Events in the United States are moving at a breathtaking pace in a path clearly in line with the prophecies of Rev. 13:12-17 relating to final world events. Until just a few years ago events involving Palestine and Jerusalem were developing in line with another end-time prophecy signalling that the close of probation for all humanity is at hand. That prophecy is Dan. 11:45. Events recognizably fulfilling this prophecy have been stalled for four years. The Israeli government wants no part of Rome's plan for Jerusalem, and takes actions to frustrate it. The papacy is determined to establish a presence in the City all deem to be holy, and watches Israel's actions like a hawk:-

From [D]@gmail.com:

Holy See reiterates Israel-Palestine two-state solution, Jerusalem status quo

Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York on October 18 addressed a UN Security Council debate on the Middle East and the Palestinian question.

The Holy See has reiterated its unwavering support for a fair, durable and early solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, through the resumption of negotiations aimed at reaching a Two-State solution, with Israel and a Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security within internationally-recognized borders.

Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York made the call in an address on Thursday to a UN Security Council debate on the situation in the Middle East and the Palestinian question. . .

Noting that states in and outside the Middle East have exacerbated the Israeli-Palestinian discord and the intra-Palestinian divisions for their own interests, Arch. Auza urged these states to rather facilitate and sustain the peace process. . .

The status of Jerusalem has been a painful issue between Israel and the Palestinians. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future independent state, whereas Israel has declared the whole city to be its “united and eternal” capital.

At the UN, Arch. Auza reiterated the Holy See’s support for the historic “status quo” of Jerusalem, in line with UN resolutions, rejecting any unilateral measure aimed at changing it.

He asserted the Holy See’s stand that the Holy City be a place of convergence and peace and that the followers of the three monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam be guaranteed free and unhindered access to the Holy Places. (Underlined emphasis added.)

The foregoing report was dated October 19, 2018. The vigilance of Rome is manifested in the following two reports, the first dated August 1, 2018, and the second November 5, 2018:-

Apostolic Administrator of Jerusalem stands against new Israeli Law

Archibishop Pizzaballa, Patriarch of Jerusalem, has decried the new “Nation State” law passed in Israel in July.

Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, O.F.M – Apostolic Administrator of Jerusalem, Palestine, released a statement on Monday regarding the recently enacted Basic Law: “Israel as the Nation state of Jewish People”, a new and controversial law which defines Israel as a Jewish state. . .

The Law gives Jews a right to national self-determination and has downgraded Arabic from an official language to a “language with a special status”, making Hebrew the official language. . .

The provisions of this new law reiterate the status of Jerusalem under Israeli law. They define the Palestinian capital of a future state as the “complete and united… capital of Israel”. . .

The Law establishes that there are not equal rights for Arabs and Jews, refusing to acknowledge their existence. Pizzaballa believes that any state in which there is such a vast majority should hold a duty to guarantee the preservation of the minorities’ collective identity, this includes their religious, ethnic and social traditions. . .

He ended his statement mentioning the Christian citizens of Israel, another minority, concerned as all other non-Jewish minorities in the area. Archibishop Pizzaballa states that the Christian community calls upon all citizens of Israel who “still believe in the basic concept of equality among citizens of the same nation, to voice their objection to this law and the dangers emanating thereof to the future of this Country.”

Catholic Bishops in the Holy Land on Israel’s Nation State Law

The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land released a statement on 2 November responding to the Nation State Law of 19 July 2018 passed by the Israeli Knesset.

It is out of a “spirit of dialogue” that the Catholic Bishops of the Holy Land speak out in a statement responding to the “issue of the Nation State Law passed by the Israeli Knesset on 19 July 2018. . .

The legislation at issue limits the promotion and protection offered by the State of Israel to “Jewish citizens of the State of Israel”. In direct response to this, the Bishops write:

“We must draw the attention of the authorities to a simple fact: our faithful, the Christians, our fellow citizens, Muslim, Druze and Baha’i, all of us who are Arabs, are no less citizens of this country than our Jewish brothers and sisters.”

The Bishops also draw attention to the ongoing tension arising from the definition of Israel’s democracy being both “Jewish” and “democratic”. It is the Jewish majority who determines what this means, while the Arab minority experiences the discrimination caused by the imbalance of the “Jewish” element over the “democratic”. An ongoing struggle to “protect the rights of all citizens, to guarantee as much as possible the values of equality, justice and democracy” received a milestone victory with the 1992 passage of the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, the statement says. . .

Recent passage of the new Nation State legislation “is a blow to these values”, the statement continues. Now there is a “constitutional and legal basis for discrimination” because “Jewish citizens are to be privileged over and above other citizens”. In addition to “seriously downgrading the standing of the Arab language”, the law ignores “Palestinian Arabs, other major religious communities, Christians and Muslims as well as Druze and Baha’i”. . .

The statement continues with a declaration that the above-mentioned groups “demand to be treated as equal citizens.” In addition, equality must incorporate civic, ethnic, and religious identities. This demand is based on the fact that “Jerusalem and the whole of this Holy Land is a heritage we share with Jews and Muslims, Druze and Baha’i, a heritage we are called upon to protect from division and internecine strife”. . .

In conclusion, the Bishops “call on the authorities to rescind” the law since it is contradictory to both the humanistic and democratic basis of Israeli legislation and international law. Thus all can be assured that the “State of Israel seeks to promote and protect the welfare and the safety of all its citizens”. (Original italics.)

It appears that criticism of the Nation State legislation in particular stung the Israeli government - not surprising since the Jews have been subjected to discrimination and persecution throughout the history of their diaspora. Israel could not ignore the expressions of displeasure emanating from Rome. The following is a report of a meeting at the Vatican between the President of Israel and Pope Francis on November 15, 2018. The photograph exudes affability, which must surely mask an underlying tension between Israel and the Vatican City State:

From [D]@gmail.com:

Israel’s president meets the pope and boasts of freedom of worship in his country

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at a private audience Thursday with Pope Francis emphasized that his country has “full freedom of worship for all religions in all holy places.”

At their Vatican meeting, the pope and Rivlin also discussed the need to build “greater mutual trust” between Israelis and Palestinians as a basis to resume negotiations and reach a just accord. A Vatican statement said they spoke about “the importance of building greater mutual trust in view of the resumption of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians so as to reach an accord respecting the legitimate aspirations of both peoples.”

They also discussed “the Jerusalem question, in its religious and human dimension for Jews, Christians and Muslims, as well as the importance of safeguarding its identity and vocation as City of Peace.”

Rivlin said during the meeting, according to a statement from his office, that “Jerusalem has been a holy city for the three monotheistic religions for centuries. For the Jewish people, Jerusalem has been the spiritual center since the days of the First Temple over 3,000 years ago, but it is also a microcosm of our ability to live together.” . . .

Rivlin and Francis also reflected on positive developments in relations between Israel and the Holy See in the 25 years since the establishment of formal ties in December 1993. . .

The issues are joined, the central one being the status of Jerusalem. Israel is stubborn; but Rome is determined, and the prophecy predicts that her goal will be achieved, whether by human politics or supernatural intervention.