In its attempt to get more involved in the economy and politics of the Middle Land including the Holy Land Mainland China has come up with its own version of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. This Chinese proposal, called the 4 point proposal because it has four main points, was first introduced by Chinese President Xi Jin Ping in 2013 according to the article: "China seeks support for Israel-PA peace plan in Israel National News on August 1, 2017. On Monday, July 31st, 2017 Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Liu Jieyi appealed to the nations of the world to back Chinese President Xi's proposed Middle East peace proposal to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and set up a Palestinian state according to China's 4 point peace plan. The Chinese ambassador Liu Jieyi, was on record at the press conference as stating that China's Middle East diplomacy going forward would centre on advancing China's 4 point peace plan towards an Israeli-Palestinian peace solution. China's President Xi indicated China's stepping up his priority in the Middle East with his publicly revealing the 4 points of China's Israel-Palestine peace plan in a personal meeting with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in July with himself.
The four points of the Chinese Israel-Palestine peace plan are the following: 1/ Advancing a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders with eastern Jerusalem as the capital of a new Palestinian state; 2/ Upholding "the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security," immediately ending Israeli settlement building, taking immediate measures to prevent violence against civilians, and calling for an early resumption of peace talks; 3/ Coordinating international efforts to put forward "peace promoting measures that entail joint participation at an early date"; and 4/ promoting peace through development and cooperation between the PA (Palestinian Authority) and Israel.
China's President Xi in his July 2017 meeting with Abbas again confirmed China's support for a two-state solution including "an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state, bounded by the pre-1967 borders and with eastern Jerusalem as its capital. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Chinese President Xi in China in March (2017) Mr. Xi urged peace between Israel and the Palestinians "as soon as possible". Chinese Ambassador to the UN Mr. Liu on Monday stated that China intends to hold a meeting for Israeli and Palestinian Arab "peace activists" in 2017 in which China would attempt "to contribute wisdom for the settlement of the Palestinian question". Ambassador Liu encouraged the nations of the world at the Monday meeting to "respond positively to the proposals made by China because we believe these four proposals once fully implemented will really go a long way towards helping the issue to be solved through negotiation, and also contribute to stability of the relations between the two sides."
From a general or secular perspective it is certainly significant that a major nation of the world like China, with the 2nd largest economy of the world, is getting more involved in the Middle East including putting forward and starting to promote its specific 4 point Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. This is even more the case when this is contrasted to China's likely deliberate avoidance of the Middle East and its politics including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict up to recently. However from a biblical Christian or bible prophecy perspective there are some additional important points. These mainly focus on the fact that at least the leadership of China is still officially communist and atheistic and since current leader Xi Jin Ping took office around 2012 China has become generally more hardline Communist including atheist and in some cases more anti-christian or anti-biblical and anti-Israel of Israel in a biblical or bible prophecy sense. For example there were starting to be more evangelical Christians who had membership in the communist party including at increasingly high levels of the communist party before President Xi took power. However soon after he took power he gave all members of the communist party of China an ultimatum that they could stay members of the communist party and acknowledge the superiority of the communist party of China and its leadership to Christiany and God and His only begotten Son Jesus Christ or get out of the communist party or at least be severely demoted in the party and retain their evangelical Christian faith. Among other things this will result in less Biblical and Bible prophecy considerations in decisions by Chinese President Xi and the Chinese communist party leadership including in foreign relations policy. This no doubt will include foreign policy in the Middle East especially any attempts of China to succeed in establishing an Israeli-Palestinian peace solution. This is contrast to some US Presidents and administrations including that of current US President Donald Trump that are heavily influenced by evangelical Christians and Israel supporting Jews the latter including President Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner who are now both Orthodox Jews and who contribute towards the Middle East policy of his administration.
