Talia's Joy

My perspectives on Israel and the Bible

Tag: Iran (Page 1 of 2)

Is Putin Gog of Magog?

March 21, 2022 /

Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
 The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”

 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
 “Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”

Psalm 2: 1-6

Just a few hours after I published my last blog post, Russia invaded Ukraine, on the 24th of February, 2022. Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, apparently thought his armies would take control of Ukraine in a matter of days, even telling his soldiers that the Ukrainians would welcome them as liberators. Instead, the Ukrainians are fighting back with all their heart and soul, and this war is now in its 26th day. Russia apparently miscalculated the determination and loyalties of the Ukrainian people. Nevertheless the Russians are making slow but steady progress towards the capital Kyiv* using their brutal and barbaric tactic of surrounding cities and towns, and subjecting them to a deadly and destructive barrage of rockets and missiles. They have shelled hospitals, churches, schools and residential buildings in order to bring the civilian population to the point of surrender. They have cut off humanitarian aid and escape routes. They have attacked fleeing civilians without mercy. What other atrocities are they willing to commit? Will they unleash their chemical, biological or nuclear weapons?

No one knows how many Ukrainians, or Russian soldiers, have been killed or wounded, but over 3.5 million Ukrainians have already fled across the borders and even more are internally displaced. Neighboring countries have generously opened their borders and are scrambling to take care of the refugees, most of whom fled at a moments notice with nothing but the clothes on their backs. How long will they be able to take in all these people, and will the nations of the world be willing to absorb and care for all these destitute and traumatized refugees?

The Western nations have failed to take up arms to help the Ukrainians, for fear of an escalation which could lead to World War III. By not stepping in to help Ukraine in the field of war, the West has been exposed as morally bankrupt , politically weak, and militarily paralyzed, an image that only nurtures and encourages those like Putin who have expansionist dreams. The failure to confront Russia in Ukraine may well lead to World War III in any case. Meanwhile, Ukraine has been left to fight alone. It has held out far longer than anyone could have expected, but can it win against the massive and well-equipped fighting machine of Russia?

People look at the gutted remains of Russian military vehicles on a road in the town of Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv, Ukraine. Photograph: Serhii Nuzhnenko/AP https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/05/russia-ukraine-war-what-we-know-on-day-ten-of-the-russian-invasion

No doubt we are all following the unfolding of events. We have no choice as our news outlets are reporting almost nothing else (here, the massive floods in Australia did not even get a mention). Reading the reports, one cannot help wonder what it is that is motivating Putin. Many have said that he is just a madman who has lost his sanity. Not so. The Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, met with Putin on the Shabbat of the 4th of March, and came home claiming that Putin was totally rational according to his (Putin’s) understanding and world view. So, what is it, this world view of Putin’s?

I came across an article (1) about Putin’s link with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and it reveals a deep spiritual motivation in launching this war against Ukraine. If you, like me, are fairly ignorant of Russian history and the Russian Orthodox Church, this article should be required reading. It puts the war in a wholly different light. Putin is not just an egotistical psychopath , but rather he sees himself as a Messiah-like figure restoring the historical Holy Russia – a restored Russian empire with the Russian Orthodox Church at its core- and saving Christianity from the depravation of the post-Christian West.

Vladimir Putin was born in 1952 during the Soviet Era when the ROC was severely proscribed and Christians persecuted, and his mother risked much by having him secretly baptized. It is also interesting that he was named Vladimir. In the year 988 the Viking Prince Woldemar, converted to Eastern Orthodoxy and changed his name to Vladimir. According to the now-dominant view of Russian history, Saint Vladimir was the founding father of the first Russian state, the Kievan Rus’, and the Russian Orthodox Church. This marriage of church and state formed the core of Russian civilization. The capital of Vladimir’s State of Rus’ and the center of the Russian Orthodox Church was Kiev (2).

Having been brought up and indoctrinated in this view of Russian history it seems to me that Putin sees himself as the new ‘Vladimir’ who will restore the symbiosis of state and church leading to a restored Holy Russia. This Holy Russia will preserve Christianity, as he understands it, and protect it from the degenerate Western post- Christian influence. Obviously there is no place for the westernized, secular, democratic state of Ukraine in his world view. Putin sees Ukraine and Kyiv as the very physical and spiritual heart of his restored Russian Empire. This explains why Putin is so horrified by Ukraine’s overtures to the EU and NATO. In his understanding, Ukraine, and especially Kyiv (Kiev) is the heart not only of Russia the State but also of Russian Orthodoxy and true Christianity.

This also explains why the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has not spoken out against Putin’s humanitarian atrocities and the war. Just hours before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Patriarch Kirill gave a speech praising Russian military personnel, saying, “We live in peacetime, but we know that even in peacetime there are threats. Unfortunately, even at the moment there are threats – everyone is familiar with what is happening on the borders of our Fatherland. Therefore, I think that our military personnel cannot have any doubts that they have chosen a very correct path in their lives. Because by following this path, you are protecting the people even without any military action.” (3).

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Patriarch Kirill, a close friend of Putin, gave a sermon in which he emphasized the God-given unity of Ukraine and Russia, and denounced the “evil forces” in Ukraine that are out to destroy this unity. In a later sermon, on March 6th, he invoked the intercession of Saint Vladimir and Sergei of Radonezh (another of the ROC’s most venerated saints), and he called on God to “prohibit and overturn the designs of the foreign pagans who want war and are gathering troops against Holy Russia” (1). He then called on God to bless the Russian soldiers sent to protect Russian Orthodox Christians in the Donbass region (Eastern Ukraine) who he claimed have been suffering oppression and persecution for eight years. He (Kirill) appears to believe that “Holy Russia is engaged in an apocalyptical struggle with the Godless West about the future of mankind” (1). Putin, strongly influenced by the ROC and the Patriarch Kirill, believes he is embarking on a God-sanctioned holy war to save Christendom. This makes him far more dangerous than a mere madman. Driven by such an ideology he will not be open to compromise or retreat.

The Patriarch Kirill and Vladimir Putin
https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/03/the-scandalous-silence-of-moscows-patriarch/

It should be noted that the Patriarch Kirill does not have the support of all the ROC leadership and according to the Reuters analyst, Philip Pullella, the “Russian Patriarch Kirill’s full-throated blessing for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has splintered the worldwide Orthodox Church and unleashed an internal rebellion that experts say is unprecedented” (4). It has also driven a deeper wedge between the ROC and the Roman Catholic Church, and the Pope has openly attacked Kirill’s stance and the Russian invasion.

You may be wondering where Israel stands in all this? It’s standing on a tightrope. Ksenia Svetlova, director of the Israel and the Middle East program at the Mitvim Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, and a prominent commentator in the Hebrew media on the progress of the war, put it this way:

… Israel is walking on thin ice. It still tries not to anger the Russians, but at the same time to indicate to the West that it’s still part of the collective West. From the position that Israel is taking, it’s actually unclear where we are….

Israel cannot afford to anger Russia. We have Russian weapons and troops right on our border in Syria. We depend upon Russian cooperation in carrying out attacks against Iranian arms shipments to Hezbollah forces in Syria and Lebanon. Israel is also home to large numbers of both Russian and Ukrainian immigrants, many of whom still have close ties and family members in those countries. There are also still a very large number of Jews living in both Ukraine and Russia. Israel therefore is attempting to remain neutral and is even trying to act as an intermediary between the sides, in the hope of bringing an end to this senseless war.

Israel has taken in about 10,000 Ukrainian refugees including around 8000 non-Jews (5) and is preparing for up to 100,000 Jewish immigrants from both the Ukraine and Russia. We are a small, already overcrowded country with a dire shortage of housing. There is a limit to how many people we can absorb. There is a hot debate occurring around our immigration policies. On one hand Israel wants to preserve the predominantly Jewish demographic, but it also wants to welcome and show compassion to the non-Jewish refugees, especially those who have family members living here already. It’s a difficult dilemma.

Israel has been criticized severely, especially by the Ukrainian President and the Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel, for not providing military assistance and weapons systems, especially defensive anti-missile batteries. Yesterday (20 March) the Ukrainian President Zelensky, in a scathing speech (6) live streamed on Israeli media, drew a parallel between what is happening in Ukraine and the Holocaust in an effort to shame Israel into sending them more weapons. Such a comparison did not go down well here. HIs speech may well have been a misstep but nevertheless most Israelis support the people of the Ukraine and are determined to help as much as possible, but without jeopardizing our own security. Israel simply cannot afford to send Ukraine weapons, as we may very soon need them ourselves. I am not sure why Ukraine even expects this of Israel, as surely there are other countries far better able to provide military support.

Just 4 days after the invasion, on the 28th of February, Israel shipped 100 tons of humanitarian aid to the Ukraine in just one day. This shipment included 17 tons of medical equipment and medicine, water purification systems intended to supply 200,000 people, emergency water supply kits to supply 100,000 people, winter tents to house 3,000, 15,000 blankets, 3,000 sleeping bags, and 2,700 winter coats (7). Israel is in the process of setting up a $6.4 million field hospital in Western Ukraine (8), a venture it has coordinated with Moscow providing its coordinates so that it will not come under attack (9).

IS PUTIN GOG OF MAGOG?

in view of these events many Christians are asking, ” Is this the beginning of the War of Gog of Magog as prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39, and is Putin Gog?”.

