Who Is Mohammed Elbaradei?

published with permission from Joel Rosenberg

Last week, few Westerners knew the name Mohammed ElBaradei. Today, this well-educated, genteel-sounding, Nobel laureate has suddenly emerged as the face of the protest movement in Egypt. But who is he really, and is he a force for genuine, positive change? Three clues tell us the answer is “no,” ElBaradei is not someone we can trust, and we do not want him running Egypt.

1. ElBaradei is an apologist for Iran. As head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, from 1997 to 2009, the Iranians repeatedly lied to ElBaradei’s face, and he either let them or didn’t know the difference. The Iranians dramatically accelerated their nuclear enrichment program in violation of U.N. resolutions and international law during those 12 years. But ElBaradei never seemed bothered. Iran built three secret nuclear facilities during this time, yet ElBaredei never seemed to notice (until other intelligence agencies called his attention to them). For more on this, please read:

• “How ElBaradei misled the world about Iran’s nuclear program: The outgoing IAEA chief intervened repeatedly to distort his inspectors’ reports on Iran’s nuclear sites.” – a useful summary of ElBaradei’s disastrous term at the IAEA.
• Wall Street Journal editorial column: ElBaradei’s Real Agenda – excerpt: “Mr. ElBaradei’s report culminates a career of freelancing and fecklessness which has crippled the reputation of the organization he directs. He has used his Nobel Prize to cultivate an image of a technocratic lawyer interested in peace and justice and above politics. In reality, he is a deeply political figure, animated by antipathy for the West and for Israel on what has increasingly become a single-minded crusade to rescue favored regimes from charges of proliferation.”
• Hoenlein: ElBaradei Distorted, Lied and Covered Up for Iran

2. ElBaredei is anti-Israel. During his tenure at the IAEA, Iranian leaders publicly and consistently called for the “annihilation” of Israel, denied the Holocaust of six million Jews during World War II, said that the Jewish State was doomed to destruction, that the fall of Israel was “imminent,” as was the coming of the Twelfth Imam which would coincide with the destruction of not just Israel but also the U.S. At the same time, the Iranians feverishly accelerated their illegal uranium enrichment program even as they developed ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel and Europe. Yet in 2009, ElBaradei actually declared that Israel was the greatest threat to the peace and security of the Middle East, not Iran.

3. Third, ElBaradei is an apologist for the Muslim Brotherhood. For starters, the Brotherhood is openly supporting ElBaradei and saying they want to form a “unity” government with him, and he’s welcoming their support. What’s more, in an interview on CNN on January 30, 2011, ElBaradei flatly denied that the Muslim Brotherhood is a fundamentalist Islamic organization, claiming that this was “a myth that was sold by the Mubarak regime.” He went on to deny that if the Brotherhood gained control of the Egyptian government they wouldn’t create a Radical Islamic regime that would be similar to what happened in Iran in 1979. To be sure, the Brotherhood are Sunni Radicals and the Ayatollah Khomeini was a Shia Radical. But aside from those theological differences, the Brotherhood has been one of the most anti-Western, virulently jihadist organizations in the Middle East for decades. They have believed and taught that Islam is the answer, and violent jihad is the way. This was true of its founder Hassan al-Banna. This was true of its intellectual leader Sayyid Qutb in the 1950s and 1960s. This is true of its most famous and deadly disciples, Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian national. It remains true with the Hamas terror movement in Gaza, which is an offshoot of the Egyptian Brotherhood. I document all this in my non-fiction book, Inside The Revolution.

Here’s the transcript of the stunning interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria (or watch this video — this portion begins at 7:12 minutes into the clip):

CNN’s FAREED ZAKARIA: Mohamed, one of the visions that haunts Americans is of the Iranian revolution, where a dictator, pro-American dictator, was replaced by an even worse regime that was even more anti-American and more threatening to the region.  People worry about the Muslim Brotherhood.  Are you confident that a post-Mubarak Egypt will not give rise to some kind of Islamic fundamentalist force that will undermine the democracy of Egypt?