Although China does have a lot of wisdom and is a major and ancient nations with much foreign policy history and experience the probably disregard of God's word the Holy Bible and evangelical Christians and Bible prophecy by Chinese President Xi Jin Ping and his government negotiators means that China will probably not considering some of the main relevant background factors especially from a biblical Jewish or Christian perspective that are held by the Israeli side that need to be considered in a possible Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. Although as an evangelical Christian I know there is not as much specific information in the Islamic holy book the Quran or their other holy book the Hadith and of course I wouldn't consider either of them the word of the true God as I would all of God's word the Holy Bible and they don't mention very much specifically about Israel and the Jews regarding the last days as the Bible does nevertheless most of the Palestinians are still Muslims, quite a few fervently so, and hold the Quran and Hadith very strongly as their guides for all their decisions including any possible lasting peace solution in the MIddle East with Israel and the Jewish or Israelite people. If Chinese President Xi ignores these long-standing religious backgrounds of both sides as well as some of the Messianic Jewish and evangelical or other Christian Arab basis of the two sides he will probably run into a lot more pitfalls in conducting negotiations toward a lasting peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians than necessary and this local background is probably more important for achievement of even a temporary successful Israel-Palestinian peace agreement than Chinese communist or confucianist or other established traditional Chinese wisdom. The real importance of China getting more involved in world efforts towards an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement is that it could lend more pressure and legitimacy towards an eventual probably very soon solution there and this could be what is meant in God's Word in the Prophet Daniel in Daniel 9:27 where the false peace that will start the 70th week of Daniel and 7 year tribulation over all the earth that will be confirmed by the tribulation world leader the Antichrist or he that causes abomination or the beast out of the sea and Israel.
This agreement among other things will allow Israel to rebuild their Jewish temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and use it for worship of God through the Levitical Priesthood including with a holy of holies and an altar to worship the true God through the substitutionary sacrifices of innocent animals as in the Old Testament and in New Testament days including when the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth until the 2nd or Herod's Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. The soon to be begun Jewish temple worship authorized by the Antichrist portraying himself falsely as Israel's Messiah will be stopped after 3 1/2 years after he allows it so he can fully take over that temple and force all people on earth of all nations to worship him as God or else be killed or be in hiding until the full 7 years of the tribulation are finished when the true Messiah or Israel, the Son of God and Saviour of the world and greatest prophet of the true God Jesus of Nazareth comes from Heaven to defeat the Antichrist and his colleage the False Propeht, and all other leaders (kings) of the nations and Satan and all demons and those people of the world still against Jesus and the true God comes from heaven with His true Church and holy angels, and God the Father, and resurrected Jewish and some Gentile saints to judge the world and establish God's Millennial and Messianic Kingdom on earth first for 1000 years on this earth especially through God's restored chosen earthly people Israel focused on Jerusalem and the Messianic Kingdom Temple.
Since we are seeing the final stages of the preparations for the false peace of the Antichrist with Israel to allow Israel to rebuild her temple in Jerusalem with many world powers including more major ones like China to achieve a Middle East and world peace as predicted by God's word the Holy Bible including in Daniel 9:27 and also in places like Jeremiah 30, Isaiah 28 and 1 Thessalonians 5 about the false peace that will start the tribulation I would urge the reader if you haven't already done so to as soon as possible trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour. This includes that we need to admit we are sinners in God's sight according to His word the Holy Bible and can't save ourselves and need to in this life trust in the Lord Jesus Christ that only He as God come in human flesh through His dying on the cross for our sins after He lived a perfect life and then His rising from the dead on the third day can allow us to be justified in the sight of the true God the FAther and Creator God with Jesus and the Holy Spirit and be brought into a restored relationship with Him and have His eternal life and assurance of spending a blessed eternity with our Creator God in the New Jerualem in our own home and the new earth and new heavens with His people the true Church, and the believing remnant of Israel and the nations in God's eternal blessings. Trusting in Jesus now if we haven't done this already and if it is done before the tribulation and before the rapture of catching up to heaven of the true Church before the beginning of the tribulation with the revelation of the Antichrist with his false peace with Israel means we will also be blessed by joining God's true Church from all nations and ethnic groups to be brought to heaven before and not have to face God's judgment on earth when the 7 year tribulation starts on earth right after the rapture of the Church.
Daniel 9:27 says And he (the antichrist) shall confirm (put forward in final form something that is already at least partly there) the covenant (false peace between Israel and other nations) with many (nations and people) for one week (of seven years): and in the midst of the week (of seven years) in other words 3 1/2 years after the false peace he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation (animal sacrifice and wine offering poured on them) by the Jews in the rebuilt temple as in Old Testament times to cease, and for the overspeading of abominations he shall make it (the temple) desolate (most likely by usurping or blasmphemously taking God's place by presenting himself as God in this temple and demanding worship of people perhaps including sitting in the holy of holies of that temple, even until the consummation (fulfillment of this age and of the times of the Gentiles when the world is mostly ruled by the nations of the world mostly under the devil the god of this world rather than by the true God through His Messiah Jesus of Nazareth and His true people including His true earthly nation Israel, His true heavenly or spiritual nation the true Church and genuine believers in God and Jesus of the other nations who also support His chosen earthly nation Israel) and that determined shall be poured upon the desolat(or) (the Antichrist or the beast out of the Sea when he is judged by Jesus at Jesus second coming as in Revelation 19 and 20 or 2 Thessalonians 2:9-9).