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,  “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,  and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.  I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.  Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;  Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you.

 “Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them.  After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.  You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.”

Ezekiel 38: 1-9

Many have tried to interpret this prophecy and determine the time of its fulfillment. One of the mistakes many have made is to confuse this war with the war mentioned in Revelation 20: 7-10.

Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison  and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.  They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.  The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The war in Revelation 20 comes at the end of the Messiah’s thousand year reign (the Millenium) and is a war of all the nations which will come up against Jerusalem immediately prior to the Final Judgement. Here, ‘God and Magog’ is not necessarily to be taken literally. It may be a metaphor. It will be a war like the war of Gog and Magog, but involving a different cast of nations and occurring at a different time. Notice the grammatical difference between the ‘Gog and Magog’ in Revelation and ‘Gog of the land of Magog’ as is written in Ezekiel.

The Ezekiel prophecy tells that the war in which Gog of the land of Magog and a confederacy of nations attack the regathered people of Israel, living in peace and dwelling safely, and which will occur ‘in the latter years‘, but it does not give a specific time in relation to other end time events. Clearly it speaks of the regathering of the people of Israel and we are living in that time, but are we living in peace and dwelling safely? You could say we are not since all around us there are those who want to destroy us, but on the other hand, we are living normal lives in unwalled villages and cities as if we had peace.

The other question remains the identity of Gog of the land of Magog. Where is the land of Magog? There are many theories but the majority of commentators seem to identify it as Russia, because Gog is also described as the Prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and the armies of Gog come from the far north (Ezekiel 38:15). The similarity of the word Rosh and Rus’ (the ancient name of Russia) lends strength to this theory, however The ‘Prince of Rosh’ could also be correctly translated as the Chief Prince, as in some translations, because in Hebrew “rosh” means “head”.

At this time it is impossible to say if this current war in Ukraine is the beginning of the war of Ezekiel 38, but it seems possible, even probable, that is a step in that direction. Putin has great dreams of a restored Russia that would ultimately include all the states of the former USSR. He has already established his hegemony over Belarus, and the Crimea, and he is now trying to conquer Ukraine. What country will be next?

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-countries-made-up-the-former-soviet-union-ussr.html

If Rosh is Russia, then what are Meshech and Tubal and the other nations mentioned in the confederacy? The map below (10) identifies the confederate nations as Meshech and Tubal as being in southern Russia, Gomer is Ukraine and Eastern Europe, Togarmah is Turkey, Persia is Iran, Put is Libya and Cush is Ethiopia and the Sudan.

This confederation does not yet exist but it is possibly in the making. Russia is not only invading Ukraine but simultaneously it is developing deep military and economic ties with Iran and Turkey. Eritrea (northern Ethiopia) voted in favor of Russia in the recent UN vote concerning the invasion of Ukraine, as did Syria. Russia has strong economic ties with Libya and the Russian-backed private military force, Wagner, already has a strong presence there (11, 12).  

Another confederation appears to exist in the Ezekiel prophecy, that of Israel together with Sheba, Dedan and Tarshish (Ezekiel 38: 13), which are modern day Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. In recent times Israel has already formed an alliance with some of these states, and is in the process of doing so with others.

In summary, I would not claim that Putin is Gog, but I would say that the nations are making alliances that may be aligning the nations in preparation for such a war as described in Ezekiel 38 and 39.

MEANWHILE IN IRAN

While the world is preoccupied with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, talks are continuing between the USA and Iran in an effort to reinstate the 2015 nuclear deal. There is much concern in the Middle East about the outcome of these talks. Even if nothing is ever signed, the talks are buying the Iranians time to develop their nuclear weapons.

Today (21/03) Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi (UAE), Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Sharm-e-Sheik in Egypt. Apparently this meeting was prompted by the news that the USA may remove Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from its list of terrorist organizations in return for promises not to harm American citizens. The Revolutionary Guards are the largest and most powerful terrorist organization in the world, and Iran’s promises are not worth the paper they are written on. The USA has already removed the Iran-backed Houthis, the rebel force in Yemen, from their list of terror organizations, and both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been repeatedly targeted by the Houthis in recent months.

PRAYER POINTS

It is always difficult to know how to pray in times of war. Does God take sides? What is His plan and what is He accomplishing? We do not want to pray in opposition to His plans but here are some ways we can always pray:

  1. Pray for the going forth of the gospel and that many will turn to God.
  2. Pray for the local believers, for their protection and sustenance and that they will keep the faith and shine as lights to their neighbors. Pray especially for the pastors and leaders, who have a heavy responsibility in such times.
  3. Pray for the leaders of the nations that they will do the will of God and make righteous and wise decisions.
  4. Pray for the civilians and soldiers on all sides. They are all human beings who need salvation. God does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9)
  5. Pray for God’s guidance concerning ways we personally can help those in need.
  6. Pray for our enemies, as Yeshua (Jesus) taught us (Matthew 5: 44-45). Pray they will repent and be saved.
  • Kiev or Kyiv? Have you been wondering why the media are calling what used to be Kiev, Kyiv, and why it is no longer in THE Ukraine but just Ukraine? Apparently Kiev ( key-ev with the emphasis on the ‘ev’) is the transliteration from the Russian, while Kyiv (kyiv – one syllable, short i, with emphasis on the beginning of the word) is the transliteration from Ukranian. Also ‘the’ indicates a region of a larger country whereas just plain Ukraine indicates a nation. So now it is PC to say Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine (unless you support Putin that is?) rather than Kiev the capital of The Ukraine.

References:

  1. https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2022/03/09/missing-piece-about-putin-and-ukraine
  2. http://countrystudies.us/russia/38.htm
  3. On February 23, 2022, on Defender of the Fatherland Day, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia laid a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden near the walls of the Moscow Kremlin. http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5903402.html
  4. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-invasion-splits-orthodox-church-isolates-russian-patriarch-2022-03-14/
  5. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ukraine-russia-targeting-jewish-sites-what-else-must-happen-for-israel-to-help/
  6. https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-ukraine-president-zelenskys-speech-to-israeli-lawmakers/
  7. https://www.timesofisrael.com/100-tons-of-humanitarian-aid-en-route-from-israel-to-ukraine/
  8. https://forward.com/fast-forward/483999/israel-field-hospital-in-ukraine-named-after-golda-meir/
  9. https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/ukraine-conflict/1647581674-report-israel-coordinated-field-hospital-in-ukraine-with-russia
  10. https://cccbucks.org/sermons/prophecy-update-israel-the-world-gods-plan/
  11. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/29/what-next-for-world-powers-in-war-torn-libya
  12. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/22/africa/libya-trench-russia-intl/index.html

HELLO WINTER?

December 1, 2021 /

Today is the last day of the hottest November on record here in Israel. The thermometer on my porch is reading 30 degrees C and the air is so dry I am getting shocks off my cat. We have only had one day of rain so far this winter and this means the fire risk remains very high, especially on windy days like today. The forecast is for light rain over the next couple of days but it remains to be seen if it will happen. (Update: 1 Dec – today the temperature is only 13 degrees here and it is raining – a good solid wetting rain. Thank you, LORD)

I see it has been well over a month since I last posted. Largely because so much is happening around here I don’t know where to start. I will give it a go…

IRAN

Yesterday (29/11), after a break of around 5 months, the talks between the USA and Iran restarted in Vienna with the aim of reinstituting the 2015 nuclear deal.  Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia were also attending (1). The USA and allies want to renegotiate a deal that would stop the enrichment of uranium and the nuclear arms program of Iran, but Iran is really only interested in the lifting of the heavy sanctions which are crippling its economy, and buying time so it can continue its nuclear program. Consequently the parties are coming into the talks with very different agendas.

As the talks began, the Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, put it this way,

“The United States still fails to properly understand the fact that there is no way to return to the deal without verifiable and effective lifting of all sanctions imposed on the Iranian nation after the US departure” (1).

There is little optimism that Iran would be willing to return to the 2015 agreement and, in any case, Iran has already exceeded the level of uranium enrichment and nuclear weapons development permitted under that deal. Iran now has a new, even more hard-line government, and its appointed negotiating team is made up of people opposed to the deal. What is more, Iran perceives the USA to be weak and lacking determination, especially following the Afghanistan pullout.

Israel opposed the 2015 deal on the grounds that it insufficiently limited Iran’s uranium enrichment program and even legitimized further enrichment after the agreement would expire, paving the way to a nuclear capability. The deal also did not address Iran’s long distance missile program, its support of terrorism and terror organizations in the region, and its threats against Israel, its neighbors and the USA (not to mention the whole world).

The fear here is that some new deal will be brokered that will ease or lift the sanctions on Iran while failing to stop or reverse their nuclear program, or that the talks will drag on buying the Iranian regime time to make a bomb. Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennet said he is concerned that ” Iran won’t just keep its nuclear program… they’ll be getting paid for it” (2). He also said, “Such a murderous regime should not be rewarded…Iran deserves no rewards, no bargain deals and no sanctions relief in return for their brutality. I call upon our allies around the world: Do not give in to Iran’s nuclear blackmail” (2). Earlier this week the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier-General, Abolfazl Shekarchi, remarked, “We will not back off from the annihilation of Israel, not even one millimeter” (2).

Even as these new talks are just getting under way, the USA and allies are meeting to discuss what to do if (when?) the talks fail. Israel is also making preparations.

