Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s office has confirmed that the Israeli leader held another telephone conversation with US President Bill Clinton earlier this week regarding the peace process. Press reports say Barak urged Clinton to make one last attempt to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord before he leaves office on January 20. Barak is expected to press this issue even harder now that Clinton’s deputy is finally out of the race to succeed him as president. Clinton apparently promised to send Secretary of State Madeleine Albright back to the region soon to explore peace possibilities, and said he himself may come over the Christmas holidays. Israeli political analysts say Barak is hoping to go before Israeli voters in February or March with a peace deal if one can be wrapped up before then. Opposition leaders say they are fearful that Barak will offer even more concessions to Arafat than he did at Camp David in July--with the full support and prodding of a lameduck leader with nothing to lose--despite the deadly Palestinian resort to violence. They predict that Barak will be crushed in the election if he does so.
US Mideast peace envoy Dennis Ross met Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Morocco on Tuesday night and early Wednesday to discuss peace prospects. Palestinian press reports said they examined secret proposals formulated in recent days between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. It has been revealed that senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat met with Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami and other officials on Saturday night, where the new proposals were apparently ironed out. However Erekat told reporters yesterday he was not optimistic that any peace deal can be brokered before Clinton leaves office. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine will arrive in Jerusalem today to give European Union input into the moribund peace process.
PM Barak congradulated George W. Bush on his election victory today, saying he expected that close ties would continue between Israel and the United States. Other officials and commentators are busy studying the implications of Bush's triumph. Foreign Minister Ben-Ami predicted that Bush would be "very reluctant to tackle the complex Palestinian-Israeli dispute" in his first months in office. In general, ruling Labor party politicians seem to be disappointed with Al Gore’s razor-thin loss, while more conservative Likud leaders openly welcome Bush’s narrow win. Likud legislators generally have closer ties to their Republican than Democratic counterparts, while the opposite is the case with the left-wing Labor party. Likud leaders are hopeful that a victory by their candidate in the upcoming election will be the starting point of a close relationship between the new Bush administration and Israel. They expect the incoming president to give Israel more leeway to negotiate a peace deal with the Palestinians, or to handle the violent uprising if it continues as expected. However, Israel Television’s Washington correspondent warned viewers last night that there is still a chance—if quite remote—that some Electoral College electors may switch their votes to Gore next week since he won the nationwide popular vote, producing more potential legal battles and constitutional confusion.
An Israeli was lightly injured in a gun attack near Hebron this morning. Armed clashes also took place overnight in several other locations. The fresh violence came after a day of fierce fighting in the Gaza Strip, and after a Hamas activist was killed by IDF soldiers near his home in Hebron. Hamas has vowed to revenge what they are calling "a deliberate assassination of another holy jihad martyr." Israeli forces are on high alert today, the anniversary of the radical movement's founding in 1987. They also expect more trouble tomorrow after Palestinian uprising leaders called for another "day of rage." Armed Forces Chief Shaul Mofaz said yesterday that he is readying his troops for "an extended low intensity conflict" to last at least another year. He warned that violence may escalate if Yasser Arafat declares a Palestinian state as widely expected on January 1, the PLO Fatah movement's founding anniversary. However, he said there are growing indications that the Palestinians are running low on ammunition supplies as the armed uprising continues. He added that security cooperation with Arafat's official armed forces has "broken down completley" in recent weeks, with Arafat's zones of control becoming "sanctuaries for terrorists to escape to."
A large Christian conference scheduled for Jerusalem in late December may be cancelled later today if striking Interior Ministry workers do not issue visas to hundreds of foreigners, mainly from third world countries, who are planning to attend. Some 800 other scheduled participants do not need visas since they are coming from developed nations for the "Celebrate Messiah 2000" conference. Although the government strike is the official reason for the holdup, some locally-based organizers note that other groups have received visas in recent days despite the strike. They say that the conference's theme of worldwide evangelism (the gathering is sponsored by the Lausanne Committee) may be the real reason for the lack of action. The Jerusalem Post and several other newspapers carry reports of the potential cancellation in today's editions, quoting tourism sources as stating that it is insane to turn away so many potential visitors at a time of crisis in the country and the tourism industry.
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Things are heating up for Israel. She is surrounded by radical Muslim nations dedicated to her destruction. Russia is arming and preparing these troops exactly as the Bible predicted. And the peace process -- though fraught with problems, is continuing forward. When it eventually reaches conclusion, it may produce a false sense of security for Israel and may perhaps be the time that "Russia thinks an evil thought", and leads the radical Muslim nations in their ill-fated invasion of Israel. Or, perhaps, it is in the aftermath of the invasion that peace is achieved only to later usher in destruction as Israel cries out, Peace, Peace!
What Israel's enemies will not anticipate is God's intervention in the course of human history. The result is catastrophic for the invaders, but will change life for all mankind, as well. These events include nuclear weapons and an earthquake so large that it shakes the entire earth. But most important is that, during this time in history, God once again pours out His Spirit on the House of Israel, showing His greatness and holiness, and making Himself known in the sight of many nations. "Then they will know that I am the LORD". (Eze 38:23) God will "once again, in a little while, shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts."(Haggai 2:6-7) "And the desired of the nations shall come.''
``It is now the hour to awake from sleep, for our salvation is closer than when we first accepted the faith.'' (Rom 13:11)
God's righteous judgements are always redemptive. He does not desire that anyone perish, but that all come to repentance and everlasting life.
This invasion could now take place at almost any time. To prepare for it, stay close to the Lord by purifying your heart and thoughts through the daily washing of the Word. Be careful not to forsake the Holy One of Israel. Soon the culmination of all things shall begin.
Purify yourselves daily by the reading of the Word. Jesus is returning for a Holy and Spotless Church. ``Today is the day of salvation for many who are perishing; their tomorrow shall not see my return in glory to judge the living and the dead. Today is the day of their salvation." Don't delay. Time is short. You have no guarantee that you will even see tomorrow. If you die without receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your eternal destiny is fixed.
As we see the signs of His return drawing close, what manner of holy life should we be living? Remember that Jesus is returning for a Holy and Spotless Bride. Whether His return is today or 10 years from now is irrelevant since eternity is only a heart beat away for any of us. So choose this day whom you will serve, ask the Holy Spirit to search you to see if there be any iniquity in you, and then call upon Jesus your Deliverer. He is faithful for forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unfaithfulness.
"Watch and pray, therefore, that you would be counted worthy to escape the judgment that is coming upon the earth and be able to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36).
Maranatha!
Blessings on you all as we all wait for the return of our precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Maranatha!
How to Be Saved Through Jesus
DAVID DOLAN is a Jerusalem-based author and journalist. He has written the monthly Israel News Digest for CHRISTIAN FRIENDS OF ISRAEL since 1986. His just-released new book, ISRAEL IN CRISIS: WHAT LIES AHEAD? may be ordered in North America by phoning 888-890-6938 or by e mail at: resources@yourisraelconnection.org
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