No Mideast peace if terrorism is allowed breeding grounds

In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” If we are children of God, pursuing peace should be our default posture. As a nation founded on biblical principles and declaring our trust in God, America should likewise be a nation that seeks peace.

For that reason, I am grateful for the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to seek peace in regions long defined by conflict. But Scripture also makes clear that peace cannot exist apart from truth and righteousness. The prophet Isaiah, speaking of the Messiah and His kingdom, said, “The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever” (Isaiah 32:17). The prophet Jeremiah, by contrast, warned of false peace built on deception: “They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14).

Both Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were in Israel this month shoring up the president’s 20-point Gaza Peace Plan. Meanwhile, the Israeli Knesset took steps toward asserting sovereignty over more of Judea and Samaria. Secretary Rubio cautioned that the move could jeopardize the Gaza peace process. Vice President Vance responded that it was “a political stunt,” reaffirming that “the policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.”

But let’s be clear: there will be no enduring peace in the Middle East so long as those who deny Israel’s right to exist are allowed to operate within her borders — harboring the illusion that terrorism and agitation will eventually yield them a state carved from the heart of Israel.

The term “West Bank” is itself a deceptive invention, coined by those who reject Israel’s legitimacy. The land’s biblical name is Judea and Samaria — nearly a quarter of Israel’s territory and the setting for roughly 80% of the events recorded in Scripture. Today, it is also a breeding ground for terror. Over the past two years, there have been 128 deadly attacks and more than 1,000 attempted or thwarted assaults in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, which encompass about 40% of the region.

That violence is poised to intensify after Phase One of the peace plan, which traded 2,000 imprisoned terrorists for 20 remaining hostages, transferring those freed militants to Ramallah — the Palestinian Authority’s capital in Samaria.

History warns us: before the five wars with Hamas in Gaza came the First and Second Intifadas, both launched from Judea and Samaria and lasting more than a decade.

If Israel is to achieve even a managed peace, it must remove from its enemies the false hope of a Palestinian state within its God-given borders. The surest path to lasting stability is for Israel to fully exercise sovereignty over the land promised to her — a peace anchored not in illusion, but in truth and righteousness.