You may view the 5 minute update this week via audio:
In this week’s 5 minute update, we focused on:
1) The current status of the Israel / PLO peace process
2) The prospects for war with Syria and Iran
3) The prospects for a banking and political union in the Eurozone and the Fed starts QE3.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has urged its 57 member countries to lend its full support to encourage the UN General Assembly to recognize a PLO state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Right now over 130 countries around the world recognize a PLO state.
An agreement to divide Jerusalem and establish a PLO state is a tribulation event.
The link to these articles are as follows:
1) OIC shoring up support for Palestine upgrade bid at UN
According to Middle East officials, the Obama administration expressed willingness to negotiate with Russia over providing European countries with a missile defense shield if Russians would no longer support the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
A war with Syria where Damascus is destroyed (Isaiah 17) is a tribulation event.
The link to these articles is as follows:
1) Obama offers ‘flexibility’ to Russia
The US and Israel are engaged in a high profile public disagreement regarding the policy of setting “red lines” over the Iranian nuclear program which would trigger military action against Iran. Last week, Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that sanctions aren’t slowing Iran’s nuclear advances “because it doesn’t see a clear red line from the international community.” In response to these charges, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said that the US is “not setting deadlines” for Iran and still considers negotiations as “by far the best approach” to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Since April, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the US, the UK, France, China and Russia – plus Germany, have engaged in three rounds of diplomacy with Iran. Even with pressure from an array of new US and EU sanctions on energy, trade, banking and shipping, the talks have failed so far to persuade Iran to suspend aspects of its nuclear program.
Asked if the Obama administration will lay out sharper “red lines” for Iran or state explicitly the consequences of failing to negotiate a deal with world powers by a certain date, Clinton said, “We’re not setting deadlines.” While the US and Israel share the goal that Iran not acquire a nuclear weapon, Clinton said there is a difference in perspective over the time horizon for talks.
Meanwhile, in reaction to the Clinton comments, an Israeli official said, “These sorts of statements will not stop Iran’s centrifuges from spinning, unfortunately the opposite could be true. This won’t deter Iran but could put it at ease.”
The US State Department said setting red lines on the Iranian nuclear program “is not useful”. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said: “If Iran decides to make a nuclear weapon, the United States would have a little more than a year to act to stop it. The United States has “pretty good intelligence” on Iran. “We know generally what they’re up to. And so we keep a close track on them.” US President Barack Obama decided to phone Netanyahu over the issue. In their converstation, Obama rejected an appeal by Netanyahu to make the size of Iran’s stockpile of close-to-bomb-grade uranium the threshold. Obama told Netanyahu that the US has a “red line” and it is Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.
After the phone conversation, Netanyahu replied: “We are facing great challenges. As Prime Minister of Israel, it is my duty to uphold the vital interests of the State of Israel, to ensure its security and its future. The greatest interest today is to prevent Iran from continuing on its clear steps to achieving nuclear weapons, this from a country that calls for our destruction and intends to achieve its goal.” Netanyahu said he would uphold those interests, even if not easy, “because leadership is tested in upholding them even if there are disagreements with friends, even the best of friends. This is what I have done and this is what I will continue to do for the State of Israel and the security of its citizens.”
After making these comments, the next day, Netanyahu said: “The world tells Israel ‘wait, there’s still time’. And I say, ‘Wait for what? Wait until when?’ Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don’t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel. Now if Iran knows that there is no red line. If Iran knows that there is no deadline, what will it do? Exactly what it’s doing. It’s continuing, without any interference, towards obtaining nuclear weapons capability and from there, nuclear bombs,” he said.
In angry response to Netanyahu’s insistence that the US set a “red lines” for the Iranian nuclear program, Obama refused a request by Netanyahu to meet him when Netanyahu arrives in the US at the end of September to give a speech at the UN General Assembly saying that he had no time for a meeting.
Israel had been in conversation with the US regarding finding common ground regarding their policy toward Iran. However with the refusal to meet Netanyahu when he comes to the US, talks between Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta collapsed. They had aimed at an agreement to bridge their differences over an attack on Iran’s nuclear program.
A Jewish US Senator from the state of Connecticut, Joseph Lieberman, disagreed with the policy of the Obama administration by saying, “I hope he can find a way to really spell out with just a little more detail” what the US is willing to do to prevent Iran from become a nuclear power. He said he wanted Obama to “take it beyond that just all options are on the table, including military force” when it comes to US intentions on the subject. If Iran leaves the world no choice between accepting an Iranian bomb or attacking Tehran’s nuclear facilities, the US should lead an international consortium in striking Iran.
However, another Jewish US Senator from the state of California, Barbara Boxer wrote a letter to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing him of trying to interfere with the US election by opposing Obama. She also reprimanded Netanyahu and expressed her “deep disappointment over your remarks that call into question the US support for Israel.” She went on to describe them as “utterly contrary to the extraordinary United States- Israel alliance.” Netanyahu responded to these allegations by saying they were “completely groundless.” Netanyahu said: “It has nothing to do with the American elections, because the Iranian nuclear program doesn’t care about the American political calendar. If the centrifuges stop miraculously, if they stop preparing enriched uranium to make atomic bombs then I suppose I wouldn’t have to speak out. But the Iranian nuclear program proceeds unabated and they don’t care about the internal American political calendar. For me this is a policy issue, a security issue, and not a political issue,” he said.
Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney was asked by reporter George Stephanopoulos in a TV interview with the US television network, ABC, if his “red lines” were the same as Obama regarding Iran. Romney said, “Yes. My red line is Iran may not have a nuclear weapon,” Romney explained. “Iran as a nuclear nation is unacceptable to the United States of America.”
In an effort to try to persuade Netanyahu to NOT attack Iran if it crosses Israel’s “red lines”, representatives from Britain, France and Germany had conversations with the Israeli government. Sir John Sawyers, the head of England’s MI6 intelligence agency, traveled to Israel to speak with Netanyahu. Then, France’s president called Netanyahu and stressed to him that “a diplomatic solution must be found.” In addition, Germany’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle told Netanyahu that Germany is also opposed to a unilateral Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. Finally, the United States and its Western allies have persuaded Russia and China to support a resolution critical of Iran’s nuclear defiance, in the hope of showing Israel that diplomacy is an alternative to military force against Iran’s nuclear program. With fears growing over the possibility of Israeli military attack and other diplomatic efforts on Iran deadlocked, the document is significant in seeking to show a unity among world-powers in opposing an Israeli attack against Iran’s nuclear program.
The link to these articles is as follows:
1) Clinton: US ‘not setting deadlines’ for Iran
2) Official: Clinton’s comments may put Iran at ease
3) Lieberman to ‘Post’: Obama should define how to stop Iran
4) US: Setting red lines for Iran is not useful
5) Panetta: US has a year if Iran decides on a nuke
6) US official: Nuclear bomb is our red line
7) PM to continue pressing for red lines on Iran
8.) PM: World powers have no moral right to block us
9) US: No time for Obama-Netanyahu meeting
10) By refusing to see Netanyahu, Obama sharpens his Iran dilemma
11) Senator slams Netanyahu for interfering in US election
12) Netanyahu: I am not interfering in US presidential election
13) Romney says his ‘red line’ on Iran is the same as Obama’s
14) MI6 chief was British messenger sent to dissuade Israel from Iran strike
15) Hollande: Diplomatic solution needed for Iran crisis
16) German FM to Netanyahu: Israeli strike on Iran nuclear sites could fracture international coalition
17) Russia, China agree to back IAEA resolution critical of Iran
The Federal Reserve announced an open ended policy whereby they plan to purchase $40 billion of mortgage debt a month in a third round of quantitative easing. Quantitative easing (QE) is an unconventional monetary policy used by central banks to stimulate the national economy when conventional monetary policy has become ineffective. A central bank implements quantitative easing by buying financial assets from commercial banks and other private institutions with newly created money in order to inject a pre-determined quantity of money into the economy. Quantitative easing increases the excess reserves of the banks. In doing this, the U.S. money supply is expanded when the Fed electronically credits banks with more funds. A mortgage-backed security (MBS) is an asset-backed security that represents a claim on the cash flows from mortgage loans through a process known as securitization. In the United States, the most common securitization trusts are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, U.S. government-sponsored enterprises.
Pastor Lindsey Williams mentioned in talking with his retired oil executive elitist friend that on September 6, China announced that they will permit oil to be traded using the Chinese currency, the yuan. Since WWII, oil has been traded primarily with US dollars. As a result, the US dollar has been seen and used as the world’s reserve currency. This process will weaken the value and use of the US dollar in the world. As a result, Pastor Lindsey Williams said that with the Chinese announcement on September 6 and the trend of more countries to engage in bi-lateral trade, the US dollar has now essentially died. It will take about 6 to 9 months for the average person to realize the impact that these things will have on the purchasing power of the US dollar.
On 2 March 2012, the heads of state or government of all EU member states with the exception of the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic signed a Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance (TSCG) in the Economic and Monetary Union. This Treaty aims at safeguarding the stability of the euro area as a whole. The TSCG will enter into force after it has been ratified by 12 euro area member states, and it will be open to the accession of EU member states other than the contracting Parties. The target date for entry into force is 1 January 2013.The aim is to incorporate the TSCG’s substance into EU law within five years of its entry into force.
There was a challenge submitted to the German court system regarding the legality of Germany’s involvement in their participation in the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund. The German Supreme Court ruled that it can ratify the ESM. With the German ruling, the 17 countries of the euro zone will be able to move ahead with the establishment of the European Stability Mechanism, something like a continental version of the International Monetary Fund. The mechanism will handle bailouts and work in tandem with the European Central Bank to buy the bonds of countries like Italy and Spain that are straining under high interest rates. Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the Eurogroup, following the decision of the German Constitutional Court in favor of the European Stability Mechanism announced the inaugural meeting of the ESM-Board of Governors in Luxembourg on October 8.
The technocrats who run the EU ultimately want a banking, economic and political union. In a speech to the European Parliament, the head of the bloc’s executive, President Jose Manuel Barroso, said … “Let’s not be afraid of the words: We will need to move towards a federation of nation states. This is our political horizon. This is what must guide our work in the years to come” he said.
Worldwide economic collapse resulting in a one world government with one-world currency is a tribulation event.
The link to these articles are as follows:
1) Fed Undertakes QE3 With $40 Billion Monthly MBS Purchases
2) Federal Reserve launches QE3
3) Mortgage-backed security
4) Quantitative easing
5) Lindsey Williams: The Dollar died on Sept 6, 2012
6) Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance signed
7) German Court Backs EU Rescue Fund With Liability Cap
8) In Victory for Merkel, German Court Backs Euro Rescue Fund
9) EU Juncker: To Convene First Meeting Of ESM Governors Oct. 8
10) Europe must become ‘federation of states’, Barroso says
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