The Week in Review

Germany’s joint cabinet session with Israel, its surging military industry, Russia’s European flank and “the Belgian Ratzinger”

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Middle East

Relations between crucial allies Israel and Turkey deteriorated further last week following an incident where Turkey accused Israel of humiliating its ambassador after he was summoned by the Israeli deputy foreign minister. The move, initiated by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, followed recent Turkish television dramas demonizing Israeli soldiers as murderers of Palestinian children and depicting Israeli diplomats as child abductors. Israel’s attempt at tough diplomacy, however, backfired; Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon was forced to back down and give a full apology. It was a dramatic display of the crushing limits of Israel’s “toughness.”

The first-ever joint cabinet session between Germany and Israel on German soil was held Monday in Berlin. It was co-chaired by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, each of whom had 10 high-level officials in tow. These joint government consultations are a “very special event,” a German spokesman said ahead of the meeting. “Germany only conducts such meetings with a very few partners.” At the meeting, officials discussed strategies for bolstering political, economic and security relations between Jerusalem and Berlin. High on the agenda was Berlin’s efforts to mediate the prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel, as well as the billion-euro deal for the purchase by Israel of a German-built submarine and two stealth navy vessels. Beyond these peripheral issues, German and Israeli leaders tackled two issues central to Israel’s existence as a sovereign state: the ailing Middle East peace process and the Iranian nuclear program. Bible prophecy foretold this developing relationship—and reveals that it will end in tragedy.

The P5+1 group—the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany—met in New York on January 16 to discuss the nuclear stand-off with Iran. While the United States said the talks were constructive, Russia and China reportedly opposed any new measures against Iran. In a further setback to the West’s efforts, an Iranian official has said Tehran will not allow uranium to be shipped out of the country, diplomats in Vienna said Tuesday. Under a multinational nuclear deal made last October, most of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium would be sent out of Iran temporarily.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said in a meeting with Iran’s Deputy President Mohammad Reza Mir-Tajeddini that Lebanon’s relations with Iran are excellent, and that the two countries coordinate their positions in the UN Security Council, Lebanon’s Al-Mustaqbal reported January 17. In a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’d Al-Hariri in Beirut, Mir-Tajeddini said that Iran assists all the resistance movements that are fighting the enemies of the Arab and Islamic nation. Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani made the same point recently when he said Iran was proud of its support of Hamas.

Iran’s Mehr news agency reported January 16 that the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan signed an agreement at a summit in Kabul banning the use of each other’s country to harm each other. The foreign ministers voiced support for a regional solution, announcing a follow-up security summit in Islamabad, an economic summit in Kabul, and a summit in Tehran attended by officials from countries neighboring Afghanistan.

Europe

A German firm may be working with Iran to upgrade its gas network, just days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed Germany’s commitment to protecting Israel from Iran. The firm will provide 100 gas turbo-compressors, along with the technical knowledge to upgrade Iran’s gas distribution network, Ali Reza Gharibi, head of Iran’s Gas Engineering and Development Company, told the Mehr news agency on January 19. Although Gharibi did not name the German firm, industry experts say he was referring to Siemens. The National Iranian Gas Company, however, denied that any agreement existed, saying instead that there was a contract for an “Iranian company to build 100 turbo-compressors in Iran using a foreign partner’s know-how.” But even if this particular deal turns out not to be authentic, Germany and China are Iran’s top two trading partners after the United Arab Emirates, according to official figures. Still, even given Germany’s collusion with Israel’s enemy Iran, watch for the Jewish state to draw closer to it.

Concerns that the nation of Greece could go bust have led the European Commission to renew its attempt to audit member nations. With a budget deficit forecast at 12.7 percent, Greece is in dangerous financial territory. Yet even this figure contains “severe irregularities,” according to the Commission. The EU is using this as an opportunity to grasp more power. The European Commission has tried to seize the authority to audit member states before, but EU nations blocked it to protect their own independence. Now that view is changing, as more politicians believe the EU needs the muscle to prevent member states from descending into the same situation as Greece. That the EU would grab more control is exactly what theTrumpet.com predicted would happen as a result of Greece’s financial fiasco. Continue to watch for the EU to use the financial crisis of its own making to expand its power.

January 12, two of Germany’s top military manufacturers—Rheinmetall and man Group—announced their intention to merge their military vehicle production. The resulting combine will produce a new national champion and leading supplier for wheeled military vehicles in Europe. According to MarketWatch columnist David Marsh, the amalgamation, which has been in the works for a year, has been pushed by the political class. The German government is a big supporter of bulking up German military industry, and “has been providing behind-the-scenes assistance to make sure industry goes in the right direction,” reports Marsh. The new combine “meets the long-held German desire to build industrial companies with world scale in the defense field.” This is an alarming developing, considering the history of these firms. Rheinmetall and man Group have been at the forefront of German military manufacturing for decades. During World War ii the two firms worked together to produce the Panther tank. Both firms, despite the Allies’ initial ban on arms production, soon returned to weapons manufacturing. In fact, many German industrial giants of World War ii are now thriving, including ThyssenKrupp and Messerschmitt. Should we be worried? In 1996, the U.S. government declassified a top-secret World War ii document that exposed agreements made between several of Germany’s largest industrial giants and top German officials at a meeting just nine months before the war’s end. German industrialists were instructed to place existing financial reserves at the disposal of the Nazi Party “so that a strong German empire can be created after the defeat.” Germany’s recent corporate revival is just the precursor to a much larger non-peaceable event. For additional information, read our free booklet Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.

The Vatican has signaled its intent to become a more conservative influence in Europe through its appointment of the new archbishop of Brussels. Known as “the Belgian Ratzinger” because of his conservative views, André-Mutien Léonard will fill the office, it was announced at a conference on January 18. Many in Belgium fear he will be more involved in Belgian politics than his more liberal predecessor, Godfried Danneels. “Church and state are separate in Belgium, but when there are problems in our society, all the social partners sit down around a table, including representatives of secularism and of religion,” said Deputy Prime Minister Laurette Onkelinx. “Cardinal Danneels was a man of openness, of tolerance and was able to fit in there. Archbishop Léonard has already regularly challenged decisions made by our parliament.” Catholic newspaper editor Bert Claerhout said that the choice of Léonard “is clearly a conscious choice for a totally different style and approach: for more radical decisiveness rather than quiet diplomacy, for more confrontation with the secular society instead of dialogue, reconciliation and the quiet confidence that the tide will ever turn.” The appointment clearly shows what the Vatican is planning: to confront and catholicize a largely secular Europe.

Asia

On January 16, Taiwan and China entered into a new phase of economic partnership when three long-awaited policies went into effect liberalizing financial ties across the Taiwan Strait. Chief among Beijing’s motivations for the agreements was a desire to increase influence over Taiwan through economic dependence. China is committed to bringing Taiwan back under its wing, and will do so by military action if necessary—but so far, U.S. support of Taiwan has deterred China from using such force. Instead Chinese leaders are trying to win Taiwan back gradually through social, political and economic methods. Some Taiwanese perceive closer relations with China as a step toward Taiwan gaining greater freedom to bolster ties with other countries—ties that could help it resist China in the future; they feel the need for that insurance because the U.S. support Taiwan has depended on since 1949 is less reliable all the time. But a boost in Taiwan-China relations will prove counterproductive in protecting Taiwan’s freedom. Herbert W. Armstrong predicted Taiwan’s fate over 50 years ago: “Will Red China invade and capture [Taiwan]? In all probability, yes …. The Red Chinese ‘save face,’ and the United States, with many American troops now on Taiwan, will again lose face!”

It has been a good week for the Kremlin. Russia emerged as the only clear-cut winner from Sunday’s national election in Ukraine. Meanwhile, it appears the heretofore pro-West nation of Georgia is coming to terms with Russian power and is positioning itself for a future within the Russian fold. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich won the election with 35 percent of the vote. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko came second, with 25 percent. But because neither candidate garnered more than 50 percent of the vote, the two must now compete in a runoff election on February 7. Experts say the race for president is wide open. Ultimately, the winner won’t much matter—we already know the real victor. Prior to the election, think tank Stratfor wrote, “Whichever of these candidates wins, Ukraine will return to the Russian fold after the presidential election” (January 15). The more pro-European western part of Ukraine may still give the Kremlin some trouble, but the east (and the national government) is now firmly in Russia’s grasp. Georgia is taking note. There, politicians can see Russia consolidating its power over its neighbors. With the change in Ukraine, and the new customs union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, Russia only has one more nation to bring to heel: Georgia. “It appears that for the first time in years a political force is emerging in Georgia that is ready and willing to cooperate with the Kremlin,” writes Stratfor (January 19). Georgia will not be the only nation taking note of Russia’s success in Ukraine. Its actions are a warning to all of Europe, and especially Germany.

Anglo-America

This week in politics, Massachusetts surprised Americans by voting a heretofore unknown Republican into its U.S. Senate seat. On Tuesday, voters handed the seat that belonged to Edward Kennedy for almost 47 years to Scott Brown. The victory is viewed by some as a commentary on the party of his opponent, Democrat Martha Coakley, and on the Obama administration. Brown’s ability to block Obama’s health-care bill, combined with upcoming midterm elections, promises to consume Americans’ attention and political capital on domestic events while the world outside becomes a more dangerous place by the minute.

Florida is feeling some major effects from the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. The Miami Herald reported, “The Obama administration is preparing to handle applications from as many as 200,000 undocumented Haitian immigrants who want to live and work legally in the United States under a new immigration program unveiled last week in the aftermath of Haiti’s destructive earthquake” (January 20). Estimates quoted by the Herald said that Haitian immigrants in the U.S. send more than $1 billion back to Haiti.

On the other coast, California experienced heavy rains this week, and authorities urged residents to evacuate. There have been four Pacific storms in southern California, causing flooding in San Jose and flash flood watches in several other urban areas, including Los Angeles. Some counties there have extensive flood-control systems, but many of them are already full.