Netanyahu has amassed huge political accomplishments, yet can't build a coalition. Joel Rosenberg explains why

Israel has been in perpetual political gridlock for years now.

Last month, citizens went to the polls for a fourth time in less than two years due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inability to build a coalition.

Israel’s longest serving prime minister in the modern era has had a series of huge accomplishments over the years, yet he finds himself in the same situation as after previous elections – trying to cobble together a new government to avoid yet another round of elections.

In a webinar last week with National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Vice President of Communications, Dan Darling, Editor-in-Chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS Joel Rosenberg provided a unique perspective on the situation.

“(Netanyahu) persuaded former U.S. President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as our capital, he persuaded Trump to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he persuaded Trump to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights,” Rosenberg said.

And despite these and other significant achievements, Rosenberg mentions, Israelis are “getting tired of him.”

“People are mad at him [Netanyahu] because of unemployment, the economy, COVID handling and that he is on trial in three separate corruption cases,” explained Rosenberg.

Netanyahu is currently on trial facing corruption charges involving fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. Rosenberg’s Newsweek article “Are Israelis About To Enter the ‘Post-Netanyahu’ Era?” explores some of these questions and the consequences of the election.

Rosenberg spoke from his home in Jerusalem on a wide range of topics, including recent Israeli elections, the Abraham Accords normalization agreements, the dangers of the Iranian deal, the peace of Jerusalem and the future of the Middle East region.

He also shared that he established ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS to track events of the Middle East and provide a credible source of information for Evangelical Christians worldwide, offering a unique perspective to understand news that impacts Israel and the Middle East.

During the webinar, Rosenberg spoke about the Abraham Accords – Israel’s peace treaties with the UAE Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco – and offered insights about the future of the Middle East. He also shared some of his recent conversations with high-ranking Arab leaders, saying that the attitude in the Gulf region is more favorable to relationship with Israel than in the past.

“There’s a range of factors that are converging into something very, very positive,” said Rosenberg. “It’s a series of threads that are leading to one place. The central theme is the Iran threats.”

Roseberg explained that as Iran moves steadily towards building an entire arsenal of nuclear weapons, it is becoming a common threat to every other country in the Middle East, and the threat has, in a sense, become a unifier. Furthermore, when leaders in the region saw the Obama-Biden administration cut a dangerous deal with Iran, Arab leaders felt betrayed by the U.S. and became more open to seeking Israel for support. Rosenberg said that generational mindsets and other factors have played a role in the attitude shift and the warming ties between Israel and its Arab neighbors which is currently being seen throughout the Middle East.

Rosenberg highlighted the importance of NRB’s work to defend and strengthen communication tools that bring the message of the gospel to the Muslim world that would not otherwise have the opportunity.

“Primarily the way a Muslim is going to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ is through communications like satellite television, radio, internet. Media has this beautiful way in God's design to go right over the heads of the mullahs and the governments and go into people's homes and, therefore, their hearts,” he said.

NRB is a non-partisan, international association of Christian communicators whose member organizations represent millions of listeners, viewers, and readers. The organization works to protect its members free right of speech and advocates those rights in governmental, corporate and media sectors.

“How can they believe if they haven’t even heard? And how can they hear unless somebody tells them? And how can they tell them unless there’s the freedom and the technology and the networks to do it?” Rosenberg asked, saying he is grateful for NRB for that reason.

During part of the interview, Darling discussed Rosenberg’s upcoming NRB interview with Mike Pompeo, former U.S. secretary of state and director of the CIA which will take place at the NRB 2021 Convention in Grapevine, Texas.

“Mike Pompeo proved to be one of the most consequential secretaries of state in the modern era,” said Rosenberg, explaining how Pompeo played an important role in building the U.S.-Israeli alliance and pursuing peace in the Middle East.

“We’re seeing dramatic, game-changing peace deals between Israel and the Arab world,” and Pompeo was at the center of those deals, building an international coalition to isolate the Iranian regime to pull out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Rosenberg noted.

“We are seeing some of the biggest changes going on in the Middle East in the history of the region – certainly in the modern history,” said Rosenberg. “I can’t think of anyone better than Secretary Pompeo to take us into that world,” he added.

Toward the end of the webinar, Rosenberg answered questions from participants, sharing his perspective on the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and the significance of the refugee crisis. Rosenberg also talked about The Joshua Fund, his non-profit organization chartered with strengthening local believers in the Middle East – including Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt – and equipping them with the resources they need to help their neighbors and provide humanitarian relief.

Click below to watch the entire interview, NRB Live at Lunch.