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The Veil and Israel [Part 1]

March 19, 2025 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

Moses, the great prophet with whom the God of Israel spoke face-to-face:

“And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the pillar of cloud descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses”.   Exodus 33:9 

So the Lord spoke with Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And Moses returned to the camp. ..  Exodus 33:11a

“I speak with him (Moses) face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”   Numbers 12:8

Since that time, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.   Deuteronomy 34:10 

The Glory of the Lord

Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. Isaiah 60:1

In the above scripture, the Glory of the Lord is promised to shine upon Israel and God’s people, which includes us. Now that Yeshua is seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven, He has received back His Glory as He prayed to the Father in John 17:5:

“And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the Glory which I had with You before the world was…And the Glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one…“Father, I desire that they also, whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
 

Mt. Horeb/Sinai

Mt. Horeb, the Mountain of God, known also as Mt. Sinai, is where God first appeared to Moses and spoke to Him from the burning bush. There, Godcommanded Moses to lead the people of Israel out of slavery from Egypt into the Promised Land. Hence, Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, through the Sinai desert, and into the promised land.

After the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea and wandering in the desert, the people of Israel cried for water. God led them to Mount Horeb (Mt. Sinai) and instructed Moses to miraculously get water from the rock.

Exodus 17:6, “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”

Later, God met Moses once again at Mount Sinai/Horeb with an awesomedisplay of power: thunder and lightning, a dark cloud, fire and smoke, the blast of a trumpet, and quaking of the earth (Exodus 19:18). This was to warn the people not to approach or touch God’s holy mountain as God is so Holy that anyone doing so would die.

Then, God thundered out His commands, frightening all the Israelites. They asked God to speak only to Moses and let Moses be the intermediary between themselves and God (Exodus 20:19. By the way, Jews often say that they don’tneed an intermediary to talk to God when it comes to Yeshua.)

The Covenant Through Moses

And God called Moses on the mountain to receive the commandments for Israel.

“And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘”All the words which the Lord has said we will do.’” They made burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words” (their promise.) Exodus 24:3b, 5-8 

Now the Glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered the Mountain of God for six days. And on the seventh day, God called Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” (vs. 13, 16-18)

There on the mountain, Moses received the plans for the Tabernacle and the tablets of stone on which God had written His commandments with His own finger.

However, at the bottom of the mountain, the Israelites had grown impatient waiting for Moses all that time, not knowing what had happened to him. 
They asked Aaron to make them a god in the form of a golden calf. Overjoyed and excited, the people sacrificed to the golden calf, celebrated, and worshiped their new god in a frenzy.

However, at the top of the mountain, God told Moses what was happening in the camp below.

When Moses descended the mountain and saw everyone worshiping the golden calf, he became enraged and smashed to bits the stone tablets on which Godhad written His commandments with His own finger. Moses reproved Israel for its terrible sin against the one true God after promising to serve Him and keep His commandments. (including not making any images for worship) (Exodus 32.)

After dealing with the sin issue (including the death of many of the idol worshipers (Exodus 32:28) Moses burned the golden calf with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it (verse 20.)


Then, the Lord said to Moses, 

“Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the Words that were on the first tablets which you broke.”

Facing God on the top of the mountain, Moses begged God to forgive the children of Israel, His people. God listened to Moses, forgave them, and renewed the covenant with Israel. He once again wrote His Commandments on new stone tablets (Exodus 34:1–27.)

The Veil on Moses’s Face

Moses spent another 40 days and nights in the presence of God on Mt. Horeb, the mountain of God, not eating or drinking, and God allowed Moses to see His glory. God’s glorious presence sustained him.

When Moses came down the mountain after spending this extended time in the presence of the Lord, Moses was unaware that his face shone powerfully, reflecting God’s Glory. Because everyone feared to approach him, Moses covered his face with a veil, hiding the bright light of the Glory that was unbearable to the people in their sinful condition, so they would not be frightened. (Exodus 34:1–29)

Moses went up to speak to the Lord several times and brought Israel the Torah he had received from the Lord for them.

“But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out; and he would come back and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.” (Exodus 34:34-35)

The Prophet Elijah on Mt. Horeb

When the prophet Elijah ran away from Queen Jezebel who wanted to kill him, he stopped to rest in the desert. There, an angel of the Lord fed him, and

“strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb (Mt. Sini,) the mountain of God.” (1 Kings 19:8)

Elijah stayed in a cave at Horeb/Sinai, where he met the Lord Who spoke to him with “a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:12)

It is interesting that both Moses and Elijah, who were prophets of God, were on the same Mountain of God, sustained by God for 40 days and nights; both met with God there and heard His audible voice.

Yeshua with Moses and Elijah

It is also interesting that when Yeshua was on the Mount of Transfiguration, out of all the people of God, He met with the prophets Moses and Elijah.

While on earth, Yeshua’s divine glory was veiled by His humanity, except for this event when His human appearance was changed and  His face shone like the sun and His clothes turned blazing.

