Yeshuatami News Blog

All Things Israel

Bella Davidov

Israel is at war, and it’s over Jerusalem!

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But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today…The LORD will fight for you…” Exodus 14:13-14
 
“He [the Lord your God] will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,” Psalm 91:4-5

We greet you in the wonderful name of Yeshua the Prince of Peace. Our hearts grieve again as there is fighting and many innocent people suffer.

As we write, report, and ask for prayer requests, we want to emphasize that our hearts are filled with compassion for the suffering people on both sides. Knowing that God loves all people and wants them to be saved.

As followers of the Messiah who believe the Bible is truly the Word of God, we are aware of the Spiritual Warfare against God’s plan in Israel and around the world.

As Israeli Jews and Messianic, we (Simcha and Bella) are very much aware that there is some prejudice against Arabs in predominantly Jewish Israel. This does not justify the violent and murderous attacks against innocent Jewish people. We see how it is clearly instigated by an evil spirit from the enemy satan, who uses people who are deceived by the spirit of Islam.

The Bible shows us the big picture, including the past and future, which help us to realize that these last attacks are part of the opposition to God’s plan, where Israel has a very central part. The enemies of Israel are the enemies of the Lord, God of Israel, King of the universe.

The War Goes On

Saturday marks the sixth consecutive day of rocket fire from Gaza directed at Israeli population centers. Attacks began Monday evening with a missile Hamas launched at the Jerusalem area following days of clashes in the city between Palestinians and Israeli security forces.

That initial attack has been followed by ongoing, nearly continuous, intense rocket fire into the center and south of Israel. Even as far as Elot near Eilat (the farthest city in south Israel). To date, 6 Israelis have been killed and dozens have been wounded

The IDF (Israeli Defense Force) is bombing Hamas targets in Gaza, careful to avoid civilian structures and populations as much as possible. Nonetheless, at least 132 Gazans have been killed, including many Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists. Missile launching sites and Hamas headquarters have been destroyed. Ironically, some Palestinian civilians, including children were killed in Gaza as a result of many failed Hamas rockets fired at Israel.

Israel gives advance warning to the residents of buildings Hamas is using for terrorist activities that are the targets of airstrikes, so the people who are not involved can evacuate the premises and their lives are spared.

Hamas Targets Civilians

Hamas deliberately targets Israeli civilians in most of the cities, firing long-range missiles and also short-range rockets at nearby (to Gaza) towns and villages.

Their ideology is for the “Liberation” of Jerusalem. That was the goal of the first missile they fired as Israel was celebrating Jerusalem Day in honor of the unification of Jerusalem which followed Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six-Day War. “We fired 100 rockets at Tel Aviv and other cities and are prepared to fire more,” said a leader of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad group, referring to the Tuesday night’s barrages on the center of Israel. “We will continue our struggle and not back down. Gaza is the sword of Jerusalem.”

To win this round, Israel must destroy the infrastructure and enemy manpower in Gaza, but also must realize that it is a fight for Jerusalem. Israel must be more forceful than ever before. The world will most certainly blame Israel even though Hamas started this round and (as of Saturday night) has fired so nearly 3,000 missiles at innocent civilians.

The calamity that the IDF can bring upon the enemy will traumatize whatever leadership is left, unfortunately along with the residents of Gaza and Judea and Samaria, and the Arab citizens and residents of Israel.

When Should Israel Stop Targeted Bombing?

Many Israelis don’t want the military operations in Gaza to stop until all objectives are achieved.

Concerning Jerusalem, Israel must implement measures that change the status quo on the Temple Mount providing access for the Jews. Israeli sovereignty needs to be accepted.

It would help if parts of the Gaza Strip, preferably its northern section, reverted to Israeli hands. IDF commanders must be assertive. This is war. Hamas leadership in Gaza and Palestinian Authority in the West Bank must endure the consequences of their actions.

The question remains: will the IDF continue to fight until the end? Israeli PM Netanyahu has promised: “It will take a little while longer, but with a large number of strikes, both defensive and attacking, we will attain our goal – that of restoring calm to the State of Israel.”

Jerusalem is a Red Line for Hamas

On Thursday morning, thousands of Muslim worshipers arrived at the Temple Mount at the conclusion of the Ramadan holy month. Some of those in attendance expressed support for Hamas and called for the Gaza Strip to “stand strong” in the face of the IDF operation there. Posters in support of Hamas leaders said: “Jerusalem is a red line.” One of those Muslim worshipers wore a shirt that read: “We are all Gaza, Jerusalem will rise.” The leader of a Jewish organization in favor of Israel’s control of the Temple Mount said to the press: “The time has come to fight this Operation Guardian of the Walls in Jerusalem.”

Last week, Hamas activists in Jerusalem proved they control the Temple Mount and East Jerusalem Streets. Israel must fight this terrorist organization in Jerusalem.

Many Israelis believe that a great opportunity exists now. With the proper response, Israel will win, and not just on the battlefield.

Along with Hamas – whose ideology is to take back Jerusalem and all of “Palestine” (the land of Israel) – the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) and the P.A. (Palestinian Authority) pose a danger to Israel’s existence as the sole Jewish nation.

