Deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia is ‘absolutely possible,’ says ex-Mossad chief

Yossi Cohen, citing ‘personal knowledge’ of potential dealings, strikes optimistic note, as senior Netanyahu aides said to be headed for Washington

By LAZAR BERMAN Today, 9:05 pm  

Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen speaks at a conference of the Makor Rishon newspaper at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, February 21, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90/ File)

Against a backdrop of measured optimism from Jerusalem over the chances of a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen said Sunday that such an agreement was “absolutely possible.”

Speaking at the Institute for National Security Studies, Cohen — Israel’s top spy from 2016-2021 — said, “in my opinion – and here I am leaning on personal knowledge on the topic — it is absolutely possible.”

“There is indeed in the Middle East a new era in which brave leaders… know how to create normalization,” he added.

There has been a flurry of reports that US-brokered talks between Jerusalem and Riyadh on starting direct flights for Hajj pilgrims are in advanced stages.

A flight deal could have the potential to lead to a wider normalization deal — which has long been sought by Israel but largely rejected by the Saudis.

In exchange for full normalization with Israel, Saudis are said to be demanding that the White House unfreeze some Trump-era weapons deals that were frozen when US President Joe Biden took office, and are also seeking a defense treaty with the US, similar to NATO, as well as the US stamp of approval for a civilian nuclear program.

This has been an ongoing development since the efforts of former President Donald Trump to bring about Peace in the Middle East.  This is not surprising to Bible Students as we fully expect to see this development based on Bible Prophecy that has foretold the alignment of Nations in the “latter days”.  The Bible describes a King of the North and a King of the South Geo-political Alignment of Nations in the last days prior to the last battle of mankind and the intervention of Christ to established God’s Kingdom on Earth Forever.  We read of this in Daniel Chapter 11:

“And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”

You can read more about this in this article: Alignment of Nations in the Latter Days

Russian Embassy in Stockholm threatens Sweden and Finland over NATO accession

By Charles Szumski | EURACTIV.com

 Mar 30, 2023 (updated:  Mar 30, 2023)

The Russian Embassy in Stockholm has threatened Sweden and Finland with military retaliation if the two countries join the NATO alliance, pointing to the increasing number of Swedes expressing solidarity with Russia and shunning Stockholm’s ‘transatlantic ambitions’.

The post appeared on the embassy’s Facebook profile on Wednesday evening.

“If anyone still believes that this will somehow improve Europe’s security, you can be sure that the new members of the hostile bloc will become a legitimate target for Russia’s retaliatory measures, including military ones,” the post reads.

The Russian Embassy accused Sweden of gradually becoming an American colony and criticised the country’s support of Ukraine.

“Sweden has been steady, step by step, deprived of its foreign policy sovereignty and prepared for an obedient transformation into another American colony,” it added,  noting that “Sweden, ignoring its own defence capabilities, is rapidly increasing deliveries of heavy offensive equipment, including taking it out of combat service.”

“Swedish volunteers are joining Ukrainian military forces and, by some extraordinary coincidence, are part of the Defence Forces’ continuous service personnel,” it added.

The Russian Embassy also claims that it has been receiving an increasing number of letters from Swedes who support Russia, though it declined to publish them.

“The embassy is receiving more and more letters from ordinary Swedes condemning Stockholm’s transatlantic ambitions and expressing their solidarity with Russia. We have already explained why we are not publishing them,” the statement reads.

Russia’s ambassador to Sweden, Viktor Tatarintsev, has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry, announced Foreign Minister Tobias Billström on Wednesday.

“It is important for Sweden to be able to protest against what is an obvious attempt at influence, and the most appropriate way to do this within diplomacy is to summon the ambassador and talk about it,” he said, adding that Sweden’s security policy is determined by Sweden and no one else.

Even though Finland has now been voted in to NATO, we can see from Russia’s response that NATO is a thorny issue with Europe.  This is whay leaders of both France and Germany have made noises about needing a different arrangement with Russia, French President Emmanual Macron has said that Europe needs a ‘Security Pact’ with Russia to put an end to the confrontation over NATO.

