Insight from Jerusalem

Vision for Israel founder Barry Segal offers reflections from the Holy Land on the nation’s current threats.

Have you ever felt recently the world is spinning faster? Does it seem as if yesterday’s news is already old?

Almost everyone I speak with believes the world is getting out of control–or at least that’s the impression. Maybe it really is, but then again, that’s the time that God seems to be up to His finest work. He is not taken by surprise or shocked at the events unfolding. In this, we have our security and hope for the future according to His written word, the Holy Scriptures.

As we take another look at Israel’s present dilemma and recent modern history, we can see that the conflict is much deeper than just a piece of paper for peace that can solve the issues at hand. Israel attempted this on September 13, 1993.  That’s when the Oslo Peace Accords were signed between Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the PLO led by Yasser Arafat. The outcome was Arafat opening prison doors to release hundreds of Hamas terrorists, many of who were his own enemies.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We must stop blaming ourselves (for lack of a peace agreement).”  He added that the Palestinian conflict is “not a conflict on 1967, but a conflict on 1948 and the right of Israel to exist.”

The bottom line is that many leaders in Israel today would say that we have no real partner for peace.c have a higher quality of life and more potential for their future than any other Arabs in the Middle East. In talking to Arab Muslim and Arab Christian friends, most all of them say that the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas are corrupt. Of course, they cannot say such things publicly.

In contrast are the voices from the Palestinian side concerning the Jewish nation.  Sa’eb Erekat, of the Palestinian Authority, recently said that the PA felt it did not have an Israeli partner. “The negotiations with Israel are over,” he said.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh recently spoke to Muslim worshipers and told them to pray for an end to Israel. “To achieve our goals in the liberation of our occupied land,” he said, “we should have one leadership.” I believe that’s the reason for their coming together again, although they were sworn bitter enemies before.

Many telling events have taken place on Israel’s borders with Hamas in Gaza. Recently, a brigadier general with the Israeli army said, “The radical axis of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas is very clear.” I strongly believe it is the cause of all sorts of evil spreading across the Middle East today.

Netanyahu has stated previously “the aim of terror is to instill fear, and our answer to this has always been to refuse to give into fear.” This should remind us all of words spoken by the Lord and recorded in Joshua 1:6. ” Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.”

This is not to say that Israel must do everything itself.  However, we are called to pray as midwives for Israel’s existence and survival. In God’s unwavering love for His Jewish people in Israel, the psalmist cries the word of the Lord, “Oh, that my people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their adversaries.” May there be true peace for the Arabs and Jews in Israel through Yeshua/Jesus.

Barry Segal is the president of Vision for Israel (visionforisrael.com), a humanitarian aid work located in the Judean hills of Jerusalem. A Jewish believer, Segal also produces the TV show Roots & Reflections, which helps people in other nations learn about Israel.