Netanyahu Disappears for 10 Hours Amid Rumors of Meeting with Russia's Putin in Moscow

By Chris Schang

In an article from the Jerusalem Post it was reported that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu went "missing" for 10 hours on Monday. Speculation was ripe that he had gone to some undisclosed country for possible peace talks. The Jerusalem Post reported:

Rumors swirled Monday afternoon that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had gone abroad, to an unnamed country, for a few hours of intensive talks.

Throughout the day the Prime Minister's Office, when asked about Netanyahu's whereabouts, said only that he was on a tour.

After hours of speculation, and numerous inquiring phone calls, the PMO finally released the following laconic statement Monday evening: "The Prime Minister's military attaché reports that the prime minister is visiting a security installation inside Israel."

Netanyahu was accompanied to the installation by National Security Adviser Uzi Arad and the military attaché, Meir Kalifi.

Netanyahu's tour lasted for more than 10 hours.

This was the official line as of Monday evening, yet today (Wednesday) it is being reported that Netanyahu may have secretly taken a private jet and visited with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. This development is very interesting to say the least especially since the reports came out that the Mossad had possibly intercepted a Russian ship that supposedly had arms or missiles that were headed for Iran. The Jerusalem Post is reporting today:

The reason for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's mysterious 10-hour disappearance from the media radar on Monday was a clandestine trip to Russia, according to a report Wednesday by the Hebrew language daily Yediot Aharonot.

Israel Radio reported that Netanyahu leased a private jet since he knew using an Israel Air Force jet would raise the suspicions of the Israeli media.

The Russians for their part denied knowing anything about a visit by Israeli PM Netanyahu. However, it was reported that Netanyahu was on "tour" with National Security Adviser Uzi Arad and the military attaché, Meir Kalifi. This whole situation has me wondering what Netanyahu was doing in Moscow if he was indeed there? My initial reaction is that it must have been a pretty serious situation in order for the Israeli PM to leave the country unannounced and with no details on his whereabouts for the entire day. This situation leads one to ask whether there could be a major conflict brewing between Russia and Israel over the recent "hijacking" of the Russian ship? I'm not sure what to think at this time but perhaps over the next few days we will be given more clues on this interesting yet strange development.

As Bible prophecy watchers know the prophet Ezekiel foretold of an end times conflict between Russia and Israel. This conflict is detailed in Ezekiel 38-39. One of the questions that I would like to have answered is whether or not there could be a serious "crisis" forming between Russia and Israel? It seems to me with the discovery of natural gas off the coast of Israel, the recent situation with the hijacked Russian ship, Israel's involvement in the Russia/Georgia conflict, etc. that there seem to be more than a few flashpoints between Russia and Israel. I guess only time will tell what becomes of this situation.

In other news, the US warned that Iran is nearing atomic bomb capability. This is certainly no surprise as the international community has wasted the last 5 years playing "political chess" with the Iranians and have now found themselves in what IAEA chief ElBaradei called a "stalemate". This stalemate and "Nevile Chamberlain" type diplomacy has brought the world to a serious point in history where one - if not the largest - state sponsor of terrorism will have achieved their goals and ambitions of a nuclear bomb. The Jerusalem Post reports:

The United States warned Wednesday that Iran is close to having the capabilities to produce a nuclear weapon and urged Teheran to join in fresh talks with key allies about its disputed intentions.

Glyn Davies, Washington's chief envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the latest report by the nuclear watchdog shows that Teheran is either very near or already in possession of sufficient low-enriched uranium to produce one nuclear weapon, if the decision were made to further enrich it to weapons-grade.

Davies went on to further state:

"This ongoing enrichment activity...moves Iran closer to a dangerous and destabilizing possible breakout capacity," Davies told the agency's 35-nation board of governors.

"Taken in connection with Iran's refusal to engage with the IAEA regarding its past nuclear warhead-related work, we have serious concerns that Iran is deliberately attempting, at a minimum, to preserve a nuclear weapons option," Davies said.

The international community, including the US, has given Iran until the end of September to respond positively to talks and place a suspension on their nuclear enrichment program. Yet in other news articles Iran has consistently denied any possible suspension of their nuclear program and refuses to provide transparency or cooperation to the IAEA into their nuclear program. I believe that we have seriously entered into a position where the only thing that will stop Iran from reaching their nuclear goals and ambitions is for a military strike to be made that at the very least delays the program for years. And the way things are right now in the world, the only country with a serious mind to doing that is Israel. Israel simply can't afford to allow Iran to go nuclear. The dream and reality of the Jewish state will be in serious jeopardy if the Iranians acquire nuclear weapons.

To that end, let us continue to watch the situation in the Middle East as things appear to be reaching a critical point where the world must either accept a nuclear Iran or make the military move to stop them from becoming a nuclear power and threat to the whole world. Let us pray that somehow Iran's nuclear program is stopped and the threat of nuclear proliferation to terrorist organizations and state sponsors of terrorism is avoided. In the meantime, we need to keep looking up, for our redemption is drawing nigh!!

God bless.

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