Page 38 - Signs of the End

2 THE SIGNS OF THE END

this strategy, they have worn down the psychological stamina of
many of the Israelis, and have captured the sympathy of the
media and much of the Western World.

Outside of Israel, many conservative Jewish groups, and most
evangelical Christian groups, have been supportive of Israel.
They believe it to be the only dependable haven of the Jewish
people and also the beginning of the fulfillment of Bible pro­
phecy, which predicts the ultimate restoration of Israel in the
Land. The more liberal Jewish groups have urged the counsel of
peace and conciliation with the Arabs upon their coreligionists in
Israel, and the liberal Christian groups have found themselves
actually on the side of the "underdog" Arabs and Palestinians,
since they do not believe in any Biblical future for Israel.

Thus, in the public relations war, the Arabs and the Palestin­
ians were actually winning the minds and hearts of the Western
World. The U.N. in general, and the U.S. in particular, began to
put pressure on Israel to settle its differences with the Arabs,
even if it meant giving up strategic territory to do so. The Labor
Party came to power in Israel, and they are much more amenable
to conciliating the Arabs than the more conservative Likud Party.

With Western encouragement (or pressure) the Israelis and
Arabs quickly went into negotiations, mostly in secret, and
composed what came to be the heralded peace agreement. It was
into this heady mix of euphoria and apprehension that we
entered, as we made our way from Texas to Israel to uncover the
Biblical and prophetic significance of the new accord.

ISRAEL-PLO PEACE AGREEMENT

It wasn't until several days after the peace agreement was
signed that the story w as published that Rabin and Arafat had”
been working on this project for many months. Most of the
world thought that the peace process which had begun last year
in Madrid had more or less become stalemated. However; as it
turns out, the diplomats of Norway intervened and offered their
neutral country as the site for the deliberations between the
Israelis and the Palestinians. Representatives of the two groups,