By Annie Nissim
My husband Michael listened yesterday to a former Israeli commander giving his thoughts about how the attack on Saturday could have taken place. He believes the first attack on Saturday morning had to have come from within Israel. He suggested that Gazans may have been sheltered in Israel by Israeli Bedouin, perhaps even for a long period of time. Examining video footage, he thinks that this first wave of attackers from within the country had managed to kill soldiers in nearby bases in the early hours of the morning in preparation for the takeover of Israeli settlements after dawn. Israeli female soldiers watching the monitoring screens had also been killed. Only the second wave of attackers he thinks actually arrived from Gaza. He also felt that there was a problem with higher level Israeli army personnel. Unless it is the Lord that guards the city, the watchmen watch in vain.
An update I received states that an extreme leftist Israeli Jew committed suicide because videos of him were being circulated on the media showing him as an aide to Hamas. He apparently wrote a detailed suicide note saying, “They swore to me that they were only taking prisoners and not harming them, so I helped them.” Yair Levy Hadari. I can’t confirm the report. Israelis though have been wondering from the beginning whether there were Israeli traitors involved in the attack.
One settlement on Saturday 7th was spared terrorist infiltration, although it was attempted, because they were Sabbath keepers and the gate of their settlement was locked for Shabbat. Another settlement was rescued by a group of men within the settlement who defended with guns and killed a group of terrorists. Three of those men died defending their settlement but the settlement was spared. The alert had been raised by one man, a young rabbi, who noticed two terrorists and killed them, then raised the alarm with an alert squad within the settlement who went out with their guns.
In any case, whoever was responsible and however they ‘achieved’ it, God permitted a horrible atrocity to be perpetrated against the Jewish people. At the time that it occurred there was a group of over 3,000 young people at an outdoor rave party, dancing in scanty clothing beneath a huge statue of Buddha, fornicating and taking drugs. Around 260 of those young people were killed and many more were injured when Hamas burst the party. The Keeper of Israel doesn’t slumber or sleep but when Israel worships the golden calf, she can’t expect to enjoy His protection. One soldier who died was celebrated in Israel as a hero and Israel mourned his not yet being able to marry his boyfriend. And so His people perish. Of course, Israel will never enjoy God’s full protection until she turns to God in repentance through Jesus. This, I believe is prophesied to happen in the end times. The sons of Jacob had to be brought into great distress before they realised “we are very guilty concerning our brother”.
Again I’d like to ask prayer for four believing soldiers we know are serving and in danger. Ben. Rubi and Benny, two grandsons of a God-fearing lady from our meeting. Yotam, our nephew. I know there must be many other believers serving, including sons of our friends – but these four are on are minds. Apart from them, Loos, a girl from our congregation is serving but not in danger. God continue to keep it so.
The Friday 13th ‘Day of Rage’ as Hamas called it, resulted in pro-Palestinian demonstrations in cities in the West Bank and attempts of pro-Palestinian demonstrators to approach the Jordanian border with Israel (they were dealt with by the Jordanian army. Jordan can’t stand the Palestinians). No great achievement there. Rocket bombardment from Gaza continues in the South and centre of Israel and has been reported in the North, although the alarms we had of rockets in the North on Wednesday were false. There seems to have been trouble on the Lebanese border and possibility of infiltration is being checked. Still we thank God that they did not achieve today what they hoped they would achieve.