NEW BORDERS NEXT YEAR IN ISRAEL – PERHAPS!
Supplement to Archive Update 65C
September 10, 2005
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
The security barrier around the West Bank is scheduled to be finished in 2006, but I rather suspect it will not be completed until early 2007.
It will be the new border for the Palestinian state inside Israel, as will be the security barrier around the Gaza Strip, and any connecting routes between them. The following article by Aluf Benn is from Ha’aretz. It gives an excellent overview of anticipated future activities involving the completed security barrier.
The Palestinians, and their many associated terror groups, will keep on screaming for more territory, even after the security barrier is completed, but once it is in place, that’s it, and a border will have been established by Israel whether the Palestinians like it or not.
This is the only way that a mindset of “peace and safety” can be established among the Israeli population. They will only develop such a mindset by believing they can maintain it by their own expertise and power.
Israel will have its cities and villages on the outside of the great wall, but the Palestinian cities and villages will be enclosed by the wall, living inside it. The cities and villages of Israel will be unwalled toward the north to the Arab nations of the Middle East and, after the mindset of “peace and security” has settled in as national confidence, the following prophecy will be fulfilled.
It could occur as early
as 2007, but it will eventually be fulfilled.
Ezekiel 38:8-11 – After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. [9] Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with
thee. [10] Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: [11] And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
BEGIN HA’ARETZ ARTICLE
Crossings between Israel, PA to Function as Int’l Border
By Aluf Benn – HA’ARETZ
The lines between Israel and are gradually taking on the look of an international border, with the implementation of the pullout from the Gaza Strip and the continued construction of the separation fence in the West Bank.
Israel is preparing for the creation of an extensive system of border crossings and terminals for the passage of people and goods. When it is completed, it will consist of 33 crossing points between Israel and the West Bank and two or three between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has already directed Interior Minister Ophir Pines-Paz to designate formally the Erez and Karni crossings in Gaza as “border terminals.”
If the plans are realized, the crossings will function as border terminals in every respect, with civilian employees operating the facilities for the Israel Airports Authority and goods being examined with high-tech devices. The international funding that Israel is seeking for the project would give foreign organizations some say in the location and operation of the facilities.
As they develop,
the new border arrangements deepen the separation between Israel and the territories, regardless of any diplomatic arrangements.
The arrangements along the borders will go a long way in determining the nature of the future relationship between Israel and the PA and in determining whether the Gaza Strip can develop an independent economy. In the West Bank, the transfer of responsibility for the border crossings to civilian Palestinian hands will mark the end of a major symbol of Israeli control – the military crossings and checkpoints.
Negotiations have been taking place for several months between Israel, the PA and international bodies over the future border arrangements. This week, James Wolfensohn, the Quartet’s disengagement envoy, forged a compromise over the operation of the Gaza-Egypt crossing.
The planning and negotiations are currently being carried out by a team within the Defense Ministry, but this week Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that the project would be handed over to Vice Premier Shimon Peres once the withdrawal from Gaza is completed.
Trade between Israel and the Palestinians will center around four crossings: Karni and Erez for the Gaza Strip and Sha’ar Ephraim and Tarqumiya for the West Bank. All four are on the Green Line. Two new, large crossings are planned near Jerusalem, at the entrances to Ramallah and Bethlehem respectively, but construction is being delayed by international opposition.
According to the agreement reached this week over the Gaza Strip crossings, Egypt will announce the closure of the Rafah crossing for six months, for renovations. People will use the new terminal at Kerem Shalom starting next week, under Israeli control, while goods
will go through the Nitzana terminal. After the renovations, which will include
the installation of high-tech security devices, travelers will cross at Rafah, under the watchful eye of European border agents.
The Karni crossing is the bottleneck of the Gazan economy. Currently, 40-50 trucks pass through the crossing daily. Israeli security demands require that all goods be transfered from Palestinian to Israeli trucks at the crossing. The Palestinians want to increase the traffic of goods. Two large truck-scanning machines will be installed in the Fall of 2006, but until then the slow trickle
of goods will continue.
Israel is making improvements at the Erez crossing, building a new terminal for pedestrian traffic and a cargo terminal intended mainly to service the local industrial area. The Palestinians have refused to cooperate or discuss the arrangements at Erez, saying that it is located in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory.
A senior international figure involved in the dispute said that a solution is imminent.
The construction of the separation fence in the West Bank is scheduled to be completed next year.
If everything works out as planned, the new crossings will play an important role in creating a boundary between Palestinians and Israelis. The lessons learned in negotiating the new border with Gaza will furnish a basis for the border arrangements between Israel and the West Bank.
END HA’ARETZ ARTICLE