The Abraham Accords Signing Viewpoints by Jim Garlow

Editors Note: This report by USCAL member, Jim Garlow, is edited for space.

Thoughts about The White House Abraham Accord Signing Ceremony September 15, 2020 by Jim Garlow who was invited and attended the event:

Jim Garlow at the White House Accord signing

UNIQUE: The event is most unique. Such an event has not occurred in 26 years. As was widely reported, the last such signing between Israel and an Arab nation was in 1994 with Jordan and, before that, with Egypt in 1979.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat paid dearly for the treaty in that he was assassinated by Egyptian Army officers who disagreed with the relationship with Israel. (The Oslo Accords between the PLO and Israel were signed in 1993, but they did not involve Israel and another nation.)

ATTENDEES: Approximately 700 persons – Members of the Cabinet, Members of Congress, Ambassadors, VIPs, in addition to businessmen and faith leaders were invited to the remarkable event, held on the South Lawn of the White House.

FAITH GROUPS: There were many Orthodox Jews and evangelical Christians invited. These two groups both adhere to the scriptural teaching regarding Israel and the fact that the Messiah is coming. An evangelical Christian has more in common with an Orthodox Jew than he or she does with a liberal “Christian” denomination. An Orthodox Jew has more in common with an evangelical Christian than he or she does with a Reformed or Conservative (now quite “liberal”) Jew. The Orthodox Jews believe in the Tanakh, that is the Hebrew Scriptures, or what we, as Christians, call the Old Testament. Of course, we as Christians believe in both Testaments or Covenants.

 ABSENT FAITH LEADERS: If you are not oriented to understand religious groups, this might seem confusing. Reformed and Conservative – which in this case, ironically means “liberal” – American Jews tend not to support Israel. In addition, “mainstream” denominations – Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodists, etc. – tend not to support Israel. In fact, many of the Reformed and Conservative American Jews, along with “mainstream” denominations openly despise Israel.

 PEACE: What does this day mean? What does this signing mean? What does the Accord say? It is a call for peace. We all pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for all of Israel and the Middle East. As believers in Yeshua, we know that true and complete peace will not come until the coming of the Messiah. That does not mean, however, that we should not work for peace here and now – before He comes. In a sense, the Abraham Accord is an extension of our prayer for the peace of Jerusalem.

NOT WARRING: Critics of President Trump were quick to point out that Israel was not at war with the two countries involved – United Arab Emirates and Bahrain – thus the treaties are insignificant. That may be true, but the treaty opens up opportunities for collaborative efforts in “finance and investment, innovation, trade and economic relations, healthcare, science, technology… tourism, culture and sport, and energy, environment, and education.” This is quite remarkable.

  DETAILS: The key to any agreement is in the details and in the “working out” of those details. Those might not be fully known at this time. While we can likely be relieved that the Accords make no reference to Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem, the 1967 border or even a “Palestinian state,” we would have preferred that those issues would have been spelled out in specific ways that honor God’s covenant. Time will be an indicator of the unknown details.

ABRAHAM: It is interesting to note that the Accords are named after a man who lived 4,000 years ago. That is remarkable influence. However – and this is critical – who was Abraham? What did God tell him? This is key. God covenanted with Abraham to give him the land to the Jewish people, to become Israel, the very land that is disputed to this day. Therefore, any agreement in which the United States is involved needs to affirm the basic tenet that the land belongs to the Jews. It is important to understand that a covenant is not a contract. Contracts get broken. A covenant does not change – ever. There are several key covenants in the Scriptures. A couple of them have a “termination points.” Most of them don’t. Covenants cannot broken. If one tries, it will break the covenant-breaker. God’s covenant with Abraham is one of those.

  MULTI-GENERATIONAL: The covenant regarding the land was first made with Abraham in Genesis 15:18–21. It was later confirmed to his son Isaac in Genesis 26:3, afte which is was re-confirmed to Isaac's son Jacob in Genesis 28:13. The land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s descendants extends from the River of Egypt (the Nile) to the Euphrates river according to Exodus 23:31. Obviously this would include what is now Jordan and a major part of Egypt and Iraq, along with portions of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, etc. It is presumed that Israel will not control that large swath of land until the Messianic era. 

