Will Israel’s Arab Outreach Backfire?
It was a scene unthinkable just weeks ago: an Israeli cabinet minister, tears of joy filling her eyes, proudly singing her country’s national anthem at a sports event in the heart of the Arab world. The spectacle of Miri Regev singing “HaTikva,” which describes the Jewish yearning for a homeland in Zion, was just one in a series of taboo-busting public appearances by Israeli officials in Gulf Arab states that have thrust the once-secret back channels of outreach into public view.
That is how the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera described the events of the last week. Miri Regev attendance at the Judo tournament was only one piece of positive public relations for Israel this week.
Two days before the tournament, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an unannounced visit to Oman, where he met with the sultan. This was the first visit by an Israeli leader in more than 20 years to the tiny Gulf state, a United States ally that has facilitated negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.
Israel’s transportation minister, Yisrael Katz, is scheduled to head to Oman next week for a transportation conference where he plans to present his plan for a rail link between Gulf Arab countries and Israel.
What can we expect of this thawing relationship between Israel and the Gulf states?
While it is positive to see Oman’s seemingly sincere acceptance of Israel, as well as the other overtures in Dubai, it is debatable how long these warming relations will continue given the unchanged attitudes of the Arab populations against Israel.
Based on Bible prophecy, we expect warming ties between Israel and the Arab states, especially due to mutual concerns about Iran’s rise. However, the Bible indicates that this relationship will be short-lived. A latter-day prophecy in Psalm 83 says an alliance of Arab states and Germany will actually cozy up to Israel, but that their intentions are anything but familial. To learn more about this coming double cross, read our article “A Mysterious Prophecy.”
Iran Planned Another Assassination Inside Europe
On Tuesday, Denmark announced it had interrupted an Iranian plot to carry out assassinations of Iranian dissidents on Danish soil. This is the second Iranian plot that has been foiled this year on mainland Europe. On October 26, France expelled an Iranian diplomat over a plot in June to attack an opposition rally.
On the same day, Denmark recalled its ambassador from Iran. Denmark now wants the European Union to impose new sanctions on Iran. But such a response against a clearly belligerent and dangerous Iran is far from the norm in Europe—at least so far.
The Wall Street Journal published an editorial about this this week:
Even as Iranian hit squads are setting up shop across the Continent, the European Union is displaying a fundamental lack of seriousness about a country uninterested in distinctions between bombs, missiles and assassinations.
However, as more of these Iranian actions continue to surface, Europe may start to see Iran’s true colors. Bible prophecy indicates that Europe will indeed wake up to Iran’s designs and will eventually have had enough. The book of Daniel shows that it is a German-led Europe that will stand up to Iran’s pushing.
The rapid succession of Iranian assassination plots in Europe can only push Europe toward this inevitability.
To learn more about this prophecy of Europe’s swing from pacifism toward confrontation in regards to Iran, please read Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s booklet The King of the South.