Among the incredible details the Lord reveals through Ezekiel (chapter 36):

• The "enemy," with gleeful malice, took possession of the land, justifying their actions with the claim that Israel had been "rightfully" cast out (v. 5)
• Israel's enemy smugly taunts and celebrates because the land in question has fallen into their possession (v. 2)
• As a result of the conflict, Israel is snapped at and ravaged from every side, becoming an object of derision for the surrounding nations (v. 3, 6)
• The conflict over this land becomes a topic of discussion among many other nations, to the extent that they think they should decide the outcome (v. 3)
• God is concerned about this situation (v. 9)
• God declares that the land belongs to Him (v. 5)
• God decides who should possess the land of the West Bank: Israel (v. 8-12)
• God speaks to this land in fiery, jealous anger, swearing that the surrounding nations will suffer His reproach and scorn (v. 5-7)
• God repopulates the towns of the West Bank with multitudes of Israeli Jews - the towns and cities will be inhabited with Jews as they were in Bible times (v. 10-12)
• No longer will any terrorists reside there who would deprive and bereave Israel of her children (v. 12-14)
• The Israelis who resettle the West Bank will prosper greatly (v. 8-11)
• Ultimately, Israel would no longer have to endure the insults and scorn of the nations because of the West Bank issue (v. 15)
• God is not doing these things because of any merit on the part of Israel, but for His own purposes (v. 22-23, 32)
• God does all these things so that the whole world knows how great He is, and that He is the one who accomplished it! (v. 21, 36)

This Ezekiel 36 prophecy does not speak primarily to the land of Israel as a whole, but specifically to the West Bank. The fact that the "mountains of Israel" of Ezekiel 36 corresponds to today's "West Bank" can be visually verified by examining a topographic map, such as the one below. The "West Bank" is the area in tan color, and you can see that the mountainous region matches very closely with the current political boundary.

Though many Bible prophecies were fulfilled in 1948 when Israel became a nation once again, this is not one of them. The land in question was later captured by Israel in the 1967 war, but was not annexed to become part of the state of Israel. Prior to that, from 1948 to 1967, this land was under the control of the country of Jordan. During those decades, there was no talk of establishing a Palestinian state there. It was not until Israel wrested it away, to commence the fulfillment of the Ezekiel 36 prophecy, that the world began clamoring for a Palestinian state on the West Bank.

The ill-conceived and ill-fated Oslo "peace process" was contrary to God's explicitly expressed intentions for this land. For pragmatic, political, and Biblical reasons, it was inevitable that the Oslo accords would fail. Now, many in Israel are wondering what approach and policy should be adopted regarding the West Bank and the Palestinians. They would do well to adopt the stance of this great Jewish prophet Ezekiel, who spoke the immutable words of the God of Israel.