If Israel just allowed the Palestinians to have a state of their own, there would be peace in the Middle East, right?
That’s what you hear from ambassadors, European diplomats, and most college professors.
But what if I told you that Israel has already offered the Palestinians a state of their own,
and not just once, but on five separate occasions?
Don’t believe me? Let’s review the record.
After the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, following World War I,
Britain took control of most of the Middle East, including the area that constitutes modern Israel. 17 years later, in 1936, the Arabs rebelled against the British and against the Jewish neighbors.
The British formed a task force, the Peal Commission, to study the cause of the rebellion.
The Commission concluded that the reason for the violence was that two peoples, Jews and Arabs, wanted to govern the same land. The answer, the Peal Commission concluded, would be to create two independent states, one for the Jews and one for the Arabs, a two-state solution.
1st Rejection
The suggested split was heavily in favor of the Arabs. The British offered them 80% of the disputed territory, the Jews the remaining 20%. Yet, despite the tiny size of their proposed state, the Jews voted to accept this offer. But the Arabs rejected it and resumed their violent rebellion.
2nd Rejection
Ten years later, in 1947, the British asked the United Nations to find a new solution to the continuing tensions. Like the Peal Commission, the UN decided that the best way to resolve the conflict was to divide the land. In November 1947, the UN voted to create two states. Again, the Jews accepted the offer and again, the Arabs rejected it.
Only this time, they did so by launching an all-out war. Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria joined the conflict. But they failed. Israel won the war and got on with the business of building a new nation. Most of the land set aside by the UN for an Arab state, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, became occupied territory. Occupied not by Israel, but by Jordan.
3rd Rejection
20 years later, in 1967, the Arabs led this time by Egypt and joined by Syria and Jordan, once again sought to destroy the Jewish state. The 1967 conflict, known as the Six-Day War, ended in a stunning victory for Israel. Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as the area known as the Gaza Strip, fell into Israel’s hands.
The government split over what to do with this new territory. Half wanted to return the West Bank to Jordan and Gaza to Egypt in exchange for peace. The other half wanted to give it to the region’s Arabs, who had begun referring to themselves as the Palestinians, in the hope that they would ultimately build their own state there.
Neither initiative got very far.
A few months later, the Arab League met in Sudan and issued its infamous three-NOs, no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel. Again, a two-state solution was dismissed by the Arabs.
4th Rejection
In 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak met at Camp David, with Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman Nasser Arafat, to conclude a new two-state plan. Barak offered Arafat a Palestinian state in all of Gaza, and 94% of the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital. But the Palestinian leader rejected the offer.
In the words of U.S. President Bill Clinton, “Arafat was here 14 days and said no to everything.”
Instead, the Palestinians launched a bloody wave of suicide bombings that killed over 1,000 Israelis and maimed thousands more, on buses, in wedding halls, and in pizza parlors.
5th Rejection
In 2008, Israel tried yet again. Prime Minister Ehud Omar went even further than Ehud Barak had, expanding the peace offer to include additional land to sweeten the deal. Like his predecessor, the new Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, turned the deal down.
See How Much You Know About the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
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Great analysis! Thank you
I think you need to include the reason why Palestine reject the offer. Especially the first offer where palestine get 80% of the land. I know in one of the rejection, the reason is because Palestine didn’t get the holy land.
You mean because they wanted all the land, don’t you?
Absolutely. You should always fight against occupation. It’s not your land. Give Palastine back to the Palastine just like as Paul McCartney once wrote give Ireland back to the Irish. Free Palastine
Very poor “analysis”.
How would you feel if some foreign country came to Nigeria and moved everyone in the country into a small part of Delta State and blamed you for rejecting the offer?
Ridiculous. Read the whole article.
Historically since as early as 1200 BC was the Jewish homeland. The land was called Palestine by the Romans, when they occupied the land around 135 AD. The term is a derivative of the Philistines. It was used as a derisive term for the Jewish people by the Romans. The earliest time that you could attribute any people known as the Palestinians would be nearly 1500 years later. The Jews, the UN, and Great Britain have offered the Palestinians a 2 state solution 5 times. Each time rejected and answered with all out war twice. The Israelis unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005 with no conditions. The Palestinians accepted the terrorist group know as Hamas as their government. 75% of Palestinians celebrated the October 7th attacks where Hamas, raped, tortured and murdered 1200 Israelis most of whom were civilians. Babies were burned alive in front of their mothers.
