US Saudi deal to normalize Israel ties may be on the way, Biden confirms

US officials have sought for months to reach what would be a historic agreement between the long-time adversaries but the Saudis have been resistant.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF, REUTERS  Published: JULY 29, 2023 22:20

US PRESIDENT Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, last July: Saudi Arabia is not able to give up the American defensive shield, and believes Israel has a role in securing this.

(photo credit: MANDEL NGAN/REUTERS)

US President Joe Biden said on Friday a deal may be on the way with Saudi Arabia after talks his national security advisor had with Saudi officials in Jeddah aimed at reaching a normalization in relations between the kingdom and Israel.

“There’s a rapprochement that may be underway,” Biden told contributors to his 2024 re-election campaign at an event in Freeport, Maine.

Biden did not give details about the possible deal.

US officials have sought for months to reach what would be a historic agreement between the long-time adversaries, but the Saudis have been resistant.

The US-Saudi pact could involve normalization with Israel

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, in a piece published on Thursday, said Biden was considering whether to pursue a US-Saudi mutual security pact that would involve Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel.

Prime Minister Netanyahu holding talks with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Jerusalem on January 19. (credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, one of Biden’s most trusted aides, was in Jeddah this week with Middle East envoy Brett McGurk discussing the possibility of a normalization deal, White House officials said.

US officials see a potential deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia as possible after the administration of former President Donald Trump reached similar agreements between Israel and Morocco, Sudan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates under the rubric of the 2020 Abraham Accords.

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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

Climate Records Tumble Leaving Earth in Uncharted Territory Scientists

• Published 22^nd July 2023

By Georgina Rannard, Erwan Rivault, Jana Tauschinski

BBC Climate reporter & Data Team

A series of climate records on temperature, ocean heat, and Antarctic sea ice have alarmed some scientists who say their speed and timing is “unprecedented”.

Dangerous heatwaves sweeping Europe could break further records, according to the UN.

It is hard to immediately link these events to climate change because weather – and the Earth’s oceans – are so complex.

Studies are underway, but scientists already fear some worst-case scenarios are unfolding.

“I’m not aware of a similar period when all parts of the climate system were in record-breaking or abnormal territory,” Thomas Smith, an environmental geographer at London School of Economics, says.

“The Earth is in uncharted territory” now due to global warming from burning fossil fuels, as well as heat from the first El Niño – a warming natural weather system – since 2018, says Imperial College London climate science lecturer Dr Paulo Ceppi.

Here are four climate records broken so far this summer – and what they mean.

World’s hottest day on record

The world experienced its hottest day ever recorded in July, breaking the global average temperature record set in 2016.

Average global temperature topped 17C for the first time, reaching 17.08C on 6 July, according to EU climate monitoring service Copernicus.

Ongoing emissions from burning fossil fuels like oil, coal, and gas are behind the planet’s warming trend.

• A really simple guide to climate change
• What is El Niño and how does it change the weather?

This is exactly what was forecast to happen in a world warmed by more greenhouse gases, says climate scientist Dr Friederike Otto, from Imperial College London.

“Humans are 100% behind the upward trend,” she says.

“If I’m surprised by anything, it’s that we’re seeing the records broken in June, so earlier in the year. El Niño normally doesn’t really have a global impact until five or six months into the phase,” Dr Smith says.

El Niño is the world’s most powerful naturally occurring climate fluctuation. It brings warmer water to the surface in the tropical Pacific, pushing warmer air into the atmosphere. It normally increases global air temperatures.

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Despite what man has and is doing to the Earth, the Earth will not be destroyed because God is in Ultimate Control and He has a purpose yet to be established on this Earth.  God will not allow man to destroy the earth.

God’s Kingdom will be established on this Earth in perfect fulfilment of Bible Prophecy just as the days in which we are living with all their problems is fulfilling Bible Prophecy.  The real question is: WILL YOU BE IN GOD’S KINGDOM or will you be a casualty of these end times.

Putin ‘already lost’ war in Ukraine, says Biden

BY BRETT SAMUELS – 07/13/23 11:38 AM ET
President Biden said Thursday there is “no possibility” of Russian President Vladimir Putin winning the war in Ukraine while adding he’s “already lost” the conflict as Biden capped a trip to Lithuania and Finland as a show of strength against Russian aggression.

Biden, in a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, was asked whether his assurance that Ukraine will be able to join the NATO alliance once its war with Russia ends might encourage Putin to drag out the conflict.

