A Shocking Statement

Just over a week ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a short but stunning video through social media that generated global shock waves, including a scathing response from the US State Department.

As stated or implied in several Eye of Prophecy articles, I am an unapologetically strong supporter of Israel and an ardent admirer of Benjamin Netanyahu. This enthusiasm for Israel comes from my firm belief in the true and living God; His Word as divinely recorded in the Bible; and personal salvation through God’s Son, the Jewish Messiah Jesus.

Benjamin Netanyahu is a consummate diplomat in all of the positive connotations of political diplomacy. He is firm but fair; passionate in his pursuit for true peace in Israel but objectively realistic of the obstacles to peace; completely committed to Israel, but considerate of any reasonable coherent demands made by the Palestinians and by surrounding Arab nations. When it comes to a matter of Israel’s survival, which is still an all too real threat facing the only Jewish nation in the world, Benjamin can tell it like it is.

Nevertheless, I was dumbfounded as I watched this video and listened to his words. My incredulity was not of being aghast that he would characterize the actual Palestinian agenda—whether it be from the Palestinian Authority or Hamas—of “ethnic cleansing” of all Jews in Israel. Rather, it was astonishment of how bravely accurate and daringly appropriate the phrase is to explain the real reason why Palestinians have rejected a two-state proposal on any terms but their own.

For example, it’s only been a few years since the Palestinians refused generous offers from two Israeli Prime Ministers, Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, that would allow Palestinian control over some 95% of the West Bank. Why would they scorn such offers? Easy answer: 95% of the West Bank is not enough. For that matter, 95% of all Israel is not enough. In fact, a Palestinian State within Israel is also unacceptable. By the time you finish this article, you’ll see what the Palestinians really want: A Palestinian State instead of Israel!

Personally, I would not have used the phrase, ethnic cleansing, because it conjures up the more common image: forced removal of ethnic or religious groups of people from a given territory. Yet, the more I thought about Netanyahu’s use of the term, the more I realized how it reliably reflected the true Palestinian narrative.

For many, the thought of genocide even comes to mind. Such as what the Third Reich did to European Jews and nearly succeeded; what the Turks did to the Armenians, or what happened in Yugoslavia. What Muslims in the Sudan are doing to the Christians; or what the Romans did to Israel in 70 AD that resulted in Jews being exiled all over the world. Only to miraculously return and be reborn as a sovereign nation in 1948. A return that is still going on to this day. One that God said would take place, as documented in hundreds of Old Testament passages.

(Holocaust Genocide)

Various Ways of Ethnic Cleansing

Ethnic cleansing can be accomplished by means others than elimination of ethnic groups through extreme force. The pendulum can swing all the way from genocide to a lesser, but still imposing, intimidation through limited violence or non-violent pressure that results in the ethnic group leaving their homes.

Such as, for example, the hundreds of thousands of Arabs who left Israel because they were told to do so by the Arab nations (especially Egypt and Syria) which attacked the newborn State of Israel in May, 1948. That was ethnic cleansing of Arabs by Arabs. The rationale of Egyptian and Syrian leaders/generals was that they needed unhindered space to conduct their military campaign against Israel. The Palestinians (they weren’t called Palestinians back then) were in the way, so they were told to leave. Theoretically, they could return after Israel had been swiftly and soundly defeated. Israel miraculously won that war and told the “refugees” they could return; most did not.

Many people, who don’t know or don’t want to know, now believe that these “refugees” were forced out of Israel by the Jews. That is not what happened. But then the individuals, groups, and nations who blame Israel entirely for the Palestinian predicament don’t want to be bothered with historical or contemporary facts. The actual evidence would undermine their predisposed prejudice against the Jews and interfere with their pernicious plan for Israel, which (in varying degrees) is to replace the State of Israel with yet another Arab nation. An Arab state that the Arabs, themselves, originally declined in 1947. Why? For the same reason they did not acknowledge the Balfour Declaration of 1917: They would have to live alongside a Jewish territory, and then a Jewish State.

A more subtle strategy of ethnic cleansing is the removal, desecration, or denial of physical and cultural evidence that the targeted group has any valid historical existence in the land in question. The Palestinians have done all these things to Israel by excavating and then removing valuable Jewish artifacts from and around Temple Mount, Hebron, and Bethlehem. Also the rewriting of Israel’s history in Palestinian school curriculum, maps that depict Israel as “Palestine” (a state that never has existed), and in daily rhetoric denial of Israel’s legacy and heritage in the land.