MOHAMMED ELBARADEI: I’m quite confident of that, Fareed.  This is a myth that was sold by the Mubarak regime, that it’s either us, the ruthless dictators, or above them the al Qaeda types. You know, the Muslim Brotherhood has nothing to do with the Iranian model, has nothing to do with extremism, as we have seen it in Afghanistan and other places.  The Muslim Brotherhood is a religiously conservative group.  They are a minority in Egypt.  They are not a majority of the Egyptian people, but they have a lot of credibility because all the other liberal parties have been smothered for 30 years. They are in favor of a federalist state.  They are in favor of a wording on the base of constitution that….every Egyptian has the same rights, same obligation, that the state in no way will be a state based on religion.  And I have been reaching out to them.  We need to include them.  They are part of the Egyptian society, as much as the Marxist party here.  I think this myth that has been perpetuated and sold by the regime has no – has no iota of reality. As you know, Fareed, I’ve worked with Iranians, I’ve worked here.  There is 100 percent difference between the two societies.

ZAKARIA: If there were a democratic government with Muslim Brotherhood participation, do you believe that Egypt would still be at peace with Israel?

ELBARADEI: Of course.  I mean, I – again, the whole issue of peace in the Middle East is an issue which everybody – nobody wants to go to war, Fareed.

For more on the dangers posed by the Muslim Brotherhood:

• The Muslim Brotherhood: the enemy in its own words
• Muslim Brotherhood: ‘Prepare Egyptians for war with Israel’
• Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood: “The leader of Jordan’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood warned Saturday that unrest in Egypt will spread across the Mideast and Arabs will topple leaders allied with the United States.”
• Egypt crisis: Muslim Brotherhood blames America for the unrest
• Chicago Tribune: A rare look at secretive Brotherhood in America: Muslims divided on Brotherhood; A group aiming to create Islamic states worldwide has established roots here, in large part under the guidance of Egypt-born Ahmed Elkadi
• Weekly Standard: The Muslim Brotherhood is No Friend

Iran Has Enough Enriched Uranium to Build 4 Nuclear Bombs

“Officials say Iran already has enough low-enriched uranium stockpiled to create as many as four atomic weapons if it decided to further process the fuel,” reports the Wall Street Journal this morning. “The U.S. and the IAEA also worry Iran could have deployed advanced centrifuges at clandestine sites.”

To put this in context, in September 2009, Israel’s former Ambassador to the U.N. Dore Gold told me that the latest U.N. report indicated Iran had enough low-enriched uranium (LEU) to build two nuclear bombs, should it take the LEU to 90%-plus weapons purity.

That said, evidence continues to surface in the media that economic sanctions and covert operations to slow down Iran’s development of nuclear weapons are working. Iran may have the LEU, but it doesn’t seem to have the other materials needed to actually build or test atomic bombs it would seem — at least not yet. Last week, the outgoing head of the Mossad said he felt Iran wouldn’t likely be able to build operations nuclear weapons until 2015. Washington officials, therefore, believe the likelihood of an Israeli war with Iran over the nuclear issue has declined somewhat in the near-term.

“The Obama administration has concluded that Iran’s nuclear program has been slowed by a combination of sanctions, sabotage and Iran’s own technical troubles,” noted columnist David Ignatius in yesterday’s Washington Post. “Because of the delay, U.S. officials see what one describes as “a little bit of space” before any military showdown with Iran….A senior Obama administration official [said], ‘They’re not moving as fast as we had feared a year ago’….This new assessment of Iran’s nuclear setbacks has lowered the temperature on what had been 2010′s hottest strategic issue. Last summer, Jerusalem and Washington were talking themselves into a war fever, prompted in part by a powerful article in the Atlantic by Jeffrey Goldberg that starkly described the likelihood of military action. This fever seems to have broken.”

