Archive for August, 2015

August 18, 2015: Weekly 5 minute update

Thursday, August 20th, 2015

You may view the 5 minute update this week via audio:

1) Listen to the audio

In this week’s 5 minute update, we focused on:

1) Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Presentation to the North American Jewish Federation Explaining His Reasons for Opposing the Iranian Nuclear Deal

This week’s update is an audio interview of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu making a presentation to the North American Jewish Federation explaining his reasons for opposing the Iranian nuclear deal. The interview includes questions from the Jewish community about the Iranian nuclear deal.

An agreement to divide Jerusalem and establish a PLO state is a tribulation event.

The link to these articles are as follows:

1) Benjamin Netanyahu’s presentation to the North American Jewish Federation explaining his opposition to the Iranian nuclear deal

From a Biblical prophetic perspective, the reason why the God of Israel would allow these events to happen is because it will result in the end of the exile of the house of Jacob and the reunification of the 12 tribes of Israel (Ephraim and Judah).

We will to be “watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem” and we will not rest until the God of Israel makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62).

Shalom in Yeshua the Messiah,

Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int’l

August 11, 2015: Weekly 5 minute update

Saturday, August 8th, 2015

You may view the 5 minute update this week via audio:

1) Listen to the audio

In this week’s 5 minute update, we focused on:

1) The details of the debate between the US and Israel over support for the Iranian nuclear agreement

US President Barack Obama and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are in a heated debate over the merits of the Iranian nuclear agreement recently negotiated between Iran and the P5 + 1 powers which includes the United States over its nuclear program. Obama believes that the agreement will prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb while Netanyahu believes the agreement will make it easier for Iran to get a nuclear bomb. Regarding the terms of the nuclear agreement, Netanyahu said: “Israel is not bound by this deal with Iran because Iran continues to seek our destruction,” he said. “We will always defend ourselves.”

Netanyahu’s office wrote a document outlining the Israeli opposition to the Iranian nuclear agreement. Netanyahu said that with this agreement, Iran has two paths to acquire a nuclear bomb. Primarily, if the Iranians violate the deal, as they have done in the past, they can develop a bomb by cheating. Secondly, if Iran abides by the agreement then, in about a decade, when the central restrictions on its program are automatically removed, they will be able to “carry out unlimited enrichment of uranium with full international legitimacy,” the document says. At that time, “Iran’s breakout time will be close to zero, as Obama himself has said.”

After the agreement, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said that the nuclear deal with the world powers did not include limitations on Iran’s weapons capabilities or missile power and that Iran would keep arming its regional allies. We have told them [the P5+1 world powers] in the negotiations that we will supply arms to anyone and anywhere necessary and will import weapons from anywhere we want and we have clarified this during the negotiations,” Abbas Araqchi told Iranian state TV. Araqchi emphasized that Iran would do what it thinks necessary to maintain its regional alliances. “We will take any necessary action to maintain and expand our defensive capabilities, safeguard our independence and sovereignty and help our regional allies to fight against terrorism,” he said. “We are not ready to even negotiate on our security and defensive issues, let alone compromising them,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei listed Iran’s allies as follows: “The Islamic Republic of Iran will not give up support of its friends in the region — the oppressed people of Palestine, of Yemen, the Syrian and Iraqi governments, the oppressed people of Bahrain and sincere resistance fighters in Lebanon and Palestine… Our policy will not change with regards to the arrogant US government.” Last year, Khamenei said that Iran should keep arming the Palestinians until Israel is destroyed “by a referendum of the people living there.”

With the agreement, Iran will ultimately be receiving over $150 billion dollars from the relief of economic sanctions. While conceding that the nuclear agreement will give Iran more money to fund its military allies, Obama downplayed the Iranian aspirations to continue arming its regional allies saying that — even in its most dire financial state — had never ceased to fund terror groups such as Hezbollah. Obama said: “Does the IRGC [Revolutionary Guards] or the Quds Force have more resources [as a result of the deal]? Probably, as the economy in Iran improves. But the challenge that we’ve had, when it comes to Hezbollah, for example, aiming rockets into Israel is not a shortage of resources,” Obama said. “Iran has shown itself to be willing, even in the midst of real hardship, to fund what they consider to be strategy priorities.”

