As the Jewish holiday of Hanukah has begun this week, a serious national crisis is unfolding in northern Israel.

“More than 12,000 northern Israel residents were being evacuated from their homes as a massive fire that claimed the lives of at least 40 people continued to rage Thursday night,” reports Ynet News. “Rescue forces have yet to contain the fire, which in addition to the northern town of Tirat Carmel also threatens the communities of Nir Etzion, Ein Hod, and Beit Oren, all evacuated by now. Meanwhile, the IDF is gearing up to evacuate its transport base in Tirat Carmel. The evacuation of Damon Prison ended in tragedy, after 40 cadets in a Prison Service officers course were burned to death in a flaming bus sent to help in the prison’s evacuation. Apart from the 40 victims, several firemen and three police officers who drove a police car behind the bus were also injured.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu is calling the massive fires a “disaster on an international scale.” He added that, “We do not have what it takes to put out the fire, but help is on the way. As a result of calls I have made, there are currently ten aircraft on their way to Israel from Greece, France and Cyprus.”

The Joshua Fund is alerting Christians all over the world to the gravity of the situation, and we are asking people to pray:

• For the Lord to comfort the families and friends of those Israelis who have died in these fires
• For the Lord to heal and comfort those wounded in the fires
• For the Lord to give strength, courage and wisdom to those fighting the fires
• For the fires to be contained and put out quickly
• For the Israelis who have been evacuated from their homes to be comforted and to have adequate housing and all the supplies they need
• For no further evacuations to be necessary
• For other countries to provide Israel needed assistance in firefighting
• For believers in Israel to be able to love their neighbors in real and practical ways during this crisis
• For The Joshua Fund to be able to assist in real and practical ways, as needed — we’ve been in touch in the past few hours with a number of our key allies in northern Israel to assess their needs, and we’ll let you know more as we learn more.

Thanks so much for praying for the people of Israel at this critical time.

• Haaretz: ‘Flames spread on a scale we’ve never seen’ — Reports stream in from eyewitnesses to the massive fires raging in the north of the country.
• Jerusalem Post: Prime Minister Netanyahu declares national day of mourning
• Haaretz: Turkey offers Israel help in controlling fire despite tense relations
• Jerusalem Post: Ashkenazi: IDF will do all it can to help extinguish fire 
• European nations answer Netanyahu’s call for help with Carmel fire

A fascinating, must-read column in the Wall Street Journal Europe by the highly respected Iranian dissident reporter Amir Taheri indicates the “impeachment Ahmadinejad” movement is growing in Tehran. Taheri says that 178 Members of Parliament have signed a petition calling on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to remove Ahmadinejad from office, and that 290 signatures are needed for the petition to be officially sent to Khamenei.

One of the reasons the anti-Ahmadinejad movement is gaining strength, Taheri writes, is the President’s continued assertion that he is in direct contact with the Twelfth Imam. Consider these excerpts:

The campaign to impeach Ahmadinejad is being orchestrated by Ali Motahari, a brother-in-law of Larijani and a member of the Majlis. Ali Motahari is the son of the late Morteza Motahari, a Khomeinist mullah assassinated by Forqan, a terrorist group of which Ahmadinejad has been accused of being a member. Forqan was inspired by the ideas of Ali Shariati, a Shiite propagandist who preached an Islam without the clergy.

The charge that Ahmadinejad is trying to push the mullahs out of power is based on his own claim that he has a direct line of communication with the Hidden Imam, a Messiah-like figure in Shiite Islam who is supposed to emerge at the end of time to install eternal justice.

Ahmadinejad constantly talks of the Hidden Imam but almost never mentions Ruhollah Khomeini, the mullah who created the present regime. Nor is Ahmadinejad keen to pay tribute to Khamenei. A man who talks to God wouldn’t bother with mere saints.

Several times a year, Ahmadinejad takes his entire cabinet to Jamkaran, a suburb of the “holy” city of Qom south of Tehran, to report to the Hidden Imam. In Jamkaran there is a well that is supposed to lead to the place where the Hidden Imam is in hiding. In a solemn ceremony, Ahmadinejad throws copies of his government’s budget and other edicts into the well for consideration by the Hidden Imam.

 The message is clear: A government that is preparing for the end of times, under the command of the Hidden Imam, does not need the mullahs.

OTHER HEADLINES WORTH TRACKING:

• Washington Post: Ahmadinejad: Iran nuclear program hit by sabotage
• AP: Iran accuses Israel, West in scientist slaying
• Daily Telegraph: WikiLeaks: US referred to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as ‘Hitler’
• New York Daily News: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: WikiLeaks ‘leaks’ are just United States ploy to make me look bad
• Jerusalem Post column by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon: Palestinian revisionism is the only obstacle to peace