U.S.A. Alienates Friends

As a result of the “deal” brokered by the U.S. with Iran to curtail Iran’s nuclear program (Associated Press, November 24, 2013), Israel and Saudi Arabia have been working behind the scenes to create a fallback plan should the “deal” fail, including the use of Saudi airspace for a potential attack on Iran.  The Saudis stand ready to “assist an Israeli attack by cooperating on the use of drones, rescue helicopters and tanker planes” (Jerusalem Post, November 17, 2013).

Both Israel and the Saudis are frustrated with the U.S.’s apparent rejection of their concerns (ibid.). In an extraordinary comment, President Netanyahu observed that there was a historic “meeting of the minds” between Israel and leading states in the Arab world—“one of the few cases in memory, if not the first case in modern times” (ibid.). Ultimately, Israel and Saudi Arabia need U.S. protection in the region, and if they cannot get it, they might look elsewhere (Stratfor, November 26, 2013).

Bible prophecy speaks of a short-lived period of peace involving Israel and its Arab neighbors just before the end of the age (Daniel 9:27; 11:27-30; Psalm 83:5-8; Ezekiel 23:22-23)—a peace that will even lead to the Israelis sacrificing on the Temple Mount (Daniel 11:31; Matthew 24:15). Cooperation between Israel and leading Arab nations has been an elusive goal but cooperation against a perceived common threat could bring these nations together for a brief period of time. For more powerful information on this topic, be sure to review our insightful booklet The Middle East in Prophecy.