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The Vatican Agenda:
How Does The Vatican View The Legitimacy of Israel's Claims To
Jerusalem?
By Joel Bainerman
March 09, 2008 - Joel Bainerman - Most Israelis have probably
never thought very much about what the Roman Catholic Church/The
Vatican thinks about "end of days" theology. Jews themselves
don't give much thought to what will happen when "Gog and
Magog" takes place. Jews don't go in for anything the least
bit "next world" but instead are firmly planted in
the here and know. That's good.
However it doesn't matter what Jews think, what matters is
what The Vatican believes, and why it believes this. Judaism,
and modern Jewish thought pretty much just dismisses the basic
tenets of Catholicism outright and doesn't even bother addressing
the core questions of what is behind "Catholic theological
claims."
Instead of taking what they believe seriously, we tend to
snicker amongst ourselves when we see those pictures of obscure
rituals and ceremonies, and think the whole religion is near
pagan-like with the "eating of Holy Wafers" and "sprinkling
of Baptism water" on people's heads. That may be true, but
that doesn't matter. What matters is what they believe and what
they plan to do about making their beliefs become a reality.
The institution of "The Vatican" is not understood
by Israelis and Jews. The conventional wisdom you get from the
spokespersons in Israeli government ministries and the conventional
Israeli media is "both sides have great intentions to do
good" and that's about it. When it comes to Israel?s bi-lateral
affairs, nothing much gets investigated by the Israeli media.
Thus a secret deal could be done between the Vatican and the
State of Israel and nobody in Israel would ever find out about
it.
In fact, that is exactly what happened.
This essay will provide the background to that deal, as well
as what the Vatican?s intentions are regarding Israel and The
Old City Of Jerusalem. It will reveal which Israeli politicians
made certain commitments to The Vatican regarding the issue of
sovereignty in the Old City of Jerusalem. These negotiations
and meetings were all carried out in secret. During this time
period, 1992-l995, the Oslo Accords was what got all the public's
attention. Oslo was like "throwing sand in the eyes"
of the public. The Vatican is where the real action was happening.
Oslo seemed to be just the cover story. A ?red herring?, if you
will.
What Does The Vatican Want?
It can't be that the Vatican is only interested in "access
to their Holy Sites" in Jerusalem. They already have that
as well as legal jurisdiction under Israeli law for their institutions
and assets in Jerusalem. Also, when these "Holy Sites"
were under the jurisdiction of the Jordanians from l948-l967,
no Pope demanded the "internationalization of Jerusalem".
It is something else, which the Vatican wants. The Roman Catholic
Church, need to have certain versions of events be played out
for them to stand in front of mankind and proclaim: our Messiah
has returned.? Of course, to the Jews, this Messiah will be as
false as the first one was supposed to be. Don?t matter. This
is the goal of the Vatican and this is what all Israelis need
to worry about.
The Vatican/Roman Catholic?s version of events is this:
They know this isn't the end of the story that the Jewish G-d
had in mind, but that doesn't mean they won't try and engineer
their own ending to the story. So what if it is fraudulent. Doesn't
matter, that is their game plan and that is what matters and
that is what Israeli Jews need to be better informed about. It
is important for everyone to know what The Vatican have up its
sleeve because it directly relates to our existence and our future
destiny as an independent nation. This a very powerful force
this is scheming to get control of the Old City of Jerusalem
so you better know why and how the Vatican intends to do this.
Once you have all the facts and the chronological record you
will be better informed deal with this issue and of foreign control
over Israel's political existence and destiny.
First, you have to realize that for centuries The Vatican
has attempted to obtain control of Jerusalem, which started with
the Crusades. For them to convince the world that the Messiah
they put on the world's stage is going to be accepted as genuine,
they need to perform this play in the Old City. The story of
this production is that this "Messiah" will merge the
three monotheistic religions, usher in peace and harmony in the
world, and solve the Middle East conflict. The location for this
"production" will be in none other than the Old City
of Jerusalem.
