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Philip's posts with tag: syria
May 1, '08 (IsraelNN.com) On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day and Israel's 60th anniversary, a new survey of Israeli teenagers issued by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that most do not believe another Holocaust against the Jewish people could take place. But a majority thinks Israel is under threat of destruction. 82% of the youths surveyed answered in the positive when asked if Israel was under threat of destruction – down 1% from last year's poll result. However, a larger percentage of those polled said they believe that "Israel is under a serious threat of destruction" this year: 30% compared to 24% in 2007. The others said they believe Israel is under "a certain threat of destruction." On the question of whether "a second Holocaust of the Jewish people is possible or not," 9% said there was a real possibility, compared to 6% in 2007; 30% said there was a certain possibility and 59% said a second Holocaust was not possible. While most teens still relate to anti-Semitism as an historic event, there was a significant increase in awareness of contemporary anti-Semitic manifestations, to include current issues such as "Iran, Arabs and terror" -- 27%, compared to 9% in 2007. "Israeli teenagers understand anti-Semitism in the context of history and not as something they might encounter in their daily lives. Yet there is a growing awareness of contemporary anti-Semitism and threats to Israel's existence," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "As the YouTube generation, they are much more aware of attacks on Jews and the Jewish State."
 The World is burning The assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Washington?s chosen linchpin-to-be in Islamabad, was an unmitigated disaster for America?s war on al Qaeda and its jihadist allies in the key Pakistan-Afghan arena. The 27/12 murder closed a cycle sent spinning by al Qaeda's 9/11 assault on America in the early days of President George W. Bush's first term. It has left him clutching at thin air.
This single act of violence hit the West as US-led NATO forces suffer one setback after another in Afghanistan and Taliban and al Qaeda are in control of more than 75 percent of the country. It has done more harm than all the evil wrought against US forces by al Qaeda's ace commander in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the two years before he was slain. Lebanon is being lost to Syria, The US has authorized Turkey, its sometimes ally, to bomb the Kurds, it permanent ally and al Qaeda is on the march all over.
And Rice fiddles with a non-problem, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Israel should be left alone to deal with the Palestinians.
The US has much bigger problems elsewhere that are out of controlTed Belman
tedbel1@israpundit.com Sunday, December 30, 2007
Tel. +1 416 256 7597
| Large Hizbullah Training Exercise in S. Lebanon; Israel Reacts | | | | (IsraelNN.com) A Lebanese newspaper, Al-Akhbar, reported on Monday that the Hizbullah terrorist organization held a large training exercise in southern Lebanon over the past three days. According to the report, the exercise, involving thousands of Hizbullah gunmen, took place in close proximity to the northern Israeli border. According to IDF forces on the border, UN soldiers stationed in southern Lebanon reportedly did nothing more than observe the exercise. Hizbullah attempted to maintain secrecy about the large-scale training, but senior members of the terrorist group later confirmed the Al-Akhbar report. The exercise allegedly indicated that rockets and missiles currently in the Hizbullah arsenal are able to strike anywhere deep inside Israeli territory. Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah reportedly oversaw the large training operation personally. Reacting to the newspaper report, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora denied that any large Hizbullah exercise took place, saying that Lebanese soldiers, police and United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon all denied it. The newspaper report was probably just about a "simulation" of some kind, Siniora averred. Later on Monday, it was reported that Israeli warplanes dropped flares over the southern coast of Lebanon. The overflight mission was apparently executed in response to the Hizbullah training exercise. A large-scale exercise by Hizbullah would be consistent with a report from several days ago by the French newspaper Le Figaro that the Shiite terrorist organization is expanding its foothold in Lebanon. In particular, the newspaper noted that Hizbullah control and activity is not limited to the area north of the Litani River; rather, the group has reconstituted its strength in southern Lebanon, as well, including in those areas under official UNIFIL control. According to Le Figaro, witnesses in southern Lebanon reported seeing caravans of trucks moving into the area, seeing Hizbullah men digging inside orchards and then immediately covering over the ditches they dug, as well as hearing suspicious explosions. A French military source said that the Lebanese government was aware of the stepped up Hizbullah activity south of the Litani. "Yet, for now, it is not doing a thing about it," the French source added. | |
| ISRAELUPDATE: HIGH ALERT WITH SYRIA But this will not be just another Yom Kippur for a more somber reason. Today’s main headline in Israel’s largest daily newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, reveals that there is a HIGH ALERT ON THE BORDER WITH SYRIA. This comes exactly 34 years after Syria and Egypt launched a Soviet-back surprise attack upon Israel on Yom Kippur in 1973. The article goes on to explain that a statement made on Tuesday by a senior Syrian cabinet minister known to be close to the country’s dictator, Bashar Assad, has raised fresh concerns in government and military circles. |  | | | The minister repeated earlier government warnings that Syria would definitely respond to a widely reported Israeli military operation two weeks ago in northeast Syria that apparently targeted North Korean provided nuclear material. The statement came just one day after Israeli President Shimon Peres claimed last Monday that military tensions with Syria had subsided. The articles said that intelligence officials are concerned that Syria might attempt to seize some ground on the tense Golan Heights in the coming days or launch missiles at Israeli targets in retaliation for the reported operation. Concerns over a possible Syrian military strike were also exacerbated this week after Israeli Knesset opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu basically confirmed on Wednesday that such an operation had indeed taken place on Sept 6. | |
| GAMLA: NEWS AND VIEWS FROM ISRAEL Volume 8 Issue 24 GAMLA Staff August 13, 2007 Iran Plots Syrian President's Ouster
DEBKA Buoyed up by the triumphs of Hizballah's war offensive against Israel in 2006 and Hamas' takeover of Gaza, the clerical rulers of Tehran have invested so heavily in their expanding power structure across the region that a fiasco could push their regime and military prop, the fierce Revolutionary Guards, into a perilous slide at home. | | | | To play it safe, DEBKA-Net-Weekly's Iran sources reveal they have hatched a plan to replace the vacillating figure in Damascus with a puppet at their beck and call, modeled on Hizballah's Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. Thus far, Assad has not strayed too far from the guidelines he and his Iranian allies laid down together, but Tehran can never be sure when he might swerve from the straight and narrow to make his peace with the Americans. The can only guarantee Syria stays in their pockets by installing a pro-Iran loyalist in the presidential palace in Damascus. Sources close to Persian Gulf rulers believe that if Tehran opts for this course, its chosen instrument for throwing up a military ruler would be the Syrian armed forces, on the assumption that a general has the best chance of unifying the country and its ethnic and religious minorities around the new regime. The Iranians have therefore doubled and tripled their efforts to build up influence in the Syrian army. An overt manifestation of their success is the prevalence of Syrian army men sporting beards in the style of Revolutionary Guardsmen. But two additional Iranian steps have been more discreet. 1. Three-week, five-star vacations in Iran are being handed out to hundreds of graduates of every Syrian officers' course and their families. While the families visit tourist sites, the graduates undergo indoctrination at special RGs seminaries. 2. Last April, RG instructors began handpicking outstanding Syrian officers at these courses and forming them into secret cells for planting in military units on their return home. They are trained to seize centers of government, military installations and public buildings. It is not known if Assad knows what is going on in his armed forces, or how deeply collaboration with Iranian intelligence for implanting these cells has penetrated the high Syrian command. Such information would be of paramount bearing on the Syrian ruler's decision on whether or not to stage a flare-up with Israel, now projected for November or early next winter. An American intelligence estimate, passed to Israel last week, predicts that Syria will then plans to ignite clashes by low-intensity military operations to test Israel's responses. The Syrian leadership is divided on this issue: The anti-war faction. This camp consists of the veteran class of Syrian army generals, traditionally the most American-oriented of the armed forces. Its leaders, defense minister Gen. Hassan Turkemany, chief of staff Gen. Habib Ali, and the presidential military and intelligence adviser Gen. Muhammed Nasif, all urge abstaining from hostile action against Israel. The pro-war faction. This camp is headed by the Gen. Assaf Shawqat, head of Syrian military intelligence and the president's brother-in-law. Around him is a band of ambitious young Syrian generals and colonels who have not yet made their name. They network closely with the high command of Iran's armed forces and Revolutionary Guards. Their argument for war is that the Assad regime is wobbling so badly that it would take the extreme measure of a war with Israel to unite the country behind the national leadership. These young Turks have convinced Asad that Israel is determined to avoid the kind of large-scale ground operation which went awry in the 2006 Lebanon War and will therefore focus on aerial bombardments of military bases and certain infrastructure targets such as bridges, power plants and water works. They estimate that even then, Israel will confine itself to a limited air offensive, because its policy-makers and military leaders alike will be leery of provoking reprisal from Syrian medium range ground-to-ground C and D Scud missiles against the central and southern populations. By mid-July, the war faction appeared to be winning the upper hand with President Assad, against the veteran generals. At the same time, neither camp can know for sure exactly where aggressive action against Israel may lead. A Syrian military defeat in a battle for the Golan and heavy Israeli bombardments deep inside Syria could generate conditions for a military coup d'etat against Assad by generals held up as popular heroes for fighting Israel. At the same time, Assad's failure to repulse heavy Israeli military pressure would open the door to Iranian military intervention and a tailor-made opportunity for ousting the regime in Damascus. 