That is the ultimate problem: Israel’s right to exist. The Palestinians and all Muslim nations save two (Egypt and Jordan … for political expedience only) deny the right of Israel to be a Jewish nation. But the Palestinians have tried to conceal this ambition so as not to jeopardize their cause by being too blatant in the eyes of Western nations. Thus, they focus the world’s attention on so-called Israeli settlements in the West Bank as the exclusive obstacle to peace. Pathetically, but sadly, virtually the entire European Union and also the United States Executive Staff have bought into this inaccurate and unhistorical “Israeli occupation.”

When, in fact, it’s just the opposite: Palestinians are occupying land that historically belongs to Israel.

If someone denies that, then they must challenge God, himself. Seriously!

Excerpts from Benjamin Netanyahu’s Astonishing Video

He began with these words:

“I’m sure many of you have heard the claim that the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, are an obstacle to peace. I’ve always been perplexed by this notion, because no one would seriously claim that nearly two million Arabs living inside of Israel are an obstacle to peace. That’s because they aren’t. On the contrary, Israel’s diversity shows its openness and readiness for peace. Yet the Palestinian leadership actually demands a Palestinian State with one pre-condition: No Jews!

“There’s a phrase for that. It’s called ethnic cleansing.”

(Prime Minister Netanyahu “Ethnic Cleansing” Video)

Let’s pause here for commentary. Benjamin Netanyahu knows there are other Arab demands. He chose the “No Jews” pre-condition because it is the ultimate Palestinian purpose that trumps all other (alleged) reasons for wanting a Palestinian State.

The Palestinians have imposed several “pre-conditions” on Israel. They go back and forth as to which of these are pre-conditions Israel must meet before the Palestinians agree to sit down at the negotiating table with the Israelis. At one time or another all of the Palestinian demands have been “pre-conditions.” At other times only some of these are pre-conditions, with other demands open for negotiation. It pretty much depends upon Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ (who is now in the 11^th year of a four-year election term!) mood at the time.

Here are the primary Palestinian demands:

• The so-called “right of return” of the so-called Palestinian refugees—now mostly 2^nd generation descendants—from Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. (They now number in the millions and even if half of this number were to return it would, for all practical purposes, spell the end of a Jewish nation).
• Gaza and West Bank checkpoints to be turned over by the Israelis to the Palestinians.
• Many more Palestinians prisoners to be released, including convicted murderers.
• For Israel’s “borders” to shrink back to pre-1967 Six-Day War truce lines. (This would leave Israel highly vulnerable, if not defenseless, especially in the Golan Heights).
• A Palestinian State with what is known as “East Jerusalem” as its capital. (Which would include complete possession of and sovereignty over Temple Mount).
• Complete expulsion of all Jews from the West Bank (Judea and Samaria).

The last condition listed above is one that the Palestinians have attempted to keep relatively low-key. Why? Because they don’t want to be viewed in the same fashion that they want the world to see Israel (which Israel is not), i.e. a bigoted apartheid type nation that seeks to be rid of an ethnic group they despise.

That is why Benjamin Netanyahu limited his speech to this one Palestinian demand before they will enter into negotiations with the Israelis. It represents the ultimate objective of Palestinians (and all Muslim nations): To get rid of all Jews in Israel, beginning with the so-called West Bank territory.

This is nothing less than “ethnic cleansing.”

Which isn’t anything new. Which is why Benjamin Netanyahu wants the world to finally and fully realize the perpetual plan of the Palestinians that hasn’t (and won’t) changed since Israel became a Sovereign State … actually long before that when it comes to Muslim nations that surround Israel.

For example: In 1996, just three years after his farcical participation in the Oslo Accords (signed on September 13, 1993) with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (moderated by US President Bill Clinton), PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat uttered these words at a public press conference:

“We Palestinians will take over everything … You understand that we plan to eliminate the State of Israel, and establish a purely Palestinian State … I have no use for the Jews, they are and remain Jews.”

Can anything be more callously clear? It’s equally clear to this very day: The Palestinian Authority and Hamas have every intention to continue Arafat’s atrocious agenda.

