The Rising Tide of Radicalism in the Middle East

Although a fragile cease fire between Israel and Hamas is holding, another kind of war is raging. While Israeli’s enjoyed their high holy days, we saw attacks against the Jerusalem light rail and confrontations on the Temple Mount.

The Palestinian education system with its radical curriculum of claiming the whole of Israel as Palestine and stoking the flames of hate against Israel resulted in yet another ugly incident. A 14 year old Palestinian boy hurled a Molotov cocktail to Israeli soldiers in a week of stone throwing and damaging of properties. The boy unfortunately died after an Israeli soldier shot at the direction from where the attack originated. The incident will be investigated by the Israeli Army.

On Thursday, 16 October 2014, Khaled Mashaal called upon the Arab world from the Qatari capital of Doha to defend the Al Aqsa Mosque saying Israel was trying to seize the site, which is holy to both Judaism and Islam. Mashal accused the Israeli government of taking advantage of Arab preoccupation with regional turmoil, particularly in Syria and Iraq.

“We call on the nation to be angry and to send a message of painful anger to the world that the Palestinian people, the Arab and Muslim nation, will not be silent at the Israeli crime,” Mashaal said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied there are any moves to restrict Palestinian access to the compound and blamed Palestinian extremists for the violence.

Iran blamed Israel for a mysterious explosion which shook Tehran’s secretive Parchin military facility. Iran, which has repeatedly threatened to annihilate Israel, is behind Tuesday’s (14 October 2014) bombing by Hezbollah on Israeli troops in Har Dov, a 100-square mile area where the Syrian, Lebanese and Israeli borders meet (the Shabaa Farms region). The first of the bombs injured two Israeli soldiers on patrol in an armored vehicle.  The second did not cause damage or casualties.

In the meantime the battle against ISIS intensified. Although ISIS is still far from Israel’s borders, the security establishment keep a watchful eye on the movements of ISIS. The Knesset (Israeli Parliament) will keep the developing security situation in the Middle East in mind when deciding on the next budget.

Israel faced multiple threats before and with God’s help, they will prevail.