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Global Resource Ministries International
The big news here in Israel today, boldly headlined in the nation’s largest newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, this morning, is Russia’s reported return to two naval bases that the Kremlin largely built and once controlled in neighboring Syria. The move is said to be part of a large Russian weapons deal with Syria, at least partially funded by Iran, as I reported about in last weeks monthly news update.
The dramatic Russian move will undoubtedly increase speculation among observant Christians and Jews that Ezekiel’s Gog and Magog invasion is drawing very near. In light of author Joel Rosenberg’s popular novel about the theme, I get asked about this prophecy all the time now as I travel around the world, and especially if I see its fulfillment as possibly imminent.
Frankly I do NOT see Ezekiel’s penultimate prophesied event as taking place in the near-term future. Instead, I suspect that the region could well witness an apparent massive clash between Syria andIsrael—described in Isaiah chapter 17—unfold in the not too distant future, to which Russia and other countries listed by Ezekiel would eventually react, but not immediately in the climactic way described by Ezekiel. I have explained why I hold this view in several of my books, and also do a bit of that in the first installment of a new column I am writing for the MJAA web site, which will be published there soon, and every month thereafter. To read the column, go to www.mjaa.org later this week. I will also be doing my usual news report for the Moody Broadcasting Network based in Chicago later today, which can be accessed at their web site, www.mbn.org
| Published: July 9, 2007 at 12:11 PM By ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE
UPI Editor at Large
WASHINGTON, July 9 (UPI) -- Whether Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he wants to wipe Israel off the map is still contested, even by anti-mullah Iranian Americans. But that he wants to wipe out the Jewish state, there can be no doubt. As he completes his visits to every Iranian town, the collection of his pronunciamentos is edifying reading.
| | | Culled from a wide variety of sources, ranging from the London Daily Telegraph, to the Suddeutsche Zeitung Online, to France's Le Monde and Liberation, Ahmadinejad spells out the target and the strategy:
-- This regime (Israel) will one day disappear.
-- The Zionist regime is a rotten tree that will be blown away by one storm.
-- The countdown for the destruction of Israel has begun.
-- Zionists are the personification of Satan.
-- In the case of any unwise move by the fake regime of Israel, Iran's response will be so destructive and quick that the regime will regret its move forever.
-- The West invented the myth of the massacre of the Jews (in World War II) and placed it above Allah, religions and prophets.
Ahmadinejad's strategic recipe:
-- We don't shy away from declaring that Islam is ready to rule the world.
-- The wave of the Islamist revolution will soon reach the entire world.
-- Our revolution's main mission is to pave the way for the reappearance pf the 12th Imam, the Mahdi (a 5-year-old boy who vanished 1,100 years ago and who will lead the world into an era of peace and prosperity, but not before the planet is convulsed by death and destruction).
-- Soon Islam will become the dominating force in the world, occupying first place in the number of followers among all other religions.
-- Is there a craft more beautiful, more sublime, more divine, than the craft of giving yourself to martyrdom and becoming holy? Do not doubt Allah will prevail, and Islam will conquer mountaintops of the entire world.
-- Iran can recruit hundreds of suicide bombers a day. Suicide is an invincible weapon. Suicide bombers in this land showed us the way, and they enlighten our future.
-- The will to commit suicide is one of the best ways of life.
-- By the grace of Allah we will be a nuclear power and Iran does not give a damn about (IAEA) demands (to freeze enrichment of nuclear fuel).
-- Iran does not give a damn about resolutions.
-- The Islamic Republic of Iran has the capacity to quickly become a world superpower.
-- Iran's enemies know your courage, faith and commitment to Islam and ... Iran has created a powerful army that can powerfully defend the political borders and the integrity of the Iranian nation and cut off the hand of any aggressor and place the sign of disgrace on their forehead.
-- In parallel to the official political war there is a hidden war going on and the Islamic states should benefit from their economic potential to cut off the hands of the enemies.
Addressing a conference devoted to "The World Without Zionism," Ahmadinejad said, "To those who doubt, to those who ask is it possible, or those who do not believe, I say accomplishment of a world without America and Israel is both possible and feasible."
Hyperbole, gigantism, overkill, huckstering, hocus-pocus, all of the above. But intelligence mounts daily of Iranian efforts to undermine U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq and Afghanistan and U.N. efforts to stem the violence in Lebanon (six U.N. peacekeepers were killed by a roadside IED).
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's report said, "It is widely believed in Lebanon, including by the government, that the strengthening of Palestinian outposts could not have taken place without the tacit knowledge and support of the Syrian government."
Ban also noted Israel's claim that "the transfer of sophisticated weapons by Syria and Iran across the Lebanese-Syrian border, including long-range rockets (with a range of 250 miles) ... (and) anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, occurs on a weekly basis."
Israel also says Hezbollah "armed elements are constructing new facilities in the Bekaa valley, including command and control centers, rocket launching capabilities and conducting military training exercises."
There is little doubt Israel and Hezbollah are suiting up for a resumption of last summer's 34-day war in which the Israel Defense Force came off second best due to poor political and military leadership. Hezbollah is also shorthand for Syria and Iran. Tehran supplies the equipment and the funding. Syria acts as the transmission belt and is generously compensated.
