Accurate prediction for Israel

On December 28, 2008, the 21° Capricorn rising chart for Israel (sidereal zodiac) was discussed. Based on this chart the following prediction was made

"The difficulties facing Israel are likely to escalate and reach a boiling point towards the end of January and in first half of February [2009]. "

The prediction was repeated on January 25, 2009 under the heading Political strain ahead and rephrased as Israel being "likely to have a setback, possibly in the area of foreign policy."
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The timeframe for the prediction was January 27-29 when the transit 8th lord Sun would become conjunct a transit stationary Rahu/Ketu at 15° Capricorn/Cancer and opposite natal Moon as 7th lord of foreign affairs in the 7th house. Such contacts are usually seen to be accompanied by significant strain and when natal placements are involved to result in a setback to their indications.

According to the System’s Approach (SA), the indications under strain are the 7th house which rules "cabinet and internal affairs, pleasures, pleasure and amusement resorts, tourism, bond of relationships amongst masses and business establishments, foreign affairs and agreements" and the Moon which rules "the Administrator, the Cabinet, resources, fourth and seventh houses."

During these three days the following things happened:

January 27
#1 Israel forces attacked Gaza Strip after Hamas broke the 10 day truce by killing one soldier and wounding 3. The objective was also to stop smuggling of weapons through underground tunnels by Hamas.
#2 US President Barack Obama uses his first formal TV interview since taking office to reach out to the Muslim world.
#3 Iran resumes claims the Holocaust was a lie conceived to insert a Jewish state in Palestine.

January 28
#4 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Wednesday for "profound changes" in US foreign policy - including an end to support for Israel .
#5 After the Pope rehabilitated a Bishop who has claimed the Holocaust was a lie, the Rabbinate of Israel severed ties with the Vatican.
#6 Israel expels Venezuela envoy and political relations between the two states come to a standstill.
#7 Israel government announced it has severly reprimanded a solider for distributing a booklet to troops that advised they show no mercy to enemies.
#8 Seven human rights groups accuse Israel of “inhuman” treatment of Gaza detainees.

January 29
#9 After the election of President Obama, the USA has begun to make overtures to Iran aimed at reducing tensions. This has raised the hopes of the Iranian government but frustrated “hawks” in Israel like Benjamin Nethanyahu who said at Davos that ‘disarming a nuclear Iran was more important for world peace than resolving the global financial crisis’.
#10 The US President’s Envoy to the Middle East met with Palestinian leaders amid continuing violence on Gaza Strip.
#11 Turkey's prime minister Erdogan storms off the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos after a heated debate on Gaza with Israel's president Peres.
#12 Spanish National Court names former government ministers as suspects in an official inquiry into if Israel committed a "Crime Against Humanity" when bombing the Gaza Strip on July 22, 2002.

News sources
(#1) Israel launches attacks in Gaza
19:17 GMT, Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Israel has carried out an air attack in the Gaza Strip and launched an incursion with tanks and bulldozers across the border.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7853803.stm

(#1) Israeli jets target Gaza tunnels
04:23 GMT, Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Tunnel smuggling resumed shortly after the cease-fires were declared
Israeli air strikes have targeted the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt, as part of Israel's response to an attack on one of its frontier patrols on Tuesday.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7855086.stm

(#2) Obama reaches out to Muslim world
07:51 GMT, Tuesday, 27 January 2009
President Obama speaking to Al-Arabiya about Iran
US President Barack Obama has used his first formal TV interview since taking office to reach out to the Muslim world - saying Americans are not its enemy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7852650.stm

(#3) Holocaust a 'big lie': Iran govt spokesman
Jan 27 08:20 AM US/Eastern
Iran 's government spokesman on Tuesday branded the Holocaust a "big lie" created to place the Islamic republic's arch-foe Israel in the Middle East , the state IRNA news agency reported. "The Holocaust is a concept coming from a big lie in order to settle a rootless regime in the heart of the Islamic world," Gholam Hossein Elham told a conference on Gaza in central Iran 's religious city of Qom .
Flashback: Ahmadinejad -- Why Isn’t The Holocaust ‘Open To All Forms Of Research’?
Pope Reinstates Holocaust-Denying Bishop Who Believes No Jews Died in Gas Chambers
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.dcc1dae7280236f3833645ed9fa891cb.5e1&show_article=1

(#4) Iran: US policy must 'profoundly change'
Jan 28, 2009 18:24
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Wednesday for "profound changes" in US foreign policy - including an end to support for Israel and an apology to the Islamic republic for past misdeeds.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1233050195062

