On June 5, 1967, Israel launched preemptive air strikes against bases in Syria, Jordan and Egypt. The ensuing defeat of her Arab neighbors in the six days of warfare resulted in a 200% expansion of Israel’s territory. At the cease fire, Israel held the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai, the east bank of the Suez Canal and the Holy City of Jerusalem.
In a slow and methodical fashion, Israel is handing back most of the land captured during the six-day conflict. On March 14, 1979, the Israeli parliament approved a treaty coordinating the withdrawal of citizens from the Sinai and the east bank of the Suez. Last month, Israel allowed the Palestinian Liberation Organization to assume control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Jericho. Although the Golan Heights is very important as a strategic location to the Israeli military, Israel has agreed to entertain discussions with Syria about returning that area to Syrian control.
The holy city
Jerusalem, however, is one area that all Israelis will have difficulty returning to Arab hands. This should come as no surprise to Bible students; conflicts over Jerusalem and its holy sites, Islamic, Jewish, Catholic Christian and Orthodox Christian, have raged for centuries. Furthermore, scripture prophecies tell us that Jerusalem will be under siege during the latter days.
Under the current peace plan, formal talks on the fate of the Holy City won’t commence until 1996. While the talks may be two years distant, at the earliest, Israelis and Palestinians are now turning their attention toward Jerusalem. They both have the same objective of complete control of the city and both covet Jerusalem as a religious and political center.
In a fight that promises to be long and bitter, the swords are drawn and the battle has commenced. At this point, the weapons are verbal and the stage the world’s press. Following are some statements taken from the Toronto Star, (June 2, 1994):
- PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat calls for a Jihad (holy war) to liberate Jerusalem.
- Israel Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin vows to close down any Palestinian institution in Arab East Jerusalem linked to Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza or Jericho.
- Arafat hints he wants to pray at the El-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, located on the Temple Mount.
- Jerusalem’s Mayor, Ehud Olmert, vows to mobilize 500,000 Jews to block roads into the city to stop Arafat from entering. He warns of a massacre with “10 times as many victims” as the Hebron bloodbath in which 29 Arabs died on February 25.
- Jibril Rajoub, the Jericho police commander and close Arafat aide, declares, “The Israelis must leave our capital — East Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a red line for us.”
- Shmuel Meir, deputy mayor of Jerusalem, offers the city’s top prize for anyone who assassinates Arafat. A settler’s group proposes a $50,000 reward for the capture of Arafat “dead or alive.”
A tinder box
For all practical purposes, East Jerusalem is the political capital of the West Bank (even though this is forbidden by the current peace plan). It is home to dozens of Palestinian groups including lawyer’s associations, chambers of commerce and educational, medical and religious organizations. The Toronto Star (June 2) reported, “Prime Minister Rabin is determined to remove from the Arab side of the city all Palestinian institutions linked to self-rule. The accord, he said, says they must set up in Jericho or Gaza. ‘I hope that they comply,’ Rabin said, ‘if not we will help them.”
Zechariah 12
We are clearly told that a war will be fought over Jerusalem in the latter days: “And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it” (Zech. 12:3).
Although we are not sure what could trigger the condition prophesied by Zechariah, it could be something as simple as Mr. Arafat attempting to pray on the Temple Mount. Under terms of the 1978 peace plan, Israel agreed to allow freedom of worship to members of all religions in Jerusalem. Yet they have denied Mr. Arafat this right. An article in the Israeli Haaretz newspaper (May 30, 1994) quoted, “If Mr. Arafat does attempt to exercise his right to worship, Israel will be pushed in a corner if it attempts to deny him permission.”
Zechariah 14
As believers, we realize that Jerusalem will act as the catalyst initiating the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ to the world. While much blood will be shed, the eventual outcome will be one that will pave the way for the kingdom age: “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives” (Zech. 14:2-4).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One