Biden noted no country can join NATO while in the middle of a war, because it would drag the entire alliance into conflict — a stance Biden and his administration have been stressing this week as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the alliance’s resistance to fast-tracking its membership.

“The issue of whether or not this is going to keep Putin from continuing to fight, the answer is Putin’s already lost the war,” Biden continued. “Putin has a real problem. How does he move from here? What does he do?”

“And so, the idea that there’s going to be what vehicle is used, he could end the war tomorrow. He could just say, ‘I’m out,’” Biden added. “But what agreement is ultimately reached depends on Putin and what he decides to do. But there is no possibility of him winning the war in Ukraine. He’s already lost that war.”

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and the fighting has dragged on in the 17 months since with no end in sight. The U.S. and its allies have provided billions of dollars in support for Ukraine to defend itself.

Biden has previously argued Putin will not be able to win the war in Ukraine because the Ukrainians have put up a staunch defense in response to the Russian invasion, and his aggression has galvanized the NATO alliance.

The president this week attended a NATO Summit in Lithuania, where continued support for Ukraine was at the top of the agenda.

The U.S. and its Group of Seven allies announced plans Wednesday for security negotiations with Ukraine to ensure it had the military support it needed in the short-term and in the future to defer further Russian aggression. 

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Despite the unity of the NATO alliance, it will not last and Europe and Russia will come together in both a political and military alliance.  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.   See this article Ukraine War Tolls Death Knell of NATO

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

Biden Administration Engages in Long Shot Attempt for Saudi Israel Deal

The president and his aides are pressing an aggressive diplomatic effort as Riyadh makes significant demands in exchange for normalization, including a nuclear deal and a robust U.S. security pact.

President Biden arriving in Saudi Arabia for a visit that included meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last year. A normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel could reap benefits for leaders of both countries — and Mr. Biden.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times

By Mark Mazzetti, Ronen Bergman, Edward Wong and Vivian Nereim

Reporting from Washington, Tel Aviv and Riyadh

Publish: June 17, 2023Updated 4:15 p.m. ET

Shortly after his plane took off earlier this month from Riyadh, where he had held a lengthy meeting with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken called a different Middle East leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

Over 40 minutes, Mr. Blinken gave the Israeli leader a briefing about the significant demands the young crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was making for his nation to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel. Mr. Netanyahu had an update on his own demands.

The phone call — described by two American officials — was a turn in the Biden administration’s long-shot bid to broker a landmark diplomatic deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel, two historical adversaries who in recent years have been engaged in a discreet courtship in part over their shared distrust of archrival Iran.

The White House, which for more than two years has largely been content to sit out the poker game of Middle East diplomacy, has decided to make a bet and push some of its chips in. The United States is now in the midst of complex negotiations among three leaders who have their own reasons for a deal but are making demands that might prove to be too costly. And they simply do not much like or trust each other.

Several senior American officials said the chances of a deal could be less than 50 percent, and Mr. Blinken said he had “no illusions” the path to a deal would be quick. Still, a normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel would be one of the most dramatic events in a continued realignment of the Middle East, and could reap benefits for leaders of both countries, as well as President Biden, who faces re-election next year.

It would also make explicit what has been true for a long time: that the government of one of the Arab world’s most influential countries has effectively made its support for a Palestinian independent state a lower priority.

For Mr. Netanyahu, Saudi Arabia’s recognition of Israel would be a significant political victory for the embattled leader, whose hard-right coalition government faces fierce domestic opposition.

For his part, Prince Mohammed is seeking a strengthened security relationship with the United States, access to more American weapons and U.S. consent for the kingdom to enrich uranium as part of a civilian nuclear program — something that Washington has long resisted.

For Mr. Biden, drawing closer to Saudi Arabia carries political risks — he once pledged to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” — but a diplomatic pact in the Middle East could be a boon ahead of the 2024 election. American officials also see strategic importance in bolstering ties with Saudi Arabia: as a way to keep Riyadh from gravitating further toward China, two nations that have engaged in an increasingly warm embrace.

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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

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.

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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

NEW GAS DEAL WITH EUROPE TURNS ISRAEL INTO A SUPER POWER

written by David Mark March 14, 2023

Prime Minister Netanyahu travelled to both German and Italy this past week to ink a new gas deal with $5 billion euros annually.

