In the mid-1930’s, Nazi Germany began arming to expand the Third Reich. By the summer of 1938, Hitler was threatening war across Europe if Czechoslovakia didn’t cede border territory to Germany. Secondarily, Jews were being subjected to ghettos and various forms of persecution throughout areas controlled by Hitler’s Reich. History later confirmed that Hitler and his band of evil thugs were also planning the “Final Solution” to exterminate the Jews.

Three times in late-September 1938, the weak-kneed British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain traveled to Germany to negotiate with Hitler, preferring to cede territory and sacrifice Europe’s Jews in hopes that Hitler would not ignite war in Europe.

In the midst of Chamberlain’s pleadings with Hitler, and just weeks prior to the Munich Conference, which ultimately allowed Nazi Germany to annex a significant chunk of Czechoslovakia, Winston Churchill, a strong opponent of appeasement made this now famous remark in a letter to his friend, Lord Moyne:

We seem to be very near the bleak choice between War and Shame. My feeling is that we shall choose Shame, and then have War thrown in a little later on even more adverse terms than at present.
~Winston Churchill, September 11, 1938

Friends, I sincerely pray history proves differently this time, but the similarities between Chamberlain’s hellbent desire to negotiate with an evil dictator and his regime, and the equally hellbent effort by the Trump administration for a deal with an equally evil Iranian regime sound all too familiar.

Official verbiage of the agreement has not been released (to my knowledge), but according to social media posts by President Trump, the Strait of Hormuz will be open and the US Naval blockade removed, resulting in Iran’s ability to resume selling oil. Thus, throwing a lifeline to the Iranian economy and providing opportunity for Iran to import weaponry from China. In addition, some sources report that Iran will be allowed to enrich uranium to low levels (below military grade). If so, what’s to stop Iran from breaking that agreement (as they did with the Obama agreement) and enriching to nuclear weapon grade? Oh, and BTW – The “agreement” is only a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), meaning an agreement to discuss the other issues. Iran has given absolutely no concessions (only veiled promises to discuss) regarding their nuclear program, their ballistic missile program, or their proxies, three key objectives of the war. Score card: Iran 4, US and the world 0.

Yet, there is another component of this situation. Recall the equation Iran manipulated recently:

1. Hezbollah: If Israel attacks southern Lebanon, we will strike Kiryat Shmona (in northern Israel).
2. Israel: If Kiryat Shmona is attacked, we will strike Beirut (where Hezbollah’s key leadership is nestled in a civilian area).
3. Iran: If Beirut is attacked, we will strike Israel. (This is how Iran ties Hezbollah to the negotiations.)
4. Israel: If Israel is attacked, we will strike Iran.
5. Iran: If southern Lebanon is attacked, we will strike Israel.

Predictably, just as the “finished deal” was being announced, Hezbollah fired a drone into northern Israel, eliciting a response from the IDF. Hearing that Israel struck a target in Beirut (killing a Hezbollah leader), Trump immediately responded to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, “What the ____ are you doing!” Later, Trump stated that Netanyahu is a “very difficult guy,” indicating Israel should not have responded because Hezbollah’s attack did not kill any Israelis.

That comment begs two logical responses:

1. When a US helicopter was shot down over the Strait of Hormuz, the US rightly and fiercely attacked Iran in retaliation. Why is it okay for the US to return fire despite no casualties, but not Israel?
2. No one with any sense about how Iran operates was surprised by Hezbollah’s drone strike just as the deal was supposed to be announced! There is also no one with any sense who believes Iran had nothing to do with that! If Israel doesn’t respond to attacks on their own civilians, what message does that send to Iran?

That leads to our next topic: messaging. It appears the Trump administration still does not understand the “language” of the Middle East. There, they don’t talk, they shoot. They don’t show weakness, they exude power (whether or not they actually have any). They don’t concede in negotiations, they wear the opponent down. Their view of “negotiations” is to drag them out to either reconstitute, rearm, and/or “run out the clock” until a more favorable (ie – weaker) US president is in office. Since the Iranian revolution that put the ayatollahs in power in 1979, Iran has failed in every single case to hold up its end of peace deals. What makes the Trump administration so confident they will do anything different this time?

The leopard has not changed its spots, and it seems America has endorsed the Chamberlain principle of foreign policy: chose shame and get war also.

Finally, let’s talk about Israel. President Trump has implied Israel’s “ignorance and stupidity” in getting in the way of his deal. Following retaliatory attacks on Hezbollah, President Trump has (at least twice) unleashed vulgarities toward Israel’s prime minister, calling him “____ing stupid.” It appears Israel is squarely set up to be the scapegoat if the “magnificent deal” doesn’t hold water.

By the way, reports indicate the peace deal with Iran also includes peace with Hezbollah. Until recently, Iran denied any connection with Hezbollah. Now that they are virtually Iran’s only (somewhat) effective proxy, suddenly Iran wants them included in the deal. But make no mistake: Israel will NOT be a party to the agreement, and will not agree to allow the progress they have made in dismantling Hezbollah to stop unless/until the people of northern Israel can live peacefully in their homes without threat of rocket attacks.

Israel needs to throw off Trumps yoke and get the job done. Deal or no deal, Israel is fighting for its existence while America looks for a good business opportunity.
~Jack Hibbs, Telegram, 6/14/2026

Amen to that. Time will tell. President Trump, please prove us wrong!

Pray for Israel’s leadership and their military. Pray also for America and our leadership. There has never been a more critical time to turn to the Sovereign God of the Bible.