(#5) Israel's chief rabbinate severs Vatican ties
Jan 28 03:04 PM US/Eastern
Jerusalem (AP) - Israel's chief rabbinate severed ties with the Vatican on Wednesday to protest a papal decision to reinstate a bishop who publicly denied 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. The Jewish state's highest religious authority sent a letter to the Holy See expressing "sorrow and pain" at the papal decision. "It will be very difficult for the chief rabbinate of Israel to continue its dialogue with the Vatican as before," the letter said. Chief rabbis of both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews were parties to the letter.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D960BMO80&show_article=1

(#6) Israel expels Venezuela envoy
16:33 GMT, Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Hugo Chavez had called on Israelis to stand up against their government
Israel says it has ordered Venezuela's diplomats to leave the country, following the decision by Venezuela to sever diplomatic relations.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7856612.stm

(#7) Israel 'no mercy' officer rebuked
15:12 GMT, Wednesday, 28 January 2009
The Israeli military campaign in Gaza lasted three weeks
The Israeli military says it has "severely reprimanded" an officer who distributed a booklet to troops that advised they show no mercy to enemies.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7856384.stm

(#8) Gaza detainee treatment 'inhuman'
18:17 GMT, Wednesday, 28 January 2009
It is not known how many Palestinians were detained during the operation
Palestinians seized during Israel's operation in Gaza faced "appalling" conditions and "inhuman" treatment, Israeli human rights groups have said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7856372.stm

(#9) Tehran 'can co-operate with US'
17:13 GMT, Thursday, 29 January 2009
“Real change in Washington's policy in the Middle East would enable Iran to have a "co-operative" attitude towards the US, Iran's foreign minister says.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/davos/7859070.stm

(#9) Netanyahu: Iran nukes trump global economy
Thu Jan 29, 8:19 am ET (AP)
BBC DAVOS, Switzerland – Israeli election front-runner Benjamin Netanyahu told a session of the World Economic Forum on Thursday that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons ranks far above the global economy among the challenges facing leaders of the 21st century.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090129/ap_on_re_eu/davos_forum_netanyahu

(#10) US envoy to meet Palestinian head
09:46 GMT, Thursday, 29 January 2009
Mitchell says it is critical to extend the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire
George Mitchell, the new US president's envoy to the Middle East, is to hold talks with Palestinian leaders amid continuing violence in the Gaza Strip.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7857398.stm

(#11) Turkish PM storms off in Gaza row
23:52 GMT, Thursday, 29 January 2009
Turkey's prime minister has stormed off the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos after a heated debate on Gaza with Israel's president. Recep Tayyip Erdogan clashed with Shimon Peres, whose voice had risen as he made an impassioned defence of Israel's actions, jabbing his finger. Mr Erdogan said Mr Peres had spoken so loudly to conceal his "guilt".
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Turkey is one of the few Muslim countries to have dealings with Israel, but relations have been under strain since the Islamist-rooted AK Party was elected to power in 2002.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/davos/7859417.stm

(#12) Top Israeli official blasts Spanish court's probe
January 30, 2009 -updated 1 hour, 47 minutes ago
Jerusalem (CNN) -- A top Israeli official named as a suspect in a war crimes investigation by Spain's high court has lambasted the move, claiming Spanish law is siding with terrorist organizations. The case names former Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer and six other Israelis. Israel's Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer is one of seven Israelis under investigation by Spain's National Court over a 2002 bombing in Gaza that killed 15 people and injured more than 150 others. He was then the defense minister.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/01/30/spain.israel.gaza.lawsuit/index.html

Conclusion
As can clearly be seen, there has been a sharp increase of strain in the area of foreign policy for Israel. Importantly, it seems that Israel has also suffered a setback in its foreign policy in terms of likely changes in international relations, notably involving the USA which may take a more balanced approach to participants in the conflict. The international community also appears to be showing less tolerance for the hard line reactions of the Israel government even if dealing with extremist elements in the Palestine community. Accordingly, the prediction may be considered to have been realised. This is raising the confidence in the 21° Capricorn rising chart.

Looking ahead

Given the charged and unresolved state of affairs, it will be interesting to follow the developments in coming weeks when transit 12th lord Jupiter will become conjunct the transit nodal axis and oppose the natal Moon. At that time, there could be further losses for Israel in relation to the indications of the Moon.