Former Israeli Prime Minister and present Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said he plans to support a new bill which would offer compensation for Israelis moving out of Judea and Samaria, ahead of any future disengagement from the territory. 250,000 Jews live in the region that has become known as the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's disengagement plan envisaged the evacuation of around 90,000 of those residents. Around 180,000 Israelis also live in east Jerusalem. The government has come under intense criticism for its failure to accommodate Israelis expelled from settlements within the Gaza Strip, some of whom had lived there from before the state of Israel was born. Over two years have passed since the disengagement, yet 40% of those evicted from Gaza are still unemployed and many remain homeless. The residents of Gaza numbered some 10,000 people, while a disengagement from territories captured during the Six Day War would number around 100,000 at best and half a million at worst, from lands which are destined to become part of a future Palestinian state.

Quote: ""The Labor Party plans to raise this topic in future Cabinet meetings," Barak said, "in order to enable the settlers not to wait until the last moment" to leave their homes. A bill of this nature has already been proposed by Meretz MK Avshalom Vilan and Labor MK Collette Avital, and has been promoted by the far-left Peace Now organization.

The proposed bill comes on the heels of the Annapolis peace conference, during which Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to work towards a final peace agreement by the end of 2008. Although the Prime Minister's Office has denied it supports such a bill, there is no doubt the government is planning for the eventuality of a disengagement from Judea and Samaria. Olmert had initially stated that he was elected on a mandate for disengagement from Judea and Samaria, although his plans were shelved amid staunch public opposition following Hamas' rise to power in Gaza. The Israeli government is already planning to construct settlements in the Negev region, Israel's wilderness country, in order to provide accommodation for those that will be evicted from Judea and Samaria. The Scriptures seem to indicate that a massive airlift will be required to evacuate thousands of Israelis to the wilderness, following what seems to be a collapse in the Antichrist's peace covenant (Daniel 9:27).

Daniel 9:27
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week (3.5 years) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Mark 13:14
But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

Revelation 12:14
And to the woman (Israel) were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, (3.5 years) from the face of the serpent.

Revelation 11:2
But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [and] two months (3.5 years).

Zechariah 14:2
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

So we can gather from the above verses that in the middle of Daniel's 70th week, a covenant of peace between Israel and the surrounding nations will collapse, partly due to the deviousness of the Antichrist himself. The Arab people shall retake Judea, Samaria and the eastern half of Jerusalem, according to Zechariah 14:2. Revelation states that they shall tread underfoot the Holy City, or what is now known as the Old City, for the three and a half year period. The Temple Mount is located in the Old City within the eastern half of Jerusalem, which the Palestinians demand become their state capital. The taking of Judea and east Jerusalem will be particularly savage, and may prompt Israel to airlift thousands of its own people from these territories to a wilderness place, perhaps the Negev desert if present realities take their course. As we can see from today's news, end time events are unfolding rapidly. It has been said by all sides that the status quo cannot continue, and it is a matter of when and not if these things come to pass. God has revealed the future to us through the Scriptures so that we might know that He is the Lord, and He is in complete control of world events. He has also told us of things to come, so that you might have an opportunity to be saved. Isaiah 55:6 says, "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near". The Bible warns us that God's Spirit will not always strive with man (Genesis 6:3). Trust in Jesus Christ for salvation today.  

Source Arutz 7

By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Published: 30 November 2007

The state of Israel would be "finished" if prospects of a two-state solution collapsed, its Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has warned. Two opinion polls have shown widespread scepticism among the Israeli public about this week's Annapolis summit.

Mr Olmert told the liberal daily Haaretz: "If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights (also for the Palestinians in the territories), then, as soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished."

Mr Olmert's warning – raising however obliquely a highly sensitive comparison with apartheid South Africa – came as a poll in the newspaper showed that only 17 per cent thought the Annapolis conference a "success" – compared with 42 per cent who thought it was a "failure".

A similar poll in Yedhiot Ahronot showed 50 per cent judging the conference a failure, with 83 per cent saying they need not expect a "final status" agreement by the end of 2008, the timetable fixed by the summit.

Mr Olmert appeared to be half-borrowing an argument used by the Israeli left and increasing numbers of Palestinians that if the occupation is not swiftly ended and a Palestinian state established, the alternative is a single state in which both Palestinians and Israelis would eventually have equal rights – negating Israel's status as a "Jewish democratic state".