Opposition Likud MK, Tzachi Hanegbi, said last month “Iran is an existential threat. We give full backing to this government if the decision is made to strike. We are approaching the crossroads of a decision on the Iranian issue” ….“If there is no agreement between Iran and the world powers, we should attack Iran by the end of 2021” (3). Israel’s former national security advisor, Yaakov Amidror, said to the BBC , “Israel cannot live with a situation in which the Iranians are getting closer and closer to the bomb, and it will soon have to make a decision how to stop it… I don’t see any other way but to bomb [Iran’s facilities], because I don’t see the Iranians retreating from their dream of having a nuclear umbrella under which they can be even more aggressive than they are today” (4).

In mid October the Israeli government earmarked $US 1.5 billion (5 billion shekels) for a pre-emptive attack on Iran’s nuclear installations and the expected ensuing war (5). In recent weeks Israel has been carrying out extensive military exercises, together with allied naval and air forces, in preparation (6). In October and November ground force drills, including the call up of reserves, were carried out in the North. Unprecedented Home Front exercises have also been implemented. Even as I am writing, fighter jets are roaring overhead as they carry out exercises.

Having said that, no one here wants war and we hope beyond all hope that Iran can be stopped by other means. A war with Iran which would inevitably involve their proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza. Russia, Turkey and possibly China, might come to their aid and such a massive coalition would threaten Israel’s survival, destabilize the whole region and possibly bring about a world war.

In spite of this threat and all the military preparations, the civilian population here in Israel is psychologically and practically unprepared for such a war. Less than 30% of Israeli citizens even have access to bomb shelters (7). We seem to be living in denial – eating, drinking and making merry. If ever there was a time for national repentance it is now, but we are becoming more and more ungodly as a nation.

 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

For a very good analysis of the situation we are facing see this article https://www.timesofisrael.com/what-israels-talking-about-when-it-talks-about-striking-irans-nuclear-program-war/

COVID IN ISRAEL

After a peak of around 11,000 new infections per day in mid-September, infections have dropped in Israel to around 2-300 per day. The 4th wave is considered to be over but last week the infection rate began to increase again leading to fears of an imminent 5th wave. The discovery of a few people carrying the new omicron variant into the country from Africa led to the government slamming the borders closed to all non-Israelis on Sunday night. This was done with only 24 hours notice and has caused a great deal of dismay for tourists booked to come to Israel for the Hannuka and Christmas holidays, just when the tourist industry was starting to get back onto its feet. It is too soon to know if the currently available vaccines will be efficacious against the new variant but initial indications are optimistic. A week or so ago, Israel began vaccinating children aged between 5-11. There have been 1,343,218 infections and 8,195 coronavirus-related deaths reported in the country since the pandemic began (8).

LAW AND ORDER

There are some parts of Israel that are beginning to resemble the wild west, where law and order are breaking down and violence is making the streets dangerous. Most of this violence is in the Arab sector. Arabs in Israel make up only 20% of the population but 70% of the homicides, and this is growing. Much of this violence is driven by family feuds in a revenge-based society, ‘honor’ killings in a shame based society, organized crime, disenfranchised and unemployed youth and the ready availability of guns and other weapons. Arab communities blame the rising violence on the lack of action by the police, but police claim that when they try to investigate crimes or stop violent acts they themselves come under attack by the community at large or evidence is removed and witnesses silent. Justice Minister, Gidon Sa’ar, in a recent interview for the Jerusalem Post claimed “ The phenomenon of organized crime [in the Arab-Israeli sector] endangers Israel more than external threats … If you do not know how to deal with this issue, it will cause Israeli society to crumble to pieces from within” (9).

HAMAS AND THE WEST BANK

On the 22nd of November, Israeli security forces arrested 50 members of a Hamas cell in the West Bank and seized large quantities of weaponry, including 4 explosive belts intended for suicide attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem (10). This is symptomatic of the growing influence of Hamas in the West Bank. Many West Bank Palestinians are increasingly disenchanted with the current Fatah leadership which they see as weak, ineffectual and deeply corrupt. Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas at age 86 and suffering from multiple serious health issues is struggling to maintain power. He has been in power for 16 years of a 4 year term (!), and the elections promised earlier this year were cancelled when it became clear that Hamas would win. Even Israel’s attempts to shore up his government (as the ‘least worst option’) is working against him as he is being accused by his opponents of consorting with the enemy and the betrayal of the Palestinian cause. In the absence of any mechanism to appoint an ‘heir apparent’ it is very likely that, once Abbas is gone, Hamas would launch a violent campaign to take over the West Bank, as it did in Gaza in 2007. This would be a disaster, not only for the West Bank Palestinians but also for Israel. We would have another Gaza on our eastern flank.

THE BATTLE OF BEER SHEVA MEMORIAL SERVICE 2021

The Battle of Beersheba Memorial Service, 31 October 2021

On the 31st of October, I with some friends, attended the 104th Anniversary memorial celebration of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) victory over the Turks at Beer Sheva (Beersheba). This First World War battle proved to be historically pivotal, breaking the Turkish-German line and opening the way for the conquest of Jerusalem and the eventual establishment of the State of Israel. You can read about this battle on Wikipedia (11) but this account virtually ignores the role of the New Zealand contingent. The NZ government history site (12) records the battle as follows:

The capture of Beersheba (Be’er Sheva in modern Israel) was a turning point in the struggle between the British and Ottoman Empires in the Middle East during the First World War. The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade played a key part in the capture of the town.

Twice already in 1917 the British-led Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) had failed to take Gaza, the gateway to Palestine. Its third attempt focused on Beersheba, at the eastern (inland) end of the Ottomans’ defensive line. While three British infantry divisions attacked the main Ottoman defences on the outskirts of Beersheba, the Australian and Anzac mounted divisions rode in a wide arc to the east to attack the town from the rear.

On the morning of 31 October 1917 men of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade attacked Tel el Saba, a fortified hill 3.2 km north-east of Beersheba. After six hours of hard fighting the New Zealanders captured the hill. The way was now clear to attack Beersheba itself, but daylight would soon fade. In a daring action, the 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade charged in from the south-east with bayonets drawn, taking the Ottoman defenders by surprise. The town and its important wells were soon secured and the enemy retreated. By the end of the day at least eight New Zealanders had been killed and 26 wounded.

You can read more about this decisive battle in which my countrymen together with the Australian Light Horse Brigade, all volunteers, fought so bravely, on Wikipedia (12) . What the account above does not explain is that the charge by the Australians was necessitated by the fact that the horses had not had water for two days and were on the verge of collapse. Many would not have survived the night to fight the following day. The Australians therefore decided on this ‘madcap’ charge, considered to the be last major cavalry charge in history. The Australians however were not cavalry but mounted infantry and normally they would ride to the battle field and dismount to fight on foot. This is what the Turks expected they would do and consequently they held their artillery fire too long allowing the Australians, who just kept charging on horseback, to quickly get inside the gun range, leap over the trenches and take the town of Beer Sheva with its wells. There is a very moving film (13) on YouTube which gives a detailed account of the battle, but from the Australian point of view, virtually ignoring the role played by the New Zealanders.

We arrived early at the Memorial service in time to watch an abbreviated version of the movie and visit the museum. Outside a crowd of probably at least 200 people were gathering in the beautifully kept war cemetery in which the 171 Allied soldiers who died in the Battle are buried, along with others who died in subsequent battles. Representatives of UK Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Israeli armed forces were present.

After the ceremony we travelled to Tel el Saba, the hill where the NZers had captured the Turkish fortifications and artillery guns. The weather had turned into a sandstorm so we did not linger long. I hope to return there another time.

“Footprints” – a detail on the Tel memorial plague commemorating the NZ capture of the site in the Battle of Beersheva
Tel el Saba

This visit reminded me that though we might feel that we are just insignificant cogs in the wheel of humanity, we have no idea just how important our contribution to history might be. I am sure most of the soldiers in the ANZAC brigades had no idea how important was the role they were playing, not only in human history but in God’s plan of redemption. We owe them a great debt of gratitude.

DISCORD IN THE BODY OF YESHUA IN ISRAEL

On our way back from Beersheba we stopped off at the home of some believing friends. We found that the wife was deeply distressed and in tears because of the deep divisions opening up in the Body of Yeshua here in Israel. Controversy over vaccinations, and issues concerning the governmental response to the Covid pandemic, is the most recent cause of discord, resulting in many broken relationships and hurting people. This is grievous indeed, but there are even more distressing causes of division appearing. The one that most concerns me is the infiltration of the New Apostolic Reformation into many congregations and organizations here. I have been researching this for two years and will soon post my findings on this blog. Please pray for unity in the Body here in Israel, but not unity at any cost. True unity must be based on Truth and not a wishy washy compromise between deception and truth. Pray that believers will experience a greater hunger to study God’s word and learn better how to discern and avoid error.


 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits….

