SITUATION ANALYSIS -- 67

Jerusalem, Israel

JERUSALEM -- A STUMBLING BLOCK FOR ALL NATIONS

With America’s encouragement, Israel and the Palestinians are considering a revised peace plan based on the Arab League Initiative. The plan calls for an Israeli withdrawal to pre-1967 borders with some minor land swaps.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that any agreement must include Israeli security arrangements along the Jordan River; Palestinian recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish People; a solution for absorbing returning Palestinians into the state of “Palestine” (not into Israel); and an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

But, the elephant standing in the room of peace enthusiasts is the issue of Jerusalem. During Netanyahu’s second term in office (2009-2013), Israeli interlocutors agreed to leave Jerusalem to Final Status talks. However, in the revised 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which Israel is being pressured to adopt, East Jerusalem becomes the capital of a Palestinian state. 

This is not acceptable to a majority of Israelis, Diaspora Jews, and pro-Israel Christian supporters. Many have voiced opposition to a divided Jerusalem, and do not want Israel to share or relinquish control of its capital city.

Today, because Israel has legal jurisdiction over the holly sites, the Israeli police take action on the Temple Mount during violent disturbances. But, daily, the area is controlled by the WAQF (Moslem religious authorities). They refuse to allow Jews and Christians to pray on the Mount, yet Moslems can pray there freely. Their claim is that any change to the status quo will ignite a Middle East war. Israeli right-wing activists have tried to ascend the Mount during special holy days but have been refused by Israeli authorities. Several attempts by the Temple Mount Faithful group to lay a cornerstone on the Mount in preparation for the building of the Third Temple have been unsuccessful.  During Passover this year, they tried to bypass Israeli police and perform a ritual sacrifice of a lamb. The police caught them and refused access to the area.

In late March 2013, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II signed an agreement to jointly defend Jerusalem, in an effort to further weaken Israeli control over the city. The deal states that Jordan has full right to exert all legal efforts at safeguarding and preserving the city’s holy sites. 

Jerusalem has been contested territory since the re-birth of the modern state of Israel 65 years ago, with few nations recognizing Israel’s rule over the city. America has contributed to the controversy. The State Department consistently refuses to acknowledge citizens born in Jerusalem, Israel on U.S. passports. Many American leaders, including past U.S. presidents will not acknowledge Israel's historical and biblical rights over the city. These leaders will not move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. All the nations that Israel has diplomatic relations with now have their embassies in Tel Aviv.

Since the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Palestinians have laid claim to Jerusalem as the capital of their homeland. During U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Ramallah in March 2013, he stated that the Palestinians should have a contiguous Palestinian State. He was implying that Israeli settlement building in the controversial E1 land corridor, which is on the outskirts of Jerusalem, would somehow separate East Jerusalem from the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), damaging Palestinian prospects. The Israelis deny this. They note that the Palestinians have two separate entities that make it impossible for their proposed state to be contiguous anyway. The Palestinian territories in the West Bank are under the rule of the Fatah government. The Palestinian entity of the Gaza Strip is under the rule of the Hamas government. But, once the Palestinians achieve reconciliation under one Palestinian government, their focus will turn towards Jerusalem. They will fly their flag over the city and demand their right to rule there.

Abbas is already accusing Israel of Judaizing East Jerusalem, urging Islamic states to prevent Israel from occupying Jerusalem and seeking to change the character of the city. Often, Jerusalem Arabs are incited by any slight changes to the area. Even talk of repairing a tourist ramp near the Temple Mount caused quite a stir this past winter.

Israeli former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been accused of negotiating the division of Jerusalem. Reportedly, Olmert agreed to West Jerusalem being a part of Israel, while releasing East Jerusalem to Palestinian or international control -- except for the Western Wall (which would remain in Israeli hands). Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak also negotiated with the Palestinians in regard to the division of Jerusalem. His comments became public knowledge and caused 600,000 Israelis to protest, forming a human chain around the city in 2001. 

Diplomatically, the world wants to internationalize Jerusalem. Spiritually, Jerusalem is the Divine seat of God’s governmental authority. According to the biblical scriptures, the fight over Jerusalem will only intensify in the days to come. The nations, one day, will surround Jerusalem with their armies. The city is a political and religious hot button that if pushed, ignites the masses and stirs passions on the streets of the Middle East.

Zechariah 12:2-3:  "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And, it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it."

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