In an audible voice, the Lord spoke from a bright cloud saying: 

“This is my Son, Whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5) 

This happened in the presence of Peter, James, and John, the brother of James who 

“beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)  

From Glory to Glory

Ephesians 2:6-7 
“And God (the Father) raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Messiah Yeshua, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Messiah Yeshua.”

In the Spirit realm, we are seated with Messiah in the heavenlies. God has taken us from Glory to Glory, just as Yeshua prayed before He ascended to the right hand of the Father.

And just as John, Peter, and James beheld His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, we too behold His glory.

God’s light shines through us a witness for all to see as we reflect His glory.

As believers in Messiah Yeshua, Who fulfilled the Torah, we also reflect the Glory of the Torah revealed to Moses.

Yet, the Glory of the Torah that shone so brightly on Moses’ face and required a veil covering, faded when Israel broke the Old Covenant.

The Torah, written with the finger of God (Exodus 31:18,) is the same Torah that Messiah Yeshua came to fulfill; it is the eternal and glorious Word of God.

Now, by our faith in Yeshua, we receive glory through the New Covenant that is spiritual, eternal, and doesn’t fade for it is written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit of God.

(Jeremiah 31:33: “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts…”)

By this, we are transformed from the Glory of Moses to the Glory of Yeshua, from the Glory of the Old Covenant to the Glory of the New Covenant, which far surpasses the Old.

The Torah given to Moses was written on earthly stone, a substance doomed to disintegrate and perish.

God’s Holy, good, and righteous Torah was given to sinners to make them holy as the giver of the Torah is holy. But they had to obey all Torah’s laws.

In fact, the Torah was merely a temporary guardian (Galatians 3:23–25) until something better appeared.

The better thing is the New Covenant that absolves us of all sin and gives us everlasting life (John 6:63). 

Hence, our obedience to God stems from within us. As true believers, we desire to obey Him and love Him with all our hearts and souls, and not out of legality or fear of punishment.

No longer is it an uncaring, animal-blood covenant of rigid rules, written on cold stone tablets but rather a covenant of Messiah’s own blood, written by the Holy Spirit on the tablets of our warm hearts of flesh.

We, His people, no longer need an earthly tabernacle or a mountaintop to meet with God’s Holy Presence. Rather, the Father, and Messiah Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit dwell within us and tabernacle with us in our born-again inner New Man, in loving intimacy, teaching us all things. (John 14:23; 16:13)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“For God, Who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His Light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s Glory displayed in the face of Messiah Yeshua.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)

As we move from Glory to Glory, the Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of God’s own beloved Son, Messiah Yeshua. (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 8:28–30; Philippians 3:20–21)

When we believe Yeshua is Lord and Savior, receive Him into our hearts by faith, and accept His atonement for our sins, He opens our spiritual eyes and transforms us even in this life to bring us “from Glory to Glory.”  2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

[Watch for the next installment of this article soon]

Image by Chil Vera from Pixabay

Filed Under: From the Newsletter, History, MainStoryWidget-left, Newsletter Archive

Christmas and the Jews

December 24, 2024 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

Most Jews in Israel and around the world reject the idea that Christmas is a Jewish holiday. As far as they are concerned, Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of someone they don’t believe to be the Messiah and is in direct opposition to their Jewish faith. Many Holocaust survivors claim Hitler and the Nazis were Christians and that the Christian church is anti-Semitic; that in the name of Jesus, the Church persecuted Jews as “Christ-killers.”

Even non-Jews around the world who celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas day do not realize that He is the Messiah of Israel, as well as the Savior of the world.

Nativity Image by Michelle Scott from Pixabay

The prophet Isaiah made this Messianic prophecy to Israel about the Jewish Messiah, Who also fulfilled the promise God gave to Abraham in Genesis 12, that through Him all nations would be blessed. Therefore, the prophecies of the Messiah’s coming, His sacrifice for humanity, His resurrection, and His return to earth apply to Israel as well to all nations.

“The people living in darkness have seen a great light; upon those living in the land that lies in the shadow of death, light has dawned. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; dominion will rest on His shoulders, and He will be given the name Pele-Yo‘etz (Wonderful Counselor,) El Gibbor (Mighty God,) Avi-‘Ad (Everlasting Father) Sar-Shalom (Prince of Peace)”. Isaiah 9

The world celebrates Christmas with cheers, decorated evergreen trees, flickering lights, manger scenes, and baby Jesus, all the while unaware of its Jewish roots. That the story took place in Israel with Israelites and angels who spoke Hebrew seems far away. But the fact is that Mary was Miriam, Joseph was Yoseph and Jesus was Yeshua – all Hebrew names. Yeshua was born in Beth Lehem (the house of bread in Hebrew) fulfilling the Hebrew prophet Micah’s words as recorded in Micah chapter 5:1 “But you, Beit Lehem Ephratah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting days.”

