Netanyahu & The End Time Prophecy Of The Rebbe Schneerson
A pause in the Israeli offensive on Gaza, that is, the withdrawal of all IDF brigades except for one left in the enclave, are leading to speculations of a pending hostage deal. Or maybe a capitulation to the US in response to the airstrike fiasco that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers.
Or even, by some miracle, a cessation to the bloody conflict six-months since the Hamas-led attack started it all.
"Don't read too much into it," says Avi Hyman, spokesperson for Netanyahu, told journalists earlier this week. Hyman pointed out how logistics are relative, and the IDF is capable of striking Gaza from outside just as easily.
Sure enough, just hours later, the IDF announced they killed Hatem al-Ghamri, a senior Hamas operative, in an air strike.
The smart money isn’t betting on an end game scenario but rather, an increase in aggression, as the IDF readies itself for an offensive on Rafah. Call it a calm before the storm.
On Monday, Netanyahu announced just that, saying:
"Today I received a detailed report on the talks in Cairo - we are constantly working to achieve our goals, first and foremost the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas. This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen - there is a date."
With this pending action, Netanyahu is risking a tenuous coalition as the US is opposed to a Rafah assault. As well, a joint statement by the leaders of Egypt, France and Jordan has warned Israel that, "The war in Gaza and the catastrophic humanitarian suffering it is causing must end now.”
Indeed, since the start of the war, Netanyahu’s popularity at home and abroad is in free fall. And yet, the far-right, ultra-nationalist parties that back him insist he press on with the war. This seems to defy conventional strategy but maybe, something other than military logistics is motivating his actions.
That motivation of course is religion and though Netanyahu is a secular Jew, his proximity to and alignment with certain factions of the Jewish faith has been a guiding factor since the start of his long and tenured career.
To get a grasp of what this means we need to travel back 40 years to 1984. Netanyahu was Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations when he met Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, whom Bibi referred to as, “the most influential man of our time.”
Schneerson, or the Rebbe, as he was known amongst his followers, was an Orthodox rabbi leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. He told Netanyahu, “You will be serving in a house of darkness [the UN], but remember, that even in the darkest place; the light of a single candle can be seen far and wide.”
These words resonated with Bibi as a strong bond between him and the Rebbe developed.
In a meeting a couple years later, the Rebbe reportedly told Netanyahu that he, Netanyahu, would one day become Prime Minister of Israel and would be its last leader, handing the scepter to the Messiah.
By any standards, that is a tall order. But Bibi embraced the role and ran with it.
Netanyahu fulfilled the first half of this prediction when he became Prime Minster in 1996, but was ousted in 1999. He was re-elected to a second term in 2009 that lasted until 2021. For his third go-around as Prime Minster, Netanyahu got the backing of Zionist and ultra-orthodox parties.
The influence of these parties is evident as Netanyahu is known to lean heavily on Biblical doctrine when implementing political and military strategy. To move on Gaza, he stated, “The Bible says that there is time for peace and a time for war. This is a time for war.”
At an ensuing meeting between the two men, the Rebbe reminded Bibi that, “Since we last met, many things have progressed. What hasn’t changed is that Messiah still hasn’t come, so do something to hasten his coming.”
Bibi answered “We’re doing, we’re doing,” to which the Rebbe replied, “Apparently it’s not enough since many hours have already passed today and he is still not here.”
Could this sense of urgency have something to do with the building of the Third Temple in Jerusalem? The Temple’s restoration coincides with the Jew’s Messianic Age.
The Messiah in Jewish eschatology is destined to be the savior of the Jewish people, anointed as such during the Messianic Age. The Jews don’t recognize Jesus as their Messiah. However, there appears to be some overlap between Christianity and Judaism in this matter. That regards the lineage of the Messiah, whom the Jews proclaim will descend from the line of King David.
Christians believe that Jesus Christ was descended from the line of David. What we have here is an interesting intersection between the two religions and perhaps in the end, a mutual agreement on the matter of the King Messiah.
Regarding the Third Temple, it has been noted that Red Heifers are requisite for a ritual cleansing in the Temple. Incidentally, a special breed of red cows have been imported into Israel and sequestered in a secret location. Hamas has used the presence of the Red Cows as a reason for their October 7 attack on Israel.
Schneerson and his Chabad-Lubavitch movement has become one of the most influential Jewish groups in the world, establishing an international network of over 5000 social centers including schools, care-homes, drug rehabs and synagogues. He has been recognized by every US President since Nixon, with Ronald Reagan designating Schneerson's birthday as the national Education Day U.S.
The group’s World Headquarters, located in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, was the center of a bizarre story that broke on January 8 of this year, regarding a brawl between worshippers and police over the discovery of a secret underground tunnel beneath the property.
As well, Schneerson’s hardline Messianic views have instigated fierce opposition with other factions of Orthodox Judaism. One of his major critics is Rabbi Elazar Shach.
For this reason you will find Orthodox Jews at many anti-war rallies, protesting side by side with the pro-Palestinians. I ventured to one such protest, in Times Square, New York, on April 5.
At the protest I spoke to an Orthodox Jew named Wolf. He explained to me that before the arrival of the state of Israel, Israelis and Palestinians lived together like brothers. The state of Israel itself is a “rebellion against the Almighty.” It changed a religion into a nationalistic movement. Wolf stated:
“Jews are forbidden by the Almighty to have a state of their own and are commanded by the Almighty to be in exile, subservient to the nations of the world. This command was given by the Almighty after the destruction of the holy temple, almost 2000 years ago, when the Jewish nation was exiled from the holy land, due to our sins.”
Wolf believes the state of Israel must be dismantled.
This philosophy certainly appears to be in contradistinction to that of Netanyahu’s and his mentor Rabbi Menachem Schneerson.
References:
Contributors to Wikimedia projects
Contributors to Wikimedia projects
Contributors to Wikimedia projects
The Algemeiner
JAKE OFFENHARTZAndrew K. Arnett is a writer and producer. He has been published in Paranoia Magazine, New Dawn, Nexus, Konbini and Alien Buddha Press. He lives in Brooklyn, NY and hunts ghosts with the Brooklyn Paranormal Society. Find him on Twitter: @AndrewArnett