Although the Palestinian Arab territories in the Gaza Strip and some in the West Bank (Judaea and Samaria) have been governed separately by the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah respectively there is now a renewed effort for them to unite. There was another effort for them to unite in April 2014 but it was cancelled or given up and never was fully realized by the time it was abandonned in 2015. There has been a division between Fatah and Hamas since 2007. That was the year that Hamas overcame the Fatah military forces in the Gaza Strip and fully took over the Gaza Strip under Hamas rule. Then Mahmoud Abbas the then and continuing leader of Fatah set up Fatah control over the Palestinian administered areas in the West Bank such as in and around Jericho, Jenin, Ramallah, Nablus, and Bethlehem. All this was after Hamas won the second general Palestinian election over Fatah in 2006. The Gaza Strip since 2007 when Hamas took it over totally has become more and more isolated as both Israel and Egypt maintain a land and sea blockade due to the terrorist nature of Hamas and in Israel's case its continuing failure to recognize the existence of Israel as a Jewish democratic nation or to renounce violence against Israel. This failure of a peaceful approach to relations to Israel by Hamas has resulted in the US, the EU, Israel and other nations continuing to treat Hamas and the Gaza Strip as a terrorist organization and territory and maintain some sanctions against it.
Egypt has been the facilitator of these new unity talks between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah and both sides consider Egypt an honest or fair mediator in these talks. (I believe Egypt was also the mediator of the last 2014-15 talks but those talks broke down because of differences between Fatah and Hamas.) Hamas is currently led by Ismail Haniyah and Fatah (which was formerly led by Yasser Arafat and then called the PLO) is led by Mahmoud Abbas. Apparently fairly recently Hamas set up the Gaza administrative committee to administer Gaza under Hamas rule but said in September that it wasn't operating to try to make way for a unity rule agreement with Fatah. Part of the pressure to disband Hamas' Gaza administrative committee came from Mahound Abbas and Fatah and the economic pressure they put on Hamas according to an article "Hamas leader ready to reconcile with Fatah" dated October 9, 2017 in Israel National News. These negotiations will be held mostly in Cairo and both leaders Haniyah and Abbas said they earnestly wanted the negotiations to succeed and that this could fulfill the majority will of the Palestinian Arab people.
Under the terms of this unity Palestinian agreement that was agreed upon on October 12th, 2017 the Palestinian Authority (PA) in which Fatah is better represented and has more control will take over full control of the Gaza Strip by December 1 (2017). Also under this deal it is expected that sanctions or taxes will be lifted that were put on fuel that powers the only electricity plant in Gaza which resulted in electricity being cut to only a couple hours a day in Gaza for both industry or business and residents. Among other things this led to inefficient working of sewage and desalination systems in Gaza. It is also expected some other adverse measures put on residents of the Gaza Strip by Fatah such as reducing the salaries of PA civil servants to a third of former levels and stopping deliveries of medicince will be fully or least considerably reversed according a BBC report Palestinian Unity Deal: Gazans hope for end to feud." on October 13th, 2017. This new agreement will include the majority Fatah led PA take over stations at border crossings from Hamas which could lead to freer movement of people, products or possessions. There are also Palestinian hopes this will lead to freer travel including of Gaza residents to the West Bank, Israel or Egypt including to address health and education needs of Gaza residents. However some concerns that need to be sorted out for a Palestinian unity deal to work have not been fully addressed yet such as what the future would be for the 25,000 member military branch of Hamas. The existence and continuing terrorist activities of this military branch of Hamas against Israel is at the heart of why Israel, the EU and the US and some other nations still consider Hamas and any territory they administer as a terrorist organization that they refuse to recognize, deal with or support financially or otherwise. Hamas will have to renounce this violence against Israel in words and practice if Israel and the international community are going to give their blessing and support to it. More key or sensitive negotiations are scheduled to start on November 21st for more basic outstanding issues between Hamas and Fatah and other Palestinian groups or interests. There are indications that Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas could visit the Gaza Strip for the first time in ten years if negotiations continue to progress. He is 82 years old and has a very low popularity level of 67% of all Palestinian residents and 80% in Gaza wanting him to leave office right away. Hamas is also under pressure to reach an agreement as it has become more isolated from its neighbours with recent regional international events. According to the BBC article Palestinian unity deal: Gazans hope for end to feud these difficulties for Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas and for Hamas could make both sides more serious and willing to compromise more in order to get a more solid and lasting Palestinain unity agreement. Egypt for its part would like to regain more control over the Sinai peninsula and reduce Islamic terrorist activity there and sees a Palestinian unity deal as a signficant step in that direction and something therefore also in Egypt's interest.
