WorldWatch
Middle East
Israel is experiencing what some say are the largest protests in the country’s history. The spark was a plan advanced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reform the nation’s Supreme Court.
Supreme Court justices are currently appointed by a nine-member committee with a minority of its members coming from the government. Over time, the court has grown increasingly activist and has expanded its power; it can veto cabinet appointments and new laws passed by elected representatives.
Netanyahu has proposed giving the government a majority on the appointment committee and giving representatives in the Knesset the power to block Supreme Court rulings with a simple majority vote. The court could overrule the Knesset only if its 15 justices agree unanimously.
Israeli leftists responded on March 11 by massing as many as 500,000 people on the streets of Tel Aviv, Haifa and other cities to protest against Netanyahu. Sympathetic army reservists are refusing to participate in training. Some fear that revolution or civil war is on the horizon.
“[T]here are radical movements inside the U.S., Britain and now Israel that are seeking to tear down the nation,” the Trumpet wrote on July 23, 2020 (“The Next Jewish Revolt?”). “Those movements have been at work for years, undermining the Bible-based values systems and promoting lawlessness. And now, those radical movements are taking to the streets.” Three years on, the division in Israeli society has only grown deeper.
Other serious threats to Middle Eastern stability simmer. On February 24, Iran confirmed that it has purified uranium to roughly 84 percent purity. Only trace amounts of this uranium have been confirmed, but when enriched to 90 percent, the material is suitable for a nuclear warhead. Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes, but it has been enriching uranium at 60 percent level for two years, and even this level of enrichment has no civilian application.
Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry states in his booklet Nuclear Armageddon Is ‘At the Door’ that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has “changed the nuclear equation in this world. [He relishes] the idea of a nuclear war!” The more that is revealed about Iran’s covert developments, the more we see Iran “changing the nuclear equation of the world.”
In Africa, Somalia is facing what the United Nations has called “the longest and most severe drought in its history.” The Horn of Africa usually has two wet seasons a year, but the past five wet seasons have all failed and the current season is failing as well. Ethiopia and Kenya have also been affected, suffering dramatic damage to agriculture and food production. In February, the UN estimated that over 8 million people “require immediate lifesaving aid and protection,” equivalent to almost half of Somalia’s population. Roughly 1.5 million people have already been displaced and at least 3.5 million livestock have died. Save the Children stated on March 1 that “about half of children under 5 in Somalia [are] facing malnutrition.”
The Bible warns that famines will increase worldwide in the end time (Matthew 24:7). Sub-Saharan Africa is no stranger to weather disasters. But the intensity of these disasters is increasing. The statistics of people impacted are sobering. But Matthew 24 also states that prophesied crises like famines ultimately lead to the best-possible news: the return of Jesus Christ (verses 30-31). This is the perspective needed as tragedies like the one in Somalia multiply in the time ahead.
Europe
Europeans have shown significant indications that their views on military are changing. A poll published by public broadcaster ZDF on March 3 revealed that 62 percent of people in Germany want to increase military spending, even if it means cutting spending elsewhere or taking on debt. The poll found that 32 percent are against the idea and 6 percent are undecided. One in 4 said they are willing to give up a bank holiday to provide the necessary funding. Denmark went further on February 28 and canceled a public holiday to increase tax revenue to be used for its military.
For decades, Germany has kept military spending low to enable high social spending. Now, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, German attitudes are changing. The Trumpet watches Germany’s militarization closely. To learn more, read “Ukraine Is Hastening a New Germany.”
Germans want a bigger military, but their current leader is proving to be a disappointment in making that a reality. Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a massive new €100 billion military fund that made headlines around the world after Russia invaded Ukraine. But he may not be the one to fully implement it. He is currently under investigation for corruption. In 2016, Hamburg tax authorities noticed tax fraud committed by the Warburg Bank and demanded $49.6 million in repayment. The bank disputed the case, contacted Hamburg’s government, and the case was dropped. Scholz was the first mayor of Hamburg at the time. Shortly after that, a large amount of money showed up in a safe deposit box of one of his colleagues. The bribery allegations were already causing Scholz problems, and now there are accusations of a cover-up. The chief investigator into these allegations is from Scholz’s own party, so it remains to be seen how long Scholz will last.
The Trumpet watches Germany’s ongoing leadership crisis closely, looking for a truly commanding German leader to emerge. Daniel 8:23 states: “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.” Scholz will not be that man. The Trumpet’s view of who he may be appears in our free booklet A Strong German Leader Is Imminent.
