Europe To Help Israel?

At least one Israeli Knesset member has lost faith in the United States’ ability to mediate the Arab-Jew conflict and says Europe should take over. Shlomo Breznitz of the Kadima party has proposed a radical plan to break the current deadlock: handing administration of the West Bank and Gaza Strip over to Europe until a Palestinian state can be established.

The plan would require following the plan implemented in the Gaza Strip last summer: dismantling Jewish communities and vacating the Jewish presence from the West Bank. The difference, however, is that rather than immediately turning the area over to Palestinians—which in Gaza has produced a haven for terrorist activity—the West Bank would move under the control of tens of thousands of European soldiers.

The proposal rules out a role for the U.S. because, says Breznitz, the U.S. “has lost its status as an honest broker in the view of the Palestinians and the Arab states.” This provides strong evidence of a trend the Trumpet has long been tracking—a shift in confidence away from the U.S. in favor of Europe. It also constitutes one of the strongest-ever statements of confidence in Europe’s peacekeeping powers from an Israeli politician.

It will be worth following this idea in the coming months. Based on biblical prophecies regarding a relationship opening up between Israel and Europe, and Israel apparently soliciting Europe’s help in managing its increasingly unmanageable problems, we expect some version of Breznitz’s proposal to gain traction in Israeli politics.