Throughout March, Israel was besieged by terror in the form of suicide bombings. At one point, in the space of nine days four suicide bombings occurred, killing scores of people.
Israel is no stranger to terror. Since her inception, this small nation has come under attack from all directions. In spite of this history, these bombing attacks were much more gruesome than in the past. The Jerusalem Post reported that: “Police, accustomed to the grisly sights of such attacks, showed less professional restraint than on previous occasions. Seasoned uniformed policemen and detectives were not ashamed to express their personal shock and anger.”
Interestingly, Israel was not the only Middle Eastern nation to be struck by bombings. A bomb also exploded in the tiny Gulf nation of Bahrain, killing one and injuring two persons.
Who’s responsible?
An article in the March 7, 1996 Toronto Star stated that: “Israelis are stunned after an Arab citizen was convicted in the bombings.” The article reported that: “One of those arrested, Mohamed Wardch, made dramatic appearances on Palestinian radio and television with both a public confession and a public appeal to his comrades from Hamas’ military wing to stop the suicide bombs. ‘I am a member of the Izzedine al Qassam brigades who played a basic role in carrying out the Jerusalem, Ashkelon and Tel Aviv attacks,’ he said Tuesday night on Voice of Palestine. ‘I persuaded the three people who were martyred…to participate in the mentioned martyrdom attacks as human explosives.’ The next day, Wardch was convicted in a one-day trial in Jericho and sentenced by the Palestinian Authority to life imprisonment at hard labor. Later yesterday, he went further saying: ‘I did something wrong. If the military wing wants to do more, I call upon them to stop immediately.’ He added that the goal of the attacks had been to undo the peace process by ensuring the defeat of the Labor government in elections scheduled for late May.”
Also arrested was a truck driver who was charged with aiding a terrorist by smuggling him past a Gaza checkpoint in the back of his cab. The truck driver had admitted to taking $1,500 from an activist for Islamic Jihad, a sister organization that often works hand in hand with Hamas.
More than a few people involved
At first glance, it seems justice moved with remarkable speed. Within a few days, an arrest had been made, a public confession extracted and a harsh sentence imposed. Yet upon further examination, we find the bombings were hardly the work of a single radical organization. In reality, they were part of a very complex plot designed to wreak havoc in Israel.
Iran involved
As Bible students, we will anticipate that the organizations plotting Israel’s demise are likely mentioned in prophecies regarding the latter days. This is the case with the recent bombings.
On March 7, 1996, the Reuters news agency reported the nation of Iran was responsible for the attacks. “Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Tuesday threw U.S. support behind whatever action Israel takes in retaliation against recent bombings and accused Iran of enabling radical groups like Hamas to carry out such attacks. In an interview with news agencies and radio reporters, he refused to specify what kind of retaliation Washington might find too extreme, saying: ‘I think there’s an understanding on the part of the United States that Israel needs to take strong action to defeat the terrorism which has been so deleterious to the peace process and so deadly to its citizens.”
As to Iran’s alleged role in the four suicide bombings in Israel, Christopher said: “We know Iran is deeply involved in this at various levels — encouragement, funding and direction…The trouble we’ve had with Iran over the last several years is their export and encouragement of terrorism; their providing support for terrorism comes to a head at a point like this. It is a good lesson — ought to be — for the world as to why we’ve been so strongly opposed to Iran and to those who would give Iran the kind of financial support they can divert into terrorist activities of this kind. They [Iran] are deeply involved,” he added.
Christopher said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and the Palestine Authority that administers much of the West Bank and Gaza, can and must do more to prevent Hamas and other radicals from carrying out extremist attacks, but he strongly opposed congressional threats to end U.S. aid to the Palestinians saying this is “not conducive to Israeli security.”
The Bahrain bomb
Iran is not limited to exporting terrorism to Israel. On March 6, 1996, one person was killed and two were wounded in Bahrain while a bomb was being planted next to an automatic teller machine. The Reuters report indicated that those killed were of Iranian descent and in all probability agents of Iran.
As we approach the coming of Christ, it is interesting to note that the political alignment of world bodies is being harmonized with Bible prophecy. Iran (Persia) is fully committed to exporting terrorism to not only Israel but to those nations which support Israel.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One