Israeli PM rules out a Palestinian State
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that for now, he has ruled out a meeting with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and the creation of a Palestinian state. “I oppose a Palestinian state, and I think it would be a grave mistake to import the failed Gaza model of Hamas, which shoots rockets at us and turn the entire West Bank into that. I see no logic in meeting Abbas when he’s suing our soldiers in The Hague and accuses our commanders of war crimes.
In my opinion, the Palestinian Authority is a failed entity,” he said. He also noted the P.A.’s “pay-for-slay” program, in which the Palestinian leadership pays monthly stipends to terrorists who are killed or imprisoned for carrying out attacks against Israelis through its Palestinian Authority Martyrs’ Fund. Bennett also stated his opposition to reopening the U.S. General Consulate in eastern Jerusalem, stating: “Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel and of no other country.’
In two year’s time Bennet will be replaced by Yair Lapid as Prime Minister. He is likely to take a different line on the Palestinian state and be more open to talks on the subject.
US decline and Israel’s response
US Middle East policy is bolstering the Palestinian Authority at Israel’s expense at a time when the Palestinians seem to be losing faith in their leaders and in any peace process with Israel. Palestinians continue to pocket money from the US and other Western donors, while at the same time moving closer to Hamas and further from any peace with Israel.
The government, schools, mosques and media spread endless messages of hate against Israel, denying its right to exist and calling for it to be replaced with a Palestinian state, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Gaza is already in the hands of Islamists committed to Israel’s destruction. The Palestinian Authority may be taken over by Hamas, which would bring the radical Islamists to the gates of Jerusalem.
As an ally of Israel and the Sunni regimes of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the USA has played a major role in keeping radical Islamists, especially the Iranian Islamic regime, in check. Now it is going back on this. Biden is continuing to push for the resuscitation of the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, granting Iran nuclear weapons and global legitimacy. In doing this he and the western leaders are turning a blind eye to the ever increasing violations of human rights in Iran, appeasing the mullahs of Iran instead of holding them accountable for their crimes against humanity. Iran may be a month or so away from producing a workable nuclear bomb which Israel sees as an existential threat which it may try to take out with an attack on Iran itself.
In the latest outrageous move, the US Democrats are removing funding for Israel’s Iron Dome defence system which protects Israelis from Hamas rockets fired from Gaza. Biden’s Democrats have now surrendered to the anti-Zionist, anti-Semitic left. Judgement coming on America.
Israel now has two states to the north, Syria and Lebanon, in a state of collapse, with Syria occupied by Russian and Iranian forces. Iran has supplied huge numbers of missiles aimed at Israel to Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon and is strengthening its forces in Syria, confronting Israel on the Golan Heights. Russia is not so friendly to Israel now that Netanyahu has gone as Prime Minister. It has warned Israel against attacking Iranian strongholds in Syria and Iraq.
Meanwhile Israel is strengthening its alliance with moderate Arab countries. A report from the Gatestone Institute says,
‘For both the Israelis and the Gulf’s Arab monarchies, Iran’s Shia regional empire and drive to lead the Muslim world is still justifiably considered an existential threat. Israel’s rising stature as a military power in the region is clearly a by-product of the new US policy decision to reduce its own military presence in the Mideast. This US move creates a power vacuum that only Israel is capable of filling.
Only Israel appears to have the will and resources to confront the twin challenge to Western civilisation presented by a revolutionary Iran and Islamic extremism. One Israeli opportunity to demonstrate that it remains a “strong horse” may be a future decision to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s air defence against Iranian missile attacks or pro-Iranian Houthi launches of armed drones from Yemen. Such a decision could help protect the oil kingdom’s petroleum industry facilities. Another option that Israel, with its sophisticated, multilevel air defence systems, could implement is helping to draw Jordan into a defence partnership that might strengthen the threatened rule of King Abdullah in Amman. Perhaps, the most impressive Israeli performance that may have strengthened the resolve of neighbouring states is the continued success of Israel’s intelligence agencies in collecting information on Iran’s nuclear weapons programs. Israel’s multi-dimensional and aggressive defence of regional stability is also likely eventually to draw more regional Islamic states to embrace the “Abraham Accords.”
