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

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have addressed the Annapolis conference, on the first night of the international gathering. As predicted by WorldNetDaily, Olmert did indeed make reference to the Arab Peace Initiative, a symbolic gesture to Saudi Arabia which was in attendance at the conference. Both Abbas and Olmert expressed hope that negotiations could be completed by the end of 2008. Both leaders stated that it was in their common interest that peace should be made between Israel and the Palestinians. They also mentioned the need to combat religious extremism and fundamentalism, and the necessity of further disengagements from territories captured by Israel during the Six Day War. But both leaders seemed to disagree on what exactly would be discussed at the Annapolis peace conference...

Olmert: "The negotiations between us will not take place here in Annapolis but rather in our home and in your home. These negotiations will be bilateral, direct, ongoing, and continuous, in an effort to complete the process in the course of 2008. The negotiations will address all of the issues which we have thus far avoided dealing with. We will do this directly, openly and courageously. We will not avoid any subject. We will deal with all the core issues

Abbas: "Tomorrow, we have to start comprehensive and deep negotiations on all issues of final status, including Jerusalem, refugees, borders, settlements, water and security and others. We have to support this negotiating process in concrete and direct steps on the ground that would prove that we are moving in an irreversible path toward negotiated, comprehensive and full peace, and to ensure ending all settlement activities, including natural growth, and reopening closed Jerusalem institutions, removal of settlement outposts, removal of road blocks, and freedom of prisoners, and to facilitate our mission in the authority to enforce law and the rule of law.

Olmert and Abbas also disagreed on how far they would have to go to in order to achieve peace. Olmert commented that the situation which emerged in 1967 would change dramatically. In other words, Israel would be prepared to disengage from most of the land it captured during the Six Day War in return for peace with the Arab nations. On the other hand, Abbas is still clinging to the idea that Israel must give up all the territories captured in 1967 in order for there to be peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Olmert: "I am convinced that the reality that emerged in our region in 1967 will change significantly. This will be an extremely difficult process for many of us, but it is nevertheless inevitable. I know this. Many of my people know this. We are prepared for it.

Abbas: "But to achieve that does not depend on the Arab and Islamic position by itself, but requires meeting this position by a reciprocal strategic willingness that would basically lead to ending the occupation of all Palestinian occupied territories in 1967, including East Jerusalem, as well as the Syrian Golan and what remains of occupied from Lebanese territories, and to resolve all other issues relating to the conflict, especially the Palestinian refugees question in all its political, humanitarian, individual and common aspects, consistent with Resolution 194, as emphasized by the Arab peace initiative and the participation of sister states that host refugees and carry huge burdens in this regard... It is my duty to say that, to have peace, we need the fate of the city of Jerusalem to be a critical component in any peace accord that we might reach. We need East Jerusalem to be our capital and to establish open relations with western Jerusalem, and to ensure for all the faithful from all religions their right to exercise their rituals and to access holy shrines without any discrimination and on the basis of international and humanitarian goals.

It seems Abbas has stuck to his guns (pun intended!). Abbas stated in his speech that the fate of the city of Jerusalem must be a critical component in any peace accord that will be reached. And at the centre of Jerusalem lies the Temple Mount. I don't think the Arabs will give that up without a fight. We know from Scripture that a deal will be made which will see Israel disengage from at least half the city of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:2). For three and a half years, the Gentile nations will trample the Holy City underfoot (Revelation 11:2). Satan's goal is to hinder the Lord Jesus Christ's return to Jerusalem as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is seeking to set up his one world government, where he will be worshipped by all instead of God.

Revelation 12:12-13
Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman (Israel) which brought forth the man child (Jesus Christ).

Jerusalem, and specifically the Temple Mount, will play a great part in end time events. Praise God that He has not left us in the dark, and has not hidden from us that thing which He will do (Genesis 18:17). The battle is the Lord's, and also the victory. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 11:15). Are you a citizen of His Kingdom? Trust in Jesus Christ for salvation today.

Source Washington Post, Washington Post

The time is right to relaunch peace talks on the Middle East, George Bush said today at the opening of the Annapolis conference of leaders from the region.

In optimistic comments prepared for delivery to diplomats from more than 40 countries gathered at the US naval academy, the US president struck a positive note about the new peace effort, something his administration had previously shied away from.

The talks are aimed at jump-starting negotiations for creating a Palestinian state, and Bush emphasised that the meeting marked the beginning of a difficult process.

Bush argued it was time to pursue an agreement because the Palestinians and Israelis had leaders determined to achieve peace and because "we must not cede victory to the extremists" in the Middle East.

"The time is right, the cause is just, and with hard effort, I know they can succeed," he said.

As the president prepared to open the conference, tens of thousands of people protested in Gaza City against Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, which has been under the control of Hamas Islamists since June.

"Abbas is a traitor" and "Death to Israel, death to America", the demonstrators chanted.

Speaking at the protest, Hamas leaders said Abbas had no right to make concessions to Israel.

"Let them go to a thousand conferences, we say in the name of the Palestinian people that we did not authorise anyone to sign any agreement that harms our rights," Mahmoud al-Zahar, a Hamas leader, told a cheering crowd. "Anyone who does so will be judged by history as a traitor."

Security forces in Ramallah, the West Bank stronghold controlled by the Fatah forces of Abbas, dispersed crowds after scuffles at a protest.

In Annapolis, the US is making frantic efforts to close gaps between the Israelis and Palestinians on a joint declaration of principles.

Opinions on the progress made towards reaching a declaration were mixed yesterday: Israeli sources said there were still "significant" gaps after weeks of discussions; Yasser Abed Rabbo, a close Abbas aide, said agreement was close; and the US state department said parties were "converging" on a document with the help of Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state.

Bush now says Middle East peace will be a high priority until he leaves office in January 2009. Critics say he has neglected it fatefully since 2001, and has been discredited in the region by the war in Iraq and bias towards Israel.

Stephen Hadley, his national security adviser, signalled that the president was unlikely to put forward new ideas. "It is now time for the parties to get into this process by way of negotiation," Hadley told reporters. "And I don't think the president will conclude that the time is right to start offering ideas on outcomes on specific issues."

In the Middle East, many have already written off Annapolis, with Iran leading the opposition. "This conference has already failed," the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said yesterday. "The US and its accomplices hope to preserve their reputation by this conference and compensate for past failures of the fake Zionist regime."

Despite these problems - and considerable private doubts - both sides were trying to sound upbeat.

"We are going to have lots of participants in what I hope will launch a serious process of negotiations between us and the Palestinians," said Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister. Abbas said: "We have great hopes of this conference."

Participation by Saudi Arabia and Syria is giving it a strong Arab presence, including the first involvement in peace talks with Israel by the entire 22-member Arab League.

And he (the beast) shall confirm a covenant with many (Israel and the 22 member Arab League) for one week (Hebrew=shavoua) Daniel 9:27