This so-called "Messiah" that will be proclaimed,
will be a false one and it will insist that by having a "world
government" (i.e., the United Nations) the world peace and
harmony will be ushered in. This will be a lie, and a fraud,
but never mind. In our world, reality isn't important. Public
perceptions are. The end result is the stripping of Israel's
sovereignty as an independent nation giving way to a "regional
bloc of nations" in the Middle East. Israel will be pressured
to accede to these demands by all world bodies and the superpowers
on the claim that "this is the only way to solve the Middle
East conflict). In order to the Jews to go along they will convince
them that with the "Messiah" having appeared for the
Jews, it is time to start rebuilding the Third Temple- what they
call "Solomon's Temple". This version of events is
widely available through a simple search on the Internet as there
are many Christian groups and organizations (the majority of
which who are very pro-Israel) who don?t buy into these beliefs
and thus are against them. I didn?t come up with the theory-
I am just brining it to the attention of the Israeli public.
Make no mistake about it. The Old City of Jerusalem, as well
as most of the eastern half of the city, is what The Vatican
is after.
Why?
Because controlling the entire Old City of Jerusalem (and not
just Church properties) and being able to build whatever they
want on Mount Zion is critical for the program they have planned
to put into play in our capital city. The deal that it has signed
with Israel via Yossi Beilin and Shimon Peres (in secret and
without the approval of the Knesset) gives The Church not only
extraterritorial status to their properties (which is what the
bi-lateral agreement the Israeli government signed with the Vatican
on December 30th, 1993, put in law) but of control over the entire
city as "custodians" under UN presence. In this way
the Jews will give up control over the Old City. To the Vatican
the Israeli people would have a problem with. To the UN, they
would say, "we had no choice".
A Chronology Of The Attempt By The Vatican To Displace Israel
From The Old City Of Jerusalem
The ?Chronology of Events? for the Vatican?s conquest of the
Old City of Jerusalem is as follows- all of which can be verified
via the sources of the information:
October 1991
On October 12th, the head of the World Jewish Congress, Edgar
Bronfman, is appointed head of the International Jewish Committee
of Inter-religious Consultation to conduct officials contacts
with The Vatican and the State of Israel.
March 1992
On March 17th, Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek says: "The Israeli
government should meet the Vatican's demand to apply special
status for Jerusalem."
April 1992
On April 1st, The Vatican announced that it "favors a Labor
victory" in the June 1992 general elections in Israel.
On April 15th, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, one of the highest
ranking diplomats at The Vatican, visits Israel for the first
time but only meets with Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek.
June 1992
The story of The Catholic Church's attempt to abscond with the
Old City of Jerusalem from the Jews begins in July 1992. According
to the information on the Foreign Ministry website, literally
from the moment the new Rabin-led Labor government took over
from Yitzhak Shamir's defeated Likud party, secret talks with
the Vatican and the State of Israel began. What precipitated
these secret talks? Who arranged these talks, and why? Why were
they kept secret from the Israeli public? What was the end result
of these agreements? Where do they stand today? The entire subject
of Israel's bi-lateral relations with the Vatican is intentionally
kept locked away in secrecy. It is no wonder that nobody in Israel
knows much about "Israel-Vatican relations" as it is
never, ever reported on in the Israeli press.
The official story of the origins of Israel's "secret channel
contacts" between Beilin's negotiating team and the Vatican
comes about as a result of Shlomo Gur, a personal aide to Deputy
Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin, who knew someone who put him in
touch with Father David Jaeger. Father David Jaeger was president
of the Catholic Court in Austin, Texas, and was brought up as
an Israeli orthodox Jew who then converted to Catholicism and
became a Father (not something that has happened to many Israelis
who grew up Orthodox). From there, which according to the information
on the Israel Foreign Ministry website was in July 1992 right
after the new Rabin government took over power, nothing is known
about the discussions until the agreement is signed on Dec. 30th,
1993. Nothing in the Israeli press. The info given on the actual
agreement signed was very minimal and general in tone. This is
probably one of the most important political contacts Israel
has in the world's "power structure" yet it isn't reported
on in the press. Thus no Israelis know about it. That is how
it remains hidden.
November, l992
The document which was used as the underlying ideological basis
for the Vatican's secret deal with Yossi Beilin and Shimon Peres
was personally authored by Beilin. "The Illegitimacy of
Israeli Sovereignty Over Jerusalem" outlines the Israeli
government's program for the future of Jerusalem and calls for
the division of the Old City into cantons whose border posts
will be under UN control.
The plan which led to the December, 1993 agreement between The
Vatican and the State of Israel was originally discussed in November
1992 at the exact same time the first meetings in London took
place to discuss an agreement between Israel and the PLO which
led to the Oslo Agreements. The real goal was the Vatican attempt
to take over the Old City of Jerusalem. Oslo, or, "peace
between Israel and the Palestinians" was just a good cover
story to hide what was really going on in another sphere of Israel's
foreign affairs.
