A major historic event took place last Thursday, August 13, 2020. It eclipses post office funding or mask wearing to “fight” COVID-19 by so many orders of magnitude that you should have been hearing about it nonstop all weekend. Instead, by Friday afternoon the story was waning. By Saturday it was no longer included in the top dozen stories on MSN or CNN online. Hmm.
What was this historic event? President Trump, along with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and the United Arab Emirates’ Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi, signed a Middle East peace accord—the first one since 1994—referred to as the Abraham Accord, bringing together different branches of Abrahamic peoples.
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| Jared Kushner discusses the Abraham Accord on Fox News Sunday screenshot from here |
President Trump said,
This is a truly historic moment. Not since the Israel-Jordan
peace treaty was signed more than 25 years ago has so much progress been made
toward peace in the Middle East, by uniting two of America’s closest and most
capable partners in the region—something which it was said could not be done.
This deal is a significant step towards building a more peaceful, secure, and
prosperous Middle East.
Ambassador Robert O’Brien said this about the
accomplishment: “I think history’s going to remember the President as a
peacemaker. It’s really something special that he was able to put together.”
It is worth noting that actual peace deals that are
accomplished get no Nobel Peace prizes, but politically “correct” do-nothings
do get awarded (for example, Obama, his first year in office before doing
anything, and 17-year-old Greta Thunberg, who was nominated, for scolding the
world for driving cars, but had to settle for a humanitarian award).
After Thursday’s announcement, when it became evident that denigrating
President Trump for a verifiable good accomplishment was fruitless, former VP
Joe Biden tried to take credit—for laying the groundwork, along with Barack
Obama, some five years ago.
In a twisted way, Biden is right. That administration’s
anti-Israel/pro-Iran actions made other Middle Eastern countries aware of their
vulnerability to Iran and its anti-freedom tyranny. So, while they may still
have some disagreements with Israel, they are willing to set those aside to
unite against a common enemy that had been strengthened by Obama/Biden.
The timing was good for the accord—because of President
Trump. He undid some of the damage caused by Obama’s
ship-pallets-of-cash-to-Iran-while-allowing-them-to-proliferate-nuclear-weapons
agreement that was the worst negotiated deal in the history of the world. And
he moved our embassy to Jerusalem. He has been a solid and reliable friend both
to Israel and to the UAE and other Arab entities that would rather not be
subject to Iranian mullahs.
The description of the president and the process are not
what you’re likely to hear in mainstream media sources. In an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Friday, Ambassador O’Brien said this:
One of the things that the President has, one of the great
attributes, and I’ve talked about this before publicly without getting into the
details of any specific call, he really has an incredibly good manner with
foreign leaders. He gets along with them. He’s cordial with them. He’s civil
with them, all the things you’d expect from a diplomat. And he’s very
persuasive with them. So what had happened is that over the past three years,
the President had developed a great deal of trust with Prime Minister Netanyahu
and with the Crown Prince. And it’s that reservoir of trust that allows you to
bring folks together to push them over the line, to negotiate with them, to
mediate with them, to encourage them and to persuade them…. And I think
Americans would be very proud of their president if they’d watched how he’d
handled these negotiations with a lot of dignity, but also with a lot of
goodwill and friendship and good humor with these two leaders.
There was a team working on the deal, “quarterbacked” by the
president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who was also instrumental in moving the
embassy to Jerusalem. But the entire team, even down to lowly staffers, got
invited into the Oval Office to listen in on the historic moment. President
Trump knew it was historic and wanted them to experience the moment with him. And,
to their credit, no one had leaked information about the delicate negotiations,
which could have derailed them. At the end of the phonecall, spontaneous
applause broke out in the room.
I don’t know yet how this will play out in world history,
but it’s definitely a good thing. And it’s likely to spread to other enemies of
Iran in the Middle East.
By the way, it is also evident that Oman and Bahrain are
going to follow the UAE in normalizing Israeli ties. And Saudi Arabia cannot be
far behind. So this means a complete opening of the Middle East…. It is a very
very good day for peace in the Middle East.
And the New York Times predicted that the accord “could
presage a broader realignment in the region as the two agreed to ‘full
normalization of relations’ in exchange for Israel suspending annexation of
occupied West Bank territory.”
One thing I hadn’t been aware of was a sort of tacit
agreement already in play. Even though the UAE had policies against trade with
Israel, they made exemptions on a case-by-case basis whenever it suited them.
So often, in fact, that you can find the occasional Israeli grocer in a city, purportedly
for business travelers. I’m told Saudi has such tacit agreements as well.
News media is talking about what Israel was forced to give
up in order to come to this deal. That’s not the real story.