Indeed, Israeli covert efforts to stop Iran appear to be working so well that Iran is trying hard to strike back. A Reuters wire story notes that “Iran has arrested a ‘network of spies’ linked to Israel’s Mossad intelligence service which it blames for the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist in 2010, Iran’s state television reported on Monday….Under Iran’s penal code, imposed since its 1979 Islamic revolution, espionage can carry the death penalty. In December Iran hanged an Iranian man convicted of spying for Israel. Another Iranian man was hanged in 2008 for allegedly working with Mossad. Israel denied having any links with the case.”

Is this true, or Iranian propaganda? This remains to be seen. The Iranian regime has been deeply embarrassed by recent revelations that its nuclear program has been severely slowed down by covert operations, including the Stuxnet computer virus, the assassination of senior Iranian nuclear scientists, defections by key scientists and other sabotage efforts, all presumably masterminded by various Western intelligence agencies, including Mossad and the CIA. Sometimes, Iranian officials have been known to arrest people and charge them with espionage to make big, splashy headlines, only to later release the accused when it’s clear there is no real evidence against them. Over the weekend, for example, CNN reported that Iran deported an American woman after dropping trumped up espionage charges against her.

In related news, “U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dismissed on Sunday Israeli assessments of delays in the Iranian nuclear program and called for more work on sanctions to bring Tehran to heel,” reported Haaretz. “Clinton, on a tour of Gulf Arab countries to shore up support for pressure on Iran, arrived in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. She will also visit Dubai, Oman and Qatar on the five-day trip….Clinton said a recent assessment by the retiring chief of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service that Iran would not be able to build an atomic bomb until at least 2015 should not undercut international determination to keep the pressure on Iran through sanctions and other means to come clean about its atomic work. ‘The timeline is not so important as the international effort to try to ensure that whatever the timeline, Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons,’ Clinton told reporters on her plane as it arrived in Abu Dhabi. ‘I don’t know that it gives much comfort to somebody who is in the Gulf, or who is in a country that Iran has vowed to destroy, that it’s a one-year or a three-year timeframe.’”

MORE HEADLINES TO TRACK:

• Clinton: Arab world must confront Iran
• WSJ:Sanctions Slow Iran’s Warhead Capability
• ISIS report: Did Stuxnet Take Out 1,000 Centrifuges at the Natanz Enrichment Plant? Preliminary Assessment
• Washington Post columnist:  Buying time with Iran

Netanyahu Coming to U.S. Amidst New Threats to American Jews

THE TWELFTH IMAM HITS #8 ON NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST

Thanks again to everyone who is reading and enjoying The Twelfth Imam. And a special thanks to all of you who are sending me emails with your reviews and comments. Even though I may not be able to get back to each of you personally, I really appreciate your notes very much. In recent days, we’ve learned that The Twelfth Imam will hit #8 on the New York Times hardcover fiction best-seller on November 7th — the list is already posted online, and will be printed in the NYT Book Review next Sunday. The novel also is highlighted in the Times’ “Inside The List” column, which will be published next Sunday, as well. At the same time, the novel has hit #8 on the Publishers Weekly hardcover fiction bestseller list, and has hit #10 on the Wall Street Journal hardcover fiction bestseller list.

HEADLINES TO TRACK:

• Israeli Prime Minister heading to U.S. later this week
• The Joshua Fund calling for 50 visionary pastors, ministry leaders and/or Christian radio stations to bring tours to Israel next May for the 2011 Epicenter Conference
• Iran’s Ahmadinejad congratulates Brazilian presidential elect (a former Marxist guerrilla)

Ahmadinejad, Hezbollah, Obama and the 2010 Elections

FYI: I’m scheduled to be interviewed on the following programs:

• Friday, Oct 15, during the 7pm eastern hour–  Fox Business Channel with David Asman. Topics: Ahmadinejad, Iran and The Twelfth Imam.
• Sunday, Oct 17 at 1:10pm – Fox News Channel. Topics: Ahmadinejad, Iran and The Twelfth Imam.
• Tuesday, Oct 19 (official day of the book launch) – CBN’s “The 700 Club.” (check local listings for times in your area)
• Please check back for book tour media updates.
• For the 13-city tour schedule, please click here.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Beirut Wednesday morning for a highly provocative trip to Lebanon. He was greeted by tens of thousands of Radical Muslims as a hero of the Islamic Revolution and on Thursday visited the border with Israel. His mission: to rally the terrorist forces of Hezbollah for an apocalyptic war with the Jewish state that will set the stage for the coming of the Shia Islamic messiah known as the “Mahdi” or the “Twelfth Imam.”

But annihilating Israel is not the ultimate objective for Ahmadinejad or Hezbollah. Israel, in the End Times theology of both Ahmadinejad and Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, is only the “little Satan.” The U.S., they believe, is the “Great Satan” and must be annihilated, too.

By large margins, American voters instinctively understand that the strengthening of the Iranian-Hezbollah alliance poses not only a grave and growing danger to Israel, but also to U.S. national security. But voters are increasingly concerned that President Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats don’t get it. They worry Democrats have neither the wisdom nor the will to protect the American people or allies like Israel from Radical Islam, and this could cost their party at the polls in a few weeks.

Consider the findings of a new survey released this week by McLaughlin & Associates, a nationally respected polling firm:

• A stunning eight-out-of ten of likely American voters (78.5%) say they do not believe President Obama’s policies towards Iran (such as economic sanctions and repeated attempts to engage the mullahs diplomatically) will stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

• An overwhelming number of voters (79.9%), believe that once Iran gets nuclear weapons, they will launch nuclear missile attacks against Israel.

• Even more Americans (85.3%) are concerned that Iran will give nuclear weapons to terrorist groups (like Hezbollah) once they get the Bomb.

• That’s why six in ten voters (59.8%) support U.S. military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities if economic sanctions don’t work.

• What’s more, if the Obama administration won’t take decisive action, six in ten voters (58.4%) would support Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Americans are right to be worried. With Iran’s help, Hezbollah has become the most dangerous Shia Muslim terrorist organization in the world. Consider a sampling of Nasrallah’s statements in recent years:

• “Let the entire world hear me. Our hostility to the Great Satan [America] is absolute. . . . Regardless of how the world has changed after 11 September, ‘Death to America’ will remain our reverberating and powerful slogan: ‘Death to America.’”

• “We do not believe in multiple Islamic republics; we do believe, however, in a single Islamic world governed by a central government.”

• “Jerusalem and Palestine will not be regained with political games but with guns.”

• “America will remain the nation’s chief enemy and the greatest Satan of all. Israel will always be for us a cancerous growth that needs to be eradicated.”

• “I ask Almighty Allah . . . to make you the men who would clear the way for the Mahdi of this earth to establish divine justice.”

Nasrallah is not just talk. He practices what he preaches. That’s why Ahmadinejad counts him such a close and reliable ally.

He helped found Hezbollah in 1982 with direct Iranian funding, training, and organizational assistance. He then helped build it into an enormous force with aid and ongoing strategic and tactical guidance from Iran. By 1983, Nasrallah and his team had already recruited and trained some two hundred jihadists. On October 23 of that year, they launched the truck bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks, killing more Americans at one time than any terrorist had before that point. The attack resulted in “the largest non-nuclear explosion that had ever been detonated on the face of the Earth,” according to a U.S. federal court judge who later found the Islamic Republic of Iran liable for perpetrating the crime and awarded the surviving American families some $2.6 billion in damages.

By the time of the Second Lebanon War against Israel in 2006, Hezbollah had more than 6,000 trained jihadists in their network compared to 170,000 IDF forces and over 400,000 Israeli reservists. Yet under Nasrallah’s leadership, Hezbollah was widely perceived to have won that month-long showdown.

