I don't normally read Newsweek.
OK. I think this is the first time I've bought the magazine. Ever. But there was an interesting cover. It said, "Heaven Is Real - A Doctor's Experience of the Afterlife." That was enough to capture my attention. Kim started flipping through it and said, "Hey, there's an article about Israel in here." So I skimmed through the article about the doctor and his experience, which was interesting, and spent some time reading through the article about Israel. That's what I want to share with you.
The premise of the article was provoking all by itself. Using a team of people to serve as a mock presidential advisory team, in the aftermath of a pre-emptive Israeli strike against Iran, what would the response of the United States be? The details of the strike are not really that important, though I will give them to you. Israel, under the cover of night, strikes 6 Iranian nuclear sites. It involved covert landings in Ethiopia, India and Saudi Arabia, and a complicated electronic jamming scheme. During the attack, one Israeli plane went down, and the whereabouts of the pilot are unknown.
After spending a lot of time discussing the issue, the team concluded that there was a 100% chance of Israeli fatalities in the Iranian retaliatory strike. Following the retaliation, there is a 50% chance that Israel will strike back. At the same time, this panel of experts determined that there was a 50% chance that the United States will be drawn into the war, either to protect US interests, or to simply show support for Israel. They briefly addressed the issue that it is an election year, and that election is looming big right in front of us, but in the end, they didn't believe it would be a factor.
Honestly, I was surprised that the conclusion of this team was that the US would join the game. There is no doubt that the relationship between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu is strained at best, which is indicative of the relationship between our two nations. This fact was also not ignored by the panel, though I don't think they placed enough weight on the lack of trust between us. The bottom line is that in my view, the United States isn't prepared to engage anyone on behalf of Israel any time soon.
There were 5 goals identified by the team that the United States would have to keep in mind. They were, in no particular order,
1. Protect US citizens
2. Avoid war
3. Protect the world economy
4. Prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons
5. Protect Israel and other US allies from Iranian retaliation
When asked to prioritize them, protecting US citizens was number 1, protecting Israel was number 5. The others were interchangeable. Now this was not surprising.
In fact, several of the goals are conflicting. If protecting the world economy comes before protecting the people of Israel, if avoiding war is a higher priority than protecting the people of Israel, well, we can see where this is going. It really doesn't matter what the expert panel says they concluded when the goals that they establish, and the priority in which they are placed, are clearly not in the interest of US-Israeli relations.
I sincerely hope that the conclusions they draw, (which in my mind don't really match the facts presented in the discussion), turn out to be right, and that in the long run, the US would see the benefit to standing with Israel. I am just not sure that it will turn out that way. I am positive of a few things, though.
1. Those who bless Israel will be blessed.
וַאֲבָרְכָה, מְבָרְכֶיךָ, וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ, אָאֹר Genesis 12:3
2. Israel will be victorious in the end, because God will fight on her behalf when all others turn against her.
וְיָצָא יְהוָה, וְנִלְחַם בַּגּוֹיִם הָהֵם The Lord will go forth, and fight against those nations. Zech. 14:3a
3. While we have our responsibilities here, to vote according to our conscience, to stand for what we believe in, and to represent God until His Son returns to make things right, God is still in control, even if we don't understand what He's doing.
כִּי לֹא מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי מַחְשְׁבוֹתֵיכֶם, וְלֹא דַרְכֵיכֶם דְּרָכָי For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways. Isaiah 55:8
4. We, as believers, must continue to stand in the gap on behalf of Israel. If we don't, no body will.
וְאַל-תִּתְּנוּ דֳמִי, לוֹ: עַד-יְכוֹנֵן וְעַד-יָשִׂים אֶת-יְרוּשָׁלִַם, תְּהִלָּה--בָּאָרֶץ. And give him no rest, until He establishes and until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Isaiah 62:7
I would love to hear from you. What do you think?