Asia
Asian nations continue to grow more dictatorial and more supportive of Russia.
Xi Jinping secured an unprecedented third consecutive five-year term as president of China on March 10, after the nation’s legislature approved the measure with a vote of 2,952 to zero. Xi was also given a third term as chairman of the Central Military Commission. These two offices are added to that of general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, for which Xi awarded himself a third term in October 2022.
Occupying this trinity of top posts for a third term represents a momentous break from tradition, in which previous Chinese leaders stepped aside after 10 years. Yet it is unsurprising for a leader who has methodically sidelined rivals and stacked the Communist Party with loyalists since rising to power in 2012. Xi’s authority is now unquestioned, the firepower of the 2 million-strong People’s Liberation Army is now entirely in his hands, and he is positioned to rule China for as long as he lives.
The Trumpet watches Xi’s expanding power and increasing aggression because Bible prophecy reveals that as America’s global power declines two massive blocs will emerge. One will be a European alliance operating in the tradition of the Holy Roman Empire. The other will be “the kings of the east,” headed by Russia, with China in a secondary leadership position, supported by India, Japan and other Asian nations. The Bible makes plain that these two blocs will join forces against America before clashing against each other in the most violent conflict in human history. The fact that Xi can now rule for life and is steering China in an increasingly belligerent direction indicates how near these future events may be.
Meanwhile, data published by the Indian government on March 13 shows that India’s oil exports to the European Union grew by 20 percent from April 2022 to January 2023. A considerable portion of these sales is Russian oil. India mixes it with oil from other nations and then resells it to the EU, even while Europe and the West claim to be boycotting Russia due to its war on Ukraine.
“U.S. Treasury officials have two main goals,” said Ben Cahill, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies: “[K]eep the market well supplied, and deprive Russia of oil revenue. They are aware that Indian and Chinese refiners can earn bigger margins by buying discounted Russian crude and exporting products at market prices. They’re fine with that.”
India currently strives for a somewhat neutral stance between the West and Russia. As long as it benefits from trade with the West, it will continue walking that tightrope. However, prophecy reveals that India will soon side with the East against the West. You can read more about this in our free booklet Russia and China in Prophecy.
Anglo-America
The bodies and minds of Americans are being physically and spiritually polluted. This fact is highlighted by perhaps the worst environmental catastrophe in United States history. On February 3, a 150-car train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. About 50 cars caught fire and burned for days. Eleven were carrying as much as 300,000 gallons of toxic chemicals, much of which has been released into the air and is spreading through the soil and water.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimates that more than 43,000 aquatic animals have died, and medical practitioners report that dozens of East Palestine residents have contracted “chemical bronchitis.” Yet the federal government was conspicuously slow to extend help. Many have attributed this to East Palestine’s political leanings toward Donald Trump and away from Joe Biden. The bitter affliction of America (2 Kings 14:26-27) continues.
Meanwhile, federal officials are devoting resources and effort to give children sexually explicit material. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis played a video at a March 8 press conference exposing Florida school library book illustrations of minors engaged in sexual activity, as well as instructions on how to masturbate, commit perverse sex acts and download apps that facilitate “casual intercourse.”
Many of the books highlighted in the video, such as Gender Queer, Let’s Talk About It and This Book Is Gay, have appeared at other schools. Another, Nick and Charlie, contains shockingly explicit perverse sex; it gained attention when an 11-year-old boy read aloud from it at a school board meeting in Maine.
The spread of perverse sex in schools is no accident. Much of it traces back to Planned Parenthood. A Claremont Institute report shows that Planned Parenthood, which has received billions from the federal government, is the main force distributing explicit sexual material to schools.
Jude 7 is the strongest warning in the Bible against what is being pushed on American schoolchildren. It warns that nations that live like Sodom and Gomorrah will suffer “the vengeance of eternal fire.” To learn what God thinks of homosexuality, transgenderism, and other sex sins, request your free copy of Redefining Family.
On March 2, investigative journalist Matt Taibbi published Twitter Files 17.0, exposing how the government funds a group dedicated to censoring conservative Americans. He revealed that the U.S. State Department worked with the Atlantic Council’s digital forensic research lab to censor 40,000 Twitter accounts associated with India’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Yet internal e-mails between the Atlantic Council and former Twitter head of Trust and Safety Yoel Roth show that this blacklist was full of conservative Americans with zero connection to India. The same government allowing toxic pollution in the environment and pouring toxic sex ideas into your children’s minds is treating American traditions and morals as if they are more toxic than either.