On news of the signing of the Palestinian unity deal there was celebration in the streets by some Palestinian Arab residents of Gaza. However some other Gaza residents were more reserved but still fervently hope for an end to the schism between Fatah and Hamas as they view the division as limiting their Palestinian nationalist cause as well as leading to more physical and other suffering or deprivation for residents of Gaza than necessary. One Gaza resident named Naim al-Khatib who is a father of six children is quoted on the BBC in their article "Palestinian unity deal: Gazans hope for end to feud as saying: "Hamas are showing some flexibility which is unprecedented. It gives us hope that people are being pragmatic, seeing themselves as Palestinians, rather than as part of a global, Islamic group." Mr. al-Khatib went on to say: "There are lots of diffiult issues still to tackle - but the opposite of reconciliatino is a very gloomy situation which I would hate us to step into." A teacher named Amal in Gaza said in response to the news of the deal: "We hope electricity wil come back immediately. It's a basis for normal life." He also said: "I think this will solve our sewage problem. We Gazans are very attached to the sea and we hope it will be clean again." This Gaza teacher Amal also said: "We want to see free movement in and out of Gaza - to the West Bank, Egypt and Israel for medical purposes and for education. Such steps will make us feel reconciliation is serious."
However also in response to this Palestinian unity agreement from another perspective Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared some of Israel's concerns: "Hamas are mass murderers, cannot be included in peace deal". and Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu also said of the agreement: "Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas makes peace (with Israel) much harder to achieve. Reconciling with mass-murderers is part of the problem, not part of the solution. Say yes to peace and no to joining hands with Hamas." Some diplomatic sources referred to in this article "Netanyahu: Fatah-Hamas accord makes peace harder to achieve" on Israel National News said of this deal: "Any reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas must include compliance with international agreements, compliance with the Quartet conditions, and first and foremost recognition of Israel, ... The continued digging of tunnels, the manufacturing of missiles and the launching of terrorist activities against Israel (by Hamas) are contrary to the Quartet conditions and the US efforts to renew the political process. Israel insists that the Palestinian Authority not allow any outpost of Hamas terror activities (to operate) from PA territories in Judaea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza, if the Palestinian Authority is indeed responsible for its territory. Israel will examine developments on the ground and act accordingly."
