Countdown to Palestinian Statehood Vote at the UN....what in the world is going on?
This past week, while many of us enjoyed the Labor Day holiday with burgers on the grill, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his call to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas to hold direct peace talks and drop the Palestinians’ bid for UN membership. Netanyahu stressed “supreme importance” of holding “direct negotiations with the Palestinians.” Palestinians, however, prefer to appeal to the UN. Direct peace talks have been on hold since last September after discussing Israeli settlement expansion. Israel complied with the halt to expand, but when the 10-month agreement expired, it was not renewed.
The Palestinians say they will not negotiate while Israel continues to build on the same land they want for a future state. Remember, this land was given to the Jews by God (see Genesis 15-17) and not a UN resolution! That covenant is a blood covenant, eternal, unbreakable and cannot be amended by the UN.
The reason the Palestinians want UN membership is because they believe that makes them one step closer to becoming a state. The General Assembly does not recognize new states. It can admit new members to the UN after they have been nominated first by the UN Security Council. If one of the five permanent members of the Security Council refuses to support the admission of a new state to the UN, then there is nothing the General Assembly can do about it.
The UN General Assembly cannot, by itself, establish or recognize a Palestinian state. It can only make recommendations for other states to follow their bilateral contacts.
Interesting that the UN General Assembly has previously recommended the creation of a Palestinian state. Mahmoud Abbas believes that the UN plan allows Palestinian statehood, without issuing a declaration. He is wanting the international community to do all the work involved to make it happen and is not following the sequence of state creation as practiced by previous leaders.
Abbas is hoping that the Obama administration will be reluctant to use the U.S. veto at the UN Security Council if he can obtain an overwhelming vote in his favor at the UN General Assembly. Pray for President Obama and urge him to oppose the UN recognition of a Palestinian State. Click here to send a pre-written, electronic letter http://bit.ly/SFIAdvocacy
This and the Iranian nuclear threats have been on Netanyahu’s priority list. Israel must firmly oppose the initiative later this month in the General Assembly, even if the Palestinians already have the votes.
Even though Abbas is working toward statehood, know this—the Arab/Israeli conflict is NOT about Palestinian statehood! It is about the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel’s existence and their desire to destroy her.
Jerusalem is NOT a settlement. It is the eternal and undivided capitol. There have been Jews in Jerusalem 3,000+ years.
Israel has always offered to give land for the recognition of their right to exist. Yet the offer has always been rejected. In other words all Israel wants is a commitment to peacefully exist next to their neighbors. So Palestinians are appealing to the UN to give them status without having to forge a peace agrement with Israel. They would have the land in a second if they formally acknowledged Israels right to exist.
Not only is this a hot topic, but recent revolutions in the Arab world and the deteriorating ties with Turkey are raising the likelihood of a regional war in the Middle East. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) General says: “Likelihood of an ‘all-out, total war, is growing.” Iran has not abandoned their nuclear program and is just buying time now to complete their project as they move full-steam ahead. Major-General Eisenberg said: “this raises the likelihood of an all-out total war, with the possibility of weapons of mass destruction being used.”
If you have seen the movie, Iranium, you know what those possibilities look like. If you have not, you may want to be news-savvy and purchase a copy by clicking on this link: http://www.songforisrael.org/index.php/shop/ ($16.95).
Now more than ever, America needs to be a true friend in the Middle East. Israel needs faithful friends who will show UNCONDITIONAL love and support for the Jewish people. We need to be faithful in prayer for peace during these troubled times.
Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you, and in you (Israel) all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
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