Israel – Writings by Gatestone Institute
Students of prophecy may see in all these developments steps towards the fulfilment of the Gog and Magog prophecy of Ezekiel 38-9. An enemy from the north including, but not led by, Iran launches an invasion of Israel, while Arab states to the south and east do not join in. In fact they offer verbal support for Israel (Ezekiel 38.13). And against all the odds, with the intervention of God, Israel emerges victorious.
Changing the Law of Return
In the past few weeks, several Knesset Members have voiced concerns about Jewish identity in the land of Israel. These concerns centre around the Law of Return.
The Law of Return passed in 1950 gives Jews the right to come and live in Israel and to gain Israeli citizenship. In 1970, the right of entry and settlement was extended to people with one Jewish grandparent and a person who is married to a Jew, whether or not he or she is considered Jewish under Orthodox interpretations of Halakha (Jewish law). The new ruling extends this to include wider members of the family who have no Jewish identity.
Knesset member Shlomo Karhi attacked the ruling, saying it threatens the Jewish character of the State of Israel:
The High Court is eroding the foundations of the Jewish state, and through ‘intentional interpretation’ distorts the law so that it will serve the wishes of its progressive judges. If we do not put an end to this, the High Court will put an end to the Jewish state. I will lead the Knesset to make a change in the law, to build a wall in such a way that even the activists and anti-Zionist High Court will not be able to break through.
Knesset member Shlomo Karhi
MK Itamar ben Gvir also expressed displeasure with the ruling:
The High Court today ruled another precedent-setting and dangerous ruling that will destroy the Law of Return. Violations in the law may in the future cause the Jewish people to become a minority in their country. In the next session, I will propose to amend the High Court ruling and include explicit sections in the law that will prevent the continuation on this slippery slope.
MK Itamar ben Gvir
This issue is of great importance to Messianic Jews, who would like to see the Law of Return made more accommodating to Jews who believe in Jesus. Orthodox rabbis rule that those who believe in Jesus and have been baptised have ceased to be Jewish and therefore do not qualify for the Law of Return. This makes it very difficult for Jewish believers in Jesus who live in the diaspora and want to make Aliyah to Israel.
Messianic Jews say there is nothing more Jewish than believing in the Jewish Messiah. However we can also see the point made by those who oppose changing the Law which they say will dilute the Jewish identity of Israeli citizens.
Israel goes for third and fourth shots of the vaccine
Just a few months ago, the mainstream media praised Israel for its “pandemic-ending” vaccination campaign. With over 40 percent of the population “fully vaccinated” in the first quarter of 2021, Israel was well on its way to stopping community spread and clearing out its hospitals.
The nation of Israel imposed some of the strictest lockdowns during that time, including segregating the unvaccinated from public life. Israel bought up large quantities of the Pfizer vaccine and began issuing mandatory Green Pass “vaccine passports” as a requirement for citizens to enter public spaces. By August, Israel had coerced its population into having one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, with 78 percent of people 12 years of age and older classified as “fully vaccinated.”
The world was reassured that this rate of vaccination was more than enough to ensure individual and “herd immunity.” However, infection rates have skyrocketed across the country since then, and Israel is now logging the world’s highest infection rates, with nearly 650 new cases daily per million people. At times, hospitalizations for the “fully vaccinated” have reached upwards of 95 percent. Meanwhile the Palestinian Authority saw its COVID-19 cases drop even though more than 90 percent of its population remains unvaccinated.
Israelis are now considered “unvaccinated” if they haven’t taken a third dose of the vaccine. Prof. Salman Zarka, Israel’s COVID-19 health czar, “called for the country” to prepare for their “fourth doses of the” Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, as the third booster shot is already predicted to fail. Admitting that vaccines will never stop COVID, and claiming that life will never return to normal, Zarka added “This is our life from now on, in waves.” Zarka previously suggested that Israelis could be required to take more vaccines with every new “wave” of COVID-19.
Critics of the vaccine say that repeated doses of it compromise our natural immune system and make us more susceptible to common diseases like the cold, as well as encouraging the spread of variants. If this is true the vaccination process may be putting Israel’s population into great danger.
