"Serious and Rising Threat to Israel"

That represents the title to Joel Rosenberg's latest commentary, and the rest of the title is even more interesting and ominous:

Unilateral Declaration of a Palestinian State by Summer 2011

A serious new threat to the peace and security of Israel and the people of the epicenter is rapidly emerging — the prospect that the Palestinian leadership will unilaterally declare their own independent, sovereign state as early as the summer of 2011, and attempt to divide Jerusalem, and that the world will try to force Israel to accept this new state rather than require the Palestinians to sit down and negotiate a fair and just arrangement that both sides can accept.

Make no mistake: a unilateral declaration by the Palestinians is not a recipe for peace. It is a recipe for war. Over 450,000 Israelis live in the West Bank. They are not going to quietly accept a Palestinian government in Ramallah deciding their fate. Nor will these Israeli settlers allow the Palestinian police to forcibly remove them from their villages, towns and cities. Especially Jerusalem. They will fight back.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be under enormous domestic political pressure to back these Jewish citizens with the force of the Israeli military, and should violence intensify, he would likely order the IDF into battle. The results would not be pretty, and the Palestinian people would pay a heavy price.

World leaders, therefore, should be putting enormous pressure on Palestinian leaders to sit down to direct negotiations with the Israelis and find a peaceful solution through diplomacy, lest violence result. Sadly, that’s not what is happening. Instead, world leaders are putting enormous pressure on Israeli leaders to cut a fast deal with the Palestinians or face the prospect of Palestinian state being imposed upon them.

Its hard to know at this point, whether the PA really believe that this approach will be successful, or if its just a ploy to force Israel to hurry up and accept an agreement before this "forced" scenario takes place.

Bible prophecy makes it clear that the nations of the world will, in the last days, divide up the land of Israel. But the Scriptures are also crystal clear that the nations will face the judgment of Almighty God for doing so. “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat ["the Lord judges"]. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land.” (Joel 3:1-2).

Mr Rosenberg provides some interesting background information on this scenario that we see today:

In 2009, Palestinian President Salam Fayyad developed a detailed plan to have a Palestinian state ready within two years, and he has been building the political and economic infrastructure ever since. In April of 2010, during an exclusive interview with Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, Fayyad said that ”the birth of a Palestinian state will be celebrated as a day of joy by the entire community of nations….The time for this baby to be born will come, and we estimate it will come around 2011.

What about the U.S. position on this situation?

Making matters worse, I believe it is increasingly possible that the Obama administration will also back such an initiative

But given how aggressively the White House and State Department are pushing for a Palestinian state — and how poor relations between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu have been in 2009 and 2010 — U.S. support for the “unilateral option” is a real and serious threat.

Congress, however, is opposed:

Indeed, Members of Congress — both Democrats and Republicans — are so concerned that the Obama administration will support the “unilateral option” that on December 16th they voiced their opposition to such an approach. “The United States House of Representatives unanimously on Thursday approved a resolution opposing unilateral declaration of Palestinian state,” reported Haaretz.

The resolution calls on the U.S. administration to ‘deny recognition to any unilaterally declared Palestinian state and veto any resolution by the United Nations Security Council to establish or recognize a Palestinian state outside of an agreement negotiated by the two parties.’”

Mr Rosenberg also answers several questions that I have had regarding the logistics of this "unilaterally declared Palestinian state". First, to the reasons this should not happen:

Indeed, a unilaterally declared Palestinian state would violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which calls for ”a peaceful and accepted settlement.” How could the settlement be “accepted” if it wasn’t negotiated and agreed upon by both sides? A unilateral declaration would also violate Resolution 242′s call for ”secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.” How could the borders between Israel and the Palestinians be “secure and recognized” if they are not recognized by the Israelis?

Moreover, Resolution 242 doesn’t call on Israel to withdraw from” all of the territories” it acquired in the Six Day War of June 1967, only for the “withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories” acquired in “the recent conflict.” In other words, based on a negotiated peace, Israel might withdraw from all of the territories, or only part of the territories. The key was for the Israelis and the Palestinians to have “secure” borders “free from threats or acts of force.”

