Israeli's Land Rights Legal

Israel’s Legal Rights to the Land

Are the Settlements Legal? is a consolidation of two articles by Eugene W. Rostow, former US Assistant Secretary of State (1966-1969) and former Dean of the Yale Law School. The articles appeared in The New Republic on April 23, 1990 and October 21, 1991. With varying degrees of seriousness, all American administrations since 1967 have objected to Israeli settlements in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) on the ground that it would make it more difficult to persuade the Arabs to make peace. President Carter decreed that the settlements were “illegal” as well as tactically unwise. President Reagan said the settlements were legal but that they made negotiations less likely . . . . (United Nations) Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. Resolution 242, adopted after the Six Day War in 1967, set out criteria for peace-making by the parties (to the conflict); Resolution 338, passed after the Yom Kippur War in 1973, makes resolution 242 legally binding and orders the parties to carry out its terms forthwith. Unfortunately, confusion reigns, even in high places, about what those resolutions require. (Since 1967) Arab states have pretended that the two resolutions are “ambiguous” and can be interpreted to suit their desires. And some Europeans (Russian) and even American officials have cynically allowed

First settlers arriving at Ein Tzurim in 1946.

Migdal Eder — Founded by Yeminite Jews in 1927. Destroyed during the riots of 1929.

Arab spokesmen to delude themselves and their p eople—to say nothing of Western public opinion — about what the resolutions mean. It is common even for American journalists to write that Resolution 242 is “deliberately ambiguous,” as if the parties are equally free to rely on their own reading of its key provisions. Nothing could be further from the truth. Resolution 242, which as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs between 1966 and 1969, I [Eugene W. Rostow] helped produce, calls on the parties to make peace and allows Israel to administer the territories it occupied in 1967 until “a just and lasting peace in the Middle East” is achieved. When such a peace is made, Israel is required to withdraw it s armed forces “from territories” that it occupied during the Six Day War—not from “the” territories, nor from “all” the territories, but some of the territories, which included the Sinai Desert, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Five and a half months of vehement public diplomacy made it perfectly clear what the missing definite article in Resolution 242 means. Ingeniously drafted resolutions calling for withdrawals from “all” the territories were defeated in the Security Council and the General Assembly. Speaker after speaker made it explicit that Israel was not to be forced back to the “fragile” and “vulnerable” Armistice Demarcation Lines, but should retire once peace was made to what Resolution 242 called “secure and recognized” boundaries agreed to by the parties. In negotiating such agreement, the parties should take into account, among other factors, security considerations, access to the international waterways of the region, and, of course, their respective legal claims. Resolution 242 built on the text of the Armistice Agreements of 1949, ...provided (except in the case of Lebanon) that the Armistice Demarcation Lines separating the military forces were “not to be construed in any sense” as political or territorial boundaries, and that “no provision” of the Armistice Agreements “shall in any way prejudice the right, claims, and positions” of the parties “in the ultimate peaceful settlement of the Palestine problem.” In making peace with Egypt in 1979, Israel withdrew from the entire Sinai, which had never been part of the British Mandate. The heated question of Israel’s settlements in the West Bank during the occupation period should be viewed in this perspective. The British Mandate recognized the right of the Jewish People to “close settlement” in the whole of the Mandated territory. It was provided that local conditions might require Great Britain to “postpone” or “withhold” Jewish settlement in what is now Jordan. This was done in 1922. But the Jewish right of settlement in Palestine, west of the Jordan River, that is in Israel, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, was made unassailable. That right has never been terminated, and cannot be terminated except by a recognized peace between Israel and its neighbors. And perhaps not even then, in view of Article 80 of the UN Charter, “the Palestine Article,” which provides that nothing in the Charter shall be construed “to alter in any manner the rights whatsoever of any states or any peoples or the terms of existing international instruments . . . .” Some governments have taken the view that under the Geneva Convention of 1949, which deals with the rights of civilians under military occupation, Jewish settlements in the West Bank are illegal, on the ground that the Convention prohibits an occupying power from floodin g the occupied territory with its own citizens. President Carter supported this view, but President Reagan reversed him, specifically saying that the settlements are legal but that further settlements should be deferred since they pose an obstacle to the peace process . . . . The Jewish right of settlement in the West Bank is conferred by the same provisions of the Mandate under which Jews settled in Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem before the State of Israel was created. The Mandate for Palestine differs in one important respect from the other League of N ations mandates, which were trusts for the benefit of the indigenous population. The Palestine Mandate, recognizing “the historical connection of the Jewish People with Palestine, and the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country,” is dedicated to “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing sh ould be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.” The Mandate qualifies the Jewish right of settlement and political development in Palestine in only one respect. Article 25 gave Great Britain and the League Council discretion to “postpone” or “withhold” the Jewish People’s right of settlement in the Trans-Jordanian province of Palestine—now the Kingdom of Jordan—if they decided that local conditions made such action desirable. With the divided support of the council, the British took that step in 1922. The Mandate does not, however, permit even a temporary suspension of the Jewish right of settlem ent in the parts of the Mandate west of the Jordan River. The Armistice Lines of 1949, which are part of the West Bank boundary, represent nothing but the position of the contending armies when the final cease-fire was achieved in the War of Independence. And the Armistice Agreements specifically provide, except in the case of Lebanon, that the demarcation lines can be changed by agreement when the parties move from Armistice to peace. Resolution 242 is based on that provision of the Armistice Agreements and states certain criteria that would justify changes in the demarcation lines when the parties make peace . . . . The State Department has never denied that under the Mandate “the Jewish people” have the right to settle in the area. Instead, it said that Jewish settlements in the West Bank violate Article 49 of the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949, which deals with the protection of civilians in w artime. Where the territory of one contracting party is occupied by another contracting party, the convention prohibits many of the inhumane practices of the Nazis and the Soviets before and during the Second World War—th e mass transfer of people into or out of occupied territories for purposes of extermination, slave labor or colonization, for exampl e. Article 49 provides that the occupying power “shall not deport or transfer part of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” But the Jewish settlers in the West Bank are volunteers. They have not been “deported” or “transferred” by th e government of Israel, an d their movement involves none of the atrocious purposes or harmful effects on the existing population the Geneva Convention was designed to prevent. Furtherm ore, the Convention applies only to “acts by one signatory carried out on the territory of another.” The West Bank is not the territory of a signatory power, but an unallocated part of the British Mandate. It is hard, therefore, to see how even the most literal minded reading of the Convention could make it apply to Jewish settlement in territories of the British Mandate west of the Jordan River. Even if the Convention could be construed to prevent settlements during the period of occupation, it could do no more than suspend, not terminate, the rights conferred by the Mandate. Those rights can be ended only by the establishment and recognition of a new state or the incorporation of the territories into an old one. As claimants to the territory the Israelis have denied that they are required to comply with the Geneva Convention but announced that they will do so as a matter of grace. The Israeli courts apply the Convention routinely, sometimes deciding against the Israeli Government. Assuming for the moment the general applicability of the Convention, it could well be considered a violation if the Israelis deported convicts to the area, or encouraged the settlement of people who had no right to live there (Americans for example). But how can the Convention be deemed to apply to Jews who have a right to settle in the territories under international law: a legal right assured by treaty and specifically protected by Article 80 of the UN Charter, which provides that nothing in the Charter shall be construed “to alter in any manner rights conferred by existing international instruments.” The Jewish right of settlement in the area is equivalent in every way to the right of the existing Palestinian population to live there . . . . The general expectation of international law is that military occupations last a short time, and are succeeded by a state of peace established by treaty or otherwise. In the case of the West Bank the territory was occupied by Jordan between 1949 and 1967 and has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 ruled that the Arab states and Israel must make peace, and that when “a just and lasting peace” is reached in the Middle East, Israel should withdraw from some but not all of the territory it occupied in the course of the 1967 war. The Resolutions leave it to the parties to agree on the terms of peace.

