This account from my small book, Why the Two-State Solution Won't Work . . .But What Could, gives you intriguing background into Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision Wednesday to extend Israeli sovereignty over portions of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).

I think you'll find it fascinating . . .

It was 1998 and African preacher Robert Mawire had just flown to Jerusalem from the U.S. with a message he believed was from God.

"The day you negotiate land for peace, your government will collapse," Mawire announced to a bemused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The prime minister brushed off the warning.

Soon afterwards, he signed a "land-for-peace" deal with Palestinian Liberation Organization chairman Yasir Arafat. Known as the Wye River Memorandum, the pact called for Israel to hand over 13 percent of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) to the Palestinians.

Netanyahu pronounced himself "brimming with some confidence" for a final accord on the disputed West Bank and Gaza territories. But that never happened.

+ + Thrown out of office

"Bibi" was out of office by July 1999 after his government collapsed and voters thrashed his party at the polls.

Perhaps that turn of events was just coincidence.

Maybe, but in 2000 Mawire delivered a similar message to Israeli hawk Ariel Sharon. "The Lord has sent me to tell you you’re going to be prime minister in six months," Mawire told Sharon.

Sharon dismissed the idea. "Absolutely impossible! It will never happen," Sharon replied, as Mawire recalled. The famous ex-general said his political career was over, because he was about to be indicted on war crimes at the International Criminal Court.

"This shall be a sign to you," Mawire countered. "You will not go to The Hague. But when you become prime minister, honor the covenant that God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God will defend the territorial integrity of His land. So you never negotiate land for peace. Obey the Lord and He will bless you."

And then Mawire added a warning:

"But hear this, the Lord told me that the day you disobey His word, like in ancient times, He's going to strike you, so please, please, when He makes you prime minister, do not remove the Jews from the land."

True to Mawire's word, Sharon scored a surprise political comeback six months later, winning a landslide election to become prime minister in March 2001.

+ + Sharon turns from hawk to dove

But in 2004, Prime Minister Sharon turned from hawk to dove. He told President George W. Bush Israel he accepted the two-state solution as a "practical and just formula . . . for the achievement of peace...."

And then he took matters much further. Sharon withdrew Israeli forces from Gaza and forcibly expelled 9,000 Israeli Jews from their Gaza homes in August 2005, a move that traumatized Israel. It also showed the folly of a two-state solution.

The year after the Israeli withdrawal, Gazans gave power to the terror group Hamas and rocket fire from Gaza into Israel jumped more than 400 percent, rising from 179 projectiles in 2005 to 946 projectiles the next year.

Four months after Prime Minister Sharon ordered the evacuation of Gaza, he tragically suffered a stroke and sank into a coma from which he never recovered. He died in 2014.

Whatever one thinks of modern-day prophets, events unfolded just as Mawire predicted. Both Israeli leaders lost power, with Sharon completely incapacitated.

+ + Bibi's lesson: "Don't ever negotiate land for peace again."

Mawire encountered Netanyahu again in 2001, when the ex-prime minister spoke in Florida. "God is not done with you," Mawire told Netanyahu, this time more receptive. "You will be prime minister again at a critical time in history. Don't ever negotiate land for peace again."

+ + Sign the petition . . . give to CIDI

Eight years later, Israeli voters put Netanyahu back in charge as prime minister. In 2018, he made it clear he no longer supports a Palestinian state next door. And just this past Wednesday, he pledged to extend Israeli sovereignty across parts of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).

So far White House reaction to Bibi's pledge has been neutral. And that's why I'm asking you to join me in calling on President Trump to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.

Making that recognition would be a huge and historic step.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is leading the way. Now let's call on President Trump to recognize Israel's right to the land God gaves to the Jews—including Judea and Samaria.

Please sign the "Israeli Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria!" petition now!

And in thanks for your much-needed gift now of $25 or more, I want to rush my small book, Why the Two-State Solution Won’t Work . . . But What Could. Your gift will make a real difference as we mount this critical campaign and fight for Israel on Capitol Hill, across America and in Israel itself. To make your gift, click here now!

Please let me hear from you right away!

Together for Israel,

Mat Staver
Chairman