Today, Monday 27 March 2023, will go down in history as the day Israel’s fate was sealed. We desperately need your prayers. Do not underestimate the power of your prayer. You can change history today.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. James 5: 17-18
If you have turned on the news over the past few days you will see that Israel is in crisis, a greater crisis than any of the wars we have experienced or the terrorism we live with day by day or the Covid pandemic. Israel is imploding from inside. In the past hours our political crisis has reached a turning point and what happens in the coming hours will be decisive. I don’t want to go into all the political details as that would take a book and I don’t claim to know all of what has happened in the last months, however I will try give a brief rundown for you information.
The current government under Prime Minister Netanyahu is seeking to introduce a whole slew of laws and amendments, one of which , if passed would give the Knesset (Parliament) control over the appointment of Supreme Court judges and also the power to overrule any ruling of the Supreme Court, essentially putting the government over the Law. Although it is generally accepted that there needs to be some reform of the Judiciary, there is the feeling among many that this amendment to the Basic Law of Israel (the nearest thing we have to a Constitution) is being rushed through, without proper discussion and consensus, and stands to destroy Israel’s democratic system replacing it with a religious theocracy or even a dictatorship.
It is also generally believed that these amendments are being tabled primarily for personal reasons. Netanyahu is currently being tried on three counts of fraud and corruption, and if convicted, he not only would have to stand down from the Knesset, he would probably serve jail time. The leader of Netanyahu’s main coalition partner the Shas Party, Aryeh Deeri, who has already served a 4 year jail sentence for fraud and corruption, was also convicted of additional fraudulent activity about a year ago, and was only excused from serving additional jail time on the proviso he not sit in the Knesset, an agreement he has already clearly broken. The Supreme Court could have him removed and sent to jail, and this would bring down the coalition.
Needless to say, there is a great outcry on the streets. For 12 straight weeks there have been massive demonstrations against the Bill every Saturday night in all the major cities of Israel. There have also been other demonstrations during the week from time to time. These are the largest demonstrations ever seen in Israel. This last Saturday it was estimated that demonstrators numbered 250,000. For the most part these have been peaceful with only minor skirmishes with the police, as they have tried to keep control and prevent (unsuccessfully) the blockage of major roads.
This last Thursday night Netanyahu made a speech to the nation, hoping to calm the tension, but as the speech was deemed by many to be condescending and even insulting to those opposing the Bill, and as it containing factual inaccuracies, it actually had the opposite effect. In the speech he refused to heed the calls to put the law making process on hold so that proper discussions could be held and also to calm the people. On Saturday evening, one of his party colleagues, the Minister of Defense, Yoav Galant, broke ranks and made a public statement saying he was in favor of delaying the passing of the proposed law. The next day, yesterday, Netanyahu fired Galant, which has ignited much anger and protest. Last night thousands of people spontaneously went out on the streets of Israel to protest and blocked the main motorway through Tel Aviv, the Ayalon, for seven hours. To my eyes, many of the protestors this time were younger and more radical than in the earlier protests, breaking through the police cordon and setting fires in the roadway. Extremism breeds extremism!
The government planned to push through the second and third readings of this proposed Bill over the next couple of days. However in view of the outcry of last night, it was hoped that Netanyahu, in his expected speech this morning (Monday) would announce a ‘pause’ in order to calm the opposition. He has ‘delayed’ the announcement and as I write he and the other coalition leaders are in discussions. It appears that Deeri is threatening to leave the coalition, and so bring down the government, if Netanyahu makes such an announcement. Clearly, Netanyahu is no longer in charge.
In the meantime the leader of the Histadrut, the national labor union in Israel, Arnon Bar-David, made his own speech and called out an immediate, open-ended national strike. It is already starting. The airport is shutting down, with only landings permitted at the moment and I expect that landings will also stop once the planes in the air are safely on the ground. The hospitals have gone onto emergency services only, and even the major shopping centers and supermarkets are going on strike. Schools and universities are already out. It is going to be chaos if it isn’t stopped soon. We are only a few days away from the beginning of Passover and Easter, and Ramadan has already begun. Each day of strike will cost the country billions of dollars and threaten the economy which has already taken a serious hit.
