The clock is ticking, yet no one wishes to hear it. The countdown to a nuclear Iran has begun, and with each passing day the nightmare scenario draws ever closer to becoming a reality.

In just a few months' time, if all goes according to plan, the tyrant of Teheran will preside over a celebration of terrifying, and history-altering, significance.

His goal, as he has stated repeatedly in recent weeks, is to complete the installation of thousands of centrifuges, the devices used to enrich uranium, by the end of March 2007.

This will give the ayatollahs the ability to start producing nuclear weapons, and to spread nuclear terror far and wide, threatening the existence not only of Israel, but of Western civilization itself.

The would-be Hitler of Persia has already made it abundantly clear that he plans to wipe Israel and its millions of Jews off the map. And last week he told Western leaders that their turn would soon be next: "If you do not respond to the divine call," he warned, "you will die soon and vanish from the face of the earth."

Three months. That's all we've got. That's all that stands right now between the world as we know it, and one in which the Persian executioner will be able to put his finger on the nuclear button.

This can not be allowed to happen. The danger is too great, the peril is too real.

Now is the time for all those who love Israel to stand up and be counted. Now is the time for pro-Israel Christians everywhere, and especially in the US, to rise up and cry out on behalf of God's people.

Storm the heavens with your prayers, and the White House with your pleas. Speak out now and urge US President George W. Bush to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat once and for all.

BY NOW it should be clear: Nothing less than US military action is going to deter Teheran from pursuing its nuclear goals. Threats of sanctions and finger-wagging have failed to do the job.

Europe is hopelessly weak and conciliatory, and the United Nations is completely inept. There is one man, and one man alone, whom God has put in a position to stop Iran, and that man's name is George W. Bush.

But the president is under attack, as the media and his critics do their utmost to tear him down. They hate him and everything he stands for, and will stop at nothing to spoil his remaining time in office.

The president is a good man, and a man of faith. He knows what needs to be done; but like any leader, he also needs to hear from those who put him in office.

And that, dear Christians, is where you come in to play.

With your size and your influence, and yes, with your faith, it is you who can make a difference at this critical juncture for Israel and the West.

Many of my fellow Jews in the US are largely silent, afraid to be seen as leading the charge. It is as if they learned nothing from the Jewish people's horrific experience in Europe over six decades ago, when silence in America made possible extermination across the sea.

But you know better than that, and you are not afraid.

On issues that you care about, you have demonstrated an impressive ability to affect US policy, mustering the passion and power necessary to shape debate. Now, more than ever, is the time to do so again, for the threat to us all is very, very real.

Flood the White House and Congress with your concerns. Let them know that you fear for Israel and its safety. Urge your elected officials to hit Iran hard, and soon. Not merely with criticism, but with bombs as well.

Because unless the US Air Force goes into action, the mullahs of Teheran will jeopardize everything we hold dear.

Israel, as you know, is the "apple of His eye" (see Deut. 32:10 and Zech. 2:12). And G-d has made clear in His Scripture what He expects from people of faith at times such as these, when Israel is in danger.

"You who make mention of the L-rd," says the prophet Isaiah (Chap. 62: 6-7), "do not keep silent, and give Him no rest until He establishes and until He makes Jerusalem unto a praise in the earth."

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem," says the Psalmist, in Psalm 122. "They that love thee shall prosper."

These aren't just guidelines or recommendations from books of old. They are a command to each and every one of us, Jew and Christian alike, to stand up and speak out when Israel is under threat.

I have no doubt, not one iota of disbelief, that G-d will save His people Israel. Deliverance comes from Him, and Him alone. But each of us must do our part to help bring it about.

And you, dear Christians, now have the power, and the opportunity, to do so. To move the president's heart, and to save Israel and the West from a truly diabolical fate.

So please, don't tarry - we dare not delay. The clock is winding down, the alarm bells are ringing. Raise your voices in prayer and supplication. The time to do something is now, and there is not a moment to waste.

--- from my column in the December 13 Jerusalem Post

Anyone who thought the threat posed to Israel by rocket attacks had passed would do best to think again.

In a raid carried out in Tulkarem yesterday, Israeli security forces arrested two members of the Fatah Tanzim terror group who were involved in the manufacture of rockets, several of which they unsuccessfully tried to fire at Israel back in July.

The terrorists were being financed and directed by – you guessed it – Hizbullah in Lebanon, and had a weapons cache that included two rockets in the process of being built.

