If you have been alive and comprehending world events since 1948...or you are a history buff who knows Middle Eastern history...or the history of Israel...then you would know that PEACE in the MIDDLE EAST has been a hot topic and unsolvable problem for decades.

For approximately 1900 years...the Jews were homeless...with no homeland.  For Israel to even exist at this point in time is both a miracle and a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.

Since 1947 when the United Nations attempted to form a plan (U.N. Resolution 181) for the repartitioning of Palestine into to two independent and sovereign states, there has been constant disturbance of the peace between the Arab/Palestinians and the Jews.

God has a specific and unconditional promise to Israel which he intends to keep.

It is quite possible that UN Resolution 181 could still be the means by which international enforcement allows the Jews to rebuild a temple on the temple mount in which the anti-christ will sit and declare himself to be God.  This is known as the Abomination of Desolation which is to occur in the latter days and has not occurred yet.

This will also happen around the same time that Jerusalem is surrounded by armies as Jesus mentions in Luke 21.  The time of punishment upon the people of God will occur at the same time that anti-christ breaks his treaty with the Jews.

The covenant of peace...will be confirmed for seven years as talked about in Daniel.  The 70th week of Daniel ushers in the last days on earth as we know it.  Thank God.  It is quite a mess and needs to be restored...don't you think?

The final authority and judgement of God will be understood by every inhabitant of earth.

This excerpt from an article at www.unitedisrael.org shows the prophetic importance of both the restoration of Israel and Judah (all 12 tribes) and the beginning of prophecy fulfillment which began by the creation of a Jewish state in 1948.

The Strong Watchman

For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel will return and seek YHVH their God and David their king. They will fear YHVH and His goodness in the last days (Hosea 3:4-5)

From WIKIPEDIA:

The Jewish diaspora (or simply the Diaspora), is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות (Yiddish: 'Galus'), or 'exile' that encompassed several forced expulsions of Israelites from what is now the states of Israel, Jordan and parts of Lebanon. The modern Hebrew term of Tefutzot תפוצות, "scattered", was introduced by the American academic Simon Rawidowicz in the 1930s[1] who to some degree argued for the acceptance of the Jewish presence outside of the Land of Israel as a modern reality and an inevitability.

The diaspora is commonly accepted to have begun with the 8th–6th century BCE conquests of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah, destruction of the First Temple (c.586 BCE), and expulsion of the population, and is also associated with the destruction of the Second Temple and aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt during the Roman occupation of Judea in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE.

A number of Jewish communities were then established in the Middle East as a result of tolerant policies and remained notable centers of Torah life and Judaism for centuries to come. The defeat of the Great Jewish Revolt in the year 70 CE and of Bar Kokhba's revolt against the Roman Empire in 135 CE notably contributed to the diaspora as many Jews were scattered after losing control over Judea or were sold into slavery throughout the empire. After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the term Jewish diaspora came to refer to all Jews living outside Israel.

Original Article at: www.yale.edu

JERUSALEM – Israel's foreign minister said Sunday a peace deal with the Palestinians is impossible under current conditions and that Israel should pursue a lesser deal instead — a concept the Palestinians swiftly rejected.

The latest diplomatic spat between the two sides came as violence along the Israel-Gaza border simmered. After days of accelerated Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel and Israeli airstrikes in response, Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians on the border early Sunday.

Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister, told a conference of Israeli diplomats that instead of a full peace deal, Israel should seek a long-term, interim agreement on security and economic matters. Palestinians have consistently rejected that approach.

"It's not only that it is impossible" to reach an overall agreement, he said. "It is simply forbidden."

Lieberman said the West Bank Palestinian Authority — with whom Israel has pledged to negotiate — is "not legitimate" because it has postponed elections. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas remains in office though his term expired almost a year ago, and there is no date for a new election.

Lieberman is known for expressing hard-line views that don't always represent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who says he seeks a negotiated, final peace deal with the Palestinians but has declined to give specifics.

A statement from Netanyahu's office said Lieberman's comments reflect "his personal positions," not those of the government.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority broke down in September after an Israeli freeze on settlement construction expired.

The Palestinians say they will not negotiate as long as Israel builds homes for Jews in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, lands the Palestinians claim for a future state.

U.S. mediators have returned to indirect talks to seek a way out of the impasse.

Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan Khatib rejected Lieberman's comments, saying most world governments — including Israel's — recognize the Palestinian Authority as legitimate. He said the Palestinians would not accept an interim agreement.

"It's too late now for anything except ending the occupation and allowing for two states on the '67 borders," he said, referring to 1949 truce lines that marked the West Bank until the 1967 Mideast war, when Israel captured the territory.

Israeli Cabinet Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer warned Sunday that if peace talks fail, "the whole world" is likely to recognize a sovereign Palestinian state — a development Israel would not welcome.

"Within a year, we will find ourselves in a situation where the whole world — and I wouldn't be surprised if even the United States — would support a Palestinian state," he said.

Violence again hit Israel's border with the Gaza Strip Sunday, threatening a de-facto two year truce.

The Israeli military said it launched an airstrike after spotting two men trying to plant explosives along the border. The Islamic Jihad militant group said two of its members died in a clash with Israeli ground troops. There was no way to immediately reconcile the two accounts.

The border has been mostly calm since Israel's Gaza war two years ago, but clashes have flared in recent weeks. On Saturday, Gaza's militant Hamas rulers warned they would escalate hostilities against Israel if tensions didn't subside.

The Islamic militant Hamas, which rules Gaza, is at odds with the West Bank Palestinian Authority and rejects negotiations with Israel.

Also Sunday, an Israeli court said a Palestinian whom Israel is trying to ban from the city could remain while he appeals his case.

Adnan Gheith, who has led protests against Jewish settlers in his east Jerusalem neighborhood, was to remain outside of Jerusalem for four months starting Sunday evening. The military issued the ban, saying it considers him a threat to the public order.

Rights groups worry the ban — based on an obscure emergency regulation that predates Israel's establishment — could be used to target others.