Newsletter Archive

Understanding Israel’s Elections

March 8, 2019 By Bella Davidov 1 Comment

Israelis will conduct elections for the 21^st Knesset
The election is scheduled for April 9, 2019.

There is a crisis in Israel concerning the upcoming elections.

Currently, (and for the past 10 years) Israel has had a government that is basically right wing, with Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu as Prime Minister and his Likud party in the majority of the coalition. Under his leadership, Israel has become a major world power; as a matter of fact, was just listed internationally in the 8^th place of world power nations. (Read about all of his domestic and international achievements here.)

One of the most important laws the Israeli government has passed recently was the State Law declaring that Israel is the nation of the Jewish people, and that while non-Jewish citizens have the same civil rights, they don’t have the Right of Return (only Jews have the right to instant citizenship). The Law of Return is the only aspect of the State Law where Jews and Arabs are not equal.

Bibi’s greatest concern for Israel is security. He insists that any peace negotiation with the Palestinians must include their accepting Israel as a Jewish state and that dismantling settlements will not be a part of a future peace deal. Many Israeli voters like his security-first approach to politics. Also, his fluency in English and decades of experience give him an international stature that no other Israeli politician can rival. He has won three consecutive elections. Elections are held every four years. Under certain circumstances, a Knesset (Israeli Parliament or Congress) may be dispersed before the end of a term and that determines the date of the next elections.

Over the last three years, however, there have been continual reports about police investigations against PM Netanyahu. The accusations are of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three separate cases. Read more details in our website blog “Cases against Netanyahu”.

As of recent polls, Bibi exceeded everyone else in popularity, as he has for the last three elections. But with the looming legal battles, and other issues of dispute in the coalition, Bibi decided it was the right move to call for early elections. However, probably for political reasons, these accusations led to the threat of a recommendation for indictment, (pending a hearing) by the Attorney General. Bibi and the Likud party requested that indictment not become public until after the election, because he didn’t have time to refute the accusations. But the AG made it public a little over a week ago. Therefore, rather than having a fair trial in the court of law with a full defense, Bibi is being judged by the media and the public, and his popularity is declining. This is what brings us to the current crisis because if Bibi fails in the elections the opposition will succeed.

Who is the opposition and why is it so crucial in this election?

Two very popular men joined together in order to defeat Netanyahu. One of them is Yair Lapid who was a favorite in the previous election but was demoted because of constantly undermining Bibi while serving in his coalition as Minister of Finance. His party, Yesh Atid declined in the last elections and ended up in the opposition in the current government.

The other is Benny Gantz, 59-year-old former Israel Defense Forces’ Chief of Staff, who is a newcomer to politics. He entered the race forming his own Hosen Israel (Strength of Israel) party and immediately jumped in the polls, ahead of Lapid but still behind Netanyahu. Lapid and Ganz joined forces and formed a new party. Their joint new party is called Kahol Lavan (Blue and White), which are the symbolic colors of the state of Israel.

Their platform is unclear, but although claiming to be a centrist party they lean more to the left. One thing Gantz and Lapid declare clearly is that they plan to change the State Law. Their main goal is to replace Netanyahu and become PM of Israel on rotation basis. Gantz, who is in first place, serving as PM for the first 2 and a half years and Lapid serving for the rest of the term.

The electoral process in Israel is complicated and confusing for most of the public, but suffice it to say that the situation is crucial.

The reason the Blue and White party opposition is so crucial is that whichever party is elected has to form a coalition consisting of at least 61 MK (Knesset Members). Blue and White would have to include most of the left and far left wing small parties (the right wing parties support Netanyahu, all claiming that he remains innocent until and if proven otherwise). Blue and White would have to include the Arab parties, who have always been in the opposition, some of them have even been temporarily suspended from the government for siding with Israel’s enemies and calling Israeli soldiers terrorists. The one MK that is the most crucial to possibly being in the coalition is Tibi.

Who is Tibi and why is he crucial?

Arab MK Ahmed Tibi, a former adviser to Yasser Arafat, recently split from the Joint List Arab party in order to run separately as head of his Ta’al party.

Tibi is an anti-Zionist who supports Israel withdrawing to the pre-1967 borders and a two-state solution with an independent Palestinian state, including a Law of Return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants. He opposes the idea of Israel being a Jewish state and considers it racist. He opposes Israel having a Jewish national anthem and an Israeli flag. He takes the Palestinian side and has even praised the Palestinian Authority’s terrorists, referring to them as “martyrs” at a ceremony held on the “Palestinian Martyrs’ Day”.

