Tensions In Israel

Many had wondered whether the uneasy alliance between the two main political parties in Israel could survive. The coalition government of Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Shamir struggled with internal tensions for the first twenty-five months, when Peres held the premiership. Last October the two leaders switched offices, Shamir taking over the premiership and Peres the Foreign Ministry. It was widely predicted that the change would result in tougher Israeli policies.

Within the cabinet the balance of influence had shifted in favour of hardliners such as Religious Affairs Minister Zerohen Hammer, who strongly supports unlimited Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank. Peres would be prepared to consider relinquishing parts of the West Bank and Gaza in exchange for a peace settlement with Israel's Arab neighbours.

Prime Minister Shamir referred to this vexed subject as he took office. He asserted that it is a "supreme Zionist value" for Jews to settle all parts of the Biblical land of Israel. "Just as there is one people of Israel", he added, "so there is one land of Israel". Had he in mind, we wonder, the words of Ezekiel 37?

Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel (vv. 21,22).

It may be expected therefore that development of Israeli settlements in ancient Galilee and Samaria will be pressed rapidly forward, despite the opposition of the United States, which considers this policy to be an obstacle to peace.

The most bitter opposition to this development springs of course from Arab resentment to Jewish occupation of an area which Palestinians regard as their traditional homeland. Tension has greatly increased between Israeli administrative forces and the Arab population. Violence escalated late last year and some demonstrators were killed or injured as soldiers fired on threatening mobs of stone4hrowing youths.

Palestinian organizations claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack last October, described as "the most convulsive eruption in Jerusalem for two-and-a-half years". About three hundred young army recruits had just been sworn in at Judaism's most holy site, the "Wailing Wall" in the Old City. They then marched to a nearby car park where many of their friends gathered to see them off back to barracks. From a rampart overlooking the car park terrorists flung two hand grenades among the crowd of soldiers and friends; one man died and sixty-nine people were injured.

Religious enmity between Muslim and Orthodox Jew also tends to heighten tensions. The trouble centres around the ancient Temple Mount on which stands the Dome of the Rock, the third most sacred site in Islam. At present the area is under the control of the Muslim religious authorities and Jews are forbidden access. The Supreme Muslim Council Head has stated: "The Muslims will never permit any Jew to pray on that mount, let alone any council to establish a synagogue in the area".

Orthodox Jewry is not in the least intimidated by such threats. Indeed a group of prominent rabbis has issued a formal call for the construction of a worship centre for worldwide Jewry on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. They regard it as a "desecration of God" to enter the Mount under the authority of an Arab guard. They claim to have a 1967 survey map of the Temple Mount which identifies the location of Solomon's Temple, Herod's Temple and the holy of holies. It is also asserted that in Jerusalem some descendants of the traditional priestly families give intensive study to the ancient laws of animal sacrifices in preparation for the rebuilding of the Temple.

The fact that tension becomes more acute in regard to the Temple Mount is of special significance to students of the prophetic Word. How and when the conflict will be resolved is for the moment unpredictable. But Scripture insists that Jewish Temple worship will be reinstated before the return of the Lord Jesus as Israel's Messiah. The Lord Himself referred to the "abomination of desolation" standing in the holy place, as spoken of by Daniel the prophet (Mat. 24:15). Several references in Daniel's prophecy touch on this desecration of the holy place at the time of the end (e.g. 8:11-14; 9:27; 11:31; 12:1 1). These scriptures require the re-establishment of a Temple in Jerusalem and renewal of the Levitical offerings. 2 Thess. 2:4 states that the man of sin will sit in the Temple of God, setting himself forth as God.

As we watch the unfolding of current events in Israel, we have the word of prophecy made more sure, and do well to take heed to it, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in our hearts (2 Pet. 1:19).

unknown | Apr 1987
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