Neal
OK. I think this is the first time I've bought the magazine. Ever. But there was an interesting cover. It said, "Heaven Is Real - A Doctor's Experience of the Afterlife." That was enough to capture my attention. Kim started flipping through it and said, "Hey, there's an article about Israel in here." So I skimmed through the article about the doctor and his experience, which was interesting, and spent some time reading through the article about Israel. That's what I want to share with you.
The premise of the article was provoking all by itself. Using a team of people to serve as a mock presidential advisory team, in the aftermath of a pre-emptive Israeli strike against Iran, what would the response of the United States be? The details of the strike are not really that important, though I will give them to you. Israel, under the cover of night, strikes 6 Iranian nuclear sites. It involved covert landings in Ethiopia, India and Saudi Arabia, and a complicated electronic jamming scheme. During the attack, one Israeli plane went down, and the whereabouts of the pilot are unknown.
After spending a lot of time discussing the issue, the team concluded that there was a 100% chance of Israeli fatalities in the Iranian retaliatory strike. Following the retaliation, there is a 50% chance that Israel will strike back. At the same time, this panel of experts determined that there was a 50% chance that the United States will be drawn into the war, either to protect US interests, or to simply show support for Israel. They briefly addressed the issue that it is an election year, and that election is looming big right in front of us, but in the end, they didn't believe it would be a factor.
Honestly, I was surprised that the conclusion of this team was that the US would join the game. There is no doubt that the relationship between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu is strained at best, which is indicative of the relationship between our two nations. This fact was also not ignored by the panel, though I don't think they placed enough weight on the lack of trust between us. The bottom line is that in my view, the United States isn't prepared to engage anyone on behalf of Israel any time soon.
There were 5 goals identified by the team that the United States would have to keep in mind. They were, in no particular order,
1. Protect US citizens
2. Avoid war
3. Protect the world economy
4. Prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons
5. Protect Israel and other US allies from Iranian retaliation
When asked to prioritize them, protecting US citizens was number 1, protecting Israel was number 5. The others were interchangeable. Now this was not surprising.
In fact, several of the goals are conflicting. If protecting the world economy comes before protecting the people of Israel, if avoiding war is a higher priority than protecting the people of Israel, well, we can see where this is going. It really doesn't matter what the expert panel says they concluded when the goals that they establish, and the priority in which they are placed, are clearly not in the interest of US-Israeli relations.
I sincerely hope that the conclusions they draw, (which in my mind don't really match the facts presented in the discussion), turn out to be right, and that in the long run, the US would see the benefit to standing with Israel. I am just not sure that it will turn out that way. I am positive of a few things, though.
1. Those who bless Israel will be blessed.
וַאֲבָרְכָה, מְבָרְכֶיךָ, וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ, אָאֹר Genesis 12:3
2. Israel will be victorious in the end, because God will fight on her behalf when all others turn against her.
וְיָצָא יְהוָה, וְנִלְחַם בַּגּוֹיִם הָהֵם The Lord will go forth, and fight against those nations. Zech. 14:3a
3. While we have our responsibilities here, to vote according to our conscience, to stand for what we believe in, and to represent God until His Son returns to make things right, God is still in control, even if we don't understand what He's doing.
כִּי לֹא מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי מַחְשְׁבוֹתֵיכֶם, וְלֹא דַרְכֵיכֶם דְּרָכָי For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways. Isaiah 55:8
4. We, as believers, must continue to stand in the gap on behalf of Israel. If we don't, no body will.
וְאַל-תִּתְּנוּ דֳמִי, לוֹ: עַד-יְכוֹנֵן וְעַד-יָשִׂים אֶת-יְרוּשָׁלִַם, תְּהִלָּה--בָּאָרֶץ. And give him no rest, until He establishes and until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Isaiah 62:7
I would love to hear from you. What do you think?
Neal
I agree with you brother! I (sadly)don't forsee our country "rushing" to support our brothers and sisters in Israel which is why we must stand with them the best we can and cover them in continuous prayer!
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