Consider the anti-Zionist rhetoric of the traditional Israeli Arab leaders, who take advantage of Israel being a democracy and openly call Israel a racist Jewish state, an apartheid colonialist state, and the IDF soldiers terrorists. (Click more here read more about the Cause of the Current War.)

What About The Riots?

Today radical fundamentalist Arab Muslims, who are Israeli citizens, are burning streets in the mixed Israeli cities (cities with large populations of both Jews and Arabs) destroying hospital emergency rooms, and burning synagogues to the ground.

Israel HAS BEEN forced to evacuate Jews AS the rampaging mobs, fueled by Hamas propaganda, ARE MAKING EFFORTS to lynch Jewish residents. Cars were stopped on the highways and the Jewish passengers were beaten by Arab lynch mobs. Presently there is a curfew in one of the mixed cities.

In Jerusalem, riots have now continued for a month, leaving many Jews injured.

Jerusalem Day Parade – Canceled

For the first time since 1967, Israel canceled its Jerusalem Day celebratory flag march and the government has barred Jews from entering the Temple Mount.

Israel backed down and postponed a court hearing on the eviction of Arab squatters from houses in which they have lived for 50 years while refusing to pay rent to the Jews who have held the deed to the land for a century. This contributes to the international assertions Jewish land deeds are less valid than others and the presence of Jews in the city they made holy is an “illegal” act, as U.S. Democratic politicians have said. Click here for more details on the subject.

Is This War About Jerusalem?

Hamas has made clear that this war is about Jerusalem. Israel permitted the eroding of the Status Quo in Jerusalem and the Temple Mount has become, in essence, a sovereign and entirely independent Muslim mini-territory.

Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount has been forfeited as no Israeli authority or police can enter without encountering violence, provoking an international crisis and threats of international intervention. Will Israel win this war, not just militarily but also ideologically? Victory is defined by strategy and perception, not only by power.

According to Hamas, victory is all about Jerusalem. Hamas understands that the city and the holy sites are at the heart of the Jewish people, and that is why every one of its thousands of missiles into Israel is linked to the control over the Temple Mount. Hamas aims to become the leader of the Muslim world in the “holy struggle to free Jerusalem” from the “Zionist enemy.”

Wicked Friends of Hamas

With the support of Turkey – which declared willingness to send troops to help fight the Jews in Jerusalem – Jordan, and of course Iran, they fight against any non-Muslim control of the holiest place of the Jews in united Jerusalem — the Temple Mount. Gaza is no longer the target, but Jerusalem, along with the heartland of the Holy Land, the hills of Judea and Samaria, including cities holy to Judaism such as Hebron, Shiloh, and Mount Eval as well as Christian holy sites like the Old City of Jerusalem, Golgotha (Calvary) the Garden Tomb and Bethlehem. 

Israel must establish her presence on the Temple Mount. Some publically suggest an arrangement to share the area, which is big enough for the two faiths to have their places of worship, side by side.

Jordan has been dominating the Waqf (the Muslim religious trust that administers the Mount) with key allies but has proven incapable of keeping the status quo, permitting the Arab riots to continue on the grounds of the Temple Mount. A settlement might involve rearranging or replacing the character of the current Waqf and turning over its authority to a committee that is managed by another Arab country at peace with Israel, like the UAE or Bahrain. Hamas must lose its control over the Muslim agenda concerning Jerusalem.

Many Israeli Jews demand rights to a permanent presence for a place of worship on the Temple Mount, and for Israel to reassert control with a police presence there.

Israel is at war, and it’s over Jerusalem!

Please pray with us:

  • In 2017, Israel even yielded its control of access to the Temple Mount, removing metal detectors installed after Islamists brought weapons into the complex to attack and kill Jews. In order to avoid conflict, primarily with Jordan, Israel also relented from installing cameras to monitor visitors to the Temple Mount complex (to avoid unwelcomed visitors).

Israel is at a crossroads realizing the crisis will continue if it doesn’t make the right choices. All wars and choices have a price Israel has to pay. The battle defining this crisis, and labeled by Israel; “Defenders of the Walls” (no doubt meaning Jerusalem) is spiritual, and Israel’s victory must come on the Mountains of Jerusalem and not only from demolishing the terrorist’s tunnels in Gaza. 

Please Pray with us:

  1. That innocent lives will be spared in the fighting
  2. That God through this turmoil will draw people on both sides to Himself.
  3. For Born Again Believers to be filed with the Spirit and shine God’s light during this time of darkness.

The Cause of the Current War in Israel

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The Arab propaganda (including Jordan which has custodianship of Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem) is claiming Israel doesn’t respect worshippers and international law safeguarding Arab rights. East Jerusalem tensions have resulted in clashes between Police and Palestinians on the Temple Mount around the Muslim Al-Aqsa mosque, at the height of the Ramadan fasting month.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was safeguarding the right of worship but would not tolerate rioting in the compound of the Temple Mount that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israel was forced to take police action against rioters in Jerusalem.

No one is talking about the elections in the PA west bank, the first since 2006, that were supposed to take place at the end of May. (They are now delayed indefinitely.) Abbas, the president of the PA territory was concerned that if the election went forward as scheduled, his party, Fatah, might lose ground to two Fatah splinter groups, and Hamas would take over the territories, as it did in Gaza.

