Israel Update for November 2009

Although Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas announced last month that national elections would be held on January 24, he was subsequently forced to postpone the vote after Hamas said it would prevent people from going to the polls in the Gaza Strip. Hamas leaders threatened that anyone daring to cast a ballot would be "punished" by Hamas thugs. Israeli political analysts said the Iranian-backed Sunni Muslim group fears that Abbas will attempt to use elections as a springboard to return PA control over the crowded coastal zone, which Hamas has ruled since it violently seized control in June 2007.

Abbas retorted that Palestinian law mandates legislative and presidential elections every four years, noting that next February will be exactly four years since the last vote was held. Hamas triumphed in the 2006 ballot, winning a majority of seats in the Palestinian legislature. Opinion surveys suggest that the radical group would come out on top once again, but this is apparently not enough of an incentive to overcome fears that the PA might end up back in control over Gaza if voters return to the polls.

Adding to the drama, the nearly 75 year old Palestinian leader said he has "no intention or desire" to stand as a presidential candidate if and when elections are held next year. This prompted Israeli President Shimon Peres to urge Abbas to change his mind, contending there is no other suitable candidate who might be able to get the stalled peace process rolling again. Analysts said that with Palestinian elections postponed, Abbas will probably remain in power by default, meaning Hamas might actually be doing Israel a favor by blocking a national vote.

Meanwhile Fatah leaders have reportedly made a "strategic decision" to declare a third uprising against Israel. PA officials told the Nazareth-based newspaper Hadith Anas that the moribund peace process is the main reason for their resolve to reignite widespread protest demonstrations against the Jewish state. However the unnamed officials quoted by the paper said that unlike the first two violent attrition campaigns, the new one would not feature terror attacks and armed clashes. Israeli officials were said to be quite skeptical of that contention.

State Of Palestine Coming Soon?

Various statements were issued during the month by senior PA officials concerning the possibility that they might declare statehood in the near future. The issue was initially broached by Mahmoud Abbas, who said continuing Israeli home building in Judea and Samaria might result in a unilateral statehood declaration in the coming months.

PA negotiator Saeb Erekat later said that Palestinian leaders are prepared to request that the UN Security Council endorse an independent state based on the 1949 ceasefire lines, which became the unofficial border between Israel and the Jordanian-controlled West Bank. Erekat said PA officials have asked European Union nations and the United States to back its statehood proposal. He maintained that Russian leaders support the plan, along with several unnamed European countries. Erekat's comments came soon after PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad presented his own plan that's designed to create a Palestinian state in several stages over a period of two years.

Prime Minister Netanyahu retorted that negotiating with Israel is "the only way" the Palestinians can finally achieve statehood. "Any unilateral attempts outside that framework will unravel the existing agreements between us," he warned, adding cryptically that it could also force Israel "to take its own unilateral steps."

The US State Department reiterated the Obama administration's support for a negotiated Palestinian state: "It is our strong belief and conviction that the best means to achieve the common goal of a contiguous and viable Palestine is through negotiations between the parties."

A spate of recent media reports contend that Hamas and Israel are finally nearing a deal to release abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. According to various sources quoted in the reports, Israel will free over 400 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the young soldier, captured by Hamas forces in June 2006. Germany and Egypt continue to play central roles in the backchannel negotiations to secure a deal.

Despite all of the serious struggles plaguing Israel and the world in these difficult days, we who know and serve the sovereign God of Abraham have the wonderful privilege of knowing that the Righteous Branch of the Lord, the Son of David, will soon return to Jerusalem to begin His liberating earthly rule. In that day "Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety, and this is the name by which He will be called: The Lord Is Our Righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:6).