Your Kingdom Is Divided

Opinion by Jack Kelley

Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. (Daniel 5:28)

This verse is part of Daniel's interpretation of the famous "handwriting on the wall". In the Aramaic language the word peres can mean both divided and Persia. Daniel used both meanings to decipher the handwriting, predicting that Babylon would be divided and given to the Medes and Persians who were camped outside the city.

In what has to be the ultimate example of God's irony, the politician most responsible for the disastrous land for peace program is Israeli President Shimon Peres, who would divide the land God gave to Israel and give it to the Palestinians.

Over the last few weeks the newly installed President of Israel has gone off on his own to promote the latest iteration of his strategy. The office of President is largely ceremonial in Israel so he has no real authority in foreign policy, but never the less, on his own initiative Shimon Peres has privately met with representatives of the EU, Israel's Prime Minister Olmert, representatives of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, and now directly with PA Prime Minister Salam Fayad.

According to World Net Daily, "Peres' plan calls for Israel to hand 97 percent of the West Bank over to the PA, with Israel retaining a small number of the territory's Jewish communities. In exchange for Israel keeping some land, the Jewish state will give the PA control of Arab Israeli cities north of Tel Aviv which, together with the evacuated West Bank territory, would amount to the equivalent of 100 percent of the West Bank."

On the face of it, this looks like a great compromise since it also helps to accomplish another goal, that of reducing the number of non-Jewish residents in Israel. For years, one of Israel's growing fears has been that left alone the so-called Arab population in Israel would soon exceed the Jewish population creating the likelihood that one day the Arabs could in effect vote Israel out of existence. (This is a primary motivation behind the PA insisting on the "refugees" right of return to Israel.)

Of course the fatal flaw in his thinking from the human standpoint is that Moslem nations don't want peace with Israel. They're only going along with this peace initiative to weaken Israel enough to make their ultimate destruction of the Jewish State possible. To this end, having territory that puts them within rocket range of Tel Aviv could be very attractive.

But even if they did want peace, Peres has another problem. It's the same one he's always had. The land isn't his to give. The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. (Lev. 25:23) Letting Biblical lands go out of their hands violates one of the provisions they agreed to when the Lord gave it to them.

It's like me renting a house from you and then selling it to someone else and keeping the money. It would violate our rental agreement. If I offered a defense to the effect that I no longer recognized the rental agreement as binding upon me, that wouldn't excuse my actions in the eyes of the law. You'd be justified in doing whatever was necessary to get your house back, and making sure I was punished for my illegal behavior in the process.

The legal basis upon which Israel justified returning the Sinai to gain peace with Egypt in 1978 was that it wasn't part of the Biblical grant. Israel's southern border was the Wadi al Arish, called the River of Egypt in some translations of Genesis 15:18, and didn't include the Sinai. But since Israel began to trade West Bank and Gaza territory away, they not only haven't improved their chances for peace but instead have become more vulnerable to war. It's because that land isn't theirs to give.

No one yet knows whether this latest move by Peres will be successful. EU officials are pressuring the US to include it in the agenda for a proposed November Mid-East Peace summit. True to form, PA officials, seeing that they might get their West Bank land, are adding another pre-condition to the negotiations. They now say that Israel must give up all rights to the Temple Mount before any other negotiations can begin. Astonishingly, PM Olmert says he's considering at least granting joint sovereignty.

The pressure is on everyone, and only the Moslems seem to be negotiating from a position of strength. Pres. Bush has his legacy to consider and needs something to take the spot light off Iraq. Peace in the Mid-East, however fragile, could do that. PM Olmert's approval ratings are the only ones in the world lower than the US Congress, and he's desperate to improve them. At times like this, politicians everywhere have a tendency to ignore the long range consequences of their actions in favor of short term approval.

But if a two state solution does come to pass, it will be due primarily to the efforts of Shimon Peres, father of the land for peace doctrine. The man whose name means divided will have successfully divided the Biblical lands of Israel, at least for a time. It's a move sure to get the attention of the One who owns it. He'd be justified in doing whatever was necessary to get His land back, and making sure Israel is punished for its illegal behavior in the process. God help us all. My Thoughts. 08-22-07