Abbas had to prove to the young radical Palestinians he can be as anti-Zionist as Hamas. He knows the formula of firing up his young people – spreading fake news about Israel trying to take over the Temple Mount by “storming” their holy Al-Aqsa mosque. Adding to the fuel is his denial that the Temple Mount was ever the site of the Jewish Holy Temples. This is the same fiction -perpetrated by his predecessor, Yasser Arafat. Their policy is to reject any history or facts connecting the Jews to Jerusalem. Hamas in Gaza took advantage of the situation to target Jerusalem.

Fake news that the Jews aim to destroy Al-Aqsa and replace it with the Third Temple has been going on for years. Regardless of evidence refuting it, once a lie is repeated many times and spread, it becomes a fact to those who wish to believe it.

The reality is that even when an Israeli politician wishes to visit the Temple Mount, he must get permission from a PA Preventive Security Service officer, as did Ariel Sharon in 2000, a visit that ignited the second Intifada (Palestinian uprising in the West Bank) which went on for four years with many suicide bombings and killing of many innocent Israeli citizens.

It is preposterous but true, that any Israeli, even a high-ranking government official, must request permission from an Arab minor ranking officer to enter the holiest Jewish site in the world. Or because he does, it will cause a bloody outburst of violence.

The Palestinian youth continue to accept the fabrication of this fake news as being true. The fake news continues to claim that the Jewish state does not allow the Muslims to pray in the Al-Aqsa mosque when the truth is that Jews, not Muslims are forbidden to pray on the Temple Mount. Israel’s law grants freedom of worship to all religions. Any statement to the contrary is just an excuse to carry out an intifada, which was most certainly planned in advance.

  1. At this time, even Jordan blames Israel for allowing right-wing religious Jews entry into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount, claiming it provokes Muslim passions and raises the risk of igniting the area. “Israel’s illegal actions have dangerous repercussions on the stability of the region.”
  2. Another cause for the clashes is the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian families face eviction. Jordan’s King Abdullah II (whose Hashemite family claims descent from Islam’s Prophet Mohammad and draws legitimacy from its custodianship role) accused Israel of attempting to change the demographic status of the holy city, which contains sites sacred to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.

Jordan had earlier provided the Palestinians with land deeds in Sheikh Jarrah stating it proves previous Israeli owners’ claims to the property are groundless. “The eviction of Palestinians of Sheikh Jarrah from their homes is a war crime.”

Several hundred Jordanians protested near the fortified Israeli embassy in Jordan’s capital, yelling “Death to Israel” and calling for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador while opposing the unpopular peace treaty with Israel. Many citizens in Jordan are of Palestinian origin.

The Legal Battle in Sheikh Jarrah

What is the legal battle over property rights in Sheikh Jarrah?

The plots in dispute were purchased by a Jewish endowment before Israel’s Independence in 1948.

After the 1948 partition of Jerusalem into east and west, with the Israel-Jordan border dividing them, the Jordanians took possession of the Old City of Jerusalem and gave the area of Sheikh Jarrah land to some Palestinians.

After the 1967 Six-Day War, when Israel won control of the entire city, Israeli laws were made allowing Jewish-owned land to be reclaimed from the Palestinians. The Jewish owners then began claiming property inhabited by Palestinian families, some of whom are now facing eviction from homes that they have lived in since 1948.

Last Friday, right-wing Israeli Knesset member, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the neighborhood to announce he would be opening his parliamentary office there. That provoked more protests and violence.

The legal dispute in this East Jerusalem neighborhood must be resolved on a governmental level. The government cabinet could rule that the land and homes in question remain in the possession of the Palestinian residents. However, at this time, there is no functioning government, and the responsibility to resolve the dispute falls to the Israeli Supreme Court, which has a majority of left-wing judges that rule most of the time contrary to the ruling of the government.

Right-wing Religious Jews on the Temple Mount?

Anticipating riots and violence on the Temple Mount, Jerusalem police decided to cordon off the area outside the Damascus Gate and entered the al-Aqsa mosque compound last week to guard the place but ended clashing with Palestinian protesters.

The riots caused the Police to limit buses carrying Israeli Arab worshippers into Jerusalem for prayers on Laylat al-Qadr, the holiest night of the Muslim calendar.

Muslim worshipers pray outside in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Saturday night.

As violent as the riots became in the following days, the Israeli police deserve credit for not using deadly force.

A New Intifada

Last week, Hamas’ leaders announced their detailed plans to open a new intifada against Israel on May 9. May 9 was an excuse based upon a combination of three events: Jerusalem Day – Israel’s annual national day celebrating the unification of Jerusalem in 1967; Muslims marked the holiest day of the month of Ramadan, and Iran (who supports Hamas) marked its own Jerusalem Day, the purpose of which is to call for the destruction of Israel and end Jewish rule in Jerusalem.

Hamas’s leaders kept their word. The combination of Arab violence in Sheikh Jarrah, the Damascus Gate, and the Temple Mount, along with balloon bombs and rocket launches againisIsrael from Gaza, arson fires, and terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria, are precisely what Hamas’ leaders said would transpire.

What About Fatah (the PA)?

Fatah (the Palestinian authority party in the territories of Judea and Samaria a.k.a. “The West Bank,”) for its part has been a full participant in the violence. The PA took credit for the drive-by shooting of three young Jewish students at a bus stop in Samaria last Monday, who were critically wounded. One of them died of his wounds three days later, and the other two are still fighting for their lives.

