As 2014 drew towards a close, hostilities in Gaza had subsided, but not ceased entirely. Attention then turned to a war of words. The Palestinian Authority submitted to the United Nations a draft proposal on a possible peace deal between Israel and Palestine seeking end to Israeli "occupation" by 2017. The draft calls for a negotiated peace agreement based on parameters such as the 1967 borders. It recommends Jerusalem as the shared capital of the two states. The proposal makes considerable demands and offers little in return.
There was not even agreement amongst Palestinians on the wording of the draft, with jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti accusing Abbas' government of making 'unjustified concessions' on Palestinian rights, criticizing the idea of land swaps with Israel, saying it would legitimize Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Senior Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said that not all Palestinian factions had reached a consensus on the draft resolution and that it "leaves many loopholes." See...
 
Abbas threatened withdrawal of cooperation with Israel should the proposal fail, but it is difficult to see much current cooperation.
 
Nine votes were needed to adopt a resolution in the council, which would then force the United States, Israel's closest ally, to decide whether to veto it. In the event, the necessary number of votes was not reached, and the option of veto was irrelevant. See...
 
Following this failure, which some observers regard as a publicity stunt, expected to fail, the Palestinians are seeking membership of the International Criminal Court in an effort to gain recognition as a state and to prosecute Israel for war crimes. Commentators are of the opinion that the Palestinians have more to fear from membership if they are accepted.
 
It has been pointed out that there are obstacles to success in the ultimate objective of prosecution of Israel. See...
 
The ICC Prosecutor must first recognize Palestine as a full member
    
The Palestinians can only raise complaints concerning individual Israeli soldiers and leaders, not the nation of Israel
    
The ICC Prosecutor decides whether to proceed based on the complaint, and only if it is shown that Israel refuses to or is unable to investigate itself. Israel has already ordered 13 investigations into the Gaza war
    
It is the ICC Prosecutor, not the complainant, who decides whether to indict, and only if there is sufficient evidence beyond reasonable doubt
    
Israel is not a party to the ICC and could choose not to give its citizens or evidence over for trials
    
The Palestinians cannot file complaints relating to any date before November 29, 2012, when the UN General Assembly recognized Palestine; and Israel, if it joined the ICC, could not file complaints relating to any date earlier than July 1, 2002, the effective start date of the ICC
 
One fact both sides of the conflict overlook is that the land is not theirs to demand or give away...

The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine [God’s]; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me [God]. [Leviticus 25:23]

It is God who determines the occupants of the land, who gave Israel occupation of it after their exodus from Egypt, who threw them out by the Romans after they had rejected and slain His only begotten Son, who ensured that Israel would be reconstituted a nation in the land of their fathers and who has promised that Israel will dwell safely in the land when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to establish God’s Kingdom on earth.
 
The enemies of Israel have always sought their extermination, and failing that, their persecution...

A Song or Psalm of Asaph. » Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. [Psalm 83:1-4]
 
On the last day of 2014, a ‘cutting off’ of a different kind hit the news. A map publishing company has printed an atlas for English speakers in the Middle East which omits Israel, and shows Syria and Jordan reaching to the Mediterranean coast. The company is quoted as saying that including Israel in its Collins Primary Geography Atlas For The Middle East would have been ‘unacceptable’ to their customers in the Gulf and that leaving Israel off the maps incorporated ‘local preferences’. See...

After a storm of protests from both Christian and Jewish quarters, the company apologised, and promised to withdraw the atlas from sale everywhere and pulp remaining stock, no doubt fearing that doing otherwise would have jeopardised its reputation and market. See...
 
These are but examples of the increasing hostility Israel is facing as the day draws ever nearer when the prophecies become reality and Israel dwells safely, rescued from what seems inevitable destruction, and becomes the centre of integrated world government and religion, in God’s land. Read all of Zechariah 14, and see the outcome of Israel’s troubles.
 
Our situation in that day depends on our attitude and actions now, while there is yet time.