Storm Clouds Over Israel

by Todd Stromberg

In my 20 years of end-time service, I've never seen Israel facing so many enemies at one time. Currently, the Jewish state has to keep an eye on four fronts. In Southern Lebanon, Hezbollah has rockets aimed at Northern Israel. Syria has built up its force on its eastern border with Israel. In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Hamas has been provoking Israel by firing mortars into Israel. Iran is probably the greatest threat. It is seeking to develop nuclear weapons and has called for Israel’s destruction.

What is now called the Second Lebanon War seems to be setting the stage for what may come in the near future. Last year's battle between Hezbollah and the Israeli military is regarded to have been a disaster for Israel and a rare victory for her Arab foes.

The rethinking of the war has plunged Israel into political chaos. The government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is hanging by a thread. In Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, 120,000 demonstrators gathered to demand the Prime Minister's resignation. Olmert's own foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, has called for him to step down. Olmert has been very dismissive of any calls for him to resign. In an interview for Jerusalem Radio, he said, "Resigning is not a show of responsibility, it is a show of irresponsibility."

To make matters worse for Olmert, it's been revealed that he blamed his generals for the poor execution of the war. The Prime Minister told the Winograd Committee investigating the Second Lebanon War that he believes the Israel Defense Force "seriously let itself down" during the war. However, Olmert believes he made the "correct" decision to enter the conflict.

Israel's enemies must be delirious with glee over how they've been able to fluster the mighty Israel military. I would all but guarantee that some Arab group will soon try its luck again.

For many years, Syria has refrained from any conflict with Israel. They had been crushed too many times in battle to risk messing with their Jewish neighbor. The example set by Hezbollah may motivate Syria into seeking its own glory against Israel. Damascus has been insistent on getting back the Golan Heights. With the Israeli government in such a weakened state, Syria may try use a surprise attack as leverage in forcing Israeli to return the land.

The Southern Lebanese border is the most likely flashpoint. Israel had hoped it would take Hezbollah several years to recover from the heavily bombing it suffered during last summer's war. Unfortunately, Hezbollah has surprised everyone in its ability to quickly rebuild it arsenal of rockets. With Iran flooding armament into Lebanon, this terrorist group now has more arms than it did before the war. Some of its missiles are able to strike deep into Israel. According to one report, more than 100 of them have a range greater than 90 miles, enabling the heavily populated city of Tel Aviv to come under attack.

Military analysts have reached no consensus on when Israel and the U.S. might launch a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. The Russian military and British media have already set timelines for air strikes that have come and gone. Estimates on when Iran might be able to produce a bomb have ranged from one year to nearly a decade. With both Bush and Olmert entangled by political messes at home, it's hard to imagine them having the willpower to conduct a daring raid against Iran. For what it's worth, Vice President Dick Cheney has once again promised that the United States will not allow Iran to produce nuclear weapons.

There is the possibility that Olmert may try to turn his political fortunes around by giving land back to the Palestinians or the Syrians. European diplomats have been working on a series of peace plans. I think any such plan would only increase the chance for war. Because Islamic terrorists are constantly trying to fire rockets into Israel, there is a practical need for a buffer zone to keep Jewish settlements out of the range of small arms. If the Israeli army had remained in Southern Lebanon, Hezbollah would not have been able to fire 10,000 rockets into northern Israel.

What keeps driving the Arabs to attack Israel is a demonic hatred of the Jewish state. Satan knows that the only way for him to buy himself time is to remove God's chosen people from the Promised Land. Because the Bible predicts that the Jews will not be removed once they are regathered, the devil is fighting a hopeless battle.

The next war might be called the Third Lebanon War. With the Arabs pressing forward with a false sense of confidence in their military strength, World War III might quickly become a more appropriate title.

SOURCE: Rapture Ready