Last night the President hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for dinner. Today they start what is supposed to be a year's worth of negotiations to finalize peace between these peoples.
Can I suggest one very big reason that there is little reason to hope here? There is no leader of "Palestine" to negotiate with. Abbas and what is left of the PLO governs the West Bank, shakily. Hamas has held Gaza for years and no "government" presence exists there. Quite simply, Abbas can't implement anything he agrees to. And even in the West Bank, Hamas operates, as they proved in an attack on Israeli settlers that killed four. Abbas' government has received billions from Europe and the U.S. to prop it up, and relies (as does Gaza) on Israel to continue to supply power and water (the fact that Israel keeps the power on in Gaza while rockets continue to be launched from there against her is one of the most underreported stories of our age).
Unless and until Palestinians have a functioning leadership that actually has control within its territory, the only negotiating "option" for Israel is to make concessions and hope that this time everyone else will "play nice." Yasser Arafat was the last such leader, and he turned down offers more generous than those recently discussed. Abbas says more concessions from Israel must be made, but he can not offer any guarantee that Hamas will abide by his agreements--in fact, they have said they will not.
I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, knowing that ultimately it will only come with the return of her Messiah. Until then, I pray for the peoples of the land, even in the midst of the continuing loss of political hope. May they discover the hope that brings true peace--the gospel of peace.
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