Thread: Israel up in arms over weapons seizure

Israel up in arms over weapons seizure


By Sami Moubayed
Asia Times
Nov 7, 2009


DAMASCUS - Ambassadors and diplomats from 44 countries, along with military attaches from 27 nations, were taken to a base in central Israel on Thursday evening to see for themselves the weapons and ammunition seized from the ship Francop in international waters off Cyprus on Wednesday.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gabriela Shalev, complained to the UN on Thursday after Israeli commandos seized the Francop, carrying tonnes of what are said to be Iranian-supplied arms, including rockets and anti-tank weapons, destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Clearly, Israel is not going to let this matter lie, and if history is any guide, it could be used as a pretext for waging another war on Hezbollah, or even a strike against Iran.

Israeli Commodore Ran Ben-Yehuda said the weapons on the Antigua-flagged Francop were found behind civilian cargo in at least 40 containers and were enough to keep Hezbollah supplied for a month of fighting. They were said to be bound from Iran to Syria, via Egypt.

The Israeli press has trumpeted the event, saying it signaled a victory against Syria, Iran and Hezbollah. Speaking from Tehran, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem said that the ship "was not carrying Iranian weapons to Syria, only cargo, nothing more". His words were firmly echoed by Hezbollah and his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki.

Hezbollah brief statement said, "Hezbollah staunchly denies any link to the weapons that the Zionist enemy has seized from the Francop ship. At the same time, Hezbollah denounces Israel's piracy in international waters."

Apart from shedding serious doubt on the safety of Mediterranean waters, the event raises several points.

Israeli officials say the ship's journey started in Iran and that it arrived a week ago in Beirut, then headed to Damietta, Egypt, where the weapons were loaded, and then sailed for the port city of Latakia in Syria. It is difficult to believe, though, that weapons for Hezbollah could be loaded in Egypt. Israel claims it discovered documents on the ship proving that the arms were made by the Iranians for Hezbollah. It has not, however, provided any evidence of these documents.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the entire event a war crime, criticizing the United Nations for failing to issue any response to the incident. "The international community should be focusing on this," he said, "but instead, the world condemns Israel and the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] and undermines our right to self defense."

Netanyahu continued, "The bulk of the shipment included rockets whose aim is to hurt our civilians and kill as many civilians as possible." He added that the shipment of arms to Hezbollah was a "blatant violation of Security Council resolutions".

Netanyahu's reference to the IDF was the UN-mandated Goldstone report, created to investigate war crimes in Gaza during the 2008-2009 Israeli war. In that report, which has aroused more than a stir since surfacing in mid-September, Israel and Hamas are accused of war crimes.

The report condemned both sides in the conflict, which killed over 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, but was more critical of Israel. The UN General Assembly on Thursday voted that Israel and the Palestinians should be urged to investigate the charges. The Arab-drafted resolution is non-binding.

Reports doing the rounds in Syria and Lebanon claim that Israel is blowing up the arms seizure to divert the world's attention from the Goldstone report. As for UN resolutions, there are at least 60 critical of Israel, ranging from unlawful attacks on neighbors to the establishment of illegal settlements.

Ultimately, the Arab street realizes that, regardless of how authentic the Israeli tale is, the Israelis could use it as a pretext either to justify an attack on Hezbollah or Iran - or to drown the Goldstone report.

In 1982, the Israelis wanted a pretext to strike at the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in Beirut. US secretary of state Alexander Haig strongly refused to back any attack unless a proper pretext was found. That was created when Palestinian militants shot and paralyzed the Israeli ambassador to London, Shlomo Argov.

The Israeli cabinet met to discuss the event and senior officials warned then-prime minister Menachem Begin that Argov's assassins were not Arafat's Fatah but a rival Palestinian faction headed by the notorious Abu Nidal. Rafael Eitan, then-chief of staff of the IDF, responded, "Abu Nidal, Abu Shmidal. They're all the same."

Twenty years later, in a January 2002 incident similar to the present arms seizure, the IDF seized in the Red Sea a Palestinian freighter, the Karine A, carrying 50 tons of weapons. Israel cried foul, accusing PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Hezbollah - another tale hard to believe, given Arafat's strained relationship with the Lebanese fighters. The Palestinian leader envied the popularity of Hezbollah, considering that they had stolen the "mantel of resistance" from him and the Palestinians.

Both groups denied the reports, and Arafat even ordered an investigation into the event - but the damage had been done. George W Bush accused Arafat of lying and used the event to sever all contacts with the PLO chairman - a boycott that lasted until Arafat's passing in November 2004.

We don't know how the Francop issue will develop or whether it will materialize into another confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel, which is something that Netanyahu has been eyeing since coming to power nine months ago, unsatisfied by the results of the war of 2006, which failed at eliminating, disarming, or even weakening, the Lebanese party.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KK07Ak01.html

http://focusonjerusalem.com/usprophecy3.html go to for the rest of the article.

If the United States still exists as an identifiable nation at this particular instant, then our nation will certainly be in that group of nations aligned against Israel when the Lord comes to fight against the nations of the world.

Why does God insist on Israel being left alone, absolutely without any help in the world?

Zechariah 12:9-10 says; And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications, and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and mourn for me, as one mourneth for his only son.

Israel will be miraculously saved from certain and eternal annihilation by Jesus when he comes back at the precise moment, or instant; that the Antichrist has finally cornered Israel into a hopeless situation. Israel will have no place to turn for help. She will have exhausted all possible assistance from any potential ally. Israel will have no hope other than Jesus Christ! Finally, at long last, Israel will realize that their Messiah is the one whom they pierced and put to death 2000 years ago. Then, and only then will Israel finally be saved!

Today, the United States is currently leading the world's efforts to corner, or isolate Israel into this tragic affiliation with the last great world empiracal leader that we call the Antichrist.