Jerusalem
“Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)
US President Trump continues to stand with Israel in the midst of international coalitions against him.
Last Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the US consulate on Agron Street in Jerusalem will merge with the US embassy in the Arnona neighborhood of Jerusalem, where it will function as the Palestinian Affairs Unit.
This consulate on Agron Street operates as a liaison with Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank (Judea-Samaria), and Gaza on economic, social, and political issues.
Pompeo said the merger will “improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations.”
But many enemies of Israel are up in arms, as they believe that the merging of the consulate and embassy in Jerusalem is a push by the US to isolate Palestine and show their support for the Jewish nation.
From left to right: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman in Israel, April 2018.
Trump has made other controversial decisions recently that have severely strained Palestinian relations, such as defunding programs that have been funded for decades.
On the surface, his actions might sound heartless, but standing with Israel and the betterment of the Palestinian people means rethinking how money is allocated in the region.
US taxpayer money should be used as a strategic tool that will help keep Israel secure as a Jewish nation and support the economic growth and freedom of the Palestinian people, especially the 5 million who have been trapped in a perpetual refugee status with no nation to call their own.
This is just one issue that US Ambassador David Friedman (shown in the photo above) will likely deal with as he heads up the Palestinian Affairs Unit.
So, let’s take a closer look at one of these defunding decisions.
Orthodox Jewish man overlooks the Temple Mount.
Standing with Israel Keeps Israel Jewish
The largest defunding by the US takes away $300 million annually to the UNRWA — the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
This agency was created in 1949, one year after Israel’s statehood. It pays for schools, healthcare, and other needs of the 500,000 persons still living who were displaced when Israel became a nation in 1948. It also supports their 4.5 million descendants over the past 70 years.
Why have there been so many Palestinian refugees for so long?
The reality is that Lebanon, Jordan and Syria don’t want to give citizenship to “Palestinians” still living in the refugee camps in their nations. Instead, they are waiting for the refugees to return to and reclaim the land of Israel — from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea — and place the Palestinian flag on it.
Jaramana Refugee Camp, Damascus in southern Syria in 1948 (left) and the same camp in 2009 (right).
The Palestinian fight for this “right of return” is the reason for thousands of rockets, underground tunnels, and terror attacks that Israelis confront almost daily.
If Palestinians win that “right to return,” the tiny nation of 6.6 million Jews would become a nation of 6.85 million Muslims, based on Israel’s 2017 Central Bureau of Statistics population data.
In that scenario, Israel would cease to exist as a Jewish nation, as Psalm 83 warns:
“Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.” (verse 4)
The Palestinians deserve a nation to call their home and the freedom to pursue their God-given dreams to better themselves and humanity, yet they are being held in stateless camps for the dream of restoring the land of Israel.
This fourth grade textbook adopted by UNRWA schools, identifies Palestine on the map, but not Israel. The UNRWA serves over 500,000 Palestinian children. (Image from National and Social Fostering, Part One (2017), p. 7.; from Israel Behind the News, fair use)
That dream does not belong to them, according to the covenant God made with Abraham and confirmed with Isaac and Jacob:
“I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
“The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:7–8, 15:5–7, 26:3, 28:13–14)
Against all odds, Israel won their War of Independence in 1948 and proceeding wars when over the last 70 years as the surrounding Arab nations attacked them.
As we now see, for the last 70 years the UNRWA and the perpetual refugees have been used as tools by the Arab nations in a political war against Israel.
Trump and Congress is willing to support the UNRWA if it keeps only the 500,000 original Palestinian refugees on their list and removes the remaining 4.5 million, thus ending this political war against Israel.
A Palestinian in Gaza during the May 2018 protest against the US embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem that same month explains the goal of their efforts is the “right of return.” (YouTube capture)
Standing with Israel Means Standing with the Blessings of God
God’s Word is clear; He will repay the nations in the same way that they treated Israel, beginning with her Arab cousins:
“Because of the violence you did to your close relatives in Israel, you will be filled with shame and destroyed forever. When they were invaded, you stood aloof, refusing to help them.” (Obadiah 1:10–11)
And the rest of the nations will be judged, too:
“The day is near when I, the LORD, will judge all godless nations! As you have done to Israel, so it will be done to you. All your evil deeds will fall back on your own heads.” (Obadiah 1:15)
But, God made a decree that those who bless Israel will be blessed — individuals and nations.
“May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed!” (Numbers 24:9)