 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Matthew 7:13-27

References:

  1. https://www.timesofisrael.com/nuclear-talks-between-iran-world-powers-resume-after-5-months/
  2. https://www.jpost.com/international/lapid-uk-fm-vow-to-work-together-to-stop-iran-from-getting-the-bomb-687299
  3. https://www.timesofisrael.com/likud-mk-israel-must-strike-iran-by-years-end-if-theres-no-new-nuke-deal/
  4. https://www.allisrael.com/i-don-t-see-any-other-way-but-to-bomb-iran-says-former-israeli-national-security-advisor
  5. https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/hyscb1nrt
  6. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/israeli-military-readying-for-plan-b-if-iran-nuclear-talks-fail-687220
  7. https://www.timesofisrael.com/gimme-shelters-comptroller-says-millions-have-nowhere-to-run-from-rockets/
  8. https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/israel/
  9. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/saar-israeli-arab-violence-wave-worse-danger-than-hamas-hezbollah-680998
  10. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-busts-major-hamas-cell-in-west-bank-arrests-50-members/
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Beersheba_(1917)
  12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9YiI9lhDYA
  13. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/capture-beersheba

“GUARDIAN OF THE WALLS”

May 30, 2021 /

Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Psalm 121: 4

Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the people of the world revere him…

The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
    he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
 But the plans of the Lord stand firm for ever,
    the purposes of his heart through all generations…

 We wait in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
 In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you.

Psalm 33: 8,10-12, 20-22

Rocket fire over Gush Dan (Tel Aviv and surrounding area) in Israel shortly after midnight,16 May 2021). The straight lines on left are rockets being fired from Gaza and the curly ones are the Iron Dome interceptors

I came home from work Monday night (10th May) and plonked myself down in front of the TV, trying to decide if I had the energy to go for a swim or not. A sound began to penetrate my consciousness. The “Red Alert” (incoming missile) siren was sounding, barely audible in my home. I quickly relocated to my ‘safe room’, and immediately heard the booms, the last of which was very loud and rattled my windows. I later learned that the closest rocket landed just 1-2 km away. That was the opening volley of this week’s events.

Seven rockets had been fired towards Jerusalem from Gaza. Though the phrase ‘towards Jerusalem‘ is in the media, of course the Gazan terrorists do not aim at Jerusalem itself for fear of killing ‘good Muslims’ or damaging the Al Aqsa mosque. Instead they aim at the predominantly Jewish towns and villages on the western outskirts.

The map of where the first missiles aimed at “Jerusalem” landed.

Since that evening we have had no further “Red Alerts” in my town and if it were not for the media, I would not know anything was happening. It must be one of the quietest spots in Israel right now. However one cannot live in a bubble and it is with a very heavy heart I have followed events.

A soldier from the Israeli military's Home Front Command walks outside a house in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon that had been struck by a Hamas rocket on May 20, 2021. (Edi Israel/FLASH90)
A soldier from the Israeli military’s Home Front Command walks outside a house in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon that had been struck by a Hamas rocket on May 20, 2021. (Edi Israel/FLASH90) https://www.timesofisrael.com/guardian-of-the-walls-wasnt-the-resounding-victory-the-idf-had-hoped-for/

It has been a terrible eleven days for Israel and also for the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have fired more than 4300 rockets and missiles into Israel since that first volley on Monday. The towns around the Gaza Strip, Ashkelon and Ashdod have been subjected to an almost continuous barrage of hundreds of rockets. The city of Ashkelon alone was targeted by around 960 rockets. Places further afield, including Beer Sheva , Tel Aviv and the region of Gush Dan (the central coastal plain), including the region around Ben Gurion Airport have also been attacked. Some of the rockets fell in open areas, and 90% of the others were shot down by the “Iron Dome” anti-missile defense system, nevertheless some penetrated our defenses killing 13 people, injuring around 350, and destroying a significant number of homes, cars and other property. Of the thirteen people killed, all except one were civilians, including an elderly woman and her Indian care-giver, two children, two Arabs, two Thai agricultural workers and two who died as a result of injuries sustained while running for cover. The only military casualty was a soldier on duty near the Gaza border.

A heavily damaged house from rocket fire in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on May 11, 2021 (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
The scene where a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a house in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on May 11, 2021. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/2-killed-by-rockets-in-ashkelon-amid-massive-barrages-from-gaza/
Red Alerts in Gush Dan just after midnight 16 May2021

Some of the rockets fired towards Israel, around 680 in number, failed to reach Israel, falling in the Gaza Strip and causing casualties there- of which at least some were blamed on Israel.

In response to the barrage of rocket fire from Gaza, Israel initiated what has been called “Operation Guardian of the Walls”. The IAF (Israeli Air Force) and artillery divisions pounded Hamas and Islamic Jihad military targets relentlessly for eleven days and destroyed much of their infrastructure, including 100 km of underground tunnels and bunkers, 10 Hamas government offices, 11 security offices, 5 banks that handled Hamas’ finances and the international media tower used as the center of communications and intelligence by Hamas ( and also housing the media offices of the Associated Press and Al Jazeera). The IAF carried out 570 airstrikes against rocket and mortar launchers. Some 25 senior Hamas commanders were also targeted and killed.

In spite of these heavy attacks only 232 people were killed in Gaza and 1600 injured, according to official Hamas figures. Most of the casualties, around were Hamas fighters. The relatively low loss of life is thanks to the extreme care that Israel takes to prevent civilian casualties. Not only do they telephone people individually warning them to vacate buildings about to be attacked, but they also send a warning ‘roof knock’ – a small explosive device – before dropping the main explosives. In the case of the international media tower, occupants were given an hour to vacate the building. There were also incidents when Israeli planes aborted attacks because children or other civilians were seen in the area. Since the last round of hostilities Israel, with the help of the USA, has developed much more precise weaponry which can take down one building or installation without harming those around it. There is no army in the world, or in the history of mankind, that takes as much care to avoid harming civilians.

It is for this reason it really hurts when Israel is criticized by the press and others for using ‘ excessive force ‘. This is war and we are fighting for our existence. Did the allies in WWII use ‘excessive force’ when they obliterated Dresden in Germany, or when the USA dropped the atomic bombs on Japan? How many innocent civilians have died in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan in more recent years? ( According to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission’s annual report last year, there were 8,500 civilian casualties in 2020, including 2,958 deaths (1)). How would the UK or USA or any other country respond if their neighbors began firing thousands of rockets into their major cities. Yet many in these Western countries hypocritically dare to criticize Israel when civilians get caught in the crossfire. No matter how careful the army is, accidents happen and civilians get killed.

I do not feel anyone has the moral right to accuse Israel of ‘excessive force’ until they themselves have been targeted by a barrage of rockets or have had to live for 20 years under the threat of incoming fire, as our southern communities have! In the area around Gaza, residents have only about 6-10 seconds to find cover. Here we have about 1.5 minutes. Would you like to live like that- always looking for places to run to whenever you are out and about, wondering if your children are safe every time the sirens blare? Most of the children in those areas have known no other life and many suffer from insomnia, bed-wetting, nightmares and other symptoms of PTSD.

Here is the latest (23 May) breakdown of the damage inflicted on Israel (did your newspapers report this?):

  • In Ashkelon, 792 buildings and 267 vehicles were damaged.
  • In Ashdod, 228 buildings and 130 cars were damaged.
  • In Sderot, 228 buildings and 267 vehicles were damaged.
  • In Tel Aviv, 77 buildings and 74 cars were damaged.
  • In Ramat Gan, 254 claims were filed for damages,
  • In Givataym – 157,
  • In Petah Tikva – 231.
  • In Lod and Ramla, 348 buildings and 229 vehicles were damaged.
  • In Akko, claims were filed for damage to 16 buildings and 4 cars, in Haifa – 19 buildings and 26 cars, in Jerusalem – 4 buildings and 26 cars

And this was with the Iron Dome stopping some 90% of the incoming missiles. Imagine the carnage without that protection.

These figures also do not show the damage to the economy in terms of lost workdays or the expenditure of the army and air force. The IDF WhatsApp update on 16 May 2021, stated that “ It’s estimated that each Iron Dome interceptor cost approximately, 50,000 USD, which means 57 Million USD or 187 Million NIS was spent to defend and protect human life – not to mention all other costs….”. The figures also do not measure the human costs, in terms of anxiety, depression and other psychological effects. Schools were closed in a large part of the country – just after they had reopened following the Covid pandemic. I was shocked by images of high school students sitting their bagrut (matriculation) exams wearing masks and being interrupted by sirens and having to scramble for cover. How could they do well in their exams under such circumstances?

Hamas and Islamic Jihad make no secret of the fact they want to kill as many civilians as possible. They deliberately aim at large, densely populated population centers with the hope of killing as many Israelis as possible, while hiding their rocket launchers and other military installations beside homes, hospitals and schools. They cynically hope that Israel will kill as many of their ‘innocent civilians’, especially children, as possible. It makes for ‘good press’. They don’t care about their own people. If they did, they would not build tunnels under their homes and use them as human shields. If they did, they would not attack Israel in the first place and they would, as Israel has done, invest money in building safe rooms and an “Iron Dome’ system of their own. If they did, they would not spend millions, if not billions of dollars in aid money, building hundreds of miles of tunnels and bunkers under the cities of Gaza and on munitions and armaments intended solely for attacking Israel (Yahya Sinwar, the Head of the Military Wing of Hamas, recently boasted that they have 500 km of tunnels under Gaza that Israel did not demolish, and at least 10,000 more rockets!!!). Imagine how good a life the Gazan’s could have had that money been spent on building homes, hospitals, schools and infrastructure. They could all be living in mansions with the best standard of living in the world.

