The Arab officials who are negotiating an agreement with Israeli PM Olmert have made it clear that they will not accept any final peace arrangement with Israel unless the Jewish state forfeit's the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site.
A spokesperson for Israeli PM Olmert said the PM's office had no comment; however, an Israeli newspaper is reporting that Olmert is willing to discus joint Israeli-Arab control over the Temple Mount compound. A chief Arab negotiator said there will be no peace agreement with Israel unless the Arabs have complete sovereignty over the Temple Mount, then the Arabs will make assurances for Jewish visits to the site.
Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News
An Israeli government that is willing to give up any portion of the Temple Mount is in contradiction to God's plan for this sacred spot according to Bible prophecy.
After the Six Day War in 1967, the Israeli government gave up custodial rights to the Temple Mount to an Islamic Trust. Even though the Jewish people control the Temple Mount, Judaism's most holy site, the Israelis thought it a strategic diplomatic move to give control to the Moslems; however, Israel does still have sovereignty over the site. With word that the present Israeli government is willing to give up sovereignty over the Temple Mount and the Arabs demanding that they do so in order to get a peace agreement, the stage is set for the prophetic scenario found in Bible prophecy to unfold.
God has chosen the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as the place where He will dwell among the Jewish people forever, Psalm 132:13-14. Jesus, in a pre-incarnate appearance before Zechariah, told the ancient Jewish prophet that He would return to Jerusalem and build His temple on the Temple Mount, Zechariah 1:16, 6:12. Zechariah also said that Jerusalem, and in particular the Temple Mount, would be a place of controversy at the time of the End, Zechariah 12:2.
