Bella Davidov

Coronavirus, Prophecy, and Israel

March 13, 2020 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

The Coronavirus (COVID -19), which first appeared in China’s Hubei Province, is now rapidly spreading around the world at alarming rates, and with it, stock markets are plummeting. Thursday stocks hit their worst losses since the crash of 1987. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 10% for its worst day since a nearly 23% drop on Oct. 19, 1987.

Coronavirus, Prophesy and Israel — Covid 19

It seems that the world is in the grip of this virus in what is becoming a global pandemic. People are rushing to stock their homes with emergency supplies, there is a real danger that it will affect supply and demand proportions very quickly. The virus knows no boundaries, nor does it distinguish between races. It attacks Chinese, Italians, Swiss, Americans, Israelis, Palestinians, Iranians and others around the globe. Millions are in a panic, which is as dangerous as the disease itself. The reality is that people’s livelihoods and health are being threatened at the same time.

Large outbreaks of the virus globally prompted many to link the epidemic to the biblical prophecies of the end times. Christian ‘End Time experts’ have linked the Coronavirus to the events of the Apocalypse.

The Apocalypse

Many Christians believe that the Book of Revelation prophesizes about cataclysmic events that will unfold before the Second Coming of Christ. Some believe that the world has already experienced the three Horsemen of the Apocalypse with religious deception, wars, and famine. Now with the spread of the Coronavirus, they believe the pestilence of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse has started.

Evangelists Gerald Flurry and Wayne Turgeon of The Trumpet said: “It is imperative that each of us takes heed while there is still time.” Charity Mukuba announced: “The rider of this pale horse has been released on earth today. We can already see the plagues of locusts and pestilences like CORONAVIRUS that have brought famine and death.”

John the Apostle wrote in Revelation 6:

“And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

There is however no evidence to suggest that the Coronavirus is the pestilence described in the bible. COVID-19 belongs to a family of viruses that attacked parts of the world in the past. For instance, SARS emerged in 2002 in the Guangdong province of China, and globally spread infecting 8,096 people and causing 774 deaths.

Drastic Measures

Drastic measures are being taken to avoid the spread of the virus and prevent death, as well as avoid the spreading of panic and talk of conspiracy theories. Most of the dead so far are the elderly with previous health problems.

Israel’s rapid implementation of tough quarantine measures was expanded just before the country started celebrating Purim. Anyone entering the country from anywhere in the world must self-quarantine for 14 days, including Israeli citizens. Tourists and non-citizens also have to enter 14 days of self-quarantine after reporting the address where they will be staying. Israel has not closed Ben-Gurion International Airport but most flights to and from Israel have been canceled due to various travel restrictions worldwide and poor ticket sales.

Programs involving international travel, such as the annual March of the Living program, which takes students to Poland to see the death camps of the Holocaust and then moves on to Israel, are postponed.

As the toll of Coronavirus grows, it is crucial not to downplay or exaggerate the threat. Even in a free society, citizens must be willing to sacrifice some of their freedoms and personal comfort for the sake of public health.

Purim 2020

The Jewish month of Adar is a time to rejoice, even more so with the festival of Purim. But this Purim was different as the joy was tainted by this terrible virus. There is some good news from China, where it all started:
There appears to be a slowdown in the outbreak of the virus. With God’s help, a cure or vaccine will be developed in the near future.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a series of government and health ministry decisions urging Israelis to follow stricter hygiene routines, limit public gatherings to 100 people and stay home in self-quarantine if experiencing suspected symptoms.

Netanyahu also asked people not to hold conferences and events if they don’t have to. Schools are closed and higher education facilities will teach remotely. Health Ministry’s Director General called on employers to let more and more employees work from home.

As of today, there are 16 additional confirmed cases of Coronavirus, bringing the national patient count to 126. It was also reported that there are 2,479 health workers in quarantine – among them 949 doctors and 635 nurses. Of those diagnosed with the virus, 91 are in hospitals, one more is being admitted and five are being treated at home, the ministry said. Two Coronavirus patients are in serious condition, and three Israelis have recovered from the disease. As a general rule, people should maintain a reasonable distance from each other.