More than the money, the deal is set to reset Israel-European relations by forcing Europe to reduce their overt support for “palestinian” NGOs and reexamining votes in the UN.

“You’re going to fall off your chair,” reporter Yossi Baum tweeted Monday night and continued: “It looks like the prophet’s vision of the end of times, but these are the facts: Israel is becoming a superpower. Our tiny country is becoming an extremely dominant and significant player vis-à-vis Europe, in a way that completely changes the rules of the game in the Middle East, including vis-à-vis the Palestinian Authority. This is unbelievable!”

Besides the gas deal, Netanyahu inked a $3 billion arms sale to Germany.

Strategic Effect On Russia

There is an unspoken strategic consequence of the gas deal. The deal will begin to cut Russia’s influence over Europe by changing Europe’s dependency on gas away from Gazprom in Russia, to Israel. The Europeans may hate the Jewish State, but if it’s a choice between Jewish Israel and Putin’s Russia, they rather deal with Israel. Even if they have to ultimately jettison the arabs in Judea and Samaria to get the gas they need.

With battle lines drawn between the West and the new axis powers of Russia, Iran, and China, Israel is quickly finding that is having to make some hard choices. Europe has been against the Jewish State for some time, but at the end neither Europe or Israel have little choice but to work together.

With Israel in the driver’s seat, its little surprise that Bibi seems unfazed by the leftist color revolution brewing in Israel. After all, while it appears that the State Department might be openly antagonistic to the State of Israel, Europe is changing its tune. This leaves America more and more isolated when it comes to Mideast policy.

End of Days?

Much of what we are witnessing in our generation is eluded in the Bible. It says in the Torah: “God shall enlarge Yapheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”

It is understood that Europe is the descendent of Yapheth, one of the three son’s of Noach, while the people of Israel are descended from Shem.

Beyond the gas deal, Netanyahu has asked Italy to recognize Jerusalem as the eternal and ancestral capital of the Jewish people.

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This is an interesting development and one that as the writer says is definitely pointing to the ‘End Days’ ie. a time which will soon see the Return of Christ.  It is also interesting to see Israel moving to a position of a major international supplier of Gas.  Israel of the last decade has been discovering more and more gas reserves as has Egypt.

Bible Prophecy about the time of the End says that Russia and Europe will come down into the Middle East to take a spoil, Ezekiel 38:10-13

^“10 Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: ¹¹ And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, ¹² To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. ¹³ Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?” 

So, could the large Gas reserves in Israel and Egypt become part of the “spoil” that Russia and Europe will be drawn down to take?

See this article about the Real Biblical Armageddon

Europe Doesn’t Need the United States Anymore

January 30, 2023  in Europe, News

The Russian military’s weaknesses have been apparent since the early days of the war in the Ukraine. The staggering losses in troops and equipment, Moscow’s inability to adequately equip or even supply its troops, and the multiple shifts in command—Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov being Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest choice—have exposed the myth of the Russian army’s supposed invincibility.

The jostling between Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group—a private army active in the key battles of Soledar and Bakhmut—and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as well as Russia’s high command attests to deep and persistent friction among the very people Putin counts on to run the war and attain victory.

Still, nearly a year since the invasion began, Russia is still regarded by many as a formidable military power and a dire threat, not only to Ukraine itself but also to Europe as a whole. This continues to be the predominant lesson drawn from the Russian military’s decision to invade what is—the European part of Russia aside—Europe’s largest country in land area and one of its most populous.

Driving this widespread assumption is the misguided notion that Europe is simply incapable of defending itself without the help of the United States and that in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine the U.S. military presence has to be beefed up—which it has. This belief is pervasive in the corridors of power in Washington and Europe and was reiterated most recently by Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in December.

This assessment—of a Europe rich and technologically advanced but in effect defenseless—was compelling for much of the Cold War. Back then, the Soviet Union had a substantial conventional military advantage over Western Europe. Soviet troops were forward-deployed all across Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe (which formed part of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact), with more than 300,000 Soviet troops stationed in East Germany alone. European economic recovery was also a work in progress.

Today, however, this view is flat-out wrong.

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A somewhat startling headline, it will be interesting to see this thought continue to develop within the EU as the EU is challenged to deal with its future security post the Ukraine war no matter how it ends.  President Emmanual Macron wants to bring Russia back to the negotiating table and begin dialogue on some form of a Security Pact with Russia, NATO’s existence in its current form will be an issue even more so now.

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