URGENT: IS IRAN ABOUT TO TAKE OVER LEBANON?

20 Tammuz 5781 

With news focused on the tragic collapse of the condo tower in Surfside, Florida, we can be forgiven for thinking everything else has miraculously gone away.  But, it hasn't.  There is a multi-front war going on and it hasn't stopped at all, despite the "ceasefire."

Hamas still threatens from Gaza.  There are still "disturbances" going on daily in Sheich Jarach and Silwan.  Yishuv Evyatar is under threat from within and without - Arabs on one side and the Erev Rav regime on the other.  And then there is the surprising increase in overt warfare between the US and Iran on the Syrian-Iraqi border.

Second round of US air strikes against Iran-backed militias in Syria, Iraq

But, the most surprising thing of all is what is happening in Lebanon right under our noses.  As horrible and as tragic as recent events have proven to be:  the collapse of the crushing victims at Meron (Lag BaOmer - Iyyar) ; the collapse of the bleachers at the Stolin Beit Midrash in Givat Ze'ev (Shavuot - Sivan); and the collapse of the condo tower in Surfside, Florida (three days before 17 Tammuz), all of it could pale by what it would mean to us if Lebanon should collapse and fall into the hands of Hezbollah.  Maybe these have been just foreshocks for something much bigger and more terrifying.

April 16, 2021 - With food and fuel, Hezbollah braces for the worst in Lebanon collapse

Lebanon's Hezbollah has made preparations for an all-out collapse of the fracturing state, issuing ration cards for food, importing medicine and readying storage for fuel from its patron Iran, three sources familiar with the plans told Reuters.

...The steps highlight rising fears of an implosion of the Lebanese state, in which authorities can no longer import food or fuel to keep the lights on. They underline Hezbollah's growing role in tackling the emergency with services that the government would otherwise provide.

...Lebanon's currency has crashed as the country runs out of dollars, with no state rescue in sight. Food prices have shot up 400%.

Fights in supermarkets are now commonplace, as are people rummaging through trash. A brawl over food packages this week killed one person and injured two others.

June 17, 2021 - Lebanon Army Chief: Economic situation will lead to collapse of military

"If the economic situation continues to deteriorate in Lebanon it will inevitably lead to the collapse of institutions, including the military establishment," said Lebanon's Army Chief General Joseph Aoun, according to a Tweet from Lebanon's Army.

"The army is the only and last institution that is still coherent and guarantees the security and stability in Lebanon and the region," said Aoun, who also said that harm to it will lead to "the spread of chaos."

June 25, 2021 - ‘The Holy See fears the collapse of the country’: Pope Francis to host a day of prayer for Lebanon

Pope Francis will join the main Christian religious leaders from Lebanon on July 1 for a day of reflection and prayer in Rome for this country of some five million people. Lebanon is facing a political, financial and humanitarian crisis of the utmost gravity and has been without a government for many months.

“The Holy See fears the collapse of the country,” Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states, stated frankly at a press conference in the Vatican on June 25, detailing the event. Archbishop Gallagher said the Holy See feared that the collapse of Lebanon, the last democracy in the Arab world, would have disastrous consequences for the Christians in that country.

June 28, 2021 - Lebanon’s Collapse Risks Wider Regional Strife

...Lebanon has nearly devolved into a failed state. Yet while it is easy for many to overlook the small eastern Mediterranean country among wider regional issues, considering Lebanon’s state of affairs as an afterthought will have profoundly negative implications with substantial externalities. Certainly, the case of Lebanon is intricately intertwined with Middle Eastern geopolitics—something world leaders must recognize to prevent the coming tragedy that will extend beyond Lebanon’s borders.

June 28, 2021 - The Gaza War 2021: How Iran and Hizbullah View the Attacks on Israel

Senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders in Gaza were in contact with Iran’s top brass, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and the heads of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, during the 2021 Gaza War. Sources close to Hizbullah revealed that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hamas, and Hizbullah coordinated the military confrontation in Gaza from a military operations center in Beirut. The commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, General Esmail Qaani, visited Lebanon twice to attend meetings at the joint command center. 

