This edition examines the latest threats to Israel, new Israeli oil and gas discoveries, and bold resistance to the Muslim advance.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

As we begin a new year, I hope that my 2010 posts have helped to prepare you for whatever lies ahead. We have enemies on many sides, but if God is for us, who can be against us? If we are rightly related to God, we can be blessed this year as well as be a blessing to others no matter what happens to us. I hope that those of you who have pruchased my books have been blessed by them.

OUR ISRAELI CONNECTION

Hostile Takeover
One Jerusalem reports- As you read this, a leading Palestinian figure is attempting a hostile takeover of Jewish-owned land overlooking the Temple Mount — to build over 300 apartments for Palestinians and destroy a Jewish neighborhood. One Jerusalem is working with Nof Zion day in and day out to inform the Israeli public of this travesty, and to rally them to once again stand up for their capital.

More Gas & Oil in Israel
Joel Rosenberg reports- If you’ve been tracking the historic discoveries of natural gas and oil in Israel in recent years — and the intriguing connection of these discoveries to ancient Bible prophecy — then you will likely be interested in this week”s headlines:
* Wall Street Journal: BIG GAS FIND SPARKS A FRENZY IN ISRAEL
* Haaretz: Largest natural gas reserve discovered in Israel worth approximately $95 billion – More than 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas discovered off Haifa shore in joint U.S.-Israeli drilling operation * Agence France Presse: Israel has enough gas “to become exporter”

New Threat to Israel
Joel Rosenberg reports- A serious new threat to the peace and security of Israel and the people of the epicenter is rapidly emerging – the prospect that the Palestinian leadership will unilaterally declare their own independent, sovereign state as early as the summer of 2011, and attempt to divide Jerusalem, and that the world will try to force Israel to accept this new state rather than require the Palestinians to sit down and negotiate a fair and just arrangement that both sides can accept.

EU: Israeli Homebuilders are War Criminals
Jerusalem Prayer Team reports- The Arab League is working diligently to get legislation passed by the European Union that would classify any Jew who builds a home in Judea or Samaria as a war criminal-subject to punishment by the International Court. It’s almost impossible to believe, but it’s true…and this frightful future with its direct attack on prophetic Scripture could become a reality very soon.

IT’S NEWS TO ME

Austrailia Stands up to Muslims
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician, the current Minister for Foreign Affairs, and a former Prime Minister of Australia. In a recent speech, he boldly proclaimed that Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law should simply get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks. He angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by also saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation’s mosques. In his own words, “IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.

Europe Unites against Muslim Advance
Nationalist political parties in Europe are stepping up their anti-Muslim rhetoric and forging ties with each other, led by Geert Wilders of the Netherlands. Wilders confirmed that he is involved in organizing an “international freedom alliance” to link grassroots groups active in the fight against Islam, adding that Israelis are “fighting our fight” and defending the Judeo-Christian roots of Western civilization. He rejects some far-right parties as “blunt racist parties” and said he would avoid cooperating with them. But campaigns aimed at radical Muslims have been gaining ground in Europe, while simultaneously declaring support for Israel, calling it the front-line against militant Islam. “If Jerusalem falls, Amsterdam and New York will be next,” said Wilders.

Click for RELATED ARTICLES

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

I read in the paper today about a dwarf that got pick-pocketed. How could anyone stoop so low?