February 9, 2005

Things are starting to look hopeful for peace in the Middle East.

Israel Radio is reporting that Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas are announcing an agreement to end hostilities, and Jordan and Egypt announced recently that they would return their ambassadors to Israel-who were withdrawn in September 2000.

Secretary of State Rice has just announced Lt. Gen William Ward, the former head of NATO, as a "senior U.S. security coordinator" to help the Palestinians with their security plans.

Dr. Rice said, "General Ward's mandate is on security, which after all, really has to get established and has to be moving forward in order for us to make progress."

Both Sharon and Abbas have been invited to the White House for meetings, and, the President has pledged $350 million to the Palestinians to "support Palestinian political, economic and security reforms."

All of these are hopeful signs-just one question:

Will Israel still be a sovereign nation when a peace deal has been brokered?

I'm Janet Parshall.

Beyond The News Commentaries, produced daily by Salem Communications, bring concise and penetrating insight to everything from the current headlines to challenges facing the church, from our culture wars to the Middle East conflict and from Hollywood to Washington, D.C. These daily features cover politics, culture, religion and science with perspective from the sharpest minds in the Christian and conservative world today: David Aikman, Terry Eastland, Hugh Hewitt, Michael Medved, Albert Mohler, Dennis Prager and Janet Parshall.