Both Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz and co-chairman Yair Lapid have stated that they would amend the “National State Law,” something Tibi would love to see. “We want to topple the Right, we say it openly,” Tibi said. He stated his desire to one day become Israel’s prime minister, “and if not I then another Ahmed, Mohammed or Mahmoud,” Tibi said recently.

Herein lies the danger to Israel. The possibility that a man like Tibi and other anti-Israeli MKs would be in the coalition is what makes this election so crucial for those who love the Land and the People of Israel and believe in God’s promises..

The new Likud slogan is: “it’s Bibi or Tibi.”

I (Bella) am a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party and attended last Monday’s evening rally in support of Netanyahu. I witnessed thousands of loyal cheering Likud members shouting “Bibi, Bibi, we love you.” He explained the slogan: “it’s mathematical, simple addition that you learn in first grade: Lapid and Gantz can not reach the minimum 61 KM required for a coalition in the government without bringing in the Arab parties…so it’s Bibi or Tibi.”

The scriptures encourage us to pray for our leaders: “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority” 1 Tim. 2:1-2.

Dear Lord, teach us how to pray in this complex situation for the upcoming election. Raise Israeli leaders who are able to care for Your people, as You have promised to do when You regathered Your own people back to the land of Your promise (Jeremiah 23:3-4).

Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. ⁴I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.”

You know the hearts of men; reveal the truth of all the cases against Netanyahu, if He is Your chosen one to lead Israel for such a time as this. We know you have promised the mountains of Israel, including Judea and Samaria to Your people Israel in Ezekiel 36. Israel needs a leader who can stand against the world and the left wing in Israel who want to divide Your Land. Help Israelis to choose the right leader. We pray for PM Netanyahu to open his heart to Your leading. We pray for Your justice and righteousness to prevail. We pray You will not allow the enemy from without and from within to win. You give Israel the victory. We acknowledge Your sovereignty in this election, in Israel, and in the world. In the Name of our Yeshua, and for Your Glory, Amen.

Understanding President Trump’s Decision

December 31, 2018 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established…“
Romans 13:1

Posted: Dec 31, 2018
To understand the complexity of the situation in Syria, we have to understand that it is a war between the Sunni and Shi’a Muslims. [Click here to read more about who these Muslims are.] The Syrian war started at the time of the so-called Arab Spring in 2011 when protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. His family, of the Shi’a Alawite-sect of Islam, has held the presidency in Syria since 1971. No one could have anticipated at that time the level of violence, trauma, and devastation that would result from that uprising for over seven years.

The conflict has been fought by different rebel groups and militias against the Assad regime, and against each other. With the rise of ISIS, It has expanded to include international powers such as Russia, Iran, some European nations and the United States.

Since then, Syria has been nearly destroyed, and the region was thrown into turmoil. Cities have been reduced to rubble by regime bombing, which had the far-reaching ramifications to nations around the world. Threats posed by terrorism, the migration crisis, and refugees. The number of casualties is too big to count, which is estimated at about half a million, and millions of refugees and internally displaced people, also too many to count.

The US started fighting ISIS in 2014. Much of the US operation in Syria has been waged by warplanes flying out of Qatar and other locations in the Middle East. After the airstrikes and increased fighting capacity of the allied ground forces, ISIS was degraded.

Fighting everyone all the time, ISIS lost their border areas, supply lines and communication, resources, and influence, they were finally driven from most of its territory in Syria’s north area.

In the beginning, then US president Barack Obama, assuming that Assad was going to fall anyway, took the side of the demonstrators and called on Assad to step down. However, Assad did not fall and didn’t step down. With the help of Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, He is still on the winning side. Not wanting to risk direct conflict with the Russians, the US accepted the fact that they (the Russians) are there to stay.

Assad who has lost territory, men, resources, and independence has gotten weaker through the years of fighting, but is still stronger than any of his opponents and rivals.

President Trump said that the United States was doing the work of other countries, including Russia and Iran, with little in return. He thinks it’s time others fight their own battles, and that US troops have no business in Syria since accomplishing their mission of helping fight ISIS.

Trump is true to his campaign promises to bring the 2,000 US troops back home. He wanted to do it earlier this year but gave in to his advisors not to pull the troops out of Syria before a peace agreement could be reached to end that country’s brutal civil war, and to keep them there to back up the Kurdish fighters and the Arab SDF militias (Syrian Democratic Forces) in their battle against ISIS.

