Koenig’s Eye View
September 16 2022 - By William Koenig
Misguided celebration of the Abraham Accords anniversary
Joel Rosenberg wrote this week in his commentary, "Miraculous and Prophetic:: In 2020, God answered the prayers of millions of Christians praying for 'the peace of Jerusalem.'" Make no mistake: that day was a miraculous and prophetic moment. Everyone in Washington knew that no such peace deals had been achieved in decades. What's more, most people in Washington had become understandably cynical about the "Arab-Israeli peace process," believing that no such deals would happen in their lifetime, or at least not for many years to come.
He further wrote, "Yet in a single day, the God of Israel answered the cry of millions of Evangelical Christians all over the world. Christians who had been praying for decades for the peace of Jerusalem, because believers are commanded to do so in Psalm 122. Christians who had been praying and working for peace in the Epicenter because in Matthew 5 the Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples, "Blessed are the peacemakers.""
He said, "Throughout the Holy Scriptures, we discover that the God of Israel is a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God, a God who works wonders and does miracles."
Yes, but the God of Israel also honors His covenants, and those who violate them will face the consequences. Today there is political turmoil in Israel and the United States. Instead of the U.S. and Israel being led by Trump and Netanyahu respectively, the U.S. is led by Biden and Israel's Knesset just dissolved. Israel has an interim prime minister (Yair Lapid) and set its fifth election in less than four years for November 1.
Hurricane Sarah Slammed into the Gulf Coast
The day Hurricane Sally (Hebrew name Sarah) was about to clobber the southeastern U.S. Gulf Coast with record setting rains, the Abraham Accords were being signed at the White House on September 15, 2020.
Seventy-hours after Netanyahu signed the Abraham Accords at the White House, Israel went into a three-week national lockdown for the fall festivals Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the Feast of Tabernacles, costing the Israeli public 5 billion shekels - the amount the agreements were to produce in new business in two to three years.
The Abraham Accords also stopped the rightful extension of sovereignty to 134 Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and continued the two-state narrative, the U.N. resolutions 242 and 338 and the Arab Plan of 2002.
The Arab leaders that signed the accords and every Middle East leader stated at the U.N. two weeks later that the normalization agreement wouldn't have been signed if Israel hadn't stop annexation.
It also continued the Arab narrative that the Abraham covenant land is for all descendants of Abraham. The Bibles says otherwise in Old and New Testament scriptures.
The Abraham Accords: Not a blessing
Because of all of this, I don't call the Abraham Accords a blessing. I don't consider the agreement answered prayers of millions of Christians praying for the peace of Jerusalem. This is not the fulfilment of Psalm 122:6.
Why would stopping the rightful annexation of 134 Jewish communities, continuing the narrative of dividing the land of Israel, and calling for a future Arab state in the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria be answered prayers?
Furthermore, President Trump said in his speech at the White House, “The Abraham Accords also opens the door for Muslims around the world to visit the historic sites in Israel and to peacefully pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam.”
Plus, the United States and Israel have had political turmoil with Trump and Netanyahu casualties of the Peace to Prosperity Plan (January 28, 2020) and the Abraham Accords (September 15, 2020).
It is further ironic that the many Christians leaders who were part of Trump's Christian advisory committee refused to address the consequences of dividing the land (except for Michele Bachmann, Jim Garlow and Tony Perkins, who supported Israel's full biblical right to the covenant land) are without White House access.
And even worse, the Biden administration is leaving the Middle East a disaster from the Afghanistan exit debacle, the failure of Biden's trip to Israel, his meeting with the Palestinians and the Saudis and Middle East leaders. Forty-eight hours after Biden left Saudi Arabia on July 16, the Egyptians and the UAE reopened their embassies in Iran and reestablished relations.
And 72 hours after Biden's departure from Saudi Arabia, Russia's Putin and Turkey's Erdogan were in Tehran meetings with Iran Supreme Leader Khamenei and President of Iran Raisi.
The Abraham Accords aren't a peace deal either - it is a normalization agreement, or I prefer calling it a business deal and an intelligence deal, as Israel eyes the United Arab Emirates ($950 billion sovereign fund - yes, $950 billion). It is providing Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates the benefits of Israel's intel and military expertise.
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Kushner 'disappointed' Abraham Accords haven't grown, says 6 countries were on deck
September 13, 2022 - Times of Israel
Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former US president Donald Trump and his senior White House aide, lamented on Monday that additional countries have yet to join the Abraham Accords under the Biden administration
"I think the biggest disappointment so far is that more countries haven't been brought into it," Kushner said at a Washington event marking the two-year anniversary of the agreements hosted by his Abraham Accords Peace Institute and the pro-Trump American First Policy Institute.
Speaking during an on-stage interview, the former Trump aide revealed that before he left office, "I think that we had about six active discussions going on" with other prospective Abraham Accords countries. He didn't name them.