Israeli's Land Rights Historical

Israel’s Historical Rights to the Land

Aliyah!

Jews lived in their Land virtually uninterrupted for 1,700 years until Rome destroyed Israel’s polity in CE 70 and CE 135. The archeological discovery of the Merneptah Stela which describes an attack on ancient Israel confirms Israel’s ancient presence in the Land. By CE 70, Josephus, the Roman Emperor’s official historian, observed that 4-7 million Jews dwelt in Israel. (Wars VI, 420, 425). Roman slaughter and expulsion decimated these Jewish inhabitants. Then Christian, Persian, Arab, Crusader, Mameluke and Turkish armies devastated the Holy Land and ruled temporarily. Still some Jews clung to their Land. Jews have been the continuous indigenous people of the Holy Land for about 3,600 years. Arabs ruled the Holy Land for only 22 years during the period C E 633-1099. (Syrian Delegation to Paris Peace Conference, Feb. 1919.) The Arab historian Ibn Khaldun observed that as late as CE 1400 the Land was permeated with Jewish culture. Over 300 years after Arab rule ended, there was still no evidence of Arab Palestinian roots or established culture. T hus, the noted Arab historian denies the false claim of an uninterrupted Palestinian culture dating back to CE 636. James Parkes in his Whose Land? states, “It is not until the Turkish period, CE 1517-1917, that in the ethnic sense it [the Holy Land] acquired a substantial Arab, [though] not majority, population….” How? By immigration, not by natural population growth. At the same time (CE 1561) Sultan Suleiman, a Muslim, granted Joseph Nasi the right to found the “kernel of a JewishState” in Tiberias and seven villages surrounded by a wall (Germany, Turkey, Zionism, 1897-1918 p.22). As a result thousands of Jews immigrated to the Land in a wave of Messianic fervor. In the 1700s and 1800s noted travelers observed the Holy Land was a barren waste. Its greatest lack was a “body of population.” Finally, the Biblical ingathering of the Jewish exiles began. (Jeremiah 16:14,15) This triggered a large Arab immigration hoping to benefit from the growing Jewish economy. Both British Prime Minister MacDonald and President Roosevelt confirmed that this was the reason for the flood of Arab immigration since 1918. To defend British policy, the not overly-Jewish-friendly British Secretary of State for the colonies, Malcolm MacDonald, declared in the House of Commons (November 24, 1938): “The Arabs cannot say that the Jews are driving them out of the country. If not a single Jew had come to Palestine after 1918, I believe the Arab population of Palestine would still have been around 600,000....” Jewish contributions and Jewish immigration continued to flow into the Land. The Jews created industry, agriculture, hospitals—a complete socio-economic infrastructure. As job opportunities increased, so did Arab immigration. In fact, in 1939 President Roosevelt observed that “Arab immigration into Palestine since 1921 has vastly exceeded the total Jewish immigration during this whole period.” For one specific example, i n 1934 between 30,000 and 36,000 Arabs from the Hauran Province in Syria left for “the better life” in Palestine. The flood continued until 1948. Some writers claim that 75 percent of the Arab population was either immigrants into the Holy Land after 1882 or their descendants (Justice For My People, 1943, p. 130). Tens of thousands of Arabs were entering to obtain a better life. Town Names Betray Their True History Yoram Ettinger, a former liaison for Congressional affairs in Israel’s Washington embassy, lists evidence showing that Judea and Samaria has Jewish, not Arab, roots. He says almost all Arab localities in Judea and Samaria have retained Biblical Jewish names, reaffirming their Jewish roots. Examples include the following:

• A Anata is the biblical and contemporary Anatot, the dwelling of the Prophet Jeremiah.
•  A Batir is the biblical and contemporary Beitar, the headquarters of Bar Kochba, the leader of the Great Rebellion against the Roman Empire, which was suppressed in 135 CE.
•  A Beit-Hur is the biblical and contemporary Beit Horon, site of Judah the Maccabee’s victory over the Assyrians.
• A Beitin is the biblical and contemporary Beit El, a site of the Holy Ark and Prophet Samuel’s court. A Bethlehem is mentioned 44 times in the Bible and is the birth place of King David.
•  A Beit Jalla is the biblical and contemporary Gilo, in southern Jerusalem, where Sennacherib set his camp while besieging Jerusalem. A El-Jib is the biblical and contemporary Gibeon, Joshua’s battleground known for his command to stop the sun and moon (Joshua 10:12).
•  A Jaba’ is the biblical and contemporary Geva, site of King Saul’s son Jonathan’s victory over the Philistines. A Jenin is the biblical and contemporary Ein Ganim, a Levite town within the tribe of Issachar.
•  A Mukhmas is the biblical and contemporary Mikhmash, residence of Jonathan the Maccabee and site of King Saul’s fortress. 
• A Seilun is the biblical and contemporary Shilo, a site of Joshua’s tabernacle and the Holy Ark and Samuel’s youth.
•  A Tequa is the biblical and contemporary Tekoa, hometow n of the Prophet Amos.

The Palestinian Claim The Palestinian claim that the Land for centuries sustained a thriving Palestinian culture is not authorized by the facts of histor y. Yet the world community has given this claim a receptive hearing. PLO Chairman Yassir Arafat in his speech before the U.N. in 1974 declared, “The Jewish invasion began in 1881... Palestine was then a verdant area, inhabited mainly by an Arab people in the course of building its life and dynamically enrichin g its indigenous culture.” What happens when this claim is compared with the personal observations of the following recognized authorities? In 1738 Thomas Shaw observed a land of “barrenness...from want of inhabitants.” In 1785 Constantine Francois de Volney recorded the population of the three main cities. Jerusalem had a population of 12,000 to 14,000. Bethlehem had about 600 able-bodied men. Hebron had 800 to 900 men. In 1835 Alphonse de Lamartine wrote, “Outside the city of Jerusalem, we saw no living object, heard no living sound... a complete eternal silence reigns in the town, in the highways, in the country....the tomb of a whole people.” In 1857 the British consul in Palestine, James Finn, reported, “The country is in a considerable degree empty of inhabitants and therefore its greatest need is that of a body of population.” This historic observation is a remarkable confirmation of the Biblical predictions that during Israel’s “double” period of punishment and dispersion, the Lord would cause the Land to become desolate of man and beast (Jeremiah 33:10; Zechariah 9:12; Jeremiah 16:14-18). No wonder by 1857 it was just waiting for “a body of population”! In the Lord’s providence this needed body of population —the Jewish people—began to return after 1878 at the end of their Scriptural period of God’s disfavor. (See the following wasteland pictures from 1862-1920.) The most popular quote on the desolation of the Land is from Mark Twain’s THE INNOCENTS ABROAD (1867):

Esdraelon Valley—1894

 

  

