Whither the new global dis-order?

Russia’s ruthless attack on the innocent people of Ukraine has direct and indirect consequences for Israel and the Jewish people. Most immediately, thousands of Jews are being forced to flee Ukraine, finding refuge in Israel via countries like Moldova and Romania. The work being done by the Christians for Israel team and others to bring the Jews of Ukraine to safety is simply unbelievable.

Are we witnessing the further fulfilment of the great exodus from “the land of the north and out of all the countries where I had banished them”, as predicted by Jeremiah?

“But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.” (Jeremiah 16:16)

The tragedy unfolding every day in Ukraine is not only a tragedy for Ukraine, it is also turning the global world order on its head. Since the fall of the iron curtain three decades ago it has widely been assumed that global capitalism was the universally accepted currency, and that even dictatorial regimes such as China, Iran and Russia could be kept within the fold of “civilized nations” through the simple imperatives of supply and demand.

That was of course an illusion, but the illusion itself has now been shattered. The reality is that autocratic regimes motivated by ideology will not be restrained by the liberal norms of the UN Charter and the global economic system that has arisen since WWII.

The existing institutions of governance are showing their inability to deal with this reality. The utter helplessness of the United Nations as an institution could be seen in the pleas of the Secretary-General to Russia to stop the bombing – as if Putin cares for the UN or its related organs such as the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court. He doesn’t. Neither do the other autocrats.

This war shows that the world is fragmenting into several competing systems or empires, each driven by ideology or religion. One of them is Western capitalism. Others include the regimes of China, Iran, Turkey and Russia, each with its own regional and global ambitions of control and neo-colonialism. These non-Western despots each make cynical use of global institutions as and when it suits their hegemonic aims.

There is no doubt the West is at least partly responsible for this war. It was, for example, US insistence since 2008 that Ukraine become part of NATO that incited Putin to take control of Ukraine.

Israel is placed precariously at the crossroads of these systems. We have thus seen Israel play a cautious role over the last weeks. Israeli Prime Minister Bennett even went to the Kremlin for discussions with Putin, at the request of President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an attempt to mediate the conflict.

It is impossible to predict how this will all play out in terms of Russia’s survival and its global influence. It is clear Putin will not give up his aims easily. What will convince Russia to stop with its violence? Will it continue beyond Ukraine, to threaten or attack other neighbouring states such as the Baltic States or Finland? How will Russia continue its operations in Syria?

Putin’s thinly-veiled threats to use nuclear weapons have instilled fear in Western leaders, afraid to take any military steps that may provoke Putin to press the button.

Instead, they have resorted to the most extensive regime of sanctions in history, that threatens to bring down the Russian economy. This will be a humanitarian crisis for ordinary Russians, and perhaps ignite further tensions. Remember Germany after WWI.

This sanctions regime is a new, undemocratic kind of global force, fracturing the lines between governments and the private sector, undermining ownership structures. It has huge implications for Israel. Will Israel be next in line for such sanctions, imposed by Western and Islamic nations as well as China and others who are united in their belief that Israel’s “occupation” of Palestinian territory, and Jewish “settlements” on those territories, as flagrant violations of international law?

It is important to remember that events in Ukraine are just part of a broader picture. Less media attention has been given to another unfolding disaster. It has been reported that talks in Vienna are close to finalizing a deal with Iran in which the USA and EU agree to lift the sanctions. Iran will receive an initial cash injection of $90 billion and an additional $50 million annually through oil and gas revenues. Effectively the agreement enables Iran to proceed to produce nuclear warheads within three years. Several top US diplomats have resigned in protest.

The latest report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) shows that Iran continues its gradual and steady process of ‘breaking out slowly’ towards achieving nuclear weapons capabilities and the status of ‘nuclear threshold’ country. The Iranians are now less than a month away from accumulating enough weapons grade uranium (WGU) for one nuclear warhead. Teheran is succeeding in keeping the level of scrutiny over its nuclear activities by international inspectors at a historic low, casting strong doubts on the ability of the IAEA to detect and warn the world if and when the ayatollahs decide to complete the steps needed to build an atomic bomb.

