Jewish scholars believe that the 2,000-year-old prophecy of the children of Esau (today's Western nations) and the children of Ishmael (today's Arab nations) uniting against the Jewish people as a precursor of the end of days is already being fulfilled.
End-time expert and author Rabbi Pinchas Winston and Breaking Israel News (BIN) Bible and prophecy expert Rivkah Lambert Adler both expressed belief that the end-time prophecy is coming to pass as written in the book of Genesis following the meeting between Pope Francis and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the Vatican last Jan. 26, Charisma News reported.
During their meeting, Pope Francis reportedly encouraged Rouhani to find political solutions for the various Middle Eastern conflicts. At the same time, the head of the Roman Catholic Church praised Iran's nuclear agreement with the world's powers. The agreement has already come into effect, with Iran having started to collect an estimated $150 billion of its frozen assets.
Critics have warned that the economic windfall Tehran will receive from the deal will bolster its support for the Assad regime in Syria and for its other proxies in the region, like Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah.
Although the deal purportedly curbs Iranian production of nuclear materials, critics said Iran could easily resume nuclear-weapons production after a decade of compliance to the agreement.
Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu vehemently protested the deal but could do nothing since it had the blessings of six world powers, including the United States.
Netanyahu reportedly has stopped complaining about the deal, knowing its futility, and is now focusing on stopping Iranian aggression in the region.
"Let's block Iran's other aggression in the region, because they're doing everything. They're trying to encircle Israel with a noose of death," Netanyahu said, according to CNN.
"They're sending weapons to the Houthis. They're in Iraq. They're in Afghanistan. They're all over the place. In Yemen, of course. Let's bolster those forces to stand up to Iran's aggression in the region, and none is stronger, none is more reliable than Israel," Netanyahu said.
Buoyed by international support and its huge financial windfall, Iran has all the more become belligerent against Israel as it recently threatened to rain down 80,000 missiles on the Jewish nation.
With the pope supporting the Iranian nuclear deal and recognising the Palestine State at the same time, Adler and Winston believe that Israel and the world are indeed heading into the end times.
Winston said he regrets the action being taken by Israel's supposed allies in the West. "Many in the West, especially in Europe, have overlooked the 'sins' of the Arab world while ignoring the virtues of the Jewish state. They also either make up Israeli flaws or over-exaggerate smaller ones," he said.
"In short, they have confused David for Goliath and Goliath for David, with little or no remorse at all. For believers, this is nothing short of a miraculous but disturbing fulfilment of prophecy and a serious wake-up call," he said.