The story of Christmas starts with God’s angel appearing to the priest Zecharya (Zechariah in English which means God remembers in Hebrew) who was chosen by lot to enter the Temple of the God of Israel for the incense offering (Luke 1:9-11). This was in accordance with the law God gave to Moses for the priests from the tribe of Levi. Exodus 30:7-8: “Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps. He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the Lord for the generations to come.” The angel announced to Zecharya that his barren wife would bear him a child to fulfill the prophecy of Malachi 3 to “go as a forerunner before Him (the Messiah) in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children” (Luke 1:16-17). His name would be Yohanan, meaning God pardons (known as John the Baptist in English.)

A short time later the angel Gavriel (Gabriel, means God is my strength) appeared to Miriam, announcing that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit of God. Miriam was a young Jewish virgin from the Jewish village of Natzeret, Israel, engaged to a Jewish man, Yoseph, of the house of David. The angel Gavriel told her (in Hebrew,) “Do not be afraid, Miriam; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Yeshua (meaning Salvation in Hebrew.) (Jesus is the English letters of the name Yeshua.) He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and God will give Him the throne of His father David (the Jewish king.) And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:26-33).

It is no coincidence that the Savior of the world would have a Hebrew name and would be born of a Jewish mother in a Jewish town near Jerusalem, the Jewish capital. He is Emmanuel (God with us in Hebrew) Who will sit on King David’s throne forever and rule from Jerusalem. All nations will come to hear the Word of the Lord from Zion (Jerusalem). (Isaiah 2)

When Yoseph (Joseph) learned Miriam was pregnant, he feared she had been unfaithful to him. As a righteous man, he didn’t want to expose Miriam to public disgrace and planned to divorce her in secret. But the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said (in Hebrew), “Yoseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Miriam as your wife because what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Yeshua (meaning Salvation) because he Yoshia (will save) his people (Israel) from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ – which means (in Hebrew, ‘God with us.)” Matthew 1:18-25

We present this holiday to our Jewish people in this Jewish setting with Jewish characters, saying that Yeshua is our Jewish Messiah, as well as the Savior of the world, and that He didn’t come to start a new religion. As a matter of fact, Yeshua was against religion as well as men’s traditions.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our Jewish friends, family, and neighbors to see that Christmas celebrates the birth of our Jewish Messiah Who came to the world in Israel.

From the first verses in the New Testament, we see how Jewish it is. This is the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah (a Hebrew word,) the son of David, the son of Abraham (the father of the Jewish nation). Yeshua’s birth and reincarnation were prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, written in Hebrew, by Hebrew prophets. His Jewish parents took him to the Jewish Holy Temple when He was eight days old to be circumcised; how much more Jewish can you get?

Image: Nativity by Michelle Scott from Pixabay

Filed Under: History, Holidays, MainStoryWidget-left Tagged With: Christmas, Christmas and the Jews, Yeshua

Does Lebanon Have Complete Control Over its Diplomatic Agenda?

September 23, 2024 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

For the past eleven months, Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian militia, has been fighting Israel in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. While neither Hezbollah nor Israel appears to seek an all-out war, the situation could spiral out of control. On the ground, the risk of escalation is very real. Washington and Paris have decided to “coordinate closely” concerning Lebanon to avoid such an escalation.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah continues to expand its influence. In addition to the financial support it receives from Iran (several hundred million dollars yearly according to the U.S.), the militia receives donations from the Lebanese Shia diaspora and profits from both its legal and illegal (drug trafficking) businesses. Since the 2000s, Hezbollah has developed an integrated economy organized around a bank (al-Qard al-Hassan), powerful charities, and the al-Sajjad network of local supermarkets, offering discounts on basic goods. These economic structures insulate the southern region from the rest of Lebanon, and now, protect it from the effects of the national economic crisis.

Hezbollah has adopted a wait-and-see attitude. With patience it takes its time, counting on the slow disintegration of the country, weakened by double-digit inflation.

Michel Aoun – Image from Simple Wikipedia

Lebanon has been governed by a caretaker cabinet since Prime Minister Hassan Diab resigned in August 2020 amid protests demanding accountability for the Beirut blast, when a stockpile of highly explosive ammonium nitrate was stored improperly at Lebanon’s most vital port. Michel Aoun, the Lebanese president at the time, accepted the resignation of the government and the Prime Minister and asked the government to stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet was formed.

On 10 September 2021, Mikati was able to form a government of 24 members after long negotiations with President Aoun, and the various political parties. When he took office, Lebanon was in the grip of a very serious economic crisis: the collapse of the national currency, galloping inflation (the cost of food had jumped by 700% in the previous two years), massive layoffs, a poverty rate of 78% according to the UN, frequent power cuts, fuel shortages, etc. Mikati is depending on the solidarity of the Arab world to help the country out of its crisis.

Najib Mikati – Image from Wiki

Mikati has been backing the Shiite groups, Hezbollah and Amal, but faces resistance from Christian lawmakers. Mikati himself does not represent a political party.

Najib Mikati, a Lebanese politician and businessman, has served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon since September 2021. Mikati said after his nomination that his priority would be to implement a French-backed reform plan that would unlock much-needed foreign financial aid.

