Israel Watch: First Strike?

"Jerusalem will never return to the state it was in on the eve of the (1967) Six-Day War, that I promise you."

Those words this week from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu let the world know that the Jewish state will not be intimidated by Iran, or anyone else.

The Israelis even test-fired their own missile this week, one capable of reaching Iran. And now the Americans are engaged, checking on the possibility that Israel will consider a first-strike on the Iranians.

Whatever they do, it will be creative. And Iran will go the way of other threats from the past. This of course speaks to one of my favorite subjects, the absolute authority of Scripture.

It’s too bad that apologetics groups, mega-churches and various other ministries don’t emphasize the astonishing implications of this.

For example, Isaiah 54 tells us that the Lord will not permit any weapons developed against Israel to be successful. Let’s take this to its logical conclusion.

If young people could see that this proves the existence and absolute sovereignty of the God of the Bible, perhaps they wouldn’t feel so hopeless and despairing. In other words, if God has promised to preserve the Jewish people, and has done it in spectacular fashion, shouldn’t we have confidence in the rest of the Bible?

But of course, that’s not the message preached today by Brian McLaren, Fuller Theological Seminary, or the young Emergent pastors.

For its part, Iran continues to be belligerent, setting the country’s leadership up for a titanic fall. In October, the Iranian daily newspaper Jam-e-Jam claimed that a letter from EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was evidence that the West’s efforts to contain Iran through sanctions have failed.

When Iran’s Ahmadinejad said recently at the UN General Assembly gathering that his country might be willing to suspend its enrichment of uranium to low levels—in exchange for nuclear fuel from other countries—he barely concealed the mocking contempt he has for the West.

Blackmailing the West to provide nuclear fuel would enable the Iranians to continue to covertly produce enriched uranium.

There is also an instructive lesson for us in the story of Syria, as well. Western diplomats and politicians have made it crystal clear that they have no intention of intervening in Syria as they did in Libya. While Assad continues to slaughter his own people (3,000 by some counts), he has threatened to retaliate if efforts are made to stop his regime. If NATO brought down Quaddafi, they will not bring down the House of Assad.

The Iranians see this and know that the West will not help Israel stop their efforts at genocide.

That’s why it will be up to Israel and her God to stop the Iranians, and I have no doubt at all that they will.

Israel’s defense minister Ehud Barak is signaling to the international community that Iran is really a global threat—and the terror-state surely is—but even that won’t be an easy sell. It is human nature to sell-out a neighbor if it postpones your own demise. It’s the same with geopolitics, and particularly when the Jews can be put on the bargaining table.

There are no Churchills in our world today.

As Israel was test-firing its own missile last week, thought to be similar to the Jericho 3, and capable of reaching 4,000 kilometers, Italy proved that there is still some sanity left in Europe.

The Italians held joint maneuvers with the Israelis, as reported by the Jerusalem Post:

“That same day, the Israel Air Force announced that it had returned from a week of joint maneuvers with Italy over Sardinia that included long-range flights, midair refueling and complicated bombing runs. On Thursday, the Home Front Command held a large-scale civil defense exercise aimed at preparing the public for missile attacks in the center of the country.”

Good for the Italians!

Whatever happens in the coming months, we can be sure that it is Iran that is in real jeopardy, not Israel.