Prophecy and Current Events

Feb 16, 2001 -

Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak has conditionally agreed to join Prime Minster-elect Ariel Sharon_s national unity government and serve as defense minister. Barak's office said in a statement that his decision was "still conditional upon the completion of the policy guidelines and coalition agreements." The statement, issued after Barak held talks for more than two hours with Sharon, said Barak hoped to present the coalition agreement to the Labor party for endorsement early next week. If the unity government is formed, Nobel peace prize laureate Shimon Peres, the architect of the Oslo Accords, would serve as foreign minister.

Barak, 59, is taking the heat for his decision to enter the unity government, since he said he was taking a time-out from politics after his crushing defeat to Sharon last week. "Common sense requires him to quit," said Cabinet Minister Haim Ramon, a leading member of the Labor party. Newspaper commentators were highly critical of Barak's decision to stay in office. In the "Maariv" daily, analyst Hemi Shalev called Barak a "knight of no honor," while columnist Sever Plocker wrote in "Yediot Ahronot" that Barak had reached "the lowest level of credibility ever recorded by a prime minister in Israel or any other democratic country." But supporters of the move in Labor said such a government would keep the peace process alive. "I very much hope the two of them [Sharon and Barak] will be able to create a security policy, a diplomatic policy to move this government forward towards diplomatic solutions and peace," said Ophir Pines-Paz, a senior Labor Party official.

For his part, Sharon was elated. "I believed always and I believe now that Israel needs unity, and I have said many times that I'm going to form a national unity government and that is what I'm going to do," he said. "I think it's important, I think Israel needs unity and that will enable us to really reach security and peace." Likud member Meir Sheetrit said Sharon would overshadow the role played by Barak and Peres. "Peres also knows we are headed in a different direction than that of the previous government," he told Israel Radio. "Not, heaven forbid, a withdrawal from peace but an attempt to make peace in a different way_not under fire, not amid shooting_while maintaining the security of the state of Israel. It's impossible to achieve all of the goals at once." According to a poll published today, a whopping 84 percent of Israelis support the formation of a national unity government.

The impetus for the unity government is escalating Palestinian violence, which has now spread to the northern border. The army says Hizbollah guerillas set off a roadside bomb and shot at Israeli soldiers patrolling the border with Lebanon today. There is no word on casualties, but Prime Minister Barak said it was "a complex incident." Casualties among Israeli soldiers are censored by the army until the families can be informed. Israeli security sources reported heavy fire at Israeli positions along the border. Israeli forces returned fire. In Beirut, Hizbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, saying its fighters had scored a direct hit on an Israeli army patrol. The attack occurred at Har Dov, land Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. Hizbollah says the area is Lebanese and accuses Israel of not completing its withdrawal from Lebanon last May. The United Nations, however, has verified the Israeli withdrawal as complete. On the Palestinian front, there were heavy exchanges of fire overnight between Israeli troops and Palestinian militiamen in the Gaza Strip.

 Feb 18, 2001 -

Israel has sent a stern warning to Lebanon and Syria, after Hizbollah guerillas fired rockets at an Israeli patrol on the northern border Friday, killing an Israeli soldier. Israel warned both countries that they would suffer "severe consequences" if Hizbollah is not restrained. In the past, Israel has bombed Lebanese infrastructure in response to Hizbollah attacks. For now, however, caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak has decided not to retaliate, fearing that would give Hizbollah an excuse to launch a major offensive in the north_an escalation that would no doubt escalate violence in the Palestinian territories. Israeli generals believe that if the situation in Judea, Samaria and Gaza deteriorates, Hizbollah is likely to open up a second front in the north. That could quickly bring Syria into the conflict, transforming the Palestinian uprising from a localized conflict into a regional war.

