The U.S. State Department has blocked the transfer of armaments and technology to Israel for the past three months, Middle East Newsline reported late last month.

The “unofficial suspension of U.S. arms deliveries,” which has been ongoing since September, is a significant setback to the tiny nation of Israel (Arutz Sheva, Dec. 28, 2006). It says it needs the equipment to refurbish its supplies in preparation for a possible large-scale war, which might include an attack from Syria.

The U.S. State Department has also recently prevented the sale of purely defensive weapons to Israel. According to Arutz Sheva, U.S. company Northrop Grumman was blocked from providing Israel with details of its Skyguard laser weapon, which is designed to destroy incoming short-range rockets and missiles.

“Nobody will say openly that there is a problem,” one government source said. “But there is a serious problem that reflects the marginalization of Israel in U.S. strategy ….”

As noted by Arutz Sheva, one possible reason the United States is reducing support for Israel is that the U.S. is seeking to appease Saudi Arabia, whose help it seeks in Iraq. Saudi Arabia supplies the U.S. with a little over 13 percent of America’s daily imported oil needs. In total, 21.7 percent of the U.S.’s imported crude oil came from the Persian Gulf in 2005.

Although this halt in arms sales to Israel may not signify the immediate end of America’s support for the tiny Jewish nation, trends certainly suggest that America will become an increasingly unreliable ally for Israel.

Zechariah 11:14 contains a prophecy that God would “break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.” This may well refer to a future break between America (biblical Israel) and the Jewish state (Judah). If America turned its back on the Jews, it would leave little Israel very isolated and vulnerable. This may be the scenario that hastens half of Jerusalem being taken (Zechariah 14:2), which will lead to Israel’s downfall.

For more information on this coming betrayal, and why Israel will look to Germany for its deliverance, read the booklet Jerusalem in Prophecy