Pray

As believers, it is important to look to our God and Savior Who is Sovereign over all His creation. It is widely believed that the Coronavirus outbreak will get significantly worse before it stabilizes and gets better. With taking the necessary precautions and abiding by local laws and regulations, we must keep on believing that our God is in control and that He is our protector (Ps. 91). In God’s economy there is no stock market crash. He will supply all of our needs according to HIS riches in glory. We need to pray and rely now on God’s Word and His promises. Do not fear, and do not worry.

If you are in Israel: hotline (*5400) is open to receive general information and assistance, or the Magen David Adom emergency services (101) in case of flu-like symptoms, including fever, coughing, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing (call before going to the hospital.)

Judea & Samaria – Known as the West Bank

February 28, 2020 By Bella Davidov 1 Comment

Views of Judea and Samaria from Bella's recent trip. — *Welcome to Judea and Samaria (from Bella’s recent trip.)*

Moses led the Hebrew nation out of Egypt about 1,300 BC. Muhammad originated Islam about 600 AD, about 1,900 years later. The offspring of Jacob, the Jews, predate the Muslims everywhere in the Middle East. The land of Judea was the Jewish nation before the Roman occupiers expelled and killed a large portion of the population during the Jewish wars of the first century and renamed it Palestina in an effort to blot out every connection of the Jewish people to the land. Palestina was the name of the small part of the land that was occupied by the Philistines along the southern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. [Read more in the article: “The Origin of Palestine”.]

Before the Muslim conquest in the 7th century CE, the land was occupied by both Christians and Jews. The population remained essentially unchanged from the days of the Byzantine occupation (324 CE – 640 CE), and the majority of the population consisted of Greek Orthodox Christians and two minorities – Jews and Samaritans. The number of Arabs settled in Palestine was negligible. Most of the Arabs who now declare themselves Palestinians immigrated to the area between the 19th and 20th centuries, during the Ottoman rule (1516 – 1918) and the British Mandate period (1918 –1948).

Proof that Judea and Samaria belong to the Jewish people are cities that the Oslo Accord gave to the Palestinians –Jericho, conquered by Joshua; Hebron, where Abraham bought the burial place for his wife Sarah and where Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Rebecca, and Leah are buried; Bethlehem – where Rachel is buried nearby and where Yeshua (Jesus) was born to Jewish parents; East Jerusalem with the Temple Mount, the City of David, and Golgotha, where Jesus the Jewish Messiah died, was buried and was resurrected.

There has never ever been a Palestinian state nor a political entity that belonged to the self-proclaimed Palestinians. Through all the international agreements from 1917 until 1947, the land designated Palestine was divided into three entities: Jordan, east of the Jordan River, and the suggested Jewish and Arab future states to be shared in the land west of the Jordan River. While the Jews reluctantly accepted this painful partition as better than nothing, an area much smaller than originally allocated to the Jewish state, the Arabs refused anything less than everything and launched a war of aggression against the new Jewish state of Israel in 1948. As a result of Israel’s victory, it gained additional land but was unable to hold Judea and Samaria or East Jerusalem which fell to the Jordanians who immediately occupied and annexed the areas, a violation of international law. At the same time, the Jordanians expelled Jews from their homes in East Jerusalem creating Jewish refugees.

During the Jordanian rule of Judea and Samaria, Arabs who were kept in refugee camps never claimed to establish a Palestinian state in that area. Rather, they adamantly refused to share the land with the Jews–land they previously refused and consequently lost in the 1948 war. Until today, the Arabs who now call themselves Palestinians want to replace the land of Israel with what they still call Palestine. [See the article “The Origin of Palestine”.] In the1949 cease-fire, the Arabs refused to accept Israel’s victory and claimed that the borders drawn had no legal significance.

What is the Legal Status of Judea and Samaria

As of 1967, the territory legally belonged to no one, since the annexation of Judea and Samaria by Jordan was considered illegal. The British vacated in 1948 at the end of their mandate whereupon the War of Independence began. In 1949 at the end of the war, armistice boundary lines were drawn up but the Arabs refused to recognize them, insisting that the boundaries had no legal significance.

Therefore, according to international law, the land cannot be considered “occupied” but is considered “Disputed Territories”, a term used when there are territorial disputes.

In 1964 Arabs in those areas formed the Palestinian Liberation Organization (the PLO), under the leadership of Yasser Arafat, in order to reclaim Israel as their land of “Palestine.” It had nothing to do with the territory of the West Bank. They only began demanding rights to the West Bank once it too was in Israeli hands.