However, this outraged NATO ally Turkey, which views Kurdish YPG forces as being an extension of a militant group fighting inside Turkey. [Click here to read more about the Kurds.] Turkey is still a key strategic ally of the US. In a phone conversation between Presidents Trump and Erdogan on Dec. 14, the Turkish leader promised that his army would not cross the Euphrates. Also during the course of their discussion, Erdogan reportedly agreed to cancel his order of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system and to purchase a package of US Patriot missile systems valued at $3.5 billion instead.

Turkey’s planned purchase of the S-400 caused a rift between NATO member Turkey and NATO. The S-400 is not inter-operational with NATO systems. Turkish use of the system could endanger the American F-35’s stealth systems.

The White House announced that pulling US troops out of Syria does not mean that the Americans are leaving the coalition against ISIS, but rather, now that ISIS lost most of its strongholds, the White House is “transitioning to the next phase of the campaign.”

The US and Iraq are in advanced negotiations for the deployment to the Iraqi-Syria border of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) – which drove ISIS out of Mosul. It would position US troops 30km north of the Euphrates River and near the Syrian border. “We will be watching,” promised Trump.

The US is planning to build a permanent base, including an air force base on the Iraqi side of the strategic Tanif pass. This will allow them to control the area and prevent Shi’a militia to cross over into Syria. This way, the US will still control the situation without physically having boots on the ground in Syria.

As the Sunni rebels regroup, what Trump’s move would accomplish is bringing back the balance of the Sunnis against the Shi’as. With the defeat of 95% of Isis, the US can concentrate on the fight against Shi’a Iran, with the proxy of the Sunni rebels and the Sunni Turkish army. That means that Sunnis will enlarge their independent state in Syria around Haleb. Sunni rebels and the Turkish army are deploying forces all the time from all sides.

When Israeli PM Netanyahu’s decision to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas last month and not go to war, after Hamas fired about 500 missiles at Israeli cities in one day, he was criticized by most of Israelis, who saw this as an act of weakness. Netanyahu said at that time that there was more hidden than meets the eye, and not everything can be exposed to the public. Now we realize that what the army was planning was an operation to expose the tunnels of Hezbollah in the north and avoid a massive invasion from the terror group into Israel.

Likewise, with Trump’s decision to pull out the 2000 US troops. We don’t see or know all the considerations in that decision. It will be unfolding as time and events go on.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw American forces from Syria will not affect Israeli policy and that cooperation with the U.S. “will continue in full”. Israel will “continue to act against Iran’s attempts to entrench itself militarily in Syria, and to the extent necessary, we will even expand our actions there,” said Netanyahu.

We know that the Lord has this situation well in hand. Of course, there is always more going on than meets the eye. “He who keepeth Israel neither slumbers or sleeps.” Please continue to pray for those decision-making leaders and the ones who influence them both in Israel and in your country. And pray for the soldiers who face enemies every day and need to know the Keeper of Israel in a personal way.

For the salvation of Israel and the nations,
In His love,
Simcha and Bella Davidov, Ashdod, Israel

Threat From the North

December 22, 2018 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

“I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies. (Psalm 18:3)

Soldier wiring a discovered Hezbollah tunnel for destruction.

Last week Israel discovered “terror tunnels” running from Lebanon directly into Israel by which Hezbollah intended to sneak in terrorists “under our noses”.

Thank God, Israel destroyed the tunnels before they became operational.

Tensions have remained high on the northern border since the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 which lasted 35 days. It began when Hezbollah terrorists launched a raid into Israel, killing eight soldiers and kidnapping two others who also died.
Israel warned Hezbollah not to interfere with the tunnel demolition or face the Israeli Defense Force’s (IDF) massive military force.

Hezbollah, in turn, threatened to attack Israel with its vast rocket arsenal.
The first tunnel the IDF discovered started in a Lebanese civilian home and was at least 200m (650ft) long, running 40m inside Israel near the border town of Metulla. (At that time the area was declared a closed zone.) The second tunnel was discovered close to that area and two others were found shortly afterward.

In the opinion of an Israeli army colonel, the tunnels were part of a plan by Hezbollah to “conquer the Galilee” region of Israel in a future conflict.