The situation has now transcended politics. It is not a political ‘war’ it is a spiritual one. Satan is trying to derail God’s plan and the end time prophecies culminating in the return of the Messiah. If there is no Israel, then there is no return. I do not think God will allow this to happen of course, but if you are called by His name, you have responsibility and duty to pray against the rulers of the darkness that are coming against us to destroy us.
All this is taking place when we are already facing many security threats from Iran and its proxies, Hizbollah and Hamas, a rising level of deadly terror attacks and at the especially tense time of Ramadan, which this year coincides with Passover and Easter. I am sure our enemies are rubbing their hands in glee at our perceived weakness at this time, however should they stage an attack, I have no doubt that we would all come together and they would see how, deep down, we really are united in one thing at least – our survival.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6: 10-13
The Body of Yeshua, made up of Jewish, Arab and Gentile believers, is also under direct attack. Last week two United Torah Judaism Members of the Knesset, Moshe Gafni and Yaakov Asher, tabled a proposed amendment to the Penal Law of 1977, which would make it illegal to solicit a person, directly, digitally, by mail, or online in order to convert his religion, the punishment being one year imprisonment; and if the person was a minor, the punishment is two years imprisonment.” For a full English translation of the proposal see (1) below.
This is not a new proposal. It has been tabled before every government since around 1990, but in the past, it was always quashed by the Supreme Court as it contravenes the Basic Law. When word got out to the evangelical world and caused an outcry especially in the USA, Netanyahu made the statement (2) on Twitter saying, “לא נקדם שום חוק נגד הקהילה הנוצרית. We will not advance any law against the Christian community.” I am not sure who constitutes the ‘we’ he is referring to. Gafni also tweeted on Twitter, saying
“הצעת חוק המיסיון הונחה כבכל תחילת כנסת ולא מקודמת בשלב זה, כך שהעיסוק בה כעת הוא לא רלוונטי. ( “The proposed ‘mission law’ was tabled as it has been at the beginning of every (new) parliament, but it is not being pushed forward at this stage, as it is at this time not relevant“- my translation)
Many believers here and around the world heaved a sigh of relief at these words, but I think we need to realize that Netanyahu is not really holding the reins in this government, and secondly we must not ignore those little words in Gafni’s statement – ‘at this time’. I suspect they will wait until our attention is directed elsewhere and sneak it through when we are not looking (as indeed they tried to do this time). If the proposed changes to the Supreme Court Law go through, then the Court could no longer block it as they have done in the past. Thank you for your prayers about this and please keep praying against it. Here we have the feeling that time is short for the gospel to go out freely here in Israel. Pray for us that we can make the most of the time remaining for us.
Satan is also trying to destroy the Body here causing division and dissension. Families are especially under attack. Last week there was a terrible event in Haifa that has rocked us all. The son of a well-known believing family attacked and killed his wife, while their three small children slept in the room next door. He turned himself into the police and is now in custody. It seems he was under the influence of alcohol at the time, but there had been previous violent incidents that had come to the notice of the police and social services. I have been a believer now for 53 years and I cannot remember a murder in our midst. We all ask how this could have happened. I do not know all the details, but please pray for the families involved. The sister of the man was killed during the Intifada in a bus bombing in Tel Aviv. She was only 14 years old. This family has suffered much.
There has been a huge surge in violence in Israel, particularly violence against women, with 24 women having been killed by their spouse in the last year. There was a Bill tabled in previous government which would have made it mandatory for a man convicted of domestic violence to wear an electronic ankle bracelet so he could be tracked. The current government, more interested in protecting men’s rights than women’s safety, had the Bill quashed a couple of weeks ago.
Another incident is causing division in the Body here is one involving a well known leader who has been a key figure in the One for Israel video outreach. He was fired last week after it was discovered he was dating another member of the team, just one month after his divorce had gone through. People are taking sides in this issue and it could cause a lot of division.
The writer of I Thessalonians had this to say regarding how we should live in the last days,
Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
I Thessalonians 5: 11-22
Please pray for all the believers in the Land, that we will love one another, comfort one another and abstain for every form of evil. Pray especially for our leaders and their families.
But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
I Thessalonians 5: 4-6
References
- https://allisrael.com/full-text-read-the-english-translation-of-the-newly-proposed-legislation-to-outlaw-sharing-the-gospel-message-in-israel
- https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-735162