In Biblical terms, these events seem to be signs of the times preceding the Lord’s return–

“On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”  (Luke 21)

Although we cannot speak with certainty or authority, quite possibly we are witnessing the beginning of the events predicted over 2500 years ago by the prophet Ezekiel. In chapters 38-39, the Lord speaks through His servant Ezekiel of the “Gog and Magog” crisis, which (likely) will involve a coalition including Russia, Turkey and Iran seeking to “plunder” Israel. They will be stopped only by direct intervention of the Lord Himself. The conditions for those events are all coming into place, including the fact that the Jewish people have been restored to “the mountains of Israel” and Israel is becoming enormously rich in terms of capital and natural resources.

Whatever happens, we can be sure the Lord will bring to fruition the events that are necessary for Israel and the gentile nations to acknowledge His sovereignty: “And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 38).

Let us pray with increasing fervor that the Lord will protect the people of Ukraine and Russia, that President Putin will be convinced (or forced) to terminate the aggression, and that peace will be restored.

Above all, let those who believe in the infallible purposes of the God of Israel pray for the speedy coming of the Messiah to introduce His kingdom of peace and righteousness. Maranatha!

The Editorial Team – Israel & Christians Today

Putin’s monstrous new fascism has destroyed the globalised world order

Alistair Heath writes in The Telegraph: “The tools of economic war being deployed by the West against Russia are proving hugely effective. It’s not just state action: companies are voluntarily withdrawing and ceasing their activity, at great cost. Putin cannot possibly have conceived of such a reaction, and it will hopefully hit him hard. But this is also causing collateral damage… Beijing will thus continue to create an alternative economic, technological and financial system: it will build its own walled internet, banking system and reserve currency. It may bail out Russia, buying its oil and gas, turning it into a partial vassal. India will construct a rival civilisation-state, and Japan will reassert itself.”
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Russia, the Virtue-Signalling West and Israel

Caroline Glick: “What accounts for the whiplash-inducing shift in the West’s position? How did it come to pass that one day the Germans and Americans were giving at best a yellow light to a Russian invasion, and the next day they adopted financial measures aimed at bringing the Russian people to their knees and forcing Putin from power? It isn’t morality that is pushing their buttons.”
> Read more

This Isn’t Obama’s Iran Deal. It’s Much, Much Worse

Gabriel Noronha: “The deal being negotiated in Vienna is dangerous to U.S. national security, to the stability of the Middle East, and to the Iranian people who suffer most under that brutal regime…. With Robert Malley in the lead, the United States has promised to lift sanctions on some of the regime’s worst terrorists and torturers, on leading officials who have developed Iran’s WMD infrastructure, and has agreed to lift sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) itself. In exchange, Iran will receive fewer limitations than those imposed under the JCPOA, and the restrictions on its nuclear program will expire six years sooner than under the terms of the old deal. And that’s just the beginning.”
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Analysis of IAEA Iran Verification and Monitoring Report – March 2022

The Institute for Science and International Security reports: “The IAEA’s latest report details Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear activities and inspectors’ diminished ability to detect Iranian diversion of assets to undeclared facilities.”
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Is Iran “breaking out slowly” towards a bomb?

The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) reports: “The bottom line is that the talks in Vienna may actually be enabling rather than preventing a nuclear-capable Iran – by effectively allowing the Iranian regime to waste time in protracted negotiations and run out the clock while it completes its slow nuclear break out.”
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Update from Aliyah field worker Koen Carlier: “I felt like a refugee myself”

We are getting ready to receive another group of 120 refugees at the border. This week we will have helped more than a thousand Jewish refugees altogether – from Ukraine, through Moldova and Romania, and then hopefully soon to the Promised Land. God is bringing His people home, as described:  ^“I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.” Jeremiah 32:41
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150 Olim from Ukraine arrive in Israel!
Our team in Ukraine is working tirelessly to evacuate Jewish refugees and bring them to Israel. In partnership with the Jewish Agency, the first flight carrying 150 Ukrainian Jews arrived in Israel yesterday where they received a warm welcome. Finally safe, finally home.

Support our Ukraine emergency campaign: www.c4israel.org/help-ukraine