From a bible prophecy viewpoint the success of this deal would be very important. This is especially because missile activity of Hamas or other Islamic terrorist groups in Gaza into Israel or of Hamas infiltrators into Israel through tunnels dug by Hamas from Gaza under the border into Israel had a significant part in the failure in past rounds of peace negotiation between Israel and the Palestinians. This is because, even though most of these past negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians only had the Palestinians represented by Mahmound Abbas and other people in the Fatah dominated Palestinian Authority, a main concern for Israel to be addressed in any acceptable Israel Palestinian peace plan are some guarantees for the security of Israelis and Israel as a Jewish state. Israel would still see a substantial part of the Palestinians governed by an Islamic terrorist group like Hamas that has so far failed to recognize Israel's existence or renounce violence against her as a threat to Israel's security by the Palestnians. However I do believe based on the scriptures in Daniel 9:27 the covenant with death in Isaiah 28 and other places that there will be a false Middle East peace that will succeed at least for a while to some extent that will be confirmed by the Antichrist. The Antichrist also called the Beast or He who causes abomination and will rule the world under Satan the devil for the 7 year tribulation on earth after the rapture of the Church when God restores His focus on dealing through His chosen earthly people Israel. This false peace of the Antichrist in Daniel 9:27 will include allowing Israel to build their third Jewish temple on at least a part of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and start their Old Testament Levitical worship of God there again in the first half of the tribulation. However such a peace by the Antichrist that he makes or confirms would be more solid or reliable if it at least involved all so-called Palestinian factions including so far militant ones like Hamas and this could be finally on the verge of being the case although I can't say for sure. If this current effort at a Palestinian unity government does have more lasting success and is more comprehensive this could likely mean that the rapture of the true Church of everyone of all nations on earth who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour who died for our sins on the cross and rose from the dead to give us eternal life 2000 years ago in Israel is very, very soon. As well this would mean the immediately following tribulation is very, very soon and I would therefore strongly encourage you the reader to, if you haven't already, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ immediately in view of these events if you haven't already so you can be assured of taking part in the rapture of the Church and not being left behind on earth for the tribulation. Trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ enables a person in this age to immediately enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, become justified in God's sight and have all our sins forgiven through Jesus and have an assured home in heaven as well as not being in danger of missing the rapture and being on earth during the tribulation. If you trust in Jesus especially before the rapture you can also look forward to reigning with Jesus on earth when He comes at His second coming at the end of the 7 year tribulation to judge the world and set up God's Kingdom over all this earth.
Since 1995 when the US Congress passed some laws that authorize the US to recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there there has been ongoing uncertainty when or if the US would actually apply this law to its Middle East policy. This law is called the Jerusalem Embassy Act. This act however also includes a provision that can delay the implementation of this law indefinitely as long as the sitting US president waives the right to implement the law on a fixed date every 6 months. Since 1995 all US sitting presidents have signed this waiver on the appointed fixed date despite some of them promising to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. US President Donald Trump, the current sitting US president, was one US president who campaigned on moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and to recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. There was much expectation and hope in Israel that President Trump would make an announcement to move the US embassy to Jerusalem in his state visit to Israel and the Middle East around the 50th anniversary of the 1967 6 Day War when he was in Jerusalem and Israel around early June 2017 or earlier this year. That did not happen to the disappointment of many Jews in Israel and in other parts of the world as well as evangelical Christians but he and some other US government spokespeople said at the time that he hadn't forgotten that promises and was still considering acting on it in the near future. Well, on December 6th, 2017 US President Donald Trump with US Vice- President Mide Pence made an official announcement from the US White House that I personally watched on the internet live that he would authorize the US to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to start the process of moving the US embassy there. He also said this was recognizing that since the founding of modern Israel about 70 years ago it is the reality that the capital of Israel is in Jerusalem including that Israel has its parliament (the Knesset), the Prime Minister's residence and its supreme court site in Jerusalem rather than Tel Aviv or any other place in Israel.
President Trump also acknoweldeged that the Jews have thought of Jerusalem as their capital for 3000 years. (About 1000 BC as noted in accurate history in God's Word the Holy Bible the famous and popular King of Israel at the time King David conquered Jerusalem and made it the capital of Israel in the will of the true God (Yahweh or Jehovah especially God the Father but including God the Son who would later be known as the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit. Although the Israelites including the Jews only held on politically to Jerusalem until about 600 BC when the Babylonians conquered it, they have had some autonomy there in other times including when they went back from Babylon and rebuilt Jerusalem starting around 530 BC up to around 70 AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem as also predicted by the Lord Jesus Christ and the Old Testament prophet Daniel.) However US President Trump also said at the December 6th, 2017 announcement that the US still wanted to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians and other Arabs or other Muslim nations and respected some other aspects of the status quo in the political situation between Israel and the so-called Palestinian Arabs. There was intense reaction worldwide for but even more against Trump's decision about moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerualem and for the US recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and this will likely play into Bible prophecy especially to the soon coming false peace with Israel of the false Christ or Messiah the Antichrist or Beast out of the Sea or Man of Sin the devil's substitute for the Lord Jesus Christ when the Antichrist starts the tribulation and signs the false peace for 7 years with Israel and others that will authorize Israel to build their third temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem that will after 3 1/2 years be taken over by the Antichrist as a centre for the world to worship his as g(G)od until the Lord Jesus Christ comes from heaven to defeat him and establish God's Kingdom on Earth based in Jerusalem.
