Netanyahu Warms of "A New Caliphate"

By Joel C. Rosenberg

(Washington, D.C., February 9, 2011) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an important address to a policy conference in Jerusalem on Monday of some 400 European lawmakers and dignitaries, organized by the European Friends of Israel. During the address, which I encourage you to read in its entirety, Netanyahu warned of several serious threats to world peace and Western civilization:

1. The expressed ambition of Shia and Sunni Radical Muslims to build a Islamic kingdom or "caliphate" that will encompass the Middle East and North Africa, and then Europe, and then North America, and then the entire world. Netanyahu did not say the caliphate would be achieved, but he rightly warned that this is what the Radicals want to achieve.

2. The rise of an Iranian regime with nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that can not only reach Israel but more and more of Europe.

3. An Egypt that doesn't develop into a peaceful, moderate, secular democracy with a prominent role for the military to provide stability and security but into one of two other scenarios: A) one in which "the Islamists exploit the[ir] influence to gradually take the country into a reverse direction, not towards modernity and reform but backward; or B) one in which "Egypt would go the way of Iran, where calls for progress would be silenced by a dark and violent repression that subjugates its own people and threatens everyone else."

Netanyahu did not say these threats would inevitably come to pass. To the contrary, he stated clearly, "The good news is that nothing is inevitable. We have the power to protect our common civilization, to roll back the forces of radicalism and to advance a secure peace. One of the keys to defeating this fanaticism is to be able to distinguish friends from enemies."

Well put, Mr. Prime Minister. Let us pray more people have ears to hear, eyes to see and hearts to understand.

>> I've posted key excerpts from the speech on the blog, along with a link to the full text. We've also posted links to several interviews I have done in recent days on the Egypt Crisis, including those with Glenn Beck, CBN, Janet Parshall, and Fox News, along with links to the latest headlines from Egypt and the epicenter. Just go http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/. Thanks.

(Photo: PM Netanyahu addressing the European Friends of Israel conference in Jerusalem.)

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