June 29, 2021 - Hamas leader Haniyeh meets Hezbollah chief Nasrallah in Beirut 

“Nasrallah and Haniyeh affirmed the depth of the relationship between Hezbollah and Hamas, and its primary position in the axis of resistance,” according to the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese TV station al-Mayadeen.

Iyyar... Sivan... Tammuz...  Is this what is awaiting us in the month of Av? 

" ...From the north shall disaster break loose upon all the inhabitants of the land!"  (Haftarah of Parashat Pinchas when it falls after 17 Tammuz)

HASHEM guard and protect Your children!!!

"The Day of Hashem"

19 Tammuz 5781 

And it shall come to pass on that day, says the Lord of Hosts: I will cut off the names of the idols from the earth, and they shall no longer be mentioned. ...And it shall come to pass throughout all the land, says the Lord, two parts of it shall be cut off. They shall perish, and the third shall remain therein.   And I will bring the third in fire; and I will refine them as one refines silver, and I will test them as one tests gold.  He shall call in My name, and I will respond to him.  I said, "He is My people"; and he shall say, "The Lord is my God."    (Zechariah 13.2, 8-9)

Safe Zones, Animal Anomalies, Primary Risks

Advanced Catastrophism

NEW COVID VACCINE UPDATE

18 Tammuz 5781

The Ruling Regime here in Eretz Yisrael very recently tried to appear magnanimous by offering vaccine doses to the Palestinian Authority.  A few days into the arrangements, the PA made a very public, very outraged refusal with the reason given that the vaccines were expired or about to expire.  A quick denial and a little while later, we've got Bennett berating our kids today, trying to bully them into getting vaccinated, making a personal appeal to them directly as if their parents had no say in the matter.  He tried to lay on a guilt trip, asking them wouldn't they rather get vaccinated and have a fun rest of their summer rather than being responsible for everybody going under new restrictions because not enough of them are vaccinated yet.  And here is the kicker:  He urged them to hurry because they only have 11 days to get the shots before the vaccines expire!!

Even MK Smotrich got in on the act, appealing via Twitter to the kids to get the vaccine because - get this - while it doesn't seem to be much of a threat to kids right now, nobody knows what damage could come from it in the future - effects it might have down the road - so for the sake of their future, they should get the vaccine.  This despite the fact that today it was publicized that HALF of those infected by the Delta variant in Israel are "adults who were fully vaccinated."   Furthermore, it is "official" now that the FDA has announced... 

FDA Adds Warning About Heart Inflammation To COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines

The FDA announced earlier this month that it would add the warning after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had reported that more cases of heart inflammation—either myocarditis or pericarditis—were found in young adults and children after they received the vaccines, which use mRNA technology.

On June 25, the agency said that it would add revisions to its patient and provider fact sheets about the “increased risks of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart) following vaccination” using the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 shots.

The "cure" is definitely worse than the disease.  

The RR used the tried and true excuse of rising cases in order to justify reinstating the mask mandate indoors.  They are urging everyone to get tested again because by now everyone understands that the more testing, the more "cases."  At the same time that positive tests are ramping up, however, the official statistics show that there have been no deaths this week attributed to COVID and the number of "serious" cases has dropped from 26 to 22!!

Draw your own conclusions.  Thank G-d, quite a few people appear to be simply ignoring the mask "mandate" this time around.  They don't see any sick people and we're in the middle of a heat wave!!  But, better carry one with you just the same as the over-zealous and power-mad among us who man the gateways to the shops and stores will prevent your entry without it.  What you do with it once you are inside, is up to you.  

"Great Reset? N.W.O? Conspiracy Theories?"

 18 Tammuz 5781

Great Reset? N.W.O? Conspiracy Theories? - Rav Yehudah Richter

"OUR WEAPONS"

17 Tammuz 5781
Tzom Shivah Asar b'Tammuz 

Our Weapons - HaGaon Rabbi Yaakov Hillel

PRAY FOR YISHUV EVYATAR

15 Tammuz 5781
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Balak 

The current government plans to demolish this new yishuv; therefore, they allow the neighboring Arabs to do their dirty work and try to wear down the Jews by making it impossible for them to survive there.