Now that the rockets have stopped falling and a ceasefire seems to be holding the real war is beginning – the war for your minds. As has happened so many times in the past, the media is focusing on the damage inflicted on Gaza by Israel, publishing inflated figures of the dead and wounded, clearly staged photos of the damaged buildings and failing to give the backstory behind these images. Here is a particularly one-sided article published by CNN today entitled ” Gaza Mourns its Dead as the Specter of an Endless Cycle of Conflict Looms” (1). What about Israel mourning its dead? What about the homes destroyed in Israel? Instead it shows heart wrenching images of destruction and injured people, but only those in Gaza. The picture of the stuffed toy in the rubble is clearly staged – if an explosion had indeed torn the head off this toy wouldn’t it show some dirt at least?

A stuffed toy found among the ruins on Al-Wahdah street.
A stuffed toy found among the ruins on Al-Wahdah street. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/22/middleeast/gaza-mourn-dead-intl-cmd/index.html

This article does attempt to give a little of the backstory but it comes well into the article and is sketchy to say the least. There is no mention of the fact that it was Hamas that fired the first rockets and started this war. It speaks about the endless cycle of violence, but does not explain that it is Hamas that is driving this cycle of violence, and has done ever since wresting power by force from the Palestinian Authority after it failed to win the last ‘democratic’ elections in Gaza in 2007. If Hamas had not fired first at Israel, there would have been no dead children, headless stuffed toys nor demolished houses in Gaza. It’s Hamas who is responsible for every civilian casualty in Gaza, not Israel!

Here is another example of biased reporting picked up from Reuters today,

Note the caption refers to the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Who is occupying Gaza today? Certainly not Israel. Israel evacuated every last citizen and soldier from Gaza in 2005. Reuters – check your facts!! We hoped then that that would bring an end to the rocket attacks, but they have continued and since then we not only have had a steady rain of attacks but also several outbreaks of all-out war initiated in every case by Hamas. The only ones ‘occupying ‘ Gaza these days are Hamas terrorists and a great many reporters.

We now have a ‘ceasefire’ brokered by Egypt which seems to be holding for now. I put ‘ceasefire’ in brackets because what these usually mean is that Israel ceases and Hamas fires! For Hamas the concept of a ‘ceasefire’ is a little different from what it means to us from the West. For them it is hudna, more akin to a withdrawal for the purpose of rearming and regrouping. There is no intention of negotiating a lasting peace. The best we can hope for is a few years, or months, weeks or days of relative calm. For this reason polls indicate that 3/4 of Israelis feel that we entered the ‘ceasefire’ too soon and should have continued to strike Hamas until it was fatally crippled. International pressure, especially from the USA, however meant that Israel could not go on without serious repercussions.

This derives from the failure of the Western mind to understand the mentality of the Arab mind. The USA is already talking about reconstructing Gaza, sending humanitarian aid and boosting its economy. This comes from the mistaken idea that the attacks on Israel are being driven by economic despair. This is not the case. It is being driven by the Islamic concept of Jihad, in which it is every Muslim’s ultimate duty to conquer the world for Allah, and rid the world of the infidels (the Jews, Christians and everyone who is not a Muslim). The western world does not understand that the extreme Islamic nations, such as Iran for example, do not want peace and co-existence. They want war to destroy the “Big Satan”, the USA and the western world. Their first step in doing this is to destroy Israel, which they call the “Little Satan”. Like it or not, this is essentially a holy war, the war against the God of Israel, YHWH, and the god of Islam, Allah. There can be no negotiation in the context of such a world view.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” . 

Ephesians 6: 12

The Covenant upon which Hamas is founded states that,

“The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.” (Article 7 of the Hamas Covenant – a quote from the Muslim Hadith writings).

And,

“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it” ( from the Preamble of Hamas Covenant) (2).

For on the Hamas Covenant see the summary below.

As I write the Biden regime and many aid organizations are scrambling to amass aid for the ‘humanitarian’ needs of the Gaza people. A couple of days ago, Matthias Schmale, Gaza director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) admitted on i24 TV news that there was no humanitarian crisis in Gaza during the last round of fighting. When asked about the “humanitarian situation” in the Strip, Schmale said that though at least 1,000 residential units were destroyed, leaving “a couple of thousand people who don’t have a home they can go back to” he considers “the biggest damage [to be] psychological,” because “building and rebuilding buildings is easy, and easy to plan for.” He went on to say, “During the 11 days of war, we did not run out of food, water and supplies, [though] we would have if Kerem Shalom and the border would have stayed closed… So, from my point of view, there is no acute or serious shortage of medical supplies, food or water, as long as this now starts – continues – to come in.” When asked about his opinion on “claims by Israeli officials that the IDF bombardments were very precise.” Shockingly, Schmale replied: “I’m not a military expert, but I would not dispute that. I also have the impression that there is a huge sophistication in the way the Israeli military struck over the last 11 days. So, that’s not my issue. My issue is another one. I’ve had many colleagues describe to me that they feel that, in comparison to the 2014 war, this time the strikes felt much more vicious in terms of their impact. So, yes, they didn’t hit, with some exceptions, civilian targets, but the viciousness, the ferocity, of the strikes was heavily felt.”(3) Schmale was forced by Hamas to apologize for this statement the next day!!!

A few days before the ceasefire went in to effect, both Hamas and Israel called a 5 hour temporary ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid from Jordan to pass through Israel to Gaza. The ‘ceasefire’ came to an abrupt end when Hamas fired on the aid convoy at the border crossing wounding an Israeli soldier, a soldier who was helping to bring them food and medicines. That’s how badly they needed aid!!!

THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA?

Caught in the middle of all this are the people of Gaza who are being cynically used by Hamas as expendable human shields. Furthermore, instead of investing the millions of dollars already sent as aid to the Gaza Strip into building homes, hospitals, schools and much-needed infrastructure, the Hamas government has constructed hundreds of kilometers of tunnels and bunkers under the cities and towns of Gaza and purchased tens of thousands of rockets and other types of armaments. Iran has financed, trained and equipped the Hamas ‘army’. It is important to understand that Israel is not fighting the Palestinians of Gaza, but rather the terrorist organizations of Hamas and Islamic Jihad which are both proxies of Iran.

Here is a video of Yahya Sinwar (translated into English) in which he says. “We have our own funds… We don’t need any reconstruction funding. I want to thank Iran which has not stopped assisting Hamas & other factions with money, arms, experience & support.” Here is clear proof that Hamas is a proxy of Iran. It receives, money, arms, training and most likely its orders from Iran.

Now how is this for a bit of hypocrisy? The overall leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, who remained safely in Qatar during the latest round of hostilities, has a niece who has been hospitalized in an Israeli hospital for over a month following a bone marrow transplant. Not only that but his grand-daughter was treated in an Israeli hospital in 2013, and his mother-in-law and his daughter were both treated in Israel in 2014 (4). Even during the latest fighting Israel brought several Gazans into Israel for urgent medical treatment. What other country in the world treats its enemies in this way?

IRAN, HEZBOLLAH AND ITS OTHER PROXIES

Another proxy of Iran is Hezbollah, based in Lebanon and Syria, which poses an even greater threat to Israel. You might be wondering why Hezbollah did not attack Israel at this time. My feeling is that Iran is holding them back for the ‘right moment’. This latest round of fighting with Hamas was just a trial run to test the waters for a larger attack on Israel from the north. Iran supplied Hamas with some of its latest technology , such as attack drones and unmanned submarines (which tried to attack Israel’s offshore natural gas platform), possibly as a trial run to see if Israel could counter them. They were probably surprised to find that Israel was a jump ahead with its defensive technology. Israel shot down all the drones and destroyed all the submarines and Gaza’s naval bases. Israel also shot down a barrage of rockets fired towards the industrial complex in Haifa from Hezbollah-held territory in Lebanon and an explosives-laden drone flown from Syria which crossed into the Jezreel Valley.

ANARCHY BREAKS OUT ALL OVER ISRAEL

During the 11-day war with Hamas, a series of much more disturbing events took place, and are still taking place. Riots involving mobs of Arabs are attacking Jewish shops, homes, vehicles and synagogues all over Israel, especially in the mixed towns of Lod, Jaffa, and Haifa. ‘Lynch’ mobs have hauled innocent passersby from their cars and beat them to a pulp. At least two men have been killed, one Jewish and one Arab. I am very sad to say that in response, some Jewish right wing activists have retaliated and joined the mindless violence.

Cars set on fire in Lod, May 12th, 2021
A Synagogue in Lod is torched by Arab mob

Below is a video of a ‘lynching’ attack when two Jewish men, driving near the Old City, were attacked by a mob of stone throwing Arab youths. Trying to escape the driver drives back and forth and loses control of his car which mounted the pavement hitting one man, who runs off apparently unharmed. Eventually a police man arrives on the scene and fires into the air to disperse the rioters, and rescue the men from the car who were both injured.

Below is an excerpt from an article in The Jewish Press written on 13 May,

Anarchy has taken over the streets of integrated Israel, with Arab rioters targeting Jews and young Jewish thugs organizing to attack Arabs as well.

A police officer in Ramle was shot by rioting Arabs at a junction in the city of Ramle. A 19-year-old IDF soldier was also injured after having been attacked by rioting Arabs in Jaffa (Yafo), part of greater Tel Aviv.

Two Jewish men were wounded by gunfire by rioting Arabs in Lod, one in serious condition and the other less so. A third was injured by rocks hurled by Arabs. Three synagogues were burned to the ground.

