The recent election in Israel has drawn attention once again to the turmoil in the Middle East. It appears that significant factors in the result were policies with respect to Iran and to the Palestinians, while the domestic situation was not without influence.
The question being asked is whether the result will bring peace, or even discussion of peace, between hostile factions.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-31870282
The news, in whatever medium we encounter it, always contains reference to the Middle East. It is an extensive and confused situation involving many countries, both in the location of conflicts and the supply of arms and participants.
There has been civil war in Syria since 2011, when there were protests and upheavals elsewhere in the area. It is reckoned that the death toll exceeds 200,000, and that there are 3.7 million refugees abroad, mainly in Lebanon and Turkey. The war continues, with accusations of banned weapons and tactics being used. Suppression of the rebels has been assisted by Hezbollah.
Hezbollah was founded in 1982 in Lebanon, and is funded and trained by Iran, with political support from Syria. Its objectives include the destruction of Israel. See
http://www.cfr.org/lebanon/hezbollah-k-hizbollah-hizbullah/p9155
http://www.cfr.org/terrorist-organizations-and-networks/open-letter-hizballah-program/p30967
Note especially the following paragraph from their objectives:
Our primary assumption in our fight against Israel states that the  Zionist entity is aggressive from its inception, and built on lands  wrested from their owners, at the expense of the rights of the Muslim  people. Therefore our struggle will end only when this entity is  obliterated. We recognize no treaty with it, no cease fire, and no peace agreements, whether separate or consolidated.
Though helped by Hezbollah, Syria is also troubled by the so-called Islamic State (IS), with extremist movements making inroads and taking control of areas especially in Syria and Iraq. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimates that IS has up to 31,000 fighters in the region. In the news have been their slaughtering of minorities and captives, and the destruction, especially in Iraq, of ancient monuments, some dating back to Old Testament times.
Iran’s nuclear ambitions are causing concern. When Netanyahu included the topic in his speech to Congress, there was a split reaction within, but strong approval from Saudi Arabia, another country concerned about the situation.
Saudi Arabia is just one of nearly eighty countries of origin of foreign fighters with dissident groups in Syria and Iraq, according to the CIA. The following countries have been the origin of at least 500 participants:
Countries supplying foreign fighters
Number from each
Uzbekistan, Pakistan
500
Germany, UK, Libya, Turkey
600
Lebanon
900
France
1200
Russia, Jordan, Morocco
1500
Saudi Arabia
2500
Tunisia
3000
 
Israel is always in the news, especially with respect to the Gaza strip, which is controlled by Hamas, another organisation hostile to Israel, as is evidenced in their manifesto. See
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp .
Note especially the following paragraphs:
Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will  obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.

World Zionism, together with imperialistic powers, try through a  studied plan and an intelligent strategy to remove one Arab state after  another from the circle of struggle against Zionism, in order to have it finally face the Palestinian people only. Egypt was, to a great extent, removed from the circle of the struggle, through the treacherous Camp  David Agreement. They are trying to draw other Arab countries into  similar agreements and to bring them outside the circle of struggle.
The Islamic Resistance Movement calls on Arab and Islamic nations to  take up the line of serious and persevering action to prevent the  success of this horrendous plan, to warn the people of the danger  emanating from leaving the circle of struggle against Zionism. Today it  is Palestine, tomorrow it will be one country or another. The Zionist  plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from  the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they  overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan  is embodied in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", and their present  conduct is the best proof of what we are saying.
See how reference is made to the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, a document exposed as fraudulent in the Times of London in 1921, and shown to be a forgery based on plagiarism, published first in Russia in 1903: and still it is used against Israel. This is consistent with the documented distortion of casualty figures, the diversion of humanitarian aid for military purposes and the use of human shields.
The Psalmist writes of the hostility of Israel’s neighbours. The psalm begins with a plea, describing Israel’s enemies as God’s enemies.
Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
Psalm 83:1-2
Then there is a description of the neighbours’ attitude.
They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
Psalm 83:3-4
The principal antagonism is towards Jews, but there is also hostility towards Christians in some quarters. Although monotheists, these nations do not recognise the God of Israel nor Messiah. So Israel’s destruction is planned, not only by Hezbollah and Hamas, but also by rulers such as Iran’s president.
The psalm describes some of Israel’s neighbours of old.
The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot.
Psalm 83:6-8
One could look up the territories of these former nations and identify their modern counterparts, but there are two easy ones as examples. Gaza was one of the Philistine cities; Tyre was a major power in the area occupied by Lebanon: one the stronghold of Hamas, the other the birthplace of Hezbollah, and linked in the psalm.
The destiny of Israel’s enemies is also shown.
O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.
Psalm 83:13-18
All these nations, Israel included, overlook some very important facts.
    The land was promised to Abraham by God.
    And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
    Genesis 13:14-15
    In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
    Genesis 15:18
    Notice the extent of the land promised, a territory described by both Hezbollah and Hamas in their manifestos as being Israel’s ambition. Look at the duration of the promise - for ever - requiring that Abraham be raised from the dead to receive the complete fulfilment of the promise.
    The land does not belong to Israel: it belongs to God, as He tells Israel.
    The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
    Leviticus 25:23
    So Israel occupies the land by permission and by promise, not by right. The land is not Israel’s to trade or give away. Yet Jew and Muslim both lay claim to it and are prepared to fight for it.
When Jesus spoke of his return, he described conditions in the world at the time.
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Luke 21:25-27
Bible prophecies usually refer first to the Middle East, to Israel and its neighbours, even if referring also to other parts of the world. Note in Jesus’ prediction the word ‘perplexity’. It applies especially to the Middle East, with its assortment of extremists, rebels, enemies and tyrannies.
Countries must answer awkward questions.
    Is the enemy of my enemy my friend?
    or is the enemy of my enemy another of my enemies?
    If both are my enemies, which is the worse enemy?
    Should we support the lesser enemy to defeat the worse enemy?
We can see these dilemmas in -
    Syria, facing problems with both rebels and IS
    Saudi Arabia, juggling relationships with Israel and Iran
    Lebanon, hosting Hezbollah as a state within a state, and juggling relationships with Israel and Iran
    Egypt, contending with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood
    Qatar, balancing relationships with Hamas, al-Qaeda, Syrian rebels, Al Nusra Front and IS
    Israel, opposed by Fatah, Hamas and Hezbollah
The perplexity increases steadily as the whole area becomes a powder keg awaiting the lighting of the touch paper, with the destruction of Israel as the objective of many.
Instead of Israel’s destruction, the opposite will happen at Jesus’ return.
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
Psalm 2:1-3
There will be resistance to Messiah (same word as ‘anointed’ in the original) as Israel is saved and elevated amongst the nations. God’s response is swift and effective.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Psalm 2:4-6
The king is identified clearly.
I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
Psalm 2:7
The outcome is certain. The whole earth will be subdued, and the Middle East will be the heart of world government. No more perplexity amongst the nations.
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’ s vessel.
Psalm 2:8-9
The psalmist’s advice to kings and judges is equally valid for all of us.
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Psalm 2:10-12
When perplexity is replaced by peace, our destiny will be depend on the extent to which we have heeded the psalmist’s advice.