Damascus has evidently concluded that an Israeli offensive across the Golan Heights is in the offing. For the first time in 40 years, Syria dismantled military checkpoints on the road to Kuneitra on its side of the Golan. Foreign journalists were barred from covering Israeli maneuvers on the Heights. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the IDF was conducting military maneuvers -- and nothing more.
One of the more plausible scenarios has Israel preparing for a drive into Syria across the Golan Heights, and then fighting a "decisive" battle with the Syrian army on the road to Damascus, followed by a left "hook" into Lebanon to execute an outflanking attack on Hezbollah.
That could also be a strategically propitious moment for U.S. action against Iran. It remains to be seen whether the key players in President George W. Bush's National Security Council would agree an opportunity is at hand to dust off an Air Force and Navy contingency plan to take out Iran's 23 nuclear facilities.
(IsraelNN.com) Hizbullah recently received a shipment of weapons from Russia in preparation for war against Israel, a Hizbullah commander told Newsweek magazine. "We're still in a state of war," he told the magazine. The terrorist organization said it thoroughly prepared itself for the recent military takeover of parts of Beirut and that its terrorists still are patrolling the area. Its intelligence network infiltrated deep into Lebanese society and conducted detailed surveillance on rival Sunni security guards, enabling Hizbullah to swiftly take control in violent clashes with the Lebanese army and in Sunni neighborhoods.
May 1, '08
82% Israeli youths: Israel is under threat of destruction
April 8, '08
Syria on Alert 'Because Hizbullah Revenge Attack is Near'
April 2, '08
IDF believes renewed conflict with Hizballah is close
israeltoday.co.il
IDF Intel officer says Hizballah preparations for war almost complete; UNIFIL powerless to act; Syria also ready to strike Israel in event of war...
Syria Preparing for an Israeli Attack (IsraelNN.com) Syria has enlisted many of its reservists and is conducting large-scale army exercises in preparation for a possible war with Israel, according to Al-Quds Al-Arabi. Syrian sources quoted in the London-based paper said they were preparing for an Israeli attack on Syria and Hizbullah. The Syrian sources said they saw recent IDF exercises as a threat. They accused Israeli leaders of inciting the public against Syria and “attempting to prepare the Israeli and international public for a large war against Syria.”
March 30, 2008
israeltoday.co.il
Israeli minister: Syria not ready for peace
See below. This Comment clearly shows that Israel's God is putting hooks into Assad to draw him into a war with Israel. Assad not considering to enter into dialogue with Olmert after he had opened many doors and windows to do so by sending him twenty messages, even putting the Golan on the table, shows clearly that Syria has no other option than to be part of Iran's war against Israel along with Hizballah.
March 27, 2008: See the comment on this date below by Zionsake about the estimates of the IDF of casualties in an expected war with Syria. There is a lot of talk about and preparations for a possible war with Syria and Hezballah going in Israel at this time, that indicate that such a war could be imminent.
September 11, 2007: The last remaining factor in the scenario of the Isaiah 17 has fallen in place: the question of how Jordan is going to be drawn in? I watched an interview with Barry Chamish in which he mentioned that missiles are pointing to Israel from five Muslim territories: Lebanon (Hezballah), Syria, JORDAN, Saudi Arabia and Gaza - we know they have more potent missiles than the kassams they are presently firing at Israel. It was news to me that there are missiles deployed against Israel in Jordan - perhaps it's the price the Hashemite King has to pay to be allowed to rule Jordan -- for now! (Iran of course, has missiles that can reach Israel, even Europe, but they are not mentioned as players in the Isaiah 17 war.)
September 5, 2007:
Israel is being threatened from all sides, but her conspiring government (with Israel's enemies) is still trying to ride the ever growing wave threatening Israel to keep itself going, by grabbing every straw that could lead to some form of a peace agreement - under a cover-up by the judiciary, the Winograd Commission and media of their failures and of the danger their irresponsible actions could potentially create for Israel. Meanwhile their empty threats to retaliate against missile launchers in Gaza is noted with contempt by the Islamic terrorists.
Instead of doing something to prepare against the missile war against Israel by Syria, Hezballah and Islamic terrorists in Israel's Arab occupied territories, they are preparing to remove more settlements to impress the Bush Administration. Here is what Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA had to say about it:- Fortunately, since there is pastoral peace in the South [Negev] while in the North Hezbollah has been disarmed and the Syrians are busy basket weaving, the IDF can now focus its limited resources on pleasing Washington with a nicely photographed orgy of Jewish bone breaking. A move that will be rewarded by a drop in pressure on Israel to make concessions lasting at best as long as the news cycle covering the bone breaking (12 hours?] Lately the following scenarios have become potential catalysts for a missile war against Israel: - A military confrontation between the USA and Iran. I have picked up a report in only one media outlet that the US is preparing to demolish Iran's military capabilities in a massive bombing raid - IsraelNN.com: "The Times of London reported Sunday that the USA has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, which would "annihilate the Iranians' military capability in three days."
Iran is also preparing for such a attack. The top leadership of the Presidential Guard has been replaced by ultra-loyalists and they are warning that action against them would unleash a reaction that would surprise the US. Syria & Hezballah will immediately launch a missile attack on Israel and US interests would be attacked world-wide, oil exports via the Persian Gulf would be disrupted, etc. - Another civil war between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza and Judea & Samaria. Israel being foolish enough to remove checkpoints on the "Westbank" could enable Hamas to move around freely to launch an attack. The IDF might want to keep the checkpoints in tact to facilitate the expulsion of Jews from so-called illegal outposts, but Israel might under US pressure nevertheless be forced to remove roadblocks.
- Israeli actions against Hamas in Gaza to stop the launching of kassams. Whereas a large scale invasion of Gaza is not likely, the southern border area could be retaken to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza. Such action by Israel might very well stir up Hamas' allies in the north to retaliate with missile attacks on Israel.
August 24, '07: (IsraelNN.com) This week the IDF Senior Command held a workshop to identify and prepare the IDF for potential future conflicts in the next five years. Several main scenarios were identified. Among these threats was a potential rebellion by Israeli Arabs, who have become increasingly hostile to the State of Israel. eeeeeeeeee The top threats identified were: - a hostile country not bordering Israel achieving nuclear capability (e.g. Iran),
- a war with Syria,
- another war started by the Hizbullah,
- a confrontation with Islamic terror groups,
- a deep freeze in relations with post-Mubarak Egypt,
- a possibility of the end of the Hashemite dynasty in Jordan,
- an Islamic revolution in Saudi Arabia,
- a rebellion by Israeli Arabs,
- Any one or a combination or some or all of these threats.