In Akko, some 20 Jewish-owned bed & breakfasts were torched and burned to ashes.

In Haifa, violence returned Thursday as well. And by Thursday night, the violence had spread to the streets of coastal Ashkelon in the south.

Arab rioters from the nearby Bedouin villages managed to block the road, the only artery connecting Arad residents with Highway 6, Be’er Sheva and the rest of the country.

A woman living in Arad was the victim of a near-lynch earlier this week, with rioters pulling her out of her car at the Shoket Junction on Highway 31 and torching her vehicle.

“The truck traveling behind her was driven by an Arab, and he was the one who saved her,” a friend in Arad told JewishPress.com.

To make sure there were no further victims, police closed Highway 31 between Arad and Shoket Junction. On Thursday night some 30 Jewish activists demonstrated at the entrance to the city, waving Israeli flags. Due to rumors that young Arab hotheads were going to attempt to attack Jews in Arad, police forces were doubled and guarding the main entrance to the city; other entries were locked down” .

In the small northeastern city of Arad, where a significant number of the small businesses are owned by local Bedouin, residents said they have been in virtual “lockdown” for the past three days, unable to leave the city without the concern they might not make it more than a mile or two down the road on Highway 31 (6)

And this was just the run down for that one day.

Road 31, the main road to Arad was closed for several days because the local Bedouin had blocked it using rocks and burning tires and had collapsed all the tall lighting poles along the highway down across the road.

Similar acts of vandalism and destruction have occurred all over Israel. Two days ago I saw a video of a young woman driving through the Wadi Ara road, one of the main northern routes to the Galilee from the center. She stopped at an intersection in Umm ql-Fahm where the traffic lights had earlier been destroyed by Arab mobs. A group of Arab youths smashed her car windows and pulled her out of the car, and then drove off in it. She was fortunate not to have been beaten up. All this was caught on CCTV but it appears to have been taken down off the web. At the same intersection an Arab woman was killed two days ago by a car accident caused by the lack of traffic lights.

What is happening now is hard to ascertain. The army has put a news blackout on the rioting in an attempt to calm things down.

The greatest tragedy of all this is not the loss of life nor the wanton destruction, as terrible as that is, but the undoing of years of co-existence and building up of trust. Can it ever be restored? Can Jewish Israelis ever live again in peace with the Arabs in our midst? The worst of the rioting has taken place in the mixed cities, long touted as examples proving that Jews and Arabs can live together in peace. Was that all an illusion? Twenty percent of Israel’s population is Arab. We live together, walk the same streets, eat at the same restaurants, use the same buses, are treated at the same hospitals, work together and play together (contrary to those who accuse Israel as being an apartheid state). But now, can I trust the Arab sitting beside me on the bus. Is he, or she, going to draw a knife or a gun and start killing? Can I trust the Arab plumber or gardener that comes to my home, or the doctor who treats me at the hospital? Yahya Sinwar boasted the other day that he has 10,000 ‘martyrs’ in Israel just waiting for the word to attack. This is a much more dangerous threat than the 10,000 or so rockets he claims to have.

THE FUTURE?

I have a sinking feeling that everything is coming to a head. This ‘ceasefire’ cannot last long. Iran is waiting for the right moment to unleash all its proxies and attack Israel. Biden is chasing butterflies, hoping to negotiate the un-negotiable with Iran, or to buy peace in Gaza with those who do not want peace. He is not in touch with reality. Israel cannot and will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear capability. There have been a whole series of mysterious fires and explosions in Iranian nuclear development facilities. They have fallen short of blaming Israel in so many words and Israel is not admitting to anything. Israel may have won this last round of fighting on the ground but Hamas is surely winning the war in cyberspace and the media. The UN is trying to charge Israel with ‘war crimes ‘ in the international court and few countries are voting against it. There is no mention of the war crimes perpetrated by Hamas! Antisemitism of a scale not seen since the Holocaust is raising its ugly head all over the world and Islam has infiltrated every Western country. The stage is set and the fuse is burning. When will it hit the powder keg? I don’t know but it could happen any minute or months or possibly at a stretch years from now, but it seems inevitable.

I do know however it will not happen until God so ordains. It is he who will gather all the nations of the world against Israel and lead them to judgement and their own destruction for what they have done against His people.

For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
 I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.
 They have cast lots for My people,
Have given a boy as payment for a harlot,
And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

“Indeed, what have you to do with Me,
O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?
Will you retaliate against Me?
But if you retaliate against Me,
Swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head.

Joel 3: 1-4

Yes, the LORD says this,

“If my people would only listen to me,
    if Israel would only follow my ways,
 how quickly I would subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes!”

Psalm 81: 13-14

CORONAVIRUS IN ISRAEL

And now the good news! Israel seems to have beaten the Covid-19 virus. With over 5.5 million of our population of 9 million now fully vaccinated there are only around 383 active cases and less than 20 new cases being reported in the last 24 hours. This is down from a peak of around 10,000 active cases on the 18 of January, just before the start of the vaccination program. As a result, from 2 June nearly all coronavirus restrictions are going to be dropped, except for the requirement to wear face masks in indoor public spaces. Movie theatres reopened last week and the first tourists entered for at least a year!! (6). Tourism is still limited to small groups of vaccinated individuals but all going well regulations will slowly be lifted over the coming months. That said, I wouldn’t book your tickets just yet.

If you wish to follow the unfolding of events here in Israel I can recommend the Twitter or WhatsApp group in the links below. The information is gleaned from the Hebrew press and the IDF website, summarized in English, and updated several times a day.

SHARE THE GROUP WITH A FRIEND —

— Read it on Telegram, send this link and have them click it — https://t.me/Israel_Defense_Upd_Eng

— Read it on WhatsApp, this link and click it — https://chat.whatsapp.com/KAM1lHfgtsy0C8vWwvC3vs

…..this is a private non-governmental effort using publicly available information. (Go away spies, we got nothin’ for you.)

THE MAIN POINTS OF THE HAMAS COVENANT

======================================= The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement was issued on August 18, 1988. The Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as the HAMAS, is an extremist fundamentalist Islamic organization operating in the territories under Israeli control. Its Covenant is a comprehensive manifesto comprised of 36 separate articles, all of which promote the basic HAMAS goal of destroying the State of Israel through Jihad (Islamic Holy War). The following are excerpts of the HAMAS Covenant: Goals of the HAMAS: ——————

‘The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.’ (Article 6) On the Destruction of Israel: —————————– ‘Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.’ (Preamble) The Exclusive Moslem Nature of the Area: —————————————- ‘The land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [Holy Possession] consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment Day. No one can renounce it or any part, or abandon it or any part of it.’ (Article 11) ‘Palestine is an Islamic land… Since this is the case, the Liberation of Palestine is an individual duty for every Moslem wherever he may be.’ (Article 13) The Call to Jihad: —————— ‘The day the enemies usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Moslem. In the face of the Jews’ usurpation, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised.’ (Article 15) ‘Ranks will close, fighters joining other fighters, and masses everywhere in the Islamic world will come forward in response to the call of duty, loudly proclaiming: ‘Hail to Jihad!’. This cry will reach the heavens and will go on being resounded until liberation is achieved, the invaders vanquished and Allah’s victory comes about.’ (Article 33) Rejection of a Negotiated Peace Settlement: ——————————————- ‘[Peace] initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement… Those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the infidels as arbitrators in the lands of Islam… There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility.’ (Article 13) Condemnation of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty: ———————————————- ‘Egypt was, to a great extent, removed from the circle of struggle [against Zionism] through the treacherous Camp David Agreement. The Zionists are trying to draw other Arab countries into similar agreements in order to bring them outside the circle of struggle. …Leaving the circle of struggle against Zionism is high treason, and cursed be he who perpetrates such an act.’ (Article 32) Anti-Semitic Incitement: ———————— ‘The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.’ (Article 7) ‘The enemies have been scheming for a long time … and have accumulated huge and influential material wealth. With their money, they took control of the world media… With their money they stirred revolutions in various parts of the globe… They stood behind the French Revolution, the Communist Revolution and most of the revolutions we hear about… With their money they formed secret organizations – such as the Freemasons, Rotary Clubs and the Lions – which are spreading around the world, in order to destroy societies and carry out Zionist interests… They stood behind World War I … and formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains… There is no war going on anywhere without them having their finger in it.’ (Article 22) ‘Zionism scheming has no end, and after Palestine, they will covet expansion from the Nile to the Euphrates River. When they have finished digesting the area on which they have laid their hand, they will look forward to more expansion. Their scheme has been laid out in the ‘Protocols of the Elders of Zion’.’ (Article 32) ‘The HAMAS regards itself the spearhead and the vanguard of the circle of struggle against World Zionism… Islamic groups all over the Arab world should also do the same, since they are best equipped for their future role in the fight against the warmongering Jews.’ (Article 32) . ===================================================================== Information Division, Israel Foreign Ministry – Jerusalem Mail all Queries to ask@israel-info.gov.il URL: http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il gopher://israel-info.gov.il