Lokman Slim, Image from Times of Israel

Different sectarian groups are operating in Lebanon. Lebanese politics is based on a power-sharing system among these groups, including Hezbollah. Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim organization that emerged in the 1980s, has by now near total control over its own community, which it also represents in parliament. Dissenting Shia voices against Hezbollah have all but disappeared following the assassination of a Shia public intellectual and vocal Hezbollah critic, Lokman Slim, in 2021. Supporters of Hezbollah had previously threatened Slim’s life.

The leaders of Lebanon’s two major communities, the Sunni Muslims and the Christians, and those of the smaller but politically powerful Druze community, have issued statements urging caution and restraint. Yet, some Sunni and Christian groups in particular are sympathetic to Hezbollah.

Unlike the secular Sunni Muslim Lebanese, who call for restraint, religious Sunni Islamist groups are now siding with Hezbollah against Israel since the start of the Gazan war and some have even gotten closer to the organization over the past nine months.

In the past, many Sunni Islamists in Lebanon were against Hezbollah after an intense brief burst of violence in 2008, when Hezbollah attacked Sunni supporters of the then-Lebanese government.

Another Sunni group is the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose Al-Fajr forces, however symbolic and limited, have participated in the hostilities against Israel in southern Lebanon alongside Hezbollah since late October 2023, and even lost seven of their fighters in May of 2024.

Lebanese Christians are divided into three political parties, and so is their position towards Hezbollah: the Kataeb and the Lebanese Forces (LF) on the anti-Hezbollah side, and on the other side the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) which has broadly supported the Shia Hezbollah party since 2006.

In recent months, the leaders of both the LF and Kataeb have opposed Hezbollah’s war of attrition against Israel which they claim is provoking Israel to attack and devastate Lebanon. However, they are powerless against Hezbollah. Nevertheless, they complain that Hezbollah is acting and making decisions in the name of all Lebanese citizens.

Two other important Christian groups are the Patriarch of the Maronite church, Bechara Boutros Rai, and a rightwing private militia in eastern Beirut called Jnoud al-Rab (Soldiers of God).

Bechara Boutros Rai, Image from Catholic Weekly

Jnoud al-Rab claims that Hezbollah’s actions are endangering the country and Lebanon’s Christian community. In January 2024, the group hijacked flight screens at Beirut airport and displayed a message warning Hezbollah against engaging in war with Israel.

Since November 2023, Patriarch Rai has regularly issued statements against Hezbollah’s involvement in the Gaza war and has urged officials of the need to protect Lebanon.

In June 2024, he described Hezbollah’s activities in the south as acts of terrorism, which caused the Shia religious leadership to boycott the Patriarchate’s June spiritual summit.

Gibran Bassil, Image from the Arab News

As for the FPM party that has been favorable to Hezbollah, the relationship has become increasingly strained since October 2022, when the then president Michel Aoun’s term came to an end and Hezbollah refused to support EPM’s leading candidate as the new president and Aoun’s son-in-law, Gibran Bassil.

In April 2024, Bassil came around and declared that the FPM supports “the Resistance” (Hezbollah’s adopted name), but “rejects Hezbollah’s position to participate in the Gaza war without internal national consensus”.

Druze

The leading Druze politician, Walid Jumblatt, is the weathervane of Lebanese politics. Despite being retired, he remains an important voice for the Druze (who constitute around 5% of the Lebanese population).

Walid Jumblatt, Image from Arab News

In October, he called on Hezbollah “not to be dragged into the war”. He also took to social media asking Hezbollah not to participate in the war.

However, he clearly stated at the beginning of the conflict that he would side with Hezbollah should Israel attack Lebanon. And, since then, Jumblatt has noted that “the rules of engagement have changed”.

Lebanon’s major communities have largely been consistent in urging restraint and would prefer to see Hezbollah avoid a war with Israel. Should war break out, however, the sects of Lebanon will probably all rally around Hezbollah, as was the case in 2006.

History of Wars Between Israel and Lebanon

Since the end of the Six Day War, Palestinian terrorist militant groups have initiated attacks from south Lebanon against Israel, and even against Lebanese Christian militias inside Lebanon in the mid-1970s. In reprisal, the IDF, Israeli Defense Force have attacked in different operations, the most notable of which was the Litani Operation in 1978.

In 1975, the Lebanese civil war broke out, which lasted until 1990. With its own army operating freely in Lebanon, the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) had created a state within a state in south Lebanon. By then, more than 300,000 Palestinians lived in Lebanon. Lebanon’s Muslims and leftists who supported the PLO sought more political power. The Christians, seeking to maintain their political dominance, opposed the PLO. The factions fought fiercely through early 1976, and Lebanon became divided, with the Christians in power in the north and the Muslims in the south.

Israel helped the Christian Maronite militias by supplying them with arms, tanks, and military advisers. Initially, Syria, fearing loss of commercial access to the port of Beirut, supported the Maronites who had the majority in the government. Later, however, Syria switched sides by supporting the Palestinians instead.

