Abbas: Palestinians Committed To Peace
AP via Yahoo! News Tue, 21 Dec 2004 11:13 AM PST
Marking the end of mourning for Yasser Arafat, his emerging successor said Tuesday he remains committed to a peace deal with Israel that would produce a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as a capital.  

Blair Wins Pledges To Work For Peace
Sydney Morning Herald Thu, 23 Dec 2004 5:31 AM PST 
Ariel Sharon and Tony Blair meet the press in Jerusalem. 

Europe Now A Partner In Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process: Dutch FM
Europe has been accepted as a partner in the process of finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot told AFP in an interview looking back on the six months of the Dutch European Union presidency.

"Both America, Israel and the Palestinians accepted Europe as a partner in the game and admitted that no solution was possible without the United States and without Europe," he said in late Wednesday.

Israelis Compare Pullout Plan To Holocaust
AP via Yahoo! News Tue, 21 Dec 2004 11:42 AM PST
Some Jewish settlers said Tuesday they will be wearing orange Star of David patches”; similar to those the Nazis forced Jews to pin to their lapels; in an escalation of protests against a planned Gaza Strip withdrawal.  

World Bank Head Pushes Palestinian Reform
ABC News Tue, 21 Dec 2004 3:30 PM PST
World Bank Head Calls for Palestinian Reforms in Exchange for $500 Million More in Aid.

Comments
Tony Blair was in the Middle East this week in a major push to restart the peace process.  Everyone seems to be pushing the U.S. Roadmap plan so I am assuming this will eventually be the plan the antichrist will confirm (Daniel 9:26-27).  Of course, that could change in a second.  

As I have said many times, once the rapture takes place and the antichrist comes on the scene the world will change dramatically.  I don't believe many consider the trauma that will be felt once hundreds of millions of people are gone without warning.  Many wonder how the world will accept this.  The only answer is they just will, and frankly, they won't have any other choice.  satan won't anticipate the rapture but he will be smart enough to get the world back on track.  his only concern at this point will be to establish his kingdom and that will take time.

The world bank is putting the pressure on the Palestinians to stop the violence.  The U.S. has requested that Europe take a more prominent role in the quest for Middle East peace.  Israel has also accepted the European's as a partner.  

This looks to be the beginning of a shift from the U.S. to the E.U. at the request of the U.S. according to Israel.  Look for them to delegate the peace process to the E.U. as Israel and the Palestinian Authority become further intergraded into the E.U. neighborhood.  But don't be mistaken, the European Neighborhood Policy isn't the start of the seven-year peace plan.  I do believe it will evolve into it, but it's not there yet.  

Is Tony Blair the coming antichrist?  I have had a number of people email me who believe he is, but I'm not so sure.  Certainly, he is among the leading candidates.