PALESTINE: The core of the dispute in the Middle East pertains to the Palestinians who live in what some wrongly call “the West Bank.” However, there is no such thing as a “Palestinian” people in ethnography. It was a word created by the Romans in 70AD after they crushed Jerusalem, killed most of the Jews and drove out those that remained. The word “Palestine” was a take-off of the word “Philistines,” the arch enemies of the Jews, intentionally chosen to “rub it in the face” of the Hebrews that their once precious land was now named for their enemies. The name stuck until modern times. Since the word, “Palestinian” is used to describe these people, we will use it in the next section. And most importantly, to be pro-Jewish or pro-Israel is not to be anti-the Palestinian people. God loves all people. So do we.

 PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: The Palestinian people suffer greatly. But it is not because of the Jews. It is because of the corrupt, violent and terroristic Palestinian Authority, the government in “the West Bank.” Massive sums of money are siphoned off from the common person, making their lives very difficult. Ironically, surveys indicated a very high percentage of Palestinians desire to be under Jewish rule – due to safety, commerce and jobs – as opposed to under the vile Palestinian Authority.

JUDEA AND SAMARIA: You have likely heard the phrase “the West Bank.” That is a phrase created to describe land west of the Jordan River. That is a made-up term. Biblically, there is no such area. The phrase was created when the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (now simply called Jordan) took control of the area in 1949, and held it until 1967 in what is called “The Six Day War.” The proper, historical and biblical names are Judea – south of Jerusalem – and Samaria – north of Jerusalem.

SETTLEMENTS: When you see the Palestinian Authority, or the United Nations, or liberal politicians objecting to Jews building “settlements,” it is a code word implying that the land does not belong to the Jews. The Jews are not “squatters,” taking the land of others. These are not “settlements.” They are “communities.” Furthermore, these areas form the spectacular Biblical Heartland of Israel where most of the scriptural accounts – the stories you cherish – are based. On a personal note, when people tour Israel, they always go to the Galilee and to Jerusalem. That is good. However, Samaria, and much of Judea (wrongly called “the West Bank”), are often missed. That is tragic. Having been to Israel 21 times (and my wife – 71 times), I would have to say that most of my favorite biblical sites are in Samaria, the disputed area.  

Bottom line: The Jews don’t occupy the land. They own it.

Arthur balfour

JERUSALEM: You often hear about the Muslim controlling the eastern portion of Jerusalem, and it being made a capitol of Palestine. In reality, according to the Bible, Jerusalem is the eternal and indivisible capitol of Israel. When you hear people say they want Jerusalem to be an “international” city, that is a code word for trying to divide Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians. Jerusalem is mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures about 600 times and in the New Covenant about 200 times, for a total of 800 times in our Bible. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran, the holy book of Islam.  

LEGAL BASIS: The legal right – in terms of human laws – for the Jews to claim Samaria and Judea as Jewish land is based on the Balfour Declaration of 1917 (named for British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour) and the San Remo Resolution (named for the city in Italy in which the conference took place) of April of 1920. Multiple nations agreed to the Jewish people having a homeland in the Middle East – then called Palestine.

  OIL: Britain originally led the charge for the proper treatment of the Jews…until…until oil was discovered in the Arab Muslim nations. The British Empire turned its back on the Jewish people, violated agreements, took 75% of the land and created Jordan (there is the “Two State Solution”). The Brits tried to keep Jews from returning to their potential homeland after they barely survived the concentration camps. They even built concentration camps inside of Palestine (as it was then called) to hold the Jewish people! The British Empire, in their betrayal of God’s covenant with the Jewish people, forfeited their blessing and their Empire collapsed. 

SOVEREIGNTY: This note extremely important. One of the key terms that has excited those who love God’s covenant with Israel is the term sovereignty. Both God’s divine Covenant and man’s legal agreements – the Balfour Declaration and the San Remo Resolution – assert that Israel has the right to exercise its sovereignty over - for starters – Judea and Samaria, as well as East Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley (the area along the Jordan River). We were on the verge of seeing Israel do exactly that until…until a convergence of things – including COVID-19, The U.S. Peace Deal, and the treaties with UAE and Bahrain – “suspended” the move towards sovereignty. A little more background: There are two ways that land changes ownership: (1) being purchased, or (2) in war. As noted above, Israel was devastated in the 60s and 70sAD by the Romans as they killed the Jews. The land was then called Palestine. Jumping ahead over 1,900 years and over many nations that controlled the land to the year of 1967, the Israel army miraculously won a war called “The Six Day War.” At the end of the war, Israel recaptured Samaria and Judea after Jordan invaded the Biblical Heartland in 1948. However, Israel never officially declared that land as their own. Finally, after a long wait, Israel was on the verge of declaring sovereignty over the land. They did not. It was “suspended,” and is still suspended today. This is reason for concern  

THE KOENIG VIEW: Bill Koenig, a former White House correspondent and author of many books on Israel, has studied the disastrous calamities that have hit the United States every time there has been discussion of “dividing the land of Israel.” H points out that “The Deal of the Century,” which included the Two-State Solution, that is, dividing the land, was announced on January 28, 2020. And then, everything changed.

Our nation ([USA] went into chaos. On January 31, the threat of COVID-19 was such that a China travel ban was instituted, followed by more travel bans. Businesses, schools and churches closed. The economy of the US went from its highest to its lowest. Unemployment, in a very short time, when from its lowest, to its highest. A police killing occurred in Minneapolis. Protests began, which turned into riots, complete with burning, looting, defacing and killings, and continue to this day. Pastors are being fined or threatened if they try to have services. Parents can’t get their schools to open. Businesses are declaring bankruptcy. Our national debt is skyrocketing. Our nation is horribly divided, in a type of “Uncivil War.” Meteorological patterns have been severe: hurricane (named “Sally” which is “Sarah” in Hebrew, wife of Abraham), flooding, severe heat, fires on the entire West Coast, and 14,000,000 million acres of Iowa corn and soybeans suddenly blown flat. Some ask if this pestilence and tumult is caused by the suggestion of “dividing the land." Joel 3 warns of the consequences of “dividing my land.” It is extremely important – in all decisions involving Israel – to never violate God’s covenant, or a high price will be paid.

FOREIGN MINISTERS: At the White House event, the Foreign Minister of United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan represented his country, represented His Highness Shikh Mohamed bin Zayed. Bahrain was represented by Foreign Minister Abjullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, who stood in for His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa. I never heard an explanation why the country’s Heads-of-State were not present. Clearly Israeli’s Prime Minister flew from eiddle East. I am unaware of whether or not the absence of the Heads-of-State or UAE and Bahrain is of significance or not. But it is worth noting.

 WRONG EXPECTATIONS: Two speeches were given from the Arab countries. Herein are the concerns. The UAE Foreign Minster thanked the Israeli Prime Minister for “halting the annexation of the Palestinian territories.” There are two things wrong with this: it is not “annexation.”

• One “annexes” that which belongs to someone else. Israel is not “annexing” anything. Israel is expressing legally-based sovereignty.

Secondly, it is not “Palestinian territory.” Not legally. Not biblically. As noted, this land was to be Israel’s in the Balfour Declaration and the San Remo Resolution, was taken by Jordan in war in 1949 and rightfully taken back by Israel in 1967. The second Arab speech was given by the Foreign Minister of Bahrain. He referred to the “Two State Solution.” As noted above, Israel already had 75% of its land taken in 1946 to form the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (now called Jordan). As is often said, “the devil is in the details.” Those two statements reasons for concern.

CONFLICTING VIEWS: One person in the Administration is quoted as saying that these treaties will “save the two-state solution” because it “stops Israel from further expanding its presence in the West Bank.” We pray that this horrific quote is not accurate. In contrast, another person in the Administration has assured people with our concerns that the quote is not factual reality. May he be correct.

 THE INDICATOR: To the extent that the Abraham Accords are in conformity with God’s covenant with Abraham, blessings will come upon us all. However, to the extent that any portions of the Accords would have been in violation of God’s covenant, peril would await.

SUMMARY: As noted, President Trump is a man who wants to do what is right. He is to be congratulated for this profound accomplishment. He has been the most pro-Israel, pro-Jewish president ever. Let it not be lost that the speeches were given from the “Truman Balcony” of the White House.

Why is that significant? President Harry Truman was the President who recognized Israel’s independence on May 14, 1948 at 6:11pm, a most significant affirmation.

These two Presidents have played a profound role for Israel – God’s special land. One was a True-Man (Truman) on the issue of Israel.

The other sounded the TRUMP-et for Israel.

 I praise God for President Trump and his brilliant leadership in support of Israel.

Jim Garlow, CEO of Well Versed