(Oslo Accord … Yitzhak Rabin, Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat)

Prime Minister Netanyahu went on to say:

“And this demand (no Jews in a Palestinian State) is outrageous. It’s even more outrageous that the world doesn’t find this outrageous. Some otherwise enlightened countries even promote this outrage. Ask yourself this: Would you accept ethnic cleansing in your state? A territory without Jews, without Hispanics, without blacks? Since when is bigotry a foundation for peace?

This moment, Jewish children in Judea and Samaria are playing in sandboxes with their friends. Does their presence make peace impossible? I don’t think so. I think what makes peace impossible is intolerance of others.”

The Real Situation in Israel

My commentary: I have read extensively about Israel’s ancient and contemporary history, and have seen numerous documentaries about the Holocaust and the Palestinian intifadas in Israel, especially the one that began in September, 2000. I have traveled to Israel and saw no evidence whatsoever of Jewish animosity toward the Palestinians as a whole. Of course, they are saddened and angered when Palestinians kill Jews; but they are still tolerant of the existence of Arabs within Israel.

I spent some time with two taxi-drivers in Jerusalem. One of them was part Jewish and part Egyptian, the other a former Palestinian Arab, both of whom became Israeli citizens. Both of them were, in varying degrees, representative of the nearly “two million Arabs living inside of Israel” (Netanyahu’s description), called Israeli Arabs. Though one staunchly supported the State of Israel and the other barely tolerated Israel’s existence, the fact remains that neither would want to be forced to live in a Palestinian State. Both highly valued their freedom to work, travel, vote, and otherwise live in Israel, the only true democratic state in the Middle East.

Some 70% of Israeli Arabs do not want a Palestinian State. Here is an excerpt from an Eye of Prophecy article, entitled, A Palestinian State … No Say Many Arabs (posted 1-11-14).

I quote well-known columnist Khaled Abu Toameh from one of his articles:

“Arab Knesset members … do not want to wake up in the morning and discover that they are citizens of a Palestinian state. It is much easier for them to accuse Israel of racism than to admit that they do not want to be part of a Palestinian state.”

I then go on to say:

At face value that seems and sounds incredible—that Palestinians wouldn’t want to be governed by their own people. But after further review, it’s all too practical and easy to grasp. Pretty much ever since Israel became a nation, and especially since 1967 when hundreds of thousands more Arabs suddenly became citizens of Israel, those Israeli Arabs have been far better off than their Palestinian brothers living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Although there’s still a lot of hostility emanating from Israeli Arabs toward Israel, they understand that Israeli citizenship affords them much more freedom, democracy, a higher standard of living, movement throughout Israel, more places to shop for and buy the things they want and need; in short, a better way of life. The last thing they want is an abruptly changed life in a Palestinian State, controlled by a Palestinian government that could just as quickly take away many of the privileges they currently enjoy as Israeli citizens.

Even many Palestinians (non-Israeli citizens) who occupy the West Bank or Gaza do not want a Palestinian State. Especially since Hamas took over Gaza. If a Palestinian State was arbitrarily and unilaterally created by say the European Union, the United Nations, the P5 +1, or even the United States alone, who would govern this state? The Palestinians know that, in all likelihood, a civil war would erupt between Hamas and Fatah (Palestinian Authority), which would entice Iran, Hezbollah, ISIS, and perhaps even Russia to jump in. Not to mention Israel’s reaction if any Israelis were harmed in this struggle between Palestinian factions.

In addition to Khaled Abu Toameh’s perceptive understanding of the Middle East problems and their true historical source, there is another Arab who tells it like it is. His name is Fred Maroun, currently a resident of Canada, who lived in Lebanon from 1961 to 1984.

Although Arabic through and through, he looks at Israeli/Palestinian history objectively. The September edition of the Levitt Letter (Zola Levitt Ministries) presented a very brief bullet-point summary of articles written by Fred Maroun, originally published in the on-line news source Gatestone Institute, entitled, Arabs’ Historic Mistakes in Interactions with Israel.

• “We Arabs managed our relationship with Israel atrociously. Our worst mistake was in not accepting the United Nations partition plan of 1947.
• Perhaps one should not launch wars if one is not prepared for the results of possibly losing them.
• The Jews are not keeping the Arabs in camps, we are.
• Jordan integrated some refugees, but not all. We could have proven that we Arabs are a great and noble people, but instead we showed the world, as we continue to do, that our hatred toward each other and toward Jews is far greater than any concept of purported Arab solidarity.”

