NOTES ON THE HISTORIC ‘ABRAHAM ACCORD’: ISRAEL’S FREEDOM OR AMERICA’S LAST DAYS RUBICON? – PART II

PART II: THE CAVEATS

“[God has said] “I have made a covenant with My chosen one;
I have sworn to David My servant, I will establish your seed forever
And I will build up your throne for all generations.” Selah. – ETHAN THE EZRAHITE, PSALM 89:3-4, AMPC

QUOTATIONS

“All political decisions are taken under great pressure, and if a Treaty serves its turn for ten or twenty years, the wisdom of its framers is sufficiently confirmed.” – HERBERT FISHER, ‘Political Prophecies. An Address to the Edinburg Philosophical  Society,’ November 5, 1918; edited

“Don’t be deceived when they tell you things are better now … Watch out, for as soon as it pleases them they’ll send you out to protect their gold in wars whose weapons, rapidly developed by servile scientists, will become more and more deadly until they can with a flick of the finger tear a million of you to pieces.” – JEAN-PAUL MARAT, in Peter Weiss, ‘Marat-Sade,’ 1963

“How long, O naive ones [you who are easily misled], will you love being simple-minded and undiscerning? … For the turning away of the naive will kill them,
And the careless ease of [self-righteous] fools will destroy them.” – KING SOLOMON, PROVERBS 1:22, 32, AMPC

Selah.

FIRST THOUGHTS

On May 23, 1969, the United Nations convened the ‘Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties,’ entered into force on January 27, 1980. It consists of 85 Articles and 7 Annexes which operationally define the official requirements of a sound international agreement. 

While I am not about to summarize this 31 page document here (thanks be to God), I do cite it to declare the invaluable importance of ‘Covenants’ among and between nations in the interests of peacekeeping and world order. And to warn of the catastrophic consequences of entering into a bad treaty.

Selah.

DEFNITION OF TREATY

The well regarded ‘Encyclopedia of the Bible’ gives accurate instruction on the nature of treaty making, stemming from the ancient world through today. Here is a brief overview from that source. – Ret. August 24, 2020; edited

•  A treaty is the document which contains the terms of the covenant agreed upon by two or more parties.

• Archeological research has provided examples of international treaties of the lands of the Near East drawn up during the Second Millennium b.c.—the time when the Biblical Israelites entered their covenant with the Lord at Sinai (Exodus 19; 20).

• Political treaties were of two types: (1) Parity treaties. Parity treaties were drawn up to state relationships existing among equals. Two great powers such as Egypt and the Hittites might find it useful to formalize their relations in this way.

• (2) Suzerainty treaties. Here treaties declare relationships formalized between a “great king” and his vassal. The “great king” or the “King of kings” or “Lord of lords” claims authority over other, lesser rulers. Yahweh, the God of Israel, uses such terms in declaring His right to absolute loyalty from all earthly rulers and people (cf. Ps 2). 

• The treaties of the ancient Near East indicate that the Biblical Covenant was expressed in terms understood in its cultural context. Biblical monotheism was unique to Israel, but much of the language in which it was expressed was common to the lands of western Asia.

DEFINTION OF COVENANT

All of this derives from the Biblical Template for our present discussion of the Abrahamic Covenant. Here is a useful summary of it.

“The Story of the Covenant between Abram and God, first related in Genesis 12, is a Story that is interwoven throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament (Genesis 12:1-3, 18:18, 22:18, 26:4, 28:15; Acts 3:25; Galatians 3:8). Abraham’s calling by God contains particular genre characteristics that are unique.  Abram’s obedience to go from his country, his kindred, and his father’s house was a Covenantal Promise that was unconditional. His obedience resulted in blessings that have implications to this day because this Royal Grant-type of Covenant ‘is a Golden Thread stitching together the whole Scriptural fabric.’    This ‘Golden Thread’ is linear and will extend into all eternity, reaching even those unborn children of God in an endless number of tomorrows.” – JACK WELLMAN, “What is a Covenant? A Bible Definition of Covenant,” ‘Patheos,’ May 22, 2014; edited

COVENANT. “Noun [Latin, to come; a coming together; a meeting or agreement of minds].

1. A mutual consent or agreement of two or more persons, to do or to forbear some act or thing; a contract; stipulation. A covenant is created by deed in writing, sealed and executed; or it may be implied in the contract.

2. A writing containing the terms of agreement or contract between parties; or the clause of agreement in a deed containing the covenant.

