A news post entitled, “ISIS Leader Al-Baghdadi Threatens Israel with new Holocaust as IDF Prepares for Islamic State (IS) Attack from Egypt,” was published on December 29th in The Daily Mail (UK).
The self-proclaimed caliph released a 23 minute audio message on Saturday, December 26th, his first in about seven months. In his diatribe, he threatened Israel, and mocked the enemies of the Islamic State.
In it he said that “ISIS has not forgotten Israel,” and vowed to expand the caliphate to “Palestine” soon. He said, “The Jews thought we forgot Palestine and that they had distracted us from it. Not at all, Jews; we did not forget Palestine for a moment. With the help of Allah, we will not forget it…. The pioneers of the jihadist fighters will surround you on a day that you think is distant and we know is close. We are getting closer every day.” “You will never find comfort in Palestine, Jews. Palestine will not be your land or your home, but it will be a graveyard for you,” he declared.
He also used specifically anti-Semitic language about an imminent, new holocaust. He said that Allah had gathered the Jews in Palestine so that it would be easier for Muslims to kill them: “God (he means Allah) caused the Jews of the world to gather in Palestine, and the war against them has become easy. It is the obligation of every Muslim to carry out jihad. Jews, you will not enjoy (sic) in Palestine. God has gathered you in Palestine so that the Mujahadeen can reach you soon and you will hide by the rock and the tree.” It was a direct reference to words from the Koran (Quran) about the final battle against the Jews.
In the audio message, the ISIS leader harshly criticized Saudi Arabia that recently formed a Muslim coalition to fight against Islamic State in Arab states. “They announced lately a coalition falsely called ‘Islamic,’ and announced its goal is to fight the Caliphate. If it was an Islamic coalition, it would have declared itself free from its Jewish and Crusader lords, and made the killing of the Jews and the liberation of Palestine its goal,” al-Baghdadi said. He called upon Saudi citizens to rise against the monarchy and its “apostate tyrants.”
The leader of the self-proclaimed caliphate also mocked the U S coalition that attempts to defeat ISIS by airstrikes. “Be confident that God will grant victory to those who worship him, and hear the good news that our state is doing well. The more intense the war against it, the purer it becomes and the tougher it gets,” he said.
Al- Baghdadi’s threats against Israel, and the specific language he used to warn an attack on the Jewish state is not far away could be related to what is happening in the Sinai Peninsula at Israel’s southern border with Egypt.
Israeli Middle East expert Ronen Bergman, who has connections within the Israeli intelligence services, published an analysis about Wilayat Sinai this weekend. Wilayat Sinai is the ISIS branch in Egypt; Bergman reported that the organization is growing stronger all the time and now possesses advanced weapons.
“My instincts tell me the downing of the Russian plane [in the Sinai], recently was a terrorist attack. And if it indeed turns out that Ansar Bait el Maqdis (ABAM – meaning “supporters of the holy house”) was behind it, we are talking about an incident with wide strategic significance. It proves that ISIS leader (Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi has the ability to operate through satellite organizations not only in Iraq, but also in Syria, Lebanon, Africa and now in Sinai. If it’s true, he succeeded in a very short time in terms of preparing and executing an operation, in taking revenge against the Russians for the war they are waging in Syria.
“If that is the case, his ability and his organization’s ability is much higher than we thought.”
In November, 2014, ABAM changed its name to ISIS in the Sinai, while still holding its original identity as “supporters of the holy house,” meaning al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
This ideology brings more credence to the notion that the ultimate goal of ISIS and all its branches has as its ultimate goal the conquest of Israel and Jerusalem.
Indeed, its first change of name from Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (meaning Syria) or ISIS, to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, came when al-Baghdadi realized that the original name did not include Israel, but that the Jewish State would be indicated if the name included the word, “Levant,” which comprehends Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula – all of which are the land of the sun’s rising (Levant relating to levitation, or lifting up, of the sun), and all of which are in ISIS’ sights.
In addition, ISIS has a small presence in southern Syria near the Golan Heights but it has not yet been active against Israeli targets. If it does launch rockets into Israeli territory or attempts to infiltrate the Golan Heights, says the author, “ISIS knows that the Israeli Air Force will respond with greater force than that used in the surgical strikes carried out by the U. S. and its coalition partners (in Syria). ”
A German journalist named Jurgen Todenhofer spent a short time with ISIS forces in Mosul recently, writing of his experiences in a book when he returned. He says “They think they can defeat U.S. and British ground troops who they say have no experience in urban warfare or terrorist strategies…. But they know that the Israelis are very tough as far as fighting guerillas and terrorists. They told me the Israeli army is the real danger. ‘We can’t defeat them with our current strategy. These people (the Israeli army) can fight a guerilla war.’”
Conclusion: We continue to view with intense interest this evolution of a powerful, wily Islamic force based primarily in the territory of ancient Assyria (Syria and Iraq). And even though the privately expressed view of some members of ISIS is that Israel is a foe beyond their present capability to fight successfully, the wealth of ISIS which is enormous, can soon acquire for them the weapons that they deem necessary to defeat Israel.
We are assured of the survival of Israel, however, and have no fear whatever that ISIS’ expectations might bear fruit.
Again, we view this entire episode as an highly likely fulfillment of the remarkable prophecy of Micah 5, which points to an end time “Assyrian” attack on Israel (only possible since 1948) in great force, and its defeat, hands-down and complete, by One Whom we know to be the LORD Jesus Christ. That can only come about by His return to the earth in the Second Advent. By Harold Lafferty
