April, thanks for posting.  This guy sounds very sensible.

earlier, April Reisinger, wrote:
>DDolan.com - Israel Update
>
>images/logo
>
>news from israel
>
>Subscribe Now! for regular email updates
>
>Monday, July 17, 2006
>
>Bookstore
>David's Schedule
>All Updates
>David Dolan
>
>Search updates:
>
>search
>
>MIDEAST CRISIS
>
>Jerusalem . 7/16/2006
>
>Israeli officials have today declared an 
>official state of emergency in northern Israel, 
>giving them the ability to order closed all businesses, public
>institutions and schools.  This comes as 
>thousands of stricken residents continue to flee 
>the Galilee region for hopefully safer areas in the middle of
>the country. This follows today's unprecedented 
>Hizbullah rocket attacks upon strategic targets 
>located along Haifa Bay, which significantly increases
>the chances that the region will erupt into a 
>much larger conflict, as I will explain below.
>
>Late reports say residents in the Tel Aviv area 
>are being warned to prepare for possible rocket 
>assaults upon Israel's largest urban center following Hizbullah
>threats today to launch a "full war" upon 
>Israel.  Such longer-range Hizbullah missiles 
>are believed to be directly controlled and manned by Iranian Revolutionary
>Guards who have been stationed for many years 
>with Hizbullah forces in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.
>
>FULLSCALE MIDEAST WAR?
>
>When I sent out my technically-delayed monthly 
>news update a few days after an Israeli soldier 
>was kidnapped on June 25th during an audacious Hamas attack
>on an army outpost next to the Gaza Strip, I 
>mentioned that, "Since the orders to Hamas are 
>believed to be coming via Damascus from Iran, the potential
>for another major Middle East war is growing 
>every day."  This of course is doubly the case 
>concerning the unprovoked Hizbullah ground and rocket attack
>inside of Israel last Wednesday which left seven 
>Israeli soldiers dead and two taken captive 
>alive into Lebanon. This is due to the undisputed fact that
>the powerful Lebanese paramilitary force was 
>founded (when I was working in Lebanon in the 
>early 1980's) by Iran, and is largely funded and commanded by
>the world's largest and most dangerous Islamic 
>fundamentalist state, assisted by 
>Syria.  (International media reports I've seen in recent days saying this
>is merely "an Israeli claim" are laughable, 
>given that Hizbullah leader Sheik Nasrallah has 
>been publicly feted in Tehran many times, as has Damascus-based
>Hamas leader Mashaal).
>
>During my latest speaking tour, I spelled out 
>the five main strategic issues that I felt the 
>new Olmert government would have to deal with in the immediate
>future.  Among them was the Hamas takeover of 
>the Palestinian Authority government and the 
>serious Hizbullah threat along Israel's northern border. I
>noted that the Hizbullah threat-and indeed the 
>growing Hamas militancy-was directly connected 
>to Iran's nuclear program and its leader's repeated vows
>(not threats, but pledges) since last December 
>to wipe Israel off of the Middle East map.  So 
>in effect, Israel is already at war with Iran and Syria,
>although the conflict is still at this stage 
>being fought against their proxy Lebanese and Palestinian forces.
>
>HAIFA ATTACKS
>
>Today's rocket attacks upon Haifa are the most 
>serious to date for several reasons.  First of 
>all is that fact that they produced the largest number of
>Israeli civilian casualties in any single rocket 
>barrage since the 1967 war (at latest count 
>eight are dead and around 20 wounded, several seriously).
>The victims were all working at a railway repair 
>garage located along Haifa Bay.  Even Saddam's 
>powerful Scud missile attacks in 1991 did not produce
>such a deadly outcome.  Secondly is the 
>indication that new Iranian-produced Raad 2 and 
>3 rockets, probably manned by Iranians themselves, hit Israeli
>soil for the first time.
>
>But the most serious aspect of today's attack is 
>the fact that it was directed at an area 
>containing Israel's largest sea port, fuel depots, oil refineries,
>and seaborne oil tankers.  More than that, 
>Israel's main petrochemical plant, originally 
>built under British rule in the 1930's, is located along the Bay.
>Hizbullah said in a statement today that it 
>deliberately avoided hitting that plant, but 
>would do so if Israeli Air Force strikes continue upon Hizbullah
>strongholds in southern Beirut.
>
>As many of you personally know, I have spoken of 
>this potentially disastrous situation to 
>audiences around the world since 2003.  When I interviewed the
>mayor of Haifa in March 2003 during the funeral 
>of an American Christian teenager killed in a 
>terrorist bus bombing, he told me Israeli government officials
>were not so concerned over the prospect that 
>Saddam would hit Israel with chemical weapons 
>during the then-pending US-British attack upon the Iraqi Baathist
>regime.  Instead, he said they feared a massive 
>Iranian-backed Hizbullah rocket blitz upon Haifa 
>Bay's chemical plants, which he told me could potentially
>produce thousands of casualties if deadly 
>poisons were released upon Israel's third 
>largest urban area.  Although Hizbullah claims it deliberately avoided
>hitting those targets today, analysts say they 
>came far too close for comfort.  Any such strike 
>that released deadly poisons would produce severe consequences
>for sure.
>
>PROPHERTIC POSSIBILITIES
>
>Several have written in recent days to ask my 
>opinion on the possible prophetic implications 
>of the escalating crisis.  It is clear to all that the fighting
>in Lebanon could easily mushroom into a direct 
>Israel-Syria conflict, since the police state 
>regime in Damascus actively supports and arms Hizbullah and
>has close ties to radical Iran.  Just today 
>Syrian officials stated that they would attack 
>Israel if IDF jets strike any targets inside Syria.
>
>Iranian leaders say they will back Syria to the 
>hilt if such a conflict erupts.  While there 
>were always questions as to Saddam's chemical weapons capabilities
>before the Iraqi war began in early 2003, there 
>is no question that Syria possesses huge 
>quantities of deadly VX nerve gas and a significant arsenal of
>Soviet-produced strategic missiles, including 
>multiple SS-21 warheads capable of delivering 
>the deadly gas to all portions of Israel.  The use of such
>weapons against Israeli civilian centers would 
>spark an Israeli non-conventional 
>response-probably a nuclear one-as Israeli leaders have long made clear.
>
>Thus, we could be on the verge of the 
>fulfillment of a prophecy I have publicly spoken 
>about since the mid-1980s, found in Isaiah 17.  It details a future
>complete destruction of the city of Damascus and 
>also great suffering in Israel, indicating an 
>Israel-Syria conflict is being foretold.  As many of you
>know, this is the opening scenario in my end 
>time novel, THE END OF DAYS (beginning with 
>Hizbullah strikes upon northern Israel), and is also detailed
>in my 2002 book ISRAEL IN CRISIS.
>
>GOG AND MAGOG?
>
>Some Christian and Jewish subscribers to my 
>updates have suggested to me that we might 
>instead be on the verge of the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38 and 39,
>which describe a massive attempted invasion of 
>Israel led by a great power to the "far north" 
>of Israel, assisted by Persia (modern Iran) and other regional
>countries.  I detailed in both books why I 
>believe that will only occur towards the very 
>end of the prophesied final climax of history known as the time
>of Jacob's Troubles, or the Tribulation.  I 
>think Iran's prophesied inclusion in that 
>massive assault-which Ezekiel says will end with God's miraculous
>intervention and Israel's full salvation-may 
>well be a result of something that could occur 
>at this very period of time; either the destruction of Damascus
>alone, or that along with an Israeli military 
>assault upon Iran's nuclear facilities.
>
>Obviously nobody but the Sovereign Lord knows 
>for sure when these prophecies will be 
>fulfilled, and so I remain very cautious about specific speculations.
>But it is clear to me and many others that all 
>the ingredients for the fulfillment of Isaiah's 
>prophecy at least are now in active play.  Whether world
>powers outside the region will once again 
>intervene and bring about a halt to the 
>escalating conflict or not remains to be seen.  But it is quite evident
>that terror-weary Israeli leaders are determined 
>to deal with the huge and ongoing Hizbullah 
>threat once and for all at this time, and probably with the
>Hamas organization as well. This is bolstered by 
>the fact that world opinion concerning such 
>radical Muslim groups has significantly hardened since the
>9/11 Al Qaida attacks upon America, followed by 
>the Bali, Madrid, and London assaults, along 
>with the horrendous Chechen Muslim school attack in Russia
>and the recent carnage in India.
>
>Indeed, for all of the supposed ferocity of 
>Israel's assault upon targets in Lebanon over 
>the past five days, the civilian casualty tool is still less than
>half those killed last week during the atrocious 
>terrorist attacks in Bombay.  On top of that, 
>Israel does not deliberately target civilian targets, unlike
>its terrorist enemies.  Still, I know many folks 
>in Lebanon from my days working there, and am 
>sorry for their current renewed suffering, as I am for those
>in the north of Israel where I lived (and slept 
>in bomb shelters) for over three years.  Prayer 
>for all those concerned, and for regional leaders, is obviously
>urgently needed.
>
>Speaking of prayer, I found myself breaking into 
>deep tears during periods of prayer and 
>intercession during my recent vacation.  At first, I did not fully
>understand why this was occurring, but then it 
>began to dawn on me that we were probably on the 
>verge of a major crisis, involving significant loss of
>life, when I first heard radio reports of the 
>Hamas assault next to the Gaza Strip.
>
>I will send out more updates as the situation 
>warrants, and will be doing my regular weekly 
>radio news updates over the Moody Broadcasting Network beginning
>this Monday, and probably frequently after that 
>if the situation continues to deteriorate.  If 
>no Moody stations or affiliates are located in your area,
>you can listen live on line between 5:00 and 
>6:30 EST in North America, which is 2:00 and 
>3:30 PM in the west and 21:00 to 22:30 GMT, via links on this
>web address:
>www.mbn.org
>Thanks for your prayers and concern at this critical juncture in His Story.
>
>DAVID DOLAN is a Jerusalem-based author and 
>journalist who has lived and worked in Israel since 1980.
>
>List of 2 items
>. HOLY WAR FOR THE PROMISED LAND
>(Broadman & Holman), his latest book, is an 
>overview of the history of the Israel and of the 
>bitter Arab-Israeli conflict that rages there, plus some autobiographical
>details about the author's experiences living in 
>the land since 1980. It especially examines the 
>important role that militant Islam plays in the conflict.
>. ISRAEL IN CRISIS: WHAT LIES AHEAD?
>(Baker/Revell), which examines the political and 
>biblical prospects for a regional attack upon 
>Israel, settlement in the disputed territories, and related
>topics, is also available for purchase, along 
>with an updated edition of his popular end-time 
>novel, THE END OF DAYS (21st Century Press).
>list end
>
>You may order these books at a special discount 
>price by visiting his web site at
>www.ddolan.com,
>or by phoning toll free 888-890-6938 in North America, or by e mail at:
>[log in to unmask]
>
>DOLAN'S NEW DVD, "FOR ZION'S SAKE" is now 
>available for purchase.  Click the title under "BOOKSTORE" for more details.
>
>TO RECEIVE THESE FREE ISRAEL UPDATES DIRECTLY, 
>FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS BELOW. YOU WILL ONLY 
>RECEIVE DAVID DOLAN'S UPDATE AND ANALYSIS INFORMATION FROM THIS
>ADDRESS. THE LIST WILL NOT BE TRADED OR SOLD.
>
>TO SUBSCRIBE, go to:
>http://www.ddolan.com/subscribe.asp
>
>2004© DDolan.com. All rights reserved.
>
>Site development & hosting:
>www.brentriggs.com
>www.brentriggs
>
>Skype Name:  april_r
>MSN: No e-mail please:  [log in to unmask]
>AIM: No e-mail please:  [log in to unmask]
>Yahoo Messenger No e-mail please:  [log in to unmask]
>"God is still on the throne!"
>April and Miss Flurrie
>

John