Hi everybody, this is Jimmy DeYoung Jr. and along with my brother Rick, we examine current events in the light of God's prophetic word. The entire Middle East is now watching Israel's battle against Hamas. Gaza terrorists launched a deadly assault, combining heavy rocket fire and deep raids, to slaughter and abduct hundreds of Israeli civilians and soldiers. The IDF's response to this carnage will determine how Israel's enemies and allies view it for the next decade. But how did we get to this point and what's next? Rick, today we bring Israel Madad, our friend, broadcast partner on our program for many years. He understands the Middle East. He's a student of everything from 1917 on as far as the Balfour Declaration, the British being in charge of the land of where Israel has today, and he understands all the previous wars and incursions that Israel's had with terrorist organizations. And Rick, I think it would be good for us to talk with Israel Madad on today's update. Well, that's right, Jimmy. We do have Winky Madad with us on this special report as we look at the attacks that are taking place in Israel, this heartbreaking scenes that are playing out all over the country of Israel. Winky, thank you so much for taking the time to join us today to talk about this. Thank you again for having me on. Well, as I mentioned, the shocking events, it's something that we not necessarily could have anticipated, but if you could, before I have a few specific questions I'd like to ask you, but if you could, your thoughts on this whole event, what happened, how it happened, and maybe just an update, especially for you living there in Judea and Samaria, if you could just give us an update on what it's like to be there right now. Well, I'm sure your audience appreciates the fact that it's tense. We're very much concerned. This is probably the first time in decades, if not since 1948, that a relatively successful assault has been made against a civilian population in such a broad fashion. As you know, I study Zionist history, the history of the British mandate between 1917 and 1948. And I'm well aware of attacks on Hebron, on Safed, Jerusalem and other places, and you probably are too. But luckily for the past 75 years or so, besides the casualties caused by missiles, that the civilian population has been basically safe except for the ongoing terror, but not on a mass attack. And this, of course, is very not only unnerving and very painful, but it, of course, points to the fact that, especially what I've been saying on your program and with your late father for many, many years, that people in the West just don't simply understand the mindset of the terrorist groups that are facing us. And now we've seen it. Grandmothers. Children. probably close to over 200 people who were shot in the fields down at the Kibbutz Re'im. And so this is quite a psychological impact on Israel's national soul. Well, it certainly is. And I think as time goes on, we'll look at how this happened, the intelligence failure, possibly the military failure, maybe just a complacency that might have set in. But when you take away the how it happened, and I would like to see if I could get you to address why it happened. I've heard a couple stories coming along. One of it is just the hatred of Hamas, the leaders that are there in Hamas. They are would stop at nothing to eliminate the Jewish people, to destroy the Jewish state of Israel, and this is just the best way that they could see to make that happen. Others are saying that this could be at the urging of Iran. This is something that they supported, they've paid for. This attack was essentially bought by Iran, and maybe even to scuttle the normalization talks with Saudi Arabia. One other possibility that I also heard is maybe with all these protests, the judicial overhaul, something that we talked about often on this program, all these protests, the Hamas has sensed weakness and they feel like it's time to attack. Do any of these theories or is it a combination of these theories that brought this about? Well, I have to agree that it probably is a combination. When you plan something, timing and other aspects, are affected by events that happen as you plan. But your goal, as your first point was, is that Hamas and anybody who has read, and it's online, you don't have to listen to Yisrael winking Medad, discussing with the young family on their program exactly what Hamas is. You can Google the covenant, it's right there. and I've said it many times, it simply says the Jewish people should not exist at least in anywhere in the Middle East. And people thought it was just, you know, an expression of bombast or some sort of other weird theories that people have about Arabs or Muslims. But unfortunately, it's true. The Western mind, and I've said this before, cannot wrap itself around the fact that it's not a question of where you live or how ostentatious you are when you do live or even your religion. They don't want us to exist. This is something that happened in the 1930s and 40s, and we've discussed it on the program. How could it happen, the Holocaust? Because people didn't take Mr. Adolf Hitler seriously. And the same thing happens today. So, of course, we're going to be quite well caught up with the intelligence failure and the atmosphere of weakness and the fact that Iran is using Hamas and Hamas is using Iran. And it's only going to get worse if we do not respond adequately, forcefully to the threat coming out of Hamas, move their leadership from the Gaza Strip. Well, that leads to my next question, Winky. Where do we go from here, Israel, both in the short term and the long term? But you're talking about, I would assume in the short term, responding forcefully. I don't know how much force it's going to take, but responding forcefully to this. So in the short term, both militarily and politically, where do you see this situation moving to? How is Israel going to respond? I'm not