Imagine; had Israel not discovered those tunnels, thousands of hate-filled terrorists would have emerged from them directly into northern Israel, storming the homes of unsuspecting Israelis. Men, women, and children would have been massacred and many taken hostage. Waiving flags victoriously, Hezbollah terrorists would yell “Allah Akbar” and “we have liberated the Galilee.” And should Israel respond, Hezbollah would fire thousands of long-range missiles into every part of Israel.

Soldier using equipment to search for tunnels.

Thank God for “Operation Northern Shield,” launched Dec. 4th whereby Israel foiled the plans of the enemy. Israeli intelligence collected data over a span of four years and the hi-technical engineering army unit developed ways and means to detect and destroy dozens of tunnels along the common border.

This impressive operation, in cooperation with high-ranking army commanders, intelligence units and members of the political echelon was planned out in secrecy for four years until the day of the operation in order to ensure the ability to catch the enemy by surprise. This is a miracle in itself.

Hezbollah, a Shi’a Islamist militant organization and political party based in Lebanon headed by Hassan Nasrallah, does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and has been accused of carrying out a string of bombings and plots against Jewish and Israeli targets around the world over decades. Israel has also reportedly carried out killings against Hezbollah figures.
Hezbollah has built up an extensive arsenal since the 2006 conflict, possibly possessing up to 150,000 rockets.

Israel has said it will not allow Hezbollah to obtain advanced missiles and frequently carries out airstrikes on arms being transferred to the organization through Syria.

Tension on the Lebanese Border

The situation is very delicate and can spark an eruption, if not treated carefully. Soldiers on both sides of the “Blue Line,” bordered with concertina wire separating them are within touching distance. The “Blue Line” is the demarcation between Lebanon and Israel set by the UN after the end of the 2006 war.

Lebanese soldiers rushed to the point of conflict on Monday after Israeli troops rolled out barbed wire along the border, protesting that the wire was placed on their side of the border.
The Israeli army said the wire was installed entirely in Israeli territory, in coordination with UN peacekeepers. Both Israeli and Lebanese soldiers are so close that even a small incident can cause an explosion. Israeli backup soldiers are on watch to make sure Hezbollah terrorists are not hiding anywhere close, trying to interrupt or sabotage Israeli efforts. It is a very volatile situation. An IDF statement said, “Operations along the border continue as planned, both on overt and covert levels.”

Proof to the World

On the diplomatic level, Israel succeeded in proving to the world the schemes of its enemy to the north – Hezbollah. Even CNN sent one of its own cameras down into the tunnel to document the plans of Hezbollah against Israel. On Tuesday, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit put out an English-language video aimed at the international community showing the danger Hezbollah presents not just to Israel but also to the citizens of Lebanon.

[Film from newscast, video will have English speaking in the middle]

UN Interim Forces in Lebanon, who were called to the site, confirmed that two of the tunnels cross the Blue Line. “These constitute violations of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701″ (by Hezbollah).

Israel has called on the international community to impose new sanctions on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the heavily armed mini-army with an arsenal of some 130,000 of rockets that can reach nearly every part of Israel.

PM Netanyahu, during a tour of the northern border, said: “we shall totally nullify the Hezbollah tunnel threat.” Israeli officials have indicated that the IDF may operate within Lebanese territory, if necessary, to destroy the tunnels.

Israel holds the Lebanese government responsible for the tunnels being dug inside its territory. Lebanese President Michel Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, said Tuesday that the United States assured him that Israel has “no aggressive intentions” with its Operation Northern Shield.

The IDF will construct an access to the first Hezbollah terror tunnel near Metula as a model. It will become a site for diplomats and foreign correspondents to visit and see with their own eyes (and cameras) what Israel has discovered. [Read More About Hezbollah]

Please pray for our leadership to have Godly wisdom and strength in facing of these issues. Please stand with us in faith on the promises and Word of God. We know that the God is Israeli’s protector. He never slumbers nor sleeps. Please pray with us for the people of Israel, asking God to open the eyes of the hearts of many as they are looking for help from men. May many realize that God is our Helper.

We love and appreciate you very much. We would love to hear from you – any comments, questions and/or prayer requests. Again we would like to thank you for your prayers and financial support. We pray for you too from Zion, for God to supply all your needs and bless you greatly.

For the salvation of Israel and the nations,
In His love,
Simcha and Bella Davidov, Ashdod, Israel

Hanukkah Miracles, Then and Now

December 7, 2018 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

“Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You,
glorious in holiness, awesome in praises, doing wonders?” Ex. 15:11

Shalom Dear Friend and Prayer Partner, Happy Hanukkah.

