Middle East Surprises

by PRASHER, G. | Category: Focus | Apr 2006

February 2006 saw two quite unexpected developments in the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation. Israel’s prime minister, Ariel Sharon, suffered a serious brain haemorrhage which abruptly terminated his political career; and in the Palestinian legislative elections the Islamic terrorist organisation Hamas scored a decisive victory, capturing 76 seats in the 132-seat Parliament. A fresh reminder that

‘... exaltation comes neither from the east

Nor from the west nor from the south.

But God is the Judge: He puts down one,

And exalts another’. (Ps.75:6,7)

Someone described the situation in Israel following Ariel Sharon’s breakdown in health as ‘Israel’s quiet crisis’. His deputy, Ehud Olmert, calmly assumed the leadership. A former director of Israel’s domestic security services commented: "Our great national leader is crippled - and there is no crisis. Power is passed quietly. Our enemies don’t stir. Our stock market barely moves. It says a lot for the strength of our democracy." However, it remains to be seen whether Olmert’s mandate will be confirmed by the Israeli elections at the end of March. A former US ambassador to Israel expressed the view that, "immediate peace moves by Israel are highly unlikely. The new Israeli leadership will need time to consolidate its power at home and build up credibility on security to justify taking future risks for peace."

The Palestinian group Hamas was founded in 1987 as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood: its name is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement. From its inception Hamas has advocated the replacement of Israel by an Islamic State. It opposed the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords, and in 1994 began a campaign of suicide bombings against Israeli targets. Again in 2003 Hamas rejected the American road map toward peace. It is one of the militant groups that Ariel Sharon demanded should be disarmed by the Palestinian Authority, but neither Yasser Arafat nor present President Abbas have been strong enough to accomplish this. Indeed Hamas steadily gained popularity among the Palestinian people during the 1990s by providing social services such as schools and hospitals, and by giving financial help to families of suicide bombers or others affected by Israeli military operations.

Faced with the reality that, "Hamas represents the first Arab Islamist terrorist group to be legitimated through the ballot box," the United States president said that if Hamas wanted to deal with the US it would have to recognize Israel and renounce violence. Israel’s prime minister similarly declared that he would not negotiate with a Palestinian government, "if even part of it is an armed terrorist organisation calling for Israel’s destruction." There are some indications that the Hamas leadership may find it expedient to modify their declared views about Israel in order to promote their immediate political interests. But they are weighted with a legacy of scores of suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of people. It will be understandable if a sense of mistrust continues on Israel’s part at least until time proves that Hamas has really exchanged terrorism for democratic responsibility.

With characteristic realism Ariel Sharon had come to accept that the rapid growth of the Arab population in the Palestinian territories made it impracticable for the time being to establish a ‘Greater Israel’ stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. That would only result in an ‘apartheid state’, with a Jewish minority ruling over an Arab majority. Ehud Olmert shared that view. "We cannot have Israel without a Jewish majority," he declared in 2004, as he explained the logic for Sharon’s disengagement policy in Gaza. Olmert regarded the Gaza withdrawal as a first step towards Israel’s phased withdrawal to borders marked by the security fence which is now being erected. However, the timing of the withdrawals would depend upon the Palestinian Authority putting in place an adequate counter-terrorist force. Ariel Sharon’s unexpected exit from Israeli public life brings home the abiding relevance of Psalm 39:4-6,

‘LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is;

Let me know how frail I am.

Behold, thou hast made my days as handbreadths;

And mine age is as nothing before thee:

Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. Surely every man walketh in a vain shew’. (RV)

Nor should we be unprepared to see other sudden and significant happenings in the Middle East under the control of the divine Hand.

PRASHER, G. | Apr 2006
Focus