Thirty years of U.S. history shows a striking correlation between pushing Israel into “land for peace” deals and disasters befalling the U.S.
Identifying Judgment within the Historical Records
As I discussed in my last post, the land of Israel polarizes the entire world.
The Bible is clear that God promised the land as an “everlasting possession” to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac. While God exiled the Jews because they forsook His covenant, God’s covenant is everlasting, and He promised He would bring their descendants back to the land.
Yet, most of the world rejects this truth about the land of Israel and thus opposes God’s covenant. How can a person, state, or nation openly oppose one of God’s core covenants and expect blessings? Such rebellion can only result in judgment.
And no nation has as strong of an influence on Israel as the U.S., its largest backer. For this reason, the U.S.’s efforts to broker land for peace exchanges have resulted in severe consequences to the U.S.
God’s judgments can take many forms, including natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires. Natural disasters affect the land and the populations’ ability to remain on that land. This consequence makes natural disasters a suitable chastisement to the U.S. for pushing Israel to surrender its covenanted land.
But in this cursed world, natural disasters are commonplace. So, how do we discern which disasters are a result of specific judgment for our transgressions?
I examined three qualifiers for each of these events to determine if the disaster was likely a judgment.
- Timing of the events – Did the disaster occur in close proximity to the transgression that may have triggered it.
- Nature of the events – Did the punishment fit the crime?
- Prominence of the events – Was the disaster historic and was it scaled to the transgression?
History of Israel’s Land for Peace Deals and U.S. Disasters
For thus says the Lord of hosts, “After glory, He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple [pupil] of His eye. For behold, I will wave My hand over them so that they will be plunder for their slaves.” – Zechariah 2:8-9
Over the past 30 years, the U.S. has pressured Israel to surrender land in exchange for peace many times. The following events are not an exhaustive list but capture some of the most significant and convincing events.
Before starting, I want to give credit to John P. McTernan, who wrote, As America Has Done to Israel. Many of the events listed below through 2012 were included in his book. I also want to give credit to Ariel Nathan Pasko, a writer for Israel365, who authored articles such as Hurricane Katrina, Harvey, and the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process. Though these resources provided a good starting point, I researched each event myself, evaluated it based on the three criteria listed above, and obtained data directly from other sources.
Jump to Sections of this Post
This is a long post examining 30 years of history. For easy navigation, I included links to jump to a topic and then jump back to this index.
Index
George Bush’s Push for Peace Becomes Personal
Bill Clinton Takes a New Approach and Suffers Consequences
George W. Bush’s Pre-1967 Road Map for Peace Leads to Major Disasters
President Obama Fails to Leave a Legacy with Israel: Did this Avert Disaster?
President Trump: Israel’s Most Supportive President… But Makes Costly Error
Biden’s Pressure on Israel Leads to Unprecedented Disasters
George Bush’s Push for Peace Becomes Personal
Since Israel and Egypt signed a peace agreement in 1979, there had been little progress towards advancing peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Although the Egyptian peace treaty did not involve the Palestinians, it set a precedent for Israel exchanging land for peace. This precedent would form the basis of President George H. W. Bush’s renewed efforts to revive the peace process stalled for over a decade.
October 1991 – the Madrid Conference – Peace in Exchange for Israel’s Land
In March 1991, President George Bush (Sr.) declared to Congress, “The time has come to put an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.” He set out to negotiate peace with Israel’s Arab neighbors in exchange for control of Gaza and the West Bank. This effort culminated in the Madrid Conference from October 30th – November 4th of that year.
On the same day that the Madrid conference started, the “Perfect Storm” initially formed off Nova Scotia. It lasted until November 3rd, creating the largest waves ever recorded in that region. In defiance of normal weather patterns that move from east to west across the U.S., this storm traveled 1,000 miles from east to west.
The event was so extraordinary, it became the backdrop for the bestselling book and movie of the same name. The initial Noreaster swallowed up the remains of Hurricane Grace (a sign in itself) and became the twelfth and final tropical cyclone of 1991. Biblically twelve represent perfection in government, tying the divine (3) and the earthly (4) (3×4=12).
As a sign of judgment, the storm traveled 1,000 miles in the opposite direction to slam President Bush’s home on the coast of Maine with 30-foot waves, causing extensive damage.
August 1992 – The Madrid Conference Comes to the U.S.
Five more rounds of talks were held in Washington DC between December and April continuing discussions regarding Palestinian self-rule as initially agreed on November 4th. But in June the Israeli Labor Party government rose to power, led by Yitzhak Rabin, and promised a rapid conclusion to the Israeli-Palestinian agreement.
On August 24th, they convened the same day that category 5 Hurricane Andrew hit southwest Florida. Andrew proved to be one of the deadliest and costly hurricanes in Florida’s history.
Bill Clinton Takes a New Approach and Suffers Consequences
The next U.S. President, Bill Clinton, did not initially make peace between Israel and the Palestinians a priority. He and his advisors believe a more achievable plan would come through Syria. They reasoned that Israel would find it more palatable to exchange the Golan Heights to Syria for peace. This would in turn lead to other peace negotiations. Although Clinton hosted the parties to the Oslo I Accord and hosted the Jordanian King for the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty, he did not play a major role in either negotiations.
