Hey everybody, this is Rick De Young with Prophecy Today Radio. The Assad regime has fallen in Syria. That's the headline. Stay tuned to listen to a special report from journalist Dave Dolan on this historic event. It's time now for Prophecy Today, a look at current events in light of biblical prophecy.
Journalist Dave Dolan joins us as we look at the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. Dave, can you talk about what this means for the Middle East?
Well, it's a major explosion for the region, Rick. It has implications that are both good and bad. Obviously, as Prime Minister Netanyahu said, the axis of evil led by Iran has been greatly weakened by the fall of their ally, Assad. The Russian position in the region has been weakened. But of course, these are radical Sunni Muslims that have taken over, affiliated with Al-Qaeda, with Islamic State.
So we have no reason to be joyous over that. Israel has taken military responses, Rick, that are unprecedented. The heaviest one day air campaign of Israel's Air Force history actually took place on Sunday as the IDF struck positions all over Syria, government positions, chemical weapons storage facilities, research facilities for nuclear weapons, army bases, airports. runways, and they captured the tallest peak in the three peak Mount Hermone range. And Rick, that's very strategic because it's the tallest peak and it has a clear view into Damascus.
Whereas the Israeli peak doesn't see into Damascus. They also took control of territory outside of the Golan Heights in Syria proper. And the Israelis are very concerned, Rick, that the radical forces there will carry on their war against Israel. We have Al-Ghaadi, the head of the rebels. His name comes from the Golan Heights.
He took it by his nom de grand. His parents were from there and fled in 1967.
So he wants to get that back. And the Israelis are very concerned, Rick, that the revolution, as it were, the Sunni revolution, will spread to Jordan next and that they will try to take over Jordan and then Israel would be completely surrounded by enemies and that's not a good thing. And that was my follow-up question. Assad was certainly no friend to Israel, so it would seem that this might be a net positive for Israel, but nothing is ever as simple as it seems there in the Middle East, is it?
Well, no, and again, these radical Muslim groups have countries that back them too, Pakistan and Afghanistan and Yemen. And we had a drone strike from Yemen on Sunday into central Israel, Rick.
So the war is not over by any means, but they are, of course, glad to see Assad go. But that doesn't mean that democracy and freedom is breaking out in Syria anytime soon. The war against Israel will probably intensify, and they did have a sort of an unofficial ceasefire with Assad. He didn't do that much against Israel over the years. He allowed some things.
But this new group coming in, of course, it will take them some time to consolidate their power. Another worry, Rick, is that the Sunni-Shia war will be reignited all over the region. In the eighties, that, of course, raged between Iraq and Iran, and that would be destabilizing to the region as well.
So things have not settled, but we're glad to see Assad go. Brutal regime, and a lot of Syrians were killed under his Well David, at Prophecy Today, we look at current events because they're setting the stage for the prophetic to be fulfilled. These events over the last week certainly do that, don't they? They sure look like they are going in that direction, Rick, and especially if we see Jordan fall. We have it listed as one of the enemies against Israel in Psalm eighty three in the last days, and that, I think, is something to really keep an eye on.
Dave Dolan with Prophecy Today. Dave, thanks for being with us today. You're welcome, Rick. Remember, if you want more of the latest news out of the Middle East, go to our website at prophecytoday.com. This is Jay Johnson inviting you to join us every Monday through Friday for Prophecy Today.
Remember, the Lord Jesus is coming, and it could be today.
So let's keep looking up until.