But despite what happens, the Bible has long revealed that Russia and an EU Army will enter into a final conflict with Israel and the Middle East.  Germany is the key country in what Bible Prophecy refers to as the land of “Magog”. They are spoken of militarily as the “King of the North”.  Together the Bible says that Russia and the EU will invade the Middle East in the Last Days.  So Bible Students expect to see Germany and France taking a greater role in leading Europe.  It is also interesting to see Germany taking greater control of a continent they tried to take by war and failed.

Yet again we see in Todays News Headlines words that show how the Nations are fulfilling the latter day alignment of Nations as Prophesied by the Bible. 

See this article to learn more about this and the latter day prophecies of the Bible.

See this article for more on this subject: WHAT IS NEXT FOR EUROPE

How Turkey is ruining NATOs moment of Unity

President Erdoğan is blocking the quick NATO membership addition of Sweden and Finland to the alliance.

By Jen Kirbyjen.kirby@vox.com  Feb 4, 2023, 8:00am EST

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan holding a press conference during the NATO Summit at the IFEMA congress centre in Madrid, Spain, on June 30, 2022. Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Jen Kirby is a senior foreign and national security reporter at Vox, where she covers global instability.

This July, NATO will meet for a key summit in Lithuania, a chance to get leaders together and showcase the alliance’s strength and renewed sense of purpose against the backdrop of Russia’s war against Ukraine. And NATO wants to do this in one very specific way: by welcoming two longtime holdouts, Sweden and Finland, into NATO.

Except right now, Turkish President Recep Erdoğan is threatening to spoil it all.

Erdoğan, specifically, is raising new objections to the ascension of Finland and especially Sweden over what Turkey perceives as the latter’s lax policies toward Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and other groups that Turkey deems terrorist organizations. Most recently, Erdoğan has used a far-right politician’s burning of the Quran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm to harden his opposition to Sweden’s NATO bid.

All NATO members must approve new ones, so Erdoğan’s opposition is effectively a veto. The Turkish president is not alone in declining support— Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is also holding out, for now — (Hungary have now said that they won’t stand in the way) but Erdoğan is seen as the more legitimate roadblock. Erdoğan is flexing his foreign policy power and influence, and seeking to improve his domestic political position, especially ahead of difficult elections this May.

While this may be just an internal political issue for President Erdogan, what we know from Bible Prophecy is that Turkey will be allied with Russia at the time of the end when Russia and Europe come down to invade the Middle East.

The Bible has long revealed that Russia and an EU Army will enter into a final conflict with Israel and the Middle East.  Germany is the key country in what Bible Prophecy refers to as the land of “Magog”. They are spoken of militarily as the “King of the North”.  Together the Bible says that Russia and the EU along with Togarmah (Turkey), Persia (Iran) and Cust (Ethiopia) will invade the Middle East in the Last Days.  So Bible Students expect to see Germany and France taking a greater role in leading Europe.  It is also interesting to see Germany taking greater control of a continent they tried to take by war and failed.

Yet again we see in Todays News Headlines words that show how the Nations are fulfilling the latter day alignment of Nations as Prophesied by the Bible. 

See this article to learn more about this and the latter day prophecies of the Bible.

See this article for more on this subject: WHAT IS NEXT FOR EUROPE

Europe Needs a Strategy for Russia After Putin

Competing ideas about the end state of the war are striving for dominance.

By Bart M. J. Szewczyk, a nonresident senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund and an adjunct professor at Sciences Po.

French President Emmanuel Macron is interviewed by French television host Caroline Roux in Paris on Oct. 12, 2022. LUDOVIC MARIN/FRANCE TELEVISIONS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

JANUARY 20, 2023, 12:36 PM

As the defense ministers of NATO and other nations met at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, today and tried to resolve their divisions over supplying Ukraine with the heavy weapons it needs to drive Russian forces out of its territory, it’s clear that there are very different visions of the end state of the war and the region’s future. Among European countries, especially, there are stark differences about long-term policy toward Russia. There are now at least three camps of thought competing for Europe’s strategic center of gravity.

The first camp seems to believe it can turn back the clock when the war is over. Last month, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz argued that Russia should “return to the fold” after the Ukraine war and resume normal business relations with the West. In the same vein, French President Emmanuel Macron has routinely emphasized dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said he envisions a new security architecture with Moscow that would establish “guarantees to Russia”—echoing Putin’s talking point that Russia is threatened by the West, not Ukraine by Russia.