It was not their land. You are under a false premise.
Palestinians. Don’t ignore history. The Romans forced Israel out of their land in 70 CE. Read Daniel 9:26 that predicts the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. Daniel 9:1 shows that the chapter was written after the fall of Babylon therefore 9:26 predicts the 70 CE Roman destruction.
We Christians knew that God would bring His people back to the land He promised them because the prophecy in Ezekiel 38:8 is as CLEAR AS DAY! Reading the true Word of God makes a massive difference to one’s perspective!
God uses prophecy to enable us to identify the True Word of God. Given that Daniel accurately predicted Israel’s scattering and Ezekiel accurately predicted Israel’s rebirth, will you now accept that the rebirth of Israel is the will of God? I guess not?
Why reject five previous peace offers? Does Psalm 83:4 explain this?
What’s the definition of a squatter?
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/squatter
God says that there is a blessing for those who bless Israel. Genesis 12:3.
Allow Bible prophecy to influence your thinking and life should become a lot more enjoyable.
Ezekiel 11:17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
Land for the Palestinians!
God promised Israel to Abraham and his SEED:
Genesis 13:14 And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Hebrews shows that this is a yet to be fulfilled promise!
Hebrews 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
From a Christian perspective,
Paul identifies Abraham’s SEED:
Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to SEEDS, as of many; but as of one, And to thy SEED, which is Christ.
Paul’s expects that Jesus will inherit Israel! Jesus will reign over the entire world with his capital in Jerusalem. Link this to Hebrew Scriptures:
Micah 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Psalm 2:8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
The Palestinians want the land of Israel. There’s a pathway to this inheritance but it’s on God’s terms! Those who accept Jesus have been promised a stake in the promises to Abraham. Link the verse below to God’s promise to Abraham:
Galatians 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Genesis 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Given that Bible prophecy accurately predicted Rome’s 70 CE scattering of Israel and Israel’s 1948 rebirth, that should give everybody (Palestinians included) full confidence in God’s promise to Abraham and its extension to those who accept the coming Kingdom and King.
But that’s where the wheels fall off for the Palestinians! They want to change the name of Israel to Palestine and they want to deny the word of God (even though it’s backed up by fulfilled prophecy), preferring to believe a religion that cannot claim to include any fulfilled prophecies!
And to all our Jewish friends! Paul tells us we’re related! He was a great guy! ; -)
Galatians 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Back up a bit to Psalm 2:8 “ASK OF ME, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance.”
If Israel’s coming King has to ASK, then this King is NOT a part of a Triune God!
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.
Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Does Jesus have a God?
John 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; AND TO MY GOD, and your God.
A few more thoughts for my Jewish friends.
Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38 have something in common. Both end with Divine Intervention!
Psalm 83:18 That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth.
Ezekiel 38:23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Those who see truth are able to rely on the Force of Argument. Those who without truth must resort to the Argument of Force! Ezekiel 38 contains one of the most compelling reasons to believe in the God of Israel. It predicts Israel’s 1948 rebirth!
Ezekiel 38:8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is GATHERED OUT OF MANY PEOPLE, against the mountains of ISRAEL, which have been always waste: but it is BROUGHT FORTH OUT OF THE NATIONS, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
Israel’s rebirth is not the focal point of Ezekiel 38. The focal point is the future attack that prompts Divine Intervention. The Divine Intervention that introduces the NEVER AGAIN ENFORCED BY GOD!
Look at the list of nations in Psalm 83. I suspect that they might have something in common. Are they all of the same religion? Verse 5 mentions Tyre and the Philistines (Gaza). Both are backed by Iran. Iran cops a mention in Ezekiel 38:5.
What does Israel mean?
Genesis 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a PRINCE hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
God gives riddles to royalty:
Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
The Day = Year Riddle! The Hebrew Scriptures show that a day represents a year in some prophecies. Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6.
Daniel gives us a prophecy where 1290 days represents 1290 years.
Daniel 12:11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
Nebuchadnezzar took away the Daily Sacrifice in 598 BCE:
“Nebuchadnezzar responded by laying siege to Jerusalem
in 598 to end its revolt.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Palestine
Because Daniel 12:11 is talking about the Daily Sacrifice, it’s talking about the Temple Mount. Add 1290 years to 598 BCE and you arrive the point in history when something appears. Does this something meet with the approval of the God of Israel? Read Daniel 12:11! 😉
Ezekiel 39 is similar to Ezekiel 38. The chapters after Ezekiel 39 describe the construction of the Third Temple. That fixes up the problem outlined in Daniel 12:11. And many others.
