Rabbis: Flotilla Clash Heralds Gog and Magog Prophecy The Rabbinical Council of Judea and Samaria issued an unusual statement Thursday in which it said that the
results of the incident in which Israel intercepted a flotilla trying to break the naval blockade of Gaza "place
us at
the beginning of the Gog and Magog process where the world is against us, but which ends
with the third and final redemption."
The statement explained that while secular Zionism always wants Israel to be beloved by other nations, ?the
legitimacy of our people is not derived from the nations of the world and their poisonous traditions, rather
from the Torah of Israel which teaches us that [Israel] 'is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be
reckoned among the nations'" (Numbers 23:9).
The council blessed the soldiers of the IDF and called for the formation of an emergency unity government that
will bring about the salvation promised by G-d.
The Council was formed by Rabbi Zalman Melamed of Beit El and includes many leading rabbis of the religious-
nationalist stream, who are the spiritual leaders of communities in Judea and Samaria.
'Gog and Magog' is a reference is to chapters 38 and 39 in the book of Ezekiel, a part of which is read on
the intermediate Sabbath of Sukkot (Tabernacles). These chapters describe a vision of a war that will precede
the final redemption of Israel and the world. The prophecy involves a prince called Gog of Magog, leader of Rosh,
Meshech and Tubal, who leads a coalition that
includes Persia (Iran), Cush (Ethiopia), Phut, Gomer,
and Beit Togarmah against Israel. There are various opinions regarding the modern identity of some of these nations.
As a sampling of passages from Ezekiel 39 shows,
the propechy predicts that the coalition will be defeated by Israel,
at a time following Israel's gathering from its exile: And thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say: Thus saith
the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; and I will turn thee about and
lead thee on, and will cause thee to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring thee upon the
mountains of Israel; and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy
right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the peoples that are with
thee; I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort and to the beasts of the field, to be devoured.
(...)
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have compassion upon
the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name. And they shall bear their shame, and all
their breach of faith which they have committed against Me, when they shall dwell safely in their land, and
none shall make them afraid; when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of
their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations.
And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations,
and have gathered them unto their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there; neither will I hide
My face any more from them; for I have poured out My spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.'
The dramatic flotilla incident and the international reactions to it have sparked intense emotion, and unusual unity,
among the Jewish public in Israel.
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