The Final Piece of the Puzzle or the Final Straw?

14 Tamuz 5778
3 Days Before the Onset of The 3 Weeks

Why would the British Monarchy choose this week to send a representative for its FIRST EVER OFFICIAL VISIT to the State of Israel? Or as the Times of Israel posed the question: "Why, after 70 years in which no royal made an official trip, is the 2nd-in-line to the throne now here?"

"...warm ties, high trade, wide sci-tech cooperation, and shared security challenges would not, in themselves, have sufficed to shatter the unofficial 70-year boycott of modern Israel that the royal family from the land that produced the Balfour Declaration had maintained. Prince William, second in line to the throne, would not have been dispatched to do what his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, has never done, and what his father, Prince Charles, has only done unofficially. That the first official royal visit to Israel is under way, and under way precisely now, people involved in this trip privately acknowledge, is in large part also a function of change elsewhere in the region."

It seems someone anticipated that there would be those who would ask such questions, so they've provided a pat answer in advance - hints that this is about forming a united front against Iran.  Well, think again.

The fact that William is here at the same time as Kushner and Greenblatt is more revealing, even without Rivlin's 'off-handed' request yesterday for the British royal to carry a message to Abbas - "Rivlin asks Prince William to take ‘message of peace’ to Abbas."

Another clue can be found in the wording of William's itinerary in which his announced visit to the Old City of Jerusalem was referred to as "occupied Palestinian territory."

The British ambassador to Israel on Thursday defended describing Jerusalem’s Old City as being part of the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” in the itinerary for Prince William’s upcoming visit to Israel and the West Bank.

“All the terminology that was used in the program was consistent with years of practice by British governments. It’s consistent with British government policy,” David Quarrey said.

The royal itinerary, published last week by Kensington Palace, raised some eyebrows in Israel, as it indicates that the palace considers the Old City to be Palestinian territory occupied by the Jewish state.

In my considered opinion, the only thing that would justify such a visit today is British involvement in forcing a "peace" deal on Israel that Israel is not going to want once the details are known. And furthermore, it is an indication of how close they think we all are to bringing the "process" to an end.

Dennis Ross: The US peace plan is serious

Dennis Ross, who was President Clinton's Middle East envoy and a member of the National Security Council staff with responsibility for the Middle East and the Persian Gulf in the administration of Barack Obama, says that he is convinced of the seriousness of the work of Jason Greenblatt and Jared Kushner, President Trump's envoys to the Middle East.

...Ross made a short visit to Israel a few days ago as part of his work as a consultant to the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. By coincidence, he was here at the same time as Trump's two envoys. Kushner and Greenblatt shuttled between Amman, Cairo and Jerusalem, and tried to persuade Arab countries to buy into their initiative, while Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) continues in his refusal to talk to them.

Yep. The vultures are definitely circling. They must think our demise is very near.

One last question remains. Can "Wills" get Abbas to the table?
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NOTE: In light of the blog post previous to this one, I'd like to bring your attention back to one written only a bit over a year ago. It's well worth re-reading as a reminder - "This Is The Most Important Blog Post You Will Read Today."