Conflict Background 

In 63 BC, Judea became a protectorate of Rome under the administration of a governor but was allowed a king. The governors were corrupt and often would attempt to squeeze as much revenue as possible from the citizens of their regions and take for themselves as much money as possible. 

Jerusalem, the capitol city of the only remaining Jewish nation, was totally destroyed in 70 AD following the Romans’ victory over Judah’s Great Revolt against Roman rule over the Jewish nation. It is estimated that as many as one million Jews were killed in this Great Revolt against Rome and many were sold into slavery outside the country. 

The Great Revolt of 66-70 AD and the Bar Kokhba revolt that followed 80 years later, were the greatest calamities in Jewish history before the Holocaust. A large part of the Jewish population was either massacred or exiled, and these failed rebellions resulted in total loss of Jewish political authority in Israel and Judah for over 2,000 years until 1948.

After the last revolt, the conquering Romans annexed Judea as a Roman province, and changed the name to Syria-Palestina (later known as Palestine), and built on the ruins of the destroyed Jerusalem the Roman city they called Aelia Capitolina. All this was an attempt to remove any connection of the Jewish people to the land and the city. The Romans systematically drove the Jews out of Palestine. That began the history of the Diaspora as the Jewish people spread over Africa, Asia, and Europe. Some Jews remained and became a minority in their own land.

In the 7th century, the new religion of Islam spread throughout the known world. Palestine and Jerusalem were conquered by the Muslims. They built on the Temple mount their Mosques. 

When the Zionist movement started in Europe in the late 19th century, and as a result of great persecution of the Jews in Eastern Europe, Jewish pioneers immigrated to Palestine and started building the land which was occupied by the Turkish Muslim Othman Empire. These new immigrants bought land to build settlements and cities. The British claimed authority of the land under a League of Nations Mandate (temporary keepers) after Germany, and its Muslim ally Turkey capitulated ending WWI. The French and British as victors divided the spoils of war.

All of this time, there were Jews who lived in Jerusalem. After Israel won the war of Independence in 1948, the Old City of Jerusalem (as well as the territories of Judea and Samaria) fell into the hands of Jordan. The Jews who lived in the old city, including the area that is called now Sheikh Jarrah, were evicted from their homes and fled to Israeli West Jerusalem. The Arabs took possession and began squatting on the Jews’ property.

After Israel won the 1967 Six-Day War, the old city was united with the new City and Israel elected to reinforce its historic and legal rights to reclaim Jewish property and holy sites. 

To reassure the Arabs that Israel had no intention to change the Status Quo, then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan’s made the infamous decision to allow the Temple Mount – the holiest place in Judaism, as well as the site of important mosques – to remain in the hands of the Waqf, a Muslim religious authority. Ironically, freedom of religion was observed everywhere except on the Temple Mount where Jews were forbidden to pray and restricted in their visits to the site. The Muslims abhorred the Jew’s “filthy feet” even walking on their “Holy Grounds.” 

Even though Dayan believed that he acted in the country’s best interests, it set a precedent that led to the Arab Muslims claiming possession of the entire site.

In 1967, Israel passed a law permitting Jews to recover property lost to them in the 1948 war. As far as Sheikh Jarrah was concerned, it eventually led to a long, drawn-out legal case in which Jews sought to recover this property from Arabs who had been living on it for decades without legal title or paying rent.

Now, as the case is about to be heard by Israel’s Supreme Court, there is a concern that pictures of “poor” Arab Palestinians being evicted from what is considered their homes would be bad for

Israel’s image. The world, including the US, still equates Israel to the Palestinians. “Both sides” are urged to do their best to avoid violence, even though it’s only the Palestinians who are rioting at the site and bombarding Israel with rockets and missiles.

While the Jews who own the four houses in question in Sheikh Jarrah have the law on their side, it would be better for Jewish security that they lose their case. They believe that evicting the illegal Arabs occupying the premises will do more harm than good since enforcing the law will only provide an excuse for more violence.

Arab refugees fled the country in 1948 and 1967, mainly because their leaders urged them to get out to avoid the fighting and promised them to win the next time when they would be able to return and have even more property once the Jews had been driven into the sea. A much fewer number of Arabs were driven out by Israel as a result of bitter fighting during the war. An Israeli law canceled the property rights of those who left to go to an enemy country, which applied to all of the Arab refugees.

The world forgets the fate of more than 800,000 Jews from Arab and Muslim lands who were expelled from their homes after Israel became a nation and their possessions confiscated. They were never offered compensation for their losses.

Even if Jews have the right to recover their property in Jerusalem, does this mean that it is wise to do so at this time? It will and did, stir up resentment, both among Palestinians and foreign opponents of Israel.

By giving in to the Arab invaders, Israel may gain a period of quiet; however, as with the case of Dayan and the Temple Mount, at the end of the day, it will not serve Israel’s best interest, and violence will continue as the militant Palestinians like Hamas, will always find an excuse to fight Israel, whose stated goal is that one day the Land of Israel and Jerusalem will be theirs.