In 1982 the Israeli army entered southern Lebanon with the goal of destroying the Palestinian guerrilla bases. The battle resulted in the expulsion of the PLO from Lebanese territory and their relocation to Tunisia.

In 1989, Christian leader Gen. Michel Aoun attempted to drive Syria out of Lebanon but was defeated and the Arab League mediated a peace deal. Aoun’s removal from power in October 1990 marked the end of the civil war and eliminated one of the major obstacles to the implementation of the 1989 peace accord.

Following the PLO’s expulsion from Lebanon, the Israeli military and Lebanese Christian militias began fighting the growing Iran proxy Shia Muslim terrorist group, Hezbollah, in south Lebanon, marking the beginning of the ongoing fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.

Filed Under: Conflict, MainStoryWidget-left, Politics, War Tagged With: Hezbollah, Lebanon, Terrorism, War

Hezbollah: Not Just Fanatical Terrorists

September 23, 2024 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

The Hezbollah creed: “We are the children of the faction of God and we see ourselves as an integral part of the Muslim world, challenged by a most arrogant imperialist assault from the West and the East, with the aim of nullifying the gracious Muslim prophetic charge received by Allah. Allah has given it grace so that it can become the best community that has ever appeared on the earth: it prescribes good and dissuades from evil, and believes in Allah.”

“We see in Israel the vanguard of the United States in our Islamic world. It is the hated enemy that must be fought until the hated ones get what they deserve. This enemy is the greatest danger to our future generations and the destiny of our lands, particularly as it glorifies the ideas of settlement and expansion, initiated in Palestine, and yearning outward to the extension of the Great Israel, from the Euphrates to the Nile.”

“Our primary assumption in our fight against Israel states that the Zionist entity is aggressive from its inception, and built on lands wrested from their owners, at the expense of the rights of the Muslim people. Therefore, our struggle will end only when this entity is OBLITERATED. We recognize no treaty with it, no cease-fire, and no peace agreements, whether separate or consolidated.” Israel is “the ‘imperialist power’ which planted a ‘foreign entity in the region…a cancer that is propagated in the body of the Arab and Islamic umma (typically a single group of common religious beliefs) in order to reduce it to pieces, divide it and control its resources.”

Historical Summary of Hezbollah in Lebanon

The Shia Muslim Iran-proxy Hezbollah (“Party of God”) emerged amid the chaos of the Lebanese civil war as a guerilla terrorist group. It has now grown to become a national political entity, a social welfare unit, and a state-like military organization.

Image from NBC News: Hezbollah

Slowly but surely, and inconspicuously, Hezbollah has increased its political power and status within Lebanon. It has gained growing influence over Lebanon, careful to maintain the rules of the Lebanese political order. The group has, in fact, become so entrenched in the political system that it now demands increased decision-making power within Lebanon. In June 2017, after great efforts on the part of Hezbollah officials, the Lebanese parliament passed a new electoral law that significantly increased Hezbollah’s power in parliament and further secured its representation. However, Hezbollah’s plan is to remain a separate and autonomous armed group with its weapons in the name of “resistance.”

Following the 1982 war between the PLO and Israel in south Lebanon, Hezbollah grew and established its strength and prominence by conducting a series of terror attacks against Israel.

Following the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon on May 24, 2000, Hezbollah became almost a state within a state in south Lebanon.

By 2005, Syria completely withdrew its forces from Lebanon, leaving a power vacuum. Then, in 2006, Hezbollah provoked Israel into a full-scale war in south Lebanon after abducting two Israeli soldiers. After 34 days of fighting, the UN brokered a ceasefire by its Security Council Resolution 1701 which established a no-man zone in south Lebanon that disallowed both Israeli and Hezbollah forces from entering. This was in addition to the UN Security Council Resolution 1559, passed in 2004, which called for the disarmament of all armed militias, as well as their cooperation in allowing the Lebanese State to assert its sovereignty in a free and functioning political system.

However, not only did Hezbollah refuse to give up its weapons but it has systematically increased arms and ammunition throughout south Lebanon since 2006. It has continuously used its weapons to eliminate political rivals as much as possible and impose its will on the Lebanese people and the government. In addition to receiving arms transfers from Iran, Hezbollah is also building infrastructure for independent arms production within Lebanon.

At the end of the 2006 war against Israel, the UN Security Council Resolution 1701 cease-fire agreement called for Hezbollah to immediately stop all attacks and for Israel to cease all offensive military operations. In addition, it set guidelines for both parties, under certain conditions, to refrain from hostilities and maintain stability. Whereas Israel kept the conditions of the agreement, Hezbollah overtly and consistently violated and continues violating the terms agreed upon in the resolution.

In December 2018, IDF forces uncovered an extensive network of underground terror tunnels crossing the Blue Line (a demarcation line dividing Lebanon from Israel and the Golan Heights, published by the United Nations on 7 June 2000 for the purposes of determining whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon.) This was in clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. Hezbollah dug these tunnels with the intent of carrying out surprise attacks and kidnappings of Israeli civilians and soldiers. During Operation Northern Shield, the IDF successfully exposed and neutralized these tunnels.

