Thundering toward Armageddon
David Haggith

Iran may launch its attack against Israel on Monday-Tuesday, the 12th-13th, an infamous day in Jewish history, and some Israelis are eager for the final battle to begin!

On Aug. 5, The Daily Doom carried the following headline:

Iran plans to attack Israel on the Jewish day of disasters

That day, called Tisha B’Av (the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av) in Israel is commemorated as a day of Jewish disasters throughout history. Iran is believed to have chosen this day for its counterattack, in response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyehin on Iranian soil, in order to amplify the psychological impact of its planned revenge. 

Tisha B’Av on the Jewish calendar begins on the evening of Monday, the 12th on the Gregorian calendar and ends after Sundown on Tuesday, the 13th. (Hebrew days go from Sunset to Sunset.) That means Iran’s attack might likely begin tonight if the reports of its scheme are true.

Of particular note to Jews on this day is the fact that the two massive historic temples of Judaism were both destroyed on this day, hundreds of years apart. The day has deep religious significance to Christians, too. The destruction of the second temple was prophesied by Jesus, regarding his departure and his return, when his disciples were marveling at the temple, which built elaborately with the help of the Romans:

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times

Matthew 24: Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

The temple was, indeed, completely destroyed so that not one of its stones is left standing on the plaza where it was built. Jesus gave this prophecy right after condemning the religious leaders of his time with an excoriating list of hypocrisies then leaving the Temple, after warning,

Matthew 23: 13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to…. 37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house [the Temple] is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

The destruction of the second temple brought the immediate end times of a major biblical age in that it ended the Old Testament form of Judaism that had been practiced for thousands of years since Moses by removing the ability to carry out the religious sacrifices called for in the Laws of Moses. It was the end of a biblical era that resulted in the diaspora of the Jews from Israel, as well. A whole Jewish way of life came to a close in A.D. 70, 40 years after Jesus was crucified. (Both numbers are significant in Judaism and Christianity. In Judaism, the first Tisha B’Av of importance was the day the Jews were sent wandering in the wilderness for 40 years due to their unfaithfulness.) Jesus saw himself as departing from the Temple and not returning to Jerusalem again until its people were ready to bless him as one “who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Their Messiah.) He hasn’t been back to the Temple Mount since. 

That brings us to Jews waiting around the Temple Mount today with big plans to bring the age of the Messiah in, though, of course, they are hoping for a different Messiah, and I’ll get to that in a moment.

Thus, the 9th of Av in Israel is always one of mourning, fasting, and other forms of self-denial over all that was lost. With the loss of their Temple, the Jews also lost the land, driven out by Rome, which Rome renamed from “Judea” to “Palestine” to try to wipe the name of the Jews off the map.

Many other bad things happened to Jews on this historic date of major Jewish disasters:

The Bar Kochba revolt [a Messianic rebellion] against the Romans in 133 CE ended in defeat: The Jews of Betar were butchered on the 9th of Av and the Temple Mount was plowed one year later on the same date….

Many more tragedies happened on this day, including the 1290 expulsion of England’s Jews and the 1492 banishment of all Jews from Spain.

Yes, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue on behalf of Spain, Jews were sent sailing, too. Jews were also expelled from England on this day in 1290. So, a bad day for Jews.

Iran wants to turn Tisha B’Av into another historic day of calamity to add to that list

Three sources told the New York Timesthat Iran planned to respond to the assassination of Haniyeh. The sentiment was echoed by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khameini on X who wrote “Following this bitter, tragic event which has taken place within the borders of the Islamic Republic, it is our duty to take revenge.” 

We have no idea what that response will be. Iran’s last response to an Israeli attack on Iranian land proved to be very ineffective and was thought by many to be intended as a showy shot over the bow where many missiles were fired bit a;; missed important targets on purpose in order to avoid igniting all-out war between Israel and Iran. It was a “this is what we could do, but we’ve chosen not to hit you … this time” response. Their choice to attack now on Tisha B’Av, if the intelligence is true, could indicate Iran intends something more damaging and wants to stick the point home.

The report indicates that there is an emotional and psychological impact in targeting Israel on the holy day of mourning. The report claimed that Jewish Israelis may feel particularly vulnerable on this day - adding an additional layer of psychological torment.

