Standing on the Mount of Olives, where untold numbers have stood down the centuries before me, I let my gaze take in the magnificent expanse of Jerusalem’s Old City, half framed by the converging Kidron and Hinnom valleys which become one to my left - the rocky gorge cutting down through the Judean wilderness to the Dead Sea.
One day, a powerful fresh river will flood that canyon and bring life to the lifeless water far below…
My eyes play over the scarred battlements on top of the ancient yellow walls of the City of Peace that has never known peace.
They sweep the eastern wall with its sealed Gate Beautiful (Golden Gate) closing this access to the platform that covers Mount Moriah - the Temple Mount.
Spires, minarets and synagogue roofs pepper my field of vision, crowding the space inside the walls, vying for prominence in - and control of - the most venerated city in the world.
Just outside the famous Jaffa Gate, Jerusalemites and tourists are bringing their custom to the first stores and cafes that have opened for business in the new Millo Mall. Across the road stand the already occupied million-dollar homes and tree-lined boulevards ...   more »

As a believer in the Bible, it is difficult to watch Israel’s leaders declare that their nation’s security and future depend solely on its own military strength and the aid of foreign powers.
Trust in God as the protector and upholder of Israel has likely never formed the basis of any Israeli leader’s policy platform, though there are indications that at least some of the country’s prime ministers did believe in and acknowledge the Almighty’s hand in defending and restoring the Jewish state.
But the heads of the parties currently leading this nation - Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni, Ehud Barak, Avigdor Lieberman, and their mentor, Shimon Peres - have completely abandoned God’s Word as the basis for anything, especially their diplomatic and security policies.
Consider this recent statement by Defense Minister Barak:
The IDF’s strength is the guarantee of our rule and fate, it is what will decide in a war if one is forced on us, and it is what will bring peace.
And this one by Prime Minister Olmert about a week later:
We have renewed agreements and a renewed commitment from the Americans that would help preserve our advantage over the Arab countries
Israel is warned in ...   more »

IsraelNN.com) Contrary to the official Military Intelligence line, according to which Syria does not intend to attack Israel in the near future, many researchers in the intelligence community suspect that Syria is waiting for the right moment to strike, and that the moment may come soon. This is the reason that Israel's Home Front Readiness Cabinet met Wednesday to discuss the possibility of a massive Syrian missile attack, according to Ynet's veteran military analyst, Ron Ben-Yishai.
Ben-Yishai says Syria is completing the construction of a large rocket array aimed at Israel from the Syrian Golan Heights. These are not Katyusha rockets but larger ones with a much greater range: 222 mm., 302 mm. and 600 mm. rockets with a payload of up to half a ton, which can reach Tel Aviv. Dozens of launchers have already been set up and these are capable of firing hundreds of missiles simultaneously.
Syria also has SCUD missiles which can reach southern Israel, but these can supposedly be intercepted by the Israeli Arrow anti-missile system. The heavy missiles in the Golan cannot be intercepted by the Arrow, however. According to Ben-Yishai, all this means that the Syrians can launch a massive attack on Israel's ...   more »

By STEVEN ERLANGER
JERUSALEM, Aug. 7 — Pelted by rocks and chunks of metal, hundreds of Israeli riot police officers on Tuesday forcibly removed Jewish settlers from houses they had been occupying illegally for months in the West Bank city of Hebron.
The police said at least 15 people had been injured, 11 of them police officers. The settlers said 26 of their protesters had been treated for injuries. Five settlers were arrested for forcibly resisting a court order.
The scenes were reminiscent of some of the more violent episodes during the evacuation of Israeli settlers from Gaza in 2005, when settlers and their supporters, many of them teenagers in masks and women, shouted insults and hurled large rocks, pieces of metal, soda bottles, slippers, shoes and pots of cooking oil at Israeli police officers in riot gear.
The confrontation on Tuesday began at dawn, and grew more heated with the sun, as the police forced their way into occupied buildings that the inhabitants and their 200 or so supporters had welded shut and barricaded.
The police were backed up by concentric circles of troops from the Israeli Army that closed off the area.
The settlers, consisting of two families ...   more »