Page 86 - Signs of the End

50 THE SIGNS OF THE END

the seven-year Tribulation. It may be that this war will be simul­
taneous with the Rapture. It is possible that, when the Rapture
occurs, the nations involved in the G og/M agog war will take the
occasion of the resulting confusion to strike against Israel.

PEACE, PEACE, WHEN THERE IS NO PEACE (Jer. 6:14)

The Oslo Accords of 1994 were not a formal treaty, nor were
they an actual peace agreement. They were a framework arranged
with great secrecy far away from the Middle East, in Norway, by
the PLO and the Rabin-Peres faction of Israel. It was a five-year
plan, during which several key issues would be discussed and
resolved. Among these issues were the security of Israel, the
autonomous rule of the Palestinians, the destiny of the West Bank
(known as Yesha, an acronym from the Hebrew language, standing
for Judah, Samaria and Gaza) along with its many Jewish suburbs
and settlements, the suppression of terrorism as conducted by the
PLO and the numerous Arab factions, and the permanent status of
the holy city of Jerusalem.

The Accords were agreed to by the Israeli Knesset (Parliament)
with considerable wariness. Benjamin Netanyahu was elected
Prime Minister, and he reluctantly inched the process along under
great political pressure from the UN and the US government.
While most of the world, the UN, the papacy, and the World
Council of Churches pushed Israel hard to make concessions to the
PLO, the evangelical churches were generally supportive of
Netanyahu. He endeavored to forestall the dismantling of the
security of Israel by delaying as long as possible the giving up of
strategic land.

As it has worked out, the PLO has used terrorism to extract
land and autonomy from Israel. Whenever Netanyahu would balk
about ceding land to the PLO, the terrorists would strike in Tel
Aviv or somewhere else, the international media would express
pity for the "poor struggling Palestinians," the world powers
would put pressure on Israel, and the Israeli government would
make more concessions. This scenario happened over and over
again during the five-year process.