Palestinian 'tire terrorism' threaten Evyatar outpost as eviction nears

Palestinians have ramped up their protest against the Evyatar outpost with a new form of “tire and chemical terrorism” as the eviction date nears for the fledgling community.

“Thousands of tires are set on fire every day, causing terrible pollution and suffocating black smoke,” Religious Zionist Party head Bezalel Smotrich said on Thursday as he called on Defense Minister Benny Gantz to halt this new form of organized Palestinian violence.

“This is not a protest action but a new kind of chemical warfare designed to cause suffering and suffocation,” he added.

This “new and dangerous form of tire terrorism has spread” behind the area of the Evyatar outpost, Smotrich wrote adding that such use of smoke and chemicals is prohibited under international law.

Videos of masked Palestinians holding torches have circulated on social media, including twitter.

Palestinians have mounted an unusual response, with nightly vigil protests, known as “night disruptions” in addition to traditional weekend rallies that have ended in clashes with the IDF.

During the night protests that began last week, burning tires have engulfed settler homes in acrid smoke.

“We come at night, we light up the mountain, to send them a message that they can’t have even an inch of this land,” said one masked Palestinian this week. He lit fires while others flashed laser pointers to dazzle the settlers in their homes.

Israeli troops have shot dead five Palestinians during stone-throwing protests since Evyatar was set up, Palestinian officials said.

The IDF said it faced “hundreds of Palestinians throwing stones, lighting fires, burning tires and throwing explosives” at its troops.

“The large number of violent rioters endangers the lives of Israeli civilians and a military force has been deployed to provide protection,” it said in a statement.

The Israeli military did not comment on fatalities, but said troops used live fire only as a last resort.

Palestinians call the site of the Evyatar outpost “Jabal Al-Sabih” or “The Morning Mountain,” because the sunlight strikes it early.

Evyatar’s creation is unusual in that its organizers, the Nahala movement and the Samaria Regional Council, galvanized 50 families to live there within a month and built modular homes for them and paved roads.

It’s is one of the fastest outpost creations in the history of the settlement movement.

The settlers have until Monday to appeal to the Supreme Court, a military spokesman said, although the decision over the evacuation ultimately rests with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

The decision whether to raze the outpost or allow it to remain is considered a test for Bennett’s new government, which is made up of parties from the Left, Right and Center of Israel’s political map.

On Thursday MK Nir Orbach from Bennett’s Yamina party made a solidarity visit to the outpost in an effort to help its families who had settled there as an act of great faith.

In a statement he released after the visit he said he would meet with relevant authorities so the matter could be advanced.

Meretz parliamentarians Mossi Raz and Gabi Lasky, who are also in the coalition arrived to call for the community to be evacuated.

The IDF has already said that Evyatar was illegally built and must be removed and “we support that,” Raz said.

Gantz (Blue and White) has also spoken of the need to remove the outpost as has Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid).

Bennett has yet to issue a statement on the outpost, located in the Samaria Region of the West Bank near the Tapuah Junction. It was built in the aftermath of a terror attack at that junction which claimed the life of Yehuda Guetta, 19.

A similar initiative to build an outpost there began in 2013, just after a Palestinian terrorist killed Evyatar Borovsky, 31. It failed when the IDF razed the outpost.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the outpost could be legalized and the Samaria Regional Council has explained that it is constructed on survey land, which can be reclassified as state land.

It has already filed a master plan to the Civil Administration to legalize it.

The Left-wing group Peace Now said that the outpost is built on land that belongs to the villages of Yatma and Beita.

“A small group of people is creating facts on the ground that effect dramatically Israel’s security and its foreign policy, without any authority,” Peace Now said.

“The new government must not accept that. This outpost must be evicted not only because it is deepening the occupation of the Palestinians in the West Bank but because it is bad for the security of Israel and bad for the possibility of future peace for Israel,” it added.

Eli Shapira, a 30-year-old teacher and father of four, said “They won’t drive us away from here. This is our homeland, this is our forefathers’ land. We love the land, we want to be here, we know they come out of hate.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

FLASHBACK: "Here We Go Again!"/COVID-21

14 Tammuz 5781

The following comes from a "Road Map" leaked by a Canadian MP back in October 2020.  As you can see, they are a bit behind schedule, but right on track.