The idea behind this approach is that Putin could be rationally persuaded to recognize his mistake in waging war against Ukraine and make amends. Macron, in particular, has repeatedly tried to reason with Putin through numerous phone calls—but without any success. Europe’s economic difficulties set off by high energy prices also drive this hope for rapprochement. Paradoxically, however, this policy may prolong the conflict, as it does not resolve the underlying issues with an aggressive, revisionist Russia. And the economic argument also appears weaker now that Europe has found effective alternative supplies of gas and oil.

Any cease-fire or peace agreement with an unreconstructed Russia will be inherently unstable—only a prelude to a future conflict.

A second camp among NATO allies wants to ensure that Ukraine wins and Russian war crimes are prosecuted. The invasion’s brutality—and its fundamental challenge to an international order with respected national borders—has pushed leaders in this camp to argue for a clear Ukrainian victory in which Putin’s aggression is not rewarded and Ukraine’s sovereignty over its territory is restored. During a visit to Kyiv in late November, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki framed the issue starkly: either Ukraine wins or Europe loses. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, and various European leaders echo this view. The goal of a clear Ukrainian victory usually goes hand in hand with the desire to prosecute Russian war criminals. This week, the European Parliament voted by an overwhelming majority to create an international criminal tribunal to do exactly that.

The underlying logic here is that to restore and preserve European peace, there is no alternative to defeating Russia and prosecuting Putin and his accomplices.

A third camp, barely voiced but emerging view is that Europe will only be fully safe if Russia itself is transformed. The brutality of Russia’s war, the grandiosity of the Kremlin’s claims over neighboring countries’ territory, and the openly genocidal intent voiced by Russian leaders and propagandists have evoked historical analogies to the Nazi regime—leading some analysts to call for a fundamentally different Russia.

Whether through decentralization, democratization, or dissolution, this line of reasoning goes, Russia must change in order to prevent more wars against its neighbors. Former Polish President Lech Walesa, for example, suggested that Russia must either democratize or reduce its power in order to prevent another war in five or 10 years.

The intuition for this approach is that any cease-fire or peace agreement with an unreconstructed Russia will be inherently unstable—only a prelude to a future conflict. While fundamental change can only be driven and established internally by Russians, it can also be encouraged and supported from outside—or, at the very least, be passively supported by not standing in the way.

As the views of Scholz and Macron become increasingly isolated in Europe, the continent’s policymakers appear to be gravitating toward acknowledging the need to defeat and perhaps even transform Russia. On the one hand, it is gradually becoming apparent that Europe’s core interests in peace, prosperity, and democracy cannot be served with Putin remaining in power. Turning back the clock, therefore, no longer seems to be an option—if it ever was a realistic one in the first place. Yet even if Europe has any direct influence over Putin’s departure, recent history of regime change counsels against applying it.

The view that Russia must be defeated has become more popular with shifts in the tide of battle. The massive supply of weapons into Ukraine – predominantly by the United States, but also by Britain, Germany, Poland, and other countries—has enabled Ukraine to regain significant parts of its territory. As horrific Russian war crimes come to light in liberated towns and villages, countries such as Poland and Canada have established special prosecutor teams to investigate and collect evidence in preparation for eventual prosecution under domestic or international legal mechanisms.

This is interesting as we fully expect to see the EU changed as a result of the Ukraine war.  And that change will ultimately involve the EU in drawing closer to Russia.  So, WATCH this ongoing development as this current war in Ukraine is causing the EU to rethink in a way none of us would have envisioned.  Europe will form a ‘Security Pact’ with Russia.

This EU SUPERSTATE will along with Russia enter into a final conflict with Israel and the Middle East.  Germany is the key country in what Bible Prophecy refers to as the land of “Magog”. They are spoken of militarily as the “King of the North”.  Together the Bible says that Russia and the EU will invade the Middle East in the Last Days.  So Bible Students expect to see Germany and France taking a greater role in leading Europe.  It is also interesting to see Germany taking greater control of a continent they tried to take by war and failed.

Yet again we see in Today’s News Headlines words that show how the Nations are fulfilling the latter-day alignment of Nations as Prophesied by the Bible.

See this article to learn more about this and the latter day prophecies of the Bible.

