The campaign against the Jewish State is intensifying
The war against Israel’s sovereignty in the international institutions is intensifying.
Allegations that Israel is infringing international law are being used to force Israel to withdraw its military and civilians from East Jerusalem and the West Bank, where Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) claims full sovereignty.
In their teachings as recorded in the New Testament, Jesus and His Apostles spoke of the many things that would need to happen before Christ could return to reign as King. In doing so, they quoted and expounded on matters that were already referred to – sometimes obliquely – by the prophets of Israel in the Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible).
This includes the rise of an anti-Christian spirit in the world, apostacy in the church, physical and spiritual restoration of the nation of Israel, and the conflicts that would take place in the last days involving restored Israel and the nations.
About one hundred and fifty years ago, the Lord started to bring His children home from their dispersion amongst the nations. Russian Jews escaping the pogroms made their way to Palestine. The time of redemption had begun. They were gradually joined by Jews from other nations. Over seventy years ago, on 14th May 1948, the Jewish people declared the State of Israel. A nation was born in a day.
Since 1920, the nations have been doing everything in their power to prevent the restoration of the Jewish nation in the land. They have never fully accepted State of Israel as a member of the community of nations. Even Israel’s “friends” in the UN have waxed and waned in their support. By and large, the church – the “body of Christ” that is called to boldly declare God’s purposes – has been either silent or (worse) actively complicit in opposing the return of the Jews to the land.
Today, the war against Israel’s sovereignty in the international institutions is intensifying. Allegations that Israel is infringing international law are being used to prohibit Jews from living in the Old City of Jerusalem and the West Bank (ie. Judea and Samaria), where the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) claims full sovereignty.
The attack on Israel’s sovereignty is part of a well-orchestrated and funded campaign in several UN-related institutions, where Arab and Islamic nations are able to mobilize other states to support their demands.
The use of the language, the moral force and the institutions of “law” is part of Satan’s strategy of first deceiving the church and the nations, and then mobilizing them to oppose God’s plans and purposes.
The main arguments used to attack Israel have never really changed over the years. Essentially, they are that the Jewish State is a “colonial” enterprise that oppresses an innocent indigenous population. It has “stolen” and is “occupying” their land. There is a growing chorus that Israel is an “apartheid” state that is guilty of “crimes against humanity”.
In recent weeks – since the most recent conflict with Hamas in May – we have seen a massive rise in anti-Semitism around the world, including not only hate-filled words but also violent attacks on Jews.
I believe this latest intensification of hatred is in part provoked by the hostile rhetoric emanating from the world’s most eminent institutions. In addition to the political institutions (United Nations, EU, etc), there are four legal “battlefields” upon which this opposition to the restoration of Israel is being played out.
First, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague decided last February that it has jurisdiction to prosecute Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity “in the territory of Palestine”. The new British/Pakistani Prosecutor Karim Khan QC will now possibly investigate Israeli leaders for allowing “settlements” to be built, for demolishing Palestinian houses and evicting Palestinian terrorists – all of which the Prosecutor considers to be “war crimes”. The Court may even consider prosecuting Israeli leaders for the crimes of “apartheid” and “persecution” – which are crimes against humanity.
Second, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva has instituted an open-ended international investigation into Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. It says Israeli forces may have committed war crimes in the recent conflict with Hamas. The 24-9 vote, with 14 abstentions, took place in a meeting called by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which strongly supports the Palestinians. One of the OIC’s goals is to “liberate” Jerusalem from non-Islamic control. The UNHRC’s permanent “Commission of Inquiry” will monitor and report on rights violations in Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. It would be the first such Commission with an “ongoing” mandate. The UNHRC has become a weapon in the hands of Israel’s enemies.
Third, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) based in New York decided on 20th May that it will establish a “Conciliation Commission” to examine the Palestinians’ claims that Israel’s regime in the “occupied territories” is discriminatory and breaches international law.
Fourth, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), based in The Hague, the PLO has launched proceedings alleging that Israel has no sovereignty at all in Jerusalem. The PLO even argues that so-called “West Jerusalem” does not belong to Israel. Their claims are inconsistent and incoherent, and it is unlikely the Court will entertain the case. But the mere fact that the PLO has been able to such a prestigious institution – established to decide disputes between states – is cause for alarm.
These legal/institutional developments are part of a wider picture of increasing hostility to the existence of the Jewish State of Israel. I sense that we have entered a new, more intense, phase of the final struggle.
It is our task as Christians to stay awake, to discern the signs of the times, to raise our voice, and to intercede on behalf of the Jewish people – as never before.