The time has come for Israel to stop giving a pass to Arab Jew hatred

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This entire article is from Israel Hayom newspaper

Leftist scholars of Nazism insisted that Nazis didn’t hated Jews because they were Jewish. They hated Jews because many Jews were Communists and Nazis were anti-Communist. By this reasoning, it was the Jews’ fault that the Nazis hated them and in due course, annihilated them. For scholars of the left, the Holocaust itself was a mere byproduct of Jewish membership in Communist parties.

Much of the same doctrinaire thinking has long informed – or misinformed – leftist understanding of the Arab war against the Jewish state. Immediately after the UN General Assembly adopted the partition plan to divide the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine into two separate states – one Arab and one Jewish on Nov. 29, 1947—the Arab war against the Jewish state began. Until Israel declared independence six months later, the war was waged by local Arab militias. The local Arabs were joined by five invading armies the day Israel declared independence. The declared goal of all the Arabs was to eradicate the newborn State of Israel and throw the Jews into the sea to “finish Hitler’s work.” The rhetoric and actions of the Arabs left no room for doubt. Their aim was genocidal and it was driven by Jew hatred.

In 1949 – just four years after the gas chambers were shut down – the Soviets used the Marxist model to legitimize the Arab war against the Jews to a world still embarrassed by the Holocaust. That year, the KGB invented a new term, “anti-Zionism.” The Arabs weren’t anti-Semites. They only hated Jews who wanted to live as free Jews in their sovereign homeland. Notably, as the KGB laundered Jew hatred to suit post-war sensibilities, the Soviet regime was outlawing the practice of Judaism and purging Jews from public life in the Soviet Union.

Outside the Soviet bloc, anti-Zionism was a hard sell early on. It was given a big push forward though in the wake of the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel’s victory in that defensive war placed it in control of the Golan Heights, Sinai, the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria and enabled it to unify Jerusalem. Despite the fact that Israel had a right to incorporate these areas into its sovereign territory both under the laws of war and the borders of the Jewish state as set out in the League of Nations Mandate, the Soviets and leftists in Western Europe used Israel’s control over these territories to build a new, counterfactual narrative to justify the Arab war against the Jewish state.

If the Jews were responsible for the Nazis’ genocidal antisemitism because some Jews were Communists, then Israel was responsible for the Arab aggression because it “stole” Arab land and refused to give up land for “peace.”

Setting aside the obvious logical fallacy – putting the cart before the horse – this narrative made no sense practically speaking. If the problem was Israel’s size rather than its existence, then why did the Soviets and the Arabs ram through UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 in 1975, which said Zionism is a form of racism, and so proclaimed Israel’s very existence illegitimate and immoral? Why do the Palestinians demand the so-called “right of return” of Arabs who left Israel in 1948 and their descendants to Israel rather than a future Palestinian state? And why did both Yasser Arafat and his successor Mahmoud Abbas refuse Israeli peace offers that gave in to nearly all of their territorial demands?

All of these things occurred because the post-1967 leftist narrative of Israeli avariciousness for “Arab” land, like the 1949 Soviet narrative of anti-Zionism is entirely wrong. Yet despite its obvious absurdity, the left’s land-for-peace/two-state solution narrative dominated the international and domestic Israeli discourse on the Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israel conflict for the past half century.

This week it disintegrated.

Photo From Israel365 News

The dominant – indeed leading – role Israeli Arabs are playing in the current round of the Palestinian war against Israel puts paid the notion that the Palestinian war on the Jews has something to do with specific territories Israel controls. Israeli Arabs are not burning synagogues, schools, yeshivot (religious schools,) Jewish-owned stores, cars and homes because of the so-called “occupation.” They are not lynching Jews that fall in their paths because of the so-called “settlements.” They are assaulting the citizens and institutions and symbols of the Jewish state because they seek to destroy the Jewish state.

Timing is everything in war and in life. And the Israeli Arabs and Palestinians clearly believe that the time is ripe for them to discard the nonsense about “the occupation.”

The Biden administration is on their side. Not only did President Joe Biden restore US funding to the PA despite its funding of terrorism. Over the past month of escalating Palestinian violence against Jews in Jerusalem and other cities around Israel, the Biden administration has embraced the Fatah narrative that Israel is “provoking” the Palestinians to attack Jews because Israel deployed police to the Temple Mount to restore the peace after the Palestinians attacked Jews. The Biden administration has also adopted Fatah’s antisemitic claim that Jews have no right to assert their property rights in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem because they are Jews.

For their part, Congressional leaders of the Democrat Party’s dominant hard left faction – Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Betty McCollum and their comrades – are pushing Hamas’s PR line. Like Hamas, they project the Palestinians’ crimes onto their victims. Israel, they slander, murders Palestinian children in cold blood. Obviously, a state that kills children on purpose is a criminal state that must be given no place in the community of nations.

The anti-Semitic disposition of both the administration and prominent Democrats serves as a tailwind for the Palestinians today. This state of affairs makes things more difficult for Israel to defeat its enemies. But at the end of the day, the Americans are not the ones who will decide Israel’s fate. That is the responsibility of the people of Israel.

The Palestinian war, now joined by Israel’s Arabs and supported by the ruling party in America, presents Zionism with its supreme test: Will Israel protect its Jewish national identity or will it crumble under pressure?

Israel must quell the Israeli Arab violence and confiscate all illegal weapons now in the hands of the Arabs.

