EVIDENCE GROWS THAT ISRAEL IS SET FOR WAR, BUT WHAT IF RUSSIA INTERVENES?

Russia forces are currently moving into Syria.
Joel C. Rosenberg
(Washington, DC, March 20, 2012) -- I'm heading to southern California today to speak at the upcoming "Israel, The Church and the Middle East Crisis" conference at Biola University and Talbot Seminary. Last night, I was on an afternoon drive-time radio show in Los Angeles. The host and I spent about an hour discussing the latest tensions in the epicenter and previewing some of the points I'm planning to raise at the conference. Among them:

1.) Evidence continues to grow that Israel is set for war -- Netanyahu and his cabinet are feeling increasingly confident they decisively neutralize the Iranian nuclear threat for years to come. [An AP report this morning suggests Israel would likely strike by this summer.]

2.) The Obama administration doesn't want Israel to hit Iran, at least not before the November elections -- That said, the White House doesn't appear at the moment to be threatening Israel with a cutoff of aid or other support if Israel does feel the need to strike.

3.) There are a number of reasons that could dissuade Netanyahu from ordering a strike soon, but perhaps the most intriguing X Factor at the moment is Vladimir Putin -- An intriguing New York Times story over the weekend explained that for the Kremlin to raise enough money for Putin to keep his lavish campaign promises over the next few years, oil prices would need to average $150 a barrel, signficantly higher than the current $120 a barrel.

One way to drive up oil prices, of course, would be to encourage or foment more tensions in the Middle East. Putin is already moving Russian forces into Syria. He's also actively preparing to build a new regional political/military/economic alliance he calls the "Eurasian Union." What if Russia then intervenes in the current standoff between Israel and Iran and signs a mutual defense treaty with Iran? What if Putin warns Israel that an attack on Iran would be regarded by the Kremlin as an attack against Russia itself. That alone would throw a monkey wrench into Netanyahu's plans to neutralize Iran's nuclear program with a preemptive strike. But what if Putin then went further? He could go to the U.N. in September and call for a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. He could persuade Iran to give up its nuclear program. Then, in a move similar to what President Bush demanded of Iraq in 2003