by Marie Devine

Created on: June 23, 2008   Last Updated: June 27, 2008

Great efforts have been made through many presidents with peace goals for the Middle East and yet they could not be achieved. The world is not conducted only according to the will of man; God is watching over His word so it comes to pass. God is truth and man's efforts cannot triumph over it or prove it false.

Jesus said in Luke 21:24, "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." According to God's word, there will be no peace until the Gentiles come to understanding and completion. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4. No religion follows that.

After Israel's war with Arab neighbors in June 1967, Lyndon Johnson, conveyed support for Israel keeping the lands won in the battle, (Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights), until Israel's neighbors recognized Israel and made peace. The UN Security Council Resolution 242 in November 1967 showed agreement, but still left questions about the settlement of Palestinian refugees and status of the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.

On October 6, 1973 Egypt and Syria's surprise attack on Israel prompted President Richard Nixon to send Henry Kissinger for face to face talks with leaders. His "step by step" peace process brought three agreements, the Sinai I, Sinai II and Golan by fall of 1975.

President Jimmy Carter was first to call for a "Palestinian homeland." In September 1978 he gathered the leaders of Israel and Egypt to Camp David. This thirteen (13) day summit yielded the first Arab-Israeli peace treaty. The Camp David Accords were signed in March 1979 on the White House lawn.

Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush had problems finding a speaker for the PLO. Yasser Arafat refused to give up the "armed struggle." Israeli and America called it "terrorism," and leaders refused negotiations with him.

On September 13, 1993 U.S. President Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn. Still peace did not prevail.

President George W. Bush continued "shuttle diplomacy" with face to face meetings using Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. They were unsuccessful. Ehud Olmert succeeded Ariel Sharon as leader of Israel. More conflicts arose in January 2006 when the Hamas Islamist movement won the democratic election for Prime Minister in Palestine. Hamas rejected Israel's right to exist as a nation and the U.S. and Israel refused to negotiate with them. President Abbas became the spokesman for Palestines' Fatah party.

In November 2007 President Bush gathered leaders of Israel, Palestine, Arab nations, the United Nations and European Union and others to Annapolis, Maryland to seek a peace agreement. The war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attack in the United States gave the United States a greater interest in the Middle East.

God promised a land to the children of Abraham including Ishmael and Esau, the brother of Jacob who became "Israel." Esau and others were given their land before Jacob (Israel) was given his. God told the children of Israel they shall not inherit one foot breadth of Esau or Lot's inheritance. That means neither shall another inherit Israel's land.

God has prepared a way for peace in the Middle East, but not in accord with the current peace process. Long lasting peace will only come when all sides embrace the truth of the word of God to their prophets with an eye to correction.

http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-englis h/2007/October/20071016104615dmslahrellek0.5755426.h tml

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