ISRAEL The Nation Fears Complete Isolation

Israel’s relations with Turkey are ruined, the Palestinians plan to seek UN recognition for their own state, the embassy in Cairo was stormed: Jerusalem is under massive pressure. Even hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is starting to sound conciliatory.
Is Jerusalem softening its hard-line stance? After weeks of confrontation with friend and foe alike, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose unusually conciliatory words in thanking the Egyptian government for its help during the storm by Egyptian protesters on the Israeli embassy in Cairo.
If Netanyahu is now backing down, it is because the situation is very serious. The Israelis are no strangers to crisis, but they will remember the last few weeks for a long time. Rarely has the Jewish state suffered so many setbacks and blows:
* On Sept. 1, pro-Palestinian activists in London interrupted a performance by the Israeli Symphony Orchestra so vehemently that the BBC had to break off its broadcast of the concert for the first time in its history.
* On Sept. 6, it became known that former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates had described Netanyahu as “ungrateful” in a meeting of the National Security Council. By refusing to acknowledge Israel’s growing isolation, Netanyahu was endangering his country, Gates said.
 * The dispute between Turkey and Israel over Israel’s refusal to apologize for the deaths of nine Turkish activists in a 2010 Israeli raid on a Turkish boat carrying aid for Gaza culminated when Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador, cancelled its military cooperation with Jerusalem and announced it would provide military protection for Turkish ships heading to Gaza in the future.
* The Palestinian leadership has vowed to seek full United Nations membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank at the UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 20.
* Thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the Israeli embassy in Cairo, tore a hole in the surrounding wall, stormed part of the building and held six Israelis under siege for hours.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a long-time opponent of Netanyahu, is leading calls for a change in policy. According to Haaretz, Barak told fellow cabinet ministers that if Israel fails to try to move the peace process forward, it will be seen as obstructionist by its friends in the West.
-www.spiegel.de,12 September 2011

Contrary to many reports, Israel never had and apparently never will have allies, although some nations have halfheartedly confessed to be friends, but only temporarily and due to political opportunity.
Why no allies? The answer is found in Numbers 23:9, “For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.” We do well to keep biblical facts unpolluted from politically motivated statements. Israel is destined to be alone because the Bible says that salvation will come out of Zion. Jesus confirms, “Salvation is of the Jews.” These simple facts are the real reason for Israel’s isolation, and not the political maneuvering whether to the left or the right.
Israel will experience a temporary end to their isolation when the words of the Lord are fulfilled, “I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (John 5:43). That will be the time when the world will be united under the auspices of Antichrist. Then, in the midst of the seven-year tribulation, “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it” (Jeremiah 30:7). That is Israel’s hope, the guarantee of the prophetic Word, “He shall be saved out of it.”