January 1994 – Bill Clinton Meets with Assad
On January 16th, 1994, President Clinton met with Syria’s President Assad in Geneva. The meeting laid the groundwork for Israel to give up the Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for peace. (Today, the Golan Heights are a critical barrier between Israel and Syria and the Iranian proxies that operate there.) Few articles appear in the searches today published on that date with the exception of the Los Angeles Times. The article excessively praised Clinton and described great expectations with a headline of Syria Trumpets Clinton-Assad Talks as Epic.
Overnight, the Northridge earthquake, which registered a 6.7 on the Richter scale hit Los Angeles. The earthquake was the costliest in U.S. history with an estimated $20 billion in damage, leaving 57 people killed and over 5,000 injured. It was the most costly natural disaster to hit the country until Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Interestingly, the earthquake had two effects; raising the Santa Susanna Mountains by a foot while dropping the San Fernando Valley upon which Los Angeles sits. The rise of one land and fall of the other appears to have been a message for the U.S. not to get involved in Israel’s land.
September 1998 – Clinton Renews Efforts to Restart Peace Process
After the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Hamas terrorist attacks followed and the people elected Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister. President Clinton was concerned that the peace process would collapse and decided to actively participate in the negotiations.
On September 26th, 1998, Clinton hosted Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to restart the peace process, which had stalled for a year and a half. The announcement came out on the 28th that they were working on a deal by which Israeli troops would withdraw from another 13% of the West Bank in exchange for security guarantees from Arafat. This understanding began a process that resulted in the Wye River Accords in October.
On September 28th, as Arafat addressed the United Nations, category 4 Hurricane Georges made landfall in Mississippi. It was the costliest hurricane since Hurricane Andrew causing extensive damage in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the mainland U.S. ($6B). One week later, the House Judiciary Committee announced it would consider a resolution to begin an impeachment inquiry against President Clinton.
May 1999 – Expiration of Olso Accord Deadline
Arafat said he would declare a Palestinian state unilaterally on May 4th, 1999. This was the deadline set in the 1994 Gaza-Jericho Agreement for completing the permanent status talks. On the 3rd and 4th, the U.S. experienced multiple supercell storms producing 74 tornadoes. These storms produced the largest outbreak ever experienced in Oklahoma and the fastest tornado wind speeds ever recorded. The tornadoes killed forty-six people in Oklahoma and Kansas, injured 800, and damaged or destroyed more than 8,000 homes. The total damage estimate was $1.2 billion.
Later that month, Prime Minister Netanyahu lost to Ehud Barak. The Wye River Memorandum was suspended.
September 1999 – The Wye II Agreement
While it received far less attention than the first Wye River Memorandum, the Wye II agreement process started On September 13th, 1999. On this day, Israel and the Palestinian Authority began final talks ordained six years earlier by the Oslo I Accords.
On this same day, Hurricane Floyd intensified rapidly, with sustained winds increasing from 110 mph to 155 mph (Cat. 5) and pressure dropping to 921 millibars. This hurricane was massive, extending 580 miles across (2x the typical size) with hurricane-force winds extending out 150 miles. It was one of the strongest storms to threaten the eastern coast of the United States. Though the storm weakened before landfall, the rainfall caused massive flooding, and hydrologists labeled it as a 500-year flood. The $6b in estimated damages included major impacts on livestock.
George W. Bush’s Pre-1967 Road Map for Peace Leads to Major Disasters
George W. Bush seemed driven to finish things his father hadn’t finished such as the war in Iraq. Just as he pushed for an ill-advised Iraqi War, he also pushed for his peace plan in Israel. The U.S. suffered major consequences as a result of Bush’s coercion.
September 2001 – Bush Prepares to Recognize Palestinian State under Pre-1967 Borders
Within days of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration prepared to recognize Palestine and push Israel to accept pre-1967 borders. Could God have allowed the attack on America because of Bush’s plan? See the post On the Eve of 9/11, was Bush was about to Recognize a Palestinian State under pre-1967 Borders? to explore this question.
April 2002 – Bush Pressures Israel
During the second Palestinian intifada, after numerous terrorist attacks, Israel launched an offense into Gaza. They confined Arafat to his Ramallah compound with tanks and armored personnel carriers. But under intense pressure from George Bush on the 28th, Ariel Sharon backed down from his previous position and ended Arafat’s confinement.
That same day, a rare F4 tornado struck La Plata, Maryland (25mi south of D.C.). The storm originated in West Virginia and as it crossed the Potomac it “rapidly changed its character,” strengthening significantly. Not only are F4 tornadoes rare in the Mid-Atlantic but even rarer was that its location was “well outside of the climatologically favored area of the country for violent tornadoes.”
May 2003 – Colin Powell Promotes “Road Map for Peace”
On April 30th, 2003, the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia drafted the “road map for peace.” The plan From May 4th through May 11th Colin Powell toured the Middle East.
These exact dates also marked a stretch of a massive tornado outbreak across the U.S. during which more than a dozen tornadoes struck each day with one or more tornadoes in 26 different states. This outbreak caused 41 fatalities, 642 injuries, and approximately $829 million dollars of property damage. The outbreak marked the most tornadoes ever reported in a week (334) and contributed to the monthly total being more than any previous month in history at that time.
August – September 2004
In July, Colin Powell stated his disappointment over Israel not withdrawing from settlements under the road map for peace. This included removing 7,500 Jewish settlers from 21 Gaza settlements and 500 settlers from four West Bank settlements. The President also wanted to remove security roadblocks, limit new construction, and release hundreds of millions of dollars of frozen Palestinian funds. On August 7th Bush sent Elliot Abrams to Israel to demand progress.
