GNITN – Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 77

Is America Blessed Now?

Houthis Backed By Iran

No one should be surprised to find out that the rebels in Yemen are being funded and helped by Iran. We’ve known this for quite a while, however in an article from The Times Of Israel we get confirmation from the United States:

Iran has been “deeply involved” in the planning of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels against commercial vessels in the Red Sea, providing weapons, funding, training and “tactical intelligence” to enable the strikes along a critical sea corridor, US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson says in a statement.

Citing newly declassified American intelligence, Watson says “Iranian support throughout the Gaza crisis has enabled the Houthis to launch attacks against Israel and maritime targets, though Iran has often deferred operational decision-making authority to the Houthis.”

And the help isn’t exactly new:

“Since 2015, Iran has transferred advanced weapons systems to the Houthis, including Unmanned Aerial Systems, Land Attack Cruise Missiles, and ballistic missiles that have been used in attacks against maritime vessels, including commercial vessels with no known links to Israel, and in attacks against Israel since October,” Watson says.

The article goes on to note that if such aid were to be cutoff, the attacks would stop:

Without ongoing Iranian support, “the Houthis would struggle to effectively track and strike commercial vessels,” Watson says.

In a separate report from i24news.tv we get this quote from an unnamed security official how needed the help from Iran is:

“The Houthis don’t have the radar technology to target the ships,” an unnamed security official was quoted in the report as saying. "They need Iranian assistance. Without it, the missiles would just drop in the water."

So why doesn’t the United States stop the flow of information and help to the Houthis? Going back to The Times Of Israel article the reason is this:

The US has established a naval coalition to protect the Red Sea global shipping lane. However, the Biden administration has not yet taken the step to reverse its decision to declassify the Houthis as a terror organization. US officials say that Washington is still considering the move.

Same Old Story, Same Old Tune

In a call from the United States directly to Israel Defense Minister Gallant we read of America wanting Israel to actively do the same things we’ve heard over and over again. Things I might add that Israel is already doing and things that are keeping the IDF from actually speeding up what is actually being requested as we read in this report from The Times Of Israel:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a relatively rare call with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant yesterday to discuss “active efforts” to secure the release of the hostages in Gaza and facilitate the entry of more humanitarian aid into the Strip, the State Department says.

Blinken hasn’t made a call to Gallant since October 16, according to the State Department, as Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin is the administration’s normal conduit to the Israeli defense minister.

Blinken has spoken more often with war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, but increasing humanitarian aid into Gaza is high on the US agenda and Gallant’s ministry has more authority over this effort.

Here is the laundry list of things the US government wants:

The rest of the US readout includes the usual talking points regarding the US effort to prevent the conflict from spreading; steps to de-escalate tensions in the West Bank and the Lebanon border; the importance of Israel protecting civilians and the US commitment to establishing a Palestinian state.

As I said, this is more optics than anything else.

And I Might Add, Political

Since Biden needs to shore up his standing with the Jewish vote for the upcoming presidential elections the constant banter showing his support may actually be working as we read in this report from The Times Of Israel:

Forty percent of Jewish Israelis want US President Joe Biden to be reelected in the 2024 presidential election, compared to just 26.2% who back Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, a poll conducted on Wednesday found.

The results of the poll indicated a massive swing in Israelis’ support for the current president, who has made a series of gestures to the Jewish state since the Hamas onslaught of October 7 while his predecessor has spent time at rallies mocking the intelligence failure that led to the devastating attack and criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump once enjoyed overwhelming support from Israelis, with a 2020 poll showing that 63% of Israelis had preferred him as president compared to just 17% who said they’d back Biden.

The results appeared to represent an extremely rare instance — the first in at least two decades — in which the Israeli public favors a Democratic presidential candidate over a Republican.

Trump may need to eat some crow to get the support back, though. Rather than Biden doing better with Jews, it is more likely Trump is shooting himself in the foot:

In the days following the Hamas assault, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and some 240 were abducted by thousands of Hamas-led terrorists who breached the country’s border with Gaza, Trump found himself in hot water with Israel, Biden and even Republican rivals over comments he made at a campaign rally criticizing Jerusalem over the intelligence failure that led to the Hamas assault, calling Defense Minister Yoav Gallant a “jerk” and Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group “very smart.”

Several days later, he was reported to have been privately calling for Netanyahu to be “impeached” for failing to anticipate the massive Hamas rampage.

During meetings about the war with pro-Israel Republican allies, Trump was said to have focused largely on his distaste for Netanyahu, whom he has yet to forgive for congratulating Biden after the latter won the 2020 election.

It’s still early, but if Biden continues to push a two-state solution and demur when military help in the war is needed, this support could wane or disappear. Personally, I don’t trust the apparent support for Israel from our government.

And About God’s Foreign Policy

I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you. (Gen 12:3, NLT)

I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for what they did to My people Israel. They have sent My people out among the different nations, and have divided up My land. (Joel 3:2, NLV)

The Lord’s vengeance will soon fall upon all Gentile nations. As you have done to Israel, so will it be done to you. Your acts will boomerang upon your heads. (Obad 1:15, TLB)

So is America getting blessed right now because the current administration is voicing their full support for Israel even though they are calling for dividing the land again? Or are they blessed because they support them in this current war alone? Is there some kind of one cancels out the other with these verses? Sending arms and publicly saying our support with Israel is rock solid is good but does it ensure God’s blessings? But will dividing their land be seen as the worse of things and usher in judgment for any nation, let alone America? Every president since Bush 41 has supported a two-state solution, although Trump softened on that. And as we read in William Keonig’s book Eye To Eye or get updates on things on his web site, watch.org it is the dividing of the land that gets the harshest results from God. Then there is the Turkish lawmaker who suffered a heart attack immediately after he said that Israel will suffer the wrath of Allah and who eventually died. I don’t know the answer to these questions, but I will pray for the peace of Jerusalem and publicly support them. I think it’s safer that way.