Hezbollah Sabotages the Work of UNIFIL

UNIFIL (UN peacekeeping forces) is supposed to enforce the resolution. However, Hezbollah works in various ways to disrupt the activity of UNIFIL which renders it helpless against Hezbollah militant operations and intelligence gathering or transferring arms. Hezbollah’s influence over the Lebanese government and army is growing steadily.

The means by which Hezbollah increased its control in Lebanon:

  • In the financial system: in order to evade monitoring of money transfers, Hezbollah consistently works to weaken the Lebanese banking system by means of deterrence and influence over top bankers, usually of Shiite origins.
  • Border crossings: In order to evade monitoring of arms transfers, Hezbollah maintains a network of influence over various border crossings, including Hariri Airport, Beirut Seaport, and the customs authority.
  • In local municipalities: Through Hezbollah-affiliated mayors and Mukhtars (heads of villages), Hezbollah consolidates its influence over public services, civilian infrastructure, and its own public outreach.

Increasing Influence Over the Lebanese Armed Forces

Hezbollah holds great power within the decision-making bodies that are responsible for overseeing the security apparatus and state-sanctioned use of force, as well as deciding on matters of war and peace.

It was revealed that Hezbollah had planted an officer in the LAF (Lebanese Armed Forces) in order to ensure its continued influence over the army.

The organization’s further infiltration into army ranks was revealed in 2017 when Hezbollah tanks were photographed fighting side by side with LAF tanks.

Hezbollah is Not Just a Terrorist Organization in South Lebanon.

A leading American DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) official revealed after years of investigating the Lebanese Hezbollah organization that Hezbollah uses money laundering, the drug trade, and a large corporation of used cars in Africa to raise huge amounts of money for their wicked operations.

Of 68 groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States, the DEA has linked 25 of those to drug trafficking or some role in the drug trade.

Out of criminal terrorist organizations such as Lebanese Hezbollah, the Taliban, ISIS, and Colombia’s FARC and ELN, Hezbollah stands out uniquely for its hierarchal leadership, sophisticated intelligence operations, and having political and military wings.

Hezbollah, a major proxy for Iran, receives the majority of its support from Iran. However, to increase its revenue, Hezbollah has increasingly turned to criminal enterprises. They operate in the Shia Crescent (areas under Iranian influence or control that include Iran itself, Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain, Iraq, Azerbaijan, western Afghanistan, and the Houthis in Yemen,) and Russia. Hezbollah taps into global money launderers, arms traffickers, and drug traffickers on six continents.

The type of criminal activity conducted by Hezbollah’s networks varies from continent to continent, but in North America, the main operations are money laundering, the used car trade, and drug trafficking — “trafficking coke here whether as transshipment broker or supplier.” 

When the U.S. Treasury Department blocked American financial institutions from conducting business with the Lebanese Canadian Bank in 2011, for example, officials alleged that revenue from European and Latin American drug sales was wired by the bank to used car dealers in the United States who shipped huge amounts of cars to West Africa where they were sold; the proceeds went back to Hezbollah.

In South America, Hezbollah has benefited from Islamic extremism and its connections to Colombian cartels and a corrupt Venezuelan government whose regimes of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Madura have facilitated air shipments of cocaine to Syria and helped members of Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps get fraudulent passports. In Mexico, money laundering links were discovered between Hezbollah and Los Zetas.

Although Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and other high-ranking Hezbollah figures deny any criminal allegations and say that drug trafficking would violate Islamic law, investigations show that they operate just as a traditional organized crime organization, like the Mafia or any other drug cartel.

“Nasrallah is a murdering terrorist” — just like Escobar who built orphanages and murdered people and has no problem lying, said one of the DEA agents, “The DEA has discovered cases where Hezbollah criminal activity benefits Iran, as well as the U.S.”

In its determination to secure a nuclear deal with Iran, the Obama administration derailed an ambitious law enforcement campaign targeting Hezbollah’s drug trafficking while it was funneling cocaine into the United States.

The DEA

The DEA was established by President Richard Nixon in 1973 to combine various anti-drug programs under the US Department of Justice. During the Bush administration, thanks to supportive Republicans in Congress, it had become the beneficiary of a new federal law that empowered its agents around the globe to operate virtually anywhere without permission required from other U.S. agencies. All they had to do was connect drug suspects to terrorism, and then arrest them and bring them to the United States in an effort to penetrate the highest levels of the world’s most significant and notorious criminal organizations.

In the investigations, there was enough proof that the terrorist Muslim organization of Hezbollah was no longer just a small Palestinian military and political organization in south Lebanon, focused on fighting Israel, but had grown and spread into an international crime syndicate that, according to some investigators, was collecting $1 billion a year from drug and weapon trafficking, money laundering and other criminal activities for the purchase of weapons. As a result, in 2008, The DEA launched a campaign, dubbed Project Cassandra, against the organization network.

Over the next eight years, top-secret DEA agents, with the help of 30 U.S. and foreign security agencies, used wiretaps, undercover operations, and informants to map Hezbollah’s illicit networks.

