By Bill McKay

November 16, 2001

Dear President Bush,

Having spent 25 years doing business in the Mideast and involved in an intense journalism project for the BBC on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, I have earned a responsible understanding of the extraordinary complexities of this region.

Today, I am not writing to you as one involved in journalism or one who has spent considerable time in the homes of the PLO leadership but as an abstemious Christian.

After all the learned men in the State Department have weighed in on the adroit strategies to bring the thorny Israeli/Palestinian problem under control – so that we, the United States and its coalition partners, can get on with the greater war against the worldwide network of terrorism – all of the hard questions come down to one question:

What does God say about this?

In Zechariah 12 God has promised:

“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling [an expression for divine judgment]….I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves…I will keep a watchful eye over the house of Judah, …Jerusalem will remain intact in her place…I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the One they have pierced.” (Zech 12:2-10)

Your statements to the UN General Assembly, on Saturday past, did not go unnoticed by the Holy One of Israel – particularly as it related to an implicit call for a Palestinian State.

The creation of the Palestinian State carries with it a minimum requirement of a fractured Jerusalem, as understood by the Palestinians, the Arab world and many of our European coalition partners.

As you have bartered, directly or through diplomatic symbolism, Jerusalem and the security of Israel for the momentary affection of the Arab world, you have come dangerously close to drinking from the “cup of Jerusalem.”

From my limited point of view, I do not know whether you have merely dangled the false hope of a Palestinian State, before the PLO terrorists, gambling all along that they [the PLO] will not meet the necessary conditions for peace, and thus avoid the injury (to you and America) for ” try[ing] to move…the immovable rock [Jerusalem].”

I am writing you because I have prayed diligently for you – now and during the time of the Florida crisis.

There is no question in my mind and heart that the Holy One of Israel has raised you up for the survival of America and Western Civilization. However, this calling is not a fait accompli.

In my humble opinion there is a rather wide latitude, in terms of a margin of error, when it comes to every element of this war, except Jerusalem.

Due to the evil and spiritual dimensions of this war, you and the American people need the blessing and protection of God Almighty. Therefore, when you touch the “cup of Jerusalem,” you must employ absolute wisdom.

The wisdom I am referring is not from the wise men at State, but rather the wisdom that comes from the One who died and was pierced for you.

Know this: His wisdom may run counter to the political calculus of our time and may require you to risk relationships with family, loyal allies, trusted aides and the people you employ to answer the really hard political questions.

For at the end of the day, you will stand before our Messiah, without the trappings of your office, and give a full account of every action you take, directly or indirectly, related to the “cup of Jerusalem.”

Earlier this afternoon, Chris Matthews, of CNBC’s Hardball, engaged Senator Thompson regarding the speech of Secretary Powell, this coming Monday, related to the implementation of US policy and the creation of a Palestinian State.

Matthews asked Sen. Thompson if it was too late to stop the Powell speech and Sen. Thompson said “no,” emphatically. In a small way, it was Sen. Thompson’s analysis and strong opposition to this ill fated policy that motivated me to write you.

Please note: each time Sec. Powell has searched for an international platform to announce the US policy regarding the creation of a Palestinian State, a tragedy has occurred i.e. 9.11 and the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet Minister.

As a result, you have been given valuable time to rethink this proposed policy. Furthermore, God will “not strive with man” indefinitely. There will come a point, when He will allow you to drink from the Jerusalem cup, if that is your undeterred choice.

I am not naive in thinking that this email, from a relatively unimportant citizen, will change the course of history regarding US foreign policy in the Mideast. But I am quietly confident in the language God gave Zechariah wherein He promised: “I will keep a watchful eye over the house of Judah, …Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.”

There are many Americans that are praying day and night for you and the decisions you will make. And as a loyal American, I am standing with you.

May God’s Spirit rest heavily upon you as you touch Jerusalem.

(signed) Bill McKay

© Israel My Beloved