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This week President Trump made Israel his priority stop during his first foreign trip as president, a trip notably scheduled quicker than the past five U.S. presidents who visited Israel before him. The original purpose of the trip was to signal tighter US-Israel ties. Trump also wished to erase the acrimony many felt festered between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama.
After eight years of the stormiest relationship with Israel in U.S. history, has President Trump laid the foundation for better days ahead?
This question was asked of Bill Koenig on our television program Christ in Prophecy. Bill has been a White House Correspondent for the last fifteen years. He is president of a news website called World Watch Daily, and he publishes a weekly report called "Koenig's Eye View from the White House." Bill is also the author of a telling book titled Revealed: Obama's Legacy.
[Note: Bill's answer below has been edited slightly for grammar and clarity.]
New Relations With Israel
Bill Koenig: Chapter 3 of my book is titled, "Israel's Existence in Danger and Middle East Chaos." It examines the contemptuous relationship the United States fostered with Israel due to President Obama and the many repercussions since his departure.
At the beginning of Obama's first term, as soon as Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State, she had this misguided idea of putting the squeeze on Israeli settlement construction. That certainly started the relationship off on the wrong foot. US-Israeli relations fared no better after her while John Kerry was Secretary of State. He didn't treat Israel well at all.
Right after he took office in January 2009, President Obama went to the Turkish parliament and then on to Cairo, Egypt. On June 4, 2009, he addressed the Muslim world directly, talking about how great Islam was and the importance of Islamic relations here in the United States. One misstep after another after another came out of the Obama Administration in order to appease Islam and pressure Israel.
Obama wouldn't even entertain a formal press conference with Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu. At one time even, Obama snuck Netanyahu into the White House through the kitchen, leaving him there unannounced, and then went up and had dinner alone with his family. Obama didn't treat Netanyahu very well.
So, obviously, Netanyahu is very happy about the new Trump Administration. President Trump greeted Netanyahu during his first visit back to the White House with full honors, and held a press conference with him afterwards. I was there to see it in person, and the meeting was fantastic. Spirits were very good!
A Shift in Policy
The good news concerning a potential new war in the Middle East is that the Trump Administration is operating the best, most realistic, most pragmatic security team in history. Men like Mattis, McMaster, Pompeo with the CIA, and others are key people who fully understand the number one threat to Israel and to the United States, and frankly to the International community at large, is the state of Iran. They are not afraid to call Iran for what it truly is — an Islamic terrorist state. That's absolutely a huge shift in our government's position concerning Islam.
Clearly, I'm rather optimistic that our relations with Israel will continue to improve under a Trump presidency, without a doubt. They started off from the first day on the right foot to improve significantly. The Sunni countries are even excited about the Trump Administration's security team, because they already have had a good working relationship with Mattis, McMaster, and the other generals. These men are true warriors. We had the warrior mentality taken out of the Pentagon during Obama's time in office, but the warrior mentality has returned and is back in charge of the Pentagon. The warrior mentality is vital to our national security and is key to our national defense, and also helps protect our good friend Israel.
General Mattis, the Secretary of Defense, went on his very first trip over to South Korea and Japan. While there he said that the United States would stand and defend our allies. It was a veiled message to North Korea and China. China has been usurping islands within Japanese territory, and Mattis made it clear that the U.S. was going to defend them. His next trip was to NATO, and while meeting with the NATO leaders he conveyed that the U.S. was committed to NATO, but stipulated that every nation needed to pay their fair share. It was a great meeting!
Mattis is incredibly popular. He even was approved 98 to 1 in the Senate, which gives you an idea of his clout. The Media gave Mattis the nickname Mad Dog, which he doesn't fully appreciate, but the guy's a warrior and an intellect. He's read probably 5,000 or 6,000 books on history. The man truly understands history.
McMasters' strength is being an out-of-the-box thinker. Pompeo's got a proven track record as a great Christian congressman and now head of the CIA. He was probably the most outspoken member of Congress about the bad Iran Deal. He's already been over to the Middle East before. Good things will be happening with these guys!
Hope for Israel
Israel is one of the smallest countries in the world, about the size of New Jersey. The country's dimensions are only about 300 miles long and about 75 miles wide. Israel's population remains very small at nearly 6.5 million Jews, with 1.5 million Arabs living within its borders. Surrounding the nation of Israel are 350 million Arabs, many who want Israel destroyed. The situation looks hopeless for Israel.
Myself though, I believe there remains hope for Israel's survival, because the God of Israel will always protect and defend His Name. Our Heavenly Father neither slumbers nor sleeps.
As a watchman in these end times, I keep informing people of what's happening from a biblical perspective. We are living during the most exciting time of biblical history. Bible prophecy plays out right before our eyes!
I used to speak 15-20 years ago about the two or three final day events playing out at the same time. Today, though, we have every sign of the end times the Bible gives us playing out all at once. Prophecy has accelerated at a breathtaking pace. The time-clock to look at for when prophecy will be fulfilled is Jerusalem. Every nation in the world wants to divide the city of Jerusalem. Virtually almost every nation in the world wants to give Judea and Samaria to a future Arab state. None of this should surprise us, for the Bible prophesied about these events long, long ago.
The book of Zechariah states that in the end times the whole world will come against Israel over the issue regarding who controls Jerusalem. Jerusalem will become a burdensome stone to the world. We are seeing that specific Bible prophecy being fulfilled, played out in the daily news. Jerusalem remains the focus of the world. When some Palestinian throws a rock at a Jew in Israel, or vice versa, well it's front page news heard all around the world. When a suicide bomber runs his truck into an Israeli crowd, the story makes front page news. For every Middle East peace conference that is held, or if Israel starts building homes in Judea and Samaria, that's front page news throughout the world.
The fact that the whole world obsesses over this tiny little country, a country the size of New Jersey, stands out as biblically significant. God remains the God of Israel as always before. I've been watching this scenario play out for a long time, and it's really exciting, and it helps me keep world events in a healthy perspective. Because, for the first time, all the signs of the end times are converging.
Also significant to me is the year 2017. We have some historical patterns converging in 2017 and 2018. Many don't realize that 2017 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem. Next year is the seventieth anniversary of Israel becoming a state.
I feel that those who understand Bible prophecy are so blessed. Sure, sadly we're a small percentage of people who attend church, and even understand the biblical significance of the times in which we are living. We are such a small minority who fully understands that Genesis to Revelation is the Word of God, and when we understand God's Word, how awesome it is to watch His divine plan play out!
[For the complete interview, watch Christ in Prophecy and read The Christ in Prophecy Journal.]
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