Israel is closely watching the situation in Iraq, after the US air strike there on Friday. Israeli officials say they_re taking Saddam Hussein_s threats of retaliation seriously, even though they don_t see any imminent danger or need for any special measures, such as ordering people to get out their gas masks. "First of all, one must relate seriously to Saddam Hussein because until now whatever he threatened he also tried to carry out," said Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh. "The danger is not an immediate danger. The danger is in what he is building and preparing. Based on our assessment, he is building long-range missiles and is equipping himself with biological weapons, and is making every effort to build nuclear weapons to which he was very close only 10 years ago," Sneh said. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called Prime Minister Barak to update him on the air attack. The two agreed to remain in contact as the situation warrants. Israel_s concerns stem from the fact that Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at the Jewish state during the Gulf War in 1991. The Palestinians, who supported Saddam during the Gulf War, came out against the US attack. Demonstrators in Palestinian-ruled cities burned American and Israeli flags and pictures of President Bush. Saddam is especially popular among Palestinians, since he has paid $10,000 to the families of each "martyr" killed in the intifada.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak is facing growing opposition in his own Labor party to his decision to serve as defense minster in Ariel Sharon_s national unity government. "A national unity government is in the eyes of many of us a forgery as it cannot advance the diplomatic process, and the Labor party must not join," said ultra-dovish Cabinet Minister Yossi Beilin, an architect of the Oslo Accords. Beilin was among many Labor parliamentarians and Israeli newspaper commentators who called on Barak to make good on his promise to take a "time-out" from politics after his landslide election defeat to Sharon. Barak, however, has defended himself against charges that he_s trying to save his political skin. "Seventy percent of our voters ask that we establish a national unity government. It's the logical result of the voter's verdict," Barak said. Barak could face a tough battle in Labor's 1,700-member central committee which must approve the coalition agreement. The committee could meet this week, if the coalition guidelines are finalized.

A few days after the UN Mideast envoy warned that Palestinian institutions are on the verge of collapse because of a lack of funds, a senior Palestinian official has said the Arab states are partly to blame. Palestinian Justice Minister Freih Abu Medein accused the Islamic Development Bank of "refusing to release the funds" needed to support the Palestinians. "Is the Islamic Bank waiting for the uprising to end to build a hotel or a road?" Abu Medein said in an Arabic newspaper interview today. "We are telling the bank that we need [money] now for bread and for the daily medical and educational needs of citizens. As for the hotel and the roads, we have no need for them," he said. Palestinian officials say less than a 10th of the $1 billion in emergency aid promised by the Arab League in October had been handed over by the Jeddah-based bank. It appears that the Arab nations, like Western donors, are concerned about rampant corruption in the Palestinian Authority. Donor funds have often found their way into the pockets of Palestinian officials, while the masses have remained in poverty.

 Feb 19, 2001 -

Israeli and US forces began a joint military exercise today to test Patriot missiles, used to intercept Iraqi Scud missiles during the Gulf War in 1991. The war games in the Israeli desert began three days after the US air strike on military installations near the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Israel said the timing of the missile defense exercise was coincidental. "The exercise has been planned for over a year and is part of routine US-Israel training to validate the effectiveness of air defense systems," the army said in a statement. Caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak met security officials yesterday to discuss developments in Iraq. His office said in a statement that Israel would keep a close eye on the situation, but "there is no need to take any sort of special measures." Nevertheless, the Israeli public is concerned. Since the US attack, more than 10,000 people have inquired about refurbishing their gas masks.

Indeed, the security situation continues to deteriorate. In the latest flare-up of violence, a gun battle erupted after Palestinian militiamen opened fire at the Jewish neighborhood of Gilo in southern Jerusalem, from the nearby village of Beit Jala. Israeli soldiers returned fire, pounding the presumed hiding places of the gunmen with tank shells, rockets and machine gun fire. There was also a protracted firefight between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli troops in the Gush Katif bloc of Jewish communities in the southern Gaza Strip. A bus carrying Arab laborers to Gush Katif's industrial zone was fired at by Palestinian gunmen and although several bullets penetrated the bus, no one was hurt. In Judea and Samaria, two roadside bombs exploded as an Israeli army convoy drove along a road near the Palestinian-ruled town of Jenin. The army said no one was hurt in the blasts.