Just before the latest meeting about the Palestinian-Israeli peace process that was held recently at the UN Security Council in New York City, USA a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, Nabil Abu Rudeina, said the focus on the goals of the Palestinian Arabs would be to secure claim to East Jerusalem. According to recent United States and world powers East Jerusalem should be the capital of a future Palestinian state while West Jerusalem should belong or continue to belong to Israel. However what is rarely mentioned by the spokespeople of these world powers or the news media is that this is not an equal division since what they call East Jerusalem includes all of the Old City of Jerusalem including the Temple Mount where the Jews or Israelites had their previous Solomon's and Herod's Temple and where a significant and increasing number of Jews especially in Israel want to build the next Jewish Temple. However this same Temple Mount now has since about 700 AD a couple decades after the death of Mohammed significant Moslem mosques the Dome of the Rock (the Mosque of Omar) and the Al Aqsa mosque as well as some smaller shrines. The Jewish Temples were built around 1000 BC for Solomon's Temple and around 500 BC and 40 BC for the second Jewish Temple Zerubabbel's then Herod's Temple. Although for some time it is true that the international community wants to grant authority over East Jerusalem to the so-called Palestinians who are actually mostly Arabs originally from surrounding Arab nations, God's word the Holy Bible is very clear that Jerusalem belongs to the Jews and that one focus of God's last days dealings with the Jews or Israel is to fully restore the Jews or Israelites to all of Jerusalem including with a rebuilt Jewish Temple there. According to the same Palestinian Authority spokesman, Mr. Rudeina, also according to Israel National News Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 would say something to the effect: "Justice, peace and the Land are the only way to create a secure and stable Middle East and a prosperous world free of all expressions of terrorism."
On February 20th, when Mr. Abbas actually delivered his speech, there was a somewhat different emphasis according to reports in Israel National News and the Jerusalem Post. Although he did include mention of the future of Jerusalem including his repeated claim for East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, his actual emphasis was to push for more widespread recognition of a Palestinian state by the world and then later this year to have an international conference to address so-called "final status" issues in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Mr. Abbas states he and the Palestinians would no longer accept Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations led by the Americans as he and other Palestinians no longer see the Americans as impartial negotiaters. This is because in the Palestinian view that the recent decision by the United States government led by President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, instead of Tel Aviv, showed bias towards Israel. Instead Mr. Abbas suggested the sought international conference should be led by multiple negotiaters from different nations or multinational organizations (probably like the UN and European Union (EU). However Israel continues to affirm it will only participate in US led Middle East peace efforts as it sees most other potential negotiaters such as the EU or UN as biased against it but biased in favour of the Palestinians. There is some good reason for Israel viewing things this way including an obsession of the EU and UN to restrict Israeli settlements in the West Bank and lack of the EU and UN to reign in Palestinian violence or encouragement (incitement) to violence against Israel or Israelis including in both Israel and the West Bank (Judaea and Samaria). These limitations to Palestinian violence are what Israel would like to see more initial attention to in Middle East peace negotiations and due to the lack of attention to them by the EU, the UN and others why it doesn't trust them as negotiaters.
In his speech at the UN Security Council on February 20th, Mr. Abbas mentioned that his new or updated Middle East peace plan would be to secure more international recognition of a Palestinian (Arab) state and then to focus on mostly final status issues of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. According to a recent article in the Jerusalem Post, so far 138 nations have recognized a Palestian state (out of about 190 altogether). Mr. Abbas said one of his immediate focuses would be to secure recognition of other states especially some other more powerful ones in Europe such as Germany and France. He in this January made a trip to the main European offices in Brussels to seek recognition of a Palestinian state by more European Union nations. So far only a minority of these nations have recognized a Palestinian state. Mr. Abbas is also apparently, according to this article, seeking recognition of a Palestinian state by all United Nations permanent members of the UN Security Council. These nations are the US, the United Kingdom China, Russia and France. I don't know how many of these nations have recognized a Palestinian state but it sounds like France hasn't and I doubt the US has.
The second part of Mr. Abbas' plan for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as mentioned at this recent UN Security Council meeting that he gave as representing the desires for such as solution from the Palestinian side include the following according to a recent article in Israel National News: After further worldwide recognition of a Palestinian State that an international conference and terms for negotiations on so-called final status issues of the peace process, halting of unilateral actions (by any side) that could alter the final status agreement, "full implementation of the Arab peace plan", (this peace plan is sometimes called the Saudi peace plan because it was advanced especially by Saudi Arabia and features recognition of Israel by most Arab countries but states among other things that Israel should accept the so-called right of return of Palestinian Arabs or their descendents who evacuated Israel during the 1948 war of independence or probably following Israeli Arab wars in the Holy land that would allow these Arab refugees to move to Israel proper. Israel refuses this idea as it would possibly cancel the Jewish majority in Israel itself. Other terms set out for negotiations by Mr. Abbas at the UN conference according to the Israel National News article Abbas' political plan are the following: "implementation of all relevant UN resolutions", "adherence to the principle of a two-state solution" (the road map or Oslo Accord), "opposition to partial solutions", "a state with temporary borders", and "a determination that eastern Jerusalem will be a capital of Palestine", "deploying an international (probably UN) force to protect the security of both countries" and, "a solution to the refugee problem on the basis of UN Resolution 194 (return and compensation)". Most of these terms Israel and the US have never accepted and would still be very unlikely to accept in a final agreement to the Middle East peace process.
With this increasing intensity and pressure for a Middle East peace process solution, from the Israeli and US side as well currently, I would urge the reader if you haven't already done so to admit you have sinned before God according to His word the Holy Bible and trust the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father's only bogotten Son, as your personal Lord and Saviour as soon as possible. We need to trust in Jesus that he is the one who died for our sins and rose from the dead to take our sins away and enable us to have a restored relationship with God if we trust in Him (Jesus). We need to be restored to God because we all have a sinful nature and have done and at least in our life on Earth continue to do sinful deeds, words or thoughts. This sinful nature is something we as humans all obtain automatically when we are conceived and born into this world through inheritance from our first parents Adam and Eve who sinned against God by disobeying His command to them not to take of the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (When they did that their relationship with God was broken and their innocent nature was turned into a sinful including selfish nature.) We need to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour as soon as possible in view of the continuing major and quick progress in the Middle East peace negotiations because God's Word says that the tribulation or 70th week of Daniel will begin with Satan's man the Antichrist or one who causes abomination confirming a covenant (agreement or treaty) with many for a week that will allow the Jews or Israelites to build their third Jewish temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. There will likely be some compensation for this by the Antichrist to the Palestinians or other Arabs. This will be achievement of the world's Middle East peace agreement that many people in the world are looking for and that is quickly falling into place in preparation for the Antichrist to confirm it and start the 7 year tribulation that will end with the Lord Jesus Christ coming from heaven with His true Church, holy angels and the glory of God the Father etc. to judge the world including the Antichrist and set up God's Kingdom over all this Earth for 1000 years based in Jerusalem through restored Israel. The saved of the nations from the tribulation period will also be able to rule with Jesus on earth then. However just before this 7 year tribulation period that will begin with his false peace with Israel and the Arabs and perhaps involving world peace there will be the rapture of catching up to heaven of all the true Church or all true Christians up to that point. That is all people of all nations since Pentecost around 33 AD when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to earth to indwell the beginning of His Church with His disciples in Jerusalem who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour will be caught up or raptured to heaven very soon and just before the above mentioned revelation on earth of the Antichrist. This mention in God's word of the covenant of the Antichrist with Israel is especially in Daniel 9:27 in the context of Daniel 9:24-27 and with other scripture verses such as in Isaiah 28 with the covenant of death and people saying peace and safety and sudden destruction will come upon them in 1 Thessalonians 5. Since this false worldly Middle East Peace agreement is now quickly coming to a climax that will lead to an agreement by the Antichrist I would urge the reader to as soon as possible trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour so you can take part in the rapture of the Church and not be left behind on Earth for the worldwide reign of the Antichrist and God's judgment on the people then on Earth as well as so you can have an eternal home in heaven and be part of God's eternal heavenly people the Church and have God's complete forgiveness and a restored relationship with Him through Jesus. According to 2 Thessonians 2 in the New Testament there may no longer be opportunity for people to be saved after the rapture in the tribulation if they (you) heard a clear presentation of the gospel way of salvation of God through Jesus in the New Testament and that they (you) continued to reject or neglect to trust in Jesus and respond to His gospel until the rapture and following tribulation on earth. Failing to be saved through Jesus means a conscious tormented eternity in hell then the lake of fire that we all deserve for our sins in the view of the true God who is still holy as well as loving but that none of us need to experience if we trust in Jesus as our sin bearer as soon as possible in this life.
