Iran Pushing the Buttons in the Middle East

It is amazing to see the widespread influence of Iran throughout the Middle East. It seems that everywhere you turn, only a little digging will reveal some form of Iranian influence behind much of what we are seeing in the region today. The biggest problem is the simple fact that of all the countries in the region, Iran is the most determined to see Israel's destruction.

Is Iran using Mideast revolts to reignite Gaza border?

On Wednesday, it seemed that the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip - Hamas and Islamic Jihad - were trying to take advantage of the rapid transformations sweeping the Middle East, and reignite the situation on the border with Israel after a few weeks of quiet.

A border incident led to the firing of a Grad rocket at Be'er Sheva for the first time since Operation Cast Lead two years ago. Whoever decided to fire the rocket was well aware that striking a residential neighborhood would generate a harsh Israeli response and spark a new escalation in hostilities.

Just a brief glance at the region reveals Iran's influence and efforts to stir things up:

But Iranian leaders might have a double aim: to suppress the domestic protest and to further destabilize the region. There is more than a reasonable suspicion that Iran was involved in the unrest in Bahrain. Tehran also dispatched warships through the Suez Canal in order to create a provocation, and its emissary in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, threatened to conquer the Galilee from Israel. In addition, the Iranians are examining new possibilities in Egypt, now that the local security forces have been weakened.

Additionally, we see this:

In the meantime, the "Al Jazeera effect" is playing out in an arena closer to Israel. The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan announced this week that it will resume its demonstrations against the regime, and opposition groups are demanding that the king be stripped of the power to form governments and dissolve parliament.

That represents yet another concern. If Jordan's stable and moderate government is toppled by the radical Muslim Brotherhood, it will represent another "game-changing" event in the region - one that will not be favorable to Israel in any way.

We should expect such in these last days.

IDF to Kindergartens in towns by Gaza: Keep kids inside

Doesn't this headline (alone) point out what we are dealing with?

The IDF on Friday instructed teachers to keep children from going outside to play in kindergartens located in towns near Gaza.

The order comes from concerns of further firing from Gaza after two Grad rockets landed in Beersheba earlier this week, causing building damage, with five people treated for shock.

The IDF also instructed residents of towns surround Gaza to be alert over the weekend.

Soldiers responded to the Grad attacks late Wednesday night with a series of attacks throughout the Gaza strip on Thursday.

Palestinian news reports said one person was killed and three wounded in an IAF attack in Rafah. The IDF said the targets were linked to Hamas and had been involved in terrorist activity.

The Grad rocket attacks are back

In retrospect, what was troubling about yesterday's Grad rocket attack on Beer Sheva was not only that it happened, but the near routine reaction of my whole family to the imminent rocket impact.

That's easy to understand, given that rockets fly into civilian areas almost daily. Not that anyone else in the world seems to care.

This morning the only difference in our schedule was that our son was escorted all the way to the gate of his school so that we could react appropriately in case there was another attack.

What was wrong with this scenario is that we were getting used to rocket attacks. As if this were a normal way to live. Just as we all were getting used to be stripped and x-rayed all over the world airports. Instead of solving the problem we were giving in and accepting this abnormal world.

But this will not work for long. The documentary Iranium suggests that Iran could attack the US with missiles tipped with nuclear warheads from barges positioned a hundred miles from the US shores.

Taking into account what Bernard Lewis has reiterated in the movie, i.e. "With these people, with their apocalyptic mindset, mutual assured destruction is not a deterrent, it is an inducement " I find it strange that no one mentioned the possibility that the Iranian warships that just sailed through the Suez Canal might have had the very same purpose -- to launch a N. Korean atom bomb on Tel Aviv.

Were the Iranian ships rehearsing a future scenario? I hope the Israeli government, if not the Obama administration, know what they are doing.

Iranian influence is clearly widespread in the Middle East, and under the leadership of Ahmadinejad there is one single goal and one single obsession:

The destruction of Israel. Period.

To see the eventual outcome of this effort all one has to do is read Ezekiel 38-39. That is where all of this is headed - its just a matter of time now.