Politics

Jordan Valley Annexation–Vital to Israel’s Security?

February 28, 2020 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Deal of the Century Finally Revealed

February 28, 2020 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

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

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

“NO! there can never be a Palestinian state.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Requirements and Conditions for the Palestinians

*A short summary of requirements for the Palestinians.*

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

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

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

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

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

Palestinian Rejection of the Deal

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

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

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

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

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

The Next Four Years

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

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

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

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

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

A Misunderstanding

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Israel, Like the US, Battles the Left

October 10, 2019 By Bella Davidov Leave a Comment

I, (Bella) am a member of the Likud party and attended many of the party’s functions, including speeches by Netanyahu. The following is my observation and analysis from the information I gathered from the inside and also the news. I prayed a lot before, during and after the election. I am writing this to you, dear friends of Israel and prayer partners, to seek the Lord’s guidance on how to pray for both Israel and the US at this critical time.

In all the months before the election, the Israeli public was influenced significantly by the left-wing media feeding them Netanyahu’s failures and shortcomings while completely ignoring his achievements. [Read more about Netanyahu’s Achievements.]

Thanks to Netanyahu’s leadership over the last ten years, Israel is now the 8th superpower in the world and a major High-Tech nation with many Israeli innovations used worldwide.

Netanyahu has formed an unofficial alliance between Israel and most of the moderate Sunni Arab nations, led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, in dealing with the growing Iranian and Jihadi threats.

Together with President Trump, Netanyahu has implemented strategic plans in the interest of both counties. Trump relied on our dependable Israeli leader with a strong army. In return, Netanyahu relied on strong backup from the American President. In strategic partnership with Israel, President Trump pulled out of the deal with Iran and began a series of tough sanctions while Netanyahu prevented Iran from gaining a foothold in Syria by bombing Iranian ammunition bases there with little or no interference or retaliation.

Trump and Netanyahu were a force to reckon with which the enemies of both countries recognize.

Both Trump and Netanyahu have been waiting for an opportunity to strike Iran’s nuclear installations (the Revolutionary Guards bases, missiles and ammunition targets) which would significantly weaken the Iranian threat and give Israel more deterrent power. The current strike on Saudi Arabia’s oil installations could have been that opportunity, now halted by Israel’s lack of government due to the election stalemate. There is a real danger that Israel could lose its position of power gained over the last few years as well as the collaboration of President Trump.

One of the greatest achievements for an American president would be to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Trump greatly desires (in cooperation with Netanyahu) to be the one to succeed where all other US presidents have failed. This opportunity is now on hold. Before the elections, Netanyahu announced his intention to apply Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley after the elections. Netanyahu hinted it was in cooperation with President Trump: “I will apply for sovereignty of the settlements and other areas with maximum cooperation with the United States.”

No US administration has ever supported Israel’s right to assert its sovereign rights in Judea and Samaria without Palestinian permission, Trump may be the first.

Then came the elections of September 17, 2019.

Many in the US and other parts of the world don’t understand the election system in Israel. Even a few days after the elections, while results were not complete, it was obvious that Netanyahu was not a clear winner, but neither was the other major candidate.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, proclaimed to tens of thousands of Iranians at the end of Election Day: “This is a great day for Iran. Finally, after many years, we have achieved our goal – the left has come to power in Israel.”

The crowd cheered, “Death to Israel, death to the Zionists.”

The Ayatollah continued: “Finally, a weak government that will allow us to rule in Tel Aviv, in Haifa and in all of the Middle East.”

The crowds cheered again, “Death to Israel, death to the Zionist.”

The radical Islamic nation regularly threatens the State of Israel with annihilation. It invests billions in Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza toward that end. Removing the hawkish Netanyahu would be a great gift to Tehran.

The battle is really between the left and right world views. The left will do everything in its power to take over control of Israel and the US.

In Israel, Netanyahu’s big rivals are Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, the head of the Kahol Lavan party. They appealed to the center-leftist Israelis who are mainly secular. To fight the right-wing bloc, they targeted its leader, Benyamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu, even though not religious, believes in the Word of God in the Old Testament and the right of the Jews to the land of their forefathers. He announced never to divide Jerusalem again. He opposes the elite progressive left, which has never accepted the majority vote for Netanyahu and the right bloc during the last 10 years. They have targeted Netanyahu as being the danger to their progressive, liberal future.

These leftists in politics, media, and economic powers have been able to put doubts in the mind of the public about Netanyahu’s integrity by accusations and innuendos through the media, and by leaking lies and half-truths from police interrogations. They influence leftists in the prosecution and judicial systems who desire to destroy Netanyahu and prevent him from ever being elected again.

That influence created immense waves of anti-Netanyahu sentiments. The anti-Netanyahu campaign proved to be quite effective and many of these accusations, that Netanyahu claims are “fake news” have stuck in the minds of voters who see Netanyahu as being corrupt even though not proven guilty. As far as the left is concerned, like Trump, Netanyahu is guilty until proven innocent. Even after Netanyahu is found not guilty, they will never admit his innocence, leaving doubts in people’s minds.

The media and Netanyahu’s opponents have completely ignored all of Netanyahu’s achievements over the last ten years and have embarked on an all-out war against him, with the slogan “Anyone but Bibi”.

Finally the “Big Guns”

After many months of interrogations, before the April elections, Attorney General Mandelblit announced in February that he intended to file criminal charges against Netanyahu in cases 4000, 1000 and 2000, pending the outcome of hearings. Netanyahu has denied all allegations and claims that he is the victim of a politically orchestrated “witch-hunt” by the media and the left to oust him from office.