Bowing to internal pressure from his own people, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for elections to be held October 8, 2016. But Abbas totally misjudged Hamas, as he thought they would boycott the elections … exactly what he wanted them to do. Instead, they agreed to participate and introduced their own candidates.

Just last week, the elections were postponed!

Talk about Palestinian prejudice and bigotry. Obviously based on the Islamic religion that suppresses woman to the point of complete subjugation to men, the Palestinian Authority refused to identify some of their woman candidates for office by name. Instead, they listed them as the “wife” or “sister” of so and so. Little wonder that they have zero tolerance for Jews, when they won’t even publicly acknowledge their wives and daughters by name … and certainly not by photograph. On the other hand, if a Palestinian woman or girl kills a Jew or two in a lone-wolf terrorist attack, their names are immediately publicized and photographs posted.

Getting back to Benjamin Netanyahu’s video. He concludes by saying:

“Societies that respect all peoples are the ones that pursue peace. Societies that demand ethnic cleansing don’t pursue peace. I envision a Middle-East where young Arabs and young Jews learn together, work together, live together, side-by-side in peace. Our region needs more tolerance, not less. So the next time you hear someone say Jews can’t live somewhere, let alone in their ancestral homeland, take a moment to think of the implications.

“Ethnic cleansing for peace is absurd. It’s about time somebody said it. I just did.”

Telling It like It Is

Boy, did he ever say it!

Not only did Benjamin hit the proverbial nail on the head by calling the ultimate overriding demand of the Palestinians (and by default all Muslim nations) exactly what it is, he also drove home the incontrovertible historical reality that the Palestinians want the Jewish “ancestral homeland” to be absent of all Jews.

It was horrifically pathetic and tragically “absurd” (irrational, hideously bizarre) enough for the Nazis to try to eliminate all Jews in Germany (also from all of Europe). It is no less appalling to remove the Jews from their own land, which is the outrageous intention of the Palestinians.

Indeed, Benjamin Netanyahu’s charge that Palestinian leaders want all Jews to leave Israel is shocking and provocative; but it is also poignantly proper. His description of “ethnic cleansing” is NOT an exaggeration.

Although a member of Netanyahu’s political party, Likud, Energy and Water Resources Minister Yuval Steintz, nevertheless, expressed what nearly all Jews and Palestinians already know to be true; what most of the Western World sweeps under the global carpet through ignorance, or deliberately because they don’t want to admit the real Palestinian agenda.

Said Yuval Steintz:

“It’s not the prime minister who is talking about ethnic cleansing. The prime minister’s remarks reflect what the Palestinians themselves are saying. [The Palestinians] talk about ethnic cleansing in their own school system and speeches. Netanyahu told the truth. When the Palestinians talk about being ‘cleansed’ of Jews, they don’t mean just (in) Judea and Samaria, but rather the entire country.”

It was no secret that Netanyahu’s reference to “otherwise enlightened countries” (that endorse and even encourage the idea of expelling all Jews from the West Bank, which also includes East Jerusalem) included first and foremost the United States. Thus, I’m certain that the Israeli Prime Minister wasn’t surprised at the reaction of the US State Department.

Here are some of the words of State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau:

“We obviously strongly disagree with the characterization that those who oppose settlement activity or view it as an obstacle to peace are somehow calling for ethnic cleansing of Jews from the West Bank. We believe that using that type of terminology is inappropriate and unhelpful. We share the view of every past U.S. administration and the strong consensus of the international community that ongoing settlement activity is an obstacle to peace. We continue to call on both sides to demonstrate with actions and policies a genuine commitment to the two-state solution.”

She went on to condemn Israel’s “illegal outposts and unauthorized settlement units.”

Ironically, because of monumental blunders in yielding to international pressure, Israel herself has contributed mistakenly to forced removal of her own people. Something that Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders who now “see the light” never want to happen again. Although there are a few other less traumatic instances of Israel giving back part of their land to placate international demands (whims), I’m referring to two grievous gaffes in Israel’s remarkable history as a nation reborn from the floods of dispersion and the fires of Nazi death camps.

The first was to relinquish control of Temple Mount back to the Jordanians (with what is now functional jurisdiction assumed by the Palestinian Authority) after Israel’s victory in the amazing Six-Day War, including the IDF’s recapture of their holy city, Jerusalem.