UNSC Resolution 242 doesn’t call for a complete and total withdrawal from ‘ALL captured territories’ nor does it call for a unilateral withdrawal only on the Israeli side, but just calls for a withdrawal from ‘captured territories’. The language of the resolution states that withdrawal must be made towards ‘Secure and Recognized Boundaries’ or defensible borders. Judea and Samaria is a special case because it was never part of a Palestinian state. Israel, Judea and Samaria and Gaza were all part of British-ruled Palestine, and Britain previously promised a national home for the Jewish people in the area, without specifying boundaries. On that basis, Israel maintains it has the right to extend sovereignty over the territories with a simple Cabinet vote, a position backed by the Trump administration.

However, most of the international community refuses to accept these facts and insists on referring to annexed east Jerusalem and the so-called West Bank as “occupied territory” because, they claim, the area was seized in war.

Israel insists that the Palestinian’s demand for Israel to withdraw to the pre-1967 boundaries is absolutely not secure and safe borders. For years, Palestinian propaganda has claimed falsely that Israel is occupying their land, resulting in a new generation that does not know the facts of history. They believe the Palestinians are being ruled by Israel which has taken land that rightfully belongs to them.

According to all agreements with the Palestinians, beginning with the Oslo Accords of 1993, a permanent status solution of Judea and Samaria should be determined solely through negotiations, which have never taken place. According to United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, Israel has agreed to give parts of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinians, but only in return for recognition as a Jewish state and guaranteed security, which has also never occurred.

Previous Prime Ministers of Israel, Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert agreed to negotiate the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in Gaza and in parts of Judea and Samaria. They offered both Arafat and Abbas respectively almost all of Judea and Samaria in exchange for real peace and security and mutual recognition.

Not only did the Palestinians refuse Barak’s peace offer to Arafat in the 2000 Camp David talks, but they began massive terror attacks as well as a campaign war of political propaganda to delegitimize Israel. In 2007, the propaganda intensified after Abbas refused another peace offer from Olmert’s offer in Annapolis.

More Views of Judea and Samaria from Bella's recent trip. — *Judea and Samaria*.

Jordan Valley Annexation–Vital to Israel’s Security?

February 28, 2020 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

*Uzi Dayan pictured with Bella on the recent tour of the Judea and Samaria (which includes the Jordan Valley).*

The Jordan Valley is a long and narrow valley along the Jordan River. It forms a natural eastern border between Israel and Jordan. Israel considers it to be an important strategic region to protect the country’s eastern region.

Last Wednesday, I (Bella) joined about 300 women from the Likud Party on a trip to the Jordan Valley with Uzi Dayan, our tour guide. Maj. Gen. (reserve) Uzi Dayan was the former head of the IDF Central Command, IDF Deputy Chief of Staff and national security adviser to several Prime Ministers.

Our first stop was a place the Arabs call Qasr el-Yahud (“Castle of the Jews”). Jews believe this was the place at the Jordan River where the Israelites, led by Joshua son of Nun, crossed the river to enter the Promised Land following the Exodus from Egypt. They also believe it is the place the Prophet Elijah crossed the river in the opposite direction and was taken into heaven by ‘fiery chariots’, as witnessed by his disciple Elisha.

“It’s a very special place,” Maj. Gen. Uzi Dayan told us. “Maybe the most important historical event of Israel took place here.” Joshua 1:

“The Lord said to Joshua son of Nun: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.“

Dayan also believes this is the place Moses looked on from nearby Mount Nebo when he ended his role as leader of Israel and saw the people of Israel get ready to enter the Promised Land. Moses himself didn’t enter and died on the mountain on the other side of the Jordan River.

For Christians, this place is also significant as they believe that this was the spot in the Jordan River where John the Baptist baptized Yeshua (Jesus). Today it is a baptismal site. Until 2011, this baptismal site was a closed military zone, accessible only to groups with special permission after prior coordination with the IDF-Israel Defense Forces. Today, this area has a few churches belonging to different denominations, mainly Greek Orthodox, open to visitors who come to be baptized.