Israel has been fiercely critical of the nuclear deal, arguing that the money Iran receives, as sanctions are lifted, will be used to sponsor terror and destabilize the region. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “They say this agreement pushes war away but in fact it brings war closer. Firstly, because Iran will receive hundreds of billions of dollars and already now states openly that it will use this money to fund its terror proxies. Secondly, [the deal] will start a nuclear arms race in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry’s Director General Dore Gold said that Israel anticipates a “major escalation” of Iranian-backed terror attacks on its borders as a direct result of the nuclear agreement. Gold warned that “the moment that the funds become available from frozen accounts… that’s when the Middle East goes south and things become extremely dangerous in the region.” Saying that the release of $150 billion of frozen funds would free Iran from having to choose which terror activities to support, Gold said Iranian troops and their proxies in the region “will have an ability to be everywhere simultaneously.” Iran has also made great efforts to acquire and distribute advanced weaponry to terror groups, Gold said. “We have been seeing an expansion of Iranian deployment around Israel.”

In association with the nuclear agreement, the International Atomic Energy Agency, a unit of the United Nations, has negotiated two side deals with Iran involving critical data collection processes. In a US Senate hearing, US Secretary of State, John Kerry, revealed that the covert military base Parchin will be off limits to international inspectors. Instead, Iran will take its own samples from Parchin and do its own testing of the covert site. Kerry explained in the hearing that the agreements on Parchin are part of the classified section of the deal. Kerry explained that the US government will not be revealing to the American people the contents of “secret side deals” made with Iran on its nuclear enrichment program. Kerry said that he has not read the agreements but has been “briefed” on their contents.

“No, I haven’t seen it,” Kerry said, adding that “we don’t have access to the actual agreement.” Kerry also said that national-security adviser Susan Rice had not seen them either. Kerry said that Wendy Sherman, the undersecretary of state, “may have” looked at the side agreements during a meeting at an IAEA facility. However, Kerry said that he couldn’t recall whether Sherman had seen the final version: “I don’t know whether she read a summary or a draft,” Kerry said. “I have no idea.”

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., wanted to know why these deals can’t be made public to the American people asking Kerry, “Why can’t we confirm or deny the content of these agreements in public? Why is this classified? It’s not a sensitive U.S. government document. The Ayatollahs know what they agreed to.” Kerry replied: “Because we respect the process of the IAEA and we don’t have their authorization to reveal what is a confidential agreement between them and another country.” Cotton responded to Kerry, “So the Iranian ayatollahs will know what they agreed to but not the American people?” Kerry said members of Congress would be able to learn about it in a classified briefing.

Kerry said that the United States never intended to dismantle Iran’s entire nuclear program and the nation’s top diplomat never promised “anytime, anywhere inspections.” In response, US Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) told Kerry, “I believe we’ve been fleeced and in the course of being fleeced you turned Iran from being a pariah into Congress being a pariah,” he said. “A few weeks ago, you said that no deal was better than a bad deal. What you say now is that somehow if Congress were to turn this down, the only option is war.” Corker told Kerry that he had “crossed a new threshold in US foreign policy where it is now the policy of the United States to allow a state sponsor of terror to develop a sophisticated nuclear program.”

Since Israel does not believe that the agreement will prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would not rule out Israeli military action to keep Iran from obtaining nuclear arms. Furthermore, Israel Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon also indicated that a military option was not off the table, saying that even though the nuclear agreement “is a historic mistake” and will enable Iran to be a “legitimate nuclear threshold country,” Israel “will continue to defend ourselves on our own.”

US Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) put Kerry on the spot when he asked him whether the controversial articles in Annex III on page 142 of the 159-page deal would stipulate that the US block Israeli attempts to stop the Iranian nuclear threat. The articles in question state that the US, world powers and the EU obligate to “co-operation through training and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to protect against, and respond to nuclear security threats, including sabotage.” Rubio asked, “If Israel conducts an airstrike on a physical facility, does this deal…require us to help Iran protect and respond to that threat?” In a separate interview, Kerry said that any future Israeli military action against Iran over its nuclear program would be a “huge mistake.” Asked if the nuclear deal signed between the world powers would make it more likely that Israel would attempt an attack, Kerry said: “That would be an enormous mistake, a huge mistake with grave consequences for Israel and for the region, and I don’t think it’s necessary.”

Furthermore, Kerry told Rubio that “the purpose of these clauses is to be able to have longer-term guarantees as we enter a world in which cyber warfare is increasingly a concern for everybody. If you are going to have a nuclear capacity, you clearly want to be able to make sure that those are adequately protected.” Responding to Kerry’s hint that the clause is meant to defend Iran from “cyber warfare,” Rubio asked if the deal obligates the US to defend Iran from an Israeli cyber attack. “I assure you that we will be coordinating very, very closely with Israel as we do on every aspect of Israel’s security,” said Kerry, tellingly refusing to directly answer what the deal obligates the US to do in such a scenario essentially indicating that America’s actions won’t be clear until the moment of truth.

In strongly opposing the Iranian nuclear agreement, a senior Israeli diplomatic source said that the agreement “not only allows the Iranians a warning time of 24 days (before inspections of its nuclear facilities) to clean things up but now we learn that they’re the ones collecting the samples as part of the inspections. This means that this agreement will allow the Iranians to fabricate the samples and there is no chance that breaches (of the deal) will be found. In practicality, it means that there won’t be any real inspections of Iran’s nuclear program.”

A senior minister of the Israeli government was quoted as saying, “In this deal and its annexes there are lots of astonishing things, like the fact that Iran is the one to collect the samples from nuclear sites, and that the world powers are also obligated to help Iran prevent sabotage at its nuclear facilities,” said the minister. He added, “each day it becomes clear how awful this deal is. This deal is full of holes. Everyone understands that they (the Iranians) tricked them. The more we go deeper into this deal and its annexes, we discover that the Americans and the international community crossed many red lines.”

Recently, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that in spite of the nuclear agreement, Iran’s policies toward the US and the world will not change. He said: “Even after this deal our policy towards the arrogant U.S. will not change.” After Khamenei spoke his words, the crowd responded by saying, “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” In response, Khamenei  said that he hoped that God would answer their prayers. Regarding Iran’s open animosity to Israel, US Secretary of State, John Kerry said that while “they have a fundamental ideological confrontation with Israel at this particular moment” that doesn’t necessarily mean “that translates into active steps” therefore, the discussion about Iran’s hostility toward Israel in connection with the nuclear deal is “a waste of time”.

In rejecting the Iranian nuclear deal, Netanyahu said that Israel was “not at the table” when it was being negotiated, instead the agreement reveals that Israel was “one of the courses on the menu itself.” US Secretary of State, John Kerry, accused Netanyahu of going “way over the top” in his criticisms. In addition, Kerry argued that the nuclear agreement signed with Iran is in Israel’s interest and that the Israeli government’s decision to oppose it could further its international isolation. Kerry said: “I fear that what could happen is if Congress were to overturn it, our friends in Israel could actually wind up being more isolated and more blamed.”

As for Israel’s ability to stop the nuclear agreement, they are engaging in an intense lobbying effort in the U.S. Congress to block the deal. The US Congress will have until September 17th to review and vote on whether to support or reject the Iranian nuclear agreement. Under an agreement that Obama struck with lawmakers, Congress has 60 days to review the agreement before Obama can start easing economic sanctions on Iran. As a result, US lawmakers will likely try to derail it by passing new sanctions or prevent Obama from lifting existing sanctions by voting to reject the agreement.

Obama has said that he will veto any resolutions from Congress seeking to undermine the deal, meaning opponents would have to muster a two-thirds majority in Congress to override the veto. That would require dozens of Democrats to vote against the president which appears unlikely. Speaking to members of congress, Netanyahu called on “all those who care about Israel’s security” to unite behind the commitment to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

In response to Netanyahu, Obama said that he was confident that the US Congress will not be able to muster enough no votes to block the agreement. “[P]erhaps [Netanyahu] thinks he can further influence the congressional debate, however, I’m confident we’re going to be able to uphold this deal and implement it without Congress preventing it.” In addition, Obama said that Israel’s rejection of the Iranian nuclear agreement was “sincere” but “wrong.” The UN Security Council “unanimously supported it” by a vote of 15 – 0 so Israel is the only country who opposes it and in doing so is being internationally isolated.

An agreement to divide Jerusalem and establish a PLO state is a tribulation event.

The link to these articles are as follows:

1) Prime Minister’s Office gears up for battle in US against Iran accord
2) Iran’s deputy FM: We told world powers we’ll keep arming our allies
3) Obama Admits: Iran Being Given Billions for Terror Funds
4) Obama’s Deal: $150 Billion to Iran to Destroy Israel with Conventional Arms
5) Obama downplays nuke-deal benefits for Iran’s proxies
6) ‘No Inspections’: Iran to Test its Own Covert Nuclear Sites
7) Does Iran gets to inspect its own suspect nuke sites? US won’t say
8) Kerry bombshell: U.N. in ‘secret deal’ with Iran
9) John Kerry hasn’t even seen one of the most crucial parts of the Iran agreement
10) Senator to Kerry on Iran deal: ‘We’ve been fleeced’
11) Watch: Kerry Indicates US Will Defend Iran from Israel
12) Kerry: Israeli strike on Iran would be ‘huge mistake’
13) Netanyahu said to bitterly attack Kerry for placing Israel ‘on the menu’ of Iran deal
14) PM hints military option against Iran not off the table
15) Kerry Says Israel May Deepen Its Isolation by Opposing Iran Nuclear Accord
16) Kerry casts doubt on Iran’s desire to annihilate Israel
17) Embattled Israeli leader faces tough task fighting nuke deal
18) Obama threatens to veto Congress moves to block Iran deal
19) Netanyahu’s bid to lobby Congress to kill Iran deal will fail, Obama says
20) Obama: Netanyahu cannot stop Iran deal
21) Obama: Israel sole objector to Iran deal; Netanyahu is ‘wrong’

From a Biblical prophetic perspective, the reason why the God of Israel would allow these events to happen is because it will result in the end of the exile of the house of Jacob and the reunification of the 12 tribes of Israel (Ephraim and Judah).

We will to be “watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem” and we will not rest until the God of Israel makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62).

Shalom in Yeshua the Messiah,

Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int’l

August 4, 2015: Weekly 5 minute update

Sunday, August 2nd, 2015

You may view the 5 minute update this week via audio:

1) Listen to the audio

In this week’s 5 minute update, we focused on:

1) The current status of the nuclear deal agreement between Iran and the P5 + 1 powers

On July 20, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing the Iran nuclear deal and paving the way to lifting longstanding sanctions on it. The vote was 15-0. As a result of the vote, the international community will remove punishing economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for temporary curbs on its nuclear activity. The agreement will now go before the US Congress for approval. A vote is expected by the end of September.

In Iran accepting this nuclear deal, Iran has only agreed to temporary curbs on its nuclear program but it has not abandoned atomic research and long-term uranium enrichment plans. When various nuclear experts examined the details of the 159-page nuclear deal, they warned that it ignores various key aspects of Irans’s nuclear program and that the lifting of arms sanctions may pave Iran’s path to nuclear-capable missiles. A glaring omission is seen in the absolute lack of any reference to the highly covert Parchin military base located southeast of Iran which is suspected of being the center of Iran’s secret nuclear weapons program according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). IAEA reports in November 2011 pointed to nuclear weapons development previously conducted at the site and a 2012 IAEA report likewise confirmed explosives containment vessels were at the site and likely used to test nuclear detonations. Iran has repeatedly refused IAEA requests to inspect Parchin.

Not only does the deal not directly address military aspects of Iran’s nuclear program but critics warn it contains several loopholes that will greatly limit its effectiveness in stopping Iran’s march to a nuclear weapon. For one, the agreement calls for Iran’s “voluntary” compliance with the terms of the deal in several places instead of implementing mandatory steps Iran must fulfill.

What’s more, a section of the deal may allow Iran to avoid revealing its past nuclear weapons testing stating that Iran “may propose to the IAEA alternative means of resolving the IAEA’s concerns that enable the IAEA to verify the absence of undeclared nuclear materials and activities inconsistent with the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) at the location in question.” The deal also includes removing a large number of sanctions, including those targeting Parchin Chemical Industries (PCI), which operates sites at the Parchin base and is thought to be highly involved in the covert nuclear weapons program.

Aside from Parchin, experts were alarmed to see that the nuclear deal does not directly impose limits on or even reference the Russian-made Bushehr nuclear power plant which they warn can produce enough plutonium for a large number of atomic weapons. Regarding plutonium, after 15 years the deal stipulates that Iran will be able to “engage in producing or acquiring plutonium or uranium metals or their alloys,” and likewise conduct research and development “on plutonium or uranium (or their alloys) metallurgy, or casting, forming, or machining plutonium or uranium metal.”

At the Natanz nuclear facility, a limitation on 5,060 centrifuges in 30 cascade units will cease in ten years, and after 15 years Iran will be able to enrich uranium over 3.67% – a 20% enrichment is needed to build nuclear weapons. In eight years, Iran can start producing up to 200 partial advanced centrifuges each year, and two years later it can construct complete advanced centrifuges.

In addition to the details on Iran’s nuclear program, experts warn there are pitfalls in how the deal approaches – or ignores – Iran’s nuclear-capable missile program. Notably the deal avoids addressing Iran’s ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) program. It also removes sanctions against Iran’s Al Ghadir missile command based in Tehran which has been leading the development of missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, and is thought to hold operational control of Iran’s missiles.

A UN conventional arms embargo on Iran will end in five years due to the deal, and sanctions against selling ballistic missiles to Iran will likewise expire in eight years. However, it is possible that China and Russia will covertly sell arms to Iran before those dates, as they have done in the past.

US Ambassador Samantha Power said the nuclear deal doesn’t change the United States’ “profound concern about human rights violations committed by the Iranian government or about the instability Iran fuels beyond its nuclear program, from its support for terrorist proxies to repeated threats against Israel to its other destabilizing activities in the region. But denying Iran a nuclear weapon is important not in spite of these other destabilizing actions but rather because of them,” Power said. EU foreign ministers maintained that the deal as it stands is the best option available. “It is a balanced deal that means Iran won’t get an atomic bomb,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, applauded the nuclear agreement between Iran and the six world powers and said that the deal is “an important achievement” that must be implemented at once.

The nuclear deal with Iran was met with a profound worries in the Arab world. Arab countries are skeptical that a deal would stop Iran from building a weapon. Arab countries have deep fears of Iran gaining a nuclear weapon and some have been skeptical that a deal will prevent that from happening. But equally high for key Sunni-dominated Gulf allies of the United States is the worry that a deal gives Iran the means — through an economic windfall — and an implicit green light to push influence in the region where concerns are widespread that the easing of its international isolation could tip the already bloody contest for power in the region toward Shiite-led Iran. The Arab world has been polarized for years in a worsening proxy conflict between Iran and Gulf powers, particularly Saudi Arabia, fueling Sunni-Shiite tensions and stoking wars. In Syria, Iran’s support has ensured the survival of President Bashar Assad against Sunni rebels backed by Gulf nations in a devastating civil war now in its fifth year. Yemen has been torn apart this year as Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition air campaign, has tried to help fend off Shiite rebels supported by Iran. In Iraq, Saudi Arabia has opposed the growing power of Iran even since the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein and the rise of a government led by Shiite politicians close to Iran.

A Saudi Arabian source said that “the Obama Administration made an enormous, historic mistake that will lead a great burden upon the next American government, from the perspective of dealing with and rectifying the mistake. The deal will bring about further hostility due to the manner in which it was achieved. In addition, Saudi Arabia issued a pointed warning, saying Iran must use any economic gains from the lifting of sanctions to improve the lives of Iranians, “rather than using them to cause turmoil in the region, a matter that will meet a decisive reaction from the nations of the region.” Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief, Prince Turki al-Faisal, warned earlier this year that a deal might fuel a regional arms race. “This agreement, from our point of view, represents an indirect threat to Gulf and Arab interests and peace,” said Tariq Al-Shammari, a Saudi analyst and president of the Council of Gulf International Relations.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the US Security Council vote as “hypocrisy,” stressing that Tehran “systematically violates UN resolutions and calls for the destruction of Israel — a member of the UN. There is no limit to hypocrisy,” Netanyahu charged. “The best way to combat this hypocrisy is to firmly and uniformly tell the truth.” Netanyahu said many countries in the Middle East see “eye-to-eye with Israel” on the nuclear deal. “History has proven that even when the world is united, it is not necessarily right,” he said.

“They say this agreement pushes war away but in fact it brings war closer. Firstly, because Iran will receive hundreds of billions of dollars and already now states openly that it will use this money to fund its terror proxies. Secondly, [the deal] will start a nuclear arms race in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said.

Furthermore, Netanyahu said “This deal endangers our security, our survival even, and the security of the Middle East and the world,” and US lawmakers to reject the deal. Netanyahu dismissed talk of US military compensation to Israel as futile and ineffective. He said: “Everybody talks about compensating Israel. If this deal is supposed to make Israel and its Arab neighbors safer, why should we need to be compensated with anything? And how can you compensate my country against a terrorist regime that is sworn to our destruction and going to get a path to nuclear bombs?” Netanyahu asked. According to Netanyahu, an ideal agreement would be based on the notion of “dismantle for dismantle” — that Iran dismantle its nuclear infrastructure in exchange for sanctions relief. “That was the original administration position and I think it was the right one,” he said, lamenting that under the current deal “Iran gets to … keep its infrastructure and it gets the full dismantling of sanctions in a very short time.”

Ya’akov Nagel, deputy chief of Israel’s National Security Council (NSC), warned about the dangers in the Iranian nuclear deal saying, “The (version of the) final deal reached Israel just very shortly before the public (announcement of the) deal,” explained Nagel. “Except for a few surprises, most of the deal was already known to us beforehand. The deal is a bad deal – and even a very bad deal compared to what we thought.” The security expert explained that “the bottom line is that Iran was permitted to continue enriching uranium on Iranian soil. What that means is that the centrifuges for enriching uranium will remain in Iran and will not be deconstructed. As of today Iran has ten tons of centrifuges to enrich uranium but the deal speaks about that being limited to 300 kilograms with excess being sold on the free market.” Nagel added that the deal gives Iran a “permit to research and develop advanced centrifuges which will allow Iran to significantly shorten the needed time to breakout to a nuclear weapon. Fifteen years from the deal all the limitations will be lifted on the enrichment of uranium.”

Regarding the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which signed a “road map” deal with Iran to clarify the nuclear aspects of its nuclear program by the end of the year, Nagel said the agency previously “passed to Iran a list of 12 clauses connected to Iran’s military (nuclear) developments. As of today, Iran has not responded to the request or given a response about the status of these clauses, and this topic was not included in the deal. If Iran doesn’t give answers in the next four months, it will cast doubt as to the validity of the deal.”

Nagel emphasized that the deal has numerous loopholes regarding the inspection of Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons programs. “IAEA inspectors can arrive at suspected sites, but that’s only possible after a long period of 24 days,” warned the security expert. “Other than a nuclear (detonation) experiment that can’t be hidden within 24 days, everything else can be hidden.”

The revelation is particularly significant in context of the covert Parchin military base, where Iran has admitted to testing exploding bridge wire nuclear detonators and where the IAEA has reported nuclear weapons experiments were likely centered. Satellite photos have shown Iran has been modifying the site possibly covering up evidence of ongoing nuclear tests. In conclusion, Nagel said, “Iran hasn’t abandoned and won’t abandon its vision of military nuclear (power). Due to the deal, Iran will receive a huge amount of money in a thawing of the sanctions, which will allow Iran to increase its involvement in terror and obtain technological knowledge regarding nuclear (power).”

Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog said he would work with Netanyahu’s ruling coalition to thwart the Iran nuclear deal. Herzog said: “I had a meeting where I learned about the deal and I think it is bad for Israel. [Netanyahu and myself] will certainly cooperate when it comes to the security of Israel. As an Israeli patriot, this deal is dangerous.” MK Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) said:  “The day the agreement was signed, I said that the clear and immediate danger is strengthening Iran’s terror system,” said MK Livni. “The fact that the president of the United States now acknowledges and is aware that Iran will continue to meddle in terrorism despite the agreement and that the agreement was only intended to deal with the nuclear program forces the world to take the next step and act against Iran’s terrorism.” Livni added, “Israel must now demand from the US, without connection to whether or not the deal passes, security and operational steps to reduce the deal’s damage and to allow us to act against the immediate results in the region. This is a legitimate demand and necessary to Israel’s safety.”

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama told Netanyahu that the Iran nuclear deal was in Israel’s national interest and sent his defence secretary, Ash Carter, to travel to Israel to talk with Netanyahu about it. In response, Israeli political party leader of Yesh Atid, Yair Lapid, said Netanyahu was making a mistake by refusing to hear about compensation for the Iranian nuclear deal from American Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. He pointed out that the Israeli defense establishment wants compensation. “But the worst mistake is allowing the world, especially the Arabs to see that the US has stopped listening to Israel,” Lapid said. In response to Lapid, the head of the political party, Jewish Home, Naftali Bennett, said: “The Iran nuclear deal is the height of political evil. Instead of trying to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, the world is now helping it to develop one. Instead of completely eviscerating their economy, they are developing it. Instead of taking away their weapons, they are giving them the opportunity to get more. During times like these there is no coalition or opposition,” said Bennett. Turning to Lapid, Bennett said “I would expect politicians to show some responsibility especially at a time like this.”

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he was also heading to Israel to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “to convey our message about the Iranian deal directly. I am also confident that Israel has shown, time and again, that it can be pragmatic and that once it has exhausted that avenue of opportunity, that it will seek to engage in a sensible and pragmatic way to deal with the new reality on the ground in the Middle East, to the benefit of everyone.” Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, criticized Israel for opposing the Iranian nuclear deal. The FM said that the deal is responsible and called to Israel to examine the deal scrupulously instead of roughly criticizing the agreement.

The French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has accepted an invitation to visit Iran. France used to have a strong presence in Iran before the sanctions went into effect, with Peugeot and Renault being major players in the Iranian auto industry and energy giant Total heavily involved in the oil sector. Futhermore, Asian refiners are set to buy more crude oil from Iran once they receive word on when sanctions will be lifted expecting Tehran to price its oil competitively as it tries to rebuild market share in an oversupplied market. Iran has said its priority destination for selling its crude is Asia, not surprising since China, India, Japan and South Korea are its largest customers.

An agreement to divide Jerusalem and establish a PLO state is a tribulation event.

The link to these articles are as follows:

1) UN Security Council unanimously approves Iran deal
2) European Union Backs Iranian Nuclear Deal
3) Netanyahu: To Combat UN’s Hypocrisy, We Must Tell the Truth
4) In Arab world, worries that deal will boost Iran’s power
5) Saudi Source: Obama Made a Historic Mistake
6) Merkel: Iran Deal an Important Achievement
7) Germany: Israel Should Examine ‘Responsible’ Iran Deal Carefully
8) British foreign minister heads to Israel to explain Iran deal
9) French foreign minister to go to Tehran for trade talks
10) French foreign minister to visit Tehran in sign of post-deal thaw
11) Asia ready to buy more Iranian oil when sanctions lifted
12) Top Security Official: Nothing in Deal Stops Iran Going Nuclear
13) Iran’s long-term nuclear ambitions survive deal
14) Experts Reveal Deal Ignores Iran’s Covert Nuclear Arms Program
15) Iran’s parliament votes to ban access to military sites and scientists
16) Nuclear Deal Silent on Iran’s Parchin Military Plant, Bushehr
17) Netanyahu: Iran deal endangers Israel, US compensation won’t help
18) Opposition head Herzog says he will work with PM against Iran deal
19) Livni to Obama: US Must Help Stop Iranian Terror
20) Lapid: The world sees that the US has stopped listening to Israel
21) Bennett Slams Lapid, Defends Netanyahu on Iran

From a Biblical prophetic perspective, the reason why the God of Israel would allow these events to happen is because it will result in the end of the exile of the house of Jacob and the reunification of the 12 tribes of Israel (Ephraim and Judah).

We will to be “watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem” and we will not rest until the God of Israel makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62).

Shalom in Yeshua the Messiah,

Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int’l