Pivotal Moment for Israel Special Report by David Parsons 15 September 2011

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to send Turkish warships to escort aid convoys to Gaza The month of September 2011 may well go down as one of the most pivotal moments in Israel's modern's history, as the entire Middle East is convulsing before our very eyes.  September was already earmarked as a key date on the regional calendar due to the looming diplomatic showdown over Palestinian statehood at the United Nations. The Palestinian Authority has refused to back down from its reckless unilateral push for a state along the pre-1967 lines, and thus decided to take a very dangerous path given the volatile political climate in the region. The PA's official calls for mass marches on Israeli towns and checkpoints in support of this effort is already inviting chaos and bloodshed.    But then suddenly last week, Israel's ambassadors in both Egypt and Turkey were unceremoniously chased from Cairo and Ankara within days of each other. Each nation is a regional power with long-standing security ties and shared concerns with Israel. Yet decades of prodigious efforts to forge close relations, often against the popular will of their peoples, may now be down the drain. Only time will tell if this is indeed a rubicon moment for Israel, as the Palestinians sow the seeds of another intifada and strategic ties built up over many years with Egypt and Turkey now face the risk of being irreversibly severed. Even worse, the region could be slipping towards an unthinkable war. The Islamist party ruling Turkey has been on a deliberate collision course with Israel for years now and finally found a pretext for breaking off its decades-long strategic alliance with Jerusalem over the Mavi Marmara flotilla raid last year. Ankara has demanded an apology and compensation over the flotilla incident, as well as a complete lifting of the Gaza arms blockade. Israel has concluded that these demands are so excessive, it can only mean the Turks really do not want to reconcile.       Video footage taken by Al-Jazeera of Egyptians protesting outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo in August and carrying signs with swastikas and the slogan "The Gas Chambers Are Ready" (Screen capture from MEMRI-TV)T. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has responded by suspending all military ties and government-related trade with Israel. The Israeli ambassador was given two days to pack and leave. More ominously, Erdogan has threatened to dispatch Turkish warships to escort aid convoys bound for Gaza.        Israeli leader Binyamin Netanyahu has said he is determined to "lower the flames", but Erdogan turned up the rhetoric again by claiming this week that the Gaza flotilla incident was "grounds for war".          Meanwhile, Israel is struggling to maintain its tenuous ties to the ruling military council in Cairo after a cross-border Palestinian terror attack near Eilat left five Egyptian troops dead in the ensuing IDF response. Angry Egyptian mobs kept storming the Israel embassy in Cairo before finally forcing Amb. Yitzhak Levanon to flee the country.      The violent protests reflect the ingrained hostility among many Egyptians towards Israel, and it could prove difficult for Jerusalem to return to even the 'cold peace' with Cairo of the past three decades. So for Israel, there are steep challenges all around: mend fences with Turkey and Egypt, navigate the volatile Arab uprisings, renew peace talks with an obstinate Palestinian leadership, and keep vigilant watch over the looming threat of a nuclear Iran. Whatever happens next, something about the region has already changed. For the first time since Israel was reborn in 1948, the nation faces the risk of hostilities from the other three major regional powers - Egypt, Turkey and Iran - all at the same time. Can this downward trend ever be turned around? The surest answer is that God can and will defend Israel! We are invited to entreat the Lord in prayer to be that mighty Deliverer once again on her behalf. The greatness of the peril only means the deliverance will have to be all that much greater. So please continue to join us in our Isaiah 62 Prayer Initiative, as we set aside every Wednesday of 2011 for a special time of intercession on Israel's behalf. We also encourage all our friends and supporters worldwide to continue raising up a biblical standard, by reaching out to the elected leaders in your respective countries with an appeal for fairer treatment of Israel in the international arena. By voting for a premature, unilateral Palestinian state, many nations of the world will be trampling on important moral and legal principles that define the modern global order. The result will undoubtedly be fading prospects for peace, greater instability in the Middle East, and a loss of integrity for the international community.

Miércoles, 14 de septiembre de 2011 | 10:39 Erdogan lanza más sanciones y ataques verbales contra Israel

El Primer Ministro turco Recyp Erdogan no parece detenerse en su embestida y lanzó más sanciones y ataques verbales contra Israel.
Erdogan que visita Egipto junto a una comitiva de altos funcionarios y empresarios aprovechó su discurso en ese país para volver a atacar a Israel.
"Israel tiene que respetar los derechos humanos y actuar como un Estado normal para liberarse del aislamiento" dijo acusando a Israel de violar las leyes internacionales.
"Israel agredió a nueve ciudadanos turcos en aguas internacionales y hace poco también agredió a cinco ciudadanos egipcios, Israel no conoce el significado de la palabra paz" aseguró.
Fuentes cercanas al Primer Ministro aseguraron que se estudian sanciones contra Israel. Entre ellas la obligación a ciudadanos israelíes de obtener visas para ingresar a ese país y la no intervención en caso de que desde su territorio grupos intenten derribar aviones comerciales israelíes.
Erdogan aseguró que continuará con las sanciones hasta que Israel pida perdón por los incidentes ocurridos con el Mármara y hasta que levante el bloqueo de la Franja de Gaza. El líder turco dijo que esta es la única opción para que esta vuelva a tener relaciones diplomáticas y que sino Israel “es la que perderá”.

Jueves, 08 de septiembre de 2011 | 17:19 Autoridad Palestina envía pedido de reconocimiento como estado independiente a Naciones Unidas

La Autoridad Palestina envió de forma oficial el pedido a las Naciones Unidas para que se la reconozca como estado independiente.
En la carta enviada a las Naciones Unidas se pide reconocer al nuevo estado y su líder, Mahmoud Abbas pide llevar a cabo una declaración el 23 de Septiembre próximo.
En la carta enviada se acusa a Israel de ocupar territorio, de destruir propiedades y de asesinar palestinos.
Los palestinos intentan que el mundo reconozca su estado independiente en los límites de Judea, Samaria y Gaza.
Se estima que una mayoría de los países votarán a favor de este estado y así se presionará a Israel a negociar con los palestinos.
El gobierno del Primer Ministro Binyamin Netanyahu intentó negociar durante los últimos meses aunque los palestinos se negaron ya que adujeron que hasta que Israel no acepte las condiciones delineadas por el Presidente Obama de negociar en base a las fronteras del 67, no se sentarían en la mesa de negociaciones.
Al darse a conocer la noticia hoy, los Estados Unidos dijeron que vetarán la propuesta de la Autoridad Palestina en las Naciones Unidas.