If it attacks on this date, it would appear Iran hopes to revive historical traumas and replay historic images of destruction. Maybe Iran needs this amplification because they are NOT planning something big, or maybe they are and they need it to strike disabling terror because they know their will be a massive Israeli (and possibly American) response. I would think amplifying a lesser reprisal over the death of one person would be more likely than starting a massive war as being, by far, the wiser reprisal, but who knows, given Iran’s often stated intent of someday shoving Israel off the map. Maybe this will be the day they have chosen. They have undoubtedly seen that a lot of nations have turned against Israel in this war.

Finally, Iran allegedly hopes that attacking on this day would bring an element of surprise. While security may be occupied with their own religious rituals or settling disagreements, they may be unprepared for a military attack. 

(I doubt that Israel will be that foolish, given how America has just poured more heavy arms into the region to avert this very attack and given the intelligence that already warns it might be coming. A truer surprise would be to build the hype around this date and then wait for the day after when everyone sighs relief that it didn’t happen. However, surprise may be less the goal on Iran’s part than religious and historic significance.)

Sky News Arabia also claimed that the media coverage on the attack would transmit a message to the Islamic world - that “Israel is vulnerable to destruction as the Jews have historically been….”

The report also claimed that attacking on this day may restore morale to terror groups attacking Israel, reinvigorating them for future attacks

The latest news out about Iran’s planned reprisal, however, says that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been persuaded by the US and Iran’s president to postpone the attack. What few reports of this I found in the press all originated from a single source, Al-Jarida, a newspaper in Kuwait on Sunday. That’s quite believable, of course, in light of how much Iran stands to lose, given how the US has made clear it will stand strong with Israel in the event of an attack.

On the other hand, another report later on Sunday says Israeli intelligence does not believe the postponement report and things Iran will attack very soon:

Israeli intel believes Iran will attack directly within days

Iran might carry out an attack on Israel in the coming days, potentially even beforethe upcoming Thursday summit on the hostage deal negotiations, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

This represents a shift from recent assessments, which suggested that international pressure was restraining Iran from launching a direct attack against Israel.

What better way to try to throw the element of surprise back in, now that word is out about a plan to attack on Tisha B’Av than by promising to postpone and then attacking anyway?

We’ll know the answers to all of this by tonight or tomorrow.

Is more regime change in store?

As for how much Iran stands to lose if it does attack: “One report in The Daily Doom headlines today says the US has threatened to turn this event into regime-change in Tehran if Iran makes a move:

The US is preparing to play Air Force for Israel's skies as it deploys a dozen F-22 stealth raptor jets to the Middle East region.

The word out is that the stealth fighters, which do their best work by night, were deployed two days ago to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a potential take-off point right across the Persian Gulf from Iran for a rapid-strike attack inside of Iran, should Iran try anything tonight. They could also just be placed there as a first line of defense against any missiles sent from Iran toward Israel, but I’d think they would use surface-to-air missile defense systems for that.

Again, we don’t know. Rumor has it that …

The White House has issued a fresh warning to Tehran on Thursday as it is said to still be gearing up for a strike on Israel… The new warning from Washington includes both negative economic consequences and threats of destabilizing actions directed against the newly elected government of Masoud Pezeshkian.

That MAY be less of a threat of regime-change of the kind Washington seems to like than it is of the usual covert CIA undermining of a regime. However …

"The United States has sent clear messaging to Iran that the risk of a major escalation if they do a significant retaliatory attack against Israel is extremely high," a US admin official told The Wall Street Journal.

In other words, if Iran does anything truly significant, there is little doubt Israel will literally go ballistic, and the war will be on, and the US will fight by Israel’s side.

“Iran understands clearly that the US is unwavering in its defense of our interests, our partners and our people. We have moved a significant amount of military assets to the region to underscore that principle,” a senior administration official told @IgnatiusPost

David Ignatius is a columnist for The Washington Post. He’s also a writer of spy thrillers. Will Israel and America join in a Middle Eastern war, turning all of this into hard news tonight, or is it the stuff of spy thrillers? Will Iran heed the warning? If it does, what better timing does Iran ever hope to find for the war it keeps saying it hopes to have with Israel someday? Do they now have the nuclear warhead(s) they have long been working toward (and which we’ve been told by Israel they will have in less than a year for more than twenty years now)?

