You may view the 5 minute update this week via audio:
In this week’s 5 minute update, we focused on:
1) The current status of the Israel / PLO peace process
2) Are the events in Egypt fulfilling prophecy ?
According to Palestinian officials, US Secretary of State John Kerry is close to reaching an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians to relaunch direct peace talks. Kerry has suggested a compromise proposal to resume talks in which Israel would freeze settlement construction outside of the major Jewish settlement “blocs” that Israel expects to keep in any final status agreement. While Israel would not explicitly commit to returning to its 1967 borders, negotiations would be based on a May 2011 policy speech by President Barack Obama where he called for a Palestinian state based upon 1967 borders with mutually agreed “land swaps” and the Palestinians would recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. Kerry’s plan also calls on Israel to release about 100 of the longest-held Palestinian prisoners in its jails in several stages, and envisions a $4 billion international investment plan, conducted in various stages, to develop the struggling Palestinian economy. Once talks begin, they would last six to nine months an an agreement would be made on all outstanding matters, including final borders, the fate of Palestinian refugees and resolving the competing claims to east Jerusalem. However, Palestinian president Mahmood Abbas has not yet accepted the proposal.
In any event, Palestinian officials blamed Israeli “intransigence” for the failure of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s effort to revive peace talks when he was in the region from June 27 – 29 as the Palestinians are still demanding that Israel completely halt building Jewish homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the release of Palestinian prisoners held since the 1993 Oslo accords and that Israel recognize a Palestinian state based upon 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. As a result, one Palestinian official said that “the gap between the Israeli and Palestinian position remains as wide as ever because the US position is closer to the Israeli position who which wants to restart talks without preconditions.”
Meanwhile, at the end of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting on June 24, Britain and France wanted the EU to issue a tough statement condemning the building of Jewish homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and place the blame for the failure to restart peace talks with Israel. However, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told EU Foreign Secretary Catherine Ashton that such an announcement on the eve of Kerry’s visit to the Middle East would hurt efforts to restart peace talks. In the end, Ashton agreed to not make any announcement as the EU is still willing to give the United States an opportunity to try to convince Israel and the Palestinians to restart direct peace talks.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has been removed from power by the Egyptian army following major demonstrations against the rule of his Muslim Brotherhood government. Supporters of Morsi are also demonstrating for him showing their support. Are we witnessing the fulfillment of a prophecy from Isaiah 19 that in “the Day of the Lord”:
Isaiah 19:2 And I will set the Egyptians against the
Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and
every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom
against kingdom.
Finally, some Palestinian officials called upon Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to rise up against Hamas to topple their government. Hamas is a sect of the Muslim Brotherhood. Said one Palestinian official: “Now it’s Gaza’s turn to get rid of the Muslim Brotherhood branch. The dark era of political Islam [meaning the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to establish an Islamic caliphate] has ended.” However, there are no signs that this is on the verge of happening.
An agreement to divide Jerusalem and establish a PLO state is a tribulation event.
The link to these articles are as follows:
1) Palestinians say restart of peace talks close
2) Erekat: Settlement construction in the way of breakthrough on peace talks
3) EU Loses Patience With Israel
4) Fatah calls on Palestinians to overthrow Hamas in wake of Morsi’s fall
From a Biblical prophetic perspective, the reason why the God of Israel would allow these events to happen is because it will result in the end of the exile of the house of Jacob and the reunification of the 12 tribes of Israel (Ephraim and Judah).
We will to be “watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem” and we will not rest until the God of Israel makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62).
Shalom in Yeshua the Messiah,
Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int’l