De Update van het Midden-Oosten

DE UPDATES VAN GPL… HET MIDDEN-OOSTEN VAN. 27 MEI…. Nr 114

DE SPRONGEN VAN DE ECONOMIE VAN ISRAËL, DE DUIKEN VAN DE DOLLAR: door Hillel Fendel
Groeide het Bruto binnenlands product van Israël (het BBP) door een op jaarbasis berekende 5.4% in het eerste trimester, aangezien de dollar tegen shekel blijft vallen, die nu een internationaal erkende munt is. De centrale Dienst van Statistieken meldde verder deze week dat het bedrijfsproduct met 6.1% in het eerste trimester van dit jaar toenam. Ondertussen, vanaf deze week, Israëlische is shekel internationaal wettelijke offerte geworden, nu Israël tot een officieel lid van het internationale CLS (ononderbroken verbonden regeling) ophelderingssysteem is gemaakt. Israëlische shekels kunnen nu in overzee handel op markten worden gebruikt, banken de wereld over shekels in andere munten kan omzetten, en de Israëlische bedrijven en de firma's kunnen betalingen in shekels of door controle of bankoverdracht aan hun klanten' regelen rekeningen overzee.

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DE UPDATES VAN GPL… HET MIDDEN-OOSTEN VAN. 21 MEI…. Nr 113

DE MINISTER VAN DE OVERHEID: ISRAËL ONDERHANDELT MET HAMAS: door Nissan ratzlav-Katz
Israël voert directe onderhandelingen met Hamas, ondanks een overheidsbeleid dat dergelijke besprekingen belemmert, zei de Vice-eerste Minister Chaim Ramon Maandag 19 Mei. Ramon drukte frustratie bij de contacten van de overheid met Hamas uit en zei hij hoopte dat het besluit om de terroristenentiteit te elimineren spoedig zou gemaakt worden. De leider Netanyahu van Likud van de oppositie haalde vijf redenen aan die M. Olmert - neer, met inbegrip van mislukkingen in de Tweede Oorlog van Libanon, aan de gang zijnde raketaanvallen op Israël, mislukkingen in de economie en het onderwijs en een gebrek aan geloof zou moeten stappen door het publiek in de overheidsinstellingen. He added that several ongoing criminal probes against the Prime Minister are additional reasons for Olmert to resign. Netanyahu also called on the Shas Party to leave the government.

SOLDIERS KILL SUICIDE BOMBER AT SAMARIA CHECKPOINT: by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Alert IDF soldiers at a Samaria checkpoint on Monday night May 19 shot and killed a 20-year-old Arab man who had explosives strapped to his body. Nineteen-year-old Corporal Michal Ya’akov is credited with raising the initial alarm. At around 8:00 pm, she ordered the Palestinian Authority resident to pass through the metal detector at the checkpoint, which sounded a beep signaling that a further search was necessary. She told him to raise his shirt, exposing several explosive devices strapped to his body in a bomb vest. The man refused orders to lie down and began to lower his arms, apparently to set off the bombs. A commander at the checkpoint then shot and killed the terrorist before he could take any further action.

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GPL … MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. MAY 15…. NO 112

GRAD ROCKET WOUNDS SCORES IN ASHKELON MALL:
‘Bush visit will not prevent Israeli response’
Just as visiting US President George W. Bush gathered with top Israeli leaders in Jerusalem on Wednesday May 7 to pay tribute on the nation’s 60th Anniversary, a medium-range Grad rocket, launched from the former Gaza Jewish fishing village of Dugit, slammed into a crowded shopping mall in Ashkelon, wounding 15 people and burying dozens under piles of rubble. As opposed to the Kassam, whose warhead contains 16 pounds of explosives, the Iranian Grad’s warhead contains 44 pounds of explosives, which enabled it to penetrate the mall’s thick walls and cement ceiling.

OLMERT MAY FACE SECOND BRIBERY CASE:
Ties to two more US businessmen being probed
Former Israeli chief criminal investigator Commander Moshe Mizrahi has revealed that new evidence obtained by police will implicate Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a second bribery case besides the recently uncovered Talansky affair.

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GPL … MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. MAY 11…. NO 111

PM OLMERT SUSPECTED OF ACCEPTING CASH BRIBES: by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is under police investigation for accepting cash bribes from wealthy cronies, including a well-known American businessman. The details of the suspicions against the Prime Minister were released Thursday night May 8 when a Tel Aviv District Court partially lifted a gag order on details of the case.

BARAK AIDES: OLMERT’S EXIT IS A MATTER OF TIME-THEN WHAT? : by Hana Levi Julian
Cabinet ministers and coalition partners are hurrying to get their ducks in line as the storm clouds gather in the latest investigation against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.. “Barak has little doubt that Olmert is on his way out, but the question is: Elections now, or later?” the source told Reuters. If Labor, the second largest party in the coalition, pulls out of the government and forces new elections, Likud Party chairman Binyamin Netanyahu is likely to lead his party to a victory. Such a scenario would likely mean a nationalist/religious coalition, leaving Labor out of the government.