going to get into details because although I did serve in the army and I read a lot, I'm not going to be a military strategist or commander in place of a commander. What I will say, though, and I want to try to impress upon our listening audience, is that this event should be used, if I can use that word, even exploited, in order to say, listen, world, look what the Hamas is really all about. It's about civilians. It's about Jews as Jews or Israelis as Israelis. And they even killed, for those who unfortunately had to see some of these clips, foreign workers and other people not really involved in the conflict, so to say. And we now have a chance to say, let us get the job done. Destroy the foundations, their military physical capabilities, take out as many of the political and military leadership as possible, and then bring in the powers to be to say, listen, we disengaged in 2005, we let Qatar in to pay them millions of dollars, We did all sorts of things in between previous operations, not to get involved, but all the time you were against us. Every time something, a tire burned on the fence, you said Israel was shooting people who were poor protesters instead of what they really are, terrorists. And we have to take advantage of that. And that's the only thing I can think of positive right now. at this time and stage in the operation. somewhat seem to have caught Israel unaware. Many people say that the Yom Kippur War shaped the Middle East. You talking about the short term and cracking down on Hamas, and I certainly understand that, and I know this is maybe an opinion on your part, but how do you think this is going to change it years down the road as we continue to look down this? How is this going to fundamentally change the Middle East, in your opinion? Well, if I was sitting at the side of Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu at this moment, I would say, listen, among other things, we have an opportunity to convince not only moderate Arab states, but even less moderate Arab states, that if they want to get anywhere in the world in the next 50 years, this is the moment to come a little bit closer to Israel and to make sure that Hamas and its supporters especially Iran, are ostracized, are taken care of as much as possible in diplomatic forums, economic forums, etc. If this can be affected as part of the response to the Hamas attack, and I'm thinking here only politically, this would be one of the best things possible to come out of this. To turn, to a certain extent, things around and to tell the Arab world that could make peace with Israel, you've got a choice. Either you go with Hamas and never be accepted in polite society or come closer to Israel and let's move forward for the benefit of mankind. I certainly see what you're saying there, and I don't even necessarily think I would call that a silver lining, but I could certainly see that this may fundamentally change the situation. Basically, this has exposed the reality of what is on the ground in Israel, and like you said, it may force people, force nations to choose sides. We'll see what happens from there. Well, Winky, we're going to continue to come back to you throughout the week as we try to Keep our fingers on the pulse of this situation and what's going on in Israel. We appreciate what you do there. We first of all want you and your family to stay safe, and we will be praying for you, but also we appreciate your insight, your wisdom as you tell us what's going on here. Thank you so much for what you do. Stay safe, and we'll talk to you soon. Thank you very much for having me on once again, and goodbye to you and our listening audience. Great job as always Rick and thank you Winky Madad Israel Madad for taking the time to be with us During these dark days that are ahead and I have responded to people Saturday was a dark day It is still a dark day and it will continue to be dark days ahead for Israel, but it's not the only time 1948 Israel's war of independence with those that were living there in the land then you had 1956 a Suez crisis there were the six-day war of 1967 and the reunification of the city of Jerusalem 1973 the Yom Kippur War 1982, the first war with Lebanon. That was the first one that Dave Dolan and I worked there together in the land of Israel during the first Israeli-Lebanon conflict. And then 2006, the second Lebanon war. There have been many incursions since then, squirmishes, fighting along with those in the Gaza Strip. But this is probably one of the toughest, and I could tell you for sure. That it has sucked the life out of the people in Israel. They are dealing with it. They have a resolve. We'll see the nation come back together as they always have, but this could be a while before this takes place in history. Wanted to bring to your attention Rick you mentioned the verse Psalm 122 verse 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls Prosperity within your palaces for the sake of my brethren and companions I will now say peace be within you because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek your good The only time that there will be true peace in Israel is when Jesus Christ will be seated on the throne in the city of Jerusalem and that's at the end of the seven-year period of time. It's gonna get much worse according to Bible prophecy and that's how we examine these events. We'll be bringing these updates to you throughout the week as we are now going into the dark days of Israel's history and we'll keep you updated. Keep praying for the peace of Jerusalem. I'm Jimmy DeYoung Jr. along with Rick and Israel Madad. We'll have future updates on what's taking place in the Land of Israel. Our goal at Prophecy Today is to reach the world with the news that Jesus Christ is returning soon and to encourage Christians to live a pure and productive life in light of His imminent return. To learn more about the ministry of Prophecy Today visit our website at prophecytoday.com