Earlier this week, Jared Cohen, President of Global Affairs and Co-Head of the Goldman Sachs Global Institute, noted in a conversation with another colleague, "We don't know the timing of a potential Iranian retaliation, and it's impossible to predict the scale with certainty. But a direct Iranian-led assault against Israel looks increasingly likely, and Israelis and their partners are preparing."

Currently, the consensus among US national security officials is that Hezbollah is likely to play a much bigger and coordinated role in any potential Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack on Israel:

Officials also don’t know for sure whether Hezbollah plans to attack at the same time in a coordinated offensive with Iran or separately. Hezbollah has a large arsenal of missiles that can reach Israel and the concern is that the group and Iran might attack at the same time to try to overwhelm Israel’s missile defenses. 

"Last time we got more of a heads up, and this time people are making their best guesses," said a third U.S. official. 

In other words, the last time was a shot over the bow. This time is more likely to be the real thing. Still, we’re all guessing, but we may not be guessing after the present day passes.

Zealots at work in the fields of the Lord

On that note, I want to turn to another article I read over the weekend about this impending war that has been decades in the making.

It’s titled, “The 1948 Irgun Re-Born?” by Alastair Crooke.

What I want to call to attention in this article is not its take on how Israel chooses to defend itself, but what it has to say about small groups of Jewish zealots who strive to bring this war on in order to force the timing of the Messiah’s arrival onto their schedule. I’ve followed the activities of one of these groups off and on for forty years—long enough to know Crooke is right about them.

Naturally, many in Israel do not want war, but feel they must do whatever they need to do to end the violence that keeps raining down on them in the form of small rockets for year, which came to a head again this year. However, some in Israel DO want war.

Israel’s Defence minister repeatedly says:

“We don’t want war”. Western leaders parrot the same meme: No-one wants war. ‘We are fully confident that Israel’s response will be constrained and limited to military targets’. The White House: “In our view, there is no reason for some dramatic escalation in southern Lebanon and there is still time and space for diplomacy”.

So they say, and that is likely true for most people in Israel, but there is this group called “The Temple Mount Faithful,” to name just one that I’m familiar with, that definitely wants war and wants it to come quickly so they can see the “Day of the Lord” in their lifetime. To be more accurate, what that particular group specifically wants is to rebuild the Jewish temple where the Muslim Dome of the Rock sits, even though they know competition with the Dome of the Rock at the holy site on the Temple Mount, where Abraham built an altar to sacrifice his son, Isaac, at God’s command, will light all of Israel on fire. 

They know that Muslims from all over the Middle East will gather to fight Israel in order to defend their religion against the threat Muslims perceive to their own religious structures, but the Temple Mount Faithful are willing to risk that in order to build their own temple there. To avoid this catastrophe, the Israeli government has been prohibiting this group of zealots from bringing their massive temple cornerstones onto the Temple Mount every year at Passover. The group’s fervor has required constant vigilance by the Israeli government for decades because the zealots don’t care if their actions start a war. They believe the Messiah will come and defend them because of their faithfulness in trying to build the temple. So, they say, “Bring it on!”

Just as the US has its issues from its own far Right over imprisoning rioters from January 6th who violently bashed the heads of police, knocked officers to the ground, whacked them with flag poles, moved barricades and broke windows to force entry into the locked Capital, and even brought cuffs for congress, Israel’s government is being challenged by its far right where some are angry about the incarceration of Israeli soldiers accused of raping and sodomizing a Palestinian. And, just as in the US, some of them are part of the government, making Israel a nation divided against itself as much as the US currently is.

Right-wing vigilantes descended from their settlements, storming two military IDF bases. The anarchic scenes of mass break-ins, fomented by several members of the ruling coalition, some of whom took part in the forcible entries, sparked angry condemnation from Defence Minister Gallant. 

The invasions were supported by one minister and several Knesset members seeking to free reservists that are suspected of aggravated abuse and forcible sodomy against a Palestinian detainee. According to a security source, the injured detainee was taken to a hospital with severe injuries, including to an intimate body part which left him unable to walk. 