See this article for more on this subject: WHAT IS NEXT FOR EUROPE

France’s Macron proposes big rise in defence budget

Published: 21^st January 2023

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES Image caption,

President Macron gave details of his proposals to refocus the French military at an airbase in south-west France

By Paul Kirby

BBC News

French President Emmanuel Macron has detailed plans for a major boost to the armed forces, to meet modern threats including Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The next seven-year budget would increase to €413bn (£360bn) from 2024-30, up from €295bn, he said.

First France had to repair and restock its armed forces, then transform them, he told soldiers at Mont-de-Marsan airbase in south-west France.

“We must not do the same with more, we have to do better and differently.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted Western countries to review military spending – and in many cases, increase it significantly.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has outlined plans to increase the number of combat soldiers from 1.15 million to 1.5 million. President Vladimir Putin said this week that Russia’s powerful defence industry left him in no doubt that victory in Ukraine was assured.

President Macron acknowledged on Friday there were no more post-Cold War “peace dividends” now that Russia had invaded Ukraine, so the aim was to renew a military that protected France’s freedom, security, prosperity and place in the world.

Key to his reforms are a 60% hike in the military intelligence budget, adapting to “high-intensity” conflict with investment in drones, cyber-defence and improved air defences.

“We need to be one war ahead,” he warned.

This is an interesting development as France and Germany are the key leaders of the EU and both are planning major increases to their defence spending. And we know from Bible Prophecy that the EU will be with Russia when they come down into the Middle East with what is described as a massive army:  “^“15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: ¹⁶ And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days…”  Ezekiel 38:15-16

So, WATCH this development as it is a sure sign that we are living in the last days before Christ’s Return.

This EU SUPERSTATE will along with Russia enter into a final conflict with Israel and the Middle East.  Germany is the key country in what Bible Prophecy refers to as the land of “Magog”. They are spoken of militarily as the “King of the North”.  Together the Bible says that Russia and the EU will invade the Middle East in the Last Days.  So Bible Students expect to see Germany and France taking a greater role in leading Europe.  It is also interesting to see Germany taking greater control of a continent they tried to take by war and failed.

Yet again we see in Today’s News Headlines words that show how the Nations are fulfilling the latter-day alignment of Nations as Prophesied by the Bible.

See this article to learn more about this and the latter-day prophecies of the Bible.

See this article for more on this subject: WHAT IS NEXT FOR EUROPE

Putin has failed to bring Europe to its knees

Published: 30 December 2022, 11:52am

ALEXEY DANICHEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

Unforeseen events which provoke global a crises – such as Covid — have come to be known as ‘black swans’. By the same token, the end of 2022 has just been visited by a great big fluffy white swan.     Over the past 24 hours the main benchmark for European gas futures – the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), for gas to be delivered in February – has crashed below 80 Euros per MWh, taking it below the level it was on 23 February, the day before Russia invaded Ukraine. This, in the dead of a winter which we have been warned many times could see Europe’s shivering masses rioting in response to blackouts. It is beginning to look as if the continent might be able to get through the winter without the lights going out anywhere (at least not in response to gas shortages). Even more remarkably, wholesale gas prices have been falling in spite of a cold December in northern Europe.

What went right? Markets did their work, that’s what. The prophecies of doom weren’t entirely wrong, because without any action, Europe really would be shivering in response to the loss of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline – and that means us in Britain, too. The idea that we could remain aloof because little Russian gas made it through the European gas grid as far as Britain was a fantasy.

But of course, there was action. Indeed, the spike in gas prices in August, when TTF gas futures hit 345 MWh, was partly caused by European countries rushing to fill their gas storage facilities. High energy prices, and forecasts of even higher prices to come, were frightening for consumers but they also served a purpose in both encouraging production and discouraging consumption. There have been some mandates, such as operators of public buildings in Germany being ordered to reduce the temperature to no more than 19 Celsius. But mostly demand has been controlled by people simply wanting to save money.

At the same time, high prices have attracted imports of liquified natural gas (LNG) from the US, Qatar and elsewhere.   There was a bottleneck in the summer because of a shortage of facilities for receiving and processing LNG, which must be regasified when it is taken off ship. But that was resolved through the rapid construction of floating LNG terminals off Germany, the Netherlands and elsewhere. In the space of under a year Europe has gone from a gas supply dominated by pipelines from Russia to one which has far more diverse sources and should be more resilient to future shocks in any one country.   

