By Mark Ellis
A Hebrew-speaking ISIS militant offered a chilling warning of destruction to Israel in a recent video made public via YouTube.
The disturbing video was posted October 23rd, the day before Secretary of State John Kerry met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan to discuss plans for halting the latest rise in violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
The video was verified as authentic by SITE Intelligence Group, which follows terrorist organizations, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In the video, a masked man with a rifle forewarns that “soon there won’t be even one Jew left in Jerusalem.”
“We are advancing toward you from every place. From the north, from the south,” the jihadist declares. “We will come to annihilate you.”
While ISIS is developing a presence throughout the Middle East and beyond, it is not known whether they have infiltrated Israel or established cells within the Palestinian territories.
Some conjecture the militant group is attempting to take advantage of the recent instability and violence in the region to attack Israel and discredit the two main Palestinian political groups, Fatah and Hamas, according to the Journal.
“The assimilation of Islamic State ideas is a danger to Israel,” Tal Pavel, a researcher at the International Institute for Counterterrorism, told the Journal. “We can see clear attempts by Islamic State to spread its message.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed Hamas and Mr. Abbas for the recent surge in violence, suggesting that provocative language from the Palestinian leadership has fomented the bloodshed.
Mr. Abbas has denied the accusation, affirming his support for nonviolent approaches to deal with the current crisis.
Mr. Netanyahu has also received his share of blame for the current aggression, due to remarks he made October 20th suggesting that a Palestinian Muslim leader persuaded Adolph Hitler to carry out the Holocaust.
Hamas, which oversees the Gaza Strip, has urged Palestinians living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to join a third intifada, or uprising, according to the Journal.
Some students of Bible prophecy associate the current storm clouds surrounding Israel with the coming fulfillment of Ezekiel 38 and 39, which describes an approaching invasion of Israel by a coalition of nations that surround it.
They believe this invasion prophesied over 2600 years ago could be fulfilled in the near future, while other Christians debate its application to current events.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbcS2DySfPs