3. In theology, the covenant of works, is that implied in the commands, prohibitions, and promises of God; the promise of God to man, that mans perfect obedience should entitle him to happiness. This do, and live; that do, and die.” – NOAH WEBSTER, American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828; edited

THE PRINCIPLE. The crucial point in all this rather tedious historical and linguistic perspective is this: Covenants, Agreements and Treaties can only work if the Parties to it HONOR the various provisos and stipulations holding each Party accountable. Consider the following in this crucial regard.

• GOOD FAITH. According to Article 38 (1) (c) of the ICJ (UN International Court of Justice) Statute, the Court “shall apply the general principles of law recognised by civilised nations”. When treaties or customary law cannot yield a result, recourse is made to the General Principles of Law, of which Good Faith is perhaps the most important, as it underpins many international legal rules. – STEVEN REINHOLD, “Good Faith in International Law,” ret. August 24, 2020; edited

• KELLY’S COROLLARY. Covenants struck with an unreliable or dishonest broker or party shall invariably result in catastrophe – material loss, loss of freedom, and devastating wars. Or worse, if we consider the Eternal Consequences of a corrupted international agreement. Selah.

• BIBLICAL ADMONITION. “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers [do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness?” – 2 CORINTHIANS 6:14, AMPC

Now we turn to the important task of Profiling the Parties to the Abraham Accord, in pursuit of the viability of this Covenant, based on agreed upon, standard Treaty Protocols.

PARTY I: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

An Arab-friendly business article proposed several practical tips on negotiating with the UAE, including this right up front: “Once a raw and untouched economy. Now, the UAE is bursting with business and investment opportunities. Despite the global economic slowdown, its economic has doubled over the past decade. That growth has attracted foreign investors – doubling its foreign direct investment … Keep their religious beliefs in mind and respect them. Islam is deeply rooted in the UAE and forms a huge part of their daily private and business lives.” 

NOTE ON ISLAM. The Concept of ‘Taqiyya’ refers to Lying to infidels, when necessary, in order to advance the cause of Islam – in some cases by gaining the trust of non-believers in order to draw out their vulnerability and defeat them. – cf. ‘Icontainers,’ January 3, 2017; ‘The Religion of Peace,’ ret. August 24, 2020

THE QU’RAN ON OATHS AND COVENANTS. This is too important a point to not anchor it thoroughly with direct citations from the Muslim’s sacred text. Bear with me for that reason.

• Quran (16:106) – Establishes that there are circumstances that can “compel” a Muslim to tell a lie.

• Quran (3:28) – This verse tells Muslims not to take those outside the faith as friends, unless it is to “guard themselves” against danger, meaning that there are times when a Muslim may appear friendly to non-Muslims, even though they should not feel friendly.

• Quran (9:3) – “Allah and His Messenger are free from liability to the idolaters…” The dissolution of oaths is with pagans who remained at Mecca following its capture. They did nothing wrong, but were evicted anyway. – The next verse refers only to those who have a personal agreement with Muhammad as individuals – see Ibn Kathir, Volume 4, p. 49.

• Quran (66:2) – “Allah has already ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths…” The circumstances for the reader today are not specified, leaving this verse open to interpretation.  According to Yusuf Ali in his commentary: “if your vows prevent you from doing good, or acting rightly, or making peace between persons, you should expiate the vow.”  Presumably, whatever advances the cause of Islam would qualify as ‘doing good’.

•  Quran (40:28) – A man is introduced as a believer, but one who had to “hide his faith” among those who are not believers.

• Quran (2:225) – “Allah will not call you to account for thoughtlessness in your oaths, but for the intention in your hearts”  (see also 5:89)

• Quran (3:54) – “And they (the disbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed (against them): and Allah is the best of schemers.” The Arabic word used here for scheme (or plot) is makara, which means ‘cunning,’ ‘guile’ and ‘deceit’. If Allah is supremely deceitful toward unbelievers, then there is little basis for denying that Muslims are allowed to do the same. (See also 8:30 and 10:21)

Taken collectively, these verses are interpreted to mean that there are circumstances when a Muslim may be “compelled” to deceive others for a greater purpose. 

Selah. Selah.

PARTY II: THE STATE OF ISRAEL

In stark contrast to Islamic Law, Israel bases the entirety of its approach to binding Treaties on its sacred writings in the Tanakh, including the Torah. Similar to the Muslim nations, Israel seeks the counsel of the sacred Scriptures for negotiating treaties, albeit from very Different Religious Worldviews.