Terrorist attacks by Hezbollah have extended far beyond the suicide truck bombings of the U.S. Marine barracks in 1983. According to the U.S. State Department’s 2008 Patterns of Global Terrorism report,  Hezbollah was also behind the 1984 attack on the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut; the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847, during which a U.S. Navy diver was murdered; the kidnapping, detention, and murder of Americans and other Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s; the 1992 attacks on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina; the 1994 attack on the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires; and the 2000 kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers and an Israeli noncombatant.” In 2004, Nasrallah’s forces began training members of the Iraqi “Mahdi Army”—the Shia terrorist group run by Moqtada al-Sadr—to attack and kill U.S., Coalition, and Iraqi military forces, as well as Iraqi civilians.

Now, with Ahmadinejad’s encouragement and financing, Nasrallah is building what he believes will be the ultimate fighting force to destroy the U.S. and Israel in the “End of Days.”

According to Hezbollah documents captured by Israeli soldiers during the 2006 war, Nasrallah has recruited 42,000 Muslim children ages eight to sixteen into a jihadist youth movement known as “the Imam al-Mahdi Scouts.” The children are immersed in understanding Shia eschatology—End Times theology—about the coming of the Twelfth Imam. They study the lives and teachings of Nasrallah and current Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei, whom they refer to as their “commander-leader.” They wear camouflage suits, paint their faces black, and swear an oath to participate in jihad against Jewish and Christian infidels. According to official organization documents, 120 members have already died in terrorist actions, including as suicide bombers. Once they turn seventeen, they are encouraged to join Hezbollah’s formal military units.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad has helped Hezbollah build up a force of more than 30,000 missiles and rockets aimed at Israel, despite a U.N. Security Council resolution forbidding the rearmament of such terror groups after the 20-6 war with Israel. Now imagine both Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah with nuclear warheads.

Americans are worried, and they are increasingly convinced that neither President Obama nor his party are up to the task of stopping the Radicals. Nor do they believe liberals are giving proper backing to faithful allies like Israel who live on the front lines. To be sure, fear of Radical Islam is not the primary issue motivating voters this fall. The economy and jobs still top the list. But given the hostile political environment Congressional Democrats are already operating in, voter perceptions of their party as weak on national security and appeasers of Iran will be costly and could add to the center-right electoral tsunami that seems to be building momentum.

• AHMADINEJAD SAYS U.S. TRYING TO PREVENT 12TH IMAM ARRIVAL
• IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER HINTS: VOTE FOR AHMADINEJAD
• NBC NEWS ASKS AHMADINEJAD ABOUT 12TH IMAM

Moscow’s Big Surprise for Iran This Week

A senior Israeli government official last week told me that Prime Minister Netanyahu will assess the effectiveness of international economic sanctions on Iran in December and January. “Decisions will have to made after that,” he said. What kind of decisions? The official wasn’t particularly optimistic that sanctions would work, but when pressed wouldn’t say what Netanyahu might do next. Still, the implication was fairly clear: If Iran’s nuclear weapons program is not severely hampered enough by the first of the new year – by a combination of diplomacy, international sanctions, and/or covert actions inside Iran – Netanyahu and his government feel they have no choice but to launch preemptive military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

There are early indications that sanctions are driving up prices inside Iran and causing political unrest. Some Western governments appear to be stepping up an aggressive covert war to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program. Now, Moscow has curiously announced a big surprise for Iran – it has cancelled the sale to Iran its state-of-the-art S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. In fact, the Russian company that builds the missile system says it’s going to refund about $166 million which Iran has already paid. The reason for the cancellation is the new U.N. economic sanctions which were imposed on Iran. Noteworthy is that this is a reversal of Russia’s position earlier this year when it vowed to deliver the S-300 system to Iran despite the sanctions. It also goes against the trend of the last decade when Russia was building ever an ever closer and deeper alliance with Iran. Indeed, Iran is now threatening to sue Russia to keep the contract and deliver the missiles.

