World News and Trends: Israel to strike Iran in coming months?

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Israel to strike Iran in coming months?

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According to a recent feature article in The Sunday Times, "Israel's armed forces have been ordered by Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, to be ready by the end of March for possible strikes on secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran, military sources have revealed" (Dec. 11).

Two days earlier Eric Silver reported for The Jewish Chronicle that "Prime Minister Ariel Sharon this week warned that Israel could not tolerate Iran having nuclear arms." Israel still hopes that the United Nations, the United States , the European Union or Russia will be able to persuade Tehran to rethink its determination to become a nuclear power.

But based on habitual Iranian stubbornness in resisting diplomatic pressure, the Israeli government has serious doubts that diplomacy without a real willingness to act militarily will do any good. Israeli chief of staff Dan Halutz said, "I believe that the political means that are used by the Europeans and the US to convince the Iranians to stop the project [persisting with the full uranium fuel cycle which could result in nuclear weapons] will not succeed."

The crisis could really surface in March when the International Atomic Energy Agency is scheduled to report on activities in Iran . If the diplomatic arm has not worked by that time, Israel believes that by the end of that month the crisis will have reached the point of no return.

Pressure to act against Iran also comes from former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, likely leader of the Likud Party in the next election. He has publicly stated that he supports Israel taking the type of military action used by the late Menachem Begin in knocking out Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981 just before it became operational. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Assefi promised a "devastating" response by Iran to any Israeli attack.

Also, news has recently surfaced that "Iran's foreign minister met leading figures from three Islamic militant groups to co-ordinate a united front against Israel days before a recent escalation of [military] attacks against Israeli targets shattered fragile ceasefires with Lebanon and the Palestinians" (The Sunday Times, Dec. 11).

If you would like to understand where Mideast tensions will finally lead us, request or download our free booklet The Middle East in Bible Prophecy. (Sources: The Sunday Times, The Jewish Chronicle [ London ].)