Unlike those critics of Israeli policy hitherto, he was careful not to declare explicitly that time for a two-state solution was running out, or venture a prediction of when such a "collapse" of the two-state solution might take place. Nor did he repeat the specific warning by the Israeli writer Amos Oz last week that the collapse of current efforts to negotiate a solution might lead to that very "demise" of the two-state solution. Oz said that the two alternatives to such a solution were either a single state or an "Israeli apartheid regime".

On the other hand his relatively apocalyptic warning is likely to be quoted back at him if the year of negotiations ushered in by Annapolis ends in the failure that most Israelis appear to expect.

Mr Olmert insisted that he had said similar things in an interview with the newspaper four years ago. In that interview, however. Mr Olmert was contemplating unilateral withdrawal from large parts of the occupied territories and strongly denounced the "Geneva Accord" – reached between the left-wing Israeli politician Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo, now a key Palestinian negotiator. The Geneva proposals – based on 1967 borders with "modifications" requiring an equal land swap, East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital and extensive compensation for refugees – is thought to be close to the minimum that the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, might seek to accept in any final status agreement.

The Haaretz poll indicated that despite their scepticism about the prospect of a negotiated agreement, 53 per cent wanted one on the main issues, with 38 per cent objecting to such an agreement.

The poll also showed that 22 per cent were now satisfied with Mr Olmert as Prime Minister after a slow rise since his record slump in popularity after the Lebanon war.

The police yesterday recommended against prosecuting him over his handling of the privatisation of the Bank Leumi when he was finance minister, citing a "lack of evidence" that he had interfered to benefit a friend

Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. "Psalm 121:4"

Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. "Habakkuk 1:4"

No I haven't made a mistake, I did comment on this news article before. According to US President George Bush, the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams are now off to a strong start. 

Quote: ""Yesterday was an important day, and it was a hopeful beginning," the president said with the leaders at his side. "No matter how important yesterday was, it's not nearly as important as tomorrow and the days beyond. I appreciate the commitment of these leaders, working hard to achieve peace. I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't believe that peace was possible, and they wouldn't be here either if they didn't think peace was possible."

Yes, both leaders are indeed working hard to achieve peace. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert believes he can achieve peace by giving away more territory to the terrorists. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas believes he can achieve peace through the destruction of the Jewish state. Both sides have committed themselves to the establishment of a Palestinian state within a year. If the Palestinians are sincere in their efforts to make peace with Israel, it certainly doesn't show. Palestinian Authority television rebroadcast a commercial depicting the entire state of Israel - from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean, covered in a Palestinian flag. Emblazoned in the centre of the state is the word "Palestine 2007". The clip was produced by the Palestinian Authority Central Bureau of Statistics, and was broadcast today on the Palestinian television station run by Abbas' Fatah organization, just a day following the Annapolis peace conference. Other similar clips have been aired by PA TV this past week. In one particular clip, a Palestinian Arab sings to his mother of the liberation of the Palestinian homeland...

Quote: ""Oh Arab, oh noble son, your blood is in my blood and your business is my business 
Peace will be achieved through unity, oh my brother and cousin 
The land is Arab in history and identity 
Palestine is Arab in history and identity 
We will live in peace, oh mother, and our lives will not be wasted

Oh mother, they destroyed our house
The house of my brother and my neighbour [2X]
Do not be angry, oh mother, our rocks increased [in number]

From Jerusalem and Acre, from Haifa and Jericho and Gaza and Ramallah [2X]
From Bethlehem and Jaffa, from Be’er Sheva and Ramla, [2X]
From Nablus to the Galilee, from Tiberias to Hebron [2x]

Clearly the Palestinian Authority will not be satisfied, even if it were possible for Olmert to remove every brick from Gaza, Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem. That can be seen in Abbas' demand for a right of return for all Arabs who fled during the "Nakba" of Israel's birth and the "Naksa" of 1967. It can also be seen in the Arab refusal to recognize Israel as a "Jewish" state. If they can't destroy the state of Israel from the outside, they will destroy it demographically from the inside. And today the Vatican is backing that vision. A senior Vatican official has stated that Rome supports the right of return for Palestinian refugees... 