Over six weeks, an unprecedented four major hurricanes hit Florida, two of which occurred on Jewish holy days. While Bush pushed to evacuate Jews from their homes the hurricanes forced over 9.2 million Americans to evacuate their homes. The total damage from these four storms was estimated to be over $43 billion. Here is a summary of the four storms:
- August 13th – With Abrams in Israel pressuring to remove settlements, Charley strikes Florida destroying 10,000 homes and damaging another 16,000. According to NOAA, Charley was rare because it itensified to a category 4 just before making landfall. Usually storms do just the opposite.
- September 5th – With Hurricane Frances churning as a Cat. 4 hurricane in the Carribean, Ariel Sharon announced the accelateration of evaculations in Gaza on August 30th.
- September 15th – Hurricane Ivan hits the Florida panhandle on Rosh Hashanah.
- September 25th – On September 21st, President Bush reiterates to the UN his policy for Israel to “impose a settlement freeze, dismantle unauthorized outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people.” At this time Hurricane Jeanne, which was headed east, away from the U.S., changed course, performing a clockwise loop and headed west toward Florida. Jeanne hit Florida on Yom Kippur, the day of repentance, the holiest day in Judaism.
August 2005 – Gaza Evacuations Produce Record Evacuations and Destruction in U.S.
In August 2005, the U.S. was about to pay a big price for pushing the road map to peace. At the questioning of a reporter about the Gaza pullout President Bush praised Sharon on August 23rd for his “courageous decision to withdraw from the Gaza.” (minute 4:05). On this day, Israel removed the last settlers from Gaza, the first time it had withdrawn from the 1967 gains. It was on this same day that a tropical depression formed over the Bahamas, which would become Hurricane Katrina.
On August 25th, Katrina made its first landfall in southern Florida, but its full devastation was aimed at Louisiana and Mississippi, where it made its second and third landfalls. Growing to a category 5 hurricane in the Gulf, it forced one million people to evacuate their homes.
The storm produced a surge of 22 feet with waves reported a high as 34 feet in Biloxi. The waters breached New Orleans levees, flooding 80% of the city. The flooding ultimately displaced 1.2 million people for months, or even years.
At estimated damage of $161 billion, Katrina was the costliest hurricane in history, and the fourth most deadly.
The parallels between what happened in Gaza to what happened in the U.S. are astonishing. Below are some of the events that occurred at both places (portions from John McTernan):
Similarities
- Major evacuations of residents, displacing them from their homes – 8,000 in Gaza, 1.2 million in U.S.
- Residents moving to their roofs – in Gaza to protest, in New Orleans to escape the floods
- Destruction of homes – Israeli soilders destroyed the settlers’ homes upon exit. Katrina destroyed or damaged 850,000 homes
- Soilders sent to evacuate people
- Residents taken away in buses
- Digging up the dead – in Gaza to reintern them, in the U.S. the floods exposed them
- The affected people felt abondoned by their governments
- Floods – The Bible frequently descibed masses of people as floods. As Katrina flooded New Orleans, Palestinians flooded the abandoned settlements, burning synagogues along the way.
President Bush, who humiliated Israel, now faced humiliation at his government’s inability to deal with the magnitude of the losses from Katrina.
September 2005 – Withdrawal from Four Settlement in Gaza
But the roadmap for peace wasn’t complete. Only weeks later, on September 21st, Israel evacuated 1,000 Jews from four settlements in Samaria in keeping with the plan. On that same day, Hurricane Rita exploded into a category 5 hurricane in the Gulf. Similar to Katrina, it brushed by Florida and then intensified as it headed for the U.S. coast. Reaching a minimum pressure of 895 mb, it was the strongest hurricane recorded in the Gulf of Mexico.
Aimed at Houston, an estimated 2.5 million people evacuated, creating what is believed to have been the worst traffic gridlock in history. Rita hit near the Texas/Louisiana border and destroyed coastal communities. The flooding from Rita also exacerbated the already-flooded New Orleans.
One might think that Bush may have sensed a connection between dividing Israel’s land and the catastrophes in the U.S., especially given his father’s own experience with the Perfect Storm. But nearly two years later he went to further extremes.
July 2007 – Bush Announces Palestinian State
On July 16th Bush announced a renewed push for peace in Israel under the road map for peace. His stated plans included the following:
- $190 million for the Palestinians
- Stengthen diplomatic efforts
- Help develop institutions for new Palestinian state
Bush stated that the new Palestinian state must be contiguous (connecting Gaza to West Bank and Jerusalem), adhere to “previous lines” (i.e. pre-1967), and that Israel needed to stop its “occupation” of the West Bank.
As Bush promised financial aid, the U.S.’s financial system began to crumble, spurred by the subprime mortgage crisis. By the end of the week, the stock market began its decline.
After this speech, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice pursued talks with world leaders and worked towards an international conference to be held in November in Annapolis.
October 2007 – Rice Sets Stage for Annapolis
From October 14th through the 18th Condoleeza Rice visited Israel and Great Britain to prepare for the Annapolis meetings. The next day, the Santa Ana winds rose, triggering massive wildfires in Southern California. The winds reached hurricane force causing the fires to rapidly spread, prompting the largest evacuation in California’s history (300,000 people).
