The next Arab-Israeli war will probably begin in the year 2014 or shortly after. According to Psalm 83:1-18, Obadiah 1:15-21, and Isaiah 17:1, this coming Middle East conflict will involve the Israeli Defense forces (IDF) fighting against Egyptian, Jordanian, Iraqi, Syrian, and Saudi Arabian forces. The Bible seems to indicate that these Islamic nations will be destroyed with weapons of mass destruction (WMD).  Only Israel will emerge victorious from this Middle East conflict.

The Arab-Israeli conflict remains an ongoing problem because it is largely about warfare, land, religion, economics, food, and water resources. The Arab-Israeli conflict began during the 1880s when the Zionist movement, which call for a Jewish homeland in “Eretz Yisrael” (land of Israel), began settling Ashkenazi Jews in the Ottoman controlled district of Palestine. Violence between Zionist Jews and the indigenous Arab population erupted because of the sale of land to Jews.

After defeating the Ottoman Army in the First World War, the British were given a League of Nations mandate to control Palestine. Later, Palestinian nationalism began to evolve in response to the Zionist movement. From 1936 to 1939, British-ruled Palestine was wracked by Arab revolts. By 1948, Palestine was in the middle of a chaotic civil war involving the Jews, the Arabs, and the British.

1948 WAR

The Arab-Israeli conflict changed when the state of Israel was created. In November 1947, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the division of British-rule of Palestine and the creation of two states, one Jewish and one Arab. In May 1948, the British left, and David Ben-Gurion, who was Irael’s first prime minister, declared the independence of a Jewish state, which supported the U.N. resolution.

The surrounding Arab states invaded the new country the day it was founded, and Egypt and Jordan (then called Transjordan) took much of the territory that the United Nations had given to Palestinian Arabs. During this period, approximately 750, 000 Arab refugees fled from their homes; thus, causing more Arab rage toward the Jews.

Arab Palestinians refer to the events of 1948 as “al-naqba” (the catastrophe) and they argue that Arab refugees were deliberately driven out because of an Israeli campaign of ethnic cleansing. However, Israelis argue that the Arabs’ own leaders told them to flee to let the invading Arab armies wipe out Israel. Some Arab and Israeli historians argue that the Palestinian refugee problem is the product of war and not design by either side.

In other words, although some local Israeli commanders expelled Palestinian civilians from their homes, the collapse of the Palestinians’ social order in the face of war, chaos, and a weak Arab clan-based leadership structure helped created the Palestinian refugee problem.

1956 AND 1967 WARS

In 1956, the Israelis chose the opportunity created by the Anglo-French attempt to retake the Suez Canal to launch their own attack on Egypt. Public opinion eventually forced the withdrawal of the British and French, and although the Israelis had achieved military victory, they found themselves barred from usage of the Canal by Egypt, which was in control of the Suez Canal.

In 1967, the Egyptians closed the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping, and this together with continued exclusion from the Suez Canal prompted Israel to launch a six-day war against Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. The Arab armies were badly defeated, and the Israelis occupied additional territory including the Jordanian sector of the city of Jerusalem. In addition, the war left the Arab world stunned and the Palestinians split into three main groups.

1964 PLO FORMATION

Although the Arabs armies were defeated, the Arabs refused to sign any peace treaty with Israel. Palestinian refugees living in camps in states bordering Israel created significant problems. In 1964, a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed to fight for the establishment of an Arab Palestinian state on territory taken from Israel on the west bank of the Jordan River. Yasir Arafat’s al-Fatah organization, took control the PLO shortly after the Six Day War. The PLO resorted to terrorist tactics both against Israel and other states in support of their liberation movement.

1973 AND 2006 WARS

In October 1973, the Egyptians and Syrians launched an attack on Israel known as the Yom Kippur War. With some difficulty the attacks were repulsed by the Israeli Army. A settlement was mediated by American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

After years of terrorism operations, in 2006 Hezbollah kidnaps two Israeli soldiers and kills three Israeli soldiers in Israeli territory. The Israeli Defense Forces launches offensive combat operations against Hezbollah, which responds with over 4,000 rockets aimed at civilian and military targets throughout northern Israel. The United Nations Security Council passes Resolution 1701 calling for a conclusion to hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah where both warring factions concurred.

2012 IDF VERSUS HAMAS

In November 2012, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Pillar of Cloud and the IDF exterminated Hamas strategic mastermind Ahmad Jabbari. This IDF operation began after a week of many rocket attacks launched from Gaza toward Israel’s southern cities. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) and IDF targeted many weapons facilities throughout Gaza with tactical missiles. Since then numerous rockets fell on Israel’s Southern and Central regions. The rockets even reached both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. A few Israelis died in the central town of Kiryat Malachi following a direct hit on an apartment building where several people were hurt, including children.