23 Aug. 2007: The Report that I have posted on August 21, 2007, "Israel’s Armed Forces Undermanned, Under-equipped for War ... more," also points to the present time being optimumal for the Muslim Arabs to try to destroy Israel in what would be the Isaiah 17 war. The fact that they haven't done so yet, knowing I'm sure, about Israel's weakeness, because her Minister of Defense is broadcasting it to the world, could mean it's not the Lord's time for it, or they are still waiting for something. 16 Aug. 2007: The Israeli government is still is making every possible effort to transmit to Syria that Israel has no intention of attacking them, while anyway carrying on with preparations for a possible war - and broadcasting to the enemy how unprepared the IDF is for war. The ex-general-turned politician who has caused the disaster Israel is facing from the north by his cowardly withdrawal from Lebanon in 1982, is now again in a position to do serious damage to Israel by having been appointed as Minister of Defence. In this capacity he is further indicating to Syria that Israel has no intention to attack them, by refusing to distributing gas masks to the Israeli population - thereby also hiding the fact that Israel only has gas masks for half of her citizens. This in spite of knowing that Syria can arm their missiles with poisonous chemicals. 2 Aug. 2007: Jordan still evades being drawn into the scenario of the Isaiah 17 war by resisting to be drawn into the conflict between Israel, Abbas' PA and Hamas. Meanwhile every Israeli I speak to thinks war is imminent. There is a big increase in the numbers of IDF reserve soldiers being called up, while Olmert is trying to pull the wool over people's eyes by saying (yesterday) that he doesn't believe there is going to be a war this summer or in the fall. Nothing emanates, though, that could be a spark that would start a war. I suspected that this flurry of diplomatic interaction that has been taking place between Olmert, Jordan, Abbas, and the Arab League was to form a united front against the Iranian threat. They have been saying it is about establishing a Palestinian state, that it seems, is really so - driven by Rice and Blair. It ties in with Olmert's vendetta to displace the Jews from their inheritance in (all of) Judea and Samaria. Soon after he became PM-by-default, it became clear that he wouldn't have the political support to pull off another unilateral withdrawal from Yesha. Now, two years after the withdrawal from Gaza, it is obvious to everybody that the Kadima government never intended to take care of the Jews they had dragged from their homes. They didn't care about 10,000 home/jobless people, and neither will they of another 150,000 or so. The settlers know it, of whom thousands who serve in the IDF as reserve soldiers - plus of course other soldiers who sympathize with them -- probably as much as 45% of the reserves, the best soldiers in the IDF. They intend to resist attempts to dislodge them and settler activism is rising in continued attemts to settle on abandonned outposts. There is even talk of establishing a Jewish state on the "West Bank," called "JUDEA" - something God will not bless because it divides His land the same way a state for the Arabs would!!! Some annalists have in the last day or so come up with a thesis that could present the only way for Olmert to abandon Yesha to the Muslims, namely by means of a war that would end in Israel losing instead of gaining land as in 1967. These gains in 1967 immediately caused major problems for Israel's liberal leaders, because they were stuck with things they didn't want under their control. Moshe Dayan managed to summarily return control of the Temple Mount to Jordan and Menachem Begin was forced into giving up the Sinai - that Arial Sharon facilitated by invading Cairo in 1967 instead of consolidating Israel's hold on the Sinai. By allowing Jews to settle in the re-capture "West Bank" (from Jordan), they probably used the American State Department's strategy of building into enemies, only to later turn against them, like with the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. Populating Yesha with nationalist Jews (the sons of Zion), the enemies of the Labor Zionists (the sons of Greece), could have been a strategy to destroy them collectively - just as establishing a Jewish homeland was a continuation of the "Final Solution" to get rid of God's bearers of his final solution for salvation for mankind - via His Messiah's sacrifice. (See http://www.hirhome.com/) If it is Olmert's plan to start a war with the intention of losing it, the result might very well be the opposite of what he intended; that Israel will gain land as in 1967 - especially if Jordan, Syria and Hizballah get drawn into the war, as in Isaiah 17. 22 July 2007: PM-by-default Olmert's futile bolstering of the PA's Abbas continued, as did meetings with the Jordanians - most probably about the threat Iran and its allies pose to them. While this happened, Ahmedinajab of Iran turned up in Syria on 19 July to strenghthen their military alliance and to squach any possibility of Bashar Assad getting into peace talks with Israel. Nasrallah of Hizballah also entered Syria by means of a tunnel under the border to meet with Ahmedinajab. 15 July 2007: Information has been leaked about a secret visit of PM Olmert to see King Abdullah in Jordan on July 11. Nobody knows what it was about, but whatever it was, it points to the likelihood of Jordan being drawn into the planned aggression of Iran and its allies against Israel. For instance, If it is about sending the Badr terrorist squad from Jordan to Judea and Samaria to help Abbas in his battle with Hamas, it could bring the Hashemites in conflict with Iran, causing her to release her killer dogs against the Hashemite King. Israeli PMs Barak, Sharon and his lackey Olmert, have succeeded to empower Hizballah, Hamas and Al Qaida in the Lebanon and Gaza, and we could very well see a repeat of that in Gaza. Information that our Multiply friend Aukina has posted indicates that a full-blown civil war might erupt in Lebanon after 15 July, judging from Syria and Iran having told their citizens to leave from there by 15 July. It raises the question whether a Shiite take-over in Lebanon has for now become a higher priority for Iran than to eliminate Israel. Perhaps it's in preparation of an all-out onslaught on Israel 11 July 2007: I've seen a number of articles in which it was alleged that the aim of the Bush Administration's invasion of Iraq was to put Iran in control when Saddam Hussein was overthrown. It seems that what the U.S.'s involvement in the Middle East is about is to balance the scales of the Sunnis vs. the Shiites and to play them off against each other. Well, the Hamas takeover of Gaza has completely polarized them. That is, Iran and its allies, Syria, Hizballah, Al Qaida and Hamas together with brother Islamofacists, Islamic Jihad and others, against Israel, Fatah, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. This must surely be the reason why of the Arab League's Ministers have pocketed all reservations of the past and are due to visit Israel for discussions. Obviously Iran and its allies have become just as great a threat for them as for Israel. 9 July 2007: We have reached the point where Israel's leftist whitewashing government is not even trying to do any whitewashing anymore - that is, talking about peace, building walls, build shelters (or promises to), negate military intelligence, etc., instead of dealing with Israel's enemies who perpetrate terror attacks, fire missiles, etc. - like king David would have done! They have also resorted to attacking and belittling people who warn them that they have ignored the danger of Israel's enemies to the country far too long. Names that are at the top of the list of these mismanagers is Olmert, Mofaz, Lieberman and Livni. The main source of this dreadful information is Caroline Glick's article I've posted today: She shows that Hamas' position improves by the day. On Sunday, just after Israel made its first payment of $120 million to Salaam Fayad's Fatah government, Fayad announced that the money will go to pay salaries of PA employees in Gaza. This tells us two things. First, it shatters the illusion of two distinct PA's - one that is bad and one that is good. Second, his move exposes as a lie Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's claim that the money was going only to Fatah. Indeed, it showed that Israel is funding Hamas. So Hamas is sharing the treasure trove of intelligence it captured during its takeover of Gaza with Iran. In the greatest intelligence victory ever accomplished by a jihadist organization, Hamas (and Iran) now possess the files of all of the Palestinian security apparatuses. Gloves are off, because Iran now saw the ill-intent of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, etc. against them. It means that the emergence of Hamastan in Gaza endangers not only Israel, but regional security as a whole. No doubt this state of affairs was central in causing the Egyptians, Saudis and Jordanians to tell Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah chief Abbas not to clash with Hamas but to try to forge a new accord with it. The Olmert government's refusal to take the Hamas-Iranian-Syrian threat seriously fits well with its overall refusal to forge any coherent policies for dealing with any of the mounting threats that Israel faces. Radio Damascus reported Wednesday that the Syrian regime views IDF exercises in the North as a threat. This announcement can only be seen as a Syrian bid to develop a pretext for starting a war against Israel. ...A missile war. And what does the Olmert government do about the threat: they are overhauling and upgrading the National Security Council, while the main lesson of the Second Lebanon War (the missile danger) is being systematically ignored..... their personal political survival is all that counts, regardless of the consequences for the nation's security!! 