Is Mother Russia About to Get Her Heart Broken?

By Todd Strandberg

Last week, the news wires featured a strange story about Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. In an interview with CNN, Medvedev said that Israel promised Russia it would not launch an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. The Russian President described such an assault as "the worst thing that can be imagined."

An attack would lead to "a humanitarian disaster, a vast number of refugees, Iran's wish to take revenge and not only upon Israel, to be honest, but upon other countries as well," Medvedev said, according to a Kremlin transcript.

The Russian leader claims to have received this assurance directly from top Israeli leadership.

"My Israeli colleagues told me that they were not planning to act in this way, and I trust them," said Medvedev.

The colleague who gave Medvedev this impression was Israeli President Shimon Peres. They met in August at the Russian resort of Sochi.

The day after this report was released, Israel said it still has military options. Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon was asked by Reuters if Russia was given any type of guarantee that there would be no Israeli strike on Iran. Ayalon replied:

"It is certainly not a guarantee. ...I don't think that, with all due respect, the Russian president is authorized to speak for Israel, and certainly we have not taken any option off the table."

The head of Israel's armed forces, Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, later told Army Radio that "Israel has the right to defend itself, and all options are on the table."

I don't know why Medvedev would think Israel owes him any type of grace regarding Iran. Russia still plans to sell Tehran an advanced missile system that can be used against Israeli jets. Asked about the possible delivery of S-300s, Medvedev said Russia had the right to sell defensive weapons to Iran.

"Our task is not to strengthen Iran and weaken Israel, or vice versa, but our task is to ensure a normal, calm situation in the Middle East," Medvedev said.

Israel sees the delivery of the S-300 missile system as a red line it cannot allow Iran to cross. Once the missiles are delivered, Israel will be forced to act before they become operational.

Several other hot-button issues have pushed Israel closer to a preemptive move, the most stunning being the revelation of a new Iranian nuclear processing plant. The United States, France, and Britain are all talking about more sanctions. I'm sure Jerusalem is thinking of something more volatile.

We seem locked on a trajectory of some form of action being required, so we know Israel is going to eventually carry out a military campaign against Iran. Since Russia’s leaders think everything is hunky-dory, this engagement will come as a huge surprise to them.

Bible prophecy tells us that Russia will someday lead an alliance of nations against Israel. It is very interesting to have a situation pending in which Russia might become very angry with Israel.

Medvedev may think that Israel bombing Iran is “the worst thing that can be imagined.” I can only wonder what his reaction would be to see the results of the Gog-Magog invasion. The Word of God tells us that 80 percent of the invading army will be wiped out.

"Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. 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: 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, 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. 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?" (Ezekiel 38:9-13).

Related Links