By Jan Markell
The Bible suggests the Middle East is the epicenter of the world. Recent events in Israel and related to Israel should have everyone's attention. I'm not a dreamer believing all eyes are on that region, but I am hopeful that a remnant is paying attention. Here's why:
1) On February 20, Israeli President Shimon Peres chose hard-line Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new Israeli government, ending days of speculation and giving Netanyahu six weeks to put together a ruling coalition.
2) Netanyahu might have little choice but to forge a coalition with nationalist and religious parties opposed to peacekeeping with the Palestinians and Israel's other Arab neighbors.
3) This could set Israel on a collision course with the U.S. -- the Jewish state's top international patron. Additionally, President Obama has vowed to make Mideast peace a top priority. His first call in the Oval Office was to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
4) Even deeper wounds will be the result if Netanyahu keeps his pledge to topple the Hamas government in Gaza. He is correct when he says Israel halted the Gaza offensive too soon. This will further enrage the world that has sympathy for the devil -- Hamas -- which wishes Israel be wiped off the map. Worldwide anti-Semitism is growing so fast that some compare parts of Europe to Germany in the 1930s.
5) On February 14, the Obama administration announced that it would be sending a delegation to Geneva to participate in planning the United Nation's so-called Durban II conference scheduled for late April. This sent shock waves through Jerusalem as these meetings are anti-Israel hate-fests. The Durban II conference was announced in the summer of 2007. Its stated purpose is to review the implementation of the declaration adopted at the United Nation's anti-Israel debacle that took place in Durban, South Africa, the week before the September 11, 2001, attacks on America. This is a serious mistake America and the Obama administration are making.
6) We are seeing the beginnings of Zechariah 12:3--all nations, including America, turning on God's land and people.
7) The conclusion can be made that some Israelis are sick of the antics of the Left in Israel. Her retreat in recent wars only allows her enemies to re-arm and plan further conflict without end.
8) It is now clear that the Obama administration will not make an effort to take out Iran's nukes, which are a danger to the entire world. It is up to Israel and Israel alone. The rest of the world is looking the other way, in denial, or hoping a group hug and "negotiations" with the Mullahs and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will make this nightmare go away. And when Israel does the world a favor by taking out some nuclear facilities, she will be excoriated around the world. Netanyahu is the man to take action. None of the doves in Israeli leadership in recent years would.
9) The Jews ignored the warnings of a previous Hitler in the 1930s and six million died. They are not going to sit and ignore the threats of the new Hitler in Iran. This may be the single reason why Israel's right-of-center leaders got the nod in the February 10 election.
10) Israeli politics is complicated. Political parties on the Left are threatening to throw a monkey wrench in all of this and they could.
The world is in turmoil now and particularly almost every nation's economy. This, too, throws out a welcome mat that says let's make Israel the scapegoat. The devil makes all nations think this is such fun! But "He who watches Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps" (Psalm 121:3). And the same God watches over you and neither slumbers nor sleeps.
Related Links
Officials: Clinton to visit Israel, West Bank - Yahoo News
EU: Netanyahu-led government could harm Mideast peace talks - Haaretz.com
Fisher: Iran likely to define Israel-U. S. relations - The National Post