Quote: "He continued that the meetings between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Olmert and negotiations conducted by the Palestinian negotiating team and Israel, which said it addressed the issues of the final stage has resulted in the agreement "and the demand for clarification, said that both sides refrain from talking about it openly, referring to the That it is the other take the same position not disclosed.

Personally, I don't know how much stock to put in this announcement. I do believe both sides are close to an agreement, but the Israeli and Palestinian Authority negotiators have stated that "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed". This news does follow recent positive statements made by President Bush, hailing the progress made in the talks. Bush met with Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas on Friday for what is expected to be the last time during his presidency. One year ago President Bush launched the Annapolis peace process with the goal of establishing a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem before the end of his term in office. In his latest statement he praised the 'irreversibility' of the Middle East peace process, a process that many Christians believe will result in the fulfilment of ancient prophecies that the Bible foretold were to occur during the last days. 

Quote: "Speaking on Friday after what is likely to be his final official meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, Bush said: "People must recognise that we have made a good deal of progress." Bush acknowledged that the Middle East peace talks were a difficult but "irreversible" process, and said that Abbas had "done a lot of important and hard work in helping the region understand the importance of two states living side by side in peace". "I was pleased to note that the United Nation's Security Council passed a resolution which confirms that the bilateral negotiation process is irreversible and it is a path to a Palestinian state and a path to peace in the Middle East," he added. 

It's difficult to know what will happen over the next few weeks. This past few months I have felt as if, prophetically, everything has been put on hold so to speak. Very little appears to be happening in relation to the peace process at present. A couple of years ago we witnessed the efforts by the international community to establish a Palestinian unity government, with the goal of bringing about a peace agreement between Israel and the Arabs. I thought this could have been it, but the unity government quickly collapsed, and along with it any real chance for peace. This year we have witnessed another seeming 'false alarm'. Bush's efforts to bring about the establishment of a Palestinian state have failed, largely thanks to the Palestinians themselves. But President Bush is right about one thing, this process is irreversible. For the Bible predicts that a ruler of the revived Roman Empire will come, and he will strengthen an agreement that will see God's land re-divided for a three and a half year period (Daniel 11:39, Zechariah 11:2, 14:2, Revelation 12:2). It will happen. But the division of the land will not bring peace. As you can see from today's news, the time of fulfilment for these prophecies is drawing near. I personally believe that those who have trusted in Christ for salvation must leave this planet before such an agreement can be put in place. For the one who will strengthen the agreement will be the Antichrist himself, and I believe the working of the Holy Spirit through the Church is what hinders his arrival (2nd Thessalonians 2:7-8). That may be the reason why, despite everybody's efforts, peace has not yet been found. The question is, are you ready to meet God? Don't be looking for a peace agreement in the Middle East to appear before deciding to trust Christ for salvation. You may just be too late. Today is the day of salvation (2nd Corinthians 6:2). Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31).

Source Al Quds, Al Jazeera