Geopolitical Challenges Facing Israel at the Moment
1. The
geopolitical climate in the epicenter deteriorated significantly in
2011, as has religious freedom in most of the Arab and Persian world.
- All evidence indicates that Iran
is closer than ever to building nuclear weapons, while also building
up its missile forces and the missile forces of its allies such as
Hezbollah and Hamas.
- The Iranian regime is signaling
that the Arab revolutions point to the imminent arrival of the
Twelfth Imam and the destruction of Israel.
- The Iranian regime is cracking
down ferociously on the house church networks there.
- The Muslim Brotherhood’s cynically
named “Freedom and Justice Party” dominated the first round of
Egyptian parliamentary elections — together with the radical,
Salafist “Al-Nour” party, the hardline Islamists have captured more
than 60% of the vote….Israelis expect Egyptian relations with them
to sour and Egyptian Christians expect persecution to intensify.
- Libya now appears to be in the
hands of Radical Muslims imposing Sharia law – the situation could
end up being worse there than under Gadhafi.
- Syria’s bloodthirsty regime has
killed more than 3,500 of its own citizens this year and the
openness that existed to spread the Gospel has evaporated — the
regime deserves to be overthrown.
- Iraq is requiring all U.S.
military forces to leave by the end of 2011.
- With Iraqi Christians are
increasingly under attack – including a direct attack inside a
church in Baghdad in October 2010, a deadly series of attacks on
churches in April 2011 at Easter, and a car bombing directly in
front of a church in Baghdad in August 2011 — thousands of
born-again believers and nominal Christians have received visas to
leave Iraq on the basis of religious persecution.
- The Palestinian leadership has
made peace with Hamas rather than Israel, and is trying to build an
international coalition at the U.N. to allow them to unilaterally
declare a Palestinian state without directly negotiating with
Israel.
- Russia will become an increasingly
important factor in the epicenter in 2012 as Vladimir Putin runs for
president again next March – if Putin wins, we should expect the
Kremlin to aggressively deepen alliances with Israel’s enemies. [Update:
Putin
shaken by United Russia's poor election performance; party formed by
Vladimir Putin sees support drop by 15% in result seen as test of
prime minister's personal popularity; also: Mikhail
Gorbachev calls for a new vote in Russia over allegations of voter
fraud.]
2. As
2011 ends, the prospect of a major war in the epicenter in 2012 is
significantly rising.
- Recently, I spoke with a Member of
Congress who met personally with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
and other senior Israeli leaders just before Thanksgiving – he
reported that the Israeli leaders weren’t asking for help; they all
seem resigned to the prospect that Israel will have to take action
on their own, and probably sooner than later.
- Netanyahu and Defense Minister
Ehud Barak are clearly laying the political groundwork inside Israel
to launch preemptive strikes if the world doesn’t take decisive
action first.
- The leaks out of Jerusalem about
the Netanyahu Cabinet actively discussing a preemptive strike don’t
appear to be planned – but they appear to be accurate.
- In early November, the Israeli Air
Force launched another major exercise to practice long range bombing
runs – previously the exercise had taken IAF fighter jets to Greece;
this time they flew to Italy.
- The former Mossad chief Meir Dagan
is warning Israel not to launch a war that he says would be a
“catastrophe.”
- Barak is reported to believe
Israel has a window of no more than one year to stop Iran from
getting the Bomb.
- The Obama administration is
publicly pressuring Israel not to consider preemptive strikes, based
on the notion that they fear Israel is preparing for such strikes.
- The French, British and Canadians
recently imposed new economic sanctions against Iran’s Central Bank
in attempt to force the Iranian regime to the negotiating table and
to forestall an Israeli first strike; the Obama administration,
however, refused to sanction Iran’s Central Bank.
3. In
light of these sobering realities,
The Joshua
Fund must remain focused
on executing our “Operation Epicenter” strategy as we “pray for peace,
but prepare for war.”
- We must be READY
for all eventualities — for a war, if it comes…for other possible
national disasters and crises…for a year that is calm after all and
provides us the opportunity to continue expanding our humanitarian
relief efforts to care for more poor and needy Israelis and
Palestinians, and to stockpile more resources for the future.
- We must be FAITHFUL
in teaching the Word God in order to: 1) educate and mobilize the
Church to bless Israel and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem; 2) to
strengthen the persecuted followers of Jesus Christ in the
epicenter; and 3) to encourage Israelis and Palestinians to
rediscover the power of Holy Scriptures and obey every command of
the Lord — after all, as the Hebrew Scriptures teach us: “The word
of the Lord came to Joel, son of Pethuel: Hear this, O elders, and
listen, all inhabitants of the land….’Wake up, you drunkards!’….Blow
a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all
the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the Day of the Lord is
coming; surely it is near….Return to Me with all your heart, and
with fasting, weeping and mourning….Then the Lord will be zealous
for His land and will have pity on His people.” (Book of Joel,
excerpts from chapters one and two)
- We must NOT GROW WEARY
in well-doing — it is not easy to stand with Israel, or be a true
blessing to the Jewish and Palestinian people, or
be a follower of Jesus Christ in the Middle East, but now is not a
time to get discouraged or fall asleep on the job, or get
distracted, or question whether the Lord hears our prayers and will
answer them with power….to the contrary, now is the time to trust
the Lord will all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to
remember that we serve a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God,
a wonder-working God.
- Here are some Scriptures we need
to keep in mind during this coming year:
- Ezekiel 38:7 –
“Get ready, be prepared.”
- Psalm 40:10 — “I
have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of
Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your
lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.”
- Isaiah 26:2 — “Open the gates, that the
righteous nation may enter, The one that remains faithful.”
- Luke 16:10 — “He who is faithful in a very
little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in
a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.”
- 2 Timothy 2:2 — “The things which you have
heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to
faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
- Galatians 6:9-10
— “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap
if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us
do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the
household of the faith.”
Thanks so much for your faithful
prayers and generous financial support, especially given how challenging
the economy is right now. We are so grateful to the Lord for you and we
ask the Lord to bless you and your family as you bless Israel and her
neighbors in the name of Jesus.
http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/state-of-the-epicenter-2011-year-end-report-to-the-joshua-fund-board-on-the-geopolitical-challenges-facing-israel-at-the-moment/
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