REFERENCES

  1. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/mortar-shell-hits-afghan-wedding–kills-at-least-six/46662504
  2. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/22/middleeast/gaza-mourn-dead-intl-cmd/index.html.
  3. https://www.jpost.com/opinion/did-unrwas-gaza-director-lose-the-plot-opinion-669433
  4. https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-chiefs-niece-has-been-hospitalized-in-israel-for-over-a-month-report/
  5. https://fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/880818a.htm
  6. https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/israeli-arabs/anarchy-ruling-the-streets-of-israels-jewish-arab-mixed-communities/2021/05/13/
  7. https://www.ynetnews.com/travel/article/rkIfbLat00

LOCKDOWN 3.5

January 20, 2021 /

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Philippians 4:8-9

The First Almond blossom 12 Jan 2021

18 January 2021. I am sitting by my window watching the precious, beautiful raindrops falling. At last, after 3 weeks of glorious but oh so dry winter weather, the rains have returned to refresh the land and bring life. My neighbor’s cat is drinking from a puddle on top of my stone fence. A special treat for him. My own cat is snuggled up in my warm and dry bed – he doesn’t like to get wet! I thank God for all these blessings. It is so easy these days to be overwhelmed with grey sadness as we are stuck in our homes in lockdown once again. How important it is to count all our blessings and meditate on the lovely things of this world. Paul knew that. Life in the Roman Empire was no picnic in his time, and Paul himself wrote the words above while in prison, waiting to learn if he would be executed or not. His advice to the believers then is still good advice for us now as we try to cope with the boredom and isolation of lockdown, the continuing threat of virus infection, economic difficulty, the political turmoil and the military threats of our time. I am deeply grateful for all the beautiful things of life, friends and family, my home, my cat, the flowers in the garden and the blossoms in the forest, and most of all for the sure hope of a better future in the Lord.

Update 20/01 : It is very cold today and it is still raining. There is even some ice amongst the rain. We may get some snow but the forecast is for snow only down to 900m. We are at an altitude of about 800m. It is snowing on Mt Hermon and some of the higher hills in the north. It is only 6 degrees C here right now (at noon) and it is expected to go down to around freezing point tonight. Brr! We are not used to such low temperatures.

LOCKDOWN 3.5

In the grips of a third wave of Covid-19 infection, Israel went into its third lockdown on December 27th, 2020. As the second week approached it became apparent the lockdown was too ‘leaky’ and the infection numbers were continuing to rise. Restrictions were therefore tightened on the 7th of January, leading to the dubbing of the current phase ‘Lockdown 3.5’. This lockdown was due to end on the 21st of this month but as the infection rate is still high, and hospitals are struggling to cope, the lockdown has now been extended until the 31st January at least.

Daily infections passed a grim milestone and reached a peak (I hope) of 10,021 on the 18th of January (1,2). That same day the total number of confirmed infections in Israel since the beginning of the outbreak stood at around 552,000 (5.5% of the population), and deaths have reached 4,006 (0.7% of cases). This comparatively low death rate can be attributed to our high level of testing and to the courageous and dedicated medical staff who have gone far beyond the call of duty in treating the seriously ill (In comparison, Sweden which has about the same population as Israel, and approximately the same number of reported infections, has experienced 10,323 deaths, more than 2.5 times that of Israel).

In spite of many mistakes, the dithering and zigzagging of government decisions and the lack of cooperation within of several sectors of the society, I think Israel is coming through this crisis reasonably well, compared to other countries. I believe our prayers do make a difference. Nevertheless it is not easy and there is a considerable cost in economic terms and in the mental welfare of the population. The statistics mask the human element of suffering. Our economy is still only ticking over at about 50% and unemployment is around 25% with many businesses, especially small businesses, going bankrupt. Social welfare services are reporting a sharp rise in families needing help, in people reporting symptoms of depression and a rise in suicide rates. My pastor, who is a practicing clinical psychologist and counsellor, also reports a similar rise even amongst believers. In these days we need to know how to draw on the deep wells of living water (John 4), rejoicing in the Lord and counting our blessings.

Israel is boasting of its success with the vaccination process which began around the 18th of December. We have vaccinated a greater proportion by far of our population than any other country. To date, 80% of our medical personnel and 75% of our over 60s have already received their first shot, and many their second shot as well. This represents around 22% of our total population. The full effects of the vaccination do not kick in until about a week after the second shot and therefore we are only just beginning to see results from the vaccination program. Infection rates in the elderly have dropped considerably, even after only receiving the first shot. We have now begun to vaccinate teachers and the over 45 age group. The limiting factor is the availability of vaccines but we are managing to vaccinate over 150,000 every day. Yesterday, 19/01, over 200,000 were vaccinated. One reason we can do this is because of the cooperation between the IDF Home Front Command and the Health Funds. Home Front medics are qualified to give injections and are manning many of the vaccination stations in addition to the Health Fund and hospital nurses. Because of our unique Health Fund system we can effectively gather statistics so Pfizer is using Israel as a massive trial to gauge the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine. This will provide valuable information for the rest of the world – just another way that Israel blesses the world.

Getting the second shot at the vaccination station in the Pais Arena in Jerusalem, 14 January 2021

Of course there are risks with such a new technology and a large percentage of Israelis are refusing to be vaccinated, or do not wish yet to be vaccinated. There are also many, especially amongst the ultra-Orthodox and Arab communities who are refusing vaccination because of religious, political or ethical reasons, or because of misinformation about the risks. Unfortunately many in these same communities are also violating the restrictions designed to limit infection and consequently it is in these communities that the infection rates are highest. About 30% of tests are coming back positive in ultra-orthodox towns compared to about 5% for the national average (3).

The video below shows hundreds of guests dancing at an ultra-orthodox wedding taking place in the ultra-orthodox town of Bnei Brak. In these communities, many synagogues, yeshivas (schools for Torah study) and schools are remaining open contrary to regulations and there have been outbreaks of violent resistance when police have attempted to arrest violators or break up gatherings. (Under current restrictions the gathering of more than 10 people indoors is banned and in addition masks must be worn and social distancing maintained).

It is not only the ultra-orthodox and the Arabs who are violating restrictions but also many of the secular youth. The video below shows a party taking place in the Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv, also contrary to regulations. The hospitals are reporting that they are seeing more and more young people amongst the seriously ill being admitted in this third wave.

Social distancing a la Tel Aviv – or why we should vaccinate the under 30s.

No one in Israel is being forced to accept the vaccination, but what is being introduced is the issuing of a ‘green passport’ in the form of a cell phone app which will grant those who have been vaccinated a pass to attend places of worship, theatres, restaurants, sports facilities and to also have a greater freedom to travel. I am somewhat concerned about the social tracking aspect of this ‘passport’, and the data being gathered through it, but since the security forces are already tracking us by means of our cellphone GPS systems, it probably is not a significant additional loss of privacy. On the positive side it will allow more sectors of our economy to begin to open up for business, especially the internal tourism and hospitality sector and the entertainment sectors. We may also soon be able to meet together in places of worship.

Many Messianic believers here, as in other parts of the world, also have objections to receiving the vaccinations. To address this I wrote an article that was published this week in the Kehila News online magazine. If you are interested you can read it here: https://news.kehila.org/to-vaccinate-or-not-to-vaccinate/

Many of the hospitals are reporting that they are reaching their capacity in the coronavirus wards. There is no lack of beds or equipment, but there is a limited supply of qualified doctors and nurses who can treat the seriously ill. A few days ago, the largest hospital in Jerusalem, Hadassah Ein Kerem, had to close its doors to non-Covid emergency admissions and some Covid patients were rerouted to other hospitals. Covid ward staff are suffering exhaustion and reporting many PTSD symptoms, which inevitably will sooner or later result in a drop in the quality of care and a rise in the death rate amongst the seriously ill. Hospital staff are being drawn in from other departments which decreases the care available to patients suffering from other illnesses or trauma.

We are all hoping that the vaccines will put the brakes on the Covid pandemic but there are still a lot of unknowns, especially with the rapid spread of new mutant strains. We already have both the UK and South African strains spreading in Israel and we are trying to keep the Brazilian strain from entering the country. No one knows if the vaccines that are being given will be effective against these new strains, which are much more infective than the older strains. We bade goodbye to 2020 with the hope that 2021 will be a much better year, but this is far from a certainty. It may yet prove to be an even worse year.

ISRAELI ELECTIONS AND AMERICAN POLITICS

Our coalition government was unable to agree on a budget within the required time and therefore the Knesset (Parliament) has been dissolved and new national elections must be held, according to the law. The election will take place on the 23rd March. This will be our fourth round of elections within the last two years. There is a great deal of electioneering taking place, with parties disintegrating, forming and reorganizing, and much wheeling and dealing going on. Polls suggest that Netanyahu and his Likud Party will once more gain the majority of the votes, largely because of the disarray in the opposition with the major left wing parties fragmenting into smaller parties. The Likud Party has lost the support of some of the more extreme right wing parties and so in recent days we have seen Netanyahu courting the votes of the Arab sector. In short, the new elections seem unlikely to result in the formation of a viable government as Israeli society is becoming more and more polarized and fragmented, and this at a time when, more than ever, we need to stand together and have a strong government. I thank God that He is still on His throne and ultimately in control. Please pray that He will raise up righteous men and women who will put the well-being of the nation before their own personal agendas, and who can unite us rather than divide.

