transfer of the American embassy to Jerusalem at this stage will have repercussions in the Palestinian, Arab and Islamic scene.”

I will be even more blunt.  If the U.S. embassy is moved to Jerusalem, there will definitely be violence, and it could potentially move us closer to armed conflict in the Middle East.

But U.S. policy should never be dictated by threats of violence.  Moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem is the right thing to do, and we cannot allow anyone to intimidate us.  In 1995, Congress passed a law that requires the U.S. embassy to be moved to Jerusalem, but ever since then presidents have used “waivers” to delay the move.

The current “waiver” expires on December 1st, and Trump is expected to sign another one at that time.

But even if the U.S. embassy is not moved to Jerusalem any time soon, the truth is that the next major war in the Middle East seems to be getting closer with each passing day.  Just check out some of the things that have happened over the past week…

-Saudi Arabia just intercepted another ballistic missile that was fired from Yemen.  The civil war in Yemen is essentially a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the Saudis hold the Iranians directly responsible whenever a missile is fired toward their territory.

-China has announced that they will be sending “elite troops” into Syria to fight alongside the Syrian army in the ongoing civil war that is raging there.

-Just a few days ago, the Pentagon acknowledged that there are approximately 2,000 U.S. troops currently in Syria working with forces that would like to overthrow the Syrian government.

The Middle East is a tinderbox that could literally erupt at any moment.  Most Americans have absolutely no idea how close we are to a major regional war, and let us pray that one does not happen any time soon.

Michael Snyder is a Republican candidate for Congress in Idaho’s First Congressional District, and you can learn how you can get involved in the campaign on his official website. His new book entitled “Living A Life That Really Matters” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.

Donald Trump Was Born Exactly 700 Days Before Israel Became A Nation

trump-accepts-nomination-public-domainDo you want to see something amazing?  If you go to any of the major search engines and ask when Donald Trump was born, you will be told that it happened on June 14th, 1946.  And then if you go to any of the major search engines and ask when Israel became a nation, you will be told that it happened on May 14th, 1948.  If you take both of those dates and plug them into the handy calculator provided by timeanddate.com, you will discover that Donald Trump was born exactly 700 days before Israel became a nation.

I was first alerted to this incredible fact by Daily Crow.  Here are some other incredible numbers that link Trump and Israel from that same source…

-Israel was 77 days old exactly 777 days after Donald Trump was born.

-Israel’s 70th birthday will come exactly 700 days after Trump’s 70th birthday.

-Donald Trump won the election on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 7th year, 7th month and 7th day in office.

On top of everything else, Donald Trump will be 70 years, 7 months and 7 days old on his first full day in the White House.

As I noted above, Donald Trump was born on June 14th, 1946.  Moving forward exactly 70 years from that date brings you to June 14th, 2016.  Moving forward exactly 7 months from that date brings you to January 14th, 2017, and if you add another 7 days that brings you to January 21st, 2017.

Donald Trump will be inaugurated on January 20th and will be president for part of that day, but his first full day in office will be on January 21st.

And as incredible as this may sound, this will happen during year 5777 on the Hebrew calendar.

In addition, it turns out that there are some very strange “coincidences” surrounding Mike Pence as well.  Here is more great stuff from Daily Crow…

He is 57 years old and will take office in the Hebrew year 5777. The last minute of Mike Pence’s 57th year will take place one minute before the 50th anniversary of Jerusalem (Pence was 50th governor of Indiana), 6/7 of 2017.

Pence was born in Columbus. Trump Tower is located .7 miles down 57th street from Columbus Circle, Trump’s Vice President, Pence the 57 year old from Columbus.

Could it be possible that Donald Trump and Mike Pence both have special destinies ahead of them?

They are going to take office at a critical time for America.  Barack Obama appears determined to cause as much chaos as possible on his way out the door, and we just witnessed the greatest betrayal of Israel in all of American history.

And in addition to UN Security Council Resolution 2334, we are also finding out that the UN has appropriated money for a database of Israeli companies that do business in the West Bank.  According to former UN Ambassador John Bolton, the only purpose of such a database would be to punish those companies…

Lost amid the angry words that followed the Dec. 23 UN Security Council vote that critics called an American betrayal of Israel was a Christmas Eve appropriation of $138,700 to fund a database of companies doing business in the West Bank. The measure puts UN prestige behind the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, say critics.

“The types of data they are talking about acquiring would be to form the basis for future sanctions against companies that did business on the West Bank,” Fox News contributor and former U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton told FoxNews.com. “That’s the only purpose of it that I can see.”

Fortunately, some members of Congress are already working hard to try to repair the damage that Barack Obama has been doing.  For example, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz wants to withhold funding from the U.S. State Department until the U.S. embassy is moved to Jerusalem…

Sen. Ted Cruz and two fellow Republicans are pressing the State Department to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Congress passed legislation in 1995 that called for moving the embassy to Jerusalem, but Democratic and Republican administrations alike have declined to enact the change, citing security concerns. The latest measure, introduced Tuesday as the new Congress convened, would withhold funding from the State Department until it makes the move.

Moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem is one of the 10 steps that I detailed yesterday that I believe Donald Trump should take as soon as possible after becoming president.

Donald Trump has the opportunity to be the most pro-Israel president that we have ever had.  But that is going to take more than just good intentions.

We live at a time when global events are accelerating.  Donald Trump and Mike Pence are going to have to deal with some great challenges that they cannot even imagine at this moment, and it will be critical for them to be strong and resolute in the face of a rapidly changing global environment.

10 Ways That Donald Trump Could Try To Reverse The Curse That Obama Has Put On America

trump-wallWhen Barack Obama betrayed Israel at the United Nations, that put a curse on our nation.  But that doesn’t mean that we have to stay cursed.  In the coming days, the new Trump administration should immediately start taking steps to reverse the curse that we are under as a result of what Obama has done.  Perhaps if Donald Trump takes strong enough steps to try to undo what Obama has done, instead of being cursed we can once again return to being blessed.

One thing that Trump will not be able to undo is UN Security Council Resolution 2334.  It would take another UN Security Council resolution to undo it, and the votes simply wouldn’t be there.  UN Security Council Resolution 2334 passed by a vote of 14 to zero with the U.S. abstaining.  And even if Trump could miraculously pull together enough votes, one of the other permanent members of the Security Council (Russia, China, the UK or France) could just veto it.

So it looks like we are stuck with UN Security Council Resolution 2334, but that doesn’t mean that Trump can’t do anything to try to address this matter.

Recently, a Breitbart article suggested five steps that Trump should take regarding Israel once he becomes president, and I would like to add another five to the list.

The following are 10 things that should immediately be done once Trump becomes president to try to reverse the curse that Obama has put on America…

#1 Donald Trump should clearly disavow UN Security Council Resolution 2334 during his Inaugural address.  This would send a clear signal to the rest of the world that this new administration does not stand behind Obama’s betrayal of Israel.

#2 Sanctions should be imposed on every nation that voted in favor of the resolution.  I know that this would be politically tricky and would greatly upset the other permanent members of the Security Council, but it should still be done.

#3 There should be a congressional declaration clearly disavowing UN Security Council Resolution 2334, and Donald Trump should endorse this declaration.

#4 The Trump administration should immediately introduce another UN Security Council resolution that would include language that completely overturns the previous resolution.  Of course that resolution would almost certainly fail, but the point would be to show that the Trump administration is horrified by what has been done, and it would force the rest of the Security Council into a very uncomfortable position.

#5 Trump should immediately move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.  By law this was already supposed to have happened anyway, but past presidents have always put the move off.  Of course this would cause the Palestinians to riot, but Trump needs to show the world that U.S. policy is not going to be dictated by threats of violence.

#6 Trump should cut off all funding to the Palestinian authority.  Considering how much debt we are in, I don’t know why we are giving them money in the first place.

#7 Trump should publicly announce that his administration will never recognize a Palestinian state.  The rest of the world would get very upset by this, but it is the right thing to do.

#8 Trump should publicly announce that it is the policy of the United States government that every inch of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza strip and the Golan Heights belongs to Israel.  I don’t think that Trump would ever do this, but it would be the single most important step that he could take.

#9 The United Nations could be defunded in whole or in part.  But we don’t want to leave the United Nations entirely as some are suggesting.  Now that Trump is going to be president, we want him to use the power that we have on the Security Council to protect Israel.  Because without the U.S. standing in the way, the rest of the world would gang up on Israel in a major way.

#10 Trump should make an immediate presidential visit to Israel during the very first week of his presidency.  This would largely be symbolic, but it would show the rest of the planet that we stand solidly with the Netanyahu government.

And if Barack Obama takes additional action against Israel during the remaining days of his presidency, steps such as I have just outlined above will become even more important.

There are still rumblings that we could see another UN Security Council resolution that would officially establish a Palestinian state before Obama leaves office.  The following comes from an article by Bob Eschliman…

The official said the U.N. action could come in the form of declarations by U.N. bodies, including the General Assembly; U.N. sessions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; or even another United Nations Security Council resolution. He said any further UNSC resolution would depend on the support of the U.S. and European countries after the upcoming Paris Mideast summit slated for Jan. 15.

He said the U.N. action would seek to set the parameters of a future Palestinian state with a clear timeline for negotiations. If the action comes in the form of a resolution at a U.N. body, it could call for an infrastructure to establish mechanisms to enforce last week’s UNSC resolution, which demanded a complete halt to Israeli construction in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem and declared those territories occupied Palestinian lands.

If the UN Security Council does vote to formally recognize a Palestinian state, all hell will break loose in America.

Let us hope that does not happen, and let us hope that Donald Trump works very hard to repair the damage that has already been done once he gets into office.

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