The UAE was already willing to agree with Israel. But they
needed something in return. Israel offered up a pledge not to annex portions
that, if it had declared them Israeli land, would not likely have been
recognized anyway, not even by the United States. It would have been a declaration
without effect on the ground. However, it’s land that, if there are future
negotiations, is likely to go to Israel. Ben Shapiro describes it as Israel
giving the UAE a fig leaf. He said,
The UAE wanted to normalize relations with Israel. They said,
“We need something in return to make it look like we give a crap about the
Palestinian Authority, which we actually kinda don’t.” And Israel said, “OK,
well, we just won’t formally annex all this territory we know is going to end up
in Israeli hands under any peace deal in the future anyway.” And the UAE was
like, “Good. Done.”
If we’re adding the Abraham Accord to the history books, maybe we ought to
review some of the history.
While the United Nations voted to give Israel statehood in
1947, with a two-state solution, the Arab nations surrounding it refused to
recognize the decision. So there never was a recognized Palestinian state. Ever. In all
history. Israel then declared its independence May 14, 1948, and that is
the official beginning of the modern nation of Israel. Its war for independence ensued, fought from May 2018 through July 1949. At this point, in the
cease fire agreement, the West Bank of the Jordan River was allotted to Jordan,
and the Gaza Strip was allotted to Egypt, and they allowed Israel to exist for the time being.
In 1967, Egypt attacked, along with Jordan and Syria, in an
attempt to wipe Israel into the sea. In what can only be called miraculous,
Israel won that war in six days—thus the name of the Six-Day War. I remember my
dad talking about this miracle, as a sign of nearing the last days, back when I
was just old enough to pay attention. So I’ve spent half a century
believing it is worth watching what happens to Israel. Anyway, in that
conflict, Israel won back the West Bank and Gaza, but the Palestinian refugees
from that area continue to claim land. Much of that has since been ceded by
Israel. But, it turns out land for peace has never been a good strategy for
Israel.
If you’re in need of a primer or refresher, I go into more
detail in a 6-part series from 2011:
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Part II: Zionism and Migration
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Part III: Conflict and Violence
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Part IV: Holocaust and Statehood
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Part V: Refugees and 1967 War
While several US presidents had claimed Israel’s right to name its capital as Jerusalem, and promised to move the US embassy there—starting with Clinton in 1999, waiting through Bush and Obama—President Trump actually made the move. The dedication happened on May 14, 1948, exactly 70 years after Israel became a modern nation.
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| US Embassy in Jerusalem dedication screenshot from here |
In Hebrew, I am told, various numbers have certain meanings.
7 = perfection
10 = completeness
70 = perfection and completion, or perfect order, with all
power and perfect judgment
In other words, 70 is significant, and symbolic. To have it
happen on that date—not a year earlier or later, not a month or two earlier or
later—makes it more striking than just a very fine accomplishment by human
world leaders.
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| Commemorative Temple Coin image is a screenshot from here |
To commemorate the embassy move, Israel minted a commemorative coin, with the heads of President Trump and Cyrus, who was non-Israelite king who was instrumental in the rebuilding of the temple 70 years after the captivity that ensnared Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego back around 600 BC. Besides honoring President Trump, the commemorative coin is being used as a fundraiser for eventually rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. You can go online and see the progress at TempleInstitute.org. They have acquired all the building materials, as well as the vessels, vestments, and other things needed. They’re in the process of raising a red heifer that is to be sacrificed.
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| Illustrations of the ancient Jerusalem Temple from TempleInstitute.org |
Some prophecy watchers suggest next spring will be the time
the temple construction gets underway. An impediment has been that the Dome of
the Rock, the top of the Temple Mount, has been under Arab control for a long
time. Just recently there was an archaeological discovery of a foundation of
what appears to match the temple specs—not directly under the Temple Mount, but
very close nearby, already under Israeli control. I don’t think there’s full
agreement on which location is to be used for building the temple, but it’s an
interesting story to follow.
I ended my six-part series on Israel with some words from
Benjamin Netanyahu, and tied that in with the Spherical Model. Those words seem to still fit with this week’s added piece of history, if we include all those
willing to honor our friendship with Israel along with us. We welcome the UAE into that circle:
I believe Knesset Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu was right when
he said, “If Palestine were to lay down their guns tomorrow, there would be no
more war. If Israel lays down theirs, there would be no more Israel.” I’ve kept
that quote for some years. But in that speech, he went on to say, “Israel must
create treaties with the countries of the world based on values, interests, and
strength. We must nurture our military, diplomatic and political, and spiritual
strength—that is the key to our future.”
At the Spherical Model, we can judge the success of
civilization, economics, and freedom based on specific principles. It isn’t
surprising that terrorists who advocate a mixture of savage chaos followed by
tyrannical rule are far into the southern hemisphere, not only politically but
also economically and socially. The Muslim people who most adhere to the rules
of civilization also enjoy better economics and less oppressive government.
Israel may not be perfect, but as a democratic friend that strives for
civilization, we do well to honor that friendship.
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