The EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner is planning to travel to the Middle East later this month, ahead of the upcoming Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. She will try to encourage a consensus between the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams, which have so far failed to reach agreement on core issues. Benita Ferrero-Waldner's post is due to be merged with Javier Solana's post following the ratification of the new EU Constitution. Her visit follows that of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who had announced a $410 million package to save the Palestinian Authority.

Quote: "Ferrero's first stop will be Israel, where she will meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Israeli PM, Ehud Olmert, Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak and vice Israeli PM. In the Palestinian territories, the EU high-ranking official is set to meet with Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, acting foreign minister, Riyad Almaliki and top Palestinian negotiator, Ahmad Qurai. A part of her visit will be a field tour in the West Bank refugee camp of Qalandia and an EU-built local school. In Cairo, meetings will involve the Egyptian President Husni Mubarak and foreign minister Ahmad Abu Elgheit, with an emphasis on ways to develop EU-Egyptian relations.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas today in their efforts to formulate a joint statement that will pave the way for the creation of a Palestinian state. It seems all sides are hardening their positions ahead of the upcoming summit, Abbas demanding all of Judea, Samaria, Gaza and East Jerusalem for a state, and Olmert demanding any statement abides by the principles of the Roadmap to Peace. Originally the US and EU had stated that both sides should move to final status negotiations, seeing the first stages of the Roadmap could not be implemented. And as Israel and the Palestinians harden their stance ahead of the summit, so the EU and US increase their pressure on Olmert and Abbas to do a deal. Just as the peace deal in Northern Ireland required intense diplomatic pressure and bribery on the part of the UK government (£1 billion in aid), perhaps bribery may play a part in the formulation of a deal. If Israeli and Palestinian leaders find a sudden willingness to negotiate, you will know that the EU will have had something to do with that. 

Source IMEMC, Haaretz

I was trying to think of the last time US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in the Middle East while a major disaster was unfolding in the United States. I remembered that something quite significant had occurred earlier in the year, but I couldn't remember what it was until I saw this news article. The last major disaster to occur in the United States was the Minneapolis bridge collapse in August. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in the Palestinian territories, and had announced an $80 million aid package for Palestinian Authority President Abbas and his "security force". The bridge was built in the year 1967, the same year that Israel fought off an all-out Arab attack and gained much territory as a result. The bridge collapsed 40 years later, just as the US administration is demanding that Israel give that land back to their enemies. Despite the Minneapolis bridge being heavy laden with traffic at the time, only a few people were killed in the collapse. The Minneapolis fire department stated it was a miracle that more people weren't killed. The water level of the Mississippi had been low at the time due to a prolonged drought. Other Christians also told how they were miraculously preserved from the unseen danger, being just a few minutes from the bridge at the time of the incident. It was estimated that it would cost at least $100 million to repair the bridge.

This week's news regarding the fires in California bear a remarkable resemblance to the events of August 2nd. The fires began the same day US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel. Only one person has been killed, despite over 1800 homes being destroyed. But like the bridge collapse, the cost of repair will enter into millions of dollars. On Monday morning, Rice announced that she believed now was the time for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Some report that she also offered to publicly blame Israel in the event that the upcoming peace conference in the US is a failure. As California goes up in smoke, the US government is once again planning to strengthen Israel's enemies, this time announcing a $410 million package.

Quote: "Sources in the US government stress that the aid marks an unprecedented effort aimed at saving the PA led by Abbas. The US is thereby swerving from its traditional handovers and is handing over a sum approaching half a billion dollars. Half of the American aid will be directed at infrastructures, $35 million will be transferred to the Food and Employment Bureau of the United Nations Refugees Works Agency (UNRWA). The remainder of the money will be combined with the PA's continuous budget.

It's unbelievable. To have two major US disasters within days of Condoleezza announcing aid packages for Israel's avowed enemies. As I said this morning, Israel is the apple of God's eye (Zechariah 2:8). And when it comes to Israel, I believe that saying holds true, "an eye for an eye". If the US government wants to put out the fires in San Diego, they had better stop fuelling the fires in Judea and Samaria. As I have said many times, as the international community continues to press for the division of God's land, we can be sure that the US and the nations will face more and more unprecedented crises like these in the future.