I have no idea or opinion on whether the accusations are true. I’m just pointing out that civil unrest in Israel is resulting in the far Right taking matters into their own hands against the majority of their own government, fomented by a few members of the government in the Knesset. It all has a familiar ring to it here in the US. Yet, that recent example is barely the icing on what these Israeli zealots want and how far they will go.

“What is happening on the part of the nationalistic messianic Right with the backing, winking or silence of ministers and MKs of the Right is a “putsch”. [A coup] The youth coming down from the hills of the ‘State of Judah’ to act with the same violent methods - used against the Palestinians – (but now) are being used against the state of Israel.

Even that is still just the momentary tip of the spear.

In the same vein, Right-wing Cabinet ministers celebrated the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on social media Wednesday morning, as: “This is the right way to purge the world of this filth”, Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, a member of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party, tweeted:

“No more imaginary ‘peace’/surrender agreements, no more mercy for these dead men walking. The iron fist that will strike them is the one that will bring quiet and a modicum of comfort, and strengthen our ability to live in peace with those who seek peace. Haniyeh’s death makes the world a slightly better place.”

I don’t blame them for celebrating the death of an arch enemy that has brought deaths to Jews in Israel and sought to bring many more. He is a warrior and a rightful victim of war; but there is a fervor in parts of the government that is pushing hard for intensified war for reasons that go beyond ending the violence brought against Jews. The drive to bring all of this to an end after all these years of conflict is palpable and not that hard to understand. However, there is a lot of naiveté about how that will lead to “peace” and “quiet.” The other side has a say on that, and the other side is very, very large, encompassing many nations in a war that will be horrific for all.

I’m not saying Israel should cower from taking significant actions to protect itself, but it may not go as well as they think, and the fervor of the far Right is driven by something much different than rationality over what needs to happen for Israel’s defense. It wants the greater war:

What then is this ‘truth’ that the West ignores and silences reality, whilst amplifying its narrative frauds? It is that the Israel which they presume to understand is now something very different. And that it has an epistemology at odds with mechanistic rationalism.

For those taking actions against their own government and willing to bring on direct war with Iran, their reasons are not rooted in rational defense, but in religious zealotry that intentionally seeks to bring on the end times so that the Messiah will come. That’s what I really want to point out in this article.

“Woe,” say the prophets, to those who hasten the Day of the Lord

An eschatological [end-times] Right-wing cult now holds the majority in cabinet -- and wields a vigilante militia ready to attack the military establishment, and the Israeli state. No one was arrested for the attack and take-over of the two bases. They do not dare….

“When you talk about Smotrich and Ben Gvir: They have a Rabbi. His name is Dov Lior. He is the Rabbi of the Jewish Underground, who intended to blow up the Dome of the Rock – and before that the buses in Jerusalem. Why? In order to hurry up the ‘Last War’….”

It is anchored in ideology. And then actually what he aspires to – as soon as possible – is to go to a big war. A war of Gog and Magog. How do you start the flames? A massacre like the [1994] Cave of the Patriarchs? Baruch Goldstein is a student of this Rabbi. Ben Gvir has hung up Goldstein’s picture [in his house]….”

They want to ignite the biggest war possible to hasten the end times.

Rabbi Dov Lior has been described by Netanyahu as the “élite unit that leads Israel”, because of his influence and control over the settler forces….

Isn’t it time that the western ruling structures raised their eyes from their reverie, and read the runes that manifest all around them?  Some serious players [in the Knesset] don’t think as you westerners do; they seek Gog and Magog (the prophecy that “the children of Israel” will be victorious in the battle of Armageddon). That is what you risk.

What I want to point out is how those who want to bring the times of the end into their own times would do well to pay attention to some other Jewish prophecies about that kind of zeal and what it leads to, not just to prophecies that talk about how the fighting forces of “Gog and Magog” against Israel, which Crooke says will happen in the Valley of Armageddon (a large plain in central Israel), will cause the Messiah to come in order to deliver Israel from its follies.

