Human effort

One can be forgiven the impulse to give President Trump (and Netanyahu, for that matter) the benefit of the doubt regarding the “Deal of the Century” for Israel and the Palestinians.

A quarter-century of mind-numbingly stupid diplomacy has only murdered more Jews in Israel and make no mistake: Bill Clinton, Saeb Erekat, Martin Indyk et al do not care. They only nurtured the “Oslo” process because it chipped away at Israel’s sovereignty.

Now comes an equally controversial plan from Trump. For us Bible prophecy purists, the plan—extremely generous to Israel in a human context—calls for some of the Land of Israel to be given to the Palestinians for a state.

This is a non-starter for hardcore Christian supporters of Israel.

(As an aside, I fell out of favor in the last five years in certain circles because I do not support the two-state solution.)

Now, it’s tempting to endorse this plan because it gives Israel several advantages, including control of the Jordan Valley. And as I said at the outset, one could be forgiven for forgiving Trump, in that no one expects the Palestinians to actually take the deal. Did you know that since 1947, they have rejected peace deals 17 times?

Number 18 is probably right ahead.

The thinking is, this is simply a clever ploy by Trump and Bibi, and after the Palestinians inevitably take a walk, Israel can then swoop in and annex the West Bank.

It’s doubtful they would annex the whole territory, but it’s a possibility that this is what the Americans and Israelis have had in mind. At worst, Trump’s team is comprised of realists who actually understand what’s been going on.

The problem is, giving the Palestinians literally an inch will ensure they will continue to take 10,000 miles. It’s in their DNA. A little-reported event last week illustrates why peace is impossible with the Palestinians.

During a Holocaust forum in Jerusalem, Israeli troops engaged three terrorists from Gaza, when the latter threw explosives at them. The IDF eliminated all three.

But the terrorists had gotten through the security fence near Kibbutz Kissufim and had gotten several hundred yards inside Israel proper before they were detected.

In one important way, the Palestinian terrorists are identical to leftists and today’s Democrat Party leadership in Washington: they never, ever give up.

Some insane numbers are being thrown around to jump-start a Palestinian economy, should they take the deal. Hundreds of billions of dollars!

The leadership will steal every dime, just as they have since 1993. Our tax dollars.

If they are given even a tiny state, they will have realized their goal of finding a sovereign toe-hold, and they will continue trying to eliminate the Jewish state.

Sometimes human effort approaches a noble effort, but in the end, human diplomacy will fall short of Scripture. God doesn’t want the land divided, and if it is, there will be cosmic consequences.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

Buckle Up!

Benjamin Netanyahu and rival Benny Gantz will be arriving in Washington this week to meet with President Trump, to discuss the much-anticipated peace plan.

Trump says he will release details of the plan immediately before his separate meetings with Gantz and Netanyahu on Monday and Tuesday. It is the rumored details that are so fascinating and explosive. The plan just might provide Israel with a game-changing reality on the ground, after decades of being forced to dance with menacing diplomats and terrorists that wished to shrink the Jewish state to dangerous borders.

According to the Jerusalem Post:

“The long-delayed peace plan, expected to be extremely generous to Israel, was drawn up by the US president’s former special envoy Jason Greenblatt, Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.

“Gantz said the peace plan would set off ‘a large and painful internal argument’ within Israel, and said he committed himself to ‘reduce this dispute to a minimum.’

For his part, Netanyahu must be giddy with excitement:

“’This is an opportunity that comes once in history, and we cannot miss it,’ Netanyahu said in a video posted to social media. ‘We have the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House, and therefore, we have the best opportunity we ever had.’”

Notice Gantz refers to “painful internal argument.” This no doubt refers to the possibility of the establishment of a pseudo-Palestinian state, albeit one with disadvantages for real statehood. Thank goodness we finally have an American president that doesn’t reward Palestinian terrorism with more concessions from Israel. Now to the juicy details:

“The US plan has yet to be released, but it reportedly allows for Israeli sovereignty over settlements in Area C and the entire Jordan Valley, as well as a Palestinian state that would incorporate open portions of Area C, according to KAN.

“All but 15 isolated settlements would be linked contiguously, and Israel will be able to apply sovereignty immediately if it agrees to the plan, Channel 12 reported.

“Additionally, the Trump plan would reportedly leave Jerusalem undivided under Israel control, with a symbolic Palestinian presence.

“The peace plan also demands that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, demilitarize the Gaza Strip and take away Hamas’s weapons, and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Channel 12 reported.

“Under the plan, Palestinians reportedly will not have control of any borders.”

All stunning. The real fly in the ointment (and something I think is really up in the air) is what the Palestinians will do. The default position for 25 years is to genuinely reject the offer. Arafat did it, and Abbas has continued the intransigence the last 15 years.

But what if they took the deal? Personally, if I were them, I would. It would jar Israel supporters and I think shock the Israeli political establishment. Yes, on paper, such a Palestinian state would be weak and a non-player even regionally.

But remember what the Jews did in 1947 when offered a greatly shrunken state by the British and the UN?

Ben Gurion took the deal.

That bold stroke gave them a foothold in their ancestral homeland and a generation later, they achieved goals they could never have dreamed of.

I personally believe international momentum would provide headwinds for the Palestinians so that—potentially—they could set up their own realities on the ground in, say, 20 years.

What this all means is that while “the deal” seems golden for Israel, it is also moving the chess pieces prophetically, so that the world will continue to hate Israel.

This week will be fascinating and momentous!

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com