A Crisis Building: Israel and the United States

This present American administration is creating a crisis of such proportions that our country has never seen. No, I am not speaking of the sleazy tactics being presented in Washington to pass a health care reform bill that the overwhelming majority of Americans do not want and the majority of House of Representatives do not want to vote upon. Yet the Administration presses forward, now offering a tactic that has never been used on such major legislation before. Is it possible that we have people representing us, whom we have elected, who are ignorant of what the Constitution of the United States truly states? These are very sad days!

The crisis I am referring to is our nearly shattered relationships with the nation of Israel. Let me begin by stating two personal opinions regarding the nation of Israel. First, I will admit that the Israeli government has made mistakes in the past. It is not a perfect government, but what government is perfect. They are all predicated on the desires of sinful human beings. So, I do not want you to think that I believe the nation of Israel can do no wrong. Second, I strongly adhere to the biblical teachings that God has a future for the nation of Israel and will be mightily used by God in the coming days. Furthermore, I still believe that the promises God gave to Abraham via His covenant with him are still operative today. Included in that covenant are these words: "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse" (Genesis 12:3).

Last week Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Israel with the purpose of helping to restart dialogue between the Israeli and Palestinian leadership. While there, Mr. Biden told the Israelis what they wanted to hear, then turned around and traveled to Ramallah and told President Abbas and the Palestinians what they wanted to hear. It was classic politics. Unfortunately, while Mr. Biden was in Jerusalem, the Israeli Interior Ministry announced approval of plans for construction of 1600 apartment units in Ramat Shlomo, one of the suburbs of East Jerusalem.

Let me just pause and bring you up to date on the history of East Jerusalem. Prior to 1967, this area and all the West Bank was under the control of Jordan. During the Six-Day War in June 1967, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) captured all the West Bank, including East Jerusalem in a battle that lasted only a few hours. Quickly the Israeli government incorporated East Jerusalem into the configuration of Jerusalem and made it the capital of Israel. However, the Palestinians have never accepted Israeli control over East Jerusalem, and the status of that part of Jerusalem has been a deterrent to any peace-settlement.

So, when the Israeli government announced 1600 new Jewish apartment units to be built over the course of the next several years, Mr. Biden became angered and accused the Israeli government of sabotaging renewed talks. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu quickly apologized for the timing of the announcement, but indicated that construction would proceed as Jerusalem - a united Jerusalem - would always be the Jewish capital.

Of course the Palestinians were enraged. Stones were thrown. Threats of another Palestinian Intifadah were hurled. The situation was tense. Enter onto the stage our very own Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She phoned the Israeli Prime Minister and, according to reports, spent 43 minutes rebuking him with strong language. According to IsraelNationalNews.com, the Obama administration apparently is not making any effort to tone down the rhetoric against Prime Minister Netanyahu, and American political analysts have commented that the president may be trying to topple the Israeli government (March 16, Arutz Sheva). Friends, Israel is a democratically led government. This is not a dictatorship as was that of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Israel has been a strong ally of America since the days of President Truman.

Furthermore, I did some research - found it actually in a Jewish newspaper article - that in 1995, the Congress of the United States voted to relocate the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It was an overwhelming vote: 374-37 in the House, 93-5 in the Senate. That bill also included a quote from the 1990 Congressional resolution that stated the Congress "strongly believes that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected." Friends, that is the law of our land. But, has the Embassy been relocated? No. Not under Clinton. Not under Bush. And, certainly not under Obama. In fact, the Obama Administration is doing everything in its power to cause Jerusalem to be a divided city.

One final thought. Our nations leaders went ballistic when the Israelis announced a rezoning in a Jewish community in East Jerusalem so more apartments could be built. What was their response when, one day after the Vice President left Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority renamed a square in Ramallah after Dalal Mughrabi, a Palestinian woman who massacred 37 Jewish people in a bus-hijacking along the Coastal Highway in 1978? Absolutely nothing! I think that says it all.

I am saddened and greatly alarmed at the gulf that is beginning to be felt between the United States and Israel. I am heartened that Prime Minister Netanyahu seems to be holding forth in strength. It is time for Christians everywhere to join hands in support of a nation that will someday enthrone the King of kings.