What does all this mean? Is Russia fundamentally backing away from Iran, or making a tactical adjustment? Do Putin and Medvedev agree on this decision, or is there a split inside the Kremlin? Could sanctions actually delay a war between Iran and Israel? Important questions all, but it’s too early to say. For now, let’s keep praying for the peace of Jerusalem. No one wants to see more blood spilled in the region.

Ahmadinejad Coming To U.S. Next Week: Netanyahu may be in U.S., too

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plans to come to New York City next week for his annual pilgrimmage to the opening of the U.N. General Assembly’s fall session. He is expected to once again pray for Allah to ”hasten” the coming of the “Twelfth Imam” or the “Promised One.” He may also call for a “new world order,” after making such a call during a summit this week with African leaders.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister may also be in the U.S. next, according to an Israeli media account, though it is not likely the two will cross paths. “Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will fly to Washington DC Sunday, in a surprising development reported by Channel 1 national television Tuesday evening. The station’s political reporter Ayala Hasson said the trip is ’90% certain’ to take place and that it seems to reflect some kind of political development, but that the nature of the development is not known.”

Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas met met in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt Tuesday for round two of their direct peace talks. They are expected to meet again in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

The two leaders “discussed ‘core issues’ of a possible solution to the decades-long conflict over the Land of Israel,” reported Israel National News. “The term ‘core issues’ usually refers to Israeli concessions, including  the status of Jerusalem and the holy sites within it, as well as final borders and the Arab demand that descendants of Arab residents who fled decades ago be allowed into Israel. Before the meeting, Netanyahu had insisted that recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and addressing security issues were the primary issues for Israel.”

I’ll post some analysis tomorrow.

• Ahmadinejad to visit NY for UN meeting
• Ahmadinejad says Iran, Africa wants new world order
• Ahmadinejad won’t attend disarmament meeting
• Ahmadinejad: Quran burning Zionist plot
• Ahmadinejad: Koran burning will bring about Israel’s annihilation
• American woman freed by Iran after bail deal
• Netanyahu to Abbas: Don’t let end of settlement freeze foil peace talks: Prime Minister considering trip to U.S. on Saturday for summit organized by Bill Clinton at which Abbas will also be present; Netanyahu would meet with Obama after summit.
• Netanyahu hints at settlement construction limits
• Abbas to meet with Netanyahu in Jerusalem
• (interesting): Abbas to Ahmadinejad: Mind Your Own Business – “After Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to task for participating in peace talks with Israel, Abbas had a message for Iran: Butt out. The Palestinian president went even further in a statement released by his spokesman, essentially calling Ahmadinejad an illegitimate leader who oppresses his own people….”

Netanyahu Engages in Media Blitz

NETANYAHU ENGAGES IN MEDIA BLITZ: Noteworthy, PM is not indicating war with Iran is imminent; spends 90 minutes on Saturdays studying Bible with his son

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is engaging in a U.S. media blitz. In part, he is calling for direct peace talks with the Palestinians. In part, he is trying to remind Americans that there are fundamental areas of agreement between Israel and the Obama government, despite 14 months of tensions. But most noteworthy to me is that in his public statements, Netanyahu is focused almost exclusively on jumpstarting the peace process with the Palestinians, not on highlighting the growing danger from Iran. The nuclear reactor in Bushehr, Iran, will go “hot” in mid-September, it would now appear — not August as previously expected. And in a rare moment of Arab diplomatic clarity, the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to Washington said this week he thinks a nuclear-armed Iran is a severe threat to the Middle East and strongly hinted that preemptive military strike may be the only way to stop Iran from getting the Bomb. Yet, Prime Minister Netanyahu does not seem to be indicating that war with Iran is immiment. He certainly is not preparing the U.S. or the world for the need for pre-emptive attack in the next few weeks or months. Indeed, Sen. John McCain is telling reporters he does not believe Israel is preparing for an imminent attack. In the Middle East, anything is possible. But for the moment, it would appear the Israelis do not believe a summer war is needed, or wise. Let’s keep praying for the peace of Jerusalem and for peace throughout the region, as well as for wisdom for the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to know how best to deal with Iran in the weeks and months ahead.