7 July 2007: As this # 777 comes up, it becomes clear that the Hamas take-over of Gaza had to do with securing a south-western attack front against Israel by Egypt: Hamas vs. Fatah: A curious ‘fight’. Francisco Gil-White. We have, then, that the forces that wish to destroy Israel staged a fight between Hamas and Fatah so that they could consolidate an enormous amount of weaponry in Gaza under a unified leadership, ready to launch Egypt’s final genocidal assault against Israel. This theater has represented the PLO, once again, as the ‘moderates,’ and this has become a renewed excuse to arm the PLO to the teeth in the West Bank, where it has consolidated its forces under a unified leadership and renewed, massive Western and Israeli funding. The chessboard is now almost ready for another great mass killing of Jews, a very stable process of Western and Muslim civilization, for such events have been happening repeatedly with great regularity for over two millennia. It is doubtful in my opinion though, that Fatah will remain in charge on the "West Bank." It therefore seems that the "West Bank" will fall to Hamas before the Hashemite Kingdom in Jordan 6 July 2007: All the speculation on July 4 ended in certainty that outside forces were involved, among which the U.S.A. and that Fatah's Abbas was told to take a dive. The following article made it clear that the U.S.A. does not care which group of Islamofacists they use to achieve their goals: US is creating an Islamist state controlled by al Qaeda in Kosovo. My guess is that it has to do with the U.S.A. doing the bidding of the Vatican to control the Serbs against whom the Vatican has a more than hundred year old grudge. See: http://scripture_keywords.tripod.com/Babylon-Rome-Mysteries/17-Communism-to-Fascisms.html ... Fascism throughout Europe, viz. in Croatia against Mussolini and the Vatican's common enemy, the Serbs and the new State of Yugoslavia. Mussolini directly supported the fervently Romanist "Ustashi," a ...
The point is that if the U.S.A. doesn't care which Islamofacists control Kosovo and Gaza, why would they want to keep the corrupt, outdated Fatah terrorist gang standing in Ramallah? Israel's removal of roadblocks on the West Bank will make it just that much asier for a Hamas take-over. The following was reported in the Times: Fatah on shaky ground in West Bank By Ken Ellingwood, Times Staff Writer. July 6, 2007 RAMALLAH, WEST BANK — Routed in the Gaza Strip, the Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is fractured and adrift at a moment when it is viewed by the outside world as the best hope for blunting the militant Hamas movement in the West Bank.
5 July 2007: Endless discussions are raging in the media about who was really behind the coup de tat in Gaza and it's implications for Judea, Samaria, Israel and Jordan. The following article is a good example: Did the US orchestrate the Hamas coup as a precursor to destroying Israel? A major part of the Comment discussions about the article centers around what sort of a friend the USA is of Israel. Whoever is behind whatever, though, boils down to what we see in the article I posted this morning: Gaza is a Mirror of the future of Judea/Samaria/Jordan/the Golan. This morning I also spotted the following statement in a newsfeed about a company that has acquired the rights to sell "wireless products in Jordan and West Palestine..." Obviously West Palestine is the land west of the Jordan River. This hoped for future reality for "whoever," is also reflected in the following paragraph in the article "Gaza is the Mirror...:" Palestine, moreover, possesses growth potential - from a mini-monster to a giant ogre. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan - an artificial entity occupying 80% of original Palestine - mightn't survive. Greater Palestine will stretch all the way to the Iraq the Americans cannot control. Palestine's irredentist appetite for the leftover slivers of Israel will swell as it expands. 4 July 2007: I will keep on adding to this file as events unfold that prepare the way for the Isaiah 17 war. Since yesterday a new complicating development is brewing that will make a complete fool of Olmert and his attempts to bolster Abbas and Fatah against Hamas. He's going to backfire on him, because Fatah & Hamas are clearly on their way to get reconciled. So Hamas is again going to benefit from Israel's goodwill gestures! PM-by-default Olmert has already delivered 500 million of the 800 million shekel in frozen tax revenues to Abbas. Even before a reconciliation, Hamas would have benefited from it in that PA officials in Gaza were also going to be paid, causing an influx of money into Gaza. When they are buddies again, it will surely be on the condition that revenues are shared. Arrangements are also on the way to remove checkpoints in Judea & Samaria that would have hampered Abbas' clampdown on Hamas in this area - had Hamas members still been in hiding. Now Abbas isn't going after them anymore, so they can move around with much more freedom, that will enable them to try to perpetrate terror attacks against Israel. It is doubtful that Hamas would honor an agreement not to try to undermine Abbas on the "West Bank" and even take charge as they did in Gaza - and tried to take charge of the Temple Mount and East Jerusalem in recent days -- see Shabak apprehend 13 Hamas operatives in East Jerusalem. It would turn basically all of Judea & Samaria into a front against Israel, something that King Abdullah of Jordan also fears, because it could also threaten his control of Jordan. Of course, the IDF is still operating in Judea & Samaria, but removing checkpoints will take away their only real effective way to stop terrorist positioning themselves for an attack on Israelis, "militants" moving around arms, etc. It could lead to a full blown war with the Muslims in the territories under their control, following a major terrorist attack on Israel, a coup de tat by Hamas on the "West Bank," etc. ---------------------------- July 2007: The front-forming against Israel, explained in the previous Update of September 2006, continued with Gaza recently becoming a full-blown western front when Hamas completed ousting Fatah on 14 June and took control of the strip. What makes this front so formidable is that Iran was the driving force behind it in her proxy war against Israel - as she is the driving force behind Syria and Hizballah on Israel's northern border. Egypt was just as much behind it though, firstly by not doing anything about the smuggling of arms to Hamas and secondly by allowing Syrian and Iranian instructors and strategist into Gaza to direct Hamas' forces in their civil war against Fatah. The reason for Egypt siding with Hamas was that Dahlan (Fatah) and his allies were working with Al Qaida-aligned groups to undermine Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the regime of President Hosni Mubarak in the Sinai Peninsula.
Jordan is also slowly moving into the picture due to suggestions that the Badr terrorist squad of Arafat's PLO, who are still in Jordan, be sent to Judea and Samaria to help Abbas against Hamas. It could bring conflict between Jordan's Hashemite King and Iran, because it could interfere with her proxy war against Israel via Syria, Hizballah and Hamas. The main proponent of this brilliant idea to involve Jordan in Judea and Samaria, has been Bibi Netanyahu, Washington and the CFR's blue-eyed boy among Israel's liberal Freemason politicians. He was also the Prime Minister who gave virtual control of the heart of Israel's heart-land, Hebron to the Muslim Arabs in the 1998 Wye River Memorandum that facilitated the Hebron Redeployment Agreement. Sharon then foreign minister stood beside him. I have realized that this actually formed a southern front against Israel in Judea.
