The first link has a brief, but important, report on Israeli military practices which are occurring to prepare for an attack against Iranian nuclear facilities if the Israelis have to “go it alone.” The report focuses on the IDF conducting long-range air strike exercises which include air-to-air refueling of its warplanes. The Greek government has cooperated with the Israelis in lending its airspace to the Israeli Air Force to conduct these exercises. It also cites Italy and Romania as having also lent airspace support to the Israelis, and that Romania had mountainous terrain similar to what the Israeli warplanes would encounter if they were actually on an attack mission over Iran.
The Greek government has become a close ally of the Israelis in recent years, as discussed in a previous post. Turkey used to be moving closer to an alliance with the Israelis, but Turkey’s current Islamist leader reversed that direction and has turned Turkey’s policies into one of hostility to the Israelis. The Greeks moved quickly into that void to become a new Israeli ally. The Greeks were likely thrilled to become allied with the dominant nuclear power in the Mediterranean/Mideast region.
In a related link concerning the Israeli security situation, the Israeli military discovered a hidden, 1.7 kilometer-long tunnel built by Hamas extending from Gaza into Israeli territory. The tunnel was built deep to avoid detection, but sensitive Israeli equipment found it. Ironically, it was built with construction materials the Israelis had allowed Hamas to import to rebuild its civilian infrastructure facilities. One wonders how many more tunnels Hamas has built into Israel that have not yet been found?
The Israelis (modern “Judah” in biblical terms) were promised that they would be given a re-born nation in the old Promised Land in the latter days (Zephaniah 2:7). This prophecy quite accurately foretold the new Judahite nation would inhabit the “coast” section of the Promised Land. The coastal portion of the Promised Land was included in the Jewish sector after the 1947 UN partition lines were drawn. This also fulfilled this prophecy. Verse 7 also specifically states that the city of Ashkelon would be in Judah’s nation in the time just before the “day of the Lord” comes upon the earth. Ashkelon is in the Israeli nation, again specifically fulfilling this prophecy. God used modern Jews to fulfill this very specific prophecy about who Judah was in the latter days. Anyone doubting that identification is urged to read my article, Four Reasons the Jews are Judah.
Zephaniah 2:8 also prophesied that Judah’s neighbor nations would be “magnifying themselves against their [Judah’s] border in the latter days. This prophecy has been continuously fulfilled ever since 1947 as Judah’s neighbor nations have waged several wars to wipe out the Israelis and seize their territory. However, the Israelis have a firm promise from the Creator God that their nation will not fall in the latter days, but will be protected and strengthened by Him (Zechariah 12:1-6). Zechariah 14 does prophesy that the city of Jerusalem will be engulfed in a war at the end of this age and that half the city will be taken into captivity in the battle. Is it at that point that the Messiah (Jesus Christ in our Christian beliefs) will return and save Judah and Jerusalem and impose Torah-based laws on the nations of the earth (Zechariah 14:16-21). Zechariah 12:8-14 prophesies that Judah will be amazed at the Messiah’s identity when he comes as the Conquering Messiah. It will one “whom they have pierced.” This prophecy very specifically foretold what happened to Jesus Christ when he was pierced on the Cross with a spear when he first came as the Suffering Messiah (John 19:32-37).
The rest of the world needs to understand that the Israelis had to fight to keep from being “wiped off the map” in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973. These wars occurred after the Nazis previously tried to kill off the Jewish race in the Holocaust of World War II. When Iran threatens to “wipe Israel off the map,” the Israelis must take this threat very seriously as other nations have tried to do exactly that to the Jews in previous decades. If the Israelis reach a critical moment where they have to make a decision on whether to allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons or attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Israelis will have no choice but to err on the side of ensuring their own survival. Hence the importance of the attack preparations of the Israeli Air Force in the airspaces of Greece, Italy and Romania.
http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/10/14/israel-tests-long-range-air-refueling-in-exercise-tied-to-iran-strike/
http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/10/15/hamas-terror-tunnel-reached-300-kilometers-into-israel/