(IDF Taking Jerusalem in 1967 Six-Day War)

The second was former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s eviction of 10,000 Jews from the Gaza Strip in 2005, which fits the stronger, more overt definition of ethnic cleansing: “systematic forced removal of an ethnic or religious groups from a given territory with the intent of making it ethnically homogeneous” (Wikipedia).

Indeed, both of these tragic events resulted in “cleansing” of Jews from a part of their homeland—which the Gaza and West Bank are and always will be.

It would be absolutely no different than the United States disallowing American citizens to visit the Statue of Liberty. Instead, allow only the French who gave us this monument as a gift of appreciation for creating and continuing life, liberty, and equality in the New World.

Or permitting only the British to step foot on the grounds of the Washington Monument. Or only those who (still) support the Confederate idea and principal of succession from the Union, to visit the Lincoln Memorial. Or, to return the eastern half of Washington D.C. to England, because we believe too much was taken from the British in the Revolutionary War; or that we should have remained under the ethnic domination and control of England to begin with. These are not merely exaggerations for effect. They are precise parallels to what the Palestinians already have in part and want even more in full … to expel all Jews from all of Israel.

The Real Palestinian Mindset and Motive

We all need to understand one glaring grotesque fact. Since the United Nations in November, 1947 granted nation status to Israel and the Jews declared that statehood in May, 1948, Muslim nations surrounding Israel (then later Arabs within Israel that adopted the appellation Palestinian, previously applied primarily to Jews living in the territory called Palestine), the Arabs have had one ultimate objective: Ethnic cleansing of the Jews from Israel.

That malicious mindset and motive has never changed. Only their methods to achieve these gruesome goals have changed.

Israel fought four major against Muslim Arab nations: 1948 War of Independence; 1956 Suez War; 1967 Six-Day War; 1973 Yom Kippur War.

In each of these wars, Arab leaders said something to the effect (paraphrasing), “We will drive the Jews into the Sea.” Or, “We will annihilate Israel.” Or, “Not one Jew will be left.”

When the Muslims finally realized they couldn’t eradicate the Jews or even defeat Israel by conventional warfare, they resorted to terrorism—mostly by Palestinians from within Israel. This included thousands of mortars and missiles lobbed into Israel from the Gaza Strip after the Israeli government evicted its own people from the Gaza (with the proposed purpose of better protecting them). And thousands more rockets launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon into northern Israel. More recently, dozens of “lone-wolf” assassins killing Israelis with axes, knives, guns, and cars.

Make no mistake. Even these individual lone-wolf attackers (most of them very young in age) were doing their sordid part to rid Israel of Jews, one, two, or three at a time. All the while, Palestinian propaganda (lies) convinces their own people and most of the Western world that the obstacle to peace are Jewish settlements in the West Bank! Thus, the only solution is to cleanse the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, of all Jews. Of course, that’s not enough. Which explains why many of the lone-wolf attackers also murdered Jews in “West Jerusalem” and Tel Aviv and other Israeli towns.

If anyone thinks that “cleansing” is too harsh of a description, I will once again quote the words of Palestinian Authority President Abbas, as cited in a couple of previous Eye of Prophecy articles. “We must not permit the filthy feet of the Jews to desecrate our holy places.” He was referring first and foremost to Temple Mount. Do you see the connection, the irony? Clean those filthy feet of the Jews by removing them completely … ethnic cleansing.

(Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas)

In a recent Eye of Prophecy article, Palestinian Propaganda Is Pure Poison, I quoted US State Department John Kirby’s latest tirade against Israel in general and West Bank Jewish settlements in particular. The earlier mentioned quote from State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau mimics Kirby’s words.

Said Kirby (which he has said before as noted in a previous Eye of Prophecy article) in denouncement of the Israeli government that they were, “…systematically undermining the prospects for a two-state solution by engaging in settlement activity, which is corrosive to the cause of peace.”

I then quoted Alan Baker, former Israeli ambassador to Canada, who, along with others, justifiably criticized our State Department’s shortsighted, uninformed, and warped perspective of the Israeli, Palestinian conflict. Here is his quote:

“Reading the statement (Kirby’s statement) … An average reader having landed from space, would only conclude that Israel’s settlement activity is the source of all evil in the world, and the United States is waging a massive war of Armageddon against this evil. No international terror, no ISIS, no Iranian nuclear threat, no Syria, no Hezbollah, no Hamas, no hunger, no global warming. Only Israel’s settlements!”