November 2007 – Annapolis Meeting
The meeting, held November 27th set the objective to have a two-state solution agreement in place by the end of 2008.
On the 29th, a low-pressure system developed off the Pacific Northwest coast. Over the next few days, three storms hammered Washington State and Oregon, producing rare hurricane-force winds of up to 137 mph. The event became known as the Great Coastal Gale of 2007. The storm caused at least $1.3 billion in damage in the two states.
2008 Middle East Peace Push
The Bush Administration hit the road throughout 2008 to promote the implementation of the roadmap before the December target. Their trips all coincided with major wind and flooding events.
January 9th – 16th – President Bush started with a trip to the Middle East. Before he left January 7th and 8th, 54 tornadoes broke out, making it the second-largest January tornado outbreak in history.
February 6th – 7th – Secretary Rice visited Israel and the Palestinian Authority. On the 5th and into the 6th, the Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak occurred, producing 87 tornadoes in nine states. This was the second-largest February tornado outbreak since 1950.
March 22nd – 23rd – Vice President Cheney visited Isreal and the Palestinian Authority. He announced that the Palestinian state was “long overdue.” The 18th and 19th produced massive flooding with 17 deaths and breached levees. The flooding continued in April.
June 14th – 16th – On August 6th Secretary Rice announces a second visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Heavy rains hit Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin as early as the 7th. The flooding peaks, breaching levees, and forcing evacuations between the 13th and the 18th depending on the state.
Map of Flooded Areas
August 24th – 26th – On August 18th Secretary Rice announced a third visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Rice pressured Israel to release 198 Palestinian prisoners to build confidence with Abbas, which they do immediately before her visit.
On the day she announced her trip, Tropical storm Fay made landfall on the Florida Keys. In a strange erratic pattern, the storm zig-zagged across Florida, making landfall a record four times through the 21st. Its slow movement caused extensive flooding and spawned one of the most prolific tropical cyclone-related tornado outbreaks on record (81 tornadoes). Damage was estimated at $560 million.
Just days later, on September 25th, Tropical Storm Gustav formed and aimed for Louisiana. 1.9 million people were evacuated, the largest evacuation in Louisiana’s history at that time.
The Bush Legacy – No Peace for Israel’s Land
Even in the last months of his presidency, Bush pushed for the roadmap. Administration officials and comments from Israeli PM Olmert, made it clear that the division of Jerusalem had also been on the table.
Bush’s leadership damaged Israel’s vision and identity. As Olmert was quoted as saying on September 14th, “the vision of a greater Israel no longer exists. Those who speak of it are delusional.”
The economic collapse in the U.S. reached fruition by October of that year, starting the Great Recession. But can this be tied to the Israeli land?
Bush had pushed Israel to remove Jewish settlers from their homes, and the Great Recession was caused by the collapse of the U.S. housing markets. Just as Jewish settlers abandoned their homes, whole communities of houses in the U.S. were foreclosed and left vacant.
God’s hand also appeared to be on the market collapse. On Rosh Hashanah (September 29th), the Dow dropped 777 points, the greatest ever. At Yom Kippur, it dropped another 679 points and on the Feast of Tabernacles, it dropped 737 points.
As in Zechariah 2:8, Bush had poked the pupil of God’s eye.
But Bush’s efforts were even more disastrous to Israel. At the time, Bush wrote PM Sharon providing assurances that the U.S. would lead an international effort to build the capacity and will of Palestinian institutions to fight terrorism and prevent the areas from which Israel withdrew from posing a threat. Instead, Hamas took over. Hooded terrorists danced on the rooftops of the evacuated settlements. Synagogues were desecrated and former Israeli schools became terrorist ideology indoctrination classrooms for Palestinian children. From these evacuated settlements Hama now launches missiles into Israel.
President Obama Fails to Leave a Legacy with Israel: Did this Avert Disaster?
When President Obama became President, he appeared to be more interested in building Arab relations than supporting Israel. At the beginning of his term, he stated that being cozy with Israel for the prior eight years eroded the U.S. credibility with the Arab states. It’s not surprising that his early efforts at Middle East Peace were fruitless. Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t see eye to eye. Pushing the usual land for peace exchange, met a roadblock after Netanyahu refused to extend a partial freeze on Jewish settlement building in the West Bank.
April 2011 – The worst tornado outbreak month in U.S. history
April 2011 included a number of developments in the U.S.-led peace process under Obama with progressive storms culminating in the largest tornado outbreak in history.
On April 5th, President Obama met with Israeli President Shimon Peres at the White House. With the Arab Spring uprisings, Obama stated that the need to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was urgent. Peres invited Obama to visit Israel in June.
On the 4th and 5th, a derecho storm hit the South and Eastern areas of the U.S., causing over 1,500 reports of severe weather, including 47 tornadoes. But this was just the beginning.
Then on April 12th, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested the U.S. would play a stronger hand to resolve the conflict. And that Obama would soon be releasing further details towards a two-state solution. Earlier that day Senator John Kerry suggested at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum that Obama could release his plans ahead of a visit with Netanyahu.
Tornadoes continued to strike the U.S. with significant outbreaks on the 9th-10th, 14th-16th, 19th, 22nd, and the 26th-28th. 751 tornadoes hit in April smashing the prior record of 267. The last three days were the worst, spawning 362 tornadoes, including three EF5 tornadoes (the first in 3 years). These storms caused an estimated $12 billion in damages and killed 321 people.
May 2011 – Obama states his Policy – Isreal’s Land in Exchange for Peace
Like Bush, President Obama wanted Israel to cease building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. His position appeared to differ slightly from Bush’s. Bush’s roadmap for peace included a withdrawal of Israel back to pre-1967 lines. Obama’s plan started with the 1967 lines, but with “mutual swaps” of land to recognize changes in population. He stated this in speeches on May 19th (before a contentious meeting with Netanyahu on the 20th) and 22nd.
As if Obama needed a lesson not to touch the covenant land, On May 22nd, it was reported that sales of new homes unexpectedly fell in February to new lows. The home price bubble was about to pop.
That same day a massive F5 tornado hit Joplin Missouri. With 161 fatalities this was the deadliest single tornado on record in the U.S. and with around $3 billion in damages, it was also the costliest. The tornado damaged 7,500 residential structures with over 3,000 of those residences heavily damaged or destroyed.
By May 24th, Netanyahu’s position had softened, presumably after blowback from his lecturing of Obama at his White House visit. In his speech, he praised the U.S. and aligned with Obama’s position stating, “We will be very generous on the size of a future Palestinian state. But as President Obama said, the border will be different than the one that existed on June 4th, 1967.”
June 2012 – Obama sides with Morsi & the Muslim Brotherhood
President Obama was much cozier with anti-Israel Muslim terrorist groups than any President before him. In Egypt, he chose to abandon Hosni Mubarak, a longtime U.S. ally and bulwark against radical Islam in favor of Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohamed Morsi.
Morsi was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which gained political power in Egypt after the Arab Spring. This group had long been banned in Egypt by successive leaders and was designated a terrorist organization by the Trump administration in 2019.
In April 2012, Obama officials disclosed that they had met with Muslim Brotherhood members. White House spokesman Tommy Vietor stated, “Following Egypt’s revolution, we have broadened our engagement to include new and emerging political parties and actors.”
If anyone was hazy on the Muslim Brotherhood’s position, it was clarified in May. On May 18th, with the presidential election nearing in Egypt, Mohamed Morsi attended a presidential campaign rally, aired on T.V. A prominent cleric Safwat Hagazy spoke at the rally claiming that if Morsi won, Egypt would take Jerusalem.
“Our capital shall not be Cairo, Mecca, or Medina. It shall be Jerusalem with God’s will. Our chants shall be: ‘millions of martyrs will march towards Jerusalem. … The United States of the Arabs will be restored on the hands of that man [Morsi] and his supporters.”
The crowds cheered, waving the Egyptian flags and Hamas flags, and they chanted “Tomorrow Mursi will liberate Gaza.”
Despite this extreme rhetoric, the Obama administration referred to them as “moderate Islamicists,” and supported Morsi.
June 2012 – Obama and Clinton Work with Morsi
When Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Morsi won the election, President Obama called Morsi to congratulate him on June 24th. The White House reported that Obama said he would “stand by the Egyptian people as they fulfill the promise of their revolution.”
Hillary Clinton called Morsi on the 28th to congratulate him and then personally visited him on July 15th. At the meeting, she said, “we are very very keen to meet you and happy that you are here.”
June became a month of weather extremes. In the west, there were drought, heat, and winds, encouraging wildfires in producing the second-highest acres burned in fires on record at that time. The country experienced widespread heat with over 170 all-time warm temperature records broken or tied. With record heat, the percentage of the country under drought grew from 37.4% to 56.0% over the month. By the end of June, “wildfire activity exploded across much of the country, with 57 large wildfires burning.” Colorado experienced the most destructive wildfire in history as well as the second-largest wildfire in two different events.
Then, on June 29th, a rare fast-moving, and long-lasting derecho storm left a path of destruction from Illinois to the mid-Atlantic. Millions lost power for up to a week during this time of record heat.
December 2016 – Obama Takes a Last Swipe at Israel
Barak Obama showed his disdain for Israel with two parting jabs as he left office. The U.N. Security Council sought to pass Resolution 2334 on December 23rd, which stated that Israel had no legal validity to building settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, referring to these areas as “occupied” Palestinian territory.
In an unprecedented move, Obama decided to abstain from the vote, allowing the Security Council to condemn Israel.
The resolution conveyed that Israel had no right to its covenanted land. This means that Israel would have no right to the Temple Mount and that the Western Wall was in occupied Palestinian territory.
Five days later, John Kerry defended the abstention and basically eulogized the two-state solution, harshly criticizing Israel.
Then, just hours before President Trump was sworn in, Obama “quietly released $221 million to the Palestinian Authority that GOP members of Congress had been blocking.”
If any move by a President was going o call down judgment, this would appear to be it. But Obama was out the door and President Trump was taking over, already vowing strong support of Israel. Judgment seemed forestalled. But did it come upon Obama personally?
Almost nothing seems to be as important to Obama as his legacy. I find it significant that Obama faced more resistance and delays to exhibit his legacy than any other President. His chosen site for his Presidential “library” faced opposition from preservationists and activists, causing lawsuits and federal reviews. Why? Because of land issues.
With construction starting in August 2021, this marks the longest time between a modern President leaving office and the completion of his legacy center.
Summary of the Obama Years
Despite the extreme hope the world had for Barak Obama, he did little to advance peace in Israel. In fact, he was the first U.S. president in more than four decades to not break any new political ground in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But Obama’s lack of pressure on Israel allowed them to expand on the covenant land. During this time, Israel significantly increased its presence in the West Bank.
Arguably, this lack of pressure on Israel led to fewer judgment events. For example, of the top 10 costliest hurricanes to hit the U.S., four (40%) hit over President Bush’s eight-year term, while only one (10%) hit during Obama’s eight-year term. When looking at the top 20, under Bush there were eight of the top storms (still 40%) and only 3 (15%) under Obama. Two of the three top 20 hurricanes under Obama occurred in 2011 and 2012, the years noted above when Obama worked against Israel’s land interests. And the third one occurred in his last year when he snubbed Israel.
President Trump: Israel’s Most Supportive President Makes Costly Error
President Trump took a different approach to peace in the Middle East. He recognized that thirty years of peace initiatives and Palestinian aid accomplished nothing. So he cut off support for the Palestinians until they would make real progress towards peace. He also decided that the U.S. would recognize much of the land gained by Israel in 1967 as Israel’s land. And he removed “land for peace” as a condition of establishing Arab relations with Israel. As a result of these and other initiatives, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called President Trump “the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House.”
Here is a list of things Trump and his administration did in support of Israel:
- Withdrew from Obama’s legacy JCPOA deal with Iran
- Recognized Jerusalem as Isreal’s capital and moved the U.S. embassy there
- Recognized the Golan Heights as Israel’s
- Cut Palestinian aid of $500M and Paletinian Funding of UNRWA ($250M-$400M) because it had down nothign to promote peace
- As a rebuttal to UN Resolution 2334, announced that Israeli settlement in the West Bank was not inconsistent with international law
- Closed the PLO office in D.C.
- Negotiated normalization agreements with four Arab nations and Israel – the Abraham Accords
- Changed policy so that articles made in the West Bank could be labled, “Made in Israel”
However, despite his support for Israel, President Trump made the same mistake as his predecessors. That being, in his “Deal of the Century” he included Israel’s relinquishment of land to the Palestinians. While I believe God blessed the U.S. for its support of Israel, judgment would still come for any deal that gave up parts of Israel’s covenanted land.
June 2017 – Kushner Begin Discussions with Palestinians
When the peace plan was unveiled in January 2020, it divided Israel’s land, subject to the Palestinians meeting several milestones. The Palestinians were to be given 70% of Judea and Samaria and a portion on the outskirts of East Jerusalem for their capital. In this plan, Israel would only retain 20% of the West Bank.
But this plan did not arise overnight. Though announced in the last year of Trump’s Presidency, it began before the first year started. Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, was appointed by Trump to be his chief Middle East advisor. Kushner met with Netanyahu in the White House on February 15th.
It was first reported that Kushner was attempting to restart negotiations between Israel and Palestine on a visit on June 21st. On this day Kushner, along with Trump’s Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, met with Abbas. According to Abbas’ spokesperson, “all major issues at the heart of the conflict were discussed.” This certainly would have included the two-state solution and the 1967 borders.
As if a gentle reminder was needed, on June 19th Tropical Storm Cindy formed in the Gulf of Mexico. It peaked during Kushner’s visit on the 21st and made landfall on the 22nd. Interestingly, the storm was the first named storm to hit Lousiana since 2012 (Isaac).
August 2017 – Kushner Meets with Abbas
Jared Kushner pressed forward to restart the peace process and attended a follow-up meeting with Abbas on August 24th. Abbas’ spokesman called the meeting “positive,” and said Abbas had reiterated his desire for an American commitment to a Palestinian state. The judgment was much harsher this time.
On this very day, Tropical Storm Harvey became Hurricane Harvey. Harvey rapidly intensified to a category 4 hurricane and made landfall on the Texas coast on the 25th. This hurricane dropped 40-61 inches of rainfall in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana, breaking the U.S. tropical cyclone record for rainfall. With $125 billion in damages, Harvey was the second-costliest hurricane in history, behind Katrina. The Texas department of public safety said the storm damaged 185,000 homes and destroyed 9,000, placing 42,000 people in shelters.
But that wasn’t the end of it. Irma, the strongest storm on record in the Atlantic, was right behind Harvey. The same day that Harvey was downgraded to a tropic depression, Irma became a hurricane. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to hit the Virgin Islands, a U.S. territory, causing tremendous damage. Irma became the fourth costliest hurricane to hit the continental U.S. with $50 billion in damages. But that wasn’t the end of it.
Within five days of Irma degrading from a tropical storm, Maria intensified to a Hurricane. It was the first month on record that two category 5 hurricanes formed. It was also the third hurricane in a row to hit U.S. territory. Maria slammed Puerto Rico, becoming the third costliest hurricane to hit the U.S. with $90 billion in damages. A staggering 2,995 people died from the storm in Puerto Rico, making this storm the deadliest in this century.
The Connection to Gaza
September was the single-most powerful month ever recorded in the Atlantic for hurricane intensity.
But what is most intriguing about the last two hurricanes is that they hit U.S. territories extremely hard. The Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are U.S. territories, not states. As such, they are under the sovereign control of the U.S. but have no representation in Congress and no voting rights. The Gaza Strip and West Bank are territories of Israel. Though both are under the sovereignty of Israel, they lack representation and voting rights in Israel.
This key similarity ties these three historic disasters to the issue of Israel’s land.
September – October 2018 – Trump Supports Two-State Solution – Israel’s Land for Peace Returns
On September 26th, at a U.N. press conference, President Trump announced for the first time that he supported the two-state solution. At this time, the disturbance that Became Hurrican Michael appeared on the radar maps.
But there was more to the story.
On October 5th, a State Department spokesperson said that American’s born in Jerusalem could not list “Jerusalem, Israel” on their passports as their place of birth. They stated, “President Trump… is now emphasizing his support for a two-state solution, and is withholding on the passport issue to maximize U.S. leverage as his diplomatic negotiating team finalizes its proposals.”
The spokesperson added, “The president has made clear that the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem remain subject to final-status negotiations between the [Israelis and the Palestinians].”
At this time, Michael was a tropical depression, but by October 9th it rapidly intensified into a major hurricane. It made landfall on the Florida panhandle as the first category 5 hurricane to hit the contiguous United States since Andrew in 1992. It became the 10th costliest hurricane in history at $25.5 billion.
Once again, there is a connection between this hurricane and Israel. The Archangel Michael is the angel who stands guard over Israel (Daniel 10:21, 12:1).
March 2019 – Kushner Tries to Drum Up Support for Peace Plan in Arab Nations
In the last week of February 2019 (est. Feb 24th-Mar 3rd), Jared Kushner traveled through the Arab nations to gain support for Trump’s peace plan. During this time, multiple record weather events occurred including historic flooding in Tennessee, Kentucky ($1.3 billion), North Carolina, and California. This was followed by a storm in the southeast that produced 40 tornadoes across Alabama, the Florida panhandle, and Georgia. It was the deadliest tornado day in six years.
May 2019 – Kushner Travels to Morocco, Jordan and Israel
Kushner returned to the Middle East the week of May 27th to meet with Morocco, Jordan, and then Israel. During his visit, a four-day tornado outbreak occurred in the Rockies, the Central U.S., and Northeast. This storm produced 190 tornadoes affecting 12 states, causing $4.7 billion in damages.
Over the four months from February through June, while Kushner was pushing the peace plan, severe weather occurred across the country. May alone saw over 500 tornadoes, more than twice the three-year average.
The outbreak ended on May 30th. When Kushner arrived in Israel, that very day an overnight crisis in Israeli politics plunged the country into a months-long election campaign. With Netanyahu’s position in question, any progress made with Kushner would be at risk of being undone by a new Israeli administration. Former U.S. ambassador Dan Shapiro was quoted as saying “The Trump peace plan is on ice – maybe permanently.”
When President Trump visited the U.N. in September, he didn’t even mention the peace process in his speech.
January 2020 – Peace Plan Announced
President Trump announced the long-awaited peace plan, also known as the “Deal of the Century” on January 28th. As I described above, the plan allowed 70% of Judea and Samaria to be given to the Palestinians for a new state. It also allotted a portion of East Jerusalem to be the Palestinian capital. It also allowed Israel to annex settlements in the West Bank, about 20% of the area.
However, the Palestinians would only be given a state should they meet certain conditions, including disarming Hamas. And even once given a state, that state would only have limited sovereignty, and Israel would still be in charge of security, border control, air space, electromagnetic spectrum, and foreign policy. In many ways, the plan was formalizing the status quo. For these reasons, the peace deal was highly unlikely to be accepted by the Palestinians.
Abbas’ response was “After the nonsense that we heard today we say a thousand no’s to the Deal of The Century.” The deal was dead on arrival.
The Response to the Peace Plan
The world largely reiterated its desire for a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders.
- U.N. Secretary-General spokesperson – “the two-state solution has been defined, throughout the years, by relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions by which the Secretariat is bound.”
- EU foreign policy chief – supports “a negotiated two-State solution, based on 1967 lines, with equivalent land swaps, as may be agreed between the parties.”
- Saudi Arabia – “an agreement that achieves the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”
- Jordan – warned against any Israeli “annexation of Palestinian lands” and reaffirmed its commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines.
- Egypt – favored a solution that restores all the “legitimate rights” of the Palestinian people through establishing an “independent and sovereign state on the occupied Palestinian territories.”
- The Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation – “on all member states not to engage with this plan or to cooperate with the US administration in implementing it in any form”
While Israel favored Trump’s peace plan, the world overwhelmingly rejected it. I find it intriguing that at this time a global judgment was coming upon the world – COVID-19.
Through the month of January, COVID spread from China, throughout Asia and entered Europe, the Middle East, and the U.S. The first U.S. COVID case was reported on the 21st in Washington State. On the 31st, President Trump declared a public health emergency. The first COVID case in the Middle East was reported on January 29th, the day after Trump’s plan was released.
The timing between these events was amazingly close. However, there are also many signs that COVID-19 was connected to abortion. (see post Judgment? The Shocking Connection Between COVID-19 and Abortion for details)
August 2020 – Trump’s Error – Land for Peace
President Trump had given the clear to Netanhayu to annex the West Bank settlements allotted to Israel under the Deal of the Century. Netanyahu set the date of annexation to July 1st. But when July 1st came, Netanyahu delayed the annexation, giving in to international pressure. However, a cabinet member indicated the annexation would occur at the end of the month.
Instead, on August 13th, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced they agreed to normalize relations between the two countries. This agreement came in part through the diplomatic efforts of Jared Kushner and President Trump. As part of the agreement, Netanyahu agreed to postpone the West Bank’s annexation. The deal also came with U.S. assurances that it would not support Israel’s annexation of any West Bank settlements before 2024 at the earliest.
