Signs of the Times – Part unknown

A Hundred Year War?

^“The Middle East is being watched as the most perilous flash point for an outbreak of war in 1970″. So, came the report of U. S. News & World Report correspondence from Tel Aviv as it appeared in the Jan. 5th issue. The Middle East is looked upon as the greatest threat to world peace among all the trouble spots in this earth. It is expected that the war of attrition which the Arab nations are waging against Israel will continue to escalate through the 70’s. It is possible, officials state, that full scale war between these two groups would precipitate the other powers into out and out war. Many fear that the present conflict may develop into something similar to the One Hundred Year War.

Since 1967, nearly 500 Israeli soldiers and civilians have lost their lives to the Arabs, while another 1,900 have been wounded. The Arabs, too, have suffered heavy losses in their persistent hostilities against Israel. In the same period, some 850 have been killed_________ another 2,000 captured. Neither side seem to be discouraged or deterred from their objective. One of the greatest dangers in these hostilities is the possibility of Israel waging a pre-emptive war against the Arabs. This could be precipitated by Israel’s fear that the Soviet-aided Arabs are gaining a military advantage over them. At the close of 1969, Israel carried out their heaviest raids against Egypt since the June, 1967 war. On Christmas day for 81/₂ hours, Israeli jets dropped bombs on rocket emplacements in Egypt. According to a report from Israel, all installations were destroyed.

The Arabs feel they must keep up their raids against Israel because unless they continue to challenge the Israeli occupation of 20,000 square miles of territory captured in the 1967 war, the new frontiers will become accepted as permanent

Peace Talks

The eleven point plan for peace submitted by the United States to suspend hostilities has been categorically rejected by both sides. Israeli Premier Golda Meir, after returning from a visit to Washington, accused U. S. officials of “appeasement”. The Israelis are becoming convinced that much of the tenor of the U. S. peace proposal was influenced by their investments in Arab oil. The plan as submitted to the Big Four included three main proposals: 1) The withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the West Bank of the Jordan River and the return to frontiers approximating those that existed before the 1967 Israel-Arab war. 2) Israel-Joardanian agreement on control of Jerusalem and its holy places. 3) A choice for Palestinian Arab refugees of repatriation or compensation by the Israeli government. Israel’s Deputy Premier Yigal Allon rejected U. S. proposals in unusually strong language. AlIon declared that Israel is ready to do everything in its power to effect a true peace with its Arab neighbors. He pointed out that Israel needed secure boundaries–“boundaries that are dependable with natural barriers.” To follow the suggestions set forth in the Peace plan, the boundaries would return to the old demarcation lines of 1949, thus placing Israel ”into a potentially strategic trap.” “We need borders that will give us the possibility of real self-defense”, the Deputy Premier added.

According to the United Nations partition resolution of 1947 which established an independent Arab and Jewish state, Jerusalem was set up as an international city. In 1948 the invading Jordan army conquered substantial parts of the West bank, annexing them to Jordan. East Jerusalem was also taken, and Jewish access to their holy sites was denied. To ask the warring states to return to the borders as they were 19 years ago, in the view of AlIon, is to recognize the Jordan ‘historical rights” of 19 years, as if that nation “had lived here for two millenniums.”

The Israelis also feared that taking back hundreds of thousands of Arab refugees would be inviting a civil war. Though the refugees, according to the plan, could choose either compensation or repatriation, they would be forced by the Fatah to remain in Israel, forming a fifth column, and threatening the internal security of Israel. Allon feels that it would be suicide for the Israelis to fight a war under the conditions imposed by the American plan. He also felt that all hopes of meeting the Arabs for a reasonable, sound, compromise are now shattered. The Arab leaders could not now be expected to accept any plan less than that proposed by the United States.

Libya Coup

It has been five months since the overthrow of King Idris in Libya, and his replacement with a group of young army officers. Most significantly, the new revolutionary government is cutting its ties with the western powers. The United States has been ordered out of Wheelus Air Base, where for the past ten years, its facilities were used for training American bombing crews. Though the $100 million installation is under a treaty with Libya which does not expire until December 24, 1971, the U.S. seems ready to pull out immediately. The British have also agreed to give up their bases at To­bruk and El Adem.

As reported in the last issue of the Tidings, the sudden change in the Libyan government has thrown the country into the camp of Arab radicalism. Libya’s strongman Murmmar Gaddafi has already “Libyanized” foreign banks, and will likely cancel the contract signed by King Adris I for a $336 million British built missile-defense system. France has stepped into the picture with a contract to supply 200 heavy tanks to Libya, as well as 50 Mirage Jet fighters. This large number of tanks and jets obviously is far more than Libya’s requirements, and it is supposed that the excess will be lent to Egypt to use in their war of attrition against Israel.

