Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas received a hero’s welcome after returning home from his latest visit to America. Speaking from his headquarters in Ramallah on March 20, Abbas showed no sign of backing down from his position regarding the ongoing peace process. Speaking to a cheering Palestinian audience, Abbas said, “We traveled and we stood by our obligations. Rest assured that in the end we will prevail. We will be true to our principles and will not compromise them.”

If people were holding out hope that Abbas would return from discussions in Washington with a softened approach to the peace process, they were disappointed. Abbas refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, saying that previous recognition was sufficient. This was something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had challenged Abbas to commit to for the sake of continuing negotiations for peace.

Abbas also brought up the contentious issue of prisoner releases, saying they were essential for ongoing peace talks.

Last year, Israel agreed to free 104 prisoners in return for the Palestinians not applying for membership in international institutions. Most of the prisoners have been released, but Israel is reluctant to release the final group, which includes prisoners jailed since the Oslo Accords. Israel notified Abbas that it would not release the prisoners if Abbas refuses to extend negotiations past the April deadline.

Basically, Israel wants to hear Abbas recognize Israel as a Jewish state, and it wants to hear him promise to continue peace talks. Right now, Abbas will commit to neither.

This puts Israel in a tough position. If Israel concedes and releases the prisoners—many of whom were convicted on terrorist charges—Abbas may not follow through with the next round of peace talks. This means more than just dashing months of ongoing efforts by both parties and their U.S. negotiators; it also means Abbas would be free to once again pursue international recognition.

If Israel doesn’t release the prisoners, Abbas can scrap the peace deal and pursue his international goals. Israel would undoubtedly be blamed for ruining the last hopes for peace talks, and the Palestinians would gain even more clout and sympathy on the world stage.

As has been the case with peace deals in the past, Israel finds itself in a position where it must give everything and expect nothing. Israel would likely find the Palestinians hard-line approach easier to handle if the mediator was more balanced in dealing with both parties.

Even before setting foot on American soil on March 3, Netanyahu was receiving veiled threats from President Obama that American would not be able to protect Israel from international isolation—potential boycotts and sanctions—if the peace process were to fail. While the meeting itself seemed cordial, strained relations between the U.S. and Israel still show from time to time. On March 17, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon told students at Tel Aviv University that Israel cannot rely on the Obama administration to lead in proactive action against Iran’s nuclear program; Israel can only rely on itself.

While Israel-U.S. relations are collapsing—and President Obama is telling Israel to bend over backward to keep the deal going—Abbas is enjoying a free pass. When the Palestinian Authority president visited Washington, he wasn’t told to do more to salvage the peace process, despite being so adamant in his refusal to simply recognize Israel as a Jewish state. In fact, it seems he wasn’t “told” to do much of anything. When he returned to the West Bank, nothing had changed.

Why would the Palestinians want to change the norm? Right now, everything is going their way. They have the support of President Obama, and they enjoy growing support from the world. Meanwhile Israel’s closest friend is turning against it, and the threat of boycotts and sanctions looms larger. The Palestinians aren’t blind. They can see where this trend is heading: to a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as the capital.

There is another way to know that this outcome is assured. Zechariah 14:2 explains how Jerusalem would be completely controlled by the Jews, only to have half of the city wrested from them. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in his booklet Zechariah—The Sign of Christ’s Imminent Return, “[T]he Jews had to conquer East Jerusalem so they could then lose it as prophesied in Zechariah 14! So just a little faith tells us that the prophecy about the Jews losing half of Jerusalem will also be fulfilled.”

It is important to watch as Israel and the Palestinians struggle for peace in the Middle East. Bible prophecy says that soon Israel is going to lose control of half of Jerusalem. Keep an eye out for that event. Read Zechariah 14:1-2 in context. Jerusalem’s fall is tied directly to the return of Jesus Christ. When you see half of Jerusalem fall, then you can know that the return of Christ is imminent!

If you want to understand how events in the Middle East reveal how close we are to the end of this age, read Zechariah—The Sign of Christ’s Imminent Return and Jerusalem in Prophecy.