Weekly Update: Israel, Iran and the US

It is widely reported that Iran is very close to being able to produce nuclear weapons. Many argue that this poses an immediate threat to all Western countries, in the first instance Israel. The radical Shiite regime that came to power in Tehran in 1979 remains committed to its ideologically-driven policy of destroying the Jewish State of Israel.

Since WWII, a core part of the US policy towards the Middle East has been its commitment to defend Israel. But the US is no longer the global superpower it once was, and its role in the Middle East is changing. President Biden and his Secretary of State Anthony Blinken have decided that China, not Iran, is the major global threat to US interests today. As the US withdrawal from Afghanistan indicates, they are trying to scale down US military presence in the Middle East, hoping for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian threat.

Caroline Glick argues that the US is abandoning Israel. For decades Israel’s dependence on arms from the US has led its security establishment to subordinate Israel’s own interests to those of the US, on the assumption that the US would always defend Israel. According to Glick, the US Administration’s approach to Iran shows that Israel can no longer rely on the US to defend Israel’s strategic interests. Israel needs to be prepared to defend itself.

Iranian-born foreign policy analyst Shay Khatiri says that diplomacy will not deter the Iranian regime from achieving nuclear capability. The fact that Iran will – unless prevented – achieve nuclear capability leaves three options: preparing for a nuclear Iran and learning to live with it; a military operation that would dismantle Iran’s nuclear program; and/or regime change before Iran acquires nuclear weapons.

The other development suggesting that the US is no longer both able and willing to ensure Israel’s security, is the fact that Biden and Blinken are reverting to the Obama/Kerry policy of pressuring Israel to cooperate in the establishment of a Palestinian State run by the PLO with its capital in “East Jerusalem”. This is demonstrated by the decision last May to recommence economic aid to Palestinian institutions, and most recently the decision to open a US consulate for Palestinians in East Jerusalem: a clear statement that the US opposes Israeli control, and claims to sovereignty, over Jerusalem. Colonel Richard Kemp minces no words, calling this an “irresponsible” policy that gives in to the Palestinian demands, overrides “the historic truth of the Jewish people’s deep-rooted connection to the land of Israel, including Jerusalem, for over 3,500 years”, and ignores the fact that the PA leadership remains committed to the destruction of the Jewish State. Conceding to the PA’s territorial demands will “hammer yet another nail in the coffin of peace”.

It thus seems that, more and more, Israel is isolated on the world stage. But Israel is not alone. The Bible says clearly that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is bringing His people home – not in order that they will be destroyed, but that His name will be glorified through them. He who “neither slumbers nor sleeps” will defend His people from their enemies.

Jerusalem Consulate: A Nail in the Coffin of Peace

Richard Kemp writes at Gatestone: “This may seem like just another diplomatic facility to issue visas, promote trade and take care of US citizens, with no greater consequence than the US consulate in Edinburgh, UK. But it is far more than a mere office for paper-shuffling diplomats. It amounts to a de facto US embassy to the Palestinians on Israeli territory. Its true purpose is to undermine Israeli sovereignty in its own capital city and will jeopardise future prospects for peace between Israel and Palestinian Arabs.”
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Israel’s post-American strategic challenge

Caroline Glick writes at JNS: “The Biden administration’s betrayal of Israel on Iran has devastated the basic conceptual framework at the heart of the Israeli security establishment’s strategic thinking.”
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A Plan B for Iran

Michael Singh writes at the Washington Institute: “Tehran has seemingly concluded that sanctions relief is no longer worth compromising for, so Washington needs to change that calculus by credibly sharpening the consequences.”
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Economic Sanctions on Iran Are Not Working

Iranian-born foreign policy analyst Shay Khatiri writes at Mosaic: “Iran is determined to have [nuclear] weapons, and sanctions and diplomacy are not going to stop it… Policymakers in the West have consistently failed to realize that Iran’s rulers prize ideology over prosperity, and survival above all else. It is this commitment to self-preservation that is at the core of their nuclear ambitions.”
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The Fathers | Romans 9-11 with Johannes Gerloff #17

The one, true, living God identified Himself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, as God of the fathers. “The Fathers” belong to those who are Israelites and, thus, Israel constitutes the crimson thread through history.