Is Israel Preparing for an End-Times Attack on Iran?

Is Israel on the verge of launching a military strike against Iran? Strong evidence seems to point to this inevitability.
Israel has been warning the West that the window of opportunity to halt Iran's nuclear progress is closing. Israeli Foreign Ministry officials state that Iran's nuclear progress is outpacing political and sanction efforts, which means that the clock is ticking on Iran's efforts to achieve nuclear weapons.

While evidence continues to emerge that Iran is on the verge of getting the bomb, sanctions have clearly not worked, as Russia and China continue to enable Iran to skirt around them by offering them all that Iran needs. However, the U.S. presses for more. President Obama just announced that he and French President Sarkozy have agreed that the U.S. and France will "maintain unprecedented pressure on Iran"; but why? What has "unprecedented pressure on Iran" accomplished?
Israel, alone, has been somewhat effective at delaying the Iranians from obtaining nukes. Its combination of targeted assassinations and cyber-warfare have brought about delays in the nuclear process, but the Iranians have overcome these setbacks and are now back on track in their pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Since God has allowed this focus on ineffective sanctions to continue, it means, of course, that it is in God's plan for Iran to continue its unfettered progress toward nuclear capability. Does that mean God wants Iran to carry out its threat of eliminating Israel, a threat that nuclear weapons might allow it to accomplish? The answer to that is a resounding NO! God has guaranteed that Israel will be a nation before Him forever, and He has laid out in detail His future plan with Israel at its center.
This simply means that God has another way of stopping Iran's quest, and it appears to involve the Jewish nation. In an article this week, author Joel Rosenburg (who has excellent sources in Israel) declared that there is increased speculation about Israel launching a preemptive strike against Iran. This speculation began two weeks ago when Israel's largest newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, ran a front page story claiming that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak had already determined that a strike on Iran was necessary and were pressing the cabinet to give the go ahead for the attack.
But the indicators that Israel is prepping for a possible strike on Iran go beyond those signals. Recently, the Israeli military successfully test-fired an advanced missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and striking Iran. In addition, the IAF (Israel Air Force) has been in Italy carrying out air combat drills for long-range attacks. Interestingly, the Washington Times declares that the prisoner swap for Gilad Shalit may be a sign that Israel is "clearing the deck" to get ready for an attack.
As the Israeli prime minister declared in his speech to the Knesset Monday, "peace is made with the strong, not with the weak." There is no truer proverb when considering the Middle East. In considering the ultimate show of strength at this time, an attack of Iran would be at the top of the list. Thus, a powerful show of strength by Israel—by launching a successful military attack on Iran—could open the way for a peace treaty with Israel like nothing else could.
Yet, even so, Israel is still willing to hold off, for now, the launching of an attack against Iran in order to allow the involvement of Western nations to stop Iran's quest for nukes. Clearly, Israel's training sessions for an attack against Iran are not secret. No doubt Israel is serious about launching a strike, since Iran's quest for nukes may threaten the Jewish nation's very existence. However, Israel leaked its preparations to unnerve Iran and to move the West to work harder at halting Tehran's nuclear progress. Since the West could pay a price for Israel's attack—via Iran's retaliation of a strike—Israel is hoping Western nations will be motivated by Israel's preparation to go after the Iranian regime.
However, in the end, it seems God will move Israel to launch a military attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, which could prompt a regime change when the Iranian opposition movement takes advantage of the resulting chaos to overthrow the government. This, in turn, may also create a domino effect to take down terrorism in the Middle East. If so, it will likely prepare the region for alignment with Israel for the end-times (seven-year) treaty—the treaty that starts the clock ticking on the final seven years leading to the return of Christ. In addition, this strike on Iran could result in Israel becoming the hero, which God could also use to move regional leaders to work with Israel on the treaty. Thus, if Israel does in fact launch this strike in the near future, then the coming of Christ for His Church may not be far away.
As an important aside, one of the fascinating factors at work here is the rare phenomenon of the Israeli prime minister and defense minister acting as one—together on such a serious and controversial matter. To add to that phenomenon, the two are from different parties; yet both believe a preemptive attack on Iran must be launched before it is too late. Because this fraternal alliance is so unusual, it seems obvious that we are seeing God at work—to put these two men in power for "such a time as this" (Esther 4:14) and to align their hearts (cf. Proverbs 21:1) for His plan. So keep looking up!

Written by John Claeys