Israel the Outcast

The terrorists who sponsored the Gaza-bound “humanitarian” mission in early June got exactly what they were aiming for: a lethal retaliation from Israel’s navy, followed by a tidal wave of international outrage against Israel. It doesn’t matter that 50 passengers on board the Mavi Marmara were linked to terror groups, or that the “peace activists” attacked Israeli commandos with metal rods, broken bottles, knives and stun grenades, or that three of the Turks killed by Israeli commandos actually wanted to die as martyrs, or that investigators discovered bulletproof vests, night vision goggles and gas masks on board the ship, while finding nothing that constituted real humanitarian aid.

All that matters is that Israel, once again, is the bad guy.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was “profoundly shocked” by the Israeli “military option.” Britain’s new prime minister, David Cameron, said the way Israel responded to the attack was “completely unacceptable.” The UN Security Council met for an emergency session to hurriedly pass a resolution condemning Israel’s “use of force” and demanding an investigation. Iran called for Benjamin Netanyahu to stand trial. Turkey, once regarded as Israel’s closest ally in the Middle East, condemned Israel’s action (sidebar, page 28) and rebuked the United States for not immediately joining the chorus of condemnation.

If Washington’s criticism seemed muted at first, it soon got louder. For one, the U.S. refused to veto the UN resolution. Then, according to a New York Times report, an official close to the Obama administration said Israel needed to employ a new approach on Gaza, calling the current blockade “untenable.”

On June 20, the capitulation began. In an attempt to ease international condemnation, Israel announced that it had effectively ended the land blockade. From now on, Israel will allow anything into Gaza as long as its primary purpose is not military. Even dual-use material will be allowed in.

Global pressure on Israel keeps getting worse. The time is coming when this tiny nation will no longer hold out against it. More capitulations are coming.

Already Israel is now seriously considering asking the EU to send monitors to Gaza’s border crossings (Jerusalem Post, June 21). This would be “a first step towards surrendering its sovereign control over its borders,” explained Caroline Glick.

It would also be the first step to another war. From 2005 to 2007 the European Union Border Assistance Mission supervised the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Under the EU’s careful supervision, Hamas managed to smuggle enough weaponry into Gaza to take over the government in a violent coup. Terrorists snuck in from Iran, and $68 million in cash was smuggled through the checkpoint in one year alone. Yet Israel is now considering letting these same border protection officials play a role in all of Gaza’s crossing points.

Strengthening Hamas—and Iran!

The Gaza embargo, keep in mind, never prevented humanitarian aid from reaching Palestinians—only weapons from falling into the hands of the genocidal government that controls Gaza. That is why Israel demanded the “freedom flotilla” to dock at an Israeli port—so shipments could be offloaded, inspected and then delivered to the people of Gaza.

But by demanding that the coastal blockade be lifted, the international community is basically saying Israel has no right to inspect shipments intended to re-supply Hamas—an untenable arrangement from Israel’s perspective, if ever there was one.

By siding with Hamas against Israel, as Glick noted on June 15, the West also backed Hamas against Fatah. This is why, in a meeting with President Obama after the flotilla incident, Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas insisted that the West should not act in a way that could be construed as a Hamas victory. He actually said the blockade should not be lifted—and that additional aid should be delivered through land crossings rather than by sea!

But rather than side with the more moderate Palestinian faction, U.S. President Barack Obama chose to stick with Hamas. During Abbas’s visit to Washington, President Obama announced that America would be sending $450 million in aid to Hamas. “So too,” Glick wrote, “Abbas is forced to cheer as Obama pressures Israel to give Hamas an outlet to the sea. This will render it impossible for Fatah to ever unseat Hamas either by force or at the ballot box. Hamas’s international clout demonstrates to the Palestinians that jihad pays.”

It also boosts the international clout of Hamas’s state sponsor in Iran. Even before the flotilla conflict, Mahmoud Abbas said on Egyptian television that unity between Hamas and Fatah is impossible because Iran has “hijacked” the Palestinian people.

And so what did the United States do? It sided with Hamas, which only strengthens Iran’s position. Iran is now hard at work arranging its own “humanitarian aid” flotillas. And Israel, of course, will be expected to clear the way for ships sailing from Iran to Gaza.

It gets worse.

Has the World Lost Its Mind?

In May, at the United Nations, a U.S. delegation broke a long-standing U.S.-Israeli agreement by endorsing a UN resolution calling on Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (npt). Since 1969, Israel had agreed not to publicly reveal its nuclear weapons capabilities as long as America promised not to pressure it to join the npt. As recently as May 2009, Obama assured Netanyahu this agreement still held.

But now, it is Israel—not Iran—that heads the list of existential threats in the Middle East. Now, Israel, the only free democracy in the Middle East, is singled out as dangerous—not the number-one state sponsor of terror that openly threatens to annihilate the Jewish state. And now, it is Israel that must disarm—not the regime in Tehran, which already has enough uranium for two nuclear bombs. Iran wasn’t even mentioned in the npt resolution.

According to the Washington Post, the Iranian delegation was so surprised by America’s endorsement of the UN resolution that it asked for the session to be postponed by four hours so that its diplomats could consult with leaders in Tehran.

These mind-boggling developments, as journalist Yossi Halevi noted in the Wall Street Journal, have many Israelis wondering: “Has the world lost its mind?” In fact, we are living in a world gone mad—one in which there is “a growing sense of empowerment among jihadists, and a growing sense of desperation among Israelis” (June 4).

This growing sense of empowerment among the jihadists will result in the emergence of Iran as the preeminent regional power in the Middle East—the biblically prophesied “king of the south” that will soon clash with the German-led European Union (Daniel 11:40).

At the same time, the Bible also foretold the “growing sense of desperation among Israelis”—and what this will lead to.

Dangerous Desperation

This latest PR disaster for Israel comes atop a string of defeats and setbacks that have left it increasingly isolated: the Gaza war, housing developments in Jerusalem, failed diplomacy with Turkey, a warming Iran-Egypt relationship, a strengthened Hamas and Hezbollah. It also further isolates the Jewish state from America. The Obama administration reportedly even told Prime Minister Netanyahu to return home early from his North American trip instead of visiting Washington as planned, because the Obama administration didn’t want him to use the White House as a stage to present Israel’s side of the story.

Caving to U.S. pressure, Israel agreed to allow foreigners to oversee an Israeli investigation into the Mavi Marmara conflict and took steps to ease the blockade. None of this, of course, will erase Israel’s bad-guy image in the world.

The growing desperation of the Jews as they lose their few allies; the peace process that continues to sap their strength; the severed alliance with the U.S. are all prophesied—as is the country Israel will turn to in its desperation.

More than 2,500 years ago, the Prophet Hosea wrote about Israel turning to its old enemy Germany for help: “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound” (Hosea 5:13).

The context of this passage shows that this is a prophecy for the end time. Avid Trumpet readers will have proved that Ephraim, Judah and Assyria are the biblical names for the nations of Britain, Israel and Germany, respectively. If you haven’t done this yet, you can do so by requesting your free copy of The United States and Britain in Prophecy. This scripture is talking specifically about the current German-Israeli relationship and an impending double-cross.

One of Jesus Christ’s signature prophecies regarding the end of this age was that there would come a point when Jerusalem would be “surrounded by armies”—and that this would be a signal “that the desolation thereof is nigh” (Luke 21:20). Put this together with Hosea 5:13 and other prophecies regarding the downfall of the Jewish state, and it can be determined that these armies are, in fact, European armies, and that their presence around Israel signals an imminent and catastrophic betrayal.

Yet there is good news for the Palestinians, for Germany and for the tiny nation of Israel. As our free booklet Jerusalem in Prophecy details, these developments are all leading up to the fulfillment of the greatest prophecy of all. The passage in Luke 21 concludes in verses 27-28: “And then shall they see the Son of man [Jesus Christ, at His return!] coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”