A state inquiry began hearing testimony today on the deaths of the 13 Israeli Arabs, killed during clashes with Israeli police in northern Israel at the start of the Palestinian uprising. Three Arabs and four police officers were to testify. Barak agreed to the inquiry a few months ago, hoping it would appease Israeli Arabs threatening to withdraw their parliamentary support. Barak was able to remain in power with the help ten anti-Zionist Arab Knesset members who supported him from outside the coalition. However, they abandoned him despite the gesture, causing the collapse of his government, and contributing to his landslide election defeat. The Arabs, who traditionally support the Labor party, largely boycotted the election.

 Feb 20, 2001 -

Israel has assassinated a senior member of the Islamic terrorist group Hamas, in a daring attack in Palestinian-ruled Nablus. Mahmoud Madani, 25, was hit by four bullets in the upper body shortly after leaving a mosque in the Balata refugee camp on the outskirts of town. Israel did not claim responsibility, but security sources say Israel indeed targeted the man because of his involvement in two recent car bomb attacks in the coastal towns of Netanya and Hadera. The governor of Nablus, Mahmoud Aloul, said Israeli undercover troops driving a car with Palestinian license plates infiltrated Balata and opened fire on Madani. He said other Israeli soldiers provided cover fire from an outpost on a mountain overlooking Balata to safeguard the getaway of the special unit. "Israel uses the policy of assassinations to stop the uprising, but this policy will only escalate the uprising, not stop it," Aloul said. At Madani's funeral, Hamas activists said the killing would be avenged. "We will continue resistance until we get our rights and liberate Jerusalem," said Jamal Mansour, a Hamas leader in Nablus. "Israel must know that every day, new fighters will emerge from among the people." About 3,000 Palestinians joined the funeral procession, with the crowd chanting "revenge, revenge."

Ariel Sharon_s Likud party has given the rival Labor party a week to decide if it will join a national unity government. Likud members say they_ll seek other partners for a rightist coalition if outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak cannot overcome opposition to a unity government within Labor. "I hope the Labor party will approve the unity government and we can progress quickly," said Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, a senior Likud politician. "But if that will be delayed beyond Monday then another government will be formed." Barak has been under fire from prominent Labor Knesset members for his decision to serve as defense minister in the Sharon government_an about face from his decision to resign after his embarrassing election defeat. Israeli media reported that Labor members are considering a compromise under which Barak would fulfil a pledge to resign from parliament and as Labor chief, but stay on to serve in Sharon's government. Labor is expected to convene its 1,700-member central committee early next week to decide on whether to join a unity government. Sharon must present a government before a late March deadline or face new elections.

The state inquiry into the killing of 13 Israeli Arabs is continuing in a charged atmosphere. When the inquiry began hearings yesterday, it quickly turned violent. The parents of one of the dead, Rami Jara, lunged at a policeman as he testified before the tribunal. Proceedings were broken off for 90 minutes after the incident, during which Jara's father tried to strike the witness, and his mother_sobbing and screaming_collapsed. Members of the slain men's families clutched photos of their loved ones, tears streaming down their faces. "We hope this committee will do its work objectively and we hope to see this committee as an example of Israeli justice," said the families' legal representative, Mahmoud Yazdan. Arabs have testified that the police fired indiscriminately, while the police say they acted in self-defense when their lives were threatened by raging mobs. Prime Minister Barak reluctantly agreed to the inquiry in an attempt to win back the support of Israeli Arabs, but it didn_t help. The Arabs abandoned Barak in the Knesset and in the elections, largely contributing to his fall from power.

The rush is on for gas masks since the US attack on Iraq last Friday. The number of Israelis arriving at the army's gas mask distribution centers almost tripled after official Iraqi media said Iraq would teach "the Zionist entity" a lesson. On a normal day about 3,500 Israelis visit the 27 distribution centers throughout the country, but on both Sunday and Monday more than 10,000 people came. Most Israelis already have gas masks in their homes, left over from the 1991 Gulf War, when they were distributed as a precaution against a possible chemical weapons attack from Iraq. The army sends periodic notices to citizens to replace some elements, but most people ignore them until the Iraqi front heats up. Meanwhile, Israeli and US forces are continuing a joint exercise with Patriot missiles, used to intercept Iraqi Scud missiles during the Gulf War. Israeli officials say there_s no imminent threat, but they are concerned about Saddam Hussein_s unhindered development of weapons of mass destruction.