The Israeli-Arab
Peace Process and
Bible Prophecy

Introduction

An open letter from Christians to Christians

Never before was an ancient nation destroyed, its people dispersed to the ends of the earth-and yet for centuries remain a separate and distinct people. Then, for that people to be regathered to its ancient homeland and re-established as a nation after nearly 2,000 years is a contradiction of time and logic. The rebirth of the Nation of Israel in 1948 was an unparalleled miracle of history.

This miracle of rebirth actually had its conception in 1878. David Ben Gurion observed that the new State of Israel did not begin in 1948 but with the pioneering efforts of Jewish immigrants that began in 1878 with the founding of the Jewish settlement Petah Tikvah—which means "Door of Hope."¹ The year 1878 did mark the beginning of an incredible fulfillment of a series of Bible prophecies related to the miraculous restoration of natural Israel. In that year the ban on Jewish immigration and Jewish Land purchase was eased. In fulfillment of Bible prophecy, the massive return of the Jew in Diaspora to his ancient homeland commenced (Jeremiah 16:14-16; Isaiah 43:4-6). The purchasing of land itself was a fulfillment of prophecy (Jeremiah 32:44). At exorbitant prices, barren desert and malarial swamps were purchased from absentee Moslem landowners. Miraculous climatic changes as well nourished the dry and thirsty Land (Joel 2:21-24). The very heavens opened and "the early rains," which for centuries fell only moderately, increased. The "latter rains" awoke from centuries of dormant slumber. As a result, the barren desert and malarial swamps began to blossom "as the rose"—fulfilling the Divine prediction of vineyards and gardens and roses (Isaiah 35:1; Amos 9:14-15).

Then the birth pangs of the Jewish State began. In 1929 the Arabs in Hebron massacred 67 Jews.² In the 1930s under the direction of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem,³ a minority of Arabs in Palestine, inspired by Nazi propaganda, plotted the "stillbirth" of the Jewish State. These "spasms of travail" were reflected in calculated acts of terror against the Jewish settlements. Then in the 1940s the Mufti (who was Yassir Arafat's uncle⁴ joined with Adolph Eichmann in Europe in the systematic extermination of the Jews.⁵ History has recorded this shameful event as "The Holocaust." Finally, recognizing the enormous slaughter, the guilt-ridden nations felt a moral obligation to grant the Jews an independent state. In spite of the fact that the UN Partition Plan of 1947 dismembered the Land of Israel, Arab nations were determined to prevent the Jews from having any of it.

The Divine Physician, however, prevented the "stillbirth" of the Jewish nation. During the final travail, Israel's War of Independence, the Jewish State was born—notwithstanding the fact it was outnumbered 100 to one by the invading armies of six Arab states. The newborn State developed by massive immigration. Land reclamation continued in fulfillment of Bible prophecy. The miraculous Six Day War in 1967 added Israel's ancient territories of Samaria, Judea, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights to the modern State. All the while quoting Bible prophecies about Israel's restoration, both Prime Ministers Menachim Begin and Yitzhak Shamir systematically helped 130,000 Jewish settlers to flourish in Samaria, Judea and Gaza. The sudden fall of Communism in 1989, that was in itself a miracle, stimulated another miraculous growth spurt by the massive influx of half a million Russian Jews to Israel. Excitement was running high. Certainly one or two million would shortly follow.

Israel's prophetic momentum, however, seems to have stalled. In the 1992 general elections the nationalist camp (Likud and the right wing parties) received the majority of Jewish Israeli votes, but the marginal Arab Israeli vote put the Labor Party in power. The Labor government under Ben Gurion and Golda Meir still had the Zionist ideal, that "the Torah would go forth from Zion"—albeit in humanist terms. Seemingly, the highest idealism inspiring the current Labor government is a "common market of the Middle East" in which Israel would be a tiny island in the midst of a sea of Arab and Moslem nations. Furthermore, the immigration of Russian Jews has slowed to a trickle. Giving up "land for peace" appears a looming reality.

Thus, with Israel's prophetic momentum in fulfilling Bible prophecy seemingly grinding to a halt, many Evangelical Christians are reconsidering their prophetic expectations. Perhaps, they say, the traditional churches were right—Israel has been permanently replaced by the Christian Church. Perhaps the Palestinian claim of a large Arab community in Palestine with a continuity reaching back several thousand years is correct. Would not the World Powers be justified, then, in pressuring Israel to give up Land? These doubts, however, are without a Biblical foundation. Though Bible prophecy can be demonstrated by the perspective of current events, Bible prophecy cannot be determined by today's headlines.

God's Perspective

One perspective overrides all peace initiatives, compromises and accords: God's perspective. The Judaic Christian Bible discloses not only God's perspective, but His agenda for implementing His own incontestable peace plan. The following presentation is an endeavor to document and submit for consideration God's perspective:

CHAPTER 1. God's promise to Israel that the Holy Land belongs to the Jews forever had never been forfeited.

CHAPTER 2. As prophesied, the Land would remain relatively "desolate" for centuries during Israel's temporary expulsion. Finally, at God's appointed time, the Jewish people would return to their Land and this returning prosperity to the Land would attract a large influx of Arabs from surrounding nations.

CHAPTER 3. God has indicted the Gentile nations who partitioned God's Land by giving portions of it to the Arabs.

CHAPTER 4. Regardless of the outcome of the "peace process," the Scriptures seem to indicate a final Israeli-Arab war which would yield the rightful borders to the Land of Israel.

CHAPTER 5. The question of the size of the "remnant" of Israel is Scripturally defined as large. The destination of the road to peace will be reached in the final harmony of Israel and the Arabs when God's Kingdom is established on earth with Jerusalem as its capital.