September, 1993
On the 10th of September, just three days before the signing
of the Oslo Accords Washington, the Italian newspaper La Stampa
reported that then Foreign Minister Shimon Peres concluded a
secret deal with the Vatican to hand over sovereignty of Jerusalem's
Old City to the Vatican. the agreement and it was included in
the secret clauses of the Declaration Of Principles signed on
September 13th, 1993 in Washington, DC.
In the same week that Israeli Foreign Minister and chief Oslo
architect Shimon Peres signed the Declaration of Principles with
Yasser Arafat in Washington, the Israel-Vatican commission held
a special meeting in Israel. Under the Vatican agreement the
Israelis would give over control the Old City to the Vatican
before the year 2000. The plan also calls for Jerusalem to become
the second Vatican of the world with all three major religions
represented but under the authority of the Vatican. Jerusalem
will remain the capital of Israel but the Old City will be administered
by the Vatican.
Arafat agreed to the plan just before the famous "handshake"
in 1993, but when he realized that the Vatican was also going
to let Israel share in the temple mount, he rejected it. (To
get Arafat and the Palestinians "on board", on February
14th, 2000, the PA did sign an agreement with the Vatican which
recognized the Palestinians' claims to East Jerusalem. The outbreak
of the "Al Asqa Intifada" seven months after this agreement
was signed may have been part of the commitment Arafat gave the
Vatican as to what he would do for him in return for the Vatican
acknowledging Palestinians claims to East Jerusalem and the right
to statehood. The violence in the Middle East serves the Catholic
Church's interest especially if Jerusalem is the subject to discuss.
By Arafat getting guarantees from the Vatican that no matter
what he does the Europeans will not abandon him, then it makes
sense for him to declare war on Israel in Sept 2000. The "Barak
gave him everything at Camp David" is propaganda. Nothing
was offered that the Knesset would have approved. The intifada
could only have happened if Arafat had gotten assurances from
major European powers that he would survive. The agreement on
Feb 2000 would have made more sense if it had occurred three
or four years previous. However its timing when it was makes
the Sept 2000 intifada seem logical from Arafat's perspective.
November 1993
In a report in the Jerusalem weekly newspaper Kol Ha'ir, it was
revealed that: "for the past six months, The Israeli government
has been taking advice on the future of Jerusalem from a planning
commission headed by a close aide of Teddy Kollek, Raanan Weitz,
formerly the settlement director of the Jewish Agency. At a secret
meeting on September 9, 1993, one day before Prime Minister Rabin
signed the recognition agreement with the PLO in Israel, the
forum met secretly and approved in principle a plan for Jerusalem
concocted by Weitz, which he calls, "Metropolitan Jerusalem."
December, 1993
With absolutely no media coverage in Israel, on December 30th
an "historic agreement with the Vatican" is publicly
acknowledged. Called: "The Fundamental Agreement Between
The Holy See and The State of Israel", it declares:
"Mindful of the singular character and universal significance
of the Holy Land. Aware of the unique nature of the relationship
between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people, and of the
historic process of reconciliation and growth in mutual understanding
and friendship between Catholics and Jews;
"Having decided on 29 July 1992 to establish a 'Bilateral
Permanent Working Commission', in order to study and define together
issues of common interest, and in view of normalizing their relations"
Already within one month of taking power there was a special
committee to further "Israeli-Vatican Relations". From
where did this initiative come so soon as the new government
took office?
April 1994
Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Shmuel Meir announces at a Jerusalem
press conference that he had received information that properties
promised to the Vatican in Jerusalem would be granted extraterritorial
status. (In early 1996 Meir was killed in a very suspicious car
crash whereby the driver who drove a UN truck into Meir's car
was not even charged.)
May 1994
Marek Halter, a French intellectual/philosopher and a close friend
of Peres, tells the Israeli weekly magazine HaShishi that he
personally delivered a letter from Peres to the Pope in Sept,
1993 in which Peres promised to internationalize Jerusalem, granting
the UN political control of the Old City of Jerusalem, and the
Vatican hegemony of the holy sites within. The UN would give
the PLO a capital within its new territory and East Jerusalem
would become a kind of free trade zone of world diplomacy.
