The Israeli-Obama Divide: It is Widening

The smoke has cleared since the Israeli elections last year.  As reported last week, the clear winner was Prime Minister Netanyahu. He does have his flaws, as we all do, but the Israeli people obviously see that he is the one leader who will keep them safe from the threats that surround them.  (I heard one radio commentator say that the clear loser in the Israeli elections was President Obama).


The re-election of the Prime Minister has deepened the divide between the Obama Administration and the Israeli government under Netanyahu's leadership.  As reported in today's "Wall Street Journal," during a press conference yesterday, President Obama stated that there would be "no Mideast peace deal during his term."  He said, "What we can't do is pretend that there's a possibility for something that's not there.  And we can't continue to premise our public diplomacy based on something that everybody knows is not going to happen at least in the next several years.  For the sake of our own credibility I think we have to be able to be honest about that."  The President also said, "The issue is not a matter of relations between leaders.  The issue is a very clear substantive challenge: We believe that two states is the best path forward for Israel's security, for Palestinian aspirations and for regional stability.  And Prime Minister Netanyahu has a different approach." 


Reading between the lines, one hears from our President these words, "It is all the fault of Prime Minister Netanyahu that we will not have a peace agreement."  President Obama has less than two years remaining in office, while Netanyahu was just re-elected for four years.  One hears our President say, "I don't have enough time and, besides, I can't work with Netanyahu.  So, I accept that my legacy will not include a Mideast Peace Treaty." 


Is the Israeli Prime Minister open to a negotiated peace with the Palestinians?  Prior to the election, the Prime Minister seemed to indicate that there would be no Palestinian State created while he was leader of Israel.  Following the election, Netanyahu explained that he meant to say that, given the condition of the unity government between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, there could be no Palestinian State negotiated.  And, he is right. Israel has learned the lessons from 2005 when, under the leadership of then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip in the hopes that "olive branch" would bring peace with the Palestinians.  Instead of peace, there has been nothing but hostility, initiated by Hamas who controls the Gaza Strip.  Hamas has let it be known that their ultimate purpose is to drive Israel into the sea.  Last year, Hamas and the leadership of the Palestinian Authority - President Abbas being the leader - entered into a unity government.  President Abbas has stated strongly in the past that, if a Palestinian State is created, there would be no place for Jews within it.  In The Israeli Prime Minister's mind, a unity government has to mean that President Abbas is in agreement with the ultimate purpose of Hamas.  Therefore, as long as this unity government is in place, there can be no negotiated peace or the creation of a Palestinian State.  In our government's eyes, the fault lies with the Israeli leader, not with the Palestinian leadership.


So, what is next?  I look for the Palestinian leadership to return to the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly and ask that a resolution be passed that grants them the status of statehood.  In the past, when this has happened, the United States has always stood ready to veto such a resolution.  But, given what has happened and the deepening rift between our government and that of Israel, my guess is that, if a resolution should happen sometime later this year, the United States would not give it verbal support, but would not veto it or stand in the way of its adoption.  Perhaps a Britain or a France might step in with a veto, but not highly likely. 


Increasingly we are seeing what the Bible affirms will happen in the last days.  Israel will become isolated from the rest of the world.  There will be a strong turning against Israel, increased hostilities toward it, eventuating in an armed attack against it.  I believe God is at work in these things preparing the pathway for the coming of the Messiah-King who will reign in Jerusalem over the nations of the world.  Then and only then will there be a lasting peace...and it will not involve a two-state solution, but a one-King solution.