In honor of the Jewish perspective, closely allied the Christian one, I discovered this superb historical illustration from ‘Jewish Law,’ the respected journal officiating on this occasion, the short history of “Treaties” according to that tradition. Quoted in full again for maximum depth and detail.

THE LAW OF TREATIES. “The book of Joshua recounts the story of the first treaty the Jewish nation entered into as follows:

• “The people of Givon [who live in Israel] heard what Joshua did to Jericho and to Ai [they were destroyed]. And they worked with trickery and they made themselves to look like ambassadors…And they went to Joshua at Gilgal and said to him, and to all the people of Israel “We have come from a far land; make a treaty with us”…

• And they said to Joshua ‘We are your servants;’ he said to them ‘Who are you and where do you come from?’ They replied ‘From a very far away land…’ And Joshua [and the Jews] made peace with them and he signed a treaty with them which was sworn on [ratified by] the presidents of the tribes. And it was at the end of three days after the treaty was signed that the Jewish nation heard that the Givonites were neighbors and lived nearby. The people of Israel traveled and came to their cities on the third day …

• AND THE JEWS DID NOT ATTACK THEM since the Presidents of the Tribes had Ratified [the Treaty] — in the name of God, the God of Israel. The Jews complained to the Presidents of the Tribes. The Presidents replied, ‘We swore [not to attack them] by the name of the God of Israel and thus we cannot touch them.’”

IN SUM. Each of these theories, whatever the precise boundaries of the obligation to keep treaties is based on, Presupposes that Treaties are basically binding according to Jewish Law. It is only in the case of a visibly obvious Breach of the Treaty by one party that the second party may decline to honor the treaty. Thus, Jewish Law accepts that when the war is over, the peace that is agreed to is binding. Indeed, even in a situation where there is some unnoticed fraud in its enactment or ratification, it is still binding.” – IRA KASDAN, “Treaties,” 1997-2010; edited

To which I responded upon reading it the second time: Wow.

CAVEAT ON PM NETENYAHU. However, all this is severely mitigated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s serious legal and political problems. Here is just one canny assessment of those scandalous matters.

hurts Israel

“The United States’ new Middle East peace plan unveiled Tuesday is indeed “the deal of the century” as the Trump administration touted it — if you’re embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His equally embattled friend, President Donald Trump, offered him a lifeline by presenting a plan that delivered on nearly every one of Israel’s longstanding negotiating dreams. It’s as if Netanyahu’s rich grandpa decided that instead of picking an item from his wedding registry, he would buy him the entire list.

While that might be ideal for the just-married, the proverbial kitchen utensils in this case happen to be toxic. Although many conditions of the deal appear to offer Israel a series of wins in return for little or no concessions, they could sow the seeds for future decades of conflict, bitterness and isolation for Israel in the international community.” – REBECCA SHIMONI-STOIL, Professor of History, Clemson University, “Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan Helps Benjamin Netanyahu – but Hurts Israel,” ‘Think,’ January 30, 2020; edited

Note. These ideas will be treated in some depth in the final installment in Part III: The Consequences.

PARTY III: THE UNITED STATES

Now then, to complete my examination, we must also consider the Chief Broker of this entire system of agreements: The President of the United States of America. Yes, that man, since it has been his goal for many years to bring Peace to the Middle East.

JARED KUSHNER. Jared Kushner, the president’s son in law and Senior Advisor to the President – and, importantly, the leading official Extension of the Religious Framework of the president, many consider to be the De facto president.

Here is what Kushner wrote of his father-in-law’s view of the Middle East.

“It was to this region that President Trump took his first trip abroad as president. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the president laid out his vision for a more peaceful, secure and prosperous Middle East. He described to the leaders of dozens of Arab and Muslim countries a region with vast potential, held hostage by extremism and the conflicts of the past.” – ‘Washington Post,’ August 15, 2020; edited

Thus, rather than deal with the well-worn record of sustained lying and cheating on the part of the president, I thought it more revealing to examine the character and principles of the chief Author of the Peace Agreements, Jared Kushner. I trust after reading this, you may well agree.

MAN OF THE HOUR. I begin with this effusive piece from the Washington Examiner, that represents the great majority of Evangelical Christians and a good chunk of the Jewish vote as well. Quoted in full once again for full context and impact.

“Aug. 13, 2020, marked the diplomatic climax of decades of back-channel dealings between Israel and the United Arab Emirates — and the making of history. President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed jointly announced the agreement to open bilateral relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

As Senior Adviser to the president Jared Kushner noted with surprise, many in the American and European news media and foreign policy establishment were stunned by this landmark Accord, one that uprooted decades of failed Middle East policy in the West. No one seemed to expect that Trump’s Alternative Peace Plan would work, yet such a momentous deal is reality — and it has far-reaching implications for the world that will Reshape the Near East geopolitical landscape for decades to come.

Early in Trump’s presidency, he announced his intentions to broker ‘the Deal of the Century’ between Israel and the Palestinians. He was largely written off and even mocked for his apparent ‘ignorance’ in the complexities and intricacies of Middle East politics. Yet for Trump, it was clear that America’s policies in the region simply were not achieving their desired outcomes. Oftentimes, they were even disastrous or counterproductive.

Trump, Kushner, former U.S. Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt, and their teams arrived in Washington clear-eyed about the shortcomings of previous American administrations, Democrat and Republican alike, to broker Middle East peace. Their teams conducted sweeping shuttle diplomacy meetings between Israel and the Gulf Arab powers to see how they may be able to bring them together toward peace and normalization …

The Trump administration’s remarkable progress over these last four years shows great promise for future generations in the Middle East to see a more prosperous and peaceful future. Ultimately, the people of the region will have to step up more themselves and willfully continue down this path, but it appears things are on the right trajectory as Bahrain, Oman, and Morocco have all indicated similar deals could be announced before the end of the year. Former U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain Sam H. Zakhem has expressed strong confidence that Bahrain and Oman will indeed ‘be next in line.’” – SAMUEL LOURIE & JIMMY SENGENBERGER, “Trump’s unprecedented Middle East strategy led to the historic Abraham Accord,” ‘Washington Examiner,’ August 25, 2020; edited

I told you it was “effusive,” well representative of the majority Jewish-Christian View of this Administration these days.

KUSHNER’S BACKGROUND. Under the life-long Presupposition that all men are governed by their Worldview – religious, political, sociological, economic – then it behooves us to dive a bit deeper into Kushner’s, to understand his Peace Proposal.

Adapted primarily from Wikipedia’s review, the best researched I could find for the present purpose of a cursory overview. – August 24, 2020; edited

• EARLY LIFE. Kushner was born in Livingston, New Jersey, to Seryl Kushner (née Stadtmauer) and Charles Kushner, a real-estate developer and convicted felon. His paternal grandparents, Reichel and Joseph Kushner, were Holocaust survivors who came to the U.S. in 1949 from Navahrudak, now in Belarus. Morris Stadtmauer was Jared’s maternal grandfather.

• RELIGIOUS VIEWS. Raised in a Modern Orthodox Jewish family, Kushner graduated from the Frisch School, a Modern Orthodox yeshiva high school, in 1999. With help from his father, he enrolled at Harvard University in 1999. According to journalist Daniel Golden, Kushner’s father made a Donation of $2.5 million to the University in 1998, not long before Jared was admitted.

• EDUCATION. Kushner enrolled in a joint Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration program coordinated between New York University School of Law and New York University Stern School of Business. He graduated in 2007 with dual JD/MBA degrees. He interned at Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau’s office, and at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

• CAREER. He is a former real estate mogul and is married to Ivanka Trump, President Trump’s daughter and fellow advisor. As a result of his father’s conviction and incarceration for Fraud, he took over management of his father’s real estate company Kushner Companies, which launched his business career. He later also bought Observer Media, publisher of the New York Observer. He is the co-founder and part owner of Cadre, an online real-estate investment platform.

• POLITICAL ADVISOR. During the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, Kushner helped develop and run Trump’s digital media strategy. In 2017, he was named as a Senior White House Advisor, raising concerns about nepotism. He also stirred controversy for his conflicts of interest, as he continued to engage in business, even profiting on policy proposals that he himself pushed for within the administration. Kushner was unable to obtain Top Secret Security clearance until May 2018, when Trump reportedly intervened on his son-in-law’s behalf.

• COVID-19. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Kushner was an influential advisor to President Trump, and shaped the administration’s actions. At Trump’s order, Kushner set up what has been described as a “Shadow Task Force,” separate from the official coronavirus task force chaired by Vice President Mike Pence. The Kushner operation was staffed by a dozen young volunteers from the private sector; they worked out of offices on the seventh floor of the Health and Human Services building.

• PEACE PLAN. Trump put Kushner In Charge of brokering peace in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, despite the fact that Kushner had no foreign experience or experience in the Middle East. On August 24, 2017, Kushner traveled to Israel to talk to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (with whom Kushner has longstanding personal links and family ties, causing Palestinians to distrust him). He then traveled to Palestine to meet President Mahmoud Abbas in an attempt to restart a peace process in the Middle East.

• CONTROVERSIES. The article specifies and details the following areas of Ethical Concern associated with Kushner: (1) Allegations of nepotism; (2) Security clearance issues; (3) Investigation of his Russian contacts; (4) Financial conflicts of interest; (5) Usage of the unsecured WhatsApp for official duties.

So now we are ready for an initial assessment of the professional and ethical viability of the three Parties to the Peace Plan generally, and the Abraham Accord, more specifically.

PARTY INTEGRITY

Noah Webster defines “Integrity” as a noun meaning: “1. Wholeness; entireness; unbroken state. 2. The entire, unimpaired state of anything, particularly of the mind; moral soundness or purity; incorruptness; uprightness; honesty. ‘Integrity’ comprehends the whole Moral Character, but has a special reference to Uprightness in mutual dealings, transfers of property, and agencies for others. 3. Purity; genuine, unadulterated, unimpaired state; as the integrity of language.”

Selah. Selah.

DK ASSESSMENT. So without further ado, based on the admittedly brief review of the Primary Parties to the Abraham Accord – American President Donald Trump’s Special Advisor, Jared Kushner; the United Emirates’ Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi; and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel – I therefore publicly adjudge this Proposal to be deeply flawed and in serious doubt as to its Viability for Middle East Peace.

This I based on the nearly complete and inarguable Absence of Moral Character or Religious Integrity associated with the Three Primary Parties to the Agreement. Further, though the entire World be excited about this Agreement, I propose that the World is wrong – dead wrong, perilously wrong. And here’s why, though again, in somewhat of a controversial Rationale.

TWO COVENANTS. The Scripture this study began with from Psalm 89 might be accurately described as a ‘Covenant of Life,’ iterated as part of the First Four Covenants struck by God Himself with His people. As opposed to what Scripture calls, a ‘Covenant of Death.’

Consider this.

• COVENANT OF LIFE. “The reason God’s Covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David ought to increase the joy of our faith is that in all of them the main point is that God exerts all His omnipotence and all His omniscience to do good to His people, and we are that people if we follow Christ in the obedience of faith.” – JOHN PIPER, “God’s Covenant with David,” ‘Desiring God,’ December 18, 1983; edited

• COVENANT OF DEATH. The Bible also calls this Seven-Year Covenant in Daniel 9:27, a ‘Covenant of Death.’ Isaiah, in a prophetic context of the end time, tells of Israel’s final apostasy and the pattern it will take. The Prophet Isaiah refers to it in startling language:

“Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol (the place of the dead) we have an agreement—when the overflowing scourge passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter.’” – cf. ISAIAH 28:15, AMPC; ‘Prophecy Signs,’ ret. August 25, 2020

ALBERT BARNES. The eminent, Princeton University educated theologian addresses the staggering implications of such an Agreement, holding nothing back.

“We are not to suppose that they had formally said this, but that their conduct was as if they had said it; they lived as Securely as if they had entered into ‘a Compact with Death’ not to destroy them, and with Hell not to devour them. The figure is a very bold one, and is designed to express the extraordinary Stupidity of the Nation. It is most strikingly descriptive of the great mass of people.” – ‘Notes on the Whole Bible,’ c. 1880s; edited

CODA. You will carefully note his prescient remonstrance to us today: “It is most strikingly descriptive of ‘the great mass of people.’ Indeed, beloved. And only God’s Remnant shall likely grasp the potential Immensity of what is about to happen to America, Israel, the Middle East and the entire World, should my assessments prove accurate.

And yet:

“Behold, He who keeps Israel

Will neither slumber [briefly] nor sleep [soundly].

The LORD is your keeper;

The LORD is your shade on your right hand.” – PSALM 121:4, AMP

THE PRINCIPLE: God never breaks Covenant, not ever. Man, however, too often does. Selah.

NEXT TIME.  We shall conclude with just what Impact the striking of the Historic Accord will have on us all, by considering, PART III: “The Consequences.”

Ever your servant, DK

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