Hudhaifa
18-12-03, 18:22
Pat Robertson Warns Israel Against Allowing Palestinian State
Herzliya, Israel (CNSNews.com) - American conservative Christian leader Dr. Pat Robertson warned Israel on Wednesday against agreeing to political initiatives with the Palestinians and especially allowing the establishment of a Palestinian state. Surrendering their ancient Biblical claim to the land, he said, would be tantamount to committing suicide.
Robertson, who is founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Va., and host of the internationally syndicated 700 Club, is part of the large conservative Christian movement, which ardently supported Bush during the last presidential election.
But since then, Bush became the first U.S. president to ever formally call for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, which millions of Christians as well as Jews believe God promised to the Jewish people as an eternal inheritance in the land of Judea and Samaria.
Robertson warned Israel against agreeing to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"Please don't commit national suicide," Robertson told Israelis at the Herzliya Conference on the Balance of Israel's National Security on Wednesday.
"I hardly find it necessary to remind this audience of the stated objectives of Yasser Arafat, the PLO, Hamas, Hizballah, and the Islamic Jihad. Their goal is not peace, but the final destruction of the State of Israel," Robertson said in a speech that was punctuated by applause from some of the conference participants.
"At no time do they, or their allies in the Muslim world, acknowledge the sovereignty of Israel over even one square inch of territory in the Middle East," Robertson said.
"If a Palestinian State is created in the heart of Israel with sovereign power to deploy troops, import modern weapons - even weapons of mass destruction - and operate with full secrecy and diplomatic immunity, the ability of the State of Israel to defend itself will be fatally compromised," Robertson said.
Robertson urged Israel to say "no" to the rest of the world if it feels that its national interests are being compromised.
Convulsed By Religious Struggle
According to Robertson, Israel's current struggle as well as the struggle in the world is not over land or culture or money but is rather a struggle between Islam and the Judeo-Christian world.
"Make no mistake about it - the entire world is being convulsed by a religious struggle. The fight is not about money or territory; it is not about poverty versus wealth; it is not about ancient customs versus modernity," the Christian leader said.
"No - the struggle is whether...Allah, is Supreme, or whether the Judeo-Christian Jehovah God of the Bible is Supreme," Robertson said.
But Robertson said that giving up Biblical land for Israel would be giving Islam the victory over the God of the Bible.
"If God's chosen people turn over to Allah control of their most sacred sites - if they surrender to Muslim vandals the tombs of Rachel, of Joseph, of the Patriarchs, of the ancient prophets - if they believe their claim to the Holy Land comes only from Lord Balfour of England and the ever fickle United Nations rather than the promises of Almighty God - then in that event, Islam will have won the battle," Robertson said.
(Lord Balfour wrote the Balfour declaration in 1917, which promised the Jewish people a homeland in what was then called Palestine.)
Robertson charged that political initiatives that promise peace will only "guarantee unending struggle and ultimate failure."
Herzliya, Israel (CNSNews.com) - American conservative Christian leader Dr. Pat Robertson warned Israel on Wednesday against agreeing to political initiatives with the Palestinians and especially allowing the establishment of a Palestinian state. Surrendering their ancient Biblical claim to the land, he said, would be tantamount to committing suicide.
Robertson, who is founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Va., and host of the internationally syndicated 700 Club, is part of the large conservative Christian movement, which ardently supported Bush during the last presidential election.
But since then, Bush became the first U.S. president to ever formally call for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, which millions of Christians as well as Jews believe God promised to the Jewish people as an eternal inheritance in the land of Judea and Samaria.
Robertson warned Israel against agreeing to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"Please don't commit national suicide," Robertson told Israelis at the Herzliya Conference on the Balance of Israel's National Security on Wednesday.
"I hardly find it necessary to remind this audience of the stated objectives of Yasser Arafat, the PLO, Hamas, Hizballah, and the Islamic Jihad. Their goal is not peace, but the final destruction of the State of Israel," Robertson said in a speech that was punctuated by applause from some of the conference participants.
"At no time do they, or their allies in the Muslim world, acknowledge the sovereignty of Israel over even one square inch of territory in the Middle East," Robertson said.
"If a Palestinian State is created in the heart of Israel with sovereign power to deploy troops, import modern weapons - even weapons of mass destruction - and operate with full secrecy and diplomatic immunity, the ability of the State of Israel to defend itself will be fatally compromised," Robertson said.
Robertson urged Israel to say "no" to the rest of the world if it feels that its national interests are being compromised.
Convulsed By Religious Struggle
According to Robertson, Israel's current struggle as well as the struggle in the world is not over land or culture or money but is rather a struggle between Islam and the Judeo-Christian world.
"Make no mistake about it - the entire world is being convulsed by a religious struggle. The fight is not about money or territory; it is not about poverty versus wealth; it is not about ancient customs versus modernity," the Christian leader said.
"No - the struggle is whether...Allah, is Supreme, or whether the Judeo-Christian Jehovah God of the Bible is Supreme," Robertson said.
But Robertson said that giving up Biblical land for Israel would be giving Islam the victory over the God of the Bible.
"If God's chosen people turn over to Allah control of their most sacred sites - if they surrender to Muslim vandals the tombs of Rachel, of Joseph, of the Patriarchs, of the ancient prophets - if they believe their claim to the Holy Land comes only from Lord Balfour of England and the ever fickle United Nations rather than the promises of Almighty God - then in that event, Islam will have won the battle," Robertson said.
(Lord Balfour wrote the Balfour declaration in 1917, which promised the Jewish people a homeland in what was then called Palestine.)
Robertson charged that political initiatives that promise peace will only "guarantee unending struggle and ultimate failure."