The Arabs and Iran have been talking for months of their attack on Israel "this summer!" When "this summer." though? The abduction of two Israeli soldiers by Hizballah that lead to israel's invasion of Lebanon was on 16 July 2006. That was very much mid-summer, so it might also be the date when we will see action again in 2007. It seems that Hamas might be the spark that will start a full-blown war against Israel. Judging from preparations a few Christians in Jerusalem are making to be ready to flee to the mountains, this war could lead to major destruction in Israel. The war against Syria that will lead to the destruction of Damascus is said in Isaiah 17 to be basically an overnight war, probably following a massive act of aggression by Syria. It seems possible, however, that a "softening up" of Israel by local Arabs could start long before that, followed by Hizballah entering in with a missile rain from the north, with Syria finally trying to give the death-blow.
As we enter July, the "foolish" Israeli Prime Minister, Olmert, whom the Lord has raised up for this time (a word to a sister in the Lord), is rushing to make goodwill gestures to Israel's Muslim enemies. Frozen tax money amounting to more than 600 million shekels to Abbas' PA government, more arms and a removal of check points in Judea and Samaria; a release of four Jordanians who had murdered Israeli soldiers, to King Abdullah of Jordan to complete their life sentences in their homeland - or to be pardoned by the King. As we have seen so many times in the past, these concessions, faith-building and goodwill gestures just embolden and strengthen Israel's enemies and she will just suffer from it. A good example of this is presently the kassam and other attacks Israel is suffering while she is offering humanitarian services to Gaza - so as not to stand by idly while the "poor" civilians are suffering - among these innocent civilians are according to Hamas, thousands of women who are ready to carry out suicide attacks against Israel.
Jewish World Review May 7, 2007 / 19 Iyar, 5766 Who is Nicolas Sarkozy? By Raanan Eliaz
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Sarkozy (L) with close friend Netanyahu in Paris |
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What to expect from France's new president, scion of one of the oldest Jewish families of Salonika, Greece
One significant policy modification that could actually come through under Sarkozy is on the Syrian and Lebanese fronts. The new French president is not as friendly to Lebanon as was his predecessor, furthermore, as the Minister of the Interior, Sarkozy even advocated closer ties between France and Syria. Especially if the later plays the cards of talking-peace correctly, Sarkozy may increase pressure on Israel to evacuate the Golan Heights in return for a peace deal with Assad.
Let the Arabs Win for Israel
by Barry Chamish
May 24, 2007 http://thebarrychamishwebsite.com/newsletters/letarabswin52407.htm Then there is the love affair between France's new leader, Nicholas Sarkozy and the Labour Zionists, a match made in Hell. It turns out that Sarkozy's father was a Hungarian officer responsible for sending hundreds of thousands of Jews to their murders. Ben Hecht's Perfidy is the classic tale of the Labor Zionists sending Rudolf Kastner to Hungary where Adolf Eichmann offered him all 800,000 Jews for 700 non-military trucks to carry his loot away. Sadly for this unfortunate human mass, Kastner and the Jewish Agency of Jerusalem led by the butcher Chaim Weizmann, said no. All characters in this tale of genocide were killed by the Labor Zionists including the brave Swede who did his best to save the Jews and learned the hardest way that the Labor Zionists wanted them dead, Raoul Wallenberg TBR News May 11, 2007
http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a2682.htm The Voice of the White House Washington, D.C., May 11, 2007: “A number of subjects that ought to be of interest to the public, aside of the fatal crushing to death of our President by the anaconda of public opinion. The first subject deals with the new French President, Nicolas Sarkozy. Yesterday, there was a top level phone call between the Israeli Embassy and Vice President Cheney’s office. One of his top staff is a friend. The call dealt with the election of Sarkozy and an actual quote was…’Our man is in and we can now talk!’ It is no secret here that the U.S. contributed heavily to Sarkozy’s political war chest in the recent election. There are a number of reasons why we, and Israel, supported him so fiercely. The Cheney people hate France because they have dared to oppose us and Israel As a Hungarian Jew (his mother was Jewish, ergo he is considered a Jew) and a fierce, militant right winger, Sarkozy is in good odor here and in Tel Aviv There are several major issues here. The first one is the idea that Sarkozy will no longer support the Lebanese, will be to Bush what the retiring Blair in England was…a devoted ally. Another factor is the problems France has been having with its huge Muslim population. This new dictator of France, so pro-Israel, has a skeleton in his closet: A top level CIA evaluation I read on Saturday says the new President’s father was a member of the Hungarian Arrow Cross party and took a prominent part in deporting the Jews of Budapest between May and October of 1944! Nicolas Sarkozy's family background?
15 January 2007 http://www.blurtit.com/q573243.htmlNicolas Sarkozy, the French centre-right candidate in France's 2007 presidential elections and current Minister of the Interior, was born Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sárközy de Nagy-Bocsa in 1955. Sarkozy's father, Paul Sárközy, was a Hungarian immigrant, who arrived in France after fleeing Hungary in 1944.
Members of the Nagybócsay-Sárközy family were landholding aristocrats in Hungary's eastern Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in the period before World War II. The Sárközy family, like all other aristocratic families, lost all of their land after the Soviet army occupied Hungary in 1944.
Sarkozy's mother, Andrée Mallah, is of Sephardic Jewish origin and her parents arrived to France from Greece. Paul Sárközy married Mallah, who was then a law student, in 1949. The young Nicolas, however, was baptised a Roman Catholic in Paris.
Nicolas Sarkozy does not actually speak Hungarian, mainly due to the fact that his father left his family when Sarkozy was still growing up and no effort was ever made to teach Nicolas Hungarian. Although he has referred on numerous occasions to the immigrant roots of his family, he rarely speaks about his Hungarian heritage in public. | Nicolas Sarkozy, new President of France: Past and Future |
| In an interview Nicolas Sarkozy gave in 2004, he expressed an extraordinary understanding of the plight of the Jewish people for a home: “Should I remind you the visceral attachment of every Jew to Israel, as a second mother homeland? There is nothing outrageous about it. Every Jew carries within him a fear passed down through generations, and he knows that if one day he will not feel safe in his country, there will always be a place that would welcome him. And this is Israel.” (From the book “La République, les religions, l’espérance”, interviews with Thibaud Collin and Philippe Verdin.)
Sarkozy’s sympathy and understanding is most probably a product of his upbringing; it is well known that Sarkozy’s mother was born to the Mallah family, one of the oldest Jewish families of Salonika, Greece. Additionally, many may be surprised to learn that his yet-to-be-revealed family history involves a true and fascinating story of leadership, heroism and survival. It remains to be seen whether his personal history will affect his foreign policy and France’s role in the Middle East conflict.
In the 15th century, the Mallah family (in Hebrew: messenger or angel) escaped the Spanish Inquisition to Provence, France and moved about one hundred years later to Salonika. In Greece, several family members became prominent Zionist leaders, active in the local and national political, economic, social and cultural life. To this day many Mallahs are still active Zionists around the world.