We are currently near the end of Q2 and here is where we stand with regard to the Basic Income.

20 June 2021: REVEALED: Residents of more than 20 cities in US are receiving $500 a month universal basic income payments...

Right now, today, the "Delta Variant" is fast becoming COVID-21.  All the signs from the government, the health authorities and the media are pointing in that direction.  Therefore, it might behoove us to revisit a post I wrote one year ago.

Here We Go Again!

13 Tammuz 5780

Deputy health minister: Second wave worse, more dangerous than first

..."We are in a second wave that is worse and more dangerous than the first one," Kish said at a Knesset Coronavirus Committee session. "We are in a long war of attrition. A sharp rise in the rate of confirmed patients was recorded from 1% mid May to 5% of all tests today."

According to Kish, "the number of confirmed carriers doubled in ten days. There is a large number of new critical patients." The deputy-minister said the outbreak is "spreading across the country."

The rate will "rise to hundreds of new infections," Kish added.

With the ongoing threat of renewed total "lockdown" and increasing ferocity of the authorities in enforcing unreasonable adherence to questionable health orders, it is important to continue to monitor the real trends in this pandemic and to evaluate for ourselves with our own seichel whether the current environment of fear and totalitarianism is justified.  Here is the statistical overview as presented by the World Health Organization:

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Looking only at the graph of the numbers of confirmed cases, one would have to agree that a clear "second wave" is in progress; but as we already know, those numbers are easy to manipulate as we have no way of knowing the rate of increase in testing as compared to the first time around as well as how many are asymptomatic. While the number of serious cases has doubled over the past week - from 40s to 80s, the number of those on ventilators is still in the 20s range [and that number is included among the seriously ill count].  If these 86 "serious" cases are the only ones hospitalized, that averages to two coronavirus patients per hospital in Israel, so don't believe any dire warnings of overwhelming the health care system!

Israel hits new high for active coronavirus cases, with 11,189 currently sick

...The Health Ministry reported that 804 new COVID-19 cases were recorded on Saturday, bringing the total number of active patients to 11,189, the highest since the start of the epidemic in Israel.

The Health Ministry said another nine patients were hospitalized in a serious condition, bringing the total number of serious cases to 86, with 29 of them in need of ventilator support.

According to health officials, since midnight Sunday, 130 people tested positive for coronavirus.

...The Coronavirus National Information and Knowledge Center ... put the number of tests conducted on Saturday at slightly above 15,000,....

The numbers of dead are a more reliable indicator in this case and as can be seen, these numbers do not at all indicate a "second wave more dangerous than the first." With nearly the same rate of reported daily infection back in March, there were 19 dead in one day at the worst of it. With a similar reported infection rate for July, four have died from Friday to Sunday.

The second WHO graph above is the true indicator of whether there is currently a second wave.  Do you see it?  I certainly do not.

It is the nature of novel viruses to be more deadly at their initial onset and then to mutate as time goes on to be less lethal.  This is because it is not advantageous for the virus to kill its host.  The goal is to be as infectious as possible for as long as possible so as to replicate and spread far and wide.  That is the job the Creator gave it in this world.  Even when mankind attempts to weaponize a virus in the lab by editing its genetic makeup to make a more lethal killing machine, the Creator is still ultimately in control of it.

THERE IS NO PLACE FOR FEAR IN THE HEART OF THE JEW WITH FAITH IN HKB"H!

The best advice is still to eat and drink nutritionally so as to boost your own natural immune system.  Stay away from obviously ill people, just as you would to avoid any other disease, and pray to be spared the illness and its consequences.  This is your hishtadlut - not a mask! and not closing synagogues! and not stopping weddings!  No one can hide from a virus.  Hashem alone decides who will live and who will die as He has since the beginning of time.

"Be Prepared for Redemption! Sun. June 27th, 2021"

12 Tammuz 5781 

Be Prepared for Redemption! Sun. June 27th, 2021- Rav Yehudah Richter