Israel must do two things to persevere. First, it must quell the Israeli Arab violence and confiscate all illegal weapons now in the hands of the Arabs. Over the past two decades, reports of thefts from IDF bases of everything from small arms to automatic rifles to shoulder launched missiles have surfaced with some regularity. Nearly all of the theft was the work of Arab Israelis and few and far between have been the instances where stolen weapons were located and returned to the army.

Israel’s security forces must use all necessary force to locate and seize those weapons. The Arab pogromists marauding through mixed Jewish-Arab towns lynching Jews and torching their synagogues and their property prove incontrovertibly that so long as huge caches of illegal weapons remain in the hands of Israeli Arabs, Israel’s future is imperiled.

More fundamentally, after 75 years of making excuses and denying the plain fact that antisemitism is the root and the branch of the Arab conflict with Israel, Israelis of all walks of life and across the political spectrum need to accept this truth. As a society, we must demand that Israel’s Arab citizens and their leaders recognize the legitimacy and justice of the existence of the State of Israel. And we must not accept no for an answer any more.

When discussions began several weeks ago about the possibility of forming a governing coalition based on the direct or indirect support of Arab Knesset members from the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated United Arab List, Islamic scholar Daniel Pipes wrote an article considering the issue. Pipes explained that just as there are Judeophobic and philosemitic versions of Christianity, so the Quran includes two approaches to Judaism and Jews. The first and most familiar approach is the jihadist approach. The jihadist approach rejects the Jews, the Torah and Jewish rights to Israel. The second approach embraces all three. Pipes said that the only way to include the United Arab List in a government, or to base a government on its support, is by first demanding that the party’s members publicly declare that they uphold the Quranic approach that celebrates Jews and the Torah and recognizes that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews.

For the past 75 years, Israelis across the political spectrum have passively accepted Arab Jew hatred. The left believed Jews earned the Arabs’ hatred by defeating them in successive wars. To appease their hate, the left has pushed policies that restrain public expressions of Jewish pride and holds Arabs to lower standards than they hold Jews – forgiving their anti-Semitism while condemning rare expressions of Jewish anti-Arab racism with all the passion and urgency they can muster.

The Israeli right also has taken Arab Jew hatred for granted. Its members have argued that the way to defuse or mitigate the hatred is to integrate Arab citizens into all walks of public life, never asking that they first accept the legitimacy of the State of Israel.

The time has come to end this state of affairs. The Israeli Arab pogroms of 2021 together with the Western left’s adoption of narratives legitimizing Arab Jew hatred give Israel no option of continuing to pretend away or excuse this reality. Just as antisemitism was the central animating ideology of Nazism so it is the central ideology of the Arab war against the Jewish state. To put an end to these pogroms now, and to prevent them from recurring, Israel must end its tolerance for Arab Jew hatred and must stop making apologies for Zionism and Jewish peoplehood. Israel must assert its national rights to all areas of this country without apology. It must do so consistently. Israel’s future, and the possibility that coexistence between Jews and Arabs will ever be restored, depend on our willingness to forthrightly demand that Arab Israelis abandon their hatred of this country.

In recent days, we have witnessed severe riots in the city of Lod perpetrated by extremist Muslims, who want to heat the city up and harm the coexistence we have been working on for many years.

As mayor, I see first and foremost the good of the residents of Lod, Jews and Arabs alike. As a result, yesterday I came out with an uncompromising call to declare a state of emergency and bring in police and army forces in order to restore calm to the city streets.

Residents of Lod felt people could die if the government did not impose a closure on the city. This threat and the possible harm to human life is more severe than rocket fire on Israel.

I am not criticizing the police, but the situation in the city is completely out of control and endangering human life and property, and therefore requires a determined response and mobilization of the Israeli government.

Sometimes a map helps to understand
the situation on the ground.

The leaders of the Arab public in the city and the Arab politicians in the country must call for calm, prevent the rift between the societies and work to restore order to the streets. We will not shy away and we will work to increase governance and law enforcement without compromise.

It is important to understand that these are difficult days, after which we will look at ourselves introspectively. But now we must focus on calming the sectors within the country, along with hitting the terrorist organizations, those organizations that do not differentiate between people. Evidence of this can be found when both Jews and Arabs were killed throughout the country by rocket launches.

I ask all residents of the city to avoid violence, to choose dialogue, friendship and comradery and to promote coexistence and good neighborliness.

Lod should be a lighthouse for the other mixed cities in Israel. I am sure that this challenging period will pass, and push us to continue to intensify the momentum of development in the city across all neighborhoods and all sectors.

Missionary Law in Israel

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Israel is a Jewish and Democratic state, and as such its laws reflect both the Jewish Rabbinic traditions, as well as the obligation to international norms regarding human rights and freedoms. The courts and law enforcement authorities uphold the right of freedom of expression and freedom of religion for minority groups in Israel. A precedent was established when judges ruled that: “The spread of opinions by way of distribution of flyers to passersby in public places deserves special recognition and protection of the court…”

Questions regarding missionary activity in Israel usually concern Christian organizations, or Messianic Jewish groups, such as Jews for Jesus. The reason is that these believers often see evangelizing Israel as a fundamental expression of their faith.