Sarkozy’s grandfather, Aron Mallah, nicknamed Benkio, was born in 1890. Beniko’s uncle Moshe was a well-known Rabbi and a devoted Zionist who, in 1898 published and edited “El Avenir”, the leading paper of the Zionist national movement in Greece at the time. His cousin, Asher, was a Senator in the Greek Senate and in 1912 he helped guarantee the establishment of the Technion – the elite technological university in Haifa, Israel. In 1919 he was elected as the first President of the Zionist Federation of Greece and he headed the Zionist Council for several years. In the 1930’s he helped Jews flee to Israel, to which he himself immigrated in 1934. Another of Beniko’s cousins, Peppo Mallah, was a philanthropist for Jewish causes who served in the Greek Parliament, and in 1920 he was offered, but declined, the position of Greece’s Minister of Finance. After the establishment of the State of Israel he became the country’s first diplomatic envoy to Greece.
In 1917 a great fire destroyed parts of Salonika and damaged the family estate. Many Jewish-owned properties, including the Mallah’s, were expropriated by the Greek government. Jewish population emigrated from Greece and much of the Mallah family left Salonika to France, America and Israel. Sarkozy’s grandfather, Beniko, immigrated to France with his mother. When in France Beniko converted to Catholicism and changed his name to Benedict in order to marry a French Christian girl named Adèle Bouvier.
Adèle and Benedict had two daughters, Susanne and Andrée. Although Benedict integrated fully into French society, he remained close to his Jewish family, origin and culture. Knowing he was still considered Jewish by blood, during World War II he and his family hid in Marcillac la Croisille in the Corrèze region, western France.
During the Holocaust, many of the Mallahs who stayed in Salonika or moved to France were deported to concentration and extermination camps. In total, fifty-seven family members were murdered by the Nazis. Testimonies reveal that several revolted against the Nazis and one, Buena Mallah, was the subject of Nazis medical experiments in the Birkenau concentration camp.
In 1950 Benedict’s daughter, Andrée Mallah, married Pal Nagy Bosca y Sarkozy, a descendent of a Hungarian aristocratic family. The couple had three sons – Guillaume, Nicolas and François. The marriage failed and they divorced in 1960, so Andrée raised her three boys close to their grandfather, Benedict. Nicolas was especially close to Benedict, who was like a father to him. In his biography Sarkozy tells he admired his grandfather, and through hours spent of listening to his stories of the Nazi occupation, the “Maquis” (French resistance), De Gaulle and the D-day, Benedict bequeathed to Nicolas his political convictions.
Sarkozy’s family lived in Paris until Benedict’s death in 1972, at which point they moved to Neuilly-sur-Seine to be closer to the boys’ father, Pal (who changed his name to Paul) Sarkozy. Various memoirs accounted Paul as a father who did not spend much time with the kids or help the family monetarily. Nicolas had to sell flowers and ice cream in order to pay for his studies. However, his fascination with politics led him to become the city’s youngest mayor and to rise to the top of French and world politics. The rest is history.
It may be a far leap to consider that Sarkozy’s Jewish ancestry may have any bearing on his policies vis-à-vis Israel. However, many expect Sarkozy’s presidency to bring a dramatic change not only in France’s domestic affairs, but also in the country’s foreign policy in the Middle-East. One cannot overestimate the magnitude of the election of the first French President born after World War II, whose politics seem to represent a new dynamic after decades of old-guard Chirac and Mitterrand. There is even a reason to believe that Sarkozy, often mocked as “the American friend” and blamed for ‘ultra-liberal’ worldviews, will lean towards a more Atlanticist policy. Nevertheless, there are several reasons that any expectations for a drastic change in the country’s Middle East policy, or foreign policy in general, should be downplayed.
First, one must bear in mind that France’s new president will spend the lion’s share of his time dealing with domestic issues such as the country’s stagnated economy, its social cohesiveness and the rising integration-related crime rate. When he finds time to deal with foreign affairs, Sarkozy will have to devote most of his energy to protecting France’s standing in an ever-involved European Union (http://www.ejpress.org/article/13181). In his dealings with the US, Sarkozy will most likely prefer to engage on less explosive agenda-items than the Middle-East.
Second, France’s foreign policy stems from the nation’s interests, rooted in reality and influenced by a range of historic, political, strategic and economic considerations. Since Sarkozy’s landing at the Elysée on May 16 will not change those, France’s foreign policy ship will not tilt so quickly under a new captain.
Third reason why expectations for a drastic change in France’s position in the Middle-East may be naïve is the significant weight the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs exerts over the country’s policies and agenda. There, non-elected bureaucrats tend to retain an image of Israel as a destabilizing element in the Middle-East rather then the first line of defense of democracy. Few civil servants in Quai d’Orsay would consider risking France’s interests or increasing chances for “a clash of civilizations” in order to help troubled Israel or Palestine to reach peace.
It is a fair to predict that France will stay consistent with its support in establishing a viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, existing side by side with a peaceful Israel. How to get there, if at all, will not be set by Sarkozy’s flagship but rather he will follow the leadership of the US and the EU. Not much new policy is expected regarding Iran, on which Sarkozy has already voiced willingness to allow development of civilian nuclear capabilities, alongside tighter sanctions on any developments with military potency.
One significant policy modification that could actually come through under Sarkozy is on the Syrian and Lebanese fronts. The new French president is not as friendly to Lebanon as was his predecessor, furthermore, as the Minister of the Interior, Sarkozy even advocated closer ties between France and Syria. Especially if the later plays the cards of talking-peace correctly, Sarkozy may increase pressure on Israel to evacuate the Golan Heights in return for a peace deal with Assad.
Despite the above, although Sarkozy’s family roots will not bring France closer to Israel, the presidents’ personal Israeli friends may. As a Minister of Interior, Sarkozy shared much common policy ground with former Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The two started to develop a close friendship not long ago and it is easy to observe similarities not only in their ideology and politics, but also in their public image. If Netanyahu returns to Israel’s chief position it will be interesting to see whether their personal dynamic will lead to a fresh start for Israel and France, and a more constructive European role in the region.  This will be enough to drive anti-Semites, holocaust deniers, Islamo-fascists and conspiracy wackos on the left and far right stark-raving-mad, and will likely keep them busy for years. As it turns out France's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, lost 57 members of his family to the Nazis and comes from a long line of Jewish and Zionist leaders and heroes, writes RAANAN ELIAZ: IN an interview Nicolas Sarkozy gave in 2004, he expressed an extraordinary understanding of the plight of the Jewish people for a home: "Should I remind you the visceral attachment of every Jew to Israel, as a second mother homeland? There is nothing outrageous about it. Every Jew carries within him a fear passed down through generations, and he knows that if one day he will not feel safe in his country, there will always be a place that would welcome him. And this is Israel."
Sarkozy's sympathy and understanding is most probably a product of his upbringing it is well known that Sarkozy's mother was born to the Mallah family, one of the oldest Jewish families of Salonika, Greece.
Additionally, many may be surprised to learn that his yet-to-be-revealed family history involves a true and fascinating story of leadership, heroism and survival.
It remains to be seen whether his personal history will affect his foreign policy and France's role in the Middle East conflict.