Here in Israel we watch American politics closely. The USA is one of Israel’s best friends and whatever happens there affects us deeply. Many Israelis are dismayed that Trump is being replaced by a new president, Joe Biden. Trump did much to help Israel during his term of office, such as moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem, cancelling the flawed agreements with Iran, and helping to broker the Abraham accords. On the other hand, many are relieved that Trump is leaving office as he had become increasingly unstable and unpredictable in his actions. Against this, Joe Biden is as yet an ‘unknown quantity’. He does support Israel and at least 11 of his chosen cabinet are Jewish. We all hope he will consult closely with Israel in matters concerning Middle East policies, especially those relating to Iran.

The swearing in of the new president, Biden, will take place in just a few hours from now in Washington DC, under unprecedented security arrangements following the shocking riots that took place there a week ago. We are all hoping there will not be a repeat of the violence and bloodshed.

I believe it is more important than ever that the church distance itself from politics. One of the most serious mistakes of church history was the combining of state and church that occurred during the Roman Empire period. It led to heresy and the incorporation of paganism into the doctrine and practices of the church. We who follow Yeshua do not belong in the world, we are in the world but not of it (John 17:9-18), and our focus needs to be on spreading the word of the gospel and making disciples. If Christian or Messianic believers side with one political party or another, or one politician or another, we will rise or fall with them, alienate those on the ‘other side’, weaken the witness and bring the Name of God into disrepute. We need to ‘seek first the kingdom of God’ and look to the true ruler of Heaven and Earth. It is He who raises up kings and brings them down (Daniel 2:21). Someone sent me this song today and it seems apt:

(31) The Lord Reigns and One God with Lyrics – YouTube

SECURITY

Although our attention has been focused on the Corona crisis, this does not mean that the external threats to Israel have lessened. Iran is still breathing dire warnings every day and continuing to build up its arsenal of long range missiles capable of attacking all Israeli territory and US military installations in the Middle East. They are also threatening those Arab nations, which stand against them, namely Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. These nations have drawn closer to Israel as a result and this has led to them forging economic and military agreements with Israel, known as the Abraham Accords. The latest country to open full diplomatic relations with Israel is Morocco. The economic advantages these accords afford Israel will go a large way to offset the losses we have experienced due to the Corona pandemic. The military implications are yet to be seen. Perhaps it will cause Iran to hesitate longer before attacking Israel, or perhaps not. Time will tell.

Meanwhile Iran is continuing to increase its uranium enrichment program and develop its nuclear and conventional weapon arsenal. It now has long range missiles capable of hitting any country in the Middle East and not a few in Europe. Not only that Iran continues to arm its proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, Hamas in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen. Iran recently showed off its vast array of missile and drone capability sending a clear threat and message to the USA, Israel and our allies.

The President-elect of the USA, Joe Biden, has stated that upon taking office on the 21st of this month, he will initiate talks with Iran in order to renegotiate a deal regarding its nuclear weapons development program. This is being regarded with some horror in Israel but it all depends upon whether any new deal struck will reign in Iran’s nuclear development program or not. In view of the ever rising tensions with Iran, Israel continues to strengthen its defensive and offensive capabilities. Additional anti-missile batteries are being set up around all major cities, including Eilat which is vulnerable to attack both from Yemen and from ISIS, which is now in the Sinai Peninsula.

The Corona crisis has resulted in a drop in internal terror attacks and in the year 2020 only two Israelis were killed in terror attacks. Disturbances on the Gaza border have also decreased but not stopped completely. Last night, for example, two missiles were fired from the Gaza Strip towards the Israeli city of Ashdod. They both landed in the sea, causing no harm. This morning Israel retaliated by attacking Hamas tunnels in Gaza. This follows a military exercise involving Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza during which missiles were fired into the sea and a mock tanks were attacked. It is believed this was intended to send a “clear message to the Zionist enemy” (4). The evening before the exercise Hamas attempted to fire a missile into Israel but it failed to cross the border. Two days earlier two rockets were fired into Israel, one of which landed near Ashdod and the other landed on Palmachim Beach south of Tel Aviv. Fragments of an Israeli Iron Dome interceptor rocket, which failed to hit the missile that was headed towards Palmachim beach, landed in Bat Yam causing some minor damage but no injuries (4).

Tensions are also high in the north. Last month the IDF released the information that in 2020 they had carried out around 500 attacks and a number of cyberattacks, aimed at countering the Iranian entrenchment in Syria (5).

IMMIGRATION

For the first time since the founding of the State of Israel, the Jewish population has dropped below 74% (6). In light of this it is good news that immigration has continued during the Corona virus pandemic, albeit at a slower rate than before. The Jewish Agency says that in 2020 some 20,000 people immigrated to Israel, mainly from the former Soviet Union and including some 1200 from Ethiopia (7). The first immigrants to arrive in 2021 were another 300 Ethiopians (8). They were part of the airlift dubbed “Operation Rock of Israel” intended to bring all the remaining Ethiopians waiting to come to Israel, many of whom have been waiting, separated from their family members, for 15 years or more. The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem sponsored the flights of 1/3 of the immigrants in this latest airlift. Increased efforts are being made to bring the last of the remaining Jews from Ethiopia as conditions have deteriorated over the last year due to food shortages, the armed conflict in Tigray province and the coronavirus. This endeavor is being spearheaded by Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, who is an Ethiopian immigrant herself, and Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog.

In December 2020 a group of 250 members of the Bnei Menashe from northern India also immigrated to Israel. The resumption of immigration to Israel by these descendants of the Tribe of Menashe which were exiled 2700 years ago was also the fruit of the efforts of MK Pnina Tamano-Shata. She was not alone. The Jerusalem Post noted that “This aliyah was also the fruit of efforts by a wide range of Christian Zionists and lovers of Israel around the world. International groups such as Christians for Israel, Bridges for Peace, Ebenezer Operation Exodus, the ICEJ and Shalom Israel Asia Pacific, as well as many Christians from Scandinavia to Seoul, poured out their hearts in prayer and provided support to carry the sons of daughters of the Bnei Menashe back to Zion just as Isaiah (49:22) foretold” (9). Some 6500 members of the Bnei Menashe are still waiting to come to Israel.

Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel…

Thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations,
And set up My standard for the peoples;
They shall bring your sons in their arms,
And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders…

Then you will know that I am the Lord,
For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”

Isaiah 49:6, 22-23

REFERENCES

  1. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/coronavirus-israel-registers-record-of-10000-new-cases-in-a-single-day-655930
  2. https://www.timesofisrael.com/record-high-of-nearly-10000-new-daily-cases-as-total-infections-pass-500000/
  3. https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-detained-as-ultra-orthodox-clash-with-cops-enforcing-lockdown/
  4. https://www.timesofisrael.com/two-rockets-fired-from-gaza-toward-ashdod-land-in-sea/
  5. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/rise-in-israeli-strikes-in-syria-has-led-to-decrease-of-iranian-activity-651716
  6. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/in-first-jewish-population-in-israel-drops-below-74-percent-654050?utm_source=spotim&utm_medium=spotim_recirculation
  7. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/20000-olim-from-70-countries-moved-to-israel-this-year-despite-pandemic-653508
  8. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/300-ethiopian-immigrants-the-first-to-make-aliyah-to-israel-in-2021-654086
  9. https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/the-arrival-of-the-bnei-menashe-is-a-hanukkah-miracle-652437

JERUSALEMA

December 18, 2020 /

No, its not a typo. Jerusalema is the Zulu name for Jerusalem and the title of a South African song/dance that has swept the world. This song was released in South Africa in 2019 and was performed by an Angolan dance troupe in February this year, and it has since swept the globe. The official video release has been hit on 269,922,313 times to date! Below is a video of Jerusalem mayor, Moshe Lion, singing and dancing this song along with Holocaust survivors, elementary school students, youth from both the east and west of Jerusalem (Arabs and Jews), university students, and municipality workers. This song has swept through the world since it was released last year, because it touches a chord in the hearts of many people these days, those who long for the coming redemption of this world and the new Jerusalem, and those who are looking for hope in an increasingly dark world. The writer of the song, Master K.G. says it is a plea to God to take him to the holy city, Jerusalem. Translated into English the lyrics read:

Jerusalem, my home, Guard me, Walk with me, Do not leave me here.

My place is not here. I have no place here, My kingdom is nowhere near, Guard me, Walk with me.

God never sends calamities on the world just to punish. It is always done in the hope it will drive people to cry out to Him for salvation. When all is well we easily forget God and become caught up in our self-centered activities. When disaster strikes or danger arises there are few who do not call upon God for relief or protection. There is a saying here “There are no atheists in battle”.

Moshe Lion joins Jerusalemites to dance the Jerusalema

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,  because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.  For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.  Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

2 Corinthians 4: 16-5: 5

Here in Israel life has slowed down this last year. We have had two, and are heading for a third lockdown. Many are stuck at home with little to do but watch videos on the internet. One Israeli Messianic ministry, One for Israel, is making the most of this God-given opportunity to reach out into the community using YouTube videos, in Hebrew, Arabic and English, to bring the good news of Yeshua (Jesus) and the hope that is in Him. They report that since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic they have received more interest and questions than ever before – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50bG0BJSb7E. This ministry is reaching into all corners of Israeli society with a powerful message. They have posted many fascinating and challenging videos to date. Please take a look at some of these videos and pray for this work. Pray too for the safety of the people doing this as they are taking a big risk in exposing their identities in this way.

It seems like Moshe Lion is not our only politician with hidden talents. