From the Desk of Jeff King

View from Jerusalem

Jerry Golden exposes the reckless foreign policy of the Bush administration toward Israel in his article, The Truth Keeps Coming Out. He says the disengagement plan to expel 8,000 Jews from their Gaza homes by force – endorsed by George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon – will throw the Jewish state into chaos and endanger its very existence. But Golden, a Messianic Jew living in Jerusalem, believes the plan conflicts with God's promises and ultimately is doomed to failure:

"And if you think this will be bad wait until Sharon and Bush push to force nearly 300,000 Jews from their homes in Samaria and Judea, we are then talking about the possible end of Israel, as we now know it. But then we are not considering the one who really counts in this land and that is the One who calls this His land. For He has a plan and if I am not mistaken He is not happy with all of this insanity. Somehow Bush, Sharon and (Palestinian leader Mahmoud) Abbas will be stopped, for I know Israel will not be destroyed. . . . If you watched that news conference as I did (Bush embraced Abbas as a courageous reformer at the White House on May 26) you saw President Bush totally uncomfortable with having to answer questions, because he knows how terribly wrong he is, but he is a man who has backed himself into a corner with no way out."

Addendum – More than 100 Americans, including eight Baptist pastors and a New York senator, are spending three days living and working with residents of Gush Katif, the largest block of Jewish settlements targeted for evacuation. The purpose was to show solidarity with Jews and protest Israel's withdrawl from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, according to WorldNetDaily. Said Pastor Jim Vineyard of Oklahoma City, "We must stand here together and fight. The road map plan violates the Torah. . . . I am a Christian. I normally don't curse. But all Jews in Israel should tell Bush and his road map to go to hell." Gush Katif, located in the southern Gaza Strip, is populated mostly by Torah-believing Jews.

Addendum II – Dr. Richard Booker, a Christian, treats WorldWatchDaily readers to a tour of Gush Katif. His report is appropriately titled, Oasis in the desert. Meanwhile, tensions over the disengagement plan are escalating. Reuters reported June 30 that Israel had declared the Jewish settlements in Gaza a closed military zone. It sealed off a Gush Katif hotel where protesting Jews have gathered to resist a planned August withdrawl. A few months ago, Jewish investigative reporter Barry Chamish wrote on his website, "The battle for Israel begins." Now would be a good time for Christians to consider end-time prophecy and Yeshua's command to watch and pray (Mark 13:33).