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Jeremiah 30:11 For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
I believe that we will all stand or fall as individuals. It’s time to prepare.
Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
The Jewishness of the True Gospel. The Apostle Paul used the expression “The hope of Israel.” Acts 28:20.
Zechariah 14:16 speaks of compulsory worship in Jerusalem. Some mangle this by interpreting it figuratively, insisting that Jerusalem represents heaven. But there’s no Egypt in heaven. Read Zechariah 14:18. These verses are obviously literal.
Paul spoke of the Hope of Israel because he knew that the gospel teaches the Kingdom of God on Earth with Jerusalem as the World Capital.
An interesting story:
http://www.petahtikvah.com/Articles/LBJandISRAELbyJasonMaoz.htm
Does Zechariah describe a future nuclear attack on Israel’s enemies?
Zechariah 14:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
Ezekiel 38:8 does a remarkable job of accurately predicting Israel’s rebirth. But the focus of the chapter is a future attack on Israel that prompts Divine Intervention that turns Jerusalem into the Eternal World Capital and fulfils Daniel 2:44. Ezekiel identifies the aggressor as Gog, and he resides in the FAR north. Read Ezekiel 38:15:
38:15 CJB: You will choose just that time to come from your place in the far reaches of the north.
38:15 ASV: And thou shalt come from thy place out of the uttermost parts of the north.
38:15 ESV: You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north.
Make a short list of countries that are further north than Russia. Is there any further evidence that Gog resides in Russia? There’s a debate over the word Rosh in Ezekiel 38:2. Is Gog the CHIEF prince or the prince of ROSH?
38:2 ASV: Son of man, set thy face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of ROSH, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him.
38:2 CJB: “Human being, turn your face toward Gog (of the land of Magog), CHIEF prince of Meshekh and Tuval; and prophesy against him.
The Bible student Gesenius has no doubts that Rosh refers to Russia:
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h7220/kjv/wlc/0-1/
Rosh has an ally. Iran!
Ezekiel 38:5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet.
Ezekiel 38 is describing this point in history because it relates to the time after Israel’s rebirth! The world needs the promised Divine Intervention!
Isaiah 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots . . . 11:4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
This is such propaganda. The British offer (Peel plan) was giving 20% of the land that belonged essentially to Arabs (and 10% to the British). The Zionist portion of the land allotment included hundreds of Arab villages in the Galilee from which Arabs might be forcibly evicted. A possible population exchange would have involved the transfer of up to 225,000 Arabs and 1,250 Jews. And it was bringing an atheistic Western society into an Arab Muslim land. The Jews were given the most arable land. This includes the five cultivable areas: the coastal and Acre plains and the Jazreel, Huleh and Jordan valleys.
The Partition plan gave 56% of the land to the Zionists when they were just 1/3 of the population. Of course, the article leaves out those numbers even as it (inaccurately) gave percentages on the Peel plan. Once again, the Jews were given the best agricultural land–the Coastal Plain and the Jezreel and Jordan Valleys and sole access to the Sea of Galilee. A high percentage of the Jews who were being given this land were recent arrivals to the region. The British saw the plan as being grossly unfair. Alexander Codogen, the UK’s representative to the United Nations said, “The majority plan is so manifestly unjust to the Arabs that it is difficult to see how we could reconcile it with our conscience.”
The three no’s was said by surrounding nations, not the local Arabs. Arabs are not one person. You can’t say, the Arabs said, when talking about the leaders of other countries.
US President Bill Clinton initiated the 2000 Camp David II talks. The resulting offer separated the West Bank into four non-contiguous pieces of land on 73% of the 1967 borders (rising to 92% in 10-25 years). The Israel Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, a self-described “ardent Zionist,” who led negotiations for the Israelis, said this was an unacceptable offer from the Palestinian perspective. In his words, “…Camp David was not the missed opportunity for the Palestinians, and if I were a Palestinian I would have rejected Camp David as well.”
The Taba offer was much better but it was given quickly at the end of Barak’s administration with little time to spare. And it wasn’t clear that the Knesset would even support it.
So this imagine this writer is trying to create of bad Arabs and good Zionists is fairytale. But that’s usually what these people do.