They followed cocaine shipments – some from Latin America to West Africa and on to Europe and the Middle East, and others through Venezuela and Mexico to the United States. They tracked the flow of cash as it was laundered by, among other tactics, buying American used cars and shipping them to Africa where Hezbollah uses the funds to purchase weapons. And with the help of some key cooperating witnesses, the agents traced the conspiracy, they believed, to the innermost circle of Hezbollah and its state sponsors in Iran. While the pursuit may be shadowed in secrecy, from Latin American luxury hotels to car parks in Africa to the banks and battlefields of the Middle East, its impact is not a secret: the discovery of multi-ton loads of cocaine entering the United States, and hundreds of millions of dollars going to a U.S. designated terrorist organization.

But as Project Cassandra reached higher into the hierarchy of the Hezbollah conspiracy, the Obama administration officials threw an increasingly insurmountable series of roadblocks in its way, according to interviews with dozens of participant agents, who in many cases, spoke for the first time about events shrouded in secrecy and a review of government documents and court records. When Project Cassandra leaders sought approval for certain significant investigations, prosecutions, arrests, and financial sanctions, officials at the Justice and Treasury departments delayed, hindered, or rejected their requests.

The Justice Department declined requests by Project Cassandra and other authorities to file criminal charges against major players such as Hezbollah’s high-profile envoy to Iran; a Lebanese bank that allegedly laundered billions in alleged drug profits and a central player in a U.S-based cell of the Iranian paramilitary Quds force.

The State Department rejected requests to lure high-value targets to countries where they could be arrested. This was the extent to which competing agendas among government agencies and shifting priorities at the highest levels have set back years of progress.

Normalizing Hezbollah in Lebanon Government

Obama had entered office in 2009 promising to improve relations with Iran as part of a broader conciliation with the Muslim world. On his campaign trail, Obama had repeatedly criticized Bush’s failing policy of pressuring Iran to stop its illicit nuclear program and said that he would reach out to Tehran in diplomacy. Obama saw an opportunity to set a new course for relations between the two countries through direct dialogue. To appease Iran, the plan was not to go against Hezbollah but the assimilation of Hezbollah into Lebanon’s political system and to find ways to build up “moderate elements” within Hezbollah.

According to reports from DEA agents, during the Obama administration, the DEA project took a back seat to a deal with Iran. To make the nuclear deal with Iran, Project Cassandra was halted just as it was approaching the arrest of criminals in the upper echelon of Hezbollah and while Hezbollah was continuing its illicit activities around the world, including funneling cocaine into the United States. This was confirmed by a testimony of a former Obama administration Treasury official. According to Project Cassandra members and others, “investigations were tampered down for fear of rocking the boat with Iran and jeopardizing the nuclear deal.” In addition, they said Obama was reluctant to give the green light to aggressively act against top Hezbollah operatives due to his envisioning a new role for Hezbollah in the Middle East, along with his desire for a negotiated settlement for Iran’s nuclear program.

The administration also rejected repeated efforts by Project Cassandra members to charge Hezbollah’s military wing as an ongoing criminal enterprise under a federal Mafia-style racketeering statute. Administration officials declined to designate Hezbollah as a “significant transnational criminal organization” and blocked other strategic initiatives that would have given the task force additional legal tools, money, and manpower to fight it.

Nevertheless, Obama’s vision to build up “moderate elements” within Hezbollah has failed. It remains a dangerous militant terror organization. Hezbollah continues to evolve from just another terrorist organization in south Lebanon into a strong militia and a political party with representatives in the Lebanese Parliament and Cabinet. Hezbollah is now an international multi-million-dollar mafia-like organization.

Image: Photo by René Ranisch on Unsplash

Filed Under: Conflict, MainStoryWidget-left, Terrorism, War Tagged With: Lebanon

Netanyahu’s Impossible Choice

February 13, 2024 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

“And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever…” Exodus 14:13


“The LORD is a man of war…“Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces.” Exodus 15:1, 6 (NKJ)

Picture from facebook: The title on this photo translated is: “With God’s help, there is going to be a great miracle”. The most repeated photographs of those who were kidnapped are of the red-headed boys of the Bibas family. Yarden and Shiri Bibas and their 9-month-old and 4-year-old sons Kfir and Ariel were kidnapped from their home on October 7th. They are still held hostage.

Choices and Decisions in Wartime

     Educated at a top private school in England, the Britisher Alan Turing was considered a mathematics genius from an early age. He entered the University of Cambridge to study mathematics in 1931. He was already working part-time for the British Government’s Code and Cypher School before World War II with Germany broke out in September 1939. Turing then accepted a full-time, top-secret post at the British Army War-time Headquarters in Buckinghamshire, along with a team of other mathematical geniuses to head the development of a code-breaking machine that would decipher the military codes of the Enigma, the German devise used to encode strategic messages during the war.

