Signs of the times – “Israel’s security and the Golan Heights”

Relations between Israel and Russia deteriorated last month after a Russian military plane was shot down by the air defence systems of the Assad regime, her ally. Moscow blamed the Israeli government for the incident which happened at the time of an attack on Syrian facilities by four Israeli F-16 jets.

“Russia said Israel’s ‘irresponsible actions’ were to blame … it was given less than a minute’s warning ahead of the strikes, which was not enough time to get the military surveillance plane out of the way … The spokesman [for the Russian Defence Ministry] accused Israeli pilots of ‘using the Russian airplane as a cover’, putting it ‘in the line of fire’” (BBC News, September 18).

Israel firmly blamed the Assad regime.

The Syrian Civil War, raging since 2011, has destabilised Israel’s northern border. This has underlined the critical importance to Israel of controlling the Golan Heights; as Prime Minister Netanyahu said recently, without that

“we will get Iran and Hezbollah on the banks of the Kinneret [Sea of Galilee]”.

Despite robust support from the current US administration, Israel is still vulnerable to attack by its enemies, who will in due time

“seize spoil and carry off plunder” (Ezekiel 38:12, ESV).

With thanks to Brother Roger Long