Israel Update for May 2009

"There has never been a time when Arabs and Israelis see a common threat the way we see it today, and also see the need to join together in working towards peace while simultaneously defending ourselves against this common threat," he told reporters after the White House meeting had ended.

Netanyahu reportedly told the American leader that the Iranian nuclear threat was the main topic of discussion when he met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo in early May, followed by a clandestine visit to nearby Amman Jordan, where he held talks with King Abdullah. Both Arab leaders were said to have agreed with the new Israeli Premier that a viable peace accord with the Palestinians cannot be secured while non-Arab Iran, controlled by Shiite fundamentalists, continues to openly enrich uranium while building nuclear power plants.

Despite their different approaches regarding the Palestinian issue, PM Netanyahu did reiterate earlier comments that he plans to work toward peace with the Palestinians while also dealing with the issue of Iran. He maintained that he and President Obama "see exactly eye to eye on this" adding that "we want to move simultaneously and then parallel on two fronts-the front of peace, and the front of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear capability."

Soon after landing back in Israel, PM Netanyahu said that Jerusalem will remain the undivided capital of Israel forever. Speaking at a ceremony to mark Israel's Six Day War capture of the eastern half of Jerusalem in June 1967, the Israeli leader noted that "Our people's unparalleled affinity to Jerusalem has spanned thousands of years, and is at the basis of our national renaissance. It has united our people, secular and religious people alike."

Pressure Cooker

In his post summit comments, President Obama declared that Israel must halt all settlement expansion before any final peace accord can be arrived at with the Palestinians. In fact, Israel has not initiated any new settlement building for many years now, although "natural growth" expansion of many existing communities in disputed areas of the land continues apace.

PM Netanyahu reportedly reminded Obama that Ariel Sharon's controversial 2005 decision to uproot twenty one settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in Samaria north of Jerusalem, which was strongly endorsed by the previous Bush administration, was followed by stepped up rocket attacks upon Israeli cities and towns near the Gaza Strip and then the violent 2007 Hamas coup in the Palestinian coastal zone. He was said to have clearly stated that Israel cannot take the huge risk of a similar outcome by evacuating land just a couple miles from the governmental center in Jerusalem, along with disputed territory near Ben Gurion international airport and not far from Tel Aviv and other coastal cities.

However in an apparent effort to please the new American administration, Netanyahu did authorize the demolition of a small Jewish settlement outpost three days after the White House meeting. Police officers and army soldiers evicted around 40 Jewish residents from seven metal huts and then destroyed them in the small community of Maoz Esther, located northeast of Jerusalem. The community is named after the biblical Jewish queen who interceded with her husband in order to spare her people from mass slaughter in ancient Persia. However some of the evicted residents later returned to the site and began putting up temporary homes.

Speaking out on the settlement issue soon after Netanyahu returned to Israel, former armed forces chief Moshe Ya'alon, who is currently serving as the Strategic Affairs Minister, said that Israel will not agree to President Obama's insistence that all settlement expansion be immediately halted. "We will not halt the construction in the settlements within the framework of natural growth," he told Israel's Channel 2 station, adding that "There are people here who are living their lives, raising children. Housing is required. It isn't housing that has prevented peace."

As talk of peace continues amid serious regional preparations for future warfare, it is a good time to recall the biblical promise of eternal joy in store for all who love Zion and serve Israel's Sovereign Lord: "Shout aloud and sing for joy people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you" (Isaiah 12:6).