Those of you who watched my Breaking News from Saturday are aware that Israel has received a green light from the US for action in Iran against the radical regime’s nuclear capabilities. Iran has enough enriched uranium for a bomb, and now it just needs to be able to adapt it into a usable nuclear weapon. That hurdle will likely be jumped in only a few weeks. Something must be done now.
The Israeli Mossad has already vowed to not allow Iran a nuclear weapon. Thus, when the action begins it will likely not come in the form of an airstrike or a military attack. It will come from the inside. The Mossad already has enough locals and Iranian scientists in their employ to accomplish any plan they determine to carry out. Besides, Israel cannot afford to carry out a blatant air attack. Iran has already promised to meet military strike with military strike. It would likely not turn into an all-out war, because Iran is still standing alone. However, there will soon come a day when alliances will be made with Russia and others, which will lead to the war promised in Ezekiel 38.
Iran is continuing to bolster their military, even as they walk away from unproductive nuclear talks in Vienna. Recently, they added 110 combat speedboats to the IRGC navy. Of greater concern is a new type of cruise missile that Tehran unveiled just last week. This improved Hoveyzeh type of missile has a range of 1300 km. While this missile could not reach from Iran to Israel, it could hit any Israeli city from Iran’s proxy state of Syria. Iran is also using unconventional warfare. Just yesterday, an Israeli cybersecurity agency confirmed that an Iranian hacking group known as “Charming Kitten” tried to exploit the Log4j vulnerability against seven targets in Israel, including government ministries and large companies.
Speaking of Syria, if you watched my Breaking News from Monday, you learned that there was a great amount of Israeli reconnaissance activity that was taking place in the Mediterranean and around Damascus. It is likely that it was tied to the growing Iranian presence in Israel’s neighbor. Just yesterday, an Iranian Air Force Boeing 747 cargo plane traveled from Tehran to Syria. Whatever weapons were aboard that plane can easily find their way right to the border with Israel. In other Syria news, it was revealed last week that the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) was responsible for a series of attacks on illegal chemical facilities in the country over the last two years. Despite overwhelming evidence, Assad continues to deny any chemical warfare activity in the last ten years.
An explosion at the Burj Shamali camp in Tyre, Lebanon, led to several deaths and a number of injuries. The camp housed a well-known weapons storage facility – known as “Jihad Hall” – which was used by the Iranian-funded terror proxy, Hamas.
The largest Palestinian college, An-Najah University, became home to nearly a dozen students who were involved in terror-related activities. Lieutenant Avichay Adraee of the IDF said they participated in the “transfer of funds and organizing rallies in support of Hamas, in addition to incitement campaigns under the supervision and direction of senior Hamas officials.” The links were uncovered by the IDF and Shin Bet (Israeli security agency) and the students were arrested on campus in Nablus.
The Russia/Ukraine border continues to be a place of concern. Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the US and EU of provocative military exercises near the border and says that relations with the West are at a critical junction. Putin is demanding that NATO does not accept Ukraine and Georgia into its membership. The US is standing on the principle that states should be allowed to associate with whomever they wish.
Russia is also stirring the pot by providing the S-400 anti-aircraft systems to Turkey. The US has warned of sanctions, a threat that the Russians dismissed, essentially saying, “Oh, Americans and their sanctions…” Meanwhile, the Turkish Lira continues to plummet forcing the Central Bank of Turkey to intervene in the foreign exchange market for the third time this month.
A historic meeting took place when Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett flew to the UAE for his first official visit to the country. There he met with regent Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed to discuss deepening their relations in order to broaden their economic partnerships.
The US has decided to continue to delay their opening of a consulate to the Palestinians in Jerusalem. The consulate closed when the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem in 2018, transferring all previous business to a department created within the embassy for handling Palestinian consular affairs.