On Friday, February 23, 2018 US President Donald Trump confirmed that the United States would be moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem this year with a statement that it would take place this May. Earlier, closer to last December, when the initial pledge by the US to move its embassy to Jerusalem, American officials said the embassy move "could take years". It was stated by articles from Israel National News and probably others such as in the article Netanyahu: A great day for the people of Israel on February 23rd that the embassy move would be on the Israeli Independence Day. This Israeli Independence day is the 70th Israeli Independence day as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli government cabinet members stated. That is will then be 70 years since Israel was again declared a nation in 1948. But I believe that date was more around April on the western calendar. There is another Israeli national holiday that is also celebrated in a substantial way and that is Jerusalem Day. This does usually occur in late May and is the anniversary of Israel retaking the Old City of Jerusalem including the Temple Mount in the early June 1967 Six Day War. From the difference in the lunar Jewish and western solar calendar this celebration of Jerusalem Day does usually occur in late May in the western calendar. (There is also a school of thought that in some parts of at least Christian Bible prophecy that one main time period for a generation is 70 years especially based on Psalm 90 in which the Psalmist, in that case Moses, says that the usual limit of a human lifetime is 70 or usually at most 80 years. This is then taken quite emphatically by some Christian Bible prophecy teachers or followers that Jesus' statement about the fig tree which is Israel will see all the events mentioned for the tribulation and second coming of Jesus within a generation of Israel starting to be restored (shoot forth).
I as also a Bible believing Christian believe we can know the approximate time when the rapture of the Church and beginning and end of the 7 year tribulation will happen based on statements like in 1 Thessalonians 5:4 "ye are not in darkness brethren that that day (the day of Christ or day of redemption of our body and the day of the rapture of the Church) should come upon you as a thief (unexpecetedly). However I do not know that even Bible believing Christians know the exact day of the rapture or the beginning of the tribulation or the second coming of Jesus as I believe this is what Jesus said when he said of that day or hour knoweth no man ... but my Father only such as several times in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. However Jesus in Matthew 24 was definitely talking about not the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church but His Second Coming in glory to Earth at the end of the tribulation. One reason I believe this is that He there in Matthew 24 consistently used the term Son of man to refer to himself. Jesus also used this term to refer to His Second coming in even more dramatic terms, and that definitely wouldn't be the rapture of the Church, when He spoke before the Sanhedrin before He went to the cross in Matthew 26:62-65. This term was most likely used by Jesus to refer to Himself in the original context of His Second Coming as referred to in Daniel 7:13-14. In that passage the Ancient of Days is God the Father. I have found personally in talking with people, born again Christians or otherwise, that many people know and can quote the verse "no man knows the day or hour when the Son of Man comes" but especially unsaved or not very biblical Christians tend to quote it to say that we shouldn't be concerned about the time of Jesus second coming and that it could likely be a long time in the future. I disagree with the part where such people imply that time is a long time in the future or that we can't know the time of those last days events approximately and these people either don't know or don't mention other Bible verses that Christians can know the approximate time when Jesus will come such as in 1 Thessalonians 5 or in Revelation 3 about Christians watching for Jesus coming at the rapture of the Church.
The location that the American embassy will be moved to in Jerusalem is more particularly to the location of the existing American consulate in Jerusalem Israel where immediately a small expansion will be made. This is the Arnona area of West Jerusalem in the south region of Jerusalem. However this location is fairly close to the dividing line between so-called West and East Jerusalem. However as stated in some of the articles in Israel National News and most likely elsewhere this location where the American embassy in Israel will move to in May this year is only a temporary location until a new more secure location of the American embassy in Jerusalem is built within the next year or so but that could be close to the present American consulate location in the Arnona district of Jerusalem. United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also stated on Thursay or Friday of the same week (around February 23rd) that measures are being looked after to ensure enough security of the temporary and more permanent locations of the American embassy in Jerusalem, Israel as there could be a greater likelihood of Islamic terrorist attacks on a Jerusalem location of the American embassy of Jerusalem as especially fundamentalist Muslims do not want anyone, especially a major nation like the United States, to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state of Israel as the Muslims want Jerusalem to be a Muslim city.
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