June 1994
On June 15th, the Israeli government signs an agreement with
The Vatican allowing the Catholic Church to participate in negotiations
to determine the future of Jerusalem.
July, 1994
On July 9th, 1994, the Vatican's Foreign Minister, Jean-Louis
Tauran, announces in Amman, Jordan: "Before territorial
problems are resolved, we have to find international guarantees
to safeguard the uniqueness of the city and assurances that never
again one party should claim Jerusalem as its possession."
November l994
Israel signs a peace treaty with Jordan which, according to reports
in Haaretz, Maariv, and Yediot Achronot, included secret clauses
concerning water and Jerusalem. The agreement had been negotiated
in London eight months before between Rabin, King Hussein, and
Lord Victor Mishcon. As part of the agreement, Jordan would receive
control over the Islamic Holy sites within a Vatican-controlled
Old City of Jerusalem.
March 1995
A cable from the Israeli Embassy in Rome to The Foreign Ministry
was in Jerusalem is leaked to radio station Arutz Sheva, confirming
the handover of Jerusalem to the Vatican. Two days later the
cable made front page of Haaretz. In the widely distributed minutes
of a meeting with President Clinton in 1997, Peres ended the
cable with the words, "as I had previously promised the
Holy See."
April 1995
Member of Knesset Avraham Shapira announced in the Knesset that
he had information that all Vatican property in Jerusalem was
to become tax exempt and that large tracts of real estate on
Mount Zion were given to the Pope in perpetuity.
February l996
A delegation from the Vatican met in Jerusalem with Palestinian
Authority Religious Affairs Minister, Hassan Tahbob. Father Serge
Sebastian, Secretary General of the Vatican, announced that the
Holy See recognizes Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem.
After Shimon Peres had replaced Yitzhak Rabin as Israel's prime
minister, Internal Security Minister Moshe Shachal refused to
allow a Palestinian Authority meeting at the Vatican's Notre
Dame Hospice in Jerusalem. According to Shachal, the Palestinians
were planning to "use the Vatican to circumvent the Oslo
Accords."
November, 1997
On November 10th, the State of Israel and the Vatican sign the
"Legal Personality Agreement" whereby the State of
Israel agrees to "assure full effect law to the legal personality
of the Catholic Church itself." (What that means in plain
english is anyone's guess.)
February 2000
Hedging its bets by having bi-lateral agreements with both sides
in the Arab-Israeli conflict, on February 14th, Pope John Paul
11 meets Arafat in Rome to sign an accord to normalize relations
between Roman Catholic churches in Jerusalem and PA. Palestinian
Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed Qurei told The Jerusalem Post
that the agreement is "recognition by the Catholic Church
of the Palestinian claims to the eastern half of Jerusalem."
According to Arafat's spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudaineh, "Arafat
had been lobbying for the idea of sharing undivided Jerusalem,
and for creating a Vatican-style sovereignty in the Old City."
(Somehow we are supposed to believe that Arafat initiated this,
and not the Vatican). The agreement calls for Jerusalem to be
"an international city based on international resolutions
and an international guarantee." The pack was signed despite
the Vatican having signed an agreement with Israel six years
earlier on December 30th, 1993 which gave legal jurisdiction
under Israeli law over the Church's own institutions and assets
in the Holy Land.
March 2000
The Pope visits the Holy Land and repeats the Holy See's insistence
that" international oversight- 'a special statute, internationally
guaranteed'- would best safeguard the city's holy sites and all
its religions. The city of Jerusalem is the main obstacle to
peace in the region."
On March 27th, the Palestinian Authority says that The Vatican
no longer insists on international status for the Old City of
Jerusalem, and that The Vatican accepts the political division
of the Old City between Israel and the Palestinians. (One has
to wonder if this agreement had anything to do with Arafat?s
decision to wage war on Israel six months later?)
October 2000
In a speech to the United Nations on October 30th, Archbishop
Renato Martino declared: "The "unique character"
of Jerusalem as a city sacred to three great religions makes
it essential that religious leaders, not politicians, control
the holy sites." In his meeting on October 26th with Lebanese
Ambassador to the Vatican, Fouad Aoun, Pope John Paul 11 said
that the city of Jerusalem should be given "specially guaranteed
international status."
