Israel News Digest Weekly 11-12-12

An interesting perspective (and several reasons to pray) from Israel News Digest's weekly newsletter: Will Israel Be the Big Loser? Foxnews recently carried an article written by K.T. McFarland about what to expect during the next four years now that Barack Obama has gained a second term. McFarland says, “Foreign policy is something Americans care about when the economy is good, and when it isn’t they hardly notice it. It’s hard to worry about what happens in the Mideast when you don’t have a job in the Midwest.” She believes that for the next four years, most Americans won’t pay much attention to what happens beyond our nation’s shores. When they do pay attention they will find America in a very different place in a very different world.  So what will happen in the next four years while Americans are looking for jobs so they can feed their families? According to this writer, we can look for the following: The big loser will be Israel. The tiny nation now has to make a choice – does it accept a practically nuclear Iran and keep President Obama’s support, or does it try to stop Iran unilaterally and risk Obama’s abandonment? Israel itself goes to the polls in a few months and this will surely be a critical issue. The big winner will be Iran. Obama will likely make a deal with the Iranian regime. In exchange for Iran stopping just short of nuclear weapons…the president will drop sanctions and restore relations. It will look like a diplomatic victory for Obama personally, but what it means in essence is that a nuclear Iran becomes a nuclear weapons state and can dominate the oil-rich Persian Gulf. The world’s energy security will to a great extent be in Iran’s hands. The big question mark will be the Middle East. Do Iran’s neighbors go nuclear themselves, creating a nuclear arms race in one of the most dangerous and economically important parts of the world? Or do they accommodate Iran, and let Iran dominate the region from Iraq to Egypt? The Arab spring nations will increasingly move toward chaos and Islamism and blame Israel and the US for their economic woes. As America retreats from the region, Israel will be isolated. Another Arab Israeli war is likely. So writes Katherine T. McFarland, who is an American communications consultant. The biggest change will be America's role in the world. The American economy will eventually recover, although it’s likely to be later rather than sooner. And when it does Americans will once again look beyond their shores. What we're likely to see is an America less involved with the world, especially in the Middle East and Asia. They will no longer be the world’s sole superpower; they won't be leading from the front, or even from behind. “Will that be so bad?” Maybe…maybe not, depending on who or what takes America’s place. But it will certainly be different than the way the world has been for the last 75 years. “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7). Reporting for CFI Jerusalem, Lonnie C. Mings