Hanukkah (dedication) is a holiday of miracles. It commemorates the miraculous victory of the small army of brave Jews over the much larger and better-equipped Syrian/Greek army and the liberation of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem from the hands of the pagan ruler Antiochus Epiphanes. [Read more about the historical account of Hanukkah in our blog.]

One of the benedictions Jews say when lighting the candles of the Hanukiah (Hanukkah candelabra) is: “We light the candles for the miracles that You have done for our forefathers in days of old, and are still doing today.”

There is a top (called a dreidel) that children use to play a game during the holiday. The top has four sides. On each side there is a Hebrew letter that represents the sentence, “Nes Godol Haya Poe,” which means, “a great miracle happened here.” In all the wars Israel had to fight against surrounding enemy neighbors, there were many miracles that enabled the tiny nation to survive and thrive. Presently Israel is facing fierce and violent enemies from the north and the south, whose aim is to wipe Israel off the map of the Middle East.

The following accounts are two recent incidents that are viewed as miracles that happened on the Gaza border this year close to the time of Hanukkah.

Lt. Bar Vaknin

Lt. Bar Vaknin of Israeli’s elite Givati Brigade was shot in the stomach by a Hamas sniper a few months ago, he said he was, “saved by a miracle.”

*Gazan crowds burn tires, so clouds of smoke prevent the Israeli guards from seeing their actions.*

Lt. Vaknin was stationed on the security fence, separating Israel from Gaza, protecting Israel from the Hamas-led ‘March of Return’ that has brought tens of thousands of Gazans, including old men, women, and children to violently riot along the border every Friday. For eight months crowds of Gazans have stormed the border fence, throwing explosives, firebombs, and rocks at Israeli soldiers. They flew many kites with flaming objects attached with the goal of damaging the fence and other Israeli targets (many Israeli fields nearby were burned to the ground.) They burn tires, so clouds of smoke prevent the Israeli guards from seeing their actions. Youth tug at barbed wire along the fence to cut it and go through into Israel.

Vaknin saw a group of children at his section of the fence who began to approach the border. He fired several warning shots in the air to disperse the crowd. Suddenly he felt an explosion in his stomach when a Palestinian Hamas sniper shot him. “I fell backward down the embankment. The first thing I did was to call on the radio while I was still falling.’’ They rushed him to the hospital and operated on him. “I am so thankful for my comrades’ quick reaction”. He considers it “a miracle.” Vaknin was released from the hospital but faces a long period of rehabilitation.

Bus Bombing

The other miracle happened on the evening of November 12, just before Hamas fired about 500 rockets at nearby Israeli areas, including the city of Ashkelon that suffered most of the hits. A Kornet anti-tank guided missile (they are very precise) was fired from the Gaza Strip at an Israeli bus just several kilometers from the Gazan border. The precise hit caused the bus to explode and burn.

Just minutes before the bus suffered the direct hit, it had dropped off some 50 Israeli soldiers. The Hamas terror group had stalked the bus for several minutes until it was fully exposed to them from the Strip. Only then did they fire the missile, hitting the bus and setting it on fire. The soldiers didn’t know it when they left the bus, but God knew. These few minutes were the miracle that saved their lives. The burning bus was empty.

One 19-year-old Israeli soldier was severally injured while he stood next to the bus. He was taken to Beersheba’s hospital in life-threatening condition and successfully underwent emergency surgery. The Arab bus driver was also taken to the hospital suffering from shock. Later on, he told doctors at the Beersheva hospital that it was a “miracle” that the soldiers on his bus were not killed and that the incident proves that “God loves the Jews.” He said: “I just let off 50 soldiers from the bus. A minute later the bus was hit. [if it was] 60 seconds earlier you would have had 50 dead soldiers.”

We thank and praise the Lord, God of Israel for His awesomeness, for He is good and His mercies endure forever. Please continue to pray for Israel’s protection.

For the salvation of Israel and the nations,
In His love,
Simcha and Bella Davidov
Ashdod, Israel

Terror Strikes Israel

November 26, 2018 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

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

Direct Gaza rocket hit into an Ashkelon apartment.

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

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

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

Iron Dome batteries protecting the city of Ashkelon.

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

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

Palestinian terrorists fire rocket barrages from Gaza.

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

[Read More].

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