Arms by Subterfuge

Ironically, France has unwittingly contributed substantially to the military strength of Israel. Despite a French embargo on arms sales to Israel, the small Middle East nation succeeded in spiriting away five gunboats out of Cherbourg harbor in a subterfuge that caused world reaction, ranging from amusement to outrage. The boats had been ordered and paid for from Charles De Gaulle before France tightened their arms embargo on Israel. When the gunboats had been completed, the French allowed the Israelis to man them on out-of-port runs, but only to familiarize themselves with their operations. Limited fuel supply was also a safe-guard against their being stolen. On Christmas morn, after a night busily occupied with the storing of supplies, the five gunboats were slipped past the breakwater, single file. After turning south, they moved across the Bay of Biscay, maintaining radio silence for 64 hours. Tankers were awaiting them off Sicily and refueled the gunboats. Splitting up to avoid being boxed in by the Soviet fleet in the Mediterranean, they rendezvoused outside Haifa. On New Year’s Eve they sailed triumphantly into port amid the cheers of the waiting Israelis and the loud sirens of other ships.

To add insult to injury, the French were duped into believing that the Is­raelis had given up all hope of obtaining the gunboats. General Mordechai Limon, Israel’s chief of arms purchaser in Europe had signed away all rights to the boats, and was given back the $10 million originally paid for them. Later, a firm operating from Panama called Starboat & Weil, offered to buy the boats for the purpose of off-shore oil exploration. The operating heads of Starboat and Weil turned out to be Israelis, who insisted, even after the pretex had been discovered, that the gunboats were only to be used to service and defend Mediterranean oil rigs.

Because of Israel’s difficulty in obtaining arms, they have had to resort to subterfuge on several occasions. Several planes purchased by a dummy movie company in Britain, were flown to Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israel war, later turn­ing up in the Israeli Air Force. Needless to say, during their many conflicts with the Arabs, Israel has acquired considerable equipment. The most recent acquisition took place when, Israeli commandos made their way across the Suez and marched to an Egyptian radar unit. The commandos quickly dismantled the seven-ton Soviet-made radar unit, and packed it into two huge vans. Helicopters then air lifted the entire unit to a spot 17 miles inside Israeli-held territory. It is considered a very valuable prize by the Israelis; more so than a MIG-2I. The year-old radar unit possesses a range of some two hundred miles, especially adept at detecting low-flying planes. The unit also controls both conventional antiaircraft fire and ground-to-air missiles.

Conditions as they exist today in the Middle East cannot go on indefinitely. Sooner or later, the Soviet Union is going to make its move against the State of Israel — possibly through the Arab nations. With the proliferation of weapons on both sides, many high ranking officials feel that in this decade another decisive war will take place. As students of God’s Word, we know positively that Israel will be humbled before he is exalted. Though their determination to remain in the land is sufficient to withstand any Arab attack, the finger of God has traced future events in such a way, that Israel will fall before the northern invader. But, just as the night is darkest just before the dawn, so will Jacob’s trouble be most severe, just prim to the revelation of Jesus, the Messiah, who as the Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in his wings.

The small state of Israel has learned to live with the constant threat of war hanging over them ever since 1948, the date of the rebirth of Israel. Shelling, commando raids and terrorist activities have continuously harassed the Jews. The “war of attrition” waged against them has run high in cost and lives. Since the June war of 1967, some 450 Israelis have been killed by enemy action, and another 1800 wounded. This compares with 780 killed and 2,500 wounded in the Six-Day War itself.

Digging In

The Jews’ firm refusal to withdraw from occupied territory seized in the Six-Day War only intensifies the Arab hostilities. Most Jews feel that withdrawal from the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian territories would be suicidal. To allow the enemy to occupy these areas would only give them a fresh start in their determination to destroy Israel. The remark of a combat officer on the Suez front seems to sum up Israel’s spirit: “There obviously is no prospect for peace with the Arabs. We have lived with no peace and no war since Israel was established in 1948. We can live with it for another 500 years.” With a negotiated settlement with the Arabs seemingly hopeless, the Israelis are digging in for a prolonged struggle.

The land taken from Arabs is now being tactly annexed to Israel. Already’, nineteen Jewish farming settlements have been built in formerly enemy occupied areas, and more are planned. The Golan Heights in Syria is considered the most indispensable of the occupied territories. Before the Six-Day War, Jewish communities had lived and worked in constant terror of the Syrian gunners on the Golan Heights. With the taking of this land, the heights are now under Jewish control and the bunkers are empty. Regardless of a negotiated peace, Israel will not be willing to give up this vital area. Farming installations in the communities below are being established in the shadow of tanks and guns.

