Crosstalk: December 5, 2017

​This edition of Crosstalk began with news that the U.S. Senate passed a tax reform package by a vote of 51-49 with every Republican voting 'yes' with the exception of Bob Corker of Tennessee. It now moves to a conference committee that will take elements of the House and Senate tax reform packages, mesh those together, with the final proposal once again going to the House and Senate. They're looking to have this finished by Christmas.

Joining Jim Schneider to discuss a possible move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital was Dr. Jimmy DeYoung. Dr. DeYoung is a student of Bible prophecy and expert on the Middle East. He leads a ministry, Prophecy Today, and has spent many years living in Israel as well as having lead many trips there. He is a noted conference speaker. He constantly monitors news regarding Israel and the Middle East and provides a unique blend of political, biblical and prophetic insight that is absent from the media today.

November 29th was the 70th anniversary of U.N. General Assembly fulfilling the promise of the 1917 Balfour Declaration. This is what is referred to as the 'Partition Plan'. This is where Dr. DeYoung began with his explanation of the history of the formation of the nation of Israel.

As the discussion moved back to today, Jim Schneider explained that every 6 months, since around 1998, American presidents have signed a waiver postponing the transfer of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. According to Dr. DeYoung, news has come out that either tomorrow or Wednesday, President Trump is supposedly set to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital but may delay a decision on moving the U.S. embassy.

From his first day in office, President Trump indicated he would move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. That didn't happen and Jewish leadership has been concerned. They feel this is key for the relationship between Israel and the U.S.

The remainder of this Crosstalk looked at how the Netanyahu camp, Hamas and the Arab League are reacting to this news, whether this will sabotage the peace process, how this might affect existing ministries in Arab nations, the prophetic implications, and much more.