In the last 24 hours, he has done interviews on ABC, CBS, and CNN, speaking directly to the American people, and I think he’s been doing a good job. During a 20 minute interview, Katie Couric asked Netanyahu why 71% of Israeli Jews dislike President Obama. Wisely, Netanyahu did not take the bait. He conceded there are disagreements, but he certainly did nothing to exacerbate underlying tensions. Rather, he noted that he had invited the President to visit Israel and looked forward to extending hospitality to the First Family and give them a chance to get to know the Israeli people. The President said he is ready to visit Jerusalem. Let’s hope he carries through.

In other events, Netanyahu met with U.N. Secretary General Ki Ban Moon. He also met with U.S. Defense Secretary Bob Gates. The PM is in New York today, and is expected to fly to Cairo on Friday to meet with the ailing Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who is reported to have cancer.

Most interesting to me was an answer the PM gave to Larry King towards the end of their hour-long conversation last night. King asked Netanyahu if he ever has the chance to relax. Netanyahu said yes. On Saturday — the Sabbath — he rests and relaxes and he noted that one thing he looks forward to is reading the Bible for an hour an half with his youngest son, who recently won a contest on Bible knowledge. He said the time refreshes him spiritually and that he and his son are learning a great deal from God’s Word. I really appreciated the PM’s remarks and it reminded me of Psalm 119:97-100, “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.”

• CNN Larry King interview with Netanyahu — Part 1
• Larry King — Part 2
• Larry King — Part 3
• Larry King — Part 4
• Larry King — Part 5
• CBS Katie Couric interview with Netanyahu (20 minutes)
• ABC Good Morning American interview with Netanyahu (8 minutes)

RUSSIAN, IRANIAN, TURKISH LEADERS MEET

The plot thickens.

As Israel becomes increasingly isolated from the world, anti-Semitism rises, and Helen Thomas — dean of the White House press corps — retires after an anti-Semitic rant in which she said Jews should ”get the —- out of Palestine” and go back to Germany and Poland, there are intriguing new developments in the epicenter. The leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey are meeting today in Istanbul, Turkey to discuss how to form a closer alliance, fueling further interest in whether the events we are seeing unfold are consistent with the coming fulfillment of the Bible prophecies of Ezekiel 38-39 and the “War of Gog and Magog.”

“Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in Turkey on Tuesday to attend the third summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and hold bilateral talks with top officials from Turkey and other countries,” reports the Russian news agency, RIA Novosti. “The CICA is an inter-governmental Asian security forum, which was established in 1992 and currently comprises 18 member states, including Russia, China, South Korea and Turkey….Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti Monday that in Istanbul, Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also discuss bilateral cooperation. [Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev visited Turkey’s capital Ankara on May 11-12. The Istanbul talks are seen as a continuation of the dialogue started at the level of the heads of state.”

Let’s keep praying for the peace of Jerusalem, and let’s pray, too, for Helen Thomas, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants. Her recent remarks were anti-Semitic and reprehensible. If she hadn’t retired, she should have been fired. But let’s pray for her to come to know Jesus Christ as her Savior and Lord. She’s confused, but God loves her, as He does us all.

• Putin arrives in Turkey for security summit, bilateral talks
• Putin says to meet Ahmadinejad as Iran sanctions loom — Russian Prime Minister said he will meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Istanbul on Tuesday ahead of a U.N. Security Council vote to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Tehran.
• Erdogan, Putin: Israel won’t get our gas
• Veteran journalist Helen Thomas abruptly retires following flap over her remarks on Israel

Register today for the 2010 Epicenter Conference to learn how to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus — hear from Israel’s Vice Prime Minister as well as Lt.-General (ret.) Jerry Boykin, Greg Laurie, Kay Arthur, Tony Perkins, Hormoz Shariat and Mosab Hasan Yousef (via video)

Israel Faces New International Crisis

UPDATED TUESDAY MORNING: Israel is being bombarded with lies, false and unfair allegations and sheer anti-Semitic assaults. The U.S. is doing precious little to defend its most faithful ally in the Middle East, but this is the precise moment for followers of Jesus Christ to show unconditional love and unwavering support for the Jewish State amidst this brutal onslaught.

The Israeli Defense Forces had every right to defend themselves and their country from the brutal and premeditated attacks of terrorists and left-wing anti-Israel activists, and it is unconscionable for world leaders to act otherwise.

Here’s the background of what happened: Israeli is facing a new international crisis after a spasm of violence aboard Turkish-flagged boats filled with some 600 activists from the Middle East and Europe that were heading for Gaza as part of a “Gaza aid flotilla.” French, Danish and Israelis sources said some of the Turkish-backed left-wing activists had connections to terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda and Hamas. The Israeli government had made it clear in advance that the six boats would not be allowed to enter Gaza directly but would have to bring any humanitarian aid they carried to be bringing through Israeli ports. Israeli commandos ordered the boats to stop, but the flotilla refused. The Israelis then forced the boats to stop and boarded them in part to determine if the activists were trying to smuggle weapons into Gaza. The commandos were then attacked by the activists and the Israelis defended themselves. At least 10 activists were killed and several more were wounded. At least 5 Israeli commandos were wounded, as well.

Developing…..

Here is video of the incident involving activists attacking Israeli commandos aboard a ship trying to reach Gaza. More video.

• Turkey Prime Minister calls raid “a massacre”
• Turkey recalls envoy over Gaza flotilla deaths, accuses Israel of ‘state terrorism’ — Egypt summons Israeli ambassador after nine activists killed in Israel Navy raid; Arab League urges member states to ‘reconsider dealings with Israel’; Abbas: Israel committed ‘massacre’.
• Obama tells Netanyahu on phone: We need raid ‘facts’ ASAP — US President Barak Obama postpones Oval Office meeting with the prime minister, presses for IDF flotilla-raid details, expresses “deep regret at loss of life.”
• A brutal ambush at sea – Ron Ben Yishai recounts bloody clash aboard Gaza-bound vessel: The lacking crowd-dispersal means, the brutal violence of ‘peace activists,’ and the attempt to bring down an IDF helicopter
• Israeli Soldier: Activists came for war
• IDF forces met with pre-planned violence when attempting to board flotilla
• Netanyahu on Gaza ship raid: Soldiers acted in self defense
• Netanyahu: I regret Gaza flotilla deaths, but Israeli troops had right to self-defense
• Israel in eye of storm over deadly Gaza ship raid
• Israel flotilla action criticised by friends and foes
• The Gaza flotilla and the maritime blockade of Gaza – Legal background
• WSJ editorial: Israel’s Gaza Choices – How is the Jewish state supposed to stop Hamas from re-arming?

Making Biblical Sense of the Middle East

Podcast: Download (Duration: 50:48 — 8.7MB)

Guest: Joel Rosenberg, director, Epicenter Conference

TRANSCRIPT

Trying to understand the dynamics of the current situation in the Middle East, from Israel to the Palestinians to Iran to American involvement, is difficult at best.  Ancient history, conflicting religions, land disputes, and ethnic resentment have all combined to create a toxic and often deadly environment.  Throw in economic interests like oil, or even nuclear ambitions, and it is no wonder the world seems to pivot on what takes place in the Middle East.

The good news is that Joel Rosenberg will be joining us on The Christian Worldview this weekend to give a clear, biblical perspective on the region.  It is easy for Christians in the West to misunderstand or despair about the Middle East, but as Joel Rosenberg will explain this weekend, Christians can have clarity and there is real reason for hope in the “Epicenter”.  With an all-star lineup of speakers, you might even want to consider attending Joel’s Epicenter Conference in Philadelphia, June 25-26, 2010.

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