Further south in the Beisan Valley, Jews in the older farm communities are digging in for a prolonged existence with danger. There is scarcely a night that passes when a barrage of shells does not descend upon them from across the Jordan River. The children of these communities spend every night in deep reinforced shelters, invulnerable to enemy fire. It is planned to build more of these for the adults as well. Before the workers are allowed to enter the fields in the morning, it is necessary to check the farming land for mines. Though the constant shelling and bombing is frightening to the Israelis, they are not discouraged. It is reported, “Not a single member of the kibbutz has left. When the Arabs shell us, we go deeper. When we shell them, they run away.”

Arab Raiders

The Arab fellahin continue their terrorist activities against the Jews at every opportunity. The Jews, however are confident that the raiders will never succeed in establishing bases in Israel, as for instance, the Viet Cong have done in Vietnam. A high ranking military authority in Israel explains that the fella­hin are not guerrillas, but commandos operating across Israel’s borders from bases outside. Though terrorists groups have been set up, the Jews have been able to track down and disperse or destroy them. The terrain of the land is against the possibility that the commandos would attempt to set up bases inside Israel. Few of these groups actually penetrate Israeli-held land. Since 1967, in excess of 650 Arab infiltrators have been killed and 260 captured. According to Western intelligence, about 80% of all guerrillas who actually cross the Israeli border are killed or captured. Israeli intelligence places the figure at 90%.

Egyptian Danger Minimized

An actual shooting war is taking place at the other end of Israel. On both sides of the Suez canal, the two opposing armies have fortified the area with protective bunkers and large caliber artillery. Egypt has deployed six divisions, stationed from the Canal to Cairo. The gunners attempt to catch the Israelis on the opposite bank away from the protective bunkers. At night, commando units come across the canal to plant bombs and mines. The Jews retaliate with air strikes on Egyptian positions, and artillery of their own. Military authorities are confident that Israel’s superior installations can withstand any Egyptian offensive maneuver. Though the Egyptians’ hatred of the Jews is intense, it will take more than just hatred to defeat them. A sector commander of the Israeli forces said, You need the will to achieve your objective. And the Egyptians lack that. They could not succeed unless they got complete air domination — and I don’t think they will. It will take two or three generations for the Egyptians to change enough to be effective in war. And don’t forget, that we will be changing too.”

Libyan Coup

The confidence that the Jews have in their military superiority is to be expected in the light of Ezekiel’s prophecy which deals specifically with their latter day occupation of the land. They are to dwell there “confidently” (Eze. 38:14, 8), trusting, not in Yahweh Elohim, but in their own arm of flesh. It would be difficult indeed to find words that more adequately describe the ‘resent spirit of this people than those uttered by the “son of man”. Their pride will someday be broken, when the powerful gogian host descends from the north “like a storm” and “like a cloud to cover the land.” Among those accompanying-the Russian power will be Libya (V5). The,prophet. Daniel, is even more specific in respect to Libya. Speaking of the descent of the king of the north, he declares, “But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.” (11:43) This phrase implies that Libya should be counted in the military ranks of Russia. The word, “steps” above, figuratively im­ply companionship, and is from a Hebrew root, which means marching. For many years Bible students have wondered how this prophecy would be fulfilled, seeing that Libya has allowed the United States to operate Wheelus Air Force Base outside of Tripoli. These Western ties seemed an assurance that Libya would not assist in a military move against Israel.

The scene has suddenly changed in a quick coup that deposed 79-year-old King Idris I, throwing the country into the camp of Arab radicalism. A spokesman for the Revolutionary Command Council outlined the objective of the new government: ” “must liberate the Arab world —first and foremost Palestine, then the Persian Gulf. Foreign policy’ changes will be our No. I priority.” In pursuance of this policy, the new regime, in its first month of power gave nearly $1 million to Al Farah, the Palestine Arab terrorist organization, whose yearly budget is only $12 million. In the Newsweek Magazine for October 20th, the Senior Editor after a visit to Libya, wrote, . . it seems likely that a Libyan battalion will soon be sent to Egypt to help man the front along the Suez Canal.”

This remarkable fulfillment of Bible prophecy is but another sign, given us by God to indicate the time is near. We are truly blessed to be living in such dramatic days, when almost daily, we witness the fulfillment of divine prophecy. The signs of His coming are truly written across the political heavens, and we must follow the admonition of Jesus to “look up, and lift up our heads for our redemption draweth nigh.”