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GPL … MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. MAY 6…. NO 110

OLMERT SCANDAL WILL “SHAKE THE COUNTRY”: by Hillel Fendel
Staffers in the Attorney General’s office said on Monday May 5, according to Army Radio, that the findings in the latest Olmert scandal collected thus far will “shake the country when they are revealed.” The sources said that the media blackout on the details of the investigation against Olmert would be partially lifted by Tuesday, “in accordance with developments.” Olmert aide, Shula Zaken, one of the suspects in the case being investigated against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, was sent to house arrest until Friday.

DEFENCE MIN. BARAK’S ORDERS LEAVE IDF AT SECURITY ‘RED LINE’: by Hillel Fendel
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has given orders to remove three critical anti-terror checkpoints in Judea and Samaria, allowing terrorists to travel unhindered. The orders were given in compliance with demands by visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who continually insists that Israel mollify Palestinian Authority by removing additional security checkpoints. The IDF generally objects to such gestures.

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GPL … MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. MAY 1…. NO 109

AZERBAIJAN TO ALLOW IRAN NUCLEAR EQUIPMENT THROUGH:
Azerbaijan announced on Wednesday April 30 that it will allow a shipment of Russian nuclear equipment stopped at the border in March to now proceed to its destination at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran.

HISTORIC FIRST: IDF CHIEF AT HEAD OF MARCH TO AUSCHWITZ: by Ezra HaLevi.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi visited the Warsaw Ghetto and a Jewish cemetery in Poland ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which began Wednesday night April 30. The top IDF commander visited the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw, Poland where the Jews who died in the Warsaw Ghetto were buried. Ashkenazi reportedly stood silent for a few moments and then said: “The answer to what we see here is us, the State of Israel, the IDF and victory.”

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GPL … MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. APRIL 27…. NO 108

TWO ISRAELIS SHOT DEAD AT FACTORY NEAR TULKARM:
An unexpected ‘lull’ in terrorism over the Passover holiday was broken on Friday morning April 25, when at least one and perhaps two Palestinian terrorists penetrated the security barrier at the industrial complex of Nitzane Shalom, near the West Bank town of Tulkarm, and shot dead two Israeli security guards at a factory.

HAMAS ATTACKS MORE GAZA CROSSINGS:
As part of its recent campaign to forcibly break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, Hamas targeted the Keren Shalom and Kissufim crossings at the southern end of the Strip in coordinated attacks on the eve of Passover last Saturday morning (19 April). In one of the most ambitious Palestinian terror operations ever launched, an armored personnel carrier burst out of an early morning fog bank and broke through the security fence at Keren Shalom, followed by two vehicles disguised as IDF jeeps and packed with 300 kilograms of explosives. IDF units were on the alert, however, and destroyed the pair of kamikaze jeeps as they approached their positions, while the APC was also disabled after it ran into a wall. Hamas mortar squads nearby also laid down volleys of shells in the area as some 13 injured IDF soldiers were evacuated for treatment.

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Celebrating forty years after the miraculous Israeli victory in the 1967 Six Day War, an analysis of the circumstances of that momentous event has recently been published by a panel of investigative journalists and historians. Its conclusion is that so many factors came together for Israel’s success that it is impossible to conclude that they were natural outcomes or the normal course of events.

“This is from God”.

Prior to June 1967, Israel’s borders were precarious, indefensible - at one point, south of Haifa, the width of Israel from the Mediterranean Sea to Jordan-controlled West Bank was less then ten miles. The war increased the size of Israel-controlled area by more than double. Most importantly, Jerusalem became a unified city and Israel’s capital. The Arabs recognise their disastrous defeat by constantly calling for “the return to pre-1967 borders” in any peace deal with Israel.

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GPL … MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM .. APRIL 19…. NO 107

ISRAEL IMPOSES PASSOVER CLOSURE ON PALESTINIAN AREAS:
Israel decided to clamp a full closure on the West Bank and Gaza during the week of Passover, which began Saturday evening April 19, due to on-going concerns over revenge attacks from Hizbullah for the recent death of Imad Mughniyeh.

IRAN USING GAZA FISHERMEN TO SMUGGLE WEAPONS:
Hizbullah assisting in sea-borne weapons tranfers
According to top Israeli Defense officials, Iran has increased its arms smuggling into Gaza by placing weapons in floatable containers in the waters off Gaza’s coast so Palestinian fisherman can bring them into the Strip.

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G.P.L. BULLETIN No 179

God’s dealings with Israel are spread over great periods of time. The Roman exile lasted 1878 years from AD70 to 1948. Their continuous restoration is taking another long period - 60 years so far, by comparison with their exile period a tiny amount. This restoration period will extend well into the time after the return of Jesus. For example, see Isaiah 63:1-6 where the returned Jesus takes steps to save Israel from her enemies, “I looked but there was no one to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold; therefore my own arm brought salvation”. A future Israel will not have American help or any other support and would be overcome, except that Jesus saves them and that will have been quite a long time from 1948.

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