As we drove across the valley to a place commemorating Israeli soldiers who were killed in a battle protecting the valley, Dayan said that Israeli annexation of the Jordan valley is a ‘security buffer zone that is essential to Israel’. “Israeli security requires three things: fundamental strategic depth; room to wage war against the threat of conventional attacks from the outside, and room that allows for effective combat against terrorism. The minimal strategic depth and air space required is the 65 kilometers average width of Israel from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. As for room to wage war, this is the Jordan Rift Valley which ranges between 6 and 14 km wide.”

As he spoke, the General pointed out the mountains on the valley’s western edge (which range from 900 to 1,400 meters edge high) that create a physical defensive barrier. There are only five mountain passageways through them. Even a limited IDF force deployed in the valley can defend Israel against an attack from the east.

The Jordan Valley is the eastern buffer zone that prevents the West Bank mountain region from becoming a terrorist entity. From the time Israel captured the Jordan Valley from Jordan in the Six-Day War in 1967, there have been no military invasions from Jordan into Israel. There now exists a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan.

According to provisions of the 1993 Oslo Accords, most of the Jordan Valley is part of Area C, where Israel maintains full civil and security control. However, this strategic region is not yet officially Israeli territory.

*See the orange area? That is the Jordan Valley. The yellow is the rest of Judea and Samaria: the Biblical Heartland of the Land of Israel.*

While the peace deal between Israel and Jordan minimizes the threat of attack today, there are still many reasons why Israel needs to control the Jordan Valley. The biggest challenge to Israel’s claim over the Jordan Valley is that the Palestinians also claim the territory as part of what they call the ‘West Bank,’ the same area Israelis identify as historic Judea and Samaria. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for applying Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley region and designates the valley a ‘defensive wall’ that, along with related territory, will ensure Israel’s safety with the permanent presence of the IDF.

As we visited the lower part of the Jordan Valley, General Dayan explained the strategic importance of the area. “From the topographical point of view, it’s the ideal region to defend ourselves. The distance to the Mediterranean is just 40 miles, and from north to south, the valley forms a natural border with Jordan, beyond which lies Iran and Iraq. The notion of Israel having defensible borders is based on the Jordan Valley being part of the state of Israel.”

One of 22 communities securing a Jewish presence in the valley is Moshav Na’ama, an agricultural village of 50 families founded in 1982. Today, their main crops are organic herbs, grapes and Medjool dates, all organic. I bought a box of delicious dates.

Like most all the Israeli communities in the Jordan Valley, almost all the workers in the fields and greenhouses at Na’ama are Arabs from surrounding towns and villages. According to Inon Rosenblum, owner of the Na’ama herb farm, “They prefer to work here. They earn twice as much as they could working in Jericho.”

The Deal of the Century Finally Revealed

February 28, 2020 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

“NO! God’s Word says not to divide the land.”

This was the first reaction of many believers in Yeshua/Jesus to President Trump’s “Deal of the Century.” The Israeli right-wing parties also chimed in,

“NO! there can never be a Palestinian state.

Israel’s claim to the land, including Judea and Samaria is based on the Bible and God’s promises to His people Israel. (Gen. 12:7; 15:18; 17:8; 28:13, and 35:12.) Consider, though, that in the long history of the Jewish people, God has had to repeatedly discipline His people, individually, as a nation, and as a people.

One of the most recent examples is the 2000 years of diaspora Jews spent in exile separated from the land of Israel. However, He has also promised to gather the people of Israel and bring them back to the land of Israel. Today, we witness these promises being fulfilled before our eyes. Israel has returned to the land of Israel as a nation.

While in exile, foreigners have occupied the land and lay claim to the land for themselves. Now Israel has a dilemma–how to deal with these non-Jewish occupants, all the while having the international community watching and ready to condemn any meaningful effort at compromise.

Israel liberated Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Six-Day War. These are all lands Palestinians now want for a future state.

The First Plan designed with Israel’s interests as a priority

President Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley stated,

“The top priority of the plan’s architects is always the national security of Israel. We knew that we couldn’t do anything that was going to compromise the security of Israel. But we also knew that the Palestinians deserve a better way of life.”

The reality is that for years Israel and the world have tried to deal with the reality that there are a few million Palestinians living in established cities and villages in Judea and Samaria, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. Every previous plan proposal focused on Palestinian interests as a priority. For the first time, there is a plan designed with Israel’s interests as a priority.

