The Israel Re-Set
Much was made of the infamous “Russian Re-Set” button Hillary Clinton presented to her Russian counterparts. They all laughed and mugged for the cameras, but it set the stage for the Russians to flex their muscles in their region and in the Middle East. In short, America looked weak.
But what a difference an election makes.
We now have an Israel Re-Set, in that President-elect Donald Trump, an old friend of Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, has warmly received the Israeli leader, and no doubt they will meet soon after the inauguration.
We do know the tone and atmosphere will be completely different. Obama’s mendacity when it came to Israel and Jews was the worst since the leftist Jimmy Carter occupied the White House. As I’ve said many times, Obama was and is a Marxist-leaning radical who always felt warmly toward Palestinian terrorists. It’s who he is. Trump, while not exactly a Christian Zionist, seems genuinely fond of Israel.
For his part, Netanyahu had this to say today:
“’I’m asking all the ministers and the parliamentarians to wait until the start of the new [United States] government. Let’s [Israel and the US] form a new policy together through quiet and acceptable [diplomatic] channels and not through interviews with the media,’ Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly government meeting in Jerusalem.”
Also, there is talk from the Right in Israel of annexing all or part of the West Bank. The truth is, no one knows what will happen, and no one knows how far Trump will go in re-setting relations with Israel. Would Trump support annexation?
Hard to know, but we will soon see if he is indeed a true agent of change, or if he will go the way of others who vowed to fix Washington.
A key moment will come very soon, as Trump has said he will move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. All U.S. presidential candidates who promised to do it—especially George W. Bush—lied when they promised this. So as not to offend the Palestinians.
Additionally, Trump has spoken of his view that a final peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians would be the ultimate. For the poster boy of The Art of the Deal, this would have great allure.
Fortunately, more and more voices are pointing out that a quarter-century of concessions to the radicalized and murderous Palestinian society has been folly. If anything, the Arabs are far, far from being able to actually live in peace with Jews.
What I think us prophecy students must guard against is the tendency to tightly predict what is going to happen next. If only two weeks ago we were “sweating” the prospect of the vicious Obama going before the UN to sanction a Palestinian state…now all that’s changed.
By contrast, we should guard against making bold and wonderful predictions about what a Trump administration will do for Israel. Maybe he will be great, maybe so-so, maybe not at all.
Still, the Trump win is honestly a wonderful change from the eight corrosive years of the leftist radical Obama and his team of America-haters.
Let’s enjoy what we have, and continue to take the wisest path: pray for the peace of Jerusalem.