Whether this great prophesied battle is “The Battle of Armageddon” or not is not clear in the Bible, as those are separate prophecies told hundreds of years apart. The history of the terms Gog and Magog indicate that particular battle will come from Russia, such as if Russia were to join its ally, Iran, in the present conflict. (However, Russia, has just stated this weekend that it will not support Iran in a war against Israel—that doing so is a bridge too far for them—but that can change, too.) Interestingly, one other nation mentioned in the prophecy—Meshech—existed where modern-day Turkey is today, and another one mentioned—Persia—is Iran where the people to this day consider themselves “Persians,” not Arabs. Several other nations are mentioned, whose current location is less clear.

These Jewish zealots who would bring the end on as quickly as they can sound like the very people their own prophets wrote warnings to. They might do well to listen to the warnings of their prophet Amos when it comes to wanting to rush the end times so they can see it in their lifetime:

18Woe to you who long

for the day of the Lord!

Why do you long for the day of the Lord?

That day will be darkness, not light.

19It will be as though a man fled from a lion

only to meet a bear,

as though he entered his house

and rested his hand on the wall

only to have a snake bite him.

20Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light—

pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness? (Amos 5:18-20)

They might also do well to pay attention to the similar warning given by their prophet Isaiah, who warns of a great war in the end that will sweep over Israel from nations all over the world:

18 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,

19 to those who say, “Let God hurry; let him hasten his work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel— let it approach, let it come into view, so we may know it.”

20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight….

24 Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 Therefore the LORD’s anger burns against his people; his hand is raised and he strikes them down. The mountains shake, and the dead bodies are like refuse in the streets. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.

26 He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, he whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Here they come, swiftly and speedily!

27 Not one of them grows tired or stumbles, not one slumbers or sleeps; not a belt is loosened at the waist, not a sandal strap is broken.

28 Their arrows are sharp, all their bows are strung; their horses’ hooves seem like flint, their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.

29 Their roar is like that of the lion, they roar like young lions; they growl as they seize their prey and carry it off with no one to rescue.

30 In that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks at the land, there is only darkness and distress; even the sun will be darkened by clouds. (Isaiah 5:18-30)

In both of these prophecies, whether referring to the same period or not, the people who seek to bring on the end are cut from the same cloth. The day they are seeking to hasten so the Messiah will save them doesn’t exactly sound like a good time for Israel. The prophecies say that, in total desperation, they will turn to their Messiah as the nations of the world are unleashed against them and sweep down upon them.

It’s not hard to see the many nations of the world that are Muslim would turn in unison against Israel if the sites Muslims consider sacred on the Temple Mount were threatened, but those nations may also include Russia as an ally of Iran and other nations that turn against Israel—Islamic Turkey seeming more on sides with Russia now than with the US or Israel—because yet another prophecy says that, in these times, Israel will lose its allies:

12 “This is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wound is incurable,
    your injury beyond healing.
13 There is no one to plead your cause,
    no remedy for your sore,
    no healing for you.
14 All your allies have forgotten you;
    they care nothing for you.
I have struck you as an enemy would
    and punished you as would the cruel,
because your guilt is so great
    and your sins so many.
15 Why do you cry out over your wound,
    your pain that has no cure?
Because of your great guilt and many sins
    I have done these things to you. (Jeremiah 30:12-15)

As with so many of these prophecies, that could refer to events in Jeremiah’s day when Babylon and Assyria swept over Israel. However, history has a way of rhyming with itself, and the re-existence of the nation of Israel is one of those rhymes that echoed during our own lifetimes.

Woes are even spoken in both the Amos prophecy and the Isaiah prophecy against those who would hasten the arrival of this time (and likely be the proximate cause of its arrival because of their self-righteous zealotry).

All of this sounds like the kind of calamity Iran would love to bring upon Israel, but nothing is spoken of in favor of any of the nations that bring this judgment upon Israel either. Great calamity ultimately sweeps over them, too. (You can read about it in Revelation 16:14-21, which is where the prophecy about the “Battle of Armageddon” is written.)

Am I saying Iran and Israel are about to begin the Battle of Armageddon or the Battle of Gog and Magog? I don’t have that kind of knowledge. However, what I do know is that those who want to bring on the great end-times war are doing their best to make such horrific events happen as quickly as they can, and they could find themselves (and all the rest of us) reaping a whirlwind of misfortunate events because of their actions, which could start tonight and continue to escalate into Armageddon someday down the road.

They should take warning from their own prophets regarding their zealotry:

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