Iran and Israel are at war. Hundreds of civilian Israelis were killed over the weekend by an Iran-backed terrorist group that seeks to destroy Israel. After World War ii, Germany pledged that the survival of the Jewish people would be its “reason of state.” This pledge now demands action.

Germany has long maintained close ties to Iran and downplayed Iran’s aggression against Israel. But the recent atrocities cannot be denied. Iran is openly supporting the terrorist attacks, as Iran’s president stated on Sunday:

Iran supports the legitimate defense of the Palestinian nation. The Zionist regime [Israel] and its supporters are responsible for endangering the security of nations in the region, and they must be held accountable in this matter.
—Ebrahim Raisi, president of Iran

Western weakness has emboldened Iran. But Tehran’s aggression is waking a sleeping lion in Europe. Europe’s concern for Jerusalem goes back centuries. And German policy toward Iran is about to change.

Reporters around Europe are demanding a dramatic change of course toward Iran. Germany’s Bild wrote:

Hamas wants to destroy Israel. It wants to destroy Jews. And their wish, loudly and quietly declared by many Arab countries, is that they might succeed in wiping out Israel. This is especially true of Iran, which supports Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip—while the West has been naively negotiating with Tehran for years instead of sanctioning the regime to the ground.

Europe has not only supported Iran in recent years but also funded the terrorist education of Palestinians with tens of millions of euros. But yesterday, Austria and Germany announced they were suspending this aid for fear that it might fall into the wrong hands. The European Union, the Palestinian Authority’s most important donor, soon followed their example and announced it was suspending funds—but several members opposed the decision.

A video of a young female victim in the recent attacks went viral. “The woman lies on the truck, her face turned down. Several men trample over her lifeless-looking body. One man tugs at her hair, another spits on her bleeding head from outside. The men shout ‘Allahu Akbar,’ ‘Allah is great.’ Then the jeep speeds away,” Spiegel Online wrote. When it was learned that this victim was not an Israeli but a German tattoo artist and influencer, Germans began calling for a violent response.

As is typical, some blamed Hamas’s aggression on Israeli policy. But for the most part, Germany clearly sided with Israel, projecting the Israeli flag on the Brandenburg Gate. In contrast, media in the United States continued their biased reporting against Israel.

Following the terrorist attacks, Christian Democratic Union foreign-policy expert Norbert Röttgen called on Germany to rethink its Iran policy. He told the Düsseldorf-based Rheinische Post:

We must clearly see that Iran is not only engaged in the war against Ukraine, but also is a supplier of weapons to Hamas. Germany continues to be Iran’s largest trading partner in Europe, and the Revolutionary Guards are still not on the sanctions list because the German government is also blocking it.

Unlike the U.S., Germany has a direct geopolitical interest in the region. Iran sponsors terrorism that has caused refugees to flood into Europe, it supports Russia’s war in Ukraine, and it threatens to destroy Israel. While there is little evidence that the Biden administration is turning against the number one state sponsor of terrorism, Germany is increasingly standing with Israel against Iran.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz tweeted on October 7: “Terrifying news reach us today from #Israel. We are deeply shocked by the rocket fire from Gaza and the escalating violence. Germany condemns these attacks by Hamas and stands by Israel.” And on October 9: “Israel has every right to defend and to protect itself and its citizens. In this dark hour, Germany and France stand firmly by Israel’s side.”

Europe’s changing mood toward Iran is an ongoing trend, leading to the fulfillment of an important prophecy that the Trumpet has declared over 30 years.

In the 1990s, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry identified Iran as the prophesied king of the south of Daniel 11:40. At the time, there was little evidence that Iran would be a dominant force in the Middle East and control radical Islam—but today, this fact is undeniable. Prophecy states that this king of the south will clash with another power called the king of the north—a modern-day Europe led by Germany.

Islam and Catholic Europe have been in a power struggle for centuries—but the Bible reveals that the largest clash is yet ahead.

Late theologian Herbert W. Armstrong explained that the historic details of Daniel 11 revolve around a power struggle over Jerusalem. In The King of the South, Mr. Flurry writes: “And it appears they go to war again over the land of Judah, specifically Jerusalem.”

Today the Jews are in possession of the Holy Land—but Islam and Catholicism have sought possession of the same land. Iran is seeking to gain that land today, but the Bible reveals this attempt will lead to war.

“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” (Daniel 11:40). This prophecy for “the time of the end” has not yet been fulfilled.

Europe is prophesied to amass an overwhelming force to destroy Iran and its allies. The Jews living in modern Israel will temporarily rejoice and even invite these troops into Jerusalem as a peacekeeping force (verse 41). But if we let Bible prophecy and history be our warning, we will know that Catholic Europe’s motives are not pure. In a heinous double cross, Europe will seek to take possession of the Promised Land themselves! (verses 41-45).

Notice how Daniel’s prophecy continues into Daniel 12:1, which reads: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”

This prophesied “time of trouble” is the same time that Jesus Christ referred to in Matthew 24. This time of trouble will lead to the greatest event in human history. Jesus Christ will end the fight over Jerusalem by putting down all rebellion, setting up His Father’s Kingdom, and bringing peace to the whole world from this very city!

Gerald Flurry’s booklet Jerusalem in Prophecy explains these prophecies in detail. Request your free copy.