Washington, D.C. The Obama Administration has just announced that it will transfer a record $60 billion worth of military equipment to Saudi Arabia. This is the largest allotment of defense material to the Saudis in U.S. History. The defense package includes 80 state-of-the-art F-15 jet planes, and numerous Apache and Blackhawk helicopters. In a press conference, Andrew Shapiro, Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs, described Saudi Arabia as a “key partner in this [Middle East] region.” When the Obama Administration referred to Israel during the press conference, that nation was never given similar accolades. In fact, minutes later in the press event, Abel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia Ambassador to the U.S. was given the podium and he praised “all” of the Muslim countries who he said had “all” pledged themselves to peace; but then he bitterly chided Israel for its alleged failure to secure peace in the region. Have the Arab nations pursued peace? They have consistently failed to demand that their protégé, the Palestinian Authority (P.A.), officially recognize the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. Earlier this month, when a high ranking P.A. official, Yasser Abed Rabbo, even hinted that he might support such a thing if, in return, Israel abdicated all of its land that it had won in the Six-Day War of 1967, the Fatah Party, which rules the P.A. quickly denounced him and demanded his resignation. How has the Obama Administration handled this issue? While it is planning to dispense huge defense gifts to the Saudis, the Administration’s State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, in a press conference on October 12th, was asked six times by reporters whether the Administration would insist that the Arab nations and the Palestinian Authority recognize Israel’s right to exist. Six times he dodged the question and refused to give an answer.
This is all very interesting considering two things: (1) the upcoming national elections, and (2) the polls that show a devastating critique of the Obama Administration’s Middle East policy regarding Israel. President Obama was elected with 78% of the Jewish vote in America. That support has now dropped to 51%. Further, according to a recent poll by McLaughlin and Associates, 93.5% of all Americans believe that the U.S. should be concerned about Israel’s security. A full 42.7% of Americans are now convinced that the President Obama’s policies have actually harmed Israel; only 29.6% of those polled thought his policies were helpful to Israel. More than half of all Americans also believe that President Obama is less friendly toward Israel than other Presidents. In book number two of our End Series (Thunder of Heaven), which follows our first novel, Edge of Apocalypse, and which will be released in the Spring of 2011, we explore in more depth the Biblical importance of Israel in God’s sovereign plan, and particularly God’s prophetic pronouncements found in Ezekiel 37 and 38. We also illustrate the importance of the choice that a future America will have to support Israel or to foolishly reject it. But that choice should not be put off until the future: America and its leaders need to support Israel right now. Further, every American needs to decide whether it is best to please God or man. America desperately needs the blessing of God. After all, the Lord’s covenant in Genesis 12:1-3 is both eternal and irrevocable.
© Tim LaHaye and Craig Parshall
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