There were three security attacks against Israel this past week: one from Egypt, one from Gaza, and one from Lebanon. The one from Lebanon was the most serious.

There is an electronic surveillance fence on the northern tip of the "Galilee finger" on the Lebanese border. The attack took place along this fence. Colonel Ilan Dickstein, the commander on the scene, gave the following report to Yediot newspaper (excerpt from N. Barnea, Musaf Shabbat, 6-8-10):

"The fence must be maintained. Trees that touch it will interfere with the surveillance equipment. Another problem is that enemy soldiers could climb up on those trees. On Tuesday morning, we notified the United Nations forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) that we were planning to trim the trees. Our forces were ready at 9:00 AM. UNIFIL troops asked us to delay so they could deploy. We agreed to their request. We pulled our troops out and returned at 11:30 AM to start the trimming work.

We coordinate our actions with "J,” the UNIFIL communications officer. We receive his agreement and authorization. At a certain stage he asked for us to wait a moment. He telephoned to his supervisor and received the final authorization… We went down to the wooded area… We lifted up the tree trimming cage on the crane.

When the cage went up they opened fire with automatic rifles on our soldiers. We staged an orderly retreat immediately. Some of our troops were wounded. Snipers also opened fire on our forward command station. Colonel Harari was shot in the cheek bone under the eye, and collapsed next to me. The platoon leader, Captain Ezra Lakiya, was shot in the chest. We removed them by ambulance.

I gave the order to return fire. Part of our fire was purposely aimed off in the wrong direction because there was a mixture of Lebanese soldiers, UNIFIL soldiers and citizens. Had we shot at them, dozens would have been needlessly killed."

Then General Eizencott arrived and gave order to fire at the Lebanese army command post on the hill behind them. From that attack, four Lebanese soldiers and one citizen were killed. Later that day, Israeli Colonel Harari died from the gunshot wound; Captain Lakiya is still hospitalized.

In 2006 Israel inflicted heavy losses on Hizballah in Lebanon. The international community demanded a cease fire. Israel pulled all of its forces back under the agreement that an international force would keep the peace in southern Lebanon and prevent re-armament of the area.

Approximately 13,000 (!) U. N. troops are now stationed in southern Lebanon. Yet since the cease fire, there has been a massive build up of weapons by Hizballah and the Lebanese army, an estimated 40,000 (!) rockets, all aimed at Israel. This recent attack is serious because it was a direct attack across international lines, in violation of the cease fire agreement, and in violation of the coordination efforts with UNIFIL.

Hizballah forces in Lebanon are being armed and supplied by Iran. One Israeli general recently stated, "The problem is that Israel is located 1,500 kilometers from Iran, but because of Gaza and Lebanon, Iran is located just 50 meters from Israel.

On Sunday, a "Grad" missile, shot from Gaza landed near the Sapir College in Ashkelon. In all 6-7 rockets were fired at Israel. No one was injured. The Hamas "military wing" (terrorists) under Ahmed J'abbar, was responsible for the attack. The Israeli Air Force retaliated against Hamas armed forces in Gaza so that it was clear that Israel will not accept such attacks (A. Fishman, Yediot, Musaf Shabbat, 6-8-10).

On Monday a volley of "Grad" missiles was shot by Hamas militants acting in Egyptian territory in the Sinai. The missiles were aimed at the Israeli tourist city of Eilat but over-shot the target and landed in the nearby Jordanian city of Akaba. One was killed and four injured, all Jordanians.

This week a significant coverage of Messianic Jews in the Israeli media is scheduled. Please pray for this unprecedented opportunity, that the material will be reported honestly and that there will be favorable responses from the viewers. We are praying for a breakthrough such that Messianic Jews will be seen from this time forward as a legitimate (even if controversial) stream within the landscape of Israeli life and Judaism, and this way a spiritual door will be open for the good news of salvation for our people. Pray for "A," "S," and "Y," the Israeli media reporters covering the story, to be touched by the love of Yeshua as well.

New Immersion

Pray for "D," a precious new Israeli believer who was immersed this week. We believe he has a special calling on his life. He is beginning a period of discipleship with us. Pray for solid growth in the fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Temple Mount Incident

A week ago, Israel police staged a major training exercise in the Ben Shemen national park. Hundreds of soldiers took part in the exercise to prepare against various possible outbreaks of rioting on the Temple Mount. For the training procedure a small replica of the Al Aksa mosque was built. An unknown photographer managed to film part of the simulation exercise and sent copies to various Islamic extremist internet sites. Hamas and Hizballah exploited the pictures to claim that Israel was planning a "take-over" of the Temple Mount. Israeli police were somewhat embarrassed by the exposure (I. Fleishman, Y. Yerhusalayim, 6-8-10).

Clinton - Mezvinsky Wedding

One joke going around Israel this week said that Hillary intervened in the wedding, demanding that at the breaking of the glass at the end of the ceremony, the groom say, "If I forget thee, O West Jerusalem, let my right hand its cunning lose" – Psalm 137:5 (Yediot, Epes, 6-8-10).

Mazel tov to the new couple!

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