Isaiah 52:8 
Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye (the prophecy) to eye (the fulfilment), when the LORD shall bring again Zion.

Source Haaretz, WorldNetDaily, YNet News

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is planning to travel to Europe next week in order to secure diplomatic support over the looming nuclear crisis with Iran. During his visit the upcoming international peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland will also be discussed. Olmert has just arrived back from a trip to Moscow, where he spoke with President Vladimir Putin regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions. The Israeli Prime Minister said he was confident that Putin did not want Iran obtaining nuclear weapons, but Olmert was criticized for taking the trip so soon after the Russian leader met with Iranian President Ahmadinejad in Teheran. But instead of Ahmadinejad making the news regarding his desire to acquire nuclear weapons, it was Putin that made headlines, announcing that Russia is developing an entirely new type of nuclear weapon.

Quote: ""We will develop missile technology including completely new strategic (nuclear) complexes, completely new. Work is continuing and continuing successfully," Mr Putin said. He gave no details about the new nuclear weapon, but went on: "We have plans that are not only big, but grandiose, and they are fully realistic. Our armed forces will be more compact but more effective and better ensure Russia defence.” The broadcast included footage of Russia’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile, the Topol-M, being test-fired from the Plesetsk space centre in northern Russia. State television claimed that it had hit a target thousands of miles away in the Pacific.

President Vladimir Putin promised former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that Russia would never do anything to harm Israel. When he became Prime Minister following Sharon's lapse into a coma after the disengagement from Gaza, Olmert said he believed this promise also applied to him. But as we read in the Scriptures, I believe Israel may have greater cause to fear Russia than it does its Arab neighbours. For according to the Ezekiel's prophecy, Russia will become embroiled in a massive Arab invasion of Israel. Israeli television has noted the similarities of today's political alliances with those described in Ezekiel 38-39.

Quote: "US President George W. Bush said a nuclear Iran would mean World War III. Israeli newscasts featured Gog & Magog maps of the likely alignment of nations in that potential conflict. Channel 2 and Channel 10 TV showed the world map, sketching the basic alignment of the two opposing axes in a coming world war, in a manner evoking associations of the Gog and Magog prophecy for many viewers. The prophecy of Gog and Magog refers to a great world war centered on the Holy Land and Jerusalem and first appears in the book of Yechezkel (Ezekiel). On one side were Israel, the United States, Britain, France and Germany. On the other were Iran, Russia, China, Syria and North Korea.

And as wars and rumours of wars continue, Israel is seeking the diplomatic backing of Europe in its negotiations over the division of the land. French President Sarkozy has stated that he intends to tell Olmert that now is the time to make peace with the Palestinians. And no doubt he will hear a similar message from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. 

Quote: "Israel wants to shore up support on Iran and peace efforts with the Palestinians in the two EU countries with permanent seats on the UN Security Council, which also have large Muslim and significant Jewish communities. "Israel views with great importance that key members of the European Union are committed to the international struggle against Iran's nuclear program," Olmert's spokesman Miri Eisin said. "We want their participation and backing in our talks with the Palestinians and the international peace meeting," she said.

Israel is no longer in a position where it can negotiate with the Palestinians alone. From the experience of my own country of Northern Ireland, it took the two largest and most extreme political parties to come to the negotiating table in order for a peace agreement to be signed. Neither Olmert nor Abbas are politically strong enough to bring about such an agreement. If there is to be peace in the Middle East, it will require the full backing of the international community and specifically Europe, which enjoys the trust of both the Israelis and Palestinians and is economically, politically and militarily involved in the region. As Javier Solana famously told Ariel Sharon, when it comes to making peace in the Middle East, Israel has to deal with the European Union whether it likes it or not.

Quote: "Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declined to meet with Solana, saying that because of an EU vote against Israel (regarding the peace wall) at the UN that Israel would not work with the EU, notwithstanding despite its prominence on the Quartet for Peace in the Middle East. Solana stunned the world, Israel included, by replying that like it or not, both he and the EU were there to stay on the Israeli-Palestinian decision making processes.

