HERE IS THE ARTICAL FROM THE JERUSALEM POST MARCH 31, 2008
Rice says deal possible before May
By: GIL HOFFMAN
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice believes that a framework for an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians could be reached by the planned May 14 visit to Israel of US President George W. Bush, Channel 1 diplomatic correspondent Ayala Hasson reported Sunday.
Mark Weiss on Rice’s visit:
Rice expressed this hope to a top Israeli leader Sunday when she met with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayed. Rice’s high expectations will put further pressure on the two sides, who were already meeting frequently in an effort to meet the November 4 deadline that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert set at the Annapolis summit for reaching an agreement.
After a late visit to Amman Sunday night, Rice will meet with Olmert on Monday, followed by a tripartite meeting with the heads of the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams, Livni and former Palestinian Authority prime minister Ahmed Qurei. US diplomatic officials said it was likely that she would return to Israel again before Bush’s visit.
Barak learned his lesson from the last Rice visit, when she scolded him for not doing enough to ease the conditions of the Palestinians. This time, he came to their meeting armed with a 35-page document in English outlining the steps Israel would take.
In an apparent effort to further obligate Barak to honor the commitments, Rice said she wanted to call a press conference with Barak and Fayad at which the defense minister would outline the steps for the media. But Fayad nixed the idea, saying that he wanted to keep a low profile on his meeting with Rice.
Rice told Barak and reiterated later to American reporters accompanying her that she would be more vigilant in monitoring Israel’s implementation of its commitments than she had been in the past. She told the reporters that despite Israeli promises to remove West Bank roadblocks, the number of roadblocks had increased since Annapolis.
“We’ve been monitoring and verifying since Annapolis,” Rice said. “One of the reasons for the agreement that we have here is, in fact, we want to be much more systematic about what is being promised and what is being done than I think we’ve been able to be prior to [US monitor] Gen. [William] Fraser’s mission. I think this is a much more systematic approach than we’ve had in the past. We’ve been told this is going to start and even be completed in a relatively short period of time. I’m not going to give you a date but I’m expecting it to happen very, very soon.
Asked by the Israeli press whether she was satisfied with Barak’s gestures, Rice said: “I would not characterize what we need or what I expect to hear as gestures. I really do think that what we need to do is to have meaningful progress toward a better life for the Palestinian people, for the economic viability for Palestinians, even as we move toward the establishment of a state.” Barak’s associates said they would accept additional oversight and that he had every intention of keeping his promises to Rice.
Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu, who also met with Rice, slammed Barak’s new commitments to the Palestinians. He warned that Barak was making a mistake by entrusting Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to safeguard Israeli security.
“I brought her information from security officials and intelligence indicating that Hamas could take over the West Bank and create what is essentially an Iranian base there,” Netanyahu told reporters after a meeting with Rice that was set to take 15 minutes but lasted nearly an hour.
Netanyahu said he told Rice that if a declaration of principles were signed with the Palestinians on the basis of dividing Jerusalem and returning to pre-1967 borders, the Likud and the people of Israel would not accept it.
Rice said at a press conference with Livni that Israelis and Palestinians shared the responsibility to create an atmosphere in which both parties were held accountable.
“There ought to be a shared responsibility here for an atmosphere and a reality that can lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state based on security for Israel and Palestinians alike and economic viability for Palestinians,” she said.
Livni said it was important to make progress on an overall agreement as soon as possible. “Time is of the essence,” she said. “Stagnation and stalemate [are] not the Israeli government policy; it doesn’t serve our own interest.
“A senior PA official in Ramallah told the Jerusalem Post on Saturday that the Palestinian negotiating team headed by former PA prime minister Ahmed Qurei had been holding secret talks with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and other government officials in the past few weeks.
A spokesperson from Livni’s office said that he was “not allowed to respond to anything going on in the [negotiating] room.
“The main progress has been achieved during the secret talks, particularly on the issue of Jerusalem. Today we can say that Israel is prepared to withdraw from almost all the Arab neighborhoods and villages in Jerusalem. Israel is prepared to. “This is a positive development,” the Ramallah official said”
The Bible prophesies an event that will mark the beginning of the final 7 years to Armageddon. This event is called the confirmation of the covenant.
Three things will happen at the confirmation of the covenant:
1. Internationally recognized borders between Israel and the Palestinians will be established.
2. The status of the city of Jerusalem will be agreed upon.
3. Control of the Temple Mount will be determined.
President Bush has stated publicly that he believes these three things will happen before the end of 2008. If he is correct, it appears the final 7 years to Armageddon will begin in 2008. Whether or not a peace agreement is achieved yet this year, we may not know. However, we absolutely do know that such an agreement is coming. When it does come to pass, we will know that 7 years remain to Armageddon.
In Mideast Peace Treaty, the prophecy concerning the confirmation of the covenant and why it is likely to occur yet this year is explained. Every person on earth will be impacted by the implications of this developing prophecy.
Confirmation of the Covenant…….
In Genesis 12:1-3, God makes a covenant with Abraham that he will father a great nation and that these descendants will bless the earth. He promises land (Israel), descendants (Jews), and blessings and redemption (Jesus). One could argue that this covenant is the greatest source of strife in the middle east region, let alone the world right now. Interestingly, the Bible prophesies that peace will come to the region when this covenant is confirmed, or acknowledged, by all. This covenant peace will be for 7 years and it will be faciliated by the Antichrist. This is the prelude to Armageddon. Peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians will happen. The Bible says so. But when it does, head for the hillls.
Daniel 9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ’seven.’ In the middle of the ’seven’. he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.
1 Theossalonians 5:1-3
1 Concerning times and seasons, brothers, you have no need for anything to be written to you.
2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.
3 When people are saying, “Peace and security,” then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman,and they will not escape.
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