March 21/09. The International Herald Tribune ran a story entitled "Is Global Rebranding What Israel Needs?" The piece opened by recognizing Israel as the world's pariah state:

Israel’s sports teams have met hostility and violent protests in Sweden, Spain and Turkey. Mauritania has closed the Israeli Embassy. Relations with Turkey, an important Muslim ally, have suffered severely. A group of top international judges and human rights investigators recently called for an investigation into Israel's actions in Gaza. Israel Apartheid Week" drew participants in 54 cities around the world this month, twice the number of last year, according to its organizers. And even in the American Jewish community, albeit in its liberal wing, there is a chill.

Having established that everybody hates Israel (even liberal Jews), the columnist, Ethan Bronner, went on to build his case that Israel deserves it:

The reason that Israel is a “pariah nation” has absolutely nothing to do with Israeli policies. Israel was a pariah nation before it even had time to formulate national policies. As already noted, long before there was an Israel, the world tried to exterminate the Jews.

The true reason (for hatred of Jews) is this: Israel stands, as God intended, a sign to the nations. Israel was created as a visible proof of the true God's existence.

As the Bible declares, Israel was created to receive, write down and preserve God's Word. It was created to be the race through whom the Savior of the World would be born. Even their failures and disciplines were predicted in order that it would be a proof of the truth of God's Word. Their ultimate restoration to the land promised their forefathers was predicted in detail. These prophecies have been fulfilled before the eyes of our era.

All of this is lost on the liberal media, just as it apparently has been on the liberal Obama administration.

The World Tribune reported this week that Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi cut short his visit to Washington after getting an "extraordinarily cool" reception from the new U.S. administration.

General Ashkenazi reportedly attempted to arrange meetings with President Obama, Vice President Biden and intelligence czars Bob Gates, Dennis Blair or Michael Mullen. None of them would see him. He had valuable intelligence information about Iran to share with them.

The Tribune quoted an unnamed diplomat who told them, "The administration is sending a very clear message to Israel, and this is we want to talk about Palestine and not Iran."

And Israel Today is reporting that the Obama administration is not just cool to Israel. It alleges that President Obama "is about to break America's long ties of friendship with Israel, and maybe even take steps toward the dissolution of the Jewish state."

If true, America is in even more serious trouble than even the most pessimistic assessment can reflect. If America betrays Israel, then America is rejecting the Word of Israel's God.

The Bible warns, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:31) Fearful? That is an understatement of Biblical proportions.

FULL STORY>  http://bible-prophecy-today.blogspot.com/2009/03/fearful-thing-betraying-israel.html