The UAE saw the agreement as a way to have more leverage in any Palestinian deals. Its ambassador to the U.S. said the normalization agreement with Israel would allow for “direct” advocacy for the Palestinian cause, including the establishment of a sovereign state. He stated, “…we will forcefully advocate for these ends. Now, we will do it directly, face to face, and empowered with stronger incentives, policy options, and diplomatic tools.
What came may have been the worst period of weather-related disasters since Kushner’s meeting with Abbas in 2017 and Bush’s forced withdrawal from Gaza in 2005.
August’s Weather Turmoil
On the 10th/11th, portending the deal to come, a powerful derecho moved across the midwest. A storm of this intensity is a roughly once-in-a-decade occurrence in this region. What was also unique about the storm was its duration, which hit locations three times longer than a typical derecho. Damages from this storm were a staggering $11.5 billion.
At the same time, Colorado experienced its largest wildfire in history. The Pine Gulch fire started on July 31st but grew in intensity later in the month due to dry, windy conditions. On the night of the 18th, thunderstorms caused the fire to grow quickly, consuming more than 30,000 acres in that night alone. By the 27th, it broke Colorado’s record.
On the 16th, a storm formed in the Atlantic that formed Hurricane Laura. Laura made the record books when it made landfall on the 27th, as the first Category 4 hurricane to hit southwest Louisiana on record. Its 150 mph winds made it the strongest hurricane to strike Louisiana since Camille in 1969. (a record that would be broken again by Ida in 2021). With $19 billion in damages, Laura is the 12th costliest hurricane in history.
September 2020 – The Abraham Accords Formalized
After the UAE agreed to normalize relations with Israel, Bahrain joined as well. On the 15th, the UAE and Bahrain formally signed what is known as the Abraham Accords on the south lawn of the White House.
Though this name was chosen because of the shared lineage of Jews and Arabs to Abraham, its meaning was much more prophetic. The Abrahamic Covenant is one of five covenants contained in the Bible. But the Abrahamic covenant was specific to Israel’s land. God entered this covenant of the promise of land with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-7. God specified the dimensions of this covenanted land in Genesis 15:18–21. He further promised to punish those who plunder this land. (Zechariah 2, Joel 3:2, Zechariah 12:3)
The next day Hurricane Sally, a category 2 storm, made landfall in Alabama, causing flooding as well as many tornado warnings. Sally caused $7.6 billion in damages.
By September’s end, 2020 had become the most active wildfire year in history with more than five million acres were consumed across California, Oregon, and Washington State. This is more than three times the annual 10-year (2010-2019) average of nearly 1.6 million acres. Five of the six largest fires in California history occurred during 2020 and three of the four largest fires in Colorado history.
Also in September, the Atlantic Basin hurricane season continued at a record pace for named-storm formation. during 2020. In September alone, 10 named storms formed with five named storms churning in the Atlantic Basin at one time for the first time since 1971. By October 1st, nine named storms had made landfall along the U.S. coastline, tying a 100-plus year for most landfalls in a single season.
Biden’s Pressure on Israel Leads to Unprecedented Disasters
Upon taking office, Biden began to reverse President Trump’s policies across the board. This was no different when it came to Israel and the Palestinians. Sticking to his position established on the campaign trail in May 2020, Biden announced plans to renewing U.S. relations with the Palestinian leadership. This would include reopening the diplomatic offices serving the Palestinians and restore financial aid to the Palestinians.
But his first move against Israel’s land did not occur until August 13th, when Biden pressured Israeli Prime Minister Bennett to cut back construction plans in Judea and Samaria. Two days later, the Taliban took Kabul, leading to the humiliation of the U.S. and Biden specifically.
Then on August 27th, Biden met Prime Minister Bennett for the first time. The details of the meeting were not disclosed, but to be sure Biden would have restated his positions on the two-state solution and exchanging land for peace. As they met, Hurricane Ida formed. It became the fifth strongest hurricane to hit the U.S., tying Laura from a year prior. Ida hit Louisana at the same time Bennett was departing the U.S.
Ida devastated parts of Louisiana and flooded the country as it moved north, causing record rainfall and flooding in New York City. Damage estimates are $17-$25 billion, which would place Ida just outside of the top ten costliest hurricanes in history.
There is much more to this story, which I document in the post, Judgment: Hurricane Ida & Afghanistan Disasters Connected to Israel’s Land.
The Story Continues
In the 30 years, since the Madrid Conference, the U.S. has experienced multiple disasters costing massive sums for meddling in God’s covenant with Israel. If just one U.S. President understood the Biblical underpinning for Isreal’s rights to their land, they could secure blessings for the country instead of judgment.
It would take a courageous and faithful leader in Israel to stand for God’s covenant. Yes, it would be hugely unpopular with the nations. Yes, there would be riots, conflict, and even bloodshed. But does God care what rebellious nations think of His everlasting covenant? Though Israel will suffer loss (Zechariah 14, Ezekiel 38), God has promised to stand for Israel in that day and decimate the invading nations (Zechariah 12, 14).
Until that day, the nations will continue to rage against Israel, the U.S. Presidents will continue to take unfruitful paths to try to secure a two-state solution, and disasters will continue to befall the U.S. in judgment.