In Israel, it is legal to express one’s worldview, including religious beliefs, even if they are not accepted by the majority of the public. The exception to this rule is what is known in Israel as the “Missionary Law.” The “law” is actually composed of two separate sections of the Israeli criminal code:

  1. Section 174 of the Penal Code – 1977 forbids a person to entice another to change his or her religion in exchange for material benefits (such as financial support and/or donations, helping feed and clothe the poor, or in any way give charity while evangelizing.)
  2. Section 368 of the Penal Code forbids persuading or encouraging a minor (under the age of 18) to change his or her religion. This law prohibits conducting any ceremony for a minor to change religion without the consent of both parents.

The Israeli Declaration of Independence, signed by David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister and the nation’s founding fathers, states the following:

“Israel will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

In 1992, the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) passed the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, which declares Israel as a “Jewish and Democratic” State. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled that basic human rights–such as the right of freedom of religion and conscience, as well as freedom of speech and expression–are protected in Israel since they are an inherent part of a person’s dignity as a human being.

Demographic statistics of the population in Israel

Israel’s population is estimated at 9,300,000 residents. Out of these, close to 7,000,000 (about 74% of the total population) are confirmed Jews. 1,966,000 (about 21.1%) are Arabs and 467,000 (5.0%) are considered Others.

Those identified as “Others” include; non-Arab Christians, Seventh-Day Adventists Bahai’s, Samaritans. Other “Others” are Karaite Jews, Messianic Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and immigrants from the former Soviet Union. They identify themselves as Jews but do not satisfy the Orthodox Rabbinical Authorities’ definition of “Jewish” which the Israeli government uses for civil procedures.

The Jewish (recognized as such by the government) population of Israel can be divided into three groups: Orthodox, Traditional, and Secular. Secular Jews make up 41.4% of the Jewish population, Traditional Jews 38.5% of the population, 20% are Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox. In Israel, the Reform and Conservative movements are estimated to make up 7.6% of the Jewish population, a significantly lower number compared to the Jewish diaspora.

Secular Jews

Secular Jews make up a little over 40% of the Jewish population. They identify themselves as Jewish, but not in a religious way and many don’t even believe in God. Many secular Jews practice certain aspects of the religion, such as celebrating the traditional Passover evening meal with family and friends, and/or observing the day of Yom Kippur by fasting and even attending synagogue services. They may even have Friday evening/ Saturday meals with the lighting of candles and blessing the wine and bread, but would drive afterward and light a cigarette. Secular Jews are largely supporters of the Israeli Labor Party and a Secular Zionist state.

Traditional Jews make up about 30% of the Jewish population in Israel.Many of these “traditional Jews” differ from the Orthodox only by less severe observance of the Rabbinic laws. As far as political involvement, many traditional Jews join the Likud political party (the largest party headed by PM Benyamin Netanyahu) or the Sephardic (Jews from Middle East countries) religious party, Shas. they are often seen wearing knitted Kippahs (a small brimless cap.)

30% of the Jewish population identifies as Orthodox (“dati”) or “ultra-Orthodox” (“Haredi”).Politically, they join one of the major religious parties, such as Torah Judaism (Yahadut HaTorah, mainly Ashkenazi, Jews from eastern and western Europe.) Orthodox Jews also wear Kippas, not necessarily knitted.

The ultra-Orthodox (Charedi) is the smallest part of the population, representing only 12% of Jews living in Israel. The Charedim tend to live in their own communities, observing stricter Jewish law by following moral and dress codes passed down from many generations. This part of the population is seen wearing black hats and black Kippahs, and include some Hasidic (sect of ultra-orthodox Jews).

The Arab Population in Israel

Among the 17% of the Arab population in Israel (citizens,) 83% are Muslims, 9% are Arab Christians (mostly Nominal) 8% are Druze. About 10% of the ones who consider themselves Muslims are secular, about 30% are traditional – not so religious. About 50% are religious and 9% are very religious.

Enforcing the Messianic Law

There have been cases where the police detained people accused of illegal missionary activity in Israel, but no one has been charged or sentenced according to these laws. Thus, the authorities’ anti-missionary activity is largely in the form of border controls by the immigration authorities and through the Ministry of Interior’s limitations on aliyah (Jewish immigration to Israel) for missionary activists or those suspected of being involved in missionary activity in Israel.

The Israeli border control immigration officers are authorized to approve or refuse entry to Israel for foreign visitors who wish to enter the country as tourists. The border control officials have a wide range of discretion when making the crucial decision to deny entry to a potential visitor. In July 2017, the Ministry of Interior published an updated list of reasons that may cause denial of entry to Israel. Suspicion of missionary activity was also placed on this list for the first time in 2017.

It has happened that tourists have been expelled due to allegations of missionary activity. These cases usually involve participation in a public missionary campaign with a high-profile organization. This activity may attract resistance from the local public and complaints to the police. Although the allegations may be false, it is extremely difficult to stop the expulsion process once it starts.

The Ministry of Interior is particularly suspicious of Christians and Messianic Jews in relation to aliyah to Israel. It is therefore recommended to receive legal counsel prior to starting such a process. Regardless of the legally grey zone surrounding these issues, a person actively engaging in missionary activity in Israel will almost certainly be denied the right to immigrate. This is because Christian proselytizing is considered contrary to the purpose of the Law of Return.

