This issue examines oil in Israel, Israeli scientific breakthroughs in oil spill cleanup, Israel”s first female Arab soldier, the probable Obama-Ahmadinejad meeting, more Iranian threats, and Muslim persecution of Christians in Somalia.

OUR ISRAELI CONNECTION
Israel”s New Oil Discovery
According to Ynet News, a major oil field has been discovered in Israel near Rosh Haayin, approximately 15 miles northeast of Tel Aviv. The reserves are estimated at 1.5 billion barrels. This comes on the heels of recent oil and natural gas finds just offshore (see my Post 56).  These developments could have a major impact on Israel”s economic strength, which is already the best in the West with 2nd quarter growth at 4.7%. As the world is turning against Israel, God is coming to her aid in remarkable ways. Read more.
 
Isrelate.com reports
In unrelated oil news, professors Eugene Rosenberg and Eliora Ron from Tel Aviv University (TAU) use naturally occurring oil-munching bacteria, grown at the TAU lab, to clean hard-to-reach oil pockets that are produced when oil mixes with sand and organic matter on beaches and forms a thin layer on precious waterways. “It”s worked to clean up an oil spill on the coast of Haifa,” Ron reports, “so we”ve got evidence it could work in Florida, too.” The scientists identified a naturally occurring variety of sea-borne bacteria that digests oil. Following decades of research, they developed a solution that could clean up the residual oil that can”t be removed by mechanical means.
 
Cpl. Elinor Joseph, a young Christian Arab woman from northern Israel, has

won herself a place in a respected infantry unit, making her Israel”s first ever female Arab combat soldier. Joseph will serve as a combat medic in the Karakal Battalion, after more than a year of battling misconceptions that she was too weak for such a position. Joseph originally did not plan to enlist in the IDF. Arab citizens of Israel are not required to enlist due to the societal difficulties that serving in the Jewish state”s army can cause. But some choose to enlist anyway. Joseph”s father was one of them, and she remembered the great sense of pride and accomplishment that his years as an Israeli paratrooper had given him and the whole family.

IT’S NEWS TO ME
Jerusalem World News reports
Despite earlier statements that appeared to rule out any chance of a face-to-face meeting between President Obama and Iranian President Ahmadinejad, National Security Advisor General James Jones said this week that “the door is open” and that Obama “may be prepared to meet” with Ahmadinejad when he comes to the United Nations next month.
 
A top general with Iran”s Revolutionary Guard, in a move seen as an attempt to deter a US strike against Iran”s nuclear program, announced recently that workers have begun digging mass graves in which to bury the American troops killed during a potential attack on the Islamic nation. He stated that the graves would be dug next to those used to bury tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers killed during the fighting between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s.
 
Vision to America reports
Somalia”s underground Christian community is asking fellow believers worldwide to pray for their safety during Islam”s holy month of Ramadan.
The tiny Christian population is regularly persecuted by Islamic extremists. They are requesting that fellow Christians pray they can live in peace with their Muslim neighbors. Ramadan began Aug. 11 and ends on Sept. cialis american online pharmacy 9.
“We are called criminal and apostate. What is our crime? We are Christians! We suffer because of what we believe,” said a Somali Christian, whose name is withheld for security reasons, to Open Doors USA.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE


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