Javier Solana, the High Representative for the European Common, Foreign and Security Policy, has pledged that the EU will play a very important role at the international peace conference to be held in Annapolis, Maryland later this month. He made the comments during a press conference in Israel yesterday, convened by the head of the Israeli negotiating team, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Solana said that he had discussed a number of issues with Tzipi Livni during his tour of the region, namely Israel's desire to upgrade its relations with the European Union, increasing co-operation in fields such as science and technology, and they also discussed the need for a third round of sanctions against Iran in relation to its nuclear programme. He was also asked questions in relation to Europe's involvement in the Middle East peace process. To that, Solana replied that the EU would have an important presence at the Annapolis gathering, and that the bloc would continue to play a very prominent role in the region after the event, taking on the responsibility of a monitoring mechanism, ensuring that both sides abide by any agreement that is reached. Solana reiterated his earlier statement, that a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was "doable" by the end of 2008.

Quote: "Q: Mr. Solana, I would like to ask you what is going to be the role of the European Union in Annapolis and if you are confident that after the conference an agreement could be reached in eight or nine months?
SECRETARY-GENERAL SOLANA: The role of the European Union is to be part of the Annapolis conference and a member of the Quartet. Apart from being a member of the Quartet, so we'll be there. There will be a very important presence of the European Union and very important activity and contribution to the process - not only to the conference itself but also to the mechanism of follow-up, to monitor it if necessary, etc., etc. Now, you asked me if it's feasible to file an agreement at the end of a period of eight months or something like that. I think by the end of the year 2008, it could be doable. It could be feasible. I don't guarantee that will be done but I think it's possible.

In regards to the American-backed "Roadmap to Peace" document, both Solana and Livni agreed that it was not necessary for the process to intricately follow the steps written in this document. The Palestinian Authority has not disarmed or disbanded terrorist organizations operating in its territory, as detailed in the first stage of the document. As a result, Israel has not felt obligated to halt all settlement activity in Judea and Samaria. Instead, the Roadmap to Peace would be used as a final check, pending the future implementation of any agreement. For his part, Solana said it was doubtful that the Israelis or Palestinians could reach an agreement that did not follow along the lines of the Roadmap to Peace. The US takes much of the credit for initiating the Roadmap to Peace, following President Bush's speech of June 2002. But from that time America has not played much of a peace-making role in the Middle East. During yesterday's press conference, Javier Solana stated that he believed the Roadmap to Peace would be accepted by both sides, and based this claim on his working knowledge of the document, having actually written part of the document himself.

Quote: "Q: I’ll ask one question for clarification, with your permission, Mr. Solana. You've been quoted in Egypt as saying that it is not absolutely necessary that the Roadmap be the point from which both sides have to depart and it is up to the parties to decide where they go, with or without that Roadmap. Is it absolutely necessary to work upon the basis of the road map or are there other avenues?
SECRETARY-GENERAL SOLANA: As you know, if the two parties get an agreement, they can do whatever they agree to do, with or without a Roadmap. What do I think? I think that they would not agree on anything that is very far from the Roadmap and therefore this is just a metaphorical question. I think that a potential agreement is around the terms of the first phase of the map. I would not say the whole of the map, but at least the first phase. I know it by heart because I wrote part of it. I think that potentially there is a way to implement whatever agreements may come out of the process that is happening in Annapolis. And I have the impression that it is practically agreed that the Roadmap will be accepted by both sides.

If you are wondering why Solana is referred to as "Secretary General", it is because he is the Secretary General of the 10 nation Western European Union (WEU), the military arm of the EU. He is also Secretary General of the Council of the European Union, the highest legislative body in the European Union. So as we can see from yesterday's news, the European Union has in the past, and will in the future, have a direct role in mediating and strengthening a future peace agreement between Israel and the surrounding nations - just as the Bible said. According to Scripture, I believe that the identity of the Antichrist will not be revealed until the Church is removed from the scene. What is clear is that there are individuals like Solana, heavily involved in this Middle East peace process, who presently have little public exposure. Perhaps once we are gone, this will all change.

2nd Thessalonians 2:3-8
Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come] (Day of the Lord), except there come a falling away first (apostasy), and that man of sin be revealed (Antichrist), the son of perdition (destruction); Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth (hinders) [will let (hinder)], until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

I believe that according to Scripture, the identity of this Person that withholds the appearance of the man of sin is none other than the Holy Spirit working through the Church. For only God can be addressed as both gender-neutral and masculine at the same time. When the "salt" and "light" of this world is taken home (Matthew 5:13-14), then the way will be opened up for the appearance of this man, the Antichrist. Are you waiting for the appearance of the Antichrist, or the appearance of God's Son from heaven (1st Thessalonians 1:10)? Turn to Jesus Christ for salvation today.

Isaiah 26:19-21
Thy dead [men] shall live, [together with] my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew [is as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

Source Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Wikipedia, Wikipedia