It is clear to see that any future Middle East peace agreement will require firm backing from the EU. Daniel's prophecy declares that the agreement will be strengthened by the Antichrist himself.

Daniel 9:27
And he (Antichrist) shall confirm (strengthen) the covenant with many for one week (seven years): and in the midst of the week 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.

Source China View, Times Online, Arutz 7, Jerusalem Post, Middle East Times, Greg Wolf

The Rabbinical Congress for Peace have called on Jews worldwide to voice their concern over the Israeli government's plans for partitioning Jerusalem.  The organization, which comprises of 350 Rabbis, some of whom hold prominent positions in Judaism, made the statements during a press conference in Tel-Aviv yesterday. The conference was held following suggestions by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he would be willing to cede Arab-majority quarters of Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority. The group of Rabbis expressed their concern that no public outcry had been made over the government's plans to divide the capital, despite announcements from Olmert and Vice Premier Haim Ramon that this issue would most certainly be discussed at the upcoming international peace conference.

Quote: "Rabbi Gerlitzky, chairman of the Rabbinical Congress, commented, "It has been several months now that the government has been discussing dividing Jerusalem, but it was done quietly behind our back. Now when it came out in the open, there is no outcry. I feel as though the public has been sprayed with some kind of sleeping gas." A Rabbinic Congress resolution, passed at yesterday's meeting, urged the Olmert government to "come back to your senses." "The Congress calls on the government to abandon the 'land for peace' formula. It never worked in the past, it doesn’t work now and will never work in the future. This formula is obsolete, outdated, leads to bloodshed."

Israeli President Shimon Peres, who's name means "hearkens to division", stated today that as far as he was concerned there were no concrete plans to divide the capital. As far as I know, Shimon Peres has never advocated dividing Jerusalem, and so is telling the truth when he says he desires a "unified Jerusalem". 

Quote: "During a visit to Safed, the president said, "The only thing the State of Israel must ensure is a Jewish majority in Jerusalem. To the best of my knowledge, there is no agreement on Jerusalem, but in any case it is clear that the holy sites must remain under our control. Currently we all want a unified Jerusalem."

But Peres is willing to relinquish Jewish sovereignty over the city in return for a peace agreement with the Arab nations. In 1994 Peres is reported to have signed an agreement with the Vatican granting the Catholic Church special status over Jerusalem's holy sites, in the event that it becomes an international city. Interestingly the Vatican also has a similar agreement with the Palestinians, so even if the Vatican supported the division of Jerusalem, the Catholic Church will still be granted control over the holy sites. As for the apathy regarding the proposed division of Jerusalem, that is hard to understand. It seems this present Israeli government has become so wearied with Palestinian issue that they are prepared to do just about anything to wash their hands of it. International organizations have urged Israel to divide the land now before the two-state solution becomes physically impossible to implement. The Scriptures state that during the tribulation period, the land of Israel (Daniel 11:39) and the city of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:2) will be divided, under the authority of the Antichrist. A false peace will be established in the Middle East, but it will not last (1st Thessalonians 5:3). The Bible indicates that during the Millennial Reign of Christ, the Israeli-Arab conflict will be finally resolved. Arabs and Israelis will live in the land in peace, not in separate states but together under the government of Yeshua HaMachiach - the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6-7). I believe the following verse seems to speak about the Palestinian Arabs that would remain in the land following the regathering of Israel.

Zephaniah 3:12
I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.

It is true that many of the Palestinians are a poor and afflicted people, but praise God that He has not forgotten them, even though much of the world may want to. Today believing Jews and Arabs worship together in many of the Messianic congregations in Israel. Many Arabs who once despised Israel now have a God-given love for His chosen people. This sort of reconciliation is only possible through Jesus Christ. If God can reconcile sinners to Himself, surely the reconciliation of Jew and Arab must be counted a small thing in His sight? But will you be reconciled to God?

2nd Corinthians 5:20
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Source WorldNetDaily, YNet News