Tel Aviv—1909

Genneseret—1890

“Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies....Palestine is desolate and unlovely....It is a hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land.” The records of history confirm the Biblical predictions that during the Jewish dispersion and “double” of God’s disfavor, the Land of Israel would become desolate awaiting the return of the Jewish people when its period of disfavor ended in 1878. The records of history simply do not confirm today’s Palestinian claim of Palestinian roots and culture in a “verdant area” since the Arab rule of the Land (CE 640-1099). Southern Syria vs. “Palestine” The Romans changed the name of the Land of Israel to “Palestine.” But from CE 640 until the 1960s, Arabs referred to this same Land as “Southern Syria.” Arabs only began calling the Land “Palestine” in the 1960s. Until about the eighteenth century, the Christian world called this same Land, “The Holy Land.” Thereafter, they used two names: “The Holy Land” and “Palestine.” In 1922 when the League of Nations gave Great Britain the mandate to prepare Palestine as a national home for the Jewish people, the official name of the Land became “Palestine” and remained so until the rebirth of the Israeli State in 1948. However, during this very period, the leaders of the Arabs in the Land called themselves Southern Syrians and clamored that the Land become a part of a “Greater Syria.” This “Arab Nation” would include Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Transjordan as well as Palestine. An observation in Time magazine well articulated how the Palestinian identity was born so belatedly in the 1960s: Golda Meir once argued that there was no such thing as a Palestinian; at the time, she wasn’t entirely wrong. Before Arafat began his proselytizing, most of the Arabs from the territory of Palestine thought of themselves as members of an all-embracing Arab nation. It was Arafat who madethe intellectual leap to a definition of the Palestinians as a distinct people; he articulated the cause, organized for it, fought for it and brought it to the world’s attention. . . . If there had been an Arab Palestinian culture, a normal population increase over the centuries would have been expected. But, with the exception of a relatively few families, the Arabs had no attachment to the Land. If Arabs from southern Syria drifted into Palestine for economic reasons, within a generation or so the cultural tug of Syria or other Arab lands would pull them back. This factor is why the Arab population average remained low until the influx of Jewish financial investments and Jewish people in the late 1800s made the Land economically attractive. Then sometime between 1850 and 1918, the Arab population shot up to 560,000. On the other hand, Great Britain’s White Paper of 1939 closed the doors of Jewish immigration to their Land. Simultaneously, there was a large-scale Arab immigration to the new Land of opportunity during World War II. In 1946 Bartley C. Crum, a United States Government observer, noted that tens of thousands of Arabs had entered Palestine “because of this better life—and they were still coming.” The Testimony of Arabs and Christians Because Arabs until the 1960s spoke of Palestine as Southern Syria or part of Greater Syria, in 1919 the General Syrian Congress stated, “We ask that there should be no separation of the southern part of Syria, known as Palestine.” In 1939 George Antonius noted the Arab view of Palestine in 1918: Faisal’s views about the future of Palestine did not differ from those of his father and were identical with those held then by the great majority of politically-minded Arabs. The representative Arab view was substantially that which King Husain [Grand Sherif of Mecca, the great grandfather of the current King Hussein of Jordan]had expressed to the British Government...in January 1918. In the Arab view, Palestine was an Arab territory forming an integral part of Syria. Referring to the same Arab view of Palestine in 1939, George Antonius spoke of “the whole of the country of that name [Syria] which is now split up into mandated territories....” His lament was that France’s mandate over Syria did not include Palestine which was under Britain’s mandate. As late as May 1947, Arab representatives reminded the United Nations in a formal statement, “Palestine is a...part of the Province of Syria....Politically, the Arabs of Palestine were not independent in the sense of forming a separate political entity.” On May 31, 1956, Ahmed Shukairy had no hesitation, as current head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, in announcing to the Security Council the observation, “It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but southern Syria.” Syrian President Hafez Assad once told PLO leader Yassir Arafat: You do not represent Palestine as much as we do. Never forget this one point: There is no such thing as a Palestinian People, there is no Palestinian entity, there is only Syria. You are an integral part of the Syrian People, Palestine is an integral part of Syria. Therefore it is we, the Syrian authorities, who are the true representatives of the Palestinian people. Assad stated on March 8, 1974, “Palestine is a principal part of Southern Syria, and we consider that it is our right and duty to insist that it be a liberated partner of our Arab homeland and of Syria.” In the words of the late military commander of the PLO as well as member of the PLO Executive Council, Zuhair Muhsin:There are no differences between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. We are all part of one nation. It is only for political reasons that we carefully underline our Palestinian identity….yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity serves only tactical purposes. The founding of a Palestinian state is a new tool in the continuing battle against Israel [emphasis ours]. The most authoritative Arab statement, however, as to whom the Holy Land belongs is found in the Koran, the Islamic Scriptures. The fact is that the Koran agrees with the Bible that God (Allah) made a covenant with the Sons of Israel and assigned the Holy Land to the Jews (see the Koran, Sura V, “The Table”). The Koran also describes the Land given to the Jews as “blessed” and foresees a return of Israel to their Land at the end of days. These testimonies confirm the Christian Scriptures that God gave the Land to the Jewish people as an everlasting possession. The relatively few Arabs who wandered into the Land between CE 670-1878 were but temporary dwellers. The truer perspective of history reveals that the large recent influx of Arabs that paralleled the regathering of Jews has no historic roots in the Land. The Verdict of History: Land Rights Before Jewish immigration and Jewish investments spawned massive Arab immigration, Arabs were actually leaving Palestine. Then the flow of traffic reversed. “...Palestine changed from a country of Arab emigration to one of Arab immigration. Arabs from the Hauran in Syria as well as other neighboring lands poured into Palestine to profit from the higher standard of living and fresh opportunities provided by the Zionist pioneers.” This phenomenon is confirmed by the Palestine Royal Commission Report which observed that in the period between the Balfour Declaration and the United Nations Partition Resolution of 1947, Palestine became a land of Arab immigration. As further documented by Ernst Frankenstein, substantial Arab immigration was a recent phenomenon: The early “lovers of Zion” began the stimulation of Arab immigration. Some writers have come out with the conclusion that in 1942, 75 percent of the Arab population were either immigrants or descendants of immigrants into Palestine during the preceding one hundred years, mainly after 1882. WHOSE LAND? The Arabs ruled the Land for less than 100 years. The Jews ruled the Land of Israel for over 1,700 years. The testimony of history proves the Jewish people are the historic people of the land, therefore the Land still belongs to them. Regardless of the peace process, the Judeo-Christian Bible (Isaiah 2:2,3) and Muslim Koran (Sura 17:104), predict the Jewish people will yet peacefully enjoy the right to all their Land.

Israeli's Land Rights Biblical

  Israel’s Biblical Rights to the Land

Israel’s Biblical Rights to the Land With the breaking up of the Turkish Empire at the end of World War 1, both Jews and Arabs requested independent states. The world powers were generous in the extreme to the Arabs by granting them twenty-two independent Arabs states— encompassing 5,414,000 square miles. The Jews asked for less than one percent of that vast territory. The Allies agreed to this request. In 1921 England reneged, lopped off 77 percent of the Land promised in the Balfour Declaration and set up the Arab Emirate of Transjordan. Then in 1922 the League of Nations further qualified the Jewish National Home be established in only 23 percent of Palestine, including Samaria, Judea, Gaza, Golan Heights and Eastern Jerusalem. (See Map I and Map II.) Also many Christians believe “Replacement Theology.” That is, the Jewish people because of unfaithfulness have forfeited any right to the Land of Israel. What Do the Scriptures Say? Many Scriptures promise the permanent restoration of the Jewish State as verified in one of the most awesome and irrefutable promises in the Bible.

Jeremiah 31:31-37 NASB Verse 31 — “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, Verse 32 — Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. Verse 33 — “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Verse 34 — “And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Verse 35 — Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: Verse 36 — “If this fixed order departs from before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me forever.” Verse 37 — Thus says the LORD, “If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out below, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,” declares the LORD.

This prophecy together with its parallel in Jeremiah 33:25-26 devastate “Replacement Theology.” Only when the divinely fixed orbiting of the sun, moon and stars of our solar system cease to orbit according to God’s astronomical laws of the Universe, then and only then, would Israel ever cease to exist as God’s People. Even though Israel was unfaithful and was taken captive to Babylon while the land was desolate for 70 years, the sun, moon, and stars continued to orbit according to God’s symmetrical ordinances of the Universe. Therefore, Israel was still in God’s favor and was restored to its Land after 70 years. But, Israel continued to sin and finally in CE 70 and CE 135 their polity was destroyed. Over a million were killed at the hands of the vengeful Romans. Many were banished from their sacred Land, while Jerusalem was ploughed over and renamed Aelia Capitolina. However, some managed to escape to the north and south of the Land. Into whatever countries they fled, they tended to dwell in their own little Jewish communities. Many kept the weekly Sabbath and worshipped together and then, as now, at the close of the Sabbath they watched the setting of the sun, the emergence of the moon, and the sparkling stars roving the heavens in celestial glory. No matter how distant from their Promised Land, with tears in their eyes and hope in their hearts, they knew some day, somehow, they or their children, or their children’s children would yet return to Eretz Israel. Why??? The celestial bodies of the heavens were still in dazzling beauty and were orbiting according to God’s laws of the Universe. Only when there is chaos in the heavens, then and only then would Israel cease to be God’s People. Of course, that will never happen and that is just the point of this promise in Jeremiah 31:35-37. Israel as a nation will never be cast off from God’s favor. Then Jeremiah shows, that after their final regathering “the city [Old Jerusalem] shall be built to the Lord” by the Jews and, furthermore, “It shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down

any more forever” (Jeremiah 31:38-40). Despite the efforts of the US and world powers, the descendants of Israel (Jacob)—not Ishmael or Esau—will receive the city of Jerusalem (including East Jerusalem) forever. The Prophet Zechariah lived after the return of the 70 years’ desolation and during the building of the Second Temple. He prophesied that Israel would again prove waywar d and again be punished with a second dispersion. As noted above, the armies of the Roman Empire destroyed the Second Temple and scattered the Jewish People to the four corners of the earth. But Zechariah also prophesied a final regathering from which Israel would never again be separated from its Land. All the prophecies, both those written before and after the first dispersion from the Land, predicted a final regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland that would culminate in Jerusalem becoming the capital of God’s Kingdom on earth. Yes, Israel would be cast out of her land as a punishment. But there would be an end-time regathering which we now see.


“No More Pulled Up” 


The Scriptures, furthermore, speak of this final regathering as culminating in joy and blessing that will never end.


Jeremiah 31:10-12 Verse 10 — Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. Verse 11 — For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.

Verse 12 — Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.


This time is yet future when Israel, restored to its Land, will experience an eternity of joy.


Amos 9:14-15 Verse 14 — And I will bring again the captivity [return from exile] of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. Verse 15 — And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God

Such prophecies as these cannot be logically interpreted in any symbolical sense. Israel is to be literally planted again “upon their own land,” the Land of their fathers—Canaan. God had given them the Land by divine promise to Abraham and his seed—an “everlasting possession.” This promise is from God Himself and must eventually be fulfilled.

The original promise to Abraham stands forever

Genesis 13:14,15,17; 17:8 Verse 13:14 — Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: Verse 13:15 — For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever, ... Verse 13:17 — Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it, and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.... Verse 17:8 — I will give it unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.”

“No more pulled up”… “give the Land forever”…“an everlastin g possession” — these phrases speak of Israel’s future and eternal possession of the Land. There are many thrilling prophetic details pertaining to the conditions and circumstances connected with the regathering of Israel. But our subject is Israel’s land rights. However, we will briefly mention several. Remember 4-7 million Jews were slaughtered or expelled from the Land of Israel over a period of time. Much of the land became an uninhabited barren wilderness. Yet prophecies like Ezekiel 36 and Amos 9:14-15 predicted how Israel would and has excelled in agricultural technology to the point that Israel is sending agricultural experts to assist third world countries. God foreknew the anti-Semitism that would develop in the hearts of the Gentiles. Consequently, Jeremiah 16:14-16 describes the anti-Semitic hunters who would drive the Jewish people to their Land, and the “fishers,” as the Zionist Movement

who would use the bait of Nationalism, a Jewish Homeland, to “allure” them Hosea 2:14,15. Wars with the Arab nations have repeatedly plagued the fledgling Jewish State as prophesied in Psalm 83. Also, Israel’s ultimate victory over her Arab neighbors was anticipated in Isaiah 11:14 and Zephaniah 2:4-10. The rocket map across from the Table of Contents reveals the precarious situation of Israel if it is forced to give the so-called West Bank (Judea and Samaria) to the Palestinians. A discussion of Israel’s Biblical land rights would not be complete without mentioning the Lord's ultimate purpose for Israel in her Land, which is dramatically declared in Isaiah 2:2-4 ASV

Isaiah 2:2-4 ASV Verse 2 — And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. Verse 3 — And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. Verse 4 — And he will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.


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Israel: 60 Years

A Nation of Miracles

“I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.” Amos 9:14-15

The rebirth of the State of Israel in 1948 was a miracle of history. (Ezekiel 37:1-14; Luke 21:29, 30) Never before has a nation been destroyed, its people dispersed to the ends of the earth, and then nearly two thousand years later, regathered to their homeland and reestablished as a nation.

Confederated Arab Armies: The Mighty Goliath

With the approval of the United Nations, Israel declared itself a nation on May 14, 1948. This outraged her sworn enemies, and the armies of seven Arab nations marched on the newborn State. Outnumbered 100 to 1, Israel not only repelled the invading Arab armies, but miraculously acquired more of her ancient land.

The Arab nations were in shock. They had known the Jews in Baghdad, Cairo and Damascus as timid souls who sought to avoid confrontation. But the Jews of the Holy Land were different—they were Zionists who had been steeled by the horrors endured in the Holocaust. These Jews would not be beaten down again, but would persevere in the field of battle.

At last, their faith was taking root in the land of their fathers. Yigael Yadin, Israel’s commander of operations in that war, had a concise explanation of Israel’s victory. “It was a miracle!” This victory was, in reality, a fulfillment of a 2,500 year old prophecy which declared of the new, regathered nation: “They that war against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of nought... for I will help thee.” Isaiah 41:12,13 

Again, in 1967, the Arabs boasted that they would destroy Israel. However, in six days Israel overran the combined forces of Syria, Jordan and Egypt—gaining the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, the West Bank (Samaria and Judea), and the Sinai—one of the greatest military feats in history. To many Orthodox Jews worldwide, especially in the United States, this was a wake-up call from God. Thousands poured into Israel and settled in Samaria and Judea to stake Israel’s eternal claim to the so-called West Bank—the heartland of Israel.

Israel was now a nation with a strong will to exist—though amidst an Arab host committed to her extinction. Of necessity, Israel has developed into one of the most powerful military forces in the world, yet she remains non-militaristic. Her stated desire is to live in peace with those in and outside of her borders.

Growing Anti-Semitism

An ill wind of anti-Semitism is again blowing across Europe—but with a new twist—the hatred not only of Jews as a people, but of the Jewish State. But how could this attitude develop upon the ashes of the Holocaust? In 1948, when the mechanized Arab nations charged the fledgling Israeli State’s untrained army, the world cheered the heroic underdog on to victory. Then, two more legendary victories followed in 1967 and 1973 as Israel acquired and maintained rule over the West Bank and Gaza. Outnumbered, Israel has survived in the midst of a sea of twenty-two Islamic Arab nations bent on her destruction. What has changed world opinion?

Two major factors contribute to growing anti-Semitism. Guilt ridden after the Holocaust, the world powers finally, but reluctantly, fulfilled their promise of a Jewish State after reneging since the San Remo Conference of 1920. Why the delay? Arab oil was discovered and became the driving force behind Western economies. In order to appease the oil-rich Arabs, the United Nations reduced the new Israeli State to less than 20% of the size originally promised. Thus, oil has been a primary factor in changing world opinion.

The second factor in the rise of anti-Semitism is a change of perceived roles. After the tiny nation won decisive victories in ‘48, ‘67 and ‘73, Israel was viewed as the underdog, and the Arab nations were viewed as the aggressive bully. Yassir Arafat learned from this that the world loves an underdog, and so he began a campaign in the 1960s to establish a new minority-identity for the Arabs living within Israeli borders. Although, in fact, they had been part of the one all-embracing Arab Nation within the 22 Arab States, by the 1990s Arafat’s campaign had succeeded in convincing the world that they were a dispossessed political entity—Palestinians—a distinct people from other Arabs. (Time Magazine, 1/3/94) Tens of millions of Arab oil propaganda dollars later, Israel is no longer considered the underdog, but is now thought of as the occupying bully. Palestinian sympathizers now vilify Israel as an oppressive colonial power, and Palestinian terrorists are called “freedom fighters.”

World opinion is now clamoring for Palestinian statehood encompassing the West Bank and Gaza with Jerusalem as its capital. Under extreme pressure from Europe and the United States, even many Israelis have been convinced to give up the land that God had so miraculously given back to them. World pressure may seem to have an effect, but prophecy will have its miraculous fulfilment.

The Miracle of Immigration

Yes, in spite of these on-going conflicts with their Arab neighbors and growing anti-Semitism, the miracles in Israel continue. World opinion is not God’s opinion, and Israel is fulfilling His plans for His land. Isaiah prophesied that Israel would regather a second time. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people... and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” Isaiah 11:11, 12

Jews from the four points of the compass have heard the call—miracles are happening! Come home to Israel! (Isaiah 43:5, 6) While the 1948 war was raging the newcomers poured in. During the first three years of statehood, average immigration reached 18,000 a month, and in some months the figure exceeded 30,000. Between May 15, 1948, and June 30, 1953, the Jewish population of the country doubled. By the end of 1956, Israel’s population had nearly tripled, reaching 1,667,000. Imagine the economic shock of absorption—a miracle in itself!

Jews kept pouring into Israel over the decades. In 1984 -1985 and again in 1991 harrowing airlifts brought Ethiopian Jews from utter despair to a land of hope. Finally, the long-expected prophetic fulfillment of Jews from Russia began in 1991. By the year 2000, over a million Jews returned from the former Soviet Republics (CIS) and they are still coming. Israel’s population increased from 650,000 in 1948 to over 7,000,000 in 2008. The miracle of re-population continues.

Rebuilding Israel with Bible in Hand

Today, trees, fruits and vegetables grow over what was once sandy wastes or malaria swamps. New industries fringe historic cities. Highways and pipelines stretch across an energetic nation that had slept for centuries.

David Ben Gurion, Israel’s dynamic first Prime Minister, was an ardent student of the Bible and saw it as an accurate history of Israel and its land. He dispatched engineers, horticulturists, botanists, etc., with the Bible in one hand and research tools in the other. Miracles flourished! Following Bible clues, copper and iron mines were established. One mining engineer, Abraham Dor, observed that, at the richest veins of copper, “We come upon the slag and furnaces of ancient Israel. We often get the feeling that someone has just left.” Deuteronomy 8:7-9 has often been framed on the walls of mining offices: “For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land... a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills thou mayest dig copper.”

Barren land transformed to the fertility of ancient Israel is a miracle predicted in Scripture. (Amos 9:14-15; Ezekiel 36:34-35) It was long assumed that most of Palestine was wasteland, irreclaimable for agriculture. But archaeologists discovered the presence of more than 70 ancient settlement sites in one 65-mile stretch of the Jordan Valley alone—each with its own well for water. Over 3,000 years ago, Abraham’s nephew Lot was not exaggerating when he “lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere,... even as the garden of the Lord.” Genesis 13:10

New agricultural settlements—from Dan to Beersheba—have risen on ancient sites identified by Biblical archaeologists. Concrete pumping stations were set over ancient springs or wells. A well from Abraham’s day now supplies water for residents on the outskirts of Beersheba.

One of the basic necessities in that arid country was reforestation. Since 1900, Jews have planted over a billion trees. They used the Bible to decide what kind of trees to plant and where to plant them. Debating whether a certain barren hillside would be a suitable location for Israel’s immense “Forest of Martyrs,” Israelis found the answer in Joshua, which revealed that a forest had existed there. “Knowing that trees grow more easily where trees have flourished before,” explained Professor Zohary of the Hebrew University, “we rely on the Good Book.”

“The first tree Abraham planted in Beersheba was a tamarisk,” said Israel’s outstanding authority on reforestation, Dr. Joseph Weitz. “Following his lead, we put out two million in the same area. Abraham was right. The tamarisk is one of the few trees we have found that thrives in the south where yearly rainfall is less than six inches.” The Bible, as a resource, made Israel the agricultural giant it is today, exporting its products worldwide.

It took another miracle to make this possible. In Bible times there were two copious rainy seasons in Israel—the “early and the latter rain.” But for the past centuries the “early rain” has been minimal while the “latter rain” and dew have disappeared completely. Since 1878, the “latter rain” is falling again. The precipitation of both has spiraled over the decades just as predicted in Joel 2:23, 24.

Israel an Economic and Technological Marvel

Israel at 60 is fast becoming the Silicon Valley of the world. Ezekiel 38:12, 13 predicts that Israel will become the economic envy of the nations. Because of persecution, some of the most intelligent and innovative minds in the world have made aliyah (immigration) to Israel. Creative Israeli research teams are pushing back the frontiers of electronics, physics, chemistry, and pharmaceuticals, and the entire world is benefiting—especially the underdeveloped nations. Former Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “The failure of Soviet communism to capitalize on the outstanding research and development skill of Russian Jews was a stroke of good fortune for Israel. We now have the highest per capita of scientists in the world. This has put Israel on the cutting edge of technology.”

The New York Stock Exchange lists more hi-tech companies from Israel than from any other nation. Israel’s economy grew more than 5% in 2007—faster than the U.S., Europe, UK and Japan. While the Bank of Israel expects the country’s growth rate to decline slightly next year, growth is still excelling in 2008—first quarter growth was 5.4%! In contrast, the United States is only expected to grow by less than 1%, the EU by 1.2%, Japan by 1%, and the UK by 1.6% in 2008.