Although Alan Baker’s statement was melodramatic, it was nonetheless accurate. Our US Presidential Staff doesn’t want to take the time and effort needed to fully investigate and comprehend the veiled Palestinian plan, which is no different than surrounding Muslim nations who want the Jews out of Israel. Thus, our State Department has reprehensively replaced the real source of Palestinian animosity toward in Israel in particular and Muslim hatred of Jews in general, with the preposterous supposition that a handful of Jewish settlements (compared to the large number of Arab settlements) in the West Bank is the sole cause of all Palestinian woes.

Instead, of catching up on the true history of the Middle East and coming to terms with the real agenda of not only the Palestinians but virtually all Muslim nations, our US State Department is determined to leave their executive head in the sand, and continue to blame Israel for a few Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

That is why Benjamin Netanyahu believed it was finally time to make a tougher statement so that the world would stand up and take notice of the true intentions of Israel’s enemies. To make sure that all interested parties fully grasp the underlying short-term agenda and long-term objective of the Palestinians and all Arab countries. Which is complete elimination (cleansing) of all Jews in Israel, whether a Palestinian State is created or not.

Things to Ponder

As said several times in past Eye of Prophecy articles, and as some of you know: The real strife between Arabs and Jews goes back to ancient Biblical times, all the way to Ishmael and Isaac. Then Esau and Jacob. Both of these older brothers hated the younger, as did their descendants. That brutally baseless and incessantly irrational “anti-Semitism” spread to Middle East countries, then to the whole world.

However, it’s deeper than racial hatred of the Jews. It is defiance, rejection, and replacement of the God of the Bible—the Creator of the universe and mankind who chose the Jews for a special purpose—in favor of man-made religions and gods and totalitarian state systems.

And so the Psalmist pleads with God for Israel:

“O God, do not be silent! Do not be deaf. Do not be quiet, O God. Don’t you hear the uproar of your enemies? Don’t you see that your arrogant enemies are rising up? They devise crafty schemes against your people; they conspire against your precious ones. ‘Come,’ they say, ‘let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the very memory of its existence’” (Psalm 83:1-4).

We need to astutely understand God’s plan for the human race: The Kingdom of God will one day be established on this earth.

“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: ‘The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever … We give thanks to you, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who always was, for now you have assumed your great power and have begun to reign” (Revelation 11:15-17).

Yet Scripture is abundantly clear that there are two parts to God’s providential plan of personally dwelling with mankind in his kingdom on earth.

1. Personal Salvation of both Jews and Gentiles through the Son of God, Messiah Jesus: The Kingdom of God is used interchangeably in Scripture with the Kingdom of Heaven. But an up close analysis of the different passages and contexts and applications shows that the Kingdom of Heaven more specifically relates to God the Father and God the Son (Jesus) establishing their spiritual residence in the hearts and lives of all who believe and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior, through the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life … There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16, 18). [See John 14:15-17 & John 16:5-15 on the Holy Spirit’s action of leading people to salvation and then indwelling those whom Christ has saved].

Yes, our great and glorious God and His majestic Son, Messiah Jesus loves you and me and the Jews and the Palestinians equally. The eternal destiny of every human being depends upon whether we choose everlasting life through Christ or eternal death by rejecting him as Savior.

2. The Kingdom of God will be literally established in the Holy City of Jerusalem, in the  Holy (Promised) Land of Israel: From there the entire world will be governed by Messiah Jesus. There is a heavy price to be paid by those who mistreat God’s chosen people—set apart to bring the Messiah and God’s Word to the whole world—and who seek to divide the land of Israel.

Concerning God’s plan for Israel:

“This message concerning the fate of Israel came from the Lord: This message is from the Lord, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit. I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves” (Zechariah 12:1-3).

Those who devise boycotts and sanctions against Israel; those who hate the apple of God’s eye; those who desire to “clean” the House of David (Israel) by removing all Jews from their homeland (or anywhere else), should take heed.

“At the time of those events, says the Lord, when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming by people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land” (Joel 3:1-2).

God has already disciplined Israel for her disobedience. It was a severe and long punishment—exile to foreign nations lasting for some 2,500 years … ending in 1967.

Thus, no one should ever seek to harm or divide Israel, or to side with her enemies.

“The day is near when, I, the Lord, will judge all godless nations! As you have done to Israel, so it will be done to you. All your evil deeds will fall back on your own heads” (Obadiah 1:15).