The Other Shoe ...Rewritten

Reconstructing the article which twice disappeared from my computer screen has proven to be an exercise in futility. However, here is a summary of what I wished to convey along with additional information.

Things are supposed to be settling down to a normal routine here in Israel (an oxymoron if there ever was one) after our Memorial & Independence Days. The truth is there is a real uneasiness in the air. Some days that uneasiness makes us depressed, other days it makes us crazy. (That is - more than usual.) In my From the Hills of Jerusalem blog, I mentioned that it feels like we are waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Part of it has had to do with the anticipated arrival of the Pope and what was going on underneath the surface regarding his visit. (Neither was it so smooth on top of the surface once he arrived as there was much tension over his words - or lack of words - regarding the Vatican's role during the Holocaust in the various speeches). Most of the world has no clue why he was here, and certainly that’s true for Israelis as well. Nevertheless, because it is about us and specifically about Jerusalem, we felt the trembling whether it was understood or not. This past week has been shockingly oppressive in the City.

The shoe that we are waiting to hear drop is more than the mega ton neutron bombs that might be dropped ala Iran, but of course, they are hovering in the background. Each piece is part of a mounting and noticeable offensive building against us…from all sides.

Because the Pope’s visit was largely misunderstood by most observers, but is, in fact, one of the most serious events of the moment, it was primarily that topic I tried to address in my earlier article.

Yes, I was concerned that Netanyahu appointed a “two state, withdraw to the 1967 or beyond borders, abandon most all settlements” person as his US Ambassador (Michael Oren). That is, until I realized that the US Ambassador has no authority to act. He is a PR man, a figurehead. So, let him and Obama chat and babble away, while Netanyahu does what has to be done.

And I was concerned about what Assistant Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon had to say about the Road Map and other previous “commitments” (which the papers identifies as Annapolis) until I realized the media had “slightly distorted” the story. Annapolis was never ratified by the Israeli Government, thus is NOT a previous commitment, and the Road Map clearly requires total abstinence of terror from the Palestinian Authority, so there is less concern for Ayalon’s statements.

No, the real story is what has been going on for many years, and what is escalating now at such a rapid pace that it is dizzying. Every generation has its Hamans and Amaleks. In our generation, despite the powerful attempt, and despite the terrible anguish, the Shoah failed to destroy us as a People. Hence, the next attempt is to wrench the Land of Israel away from us. The hatred against us for having this special Covenant with the Almighty is so intense that the world will stop at nothing in their desire to destroy us and/or our coveted relationship with G-d. Anyone with a brain, whether religious or secular, can see how ludicrous it is for the entire world to go berserk when we build an addition on a house in Judea or Samaria, when we check incoming vehicles for weapons and bombs, when we respond to terror. That’s because this battle isn’t normal, isn’t natural, and is not new.

Part of the plan to remove Eretz Yisrael from Am Yisrael is to wrest Jerusalem from Jewish hands and this particular portion of it has been in the works since we heard the thrilling cry “the Temple Mount is in our hands” upon recapturing the Old City in 1967.

The way it is hoped it will be accomplished is by internationalizing Jerusalem. The key players to date have been Jordan, (the Kings Abdullah) the Vatican (the various Popes), and on the Israeli side to make sure it happens – Shimon Peres among others. It has long been in the works with details far too numerous to catalog here.

However, it is a matter of timing and the timing has not been right until now - for two reasons: 1) There is a simultaneous 4-prong thrust against Israel - Gaza, Judea & Samaria, the Golan, and Jerusalem. All of these fronts have been developing at their own pace, waiting until the time when they would reach their final stages together - or at the same time. 2) There needed to be a charismatic leader to demand and enforce the coalescence of events.

My words are not meant to engender Biblical prophecy, they are written solely from a position of strategic wisdom in battle.

The simultaneous final stages are being reached at this hour in history, and that charismatic leader, Barak Obama, has surfaced in the nation that can most easily put the screws to Israel – the United States. America’s people are with Israel. America as a nation is not. Her agenda is to regain a leadership role amongst the nations by putting the troublesome Zionist cause to rest at last.

You may have noticed a little stream of visitors to Barak Obama last month. First there was King Abdullah of Jordan, then Shimon Peres, both coordinated just before the Pope’s arrival in Israel.

Contrary to popular media reports and even astute Israeli pundits, King Abdullah’s meeting with Obama was not a pre-emptive snub to Bibi, and even Caroline Glick got it wrong regarding Pere’s visit with Obama. It was NOT an affront to Israel that the Peres/Obama meeting was held in semi-secret and not celebrated by the media. He was NOT there to smooth the way for Bibi. He was there for an intentional secret meeting about Jerusalem – it was simply held right under our noses.

Abdullah’s meeting? It certainly was for the same purpose. It is Jordan who still retains Islamic control over the Temple Mount. We did not take it from them in 1967; we left it “status quo”. Arafat’s men (and now Abbas’) seemingly took over the Islamic Wafq, but the Wafq in control is not that of the Palestinian Authority - it is Jordanian. The temporary PA appearance was useful to Jordan, who is biding its time for a purpose. That purpose is an International Jerusalem overseen by a Jordan-friendly Vatican.

Did anyone notice that immediately following the Abdullah/Obama meeting that Obama called for a “new arab initiative” which included raising the UN flag over the Temple Mount and in Jerusalem? Did anyone notice that immediately following the Peres/Obama meeting, the language got bolder? This time it was explicit: a new arab initiative trading the “right of return” of millions of arabs into Israel in exchange for “internationalizing Jerusalem” - taking its control away from Israel.*

Did anyone notice that these meetings preceded the Pope’s arrival in the Middle East– where Benedict first went to JORDAN, and then to Israel. The Pope was very clear about his liason with the Arab world, and his comfort with Islamic rhetoric. He called for a Palestinian State in Biblical Israel, he intimated that arab suffering was a result of Israeli oppression, he removed his shoes and entered a mosque, and met with the mufti on the Temple Mount.

The Pope's meetings with Israeli officials was selective, on both Israel's part and the Vatican's part. The internationalization plan was not mentioned in media coverage, but Benedict's first meeting was with Shimon Peres. In the earlier drafts of the agreements, the Vatican is to be the over-seer of the Holy Sites, something that Jordan is very comfortable with, as there is agreement between the two governements...the most revealing of which is the agreement to remove the Temple Mount and Old City Land from Israel.

I don't think a deal was finalized on this trip, but I do think the groundwork was exceedingly advanced. We are waiting for something else - and I don't know what it is - but something else to be the catalyst to implement the plan.

There is much more about this, but what makes me very uneasy is that Netanyahu paid a visit to King Abdullah in Jordan, in the midst of the Papal visit. How much is he (Bibi) involved in this? Is he a willing player, is he being coerced, or is he biding time himself?

I have enough personal experience with Bibi and reasons regarding him to think that, in the end, whether because of him, or in spite of him, he will be the right man at the helm of Israel, at this critical hour.

I surely hope I don’t have to eat those words.

Shabbat Shalom

*(Note: Early reports, of which I have copy, used this language...within 24 hours the phrase "internationalizing Jerusalem" was removed. Apparently, the language was a little too explicit, and the media decided to remove it.)