The Ukraine crisis has left its mark: LNG by its very nature has higher underlying transport costs.    Moreover, the energy price shock has damaged European industry. Factory production has been curtailed, some of which might end up being permanently transferred to South Asia, where the energy market is not lumbered by legally-binding commitments to reach net zero. But there is no reason to assume that Europe will be struck down again by the very high gas prices which prevailed in the summer.

What promised to be a deep crisis in Europe has been averted – and the big loser is Vladimir Putin, who has sacrificed one of his biggest export markets without succeeding in bringing Europe to its knees.  

But despite Putin’s failure, he or rather another leader of Russia will bring an EU alliance to fruition.  So, WATCH this ongoing development as this current war in Ukraine is causing the EU to rethink in a way none of us would have envisions.  Europe will form a ‘Security Pact’ with Russia.

This EU SUPERSTATE will along with Russia enter into a final conflict with Israel and the Middle East.  Germany is the key country in what Bible Prophecy refers to as the land of “Magog”. They are spoken of militarily as the “King of the North”.  Together the Bible says that Russia and the EU will invade the Middle East in the Last Days.  So Bible Students expect to see Germany and France taking a greater role in leading Europe.  It is also interesting to see Germany taking greater control of a continent they tried to take by war and failed.

Yet again we see in Today’s News Headlines words that show how the Nations are fulfilling the latter-day alignment of Nations as Prophesied by the Bible.

See this article to learn more about this and the latter day prophecies of the Bible.

See this article for more on this subject: WHAT IS NEXT FOR EUROPE

Ukraine war tolls death knell for NATO

Logically, the option open to the US at this point would be to disengage. But that becomes an abject admission of defeat and will mean the death knell for NATO, and Washington’s transatlantic leadership goes kaput

December 26, 2022 by M.K. Bhadrakumar

President Vladimir Putin addressed an expanded meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry Board, Moscow, December 21, 2022.

The defining moment in US President Joe Biden’s press conference at the White House last Wednesday, December 21, during President Zelensky’s visit, was his virtual admission that he is constrained in the proxy war in Ukraine, as European allies don’t want a war with Russia.

To quote Biden, “Now, you say, ‘Why don’t we just give Ukraine everything there is to give?’  Well, for two reasons. One, there’s an entire Alliance that is critical to stay with Ukraine.  And the idea that we would give Ukraine material that is fundamentally different than is already going there would have a prospect of breaking up NATO and breaking up the European Union and the rest of the world… I’ve spent several hundred hours face-to-face with our European allies and the heads of state of those countries, and making the case as to why it was overwhelmingly in their interest that they continue to support Ukraine… They understand it fully, but they’re not looking to go to war with Russia.  They’re not looking for a third World War.”

Biden realized at that point that “I probably already said too much,” and abruptly ended the press conference. He probably forgot that he was dwelling on the fragility of Western unity.

The whole point is that the Western commentariat largely forgets that Russia’s core agenda is not about territorial conquest — much as Ukraine is vital to Russian interests — but about NATO expansion. And that has not changed.

The NATO alliance is under political threat between Russia and Europe.  One of the outcomes of the Ukraine war could see NATO losing support within the EU as they know they have to somehow live with Russia and this is why President Emmanuel Macron of France has said that longer term they need a   to form of a Security Pact with Russia, NATO will be a key issue in allowing that to happen.

The Bible has long revealed that Russia and an EU Army will enter into a final conflict with Israel and the Middle East.  Germany is the key country in what Bible Prophecy refers to as the land of “Magog”. They are spoken of militarily as the “King of the North”.  Together the Bible says that Russia and the EU will invade the Middle East in the Last Days.  So, Bible Students expect to see Germany and France taking a greater role in leading Europe.  It is also interesting to see Germany taking greater control of a continent they tried to take by war and failed.

Yet again we see in Today’s News Headlines words that show how the Nations are fulfilling the latter-day alignment of Nations as Prophesied by the Bible. 

See this article to learn more about this and the latter day prophecies of the Bible.

See this article for more on this subject: WHAT IS NEXT FOR EUROPE