Olmert and Abbas to talk on future Palestinian statePDFPrintE-mail
Israel
Written by Chris Perver  
Thursday, 12 April 2007 17:00
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is due to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem on Sunday, the first meeting of their fortnightly talks on the stalled Middle East peace process. Olmert and Abbas agreed to hold regular talks during US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to the region, and the EU has stated that it will monitor the discussions to ensure progress is being made. The captivity of Corporal Gilad Shalit is expected to be discussed, along with the legal, economic and governmental structures of any future Palestinian state.

Quote: "The prime minister's spokeswoman Miri Eisin said Olmert and Abbas will "start talking about what a Palestinian state would look like." Eisin said this would include "the type of legal system, economic system [and] government system that it would have." She said Olmert would not discuss with Abbas "the three hardest, central issues" - borders, Jerusalem and refugees.

If this is meant to be the "Roadmap to peace", then I think Olmert must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. The US Administration suggested not so long ago that the international community should now move to stage two of the roadmap, seeing both sides had failed to implement phase one - an end to terror and a halt in settlement expansion. But if the Palestinian Authority can't even renounce violence, what hope is there of there being any agreement on the final status issues? The Bible states in Zechariah that during the tribulation period, the nations of the world will gather together to make war against Jerusalem to wipe the Jews off the face of the earth. This suggests to me that final status issues will never be completely resolved. There may be some sort of peace after Ezekiel's war and the invasion of the Antichrist. But it will not be a permanent solution, and as predicted, it will all unravel in the middle and towards the end of the seven year period.

Zechariah 14:2-3 
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. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 

Source Haaretz

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