Israel's next Prime Minister

Tzipi Livni recently replaced Ehud Olmert as Kadima party head and is now attempting to succeed him as prime minister. With President Shimon Peres' backing, she is now seeking allies to form a coalition government. However, she has found assembling this coalition to be very difficult because many of Israel's conservative leaders oppose her Palestinian peace plan strategy.

On September 22, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Livni's offer of an alliance. Contemptuous of her Palestinian strategy, Netanyahu rebutted, "It will be a temporary government that will just be concerned with its survival instead of looking out for the good of its citizens" (Bloomberg.com, September 23, 2008). Further, the powerful ex-general, recent transportation minister, and potential prime minister Shaul Mofaz, resigned from the government in protest, largely over Livni's commitment to cede territory to the Palestinians (Jerusalem Post, September 23, 2008).

A former Mossad agent from an unquestionably patriotic family, Livni appears to be a clean, hardworking politician. But, she is also willing to take risks to secure peace. Like Olmert before her, and Ariel Sharon before him, she supports ceding land, as well as most of east Jerusalem to the Palestinians in order to obtain a peace treaty (The Times Online, September 12, 2008).

Interestingly, when Olmert took control of the government after Sharon's stroke and subsequent coma in January 2006, it was Livni who led the peace negotiations with the Palestinians (The Jerusalem Post, June 18, 2008). These secret negotiations were premised on what many now feel to be unconscionable land concessions. As Time.com reports, "Livni says she believes in a two-state solution with the Palestinians as the only way for Israel to remain a Jewish and democratic state" (September 18, 2008).

Angrily reacting to reports just released that Ms. Livni had already secretly agreed in principle to cede East Jerusalem to the Palestinians, the UK news bureau Times Online reported Shaul Mofaz as saying, "This is nothing less than a scandal…The future of Israel's capital is not a matter for secret negotiations… This is a strategic mistake that will harm the security and future of the state of Israel" (September 17, 2008).

Israel is a tiny country with a painful past and is surrounded by hostile nations. To cede any of its territory is seen by many as terminal, but your Bible reveals what is ahead for Israel.

Zechariah 14:2 foretells that Jerusalem will be divided, most likely through a voluntary peace treaty. At this future time, only half of Jerusalem will remain controlled by the Jews. Then, "annulling a treaty previously made with the Jewish state," a powerful foreign power will "overwhelm Jerusalem and will take half of the city into captivity" (The Beast of Revelation: Myth, Metaphor or Soon-Coming Reality, John Ogwyn).

Zechariah 12:1-3 portrays Jerusalem as a "cup of drunkenness" that will be the focus of end-time military aggression that will ultimately be countered by none other than the returning Messiah, Jesus Christ (vs. 9-10). God is illustrating here that regardless of human-devised peace initiatives, Jerusalem will again be the focal point of devastating hostility, until Christ's return.

Bible prophecy indicates that whether under Livni or someone else, Israel will cede territory, including half of Jerusalem, trying to secure peace. Then, an invading army will brutally conquer the half of Jerusalem remaining under Jewish control. And ultimately, Christ will return to establish real peace in the Middle East and around the world.

To learn more, request our free booklet, The Beast of Revelation: Myth, Metaphor or Soon-Coming Reality? and watch our recent telecast online, titled: When Will Christ Return?