Quote: ""Palestinian refugees, like all other refugees, have a right to right to return to their homeland," Martino said in response to a question about the 44-nation conference in Annapolis on Tuesday. Martino did not make clear whether he meant refugees had a right to return to homes in what is now Israel or to an eventual Palestinian state.

I have received a couple of emails today from Christians warning of disastrous consequences for the US for the part it has played in this peace conference. I don't know if anything dramatic will happen over the next 48 hours, but the Bible does warn that God will "seek to destroy" all the nations that come against Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:9). The Scriptures also warn in Jeremiah 25 that God will judge Israel for their sins, and that because He will judge His own people, the Gentile nations will not remain unpunished. If anything, the United States and Great Britain have a lot to answer for.

Jeremiah 25:32-33
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

Source YNet News, PMW, Reuters, YNet News

The international peace conference in Annapolis ended today, as both the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams pledged to begin formal negotiations on final status issues over the next few months. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to continue their fortnightly meetings to discuss issues which will include the right of return for Palestinian refugees and further disengagements from Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem. A joint declaration was read out by the leaders last night, committing all parties to finalize a peace agreement before the end of 2008. But it nearly didn't happen. According to Israeli sources, a draft statement had been agreed as early as Monday, but the Palestinian negotiating team changed their minds repeatedly. 

Quote: "They said the Monday night talks with Erekat produced several agreements, but the next morning, the Palestinians changed their mind. That, said the Israelis, already had happened several times during talks on the declaration, but they were shocked that the Palestinians were doing it again at this late date and on such fundamental issues as a timetable for negotiations and reference to the road map peace plan. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who headed the Israeli team, lost her temper and told Qureia to "take it or get lost," the sources said.

Other Islamic extremists have criticized the peace conference. The Annapolis summit was blasted by former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh, who claimed that Palestinians would not be bound by any agreement that President Abbas makes with the "Zionist regime". Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also slammed the conference, stating it was doomed to failure and predicted Israel's downfall in his latest anti-Semitic tirade...

Quote: ""Very soon even the most stupid people will realise that the Annapolis conference was right from the beginning doomed to fail," he added, without clarifying to whom he was referring. Once again predicting the imminent collapse of Israel, the president said the Annapolis initiative would like previous peace plans and conferences bring no results for the Middle East crisis.

Quote: ""It is impossible that the Zionist regime can last," the government mouthpiece website of state broadcasting quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in a cabinet meeting. "Deterioration is in the nature of this regime as it has been built on aggression, lying, crime and wrongdoing," he added.

Of course the Iranian President has already proposed his own solution to the Middle East conflict, the complete destruction of the state of Israel. Abbas wasn't the only one calling for Israel's disengagement from all territories captured during the Six Day War. The Syrian delegation, which attended the conference on the basis that Golan Heights would be addressed at the gathering, stated that there would be no Arab recognition of Israel's right to exist until Israel withdrew to the 1948 armistice lines, and even then the Arab nations would only "consider" making peace with Israel.

Quote: "Syria told the Annapolis peace conference on Tuesday that Israel should pull out of land captured in 1967 before Arab countries would normalize ties with it. "The establishment of normal ties with Israel ... must be the fruit of comprehensive peace and not precede it," Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad told a closed session of the U.S.-sponsored Middle East summit, attended by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "To phrase it clearly and decisively that this [normalization] comes after the total Israeli withdrawal from the 1967 Arab land," he said in a speech obtained by Reuters.

So what has the Annapolis conference actually achieved? For Israel it seems, very little indeed. The Bible states that a peace agreement will come, but it will not last. Under this false peace, the land of Israel will be re-divided (Daniel 11:39) and the eastern half of Jerusalem will fall into Muslim hands (Zechariah 14:2). This commences the Great Tribulation period, as prophesied by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 24:21. A remnant of the Jewish people will be miraculously delivered from this onslaught, being airlifted into the wilderness for the last three and a half year period (Revelation 12:14). At the end of Daniel's 70th week, the armies of the world will gather in the valley of Megiddo to solve this problem once and for all (Revelation 16:16). Then Jesus Christ will return with the armies of heaven to destroy the armies of the Antichrist and set up His everlasting kingdom. As we can see from today's news, there may be little hope of compromise, but this is only to be expected in light of prophecy. Have you trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31).

Source Haaretz, YNet News, Earth Times, Haaretz