This week we see rumours circulating about the United States attempting to put together a normalization agreement between Israel and the Saudi Arabians.

Back in 2020 the Abraham Accords brought together Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco in a peace agreement. This was a major geopolitical shift, as Arab and Muslim nations were making peace with Israel by choice, rather than by necessity in exchange for land. It was a seismic shift away from the doctrine of ‘land for peace’ towards ‘peace for peace’.

The question that has been on everyone’s mind since is whether this will continue to develop, and could Saudi Arabia, the nation with the two main Muslim holy sites also make peace with Israel in this way. Cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia is known to have been forming over the last five years, mainly due to shared concerns about Iran’s nuclear program. If Saudi Arabia decided to go as far as also normalizing relations with Israel, the psychological impact would be considerable. The leading Muslim Arab nation, would have declared that the Israel-Arab conflict is no more. This would of course still leave an Israel-Palestinian conflict, but even with that conflict, a feeling of defeatism could build in the minds of many and more might decide to get on with life rather than becoming martyrs for a lost cause.

Exactly what the impact will only be know if and when it happens.

In the news this week however, was a move by the U.S to make such a normalization take place. A U.S source told the Israel National News that the U.S had suggested that Israel transfer some Area C (fully controlled by Israel) into Area B (joint Israel-Palestinian Authority) in exchange for normalization. It appears that the U.S is still pushing for the old ‘land for peace’ formula, and it is expected that the current Israeli government would not be willing to consider making agreements of this nature. A member of Israel’s ruling Likud party said “It sounds baseless that someone in Israel would agree to give up another centimetre of Area C”. What is interesting about this is that it shows the shift in mindset of the Israeli government.

As Bible believers we expect that at the end times Israel will be living in a way that could be described as “at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates”. We also expect them to live “upon the mountains of Israel”, which is the area known as the West Bank. The current Israeli government position seems to be to seek peace, but at the same time be unwilling to give up areas of the mountains of Israel. Years ago these things would seem mutually exclusive, today these are both policies of the Israeli government.

As we see nations try to bring peace to this land, we must remember that peace is a blessing from God that he will give to his people in his own time, and true peace will not come until the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this earth, to rule it in righteousness and in peace. We pray that that day will be soon.

This has been Paul Barnes joining you for this weeks Bible in the News.