January 2001
Israel TV journalists secretly film under the Shrine Of Omar,
the 7th century Islamic building which may have been deliberately
constructed over the Holy of Holies, them most sacred prayer
room of the ancient Jewish Temple. The video revealed a new and
massive tunnel aimed directly at the most sacred core of Solomon's
and later, Herod's Temples. During the Crusades the early 12th
century chivalric order, The Knights Templer, dug under the ruins
for nine years and found a network of tunnels where the Jewish
priests hid their treasures form the marauding Romans in 70 CE.
It was also assumed that the original records of the Jerusalem
Church which prove that the Vatican was not practicing Christianity
as its founders had intended, was buried in this spot. A pope
with exclusive rights of divine interpretation was not part of
G-d's plan. If these scrolls were made public they would jeopardize
Rome's legitimacy. Thus it is imperative to The Vatican that
the Jews be removed from the Temple Mount so that they don't
find these important scrolls. The PA is serving as the Vatican's
"building contractors" in this arrangement in the hope
that the Vatican will side with the Palestinians in the conflict
with Israel.
July 2002
Israeli, US and German delegations at the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe in Berlin have to fight a surprise
proposal to internationalize Jerusalem?s Old City by the Italian
delegation to the meeting. The head of the Italian delegation
told Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the US-based Simon
Weisenthal Center, that the main concern of the Italian government
was that ?in the future when there are peace discussions, the
Palestinian entity will be given control of the Christian Holy
sites.?
Why the secular government of Italy should be worried about this
was not explained in the new item. (The Jerusalem Post, July
8th, 2002)
So What Is The Vatican Planning And What Can Israeli Jews Do
About It?
For centuries the Vatican has been pushing its "replacement"
doctrine which states that the Catholic has replaced Israel as
"the New Israel".
The Roman Catholic Church wants Israel to lose sovereign control
over the Old City of Jerusalem so that "the promises to
the literal descendents of Abraham will be applied to the 'New
Jerusalem.'" If Israel controls Jerusalem it is evidence
that Rome's claims are not legitimate and that the literal interpretation
of Scriptures is correct. There is no place for the restoration
of the nation of Israel in its theology. How can the Vatican
claim to be "the New Jerusalem" and "rightful
heir to the Kingdom of God" if the Jews control Jerusalem?
How is the Catholic Church going to convince the world that their
version of theology is correct?
The Vatican is going to have everyone believe this "mysterious
individual who will "unite the faiths" and appear in
Jerusalem which will be under the control of an authority headed
by The Vatican. " That deal to have the Vatican come into
Israel and take over these properties and to "control and
dominate the Old City of Jerusalem" already exists and has
been fully documented and reported in the world's media.
The end goal of The Vatican is to seize control of the Old City
of Jerusalem out of the clutches of the state of Israel. To that
end they have a secret agreement with Israel which obliges Israel
to respect the "extraterritorial" claim to their physical
presence in the city. In short, "we have accepted the Vatican's
rights to have little Vatican sovereign embassies throughout
our eternal capital of Jerusalem. That same Vatican has committed
itself, in public and in a written agreement, to ensure that
the Palestinians have sovereignty in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The public record shows a secret deal has already been conducted
behind the backs of the Israeli public whereby the Vatican was
promised to take over the Old City. There is ample proof in the
public record to prove that a secret deal was done with the Vatican
by two Israeli government representatives, Yossi Beilin and Shimon
Peres. As it was concocted covertly it can?t serve the Israeli
public- but someone else. Thus these agreements need to be made
void and nullified.
It doesn't matter if religious Jews or Israelis think that
"Catholic theology" is "strange looking"
or extremely "ritualistic." What matters is that all
Israelis understand that The Vatican has a secret agenda and
it includes stealing the Old City of Jerusalem away from the
Jews. That is what you need to know and understand. Unfortunately,
this agenda is being carried out in secret and behind your back
and that is why you are ignorant of its true aims. The purpose
of this essay is to warn you of these exact intentions of The
Vatican so that you will be an "informed consumer"
when it comes to Israel's relations with the Roman Catholic Church.
Even the overt clauses of the Vatican agreement, the exchange
of ambassadors and the opening of the Vatican archives to Israeli
researchers, have not been fulfilled by The Vatican. From an
Israeli perspective, the "Fundamental Agreement Between
The Holy See and The State of Israel" has been a complete
failure and should be immediately rescinded.
Joel Bainerman is an investigative journalist based in Israel.
His published archive can be viewed at his website at www.joelbainerman.com.
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