Though the office of ECI is closed this time of the year we still try to keep you updated about the most recent developments with regards to a possible unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state in September.

These are the recent developments.

- The Arab league recommended last week that the Palestinians go ahead with the planned UN vote in September and will work behind the scenes to convince other UN member states to accept a resolution.

- The UN Security Council meeting on 26th of July did not give any clarity as to if the Palestinians will present their request at the UN General Assembly meeting which starts on 13th September.

- The key meeting now seems to be tomorrow Thursday 28th July when the Palestinians are said to reveal their plans for September.

The stakes are high in this political theatre which includes threats and counter threats. We may very well face a situation when nobody knows for sure what the Palestinians will do before they arrive in New York on 13th of September. It is, however, clear that US would veto such a unilateral declaration in the Security Council and the US Congress would stop their funding of the Palestinian authority. The Europeans are divided and a unilateral declaration would hurt Palestinian relations to a number of key EU member states.

Please pray for clarity and courage for those countries who are still sitting on the fence and are undecided so that they can come out in support for truth and justice.

Please pray that the Palestinian declaration is delayed or stopped and that they return to the negotiating table so that the important information about Israel’s legal and historical rights can be presented to governments and parliaments around the world.

Arab league is meeting to discuss unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state at the UN in September

I have just been informed by diplomatic sources that the Arab league is currently in meetings. One of the agenda items is Palestinian statehood. Whatever conclusion or recommendation that they can come out with today will be closely watched by the Palestinian authority who will then have to make up their mind about how to proceed with their plans. It may now be a matter of weeks, if not days, before a decision will have to be made.

As the Arab block is trying to reach unity in coming against the plans and purposes of God I would suggest that you pray for confusion and disunity.

Also in Europe a similar battle is currently going on between the member states of the European Union. As the Middle East Quartet (EU, UN, Russia, USA) was unable to issue any statements from their meeting in Washington on Monday they will now try to work privately and behind the scenes to find unity.

Please pray for courage and clarity among the friends of Israel in Europe. At this point Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Czech, Romania and Bulgaria have indicated that they will stand with Israel at the UN in September.

Please pray for the moral minority in Europe that it will become a moral majority in time for the vote in New York.

Personally I am praying for more time to prepare and get the message out to the leaders of the nations and that any attempt by the enemy to bring things to a conclusion prematurely will be stopped.

Thank you for your partnership in prayer!

This month may turn out to be a very important one for Israel. It is not only the Gaza flotilla that will try to intimidate and threaten Israeli security. Far away from the borders of Israel decisions will be made which will affect the future of Israel and Jerusalem.
 
On 11 July the Quartet ( UN, EU, USA and Russia ) will be meeting in Washingon D.C to discuss the current stalemate in the Middle East peace process and the Palestinian bid for statehood in September. On 26 July also the United Nation Security Council, chaired by Germany, will meet to discuss what to do with the expected unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state.
 
At both meetings the objective is to try to prevent a unilateral declaration by asking the Israeli government for concessions. It seems as if the international community is asking Israel for exactly the same things as the Palestinians are  trying to a achieve by a unilateral declaration, namely a return to the 1967 lines and a giving up East Jerusalem (including the Old City)
 
Please pray for the word leaders  at these two important meetings. Please pray that they will realize how unrealistic and vicious their demands on Israel are. Please pray that the leaders will wake up from their slumber of appeasement.

Thank you for signing up to the call to pray for a united Jerusalem and for reading this blog. Here we will update you on events related to the UN vote in September about Palestinian statehood and here we will also give you some insights in to how to pray for Jerusalem at this critical time.
 
This first post is being written in Paris where we are currently meeting with leaders to discuss the legal rights for the Jewish people. In the next few days we will be in London hosting a symposium about the conflicting legal claims to Jerusalem under International law. Please would you pray that the message about the Biblical, historical and legal rights of the Jewish people to Jerusalem would be heard loud and clear. Thank you.