Isaiah. 17 
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. 2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. 3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts. 4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. 5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.
6 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel. 7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to ...   more »

Advisors to Syrian President Bashar Assad are pressuring him to respond to the alleged IAF attack by "landing a blow to an Israeli target," the Kuwait-based Al-Jareeda reported Wednesday. According to the report, Israel targeted long-range missile batteries that were brought to Syria from Iran. The report said five IAF fighter jets carried out the attack.
Israel Radio quoted the Kuwaiti paper to the effect that the group advocating a military response is being spearheaded by Assad's brother in law, who has met in recent days with senior Hizbullah and Hamas officials in an effort to draw up an operation plan.
The Kuwaiti paper also reported that the Syrian army has begun drafting reservists from the armed corps, missile corps and anti-aircraft units, and quoted "sources in the know" who said the draft was a response to Israel raising its level of readiness in the north.
According to a report by The Nazareth-based al-Sinara newspaper Wednesday, the IAF targeted a joint Syrian-Iranian missile base in northern Syria. Reportedly, the Iranian-funded installation was razed to the ground.
The report claimed its information was gleaned from an "Israeli source."
An official in the Bush administration told the New York Times Wednesday that ...   more »

CNN: U.S. pleased by Israel's Syria flyover 
The United States reportedly is pleased by Israel's alleged incursion of Syria last week.
The report followed Syria's charge that Israeli warplanes invaded its airspace Sept. 6 and dropped ordnance -- an allegation that Israeli and U.S. officials declined to confirm or deny.
According to CNN, the Americans believe that the operation may have involved Israeli ground troops as well as aircraft, and that the incursion may have targeted weapons supplied by Iran and passing through Syria en route to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
CNN quoted a U.S. source as saying the Israeli airstrike "left a big hole in the desert" in Syria.
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Washington official says Israeli surveillance shows possible Syrian nuclear installation stocked by North Korea, Israeli Arab newspaper claims target of alleged raid last week was Syrian missile base financed by Iran
Israel believes that North Korea has been supplying Syria and Iran with nuclear materials, a Washington defense official told the New York Times. “The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left,” he said.  
Threat  
Syria warns flyovers will have tragic consequences / Roee Nahmias  
Damascus warns that international community's silence on Israel's violation of Syrian airspace will have tragic consequences    
The official added that recent Israeli reconnaissance flights over Syria revealed possible nuclear installations that Israeli officials estimate might have been supplied with material from North Korea.  
Meanwhile on Wednesday the Nazareth-based Israeli Arab newspaper The Assennara cited anonymous Israeli sources as saying that Israeli jets "bombed a Syrian-Iranian missile base in northern Syria that was financed by Iran... It appears that the base was completely destroyed."
According to the Times, American officials confirmed Tuesday that Israeli jets launched an airstrike inside Syria. Sources said that Israel struck at least one target in northeastern Syria, but ...   more »

Committee appointed by Chief Rabbinate of Israel forbids Jews from participating in annual Feast of Tabernacles parade, attended by thousands of Christian tourists, fearing missionary influences
Neta Sela
Every year at the annual Sukkot parade, thousands of tourists and Israelis stroll down Jerusalem's streets smiling and waving flags from around the world.  
This year, however, an official committee appointed by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has banned Jews from participating in the parade, fearing missionary influences, Ynet has learned.  
The committee presented its conclusions to members of the rabbinical council, which includes chief rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yona Metzger. The two chief rabbis approved the edict, and it is expected to become official soon.  
The annual Sukkot parade is organized by the Jerusalem municipality and other official bodies. In addition, the committee barred participation in various events planned by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem at the Jerusalem International Convention Center in celebration of the holiday.  
The rabbinate claims to have good reason to believe that at the two events – the parade and the convention – Christian missionaries plan to solicit Jewish participants to convert to Christianity under the guise of amicability toward Israel and the ...   more »

Israel allows Muslims to pulverize antiquities as media, archeologists barred
By Aaron Klein
JERUSALEM – A Jewish group representing hundreds of U.S. synagogues says it is "incomprehensible" that Israel is allowing a Muslim dig on the Temple Mount and has demanded Prime Minister Ehud Olmert immediately halt the blasting of a massive trench and allow archaeologists to inspect the site.
Members of the Waqf, the Islamic custodians of the Mount, are using bulldozers to carve on Judaism's holiest site a massive trench that reportedly is destroying antiquities from what archaeologists believe is a wall from the Second Jewish Temple.
Israel has barred archaeologists from inspecting the artifacts, believed to be from the outer courtyard of the Second Temple. If verified, the wall would be the most significant Jewish Temple find in history.
"It is incomprehensible that the State of Israel would allow for a non-Jewish religious entity that denies the very existence of the two Temples to be entrusted with digging on the Temple Mount. Such inconsistent and distorted principles signify a lack of sensitivity towards our own land and history," stated a letter to Olmert from the National Council of Young Israel.
The Council represents more than 150 community ...   more »

by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) The Palestinian Authority's Maan news agency has published a copy, in Hebrew, of PM Olmert's agreement to expel tens of thousands of Jews and replace them with a Palestinian state.
The report states that Israel has agreed to begin destroying Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria immediately following the US-sponsored international summit this coming November.
The PA claims that the document's eight points represent the principles of agreement between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, in anticipation of the upcoming Middle East summit.
The document begins by stating that Israel and the PA are to immediately enter a process "that will lead to the formation of two states, Israel and Palestine, side by side," and are "to reach understandings of the type detailed below."  The eight points upon which Olmert and Abbas undertake to agree are the following:
1. Israel will end the occupation of the West Bank within an agreed-upon time period. The retreat and the evacuation of the settlements will occur gradually and in several stages. Each area that is evacuated will be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, which will instill law and order there.  The existence of a regime in ...   more »