In accordance with the Law of Return, any Jewish person (or descendant of a Jewish person up until the third generation) is entitled to obtain citizenship as a new Oleh (new immigrant) of Israel, so long as they did not convert to another religion. In general, the State of Israel considers Messianic Jews to be Christians, and so, any Jew in the Messianic stream of Judaism is deemed a convert to Christianity. Thus, aliyah becomes very difficult for a Jew who embraces faith in Yeshua (Jesus). That said, there is no legal prohibition against someone who is not Jewish according to Jewish Rabbinic Law (does not have a Jewish mother) making Aliyah if the father has a Jewish mother. This applies even if they are part of another religion, as long as they did not convert. This applies also to Messianic Jews whose mother converted to Christianity before they were born.

The Last Hour

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Is This Goodbye or See You Again?

O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. Psalm 25:2

“What is truth?” asked Pilate when Yeshua/Jesus said to him:
“For this reason I was born and have come into the world, to testify to the TRUTH. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice.”

When we seek the truth, we seek Him with all of our hearts and soul, and we will find Him (Deut. 4: 29.) Yeshua said to Pilate, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the life! No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6.).

We must abandon our own agenda, opinions, and what others – even those we most admire – think. It is fundamental that we seek Him personally, and not rely upon the relationship of anyone else, neither Pastors, Rabbis nor Imams.

Yeshua said that we, His sheep, know His voice; we know the TRUTH because we know Him personally. But how can we know what is true and what is false in this world?

What is happening in America?
In the government?
Are they seeking the truth?

  • Is it true that the election was stolen from President Trump and the Republicans?
  • Is it true that Trump instigated the riot in DC and therefore is rightfully being punished?
  • What about the impeachment? Will they succeed in removing Trump once and for all and disqualifying him from ever running for office again?

If the answer to all these questions is negative, will God execute justice in the last hour, and will the real truth be exposed, thereby saving President Trump and restoring him to the presidency?

President Trump is being accused of unpatriotism and inciting violence. However, Trump simply wanted to expose any fraudulence in the 2020 presidential election, believing that he had won.

When President Trump called for Georgia’s officials to verify voter signatures and that all voters were legal residents of the state, his request was denied. Former President Ronald Reagan advocated the practice of “trust but verify.” In the wake of a global pandemic and this most problematic election, one can reasonably legitimize President Trump’s reluctance to trust, and certainly his persistent call to verify.

According to the mainstream media and the Democrats, President Trump had no right to challenge the results of the unorthodox 2020 election practices.

The Democrats only won by a small number of votes. Despite a tidal wave of Trump-hatred, almost half the country believes that they were cheated. Meanwhile, the other side criticizes President Trump for challenging the outcome of the election.

January 6th

His appeal on January 6th to his supporters didn’t go so well. His statements were deliberately misconstrued by his enemies in the mainstream media, Congress, and even by some in the Republican party who were quick to distort his appeal as proof of his unworthiness for the Presidency.

The vast majority of the many thousands at the Capitol were there to show their strong and peaceful support for the President. (We have received reports from some who were actually there, confirming that 95 percent of the pro-Trump demonstrators were peaceful.) A small minority, however, expressed their anger in the form of violence and trespassing into the Capitol building despite the President’s loud and clear call for a peaceful protest. Despite significantly less destruction than during the “Summer of George Floyd,” nevertheless there were five deaths and the trespassers were undoubtedly in the wrong. Somehow, the Democrats, mainstream media, big tech, and the violent Left turned a blind eye to the perpetrators of violence.

Hypocrisy

Months earlier, racism was the excuse for the demolition of national statues, and although such actions were criminal and morally wrong, the democratic congressmen ignored the whole escapade. Now, as the focus has shifted to the DC violence, the purpose of discovering the truth of the 2020 election has been lost in the shuffle. As far as the anti-Trump crowd is concerned, the issue has been firmly settled.

Sadly, an honest and comprehensive forensic investigation into the 2020 election and the real cause for the riots on the Capitol may never take place. Until such trustworthy investigations occur, there will be no verification and therefore no; truth will appear not to matter, until and if God intervenes and supernaturally exposes the truth.

The Left which prides itself on its democracy is the first to suppress free speech, citing the January 6th riots as the need to do so. Ironically, during the last year’s summer violence, the Democrats aided the unlawful rioters by establishing bail funds. Furthermore, the leftist prosecutors refused to charge the rioters but are now quick to prosecute several pro-Trump demonstrators.
There were reports that several Black Lives Matter and Antifa members were masquerading as Trump supporters and inflamed the demonstration creating chaos. Sadly, the blame for the chaos is falling upon President Trump.

It remains to be seen if the truth behind the January 6 events will ever be known, and just how much truth, if any, will matter in American politics in the future.

January 17, 2021, in Washington, DC.

After the riots at the U.S. Capitol Building, the FBI warned of additional threats in the nation’s capital and in all 50 states. According to reports, as many as 25,000 National Guard soldiers will be guarding the city as preparations are made for the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th U.S. President.

PRAY

However, to us as believers in Yeshua, Who is the Truth, truth does matter. Let’s pray that God reveals the hidden things behind the American current events before we believe the various opinions and biased news. We are praying for America, especially for the January 20th gathering in Washington DC. There are many police and military men and there is the danger of violence and even death.