Will the Miracles Continue?

Although Israel is witnessing the fulfillment of prophecy in her land, she has also been facing many serious challenges as a nation because of compromising the land which God promised His people. Lack of faith on the part of some in political power may cause Israel to suffer temporary set backs, but miracles will continue so long as there is a remnant with faith. God has repeatedly stated that He will honor His promises to the faithful of Israel. Zechariah 8:3, 21-23

The Apostle Paul describes God’s benevolent plan for blessing all of Israel: “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes . . . these also now believed not, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.” (Romans 11:25-32) This statement of Paul indicates that Israel as a whole will be blessed and granted an opportunity for salvation once the number prescribed of the Gentiles—the Gospel Age Church—has been gathered to Christ. Yes, as God promised Abraham, Israel will not only be blessed themselves, but will soon be an instrument of God’s blessing to “all the nations of the earth.” Genesis 22:17; Isaiah 2:2, 3

Prophecy fulfilling of Israel Six day War

June 5-10, 2017, marks the 50th Anniversary of Israel’s momentous victory against a massive Arab attack in the 1967 Six-Day War. What had been the cry of the Jews for centuries, “Next year in Jerusalem,” in 1967 became the cry, “Now and forever in Jerusalem!”

It has been 50 years since the 1967 Six-Day War, and the effects of this amazing event in Israel's history still impacts the world today. Under the prompting of Egyptian President Gamal Nasser, Egypt, Jordan and Syria joined forces to “drive the Jews into the sea.”Nasser had received reports from Russian advisors that the time was right to start a war with Israel. The surrounding Arab armies had hoped their victory would be decisive — that they would once and for all rid themselves of the Hebrew nation. But, because of continuous provocation by threatening Arab forces, Israel was prepared. Guided by miraculous overrulings, Israel skillfully out-maneuvered the attacking Arab armies within six days!

Forced into a defense of their country, Israel gained the Golan Heights, the West Bank of the Jordan River, the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip and, most importantly, East Jerusalem. By international standards, these captured territories became part of the Nation of Israel. Yet, the Israelis immediately made it known to the world that they would trade the newly acquired territories for the sake of peace with their Arab neighbors (aside from East Jerusalem). On the day after the war, Israel’s Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan famously stated, “I’m waiting at the phone.” But no one ever called.

The Six-Day War has arguably been the most emotionally proud moment in recent Jewish history. For thousands of years, Jews have regarded Jerusalem and the West Bank as their biblical heartland. King David proclaimed Jerusalem as the capital of Israel over 3,000 years ago, and so in 1948, when the Jordanians forced all of the Jewish residents out of Jerusalem, the Hebrew people were devastated. But, by God’s providence, the Six-Day War brought the Jews into possession of their capital once again! What had been the cry of the Jews for centuries, “Next year in Jerusalem,” in 1967 became the cry, “Now and forever in Jerusalem!”

But, while Israelis were jubilant over their victory, the world view was indifferent at best and resentful at worst. Russia broke any relations with Israel immediately following the war. Jewish communities were systematically shunned or expelled from Arab countries. Arab nations voiced relentless cries of foul-play, which infected other countries of the United Nations. And, world opinion of Israel has remained negative due to carefully crafted propaganda which claims that Israel is “occupying Arab territory.”

As evidence of the effect of this propaganda, sitting U.S. presidents have been treating the status of Jerusalem as “disputed territory," even though the U.S. Congress recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 1995. This continued attitude of disrespect of Israel’s claim to their land was made clear as President Trump’s advance team prepared for his recent visit to Israel. In negotiations between the U.S. and Israel, one of Trump's officials declared “The Western Wall is not your territory.” Trump's team then refused Prime Minister Netanyahu’s offer to accompany the President for prayer at the Western Wall. To futher illustrate this position of disrespect of Israel's land rights, Trump betrayed his campaign promise to move the U.S. Embassy to Israel's capital, Jerusalem, keeping the Embassy in Tel Aviv. All of these actions perpetuate the notion that Jerusalem is “occupied territory.”

Some Christians may question, why should the Six-Day War have any bearing on our walk in Christ? The answer is that Israel has been and will always be “the apple of God’s eye.” What God declares as His Land, should be respected by His children. (See Zechariah 2:8-13; Leviticus 25:23) Both Old and New Testament prophecies point to Israel as playing a pivotal role in God’s Kingdom soon to come when Christians and Jews will work together as the "stars of heaven and the sand which is upon the seashore" to "bless all nations of the earth." Genesis 22:17, 18

Zechariah 8:23 “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.”

Amos 9:11, 14, 15 “In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old… And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.”

The Apostle James spoke of the time when the “tabernacle of David” would be restored:

Acts 15:14-17 “Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord…”

These and many more scriptures answer the question why Christians should value the fulfillment of prophecy in the Land of Israel. The Six-Day War is just one of countless miraculous end-time events bringing the world closer to God's Kingdom, when not only Christians and Jews, but all mankind will be blessed by the promises of God through His Son Jesus. As the Apostle Paul declared, Israel's salvation will mean "life from the dead!"

Romans 11:15, 25-32 “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? …For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins…”