To Annex or Not Annex, That is the Question

Frontpage is a fascinating, indispensable site for conservatives. I consider David Horowitz to be one of the greatest thinkers of our time. He allows for a range of significant thinkers to opine on a range of issues. One especially caught my eye this week, related to Israel’s anticipated annexation of the Jordan Valley.

Notice I didn’t say annexation of the “West Bank.”

One key paragraph caught my eye in a piece written by Joseph Puder:

“Abdullah, like his father King Hussein, knows that Jordan’s prosperity and stability requires peace with Israel. Netanyahu too, is cognizant of the fact that the Hashemite Kingdom is an indispensable bulwark against a possible threat to Israel from east of the Jordan River. The collapse of Jordan’s monarchy would allow Israel’s enemies to use its long border with Israel as a base to attack the Jewish state.”

There’s rarely a dull day where Israel is concerned, and huge things going on geopolitically now have far-reaching implications. It’s possible there enough stupid people in America to vote Donald Trump out of office in November. And Benjamin Netanyahu’s political career is still fluid, given his indictment and a unity government with Benny Gantz.

All of this has implications for Bible prophecy, too.

Since 1967, Israel has moved into position to anger her rivals in the region, first gaining its biblical heartland in the Six Day War. And in just the last few years, the US Embassy has moved to Jerusalem and Trump has given Israel wide latitude in dealing with the Palestinians.

Now comes the opportunity for Israel to annex the Jordan Valley and most of the settlements. (My friend Bill Koenig points out in his latest newsletter that several key ones would fall outside the Israeli borders though and be in peril from any Palestinian government.)

Netanyahu is in a tough position. One can assume he wants to annex the Valley, thus strengthening Israel’s security, but the usual dark forces would make him pay in a variety of ways.

The Media accuse Netanyahu of intending to annex the entire West Bank—I wish he would!—but that isn’t on the table, at least officially. What has been discussed is the aforementioned Jordan Valley, between Israel and Jordan. The Kingdom’s ruler, Abdullah, is not the friend to Israel that his father was (and don’t forget, HIS father was prepared to make peace with Israel when he was assassinated on the Temple Mount in 1951), and while he is very well aware of how much he owes the Israelis, Abdullah’s wife is Palestinian and 70 percent of Jordan’s population is Palestinian. So he has to strenuously oppose annexation.

But the clock is ticking. If Netanyahu is going to do this, he’ll do it in the next few months, ahead of the American elections.

My friends, we are moving closer and closer to the day when the international community will have had its fill of an “uppity” Israel.

And will attack.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

New Israeli Theme Park

If the Knesset is a theme park, then the most popular ride is “Bibi’s Rollercoaster!”

Seriously, the negotiations between Benjamin Netanyahu and rival Benny Gantz have taken more twists and turns than a Turkish cab driver in downtown Istanbul.

One week, it looks like Bibi’s political career is over (he’s also under indictment on corruption charges), the next week it is clear Gantz will never be prime minister and the incumbent will survive.

In the last two months, various experts have claimed a definitive outcome, only to be outdone by the wily Netanyahu, surely the shrewdest politician in recent memory.

What we know is that through three (3!) election cycles, Gantz can’t get across the finish line.

Now, at this point, we should note that it’s almost incomprehensible that in the 10 years Netanyahu has been back in office—a remarkable accomplishment in itself, given the revolving door among prime ministers the previous decade—the country would want new leadership. Netanyahu’s almost supernatural achievements economically and strategically are the stuff of legend. Israel, while still surrounded by implacable enemies, is relatively safe. Iran has been neutralized to some degree, the country outlasted the menacing Obama, and the US Embassy sits in Jerusalem.

Stunning resume, to be sure. And yet, also in these last three elections, Netanyahu could not quite get over the threshold. His enemies are the same in essence as the ones trying to bring Trump down. They hate a strong Israel and a strong US.

It looked like last week that Gantz would never become prime minister. President Reuven Rivlin gave him the mandate to form a government and he couldn’t…again.

The wizard Netanyahu had looked to be back in complete control (pending his legal challenges, of course).

Now comes word that the two sides are negotiating a unity government, and Netanyahu has dropped his demand of new legislation that would allow him to continue as prime minister even if the High Court of Justice rules against him.

Gantz served in the IDF with distinction, yet it is galling (to some of us) that he would want to unseat the man that has kept Israel safe and prosperous for a decade. I think this comes down to one thing: In his years in power, Netanyahu has made many political enemies. Gantz is one of them.

Unless a new prime minister goes by the name, say, of Naftali Bennett, I am not impressed with any new leadership in Israel. Gantz would be weak in foreign policy. We shall see.

Remember, 30 years ago Israel formed a national unity government, with Yitzhak Shamir rotating the prime minister slot with Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin of course “guided” Israel into the disastrous Oslo Accords, and I’m concerned Gantz would do similar things.

As we’ve said many times in different ways, if we didn’t believe God is in control (and I do), then it would be time for concern or despair.

There is imperfect justice in this world today, and we just have to put up with it. Just like in America today we have to put up with insane attempts to put Trump out of office (or we must listen to Media claim that Joe Biden leads in the presidential race; Biden vs. Trump is like a fourth-grader going up against Joe Louis, and everyone knows it).

Continue to pray for Bibi and for the marvelous country he still leads.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com