Netanyahu won the April elections but was unable to form a coalition because Liberman and his party, Israel Betyenu, pulled out of the coalition. [Click here for details.] This led to the September election. In the months before the last election, the media and the opposition intensified the attack on Netanyahu via continual leakage and messages of the cases against him, portraying him in the minds of the public as being corrupt, even though the cases were pending hearings. They did not give him a chance to refute the allegations or present his side.

Netanyahu still has the mandate to form a coalition while the hearings were in progress last week, between the prosecution and Netanyahu’s attorneys, permitting the defense to argue against the prospective charges and to convince the attorney-general to either scrap or reduce them. After listening to the arguments, the attorney-general will decide by the end of the year whether there is cause for indictment and whether Netanyahu should stand trial.

The most serious charge against Netanyahu is bribery, of which he has been accused in Case 4000. This charge involves allegations that Netanyahu, when he was the minister of communications, granted regulatory favors, and/or financial benefits to Israel’s leading telecommunications company, Bezeq Telecom Israel (BEZQ.TA), in return for positive coverage of himself and his wife Sara on a news website controlled by the company’s former chairman. The charges in this case were reviewed last week. Netanyahu states the decisions he made regarding the Bezeq Corporation were supported by expert advisers and that they had nothing to do with his family’s ties to the primary shareholder, Shaul Elovitch.

CASE 1000 alleges that Netanyahu and his wife wrongfully received lavish gifts (including expensive champagne and cigars, jewelry, flights, and hotel rooms) from billionaire friends, mainly the prominent, Israeli-born, Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan, and Australian billionaire businessman James Packer. Netanyahu is accused of lobbying for retaining a returned citizen’s benefits law, favorable to the wealthy that would provide tax relief for Milchan worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In Case 2000, Netanyahu is accused of fraud and breach of trust for allegedly conspiring with the publisher of the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper (the largest newspaper in Israel, hostile to Netanyahu) Arnon “Noni” Mozes, to limit the circulation of Israel Hayom (the largest newspaper that is distributed free of charge) in exchange for favorable coverage in the Yedioth publication. The charges were scheduled to be reviewed on Sunday, October 6, 2019.

If Netanyahu is indicted it could take many months before his trial begins. Netanyahu could also seek a plea bargain rather than stand trial. In the case of bribery, he can get a sentence of up to 10 years in jail and/or a fine. In the case of fraud and breach of trust, the sentence is up to three years in prison.

According to Israeli law, a Prime Minister must step down if ultimately convicted, but can stay in office throughout legal proceedings including appeals.

Netanyahu’s supporters in the legislature have said they would support granting him parliamentary immunity from prosecution, hopefully, enough Knesset members will back such a move.

“What’s going on here,” noted retired Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, “is that vague, elastic, and open-ended laws are being stretched so as to target a particular individual, even though the ‘crime’ in question is something that is actually normal political conduct and not some nefarious plot.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu called the corruption allegations a “witch hunt” orchestrated by the media and left-wing to topple him.

“For the past three years, they have been carrying out an unprecedented witch-hunt which has one aim: to topple the right-wing government which I lead.”

Netanyahu, insisting on his innocence, said his family has “gone through hell” as he questioned whether it was fair to consider “two-and-a-half articles on the Internet” of positive news coverage a benefit amounting to bribery. “There’s no precedent in history which determines that positive coverage is a bribe,” Netanyahu said.

“Walla, (an Israeli internet company headquartered in Tel Aviv owned by Bezeq, accused in case 4000) remains an extreme-left website that is hostile to me!”

“Unilateral publication of the attorney general’s announcement just a month before the elections, without giving the Prime Minister an opportunity to refute these false accusations, is a blatant and unprecedented intervention in the elections,” said a right-wing party official ahead of Netanyahu’s statement. He said, “The cases were brought for the sole purpose of toppling the dominant right-wing government in favor of a left-wing government led by Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid’s Blue and White party.”

Netanyahu claims that the apparent strains of evidence are “fake news”, hearsay and other purportedly specious proof on which the cases are based. “It is regrettable that the High Court of Justice did not prevent the left from blatantly interfering in the elections”.

Netanyahu counts some 22 probes into their household conduct. One investigation was about whether Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, were overspending on ice cream! Another targeted Sara Netanyahu for supposedly enriching herself with the proceeds from returned bottle deposits.

Nothing came of these investigations but they created an image of the couple’s overspending lifestyle, and that Netanyahu is being controlled by his wife, just as the “witch-hunt” in Washington over President Trump’s alleged “collusion” with Russia has been used to batter the President.

Interestingly, both Netanyahu and President Trump are being targeted by the powers of the left to inhibit and deny their chances to lead their respective countries. President Trump’s political enemies from the left have targeted him for impeachment, even criminal indictment. The same forces work day and night, just as they do against Netanyahu, to eliminate President Trump from power. They are also working in the US to turn the country against Israel, and the most pro-Israel President in history. Anti-Israel, even anti-Semitic voices are gaining influence on Capitol Hill.

It is urgent now to pray for both leaders who are so important to Israel’s future.

The prosecution in Israel has made itself into a court. Waiting for the result of the hearing is like waiting for sentencing. That all of this is accepted practice in this country doesn’t mean it’s a process that meets democratic constitutional standards. Especially when in the last two elections, a very large sector of the public voted to reject law enforcement’s stance regarding the prime minister. It’s not about whether or not Netanyahu is innocent; it’s about the fact that law enforcement officials must not be the ones to decide whether or not he can continue to serve as prime minister.

In this critical situation, prayer and supernatural intervention is the only solution. We believe in the sovereignty of God Almighty, doing wonders. Let’s pray in faith and power, led by the Holy Spirit. To God be the glory.

When the enemy comes in like a flood,
The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
Isaiah 59:19 (NKJV)

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