There’s encouraging news out of the Middle East this week. As a friend of Jewish Voice Ministries, you’ll want to know what’s going on, I’m sure.
Here’s the latest…
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz has invited Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah, and other Muslim leaders to join his meeting with President Trump in Riyadh this weekend. Abbas has reportedly agreed to attend.
The meeting is now shaping up to be a sort of Middle East summit that will kick off the President’s first foreign tour since taking office. He’ll also visit Israel and the Vatican.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the Saudi-hosted “Arab, Islamic, and American Summit” is expected to address key problems in the Middle East and open a dialogue about forging new security partnerships.
Observers had earlier been quoted in The Times of Israel as saying the meeting suggests three goals: building partnerships in the Muslim world against terrorism, laying groundwork for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, and constructing an anti-Iranian coalition.
Meanwhile, Abbas is reportedly preparing to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump in Jerusalem next week, following the Saudi gathering.
At a press conference in Ramallah, Abbas said, “We affirmed to [President Trump] that we are ready to cooperate with him and meet the Israeli prime minister under his auspices in order to make peace.”
That’s encouraging. But will it actually lead to a meaningful peace discussion? Though I so want to be optimistic, there’s good reason to be skeptical. The PA has said it wants peace. But the terror group continues to use each cease-fire, each peace summit, each opportunity as a “time-out,” during which it replenishes its arms stockpile, reloads its rocket launchers, and digs more attack tunnels into Israel.
For the past eight years, Abbas has stubbornly held to two key preconditions that have stalled meaningful peace talks: the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and a freeze on West Bank settlement activity and Jewish building in East Jerusalem. Prime Minister Netanyahu has consistently said he is willing to meet with Abbas, but only if the preconditions are dropped.
Direct talks between Abbas and Netanyahu were rare during the Obama administration. In fact, their last substantive meeting was in 2010.
Still, the White House said late last week that the President will use his trip to work for a “just and lasting peace” between Israel and the Palestinians, including the Palestinian goal of “self-determination.”
U.S. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster said the President’s meetings with Israeli leaders are aimed at strengthening ties between the two nations. “He [President Trump] will reaffirm America’s unshakable bond to the Jewish state,” he said.
While Middle East peace prospects have alternated between somewhat possible and absolutely zero dating back to Israel’s birth in 1948, we may have reason to hope that, this time, progress can be made. For the sake of our allies in Israel, the Jewish people we care about so much, and the Muslims we’re called to love in Yeshua’s name, I hope you’ll join me in praying that genuine peace advances across the region. Nothing less than precious lives are at stake.
With your prayers for peace, I hope you’ll strongly consider making a special gift to Jewish Voice. We need you to stand with us. Your partnership is what moves this ministry forward.
Through your generosity, you share healing and hope with Jewish people in need worldwide. Without you, we can’t deliver humanitarian aid (medical, dental, and eye care), the Gospel, discipleship, leadership development at Messianic congregations in Africa, or clean water.
You provide the encouragement, the prayers, and the financial support that make it happen. And I thank you sincerely.
To show our appreciation for your gift of $40 or more today, we’ll send you a set of books that will inform and inspire you. You’ll receive the book 10 Amazing Muslims Touched by God, containing stories of Muslims coming to faith in Yeshua (Jesus). You’ll also get the history-packed booklet Is Peace Possible? to help you sort out the facts about the Middle East conflict. Each book will serve to help you share with others about how God is moving in history and revealing Himself as Savior.
Thank you again for your support and prayers — and God bless you.