No one has been able to come up with a perfect plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. President Trump’s peace proposal is not perfect. But for Israel, there are many positive reasons to accept it.

As of today, the concept of two states for two peoples, living side by side in peace and harmony, with Israel going back to the borders of pre-1967 has never materialized. Any peace initiative suggested by world powers pressured Israel to make most of the concessions and compromises. At the same time, the Palestinians’ constant refusal was overlooked and Israel was always blamed for the failure of executing the plan. Israel has always expected to give up some land in exchange for Palestinian promises even though all previous “Land for Peace” deals have been quickly abrogated by the Palestinians.

Requirements and Conditions for the Palestinians

*A short summary of requirements for the Palestinians.*

President Trump’s “Deal of the Century” goes against the previous formulas, and places on the Palestinians the responsibility of either accepting ALL of the conditions before any negotiations for a Palestinian state can even begin, or to have no deal. It states that the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Judea-Samaria must stop the incitement to violence. They must show complete financial transparency and must completely stop payments to terrorists who harm Israeli citizens, including payments to families of suicide bombers–so-called Martyrs Payments. It calls for complete demilitarization of the West Bank and the disarmament of Hamas, the terrorist organization controlling the Gaza strip, which maintains a huge arsenal of Iranian rockets and missiles. It also requires the disarmament of all other terrorist organizations, such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The Palestinian government is required to end its attempts to brand Israel as a war criminal in international courts; and mandates the elimination of the teaching of genocidal anti-Semitism in Palestinian schools and media. It requires respect for human rights and religious freedoms, by all parties, and the support of a free press. These conditions must be implemented before America’s recognition of Palestinian statehood. The conditions have an expiration period of 4 years.

There are two central conditions that Palestinians have never accepted nor will they accept. First–the recognition of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish People in the land of Israel. Second, Palestinians must give up the “right of return” to Israel for so-called Palestinian refugees, by which they mean the 1948 Arab refugees and their descendants who now reside in countries all over the world.

Trump emphasizes that historically there were similar numbers of Jewish refugees from Arab countries, whose possessions were taken by the regimes, most of them were absorbed into Israel’s population. Established after 1948, the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East, which Trump stopped supporting recently) perpetuates the refugee problem instead of solving it. The Palestinians are the only refugees in the world who have not been assimilated into the countries they immigrated to, which include many Arab countries. Trump’s Peace to Prosperity plan creates various funding structures to help Palestinian refugee families living in Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria achieve citizenship where they reside.

Trump is offering the Palestinians the sum of $50 billion to build their future state’s infrastructure and boost its economy. However, they must give up their ‘destructive ideology,’ as previously explained.

Palestinian Rejection of the Deal

It is notable, the Palestinians rejected Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ even before it was announced, even before reading it. They continue to reject it. This is consistent with their rejecting any plan since partition was first proposed in 1937. Their reason for rejection has been consistent. No plan that results in a Jewish nation in the Middle East can ever be accepted. Every Palestinian leader and/or negotiator has always maintained it would mean personal political and physical death to ever accept an agreement that resulted in a Jewish state. If the Palestinians persist in rejecting negotiations, Israel will likely proceed with annexations as called for in the deal.

The plan gives Israel the right to security control of the entire territory of Judea and Samaria, including areas under Palestinian authority. This includes security at all international crossings. [Read more here about Judea and Samaria.] If there is eventually a Palestinian state (most unlikely, because they will refuse to accept ALL the conditions) it will have to be a completely demilitarized state, and Israel will have the right ‘to dismantle and destroy any facility in the State of Palestine that is used for the production of prohibited weapons or other hostile purposes.’ How will Iran and their proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas, feel about having their missiles removed?

The plan gives Israel sovereignty over 30% of Judea and Samaria, to begin with, and gives an agreement-in-principle to a Palestinian state eventually (when they agree to ALL the conditions, which they will not.) They have four years to decide after which the offer expires. Israel, however, will not wait long to implement their portion of the agreement which are steps to secure and further enhance Israel’s security.

The Jordan Valley will be Israel’s permanent eastern border, based on historical Jewish settlement rights and in consideration of Israeli security needs. And Israel can declare these borders without Palestinian approval. [Read more here about the Jordan Valley.]

President Trump declared all 150 Israeli towns and settlements in Judea and Samaria legal. With the annexation of that area into the State of Israel, Israeli military rule will end (as well as the term “occupation”). Israel will be free to build more homes in these towns and settlements without restriction. Not one person will be forced out of his home, ever, anywhere in the Land of Israel.

The Next Four Years

*Here is a map showing the previously designated A, B, and C areas.*

The Palestinians have four years to fulfill these requirements. Should the Palestinians refuse to accept the conditions, resulting in no negotiations with Israel, any territories set aside as part of a future Palestinian state will revert to their current disputed status, resulting in no Palestinian state. Israel keeps the annexed territories.

In the next four years, Israel promises to freeze new settlements in 50% of what has been designated “Area C”. (Area in Judea and Samaria under Israeli military control.) This will help Israel act against pirate Jewish building as well as illegal Palestinian settlements building in strategic areas, which they have been doing illegally with the support of funds from the European Union.

As a result, it changes Area A that is currently under Palestinian security control into Area B, which is under Israeli security control. This will completely change the map of Judea and Samaria.

As complicated as it will be, the plan is to build and construct infrastructure—roads, railroads, bridges, and tunnels in Judea and Samaria—to connect Jewish towns to one another and Palestinian cities and towns to one another. This is preferable to the evacuation and transforming of Jews from their homes, as would have been required under the two states’ plan. Also, the road construction will give many Israelis as well as Palestinians, much-needed employment.

A Misunderstanding

*Here’s a map of “the Deal”* *as it stands today. It is a work in progress.*

After revealing his ‘Deal of the Century’ on January 28, US President Donald Trump said among other things, “We will form a joint committee with Israel to convert the conceptual map into a more detailed and calibrated rendering so that recognition can be immediately achieved. The United States will recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory that my vision provides to be part of the State of Israel.”

That is where the misunderstanding between Israel and the US started. Israeli reporters announced right away, based on what they heard from PM Netanyahu’s aides in Washington, that the PM intends to bring the annexation issue to a cabinet vote immediately upon his return to Israel. However, it became clear to Netanyahu that he misunderstood President Trump. Trump’s statements meant ‘recognition can be immediately achieved’ only after the work is completed ‘to convert the conceptual map into a more detailed and calibrated rendering.’

Special adviser to Trump and ‘architect’ of the peace initiative, Jared Kushner came out with a statement right away for Israel to wait with the annexation. Later on, he reportedly told journalists, following a briefing at the UN Security Council, that the process could take ‘a couple of months’.

US Ambassador to Israel, David Freedman told reporters that it will be a process to correct the general map of the plan to make it more precise. The border between Israel and a possible future Palestinian state is about 800-kilometers (497-miles).

The map shows the greater Israel extending from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River, with a small Palestinian enclave in the West Bank which is cut off from the rest of the world and surrounded on all sides by the State of Israel. This enclave, even if given the title of “state”, could never be considered one in a conventional sense.

It will have no army nor control of its border or airspace and therefore, and, in complete contrast to the wording of the proposed peace plan, would not be freely open to commerce and investments. Israel will permanently retain all Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria as well as the areas surrounding them including the Jordan Valley.

What about Jerusalem in this Deal? See the next newsletter…

Please pray for wisdom for Israeli and US leaders on how to implement the plan, complete the revision of the map with Israel’s security as a priority, and in accordance with the Word of God and His plan for the restoration of the Land of Israel and the people of Israel in the Land.

Terror Strikes Israel

November 26, 2018 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

“I will say of the Lord He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust… You shall not be afraid
of the terror by night, Nor the arrow that flies by day,” Psalms 91:2, 5

Direct Gaza rocket hit into an Ashkelon apartment.

We experienced sitting in the sheltered room in the summer of 2014, waiting to hear the explosion while Ashdod was under missile attack from nearby Gaza. We thanked God for His protection and for the Iron Dome that shot down most of the missiles and kept us safe. It happened again this month…*Photo is a direct rocket hit into an Ashkelon apartment from Gaza.
The bomb-shelter diary of 8-year-old Israeli Renana, broadcast on a morning talk show on November 12, raised some painful emotions, while a series of interviews with tiny, scared children from the villages close to the Gazan border did the same.
In 2005, Israel withdrew from the coastal strip, thus allowing the Palestinians to set up a terror base. Since March of this year, Hamas has initiated violent events on the Gazan border, while Israel has shown restraint, seeking a diplomatic solution for the sake of the residents of the south who want to live in peace and quiet.

However, the basic problems, which are worsening with time, remain.

Why does it seem impossible for Israel, a country with such sophisticated weapons, missile defense systems and intelligence systems – to conquer a small, fanatical terror organization which hides behind its citizens, women and children included, and uses them as a front in their fight against Israel?
The Hamas leaders make no secret of their aim. They are out to destroy Israel. Since suicide bombers, rockets, and tunnels have failed, Hamas leaders have encouraged mass marches over the last eight months, to violently storm the border fence. One of their leaders stated: “We shall come and take down that (border) fence. With blood, with martyrs, with women, and with children, the Palestinian people shall liberate its land.”
Since the last war with Israel in 2014, Hamas has rearmed itself with an arsenal of some 10,000 rockets and mortar shells. Learning from the last operation that most missiles, even the long-range ones, were effectively shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome, Hamas leaders have invented new ways of achieving their goal. They have moved their operations underground, including launching missiles by remote control. Consequently, It is much harder now for the Israeli army to detect their launching sites. Hamas has also connected their launching system to the electricity of hospitals and mosques, so Israeli attacks on their military targets will kill civilians in those facilities. This will benefit the terror organization’s propaganda.

Iron Dome batteries protecting the city of Ashkelon.

These new Hamas tactics require more precise Israeli intelligence gathering. Hence, a special Israeli army unit has been active undercover, doing this in the last few weeks. Unfortunately, two weeks ago, when the special undercover unit entered 3 kilometers into the Gaza Strip, apparently to plant listening devices, they were discovered by Hamas officers and fierce gunfight erupted. One Israeli special forces officer was killed and another wounded. Seven Hamas members were killed in the incident.

The trapped Israeli troops radioed for aerial assistance which arrived within minutes and rescued them out of Gaza.
In retaliation, Hamas, and some of the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad, launched some 500 rockets and mortar shells within a period of about 24 hours at Israel’s southern towns, mostly the city of Ashkelon, killing one person and injuring dozens more (they figured that by concentrating their barrage of missiles on one city, the Iron Dome would be overwhelmed.)

Palestinian terrorists fire rocket barrages from Gaza.

After warning Gazan civilians to evacuate the facilities, the Israeli military launched strikes against some 160 targets connected to the two terror groups in the Gaza Strip, killing seven people, most of whom were later identified as members of terrorist organizations, including some who were in the process of launching projectiles at Israel at the time they were killed. Israeli residents near the Gaza border were instructed to remain close to their shelters.
The battle ended with Hamas asking for a ceasefire through an Egyptian brokerage, which has largely held since November 13. However, considerable criticism has arisen in Israel among those who wanted to continue fighting to finally topple Hamas. Among them was Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who resigned in protest of the ceasefire, calling it “capitulation to terror.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu temporarily took over the position of Defense Minister.
All of this has left residents of Israel’s south traumatized and many in Israel protested as they were seeking a once and for all destruction of Hamas and other Gaza terror groups, such as Islamic Jihad.
PM Netanyahu addressed the issue: “Sometimes being a leader means withstanding criticism when you know classified and sensitive things,” (in the era of open communication, everything we hear in the news falls on the enemy’s ears too.)
“I hear the voices of Israeli citizens and the residents of the communities around the Gaza area. They are dear to me, and their words touch my heart.” the Prime Minister continued, “and I can’t share [the information] with the public. I wish I could tell citizens everything I know.” He added: “Leadership means not doing what’s easy, but rather doing what’s right and what must be done, even if it’s difficult. When it comes to Israel’s security, there’s more than meets the eye…In times of crisis, when making critical security decisions, the public often can’t be involved in the deciding considerations, which must be concealed from the enemy at all costs,” Netanyahu added.

[Read More].

We know our Lord is sovereign. Please pray for this sensitive situation, the enemy of Israel is the enemy of God. Pray for the Israeli government to make the right decision. and for Israel’s citizens support the government’s decisions and to have faith in God for their protection.