For nearly 60 years, world leaders have been trying to resolve a conflict that exists between Israel and its neighbors. There have been a few successes in easing tension, but any concessions on Israel's part only lead to new demands.

The Bible predicts that Jerusalem will be the final stage in what I now see as the peace process. What started with the 1978 Camp David agreement will eventually lead to the point where the Antichrist gives his blessing to a treaty that will bring a brief period of harmony to the city of Jerusalem.

This past week, President George W. Bush has been in the Middle East trying to lay the groundwork for an agreement that would involve Jerusalem. Bush, at a press conference, said, "I believe it's going to happen, that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office."

Bush pressed the idea of a two-state solution. "There should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967," Bush said. The president went on: "The agreement must establish Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people, just as Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people." Of course, a Palestinian state would have western Jerusalem as its capital. So far, the Israelis have no plans to comply with this demand.

What President Bush fails to see is that the Palestinian people have no desire or ability to govern themselves. The liberation of the Gaza Strip has been a huge disaster. You may remember that Israel pulled out, giving the Palestinians full control. As soon as the Israeli military left, Gaza fell into total chaos. Hamas and Fatah political factions began killing each other, and the local economy collapsed.

Israel is blamed for allowing Gaza to become the armpit of the Middle East, but how can that be? If you’re going to be independent for another nation, you need be able to take care of your own needs.

Of course, what we have here is a tiny nation run by corrupt terrorists. All the responsibility in building roads, running the police force, and maintaining the local economy rests with them. Despite billions of dollars of foreign aid pouring into Gaza, it still can't function without Israel's help. The situation has become so critical that thousands of Palestinians are barely surviving.

With such a prime example of gross incompetence, it's insane for Bush and other world leaders to insist this plan be duplicated for the West Bank. The only thing the Palestinians excel in is in their hatred of Israel.

My view of President Bush has declined steadily in the past couple years. The only thing saving him from being ranked among the worst presidents in American history is the realization that a President Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would be pressing all the harder for Israel to make a deal with the devil.

I'm very concerned about what will happen to our nation if Bush continues to guide Israel towards a plan that will divide Jerusalem. The Bible promised doom for any nation that seeks to tamper with God's holy city.

I don't believe in the knee-jerk reaction that many prophecy sites have promoted. When Bush left for the Middle East, several people claimed a series of tornadoes in the southern states was a demonstration of God's wrath over our tinkering in Israeli affairs.

I think we will suffer consequences of our foreign policies regarding Israeli, but I believe God is more subtle in His dealings with the nations. The greatest danger is that once we get on the Lord's bad side, it may become impossible to reverse our course. "And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it" (Zechariah 12:3).