Obviously, this was no science project – but a clear-cut example of how the terrorists are simply using the current lull in hostilities to prepare for the next round of fighting, whenever it may come.

And it would seem logical to assume that the Tulkarem cell that was captured yesterday is just one of several that may be operating in the area, with the aim of preparing to open a second front against the Jewish state should the cease-fire in Lebanon fail to hold.

So don't let the surface calm fool you – the bad guys are already looking ahead, planning their next, horrific move.

Let's just hope that next time around, Israel and its leaders will know what to do.

The results of Israel’s elections are in. As I predicted in yesterday’s posting, the polls proved to be inaccurate, and Ehud Olmert’s Kadima party came in with 28 seats while the right-wing and religious parties did better than expected.

It will take some time for the dust to settle, and for the demands of the various factions to become clear. But at this stage, it is worth noting the following key points regarding the outcome:

1 - Olmert did not receive a mandate for further withdrawals. His Kadima party got fewer than a quarter of the votes, which is hardly a ringing endorsement by the electorate for his plan to uproot thousands of Jews from their homes.

2 – The anti-religious left was nearly wiped off the political map. In the outgoing Knesset, Shinui and Meretz together had more than 20 seats, or over one-sixth of the parliament. In this week’s balloting, Shinui was erased from the political scene, and Meretz dropped to just four seats. This is a stinging slap in the face to these two parties, whose platforms focused on making Israel into a more secular, and less Jewish, state.

3 – The electorate is growing increasingly disenchanted with “politics as usual”. With 28 seats, Kadima may be the leading party, but this is among the smallest number of mandates ever to be held by the largest faction in the Knesset. A loud and clear protest vote took place, with the joint National Union-National Religious Party receiving just 9 seats, and the Likud getting a mere 11. Votes flowed in large numbers to Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu (13 mandates) and the Pensioners’ Party (7 mandates).

Obviously, Israelis are tired of being duped by politicians, who promise one thing before the election only to carry out something entirely different afterwards.

And frankly – who can blame them?

Every once in a while, a newspaper headline succeeds in capturing the true significance of an historical moment.

“Future borders at stake as Israel votes” reads the front page of today’s Jerusalem Post, summing up the importance of this election.

Many on the right are still gripped by despair, disillusionment and disbelief over the events of the past few months and the failure of our representatives in the Knesset to live up to the principles which they were elected to uphold.

I fully understand these feelings, and I share the sense of frustration.

Nonetheless, we can not just sit back and wallow in hopelessness and despondency. Anyone who can vote must go out and do so.

The future of the country is at stake, and if enough right-wing voters head to the polls, there is a still a chance of preventing the left from obtaining a majority in the Knesset. This would seriously hinder Ehud Olmert’s plans to uproot tens of thousands of Jews from their homes in Judea and Samaria, and possibly prevent more territory from being handed over to the Hamas-run Palestinian Authority.

So, here’s my prediction for the results of the election:

Mr. Olmert and his Kadima party will win 25 to 30 seats, but the right-wing and religious parties will have a much stronger showing than the polls anticipate. Olmert will be unable to form a stable ruling coalition without reaching across the political spectrum to the right. His desire to rush headlong into extensive unilateral retreats will prove politically impossible to carry out.

But that, of course, depends on whether each and every one of us who loves the Land of Israel gets out there and votes. So please make sure that you do so.

At the same time that they are striving to develop a nuclear capability, the Ayatollahs in Iran are also busy intensifying their war-by-proxy against the Jewish state.

With Israel’s elections just days away, the Teheran terror-masters are urging their Palestinian cohorts to carry out a major attack.

Indeed, just the other day, Israeli police foiled a suicide bombing when they heroically captured a Palestinian terrorist on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway who was on his way to his target.

And now, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has revealed that the Iranians transferred $1.8 million to the Islamic Jihad terrorist group to carry out attacks against Israel.

This, Mofaz noted, is the largest short-term transfer of cash that Iran has ever sent to the Palestinian terror organization.

So let there be no mistake about what Iran’s intentions are: they want to kill as many Jews as possible, whether by funding terror attacks or obtaining more lethal non-conventional weapons systems.

Thus, however frightening or alarming the idea of a military operation against Iran may seem, we should have no doubts about why such an undertaking may have to be carried out. Quite simply – there may be no other way to stop the mullahs from pursuing their madness to the end.