     After many unsuccessful tries, and very close to the deadline given by his employer, Turing’s machine was finally able to crack the German Enigma code just as the Germans planned to blow up a British war vessel with 500 hundred men on board. The team members were excited at the possibility of saving the men’s lives and hurried to make a phone call to inform headquarters of the good news. However, Turing grabbed the phone and said: “No, we are not going to disclose this breakthrough that would let the Germans know that we have decoded the Enigma. They will then destroy it and build another one. We must guard this secret even from our military.” All agreed except one whose brother was on board the vessel. He begged Turing to save his brother’s life. It was a difficult decision for Turing but with much determination, he declared that winning the war and saving millions of lives took precedence over saving a few hundred lives.

     Subsequently, for the rest of the war, Turing’s machine supplied the Allies with large quantities of military intelligence. By early 1942, it had decoded monthly about 39,000 intercepted messages, a figure that rose to over 84,000 per month—two messages every minute, day and night. In 1942, Turing also devised the first systematic method for decoding messages encrypted by the sophisticated German cipher machine that the British called “Tunny.”

     In the end, thanks to Turing, the war was shortened by two years, and about 14 million lives were saved.

A Similar Dilemma

     In today’s war between Israel and Hamas, Israeli PM Netanyahu and the war cabinet now face a similar dilemma.

     On October 7, 2023, on the last day of the holiday of Succoth, Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel via land, air, and sea, committing atrocities upon residents in the entire region. During the massacre, the terrorists murdered in cold blood more than 1,200 innocent civilians, including infants, young and old, and youth who were partying at a peace music festival. Additionally, Hamas abducted 240 Israelis into the Gaza Strip.

     It was a declaration of war that Israel has since been fighting. Israel has three main goals:

  1. destroying Hamas as a military and ruling force in Gaza;
  2. the return of the hostages; and
  3. ensuring Hamas will no longer threaten Israel’s security.

     Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed again a few days ago to continue the offensive war in the Gaza Strip until achieving a “crushing victory” against Hamas.

     At the end of November 2023, a week’s ceasefire was declared. Hamas released 105 hostages and Israel freed 240 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. However, after Hamas violated the pause, the Israeli army resumed fighting. To date, there remain some 136 hostages, some alive and some murdered (the IDF has so far confirmed 31 hostages who have been killed, including the bodies of 2 soldiers kept by Hamas since 2014.)

     Presently, Netanyahu refuses to accept another so-called “deal” with Hamas for the release of the remaining abducted Israelis, claiming that Hamas’ new conditions are unacceptable.

     In protest, the families of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip are protesting and have recently shut down a vital road in Tel Aviv to demand an immediate deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones. On the other hand, thousands of Israeli right-wing demonstrators protested in Jerusalem and demanded the government not stop the fighting in Gaza, even for the negotiations with Hamas, which would result in Israel losing the war.

     PM Benjamin Netanyahu is facing mounting public pressure, including from some politicians affiliated with his War Cabinet. However, Netanyahu is standing firm. He said at a news conference a few days ago: “Giving in to the outrageous demands of Hamas will not only fail to bring about the release of the hostages but will invite an additional massacre and disaster for Israel. The day after the war is the day after Hamas; not part of Hamas, not half of Hamas,” meaning ALL of Hamas. According to Netanyahu, the Israeli army is on the way to a complete victory that will take not years but months. “We will continue until the end,” he said, “There is no other solution besides complete victory.”

     As Turing’s decision was in WWII to win the war and save millions at the cost of several hundred lives, so is Netanyahu’s decision to win the war and save the entire Jewish nation, unfortunately, at the cost, if necessary, of less than a hundred precious lives.

Our Prayer Focus

     In this vein, we at the prayer tent are now meeting four times a week in prayer, supplication with thanksgiving, believing for a miracle, the release of the hostages, and complete victory over Israel’s vicious enemy. As with God’s miracle when He saved the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, when He parted the Red Sea and the Israelites crossed over on dry land and He then drowned the Egyptian army that pursued them. As the Lord said then to Israel: “the Egyptians you see today, you will see no more.” The enemy of Israel was completely destroyed, while Israel was saved.

     We pray for a similar miracle today, for God to bring the Israeli hostages home safely, while Hamas is completely destroyed by the collapse of their own tunnels. Hamas in Gaza we will see no more. Amen!
 


News Flash

Monday we got the news that 2 hostages were rescued by the IDF in a daring mission in the southern Gaza Strip. Today is the 129th day of the war – and of their captivity. This is much-welcomed news and so encouraging. Please pray for more of the same.
 


Please Join Us in Prayer

  • Please pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu – strength, health, divine guidance.
  • Pray that the objectives of this war are accomplished.
  • Pray that the objectives of the Lord concerning the salvation of souls will be accomplished.
  • Pray for our soldiers, our hostages, and the many wounded, widowed, and orphaned by the war.
  • Pray for the evacuees who are unable to return to their homes.
  • Pray for those of us called to pray, that we will not grow weary but continue in strength to intercede as we see things unfolding.

Filed Under: Conflict, From the Newsletter, MainStoryWidget-left, Terrorism Tagged With: Anti-Semitism, Hamas, Terrorism, War

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