Such a unilateral move by the Palestinians would also violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 338, which called for an immediate cease-fire after the 1973 Yom Kippur War and for “negotiations [to] start between the parties concerned under appropriate auspices aimed at establishing a just and durable peace in the Middle East.”

So how would this be accomplished?

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and President Fayyad have been resisting true, reasonable, direct negotiations with Israel for months. They are simultaneously moving with confidence towards a unilateral declaration of their state and the division of Jerusalem.

Why?

Because they know they already have widespread international support. As noted above, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos announced in February 2010 that their two governments were likely to formally recognize an independent Palestinian state in pre-1967 borders within 18 months, regardless of whether Israelis and Palestinians reach a negotiated agreement.

Moreover, Kouchner and Moratinos began urging the European Union as whole to recognize a Palestinian state by the summer of 2011.

Ahhhhhh. Of course. The Revived Roman Empire comes into focus, right on schedule. We would expect nothing less, based on our knowledge of biblical prophecy. Kouchner, representing the EU says this:

“The issue before us at the moment is the building of a reality,” said Kouchner. “France is training Palestinian police, businesses are being created in the West Bank… It follows that one can envision the proclamation soon of a Palestinian state, and its immediate recognition by the international community, even before negotiating its borders….If by mid-2011, the political process has not ended the [Israeli] occupation, I would bet that the developed state of Palestinian infrastructure and institutions will be such that the pressure will force Israel to give up its occupation.”

Mr Rosenberg concludes:

Let us continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, not the division of Jerusalem. Let us pray for the Lord to restrain the Palestinian leadership from making such a disastrous move, and pray that the Lord would restrain world leaders from encouraging the “unilateral option.” At the same time, we need to realize that eventually the land of Israel will be divided by the nations. The only true hope of peace and reconciliation is through the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, changing the hearts of Israelis and their neighbors and enemies and drawing them to Himself. Let us be praying, earnestly, therefore, towards that end.

It is amazing to follow the news around the world while having an open Bible at hand, reading the scriptures that fit the news. And one aspect that makes this process amazing is the fact that things come up that were never expected. As recently as a year ago, there was little-no public discussions around this idea of a "unilateral" (aka "forced") "PA State" being formed without negotiations and without any Israeli agreement. And in just a few months, it has gained tremendous momentum. Mr Rosenberg provides a brief timeline of the various events:


AT-A-GLANCE: MOMENTUM BUILDING FOR A UNILATERALLY DECLARED PALESTINIAN STATE

- 2009 — Palestinian President Salam Fayyed issues detailed plan to have a Palestinian state ready in two years

- July 2009 — Javier Solana, E.U. Foreign Policy Chief, calls on the U.N. to recognize a Palestinian state by a certain deadline, even if negotiations break down.

- February 2010 –France and Spain indicate they are seriously considering formally recognizing an independent Palestinian state in pre-1967 border by the summer of 2011.

- April — Palestinian President Fayyad tells an Israeli newspaper that the Palestinian state will be ready to be born in 2011.
- December 4 — Brazil announces that it is formally recognizing an independent Palestinian state
- December 6 — Turkey announces it will also soon formally recognize a Palestinian state
- December 6 — Argentina announces it will formally recognize a Palestinian state
- December 22 — Bolivia announces will formally recognize a Palestinian state
- December 23 — Uruguay announces that it will formally recognize a Palestinian state

This entire scenario will be fascinating to watch, and in just a few months we should know if it will succeed or not. If it does succeed, according to Mr Rosenberg, there will be violence and it won't be pretty. If it doesn't succeed, then what comes next?

One can only marvel at these developments, as, at a minimum, it brings the entire issue of new borders and a "PA State" to the front burner as "the nations" seem set to unilaterally declare PA statehood one way or the other.

What fascinates this observer of current events is the following:

Doesn't it seem likely that the leader who is destined to come, known biblically as the antichrist - is waiting patiently for his time?

That time seems very ripe at the moment: His moment to appear and confirm this arrangement - his moment to take the reigns and his moment to begin his world domination. That time seems to be approaching very rapidly.