In the 15th century, the Mallah family (in Hebrew: messenger or angel) escaped the Spanish Inquis ition to Provence, France and moved about one hundred years later to Salonika.
In Greece, several family members became prominent Zionist leaders, active in the local and national political, economic, social and cultural life.
To this day many Mallahs are still active Zionists around the world.
Sarkozy's grandfather, Aron Mallah, nicknamed Benkio, was born in 1890.
Beniko's uncle Moshe was a well-known Rabbi and a devoted Zionist who, in 1898 published and edited "El Avenir", the leading paper of the Zionist national movement in Greece at the time.
His cousin, Asher, was a Senator in the Greek Senate and in 1912 he helped guarantee the establishment of the Technion - the elite technological university in Haifa, Israel.
In 1919 he was elected as the first President of the Zionist Federation of Greece and he headed the Zionist Council for several years. In the 1930's he helped Jews flee to Israel, to which he himself immigrated in 1934.
Another of Beniko's cousins, Peppo Mallah, was a philanthropist for Jewish causes who served in the Greek Parliament, and in 1920 he was offered, but declined, the position of Greece's Minister of Finance. After the establishment of the State of Israel he became the country’s first diplomatic envoy to Greece.
In 1917 a great fire destroyed parts of Salonika and damaged the family estate.
 JPost.com » Opinion » Columnists »
Our World: Grounded in fantasy By CAROLINE GLICK Jun. 18, 2007 21:04 | Updated Jun. 19, 2007 Iran and its client state Syria have a strategic vision for the Middle East.They wish to take over Lebanon. They wish to destroy Israel. They wish to defeat the US in Iraq. They wish to drive the US and NATO from Afghanistan.They wish to dominate the region by driving the rest of the Arab world toits jihad-supporting knees. Then they wish to apply their vision to the rest of the world. Today, Syria and Iran are ardently advancing their strategic vision for the world through a deliberate strategy of victory by a thousand cuts. Last week's Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip; Sunday's reopening of the Lebanese front against Israel with the Syrian-ordered rocket attacks on Kiryat Shemona; the now five-week old Syrian ordered low-intensity warfare against Lebanon's pro-Western Siniora government; last week's attack on the al-Askariya mosque in Samarra; the recent intensification of terrorism in Afghanistan and Iran's move to further destabilize the country by violently deporting 100,000 Afghan refugees back to the war-torn country - all of these are moves to advance this clear Iranian-Syrian strategy. And all these moves have taken place against the backdrop of Syria's refashioning of its military in the image of Hizbullah on steroids and Iran's relentless, unopposed progress in its nuclear weapons program. For their part, both the US and Israel also have a strategic vision. Unfortunately, it is grounded in fantasy. WASHINGTON and Jerusalem wish to solve all the problems of the region and the world by establishing a Palestinian state in Gaza, Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. While Israel now faces Iranian proxies on two fronts, in their meeting at the White House today US President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will gush about their support for Palestinian statehood. Creepily echoing LSD king Timothy Leary, they will tune out this reality as they drone on about the opportunities that Gaza's transformation into a base for global jihad afford to the notion that promoting the Fatah terrorist organization's control over Judea and Samaria can make the world a better, safer, happier place. Today Bush and Olmert will announce their full support for Fatah chief and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas's new government. The US will intensify General Keith Dayton's training and arming of Fatah forces. Israel will give Fatah $700 million. The Europeans and the rest of the international community will give the "moderate, secular" terror group still more money and guns and love. The US will likely also demand that Olmert order the IDF to give Fatah terrorists free reign in Judea and Samaria. Olmert and Bush claim that by backing Abbas militarily, financially andpolitically they will be setting up an "alternative Palestine" which will rival Hamas's jihadist Palestine. As this notion has it, envious of the goodfortune of their brethren in Judea and Samaria, Gazans will overthrow Hamas and the course will be set for peace - replete with the ethnic cleansing of Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem of all Jewish presence. FATAH FORCES barely raised a finger to prevent their defeat in Gaza in spite of the massive quantities of US arms they received and the military training they underwent at the hands of US General Keith Dayton. Bush, Olmert and all proponents of the notion of strengthening Fatah in Judea and Samaria refuse to answer one simple question: Why would a handover of Judea and Samaria to Abbas's Fatah produce a better outcome than Israel's 2005 handover of Gaza to Abbas's Fatah? They refuse to answer this question because they know full well that the answer is that there is absolutely no reason to believe that the outcome can be better. They know full well that since replacing Yasser Arafat as head of the PA in 2004, Abbas refused to take any effective action against Hamas. They know that he refused to take action to prevent Hamas's rise to power in Gaza and Judea and Samaria. They know that the guns the US transferred to Fatah in Gaza were surrendered to Hamas without a fight last week. They know that the billions of dollars of international and Israeli assistance to Fatah over the past 14 years never were used to advance the cause of peace. They know that that money was diverted into the pockets of Fatah strongmen and utilized to build terror militias in which Hamas members were invited to serve. They know that Fatah built a terror superstructure in Judea, Samaria and Gaza which enabled operational cooperation between Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror cells. SO WHY embrace the fantasy that things can be different now, in Judea and Samaria? Rather than provide rational arguments to defend their view that Hamas's takeover of Gaza is an opportunity for peace, proponents of peace fantasies as strategic wisdom explain vacuously that peace is the best alternative to jihad. They whine that those who point out that Israel now borders Iran in Lebanon and Gaza have nothing positive to say. To meet the growing threat in Gaza, they argue that Europeans, or maybe Egyptians and Jordanians can be deployed at the international border with Egypt to stem the weapons and terror personnel flow into Gaza. To meet the growing threat in Lebanon, Olmert pleads for more UN troops. Both views ignore the obvious: Gaza has been transformed into anIranian-sponsored base for global jihad because Egypt has allowed it to be so transformed. Assisted by its Syrian-sponsored Palestinian allies, Hizbullah has rebuilt its arsenals and reasserted its control in southern Lebanon because UN forces in southern Lebanon have done nothing to prevent it from doing so. No country on earth will volunteer to fight Hamas and its jihadist allies in Gaza. No government on earth will voluntarily deploy its forces to counter Hizbullah and Iran in south Lebanon. This is why - until they fled - European monitors at the Rafah terminal were a joke. This is why Spanish troops in UNIFIL devote their time in Lebanon to teaching villagers Spanish. SO WHY are Bush and Olmert set to embrace Fatah and Abbas today? Why are they abjectly refusing to come to terms with the strategic reality of the Iranian-Syrian onslaught? Why are they insisting that the establishment of a Palestinian state is their strategic goal and doing everything they can to pretend that their goal has not been repeatedly proven absurd? Well, why should they? As far as Bush is concerned, no American politician has ever paid a price for advancing the cause of peace processes that strengthen terrorists and hostile Arab states at Israel's expense. Bush's predecessor Bill Clinton had Arafat over to visit the White House more often than anyother foreign leader and ignored global jihad even when its forces |
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This will be enough to drive anti-Semites, holocaust deniers, Islamo-fascists and conspiracy wackos on the left and far right stark-raving-mad, and will likely keep them busy for years. As it turns out France's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, lost 57 members of his family to the Nazis and comes from a long line of Jewish and Zionist leaders and heroes, writes RAANAN ELIAZ: