JERUSALEM-ON-THE-LINE
May 12, 2013

“Show me a sign for good, that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.” Ps 86:17

NASRALLAH: SYRIA TO SUPPLY ‘GAME CHANGING WEAPON”: Syria will supply Lebanese terror group Hizbullah with "game-changing weapons" despite air strikes reportedly aimed at cutting off the flow of arms to the Lebanese Shiite terror group, Hizbullah's leader said on Thursday. "You Israelis say your objective is to stop the capability of the resistance against Israel from growing, but Syria will provide Hizbullah with game-changing weapons it has not had before," Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech. Nasrallah spoke days after Israel reportedly carried out two air strikes near Damascus. Israel "knows that among the main sources of strength" of the region's resistance movements are "Syria and, of course, the Islamic Republic of Iran." Iran funnels arms through Syria to the Shiite movement Hizbullah. "Everyone knows how much Syria has given to the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance" against Israel, said Nasrallah. "In the whole of Arab history, no other Arab regime has given us as much as President Bashar Assad's regime has," he added. (INN)

NETANYAHU: NUCLEAR IRAN COULD DISRUPT OIL SUPPLY: PM Binyamin Netanyahu’s discussions in China shifted from the purely economic to the Middle East on Thursday, as he told China’s President Xi Jinping that a nuclear Iran would threaten the free flow of oil through the Hormuz Straits. Netanyahu chose to stress that particular danger during his meeting with Xi because of the degree to which the energy-thirsty Chinese economy is dependent on oil that travels through the narrow straits. Iran, Netanyahu said, does not only endanger regional peace and security, but also the oil flow. He warned that if the Islamic Republic without nuclear arms was willing to support terrorism and back the overthrow of governing regimes, then one could only imagine what they would do with a nuclear umbrella. There is only one thing the Iranians have not yet done, he said, that is to block the flow of oil through the Hormuz Straits. According to this logic, such a move would be more likely if Iran acquired nuclear weapons because it would be less prone to retaliation. (J.Post)

41 NATIONS LAUNCH US-LED EXERCISES IN THE PERSIAN GULF: In what may be a warning to Iran, the US Navy disclosed this week that envoys from 41 nations had gathered in Bahrain to begin anti-mine drills in the Persian Gulf. The US-led exercises, which run through May 30, mark the second major show of maritime cooperation in the Gulf in less than a year. According the Navy, the drills will begin with onshore training and then move to the Gulf for maneuvers including mine-sweeping and search-and-seizure operations. The last such exercise was held nine months ago, when Israel and Iran were just at the brink of hostilities. (Arutz-7)

ISRAEL WARNS OF RUSSIAN ARMS SALE TO SYRIA: Israel has warned the US in recent days that Russia plans to sell advanced ground-to-air missile systems to Syria despite Western pressure on Moscow to hold off on such a move. For many years the government of Syrian President Assad has been seeking to purchase from Moscow the advanced S-300 missile batteries, which can intercept both manned aircraft and guided missiles. Western nations have repeatedly urged Russia to block the sale, which they argue could complicate any international intervention in Syria's escalating civil war. The report said the information provided to Washington by Israel showed Syria has been making payments on a 2010 agreement with Moscow to buy four batteries for $900 million, including a payment made this year through Russia's foreign-development bank. (J.Post)

ASSAD: SYRIA WILL ‘GIVE HIZBULLAH EVERYTHING’: Syria will "give Hizbullah everything" in recognition of its support and will follow the terrorist group's model of "resistance" against Israel, a Lebanese newspaper on Thursday quoted President Bashar Assad as saying. His comments came during meetings with Lebanese visitors in Damascus and appeared intended to refute any suggestion that Israeli raids on Syrian targets would halt assistance to Hizbullah in Lebanon. The newspaper said Assad expressed "confidence, satisfaction and great gratitude towards Hizbullah.” The terrorist organization is a long-time ally of the Syrian regime and has sent fighters to battle alongside Assad's troops. Damascus has long served as a supply conduit for Iran-backed Hizbullah, and Assad said they would reward the group for their loyalty, "with everything." (Arutz-7) As Vision for Israel editors have been alerting intercessors for months, constant prayer is needed for the safety of Israel’s northern borders and communities. The catastrophic Syrian civil war is boiling over with increasing intensity and danger to the Jewish state. “And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, ‘What do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north.’ Then the Lord said to me: ‘Out of the calamity shall break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.’” Jer 1:13-14

THOUSANDS OF HIZBULLAH FIGHTERS IN SYRIA PROTECT SYRIAN REGIME’S ESCAPE ROUTE: The number of fighters the Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist organization has sent to the aid of Syrian President Assad in the civil war in his country has reached several thousand. Hizbullah fighters in Syria are taking an active part in the battle to secure the narrow corridor linking Damascus to the cities of Hama, Homs and Aleppo, and to the Alawite enclave in northwestern Syria. A spokesman for the rebels in Homs said Hizbullah forces carried out yet another massacre Monday near Al Qusair, in which they used knives to murder twenty people – most of them women and children who had been fleeing the battle zone. The spokesman noted that Syrian army forces and their Hizbullah collaborators are no longer carrying out arrests, but simply killing every person who falls into their hands, as part of a strategy of ethnic cleansing intended to facilitate the establishment of an Alawite state in eastern Syria. The rebels said the Syrian army and Hizbullah control the western part of Al Qusair, up to the Lebanese border, and that the regime is forcing residents of Homs and nearby villages to sell their property to Alawite and Shiite residents through intimidation and arrests. (Ha'aretz/INN)

SYRIA TURNING INTO REGIONAL PROXY WAR ZONE: Regional players are intervening more and more openly in Syria, some emboldened by the chaos created by the conflict, others desperate to prevent the fall of the regime, experts say. The conflict between President Bashar Assad's government and rebel forces has divided the Middle East, with his allies - Iran and Lebanon's Hizbullah terrorist organization lined up against Gulf states which favor the uprising. Israel has publicly refrained from backing one side or the other, but warned the turmoil must not result in the transfer of advanced weapons to arch-foe Hizbullah. Over the past week, the Jewish state has reportedly twice carried out air strikes against Syrian military sites, with senior Israeli sources saying they targeted Iranian weapons bound for the Shiite group. Israel has watched with concern, reluctant to lose a reliable enemy in Assad while increasingly worried both by the role of radical Islamists in the revolt and by the involvement of Iran and Hizbullah, its biggest regional foes. Syria expert Eyal Zisser said, however, that "Israel is actually changing the equation and saying 'From now on, I won't allow what's being going on for 20 years - the transfer of weapons to Hizbullah. I am exploiting the weakness of Bashar who really has his hands tied and who really can't do anything to Israel, and every time that I hear that Iran is transferring weapons to Hizbullah, I won't allow it. '" (Arutz-7)

PALESTINIAN OFFICIAL LONGS TO NUKE ISRAEL: In addition to leaders in the Islamic Republic, there are numbers of people in the same region - many of them holding positions of authority - who would like nothing more than to use a nuclear weapon against Israel. One such figure blatantly admitted as much in an interview with Lebanese TV last week. "I swear that if we had a nuke, we'd have used it this very morning," said Jibril Rajoub, Deputy Secretary of the Fatah Central Committee and Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Olympic Committee. Rajoub explained the PA only continues to play this "negotiating game" with Israel because it currently lacks the military strength to defeat the Jewish state. This revelation validates one of Israel's chief concerns in the peace process - that in the absence of actually being educated for peace and coexistence, the inhabitants of an independent Palestinian state will, as a first order of business, work toward acquiring the military means to engage in renewed warfare against Israel. (Israel Today) A society, whose leaders persist in perpetrating hatred and lies against the Jewish state, can never be considered a peace partner with whom Israel can reasonably negotiate! PA run-schools and their textbooks continue to teach children to abhor the Jewish state and to promote its destruction. Terrorists who have murdered and maimed Israelis, including babies and children, are openly glorified as “heroes.” Intercede that changes will come from within the Palestinian society that result in softened hearts, educational and media shifts, and a true desire for good relations. Until such transformations occur there is not a glimmer of hope for peace.

LAPID: I WON’T GIVE AWAY MONEY I DON’T HAVE: Israel’s Finance Minister Yair Lapid proposed a plan this week which includes significant budget cuts and tax increases, and which has been met with anger among Israelis. "People are angry and I cannot argue with that," he said. "I'd rather stand here and hand out some candy, but that's exactly what caused the deficit. There are no miracles when it comes to these things." Lapid emphasized, "I am not prepared to reach a situation like in Greece, when everything collapsed. Those who are protesting today say ‘That cannot happen here’, but it can happen if we do not do anything, and it will not happen on my watch." The plan introduced Tuesday includes a 1.5% increase in income tax, a 1% increase in the VAT, to 18%, and a reduction of monthly child payments. The government will also end its subsidies for afternoon care for children aged 9, and will reduce its subsidy for dental care for children. Housewives will be required to pay health tax and national insurance institute payments. (Arutz-7) As Israel grapples to deal with national budget issues, pray G-d’s mercy and provision will meet the needs of so many individuals and families already struggling with or on the brink of poverty.

Blessings from Jerusalem,

Barry Segal with the Editorial Staff 

As international speakers and messengers of the Good News through music, Barry and Batya Segal are at the forefront of what God is doing in the present day nation of Israel. With strong ties in both the nations and Jerusalem, the Segals are weaving the deepest roots of our biblical heritage together with the fresh Spirit-filled worship of today to create their rich harmony of Scripture and song.

The Segals have a vast vision for God's purposes in the nations and to the people of Israel. In fact, their longing to help rebuild Israel both spiritually and physically inspired them to pioneer the non-profit charity organization, Vision for Israel and The Joseph Storehouse. This arm of their ministry focuses on assisting the poor and needy, widows and orphans, and reaching out to the new Jewish immigrants coming into the land of Israel. Vision 's most challenging project to date is "The Joseph Storehouse®", humanitarian aid center, located in the hills of Jerusalem. The Joseph Storehouse functions as a channel of blessing to all of Israel, Jewish and Arab, through the gathering and distribution of emergency medical supplies, food, clothing, and other basic life necessities. USA office contact info: Vision for Israel, PO Box 7743, Charlotte NC 28241, 866-351-0075. The Segal's web site is http://www.visionforisrael.com/

Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.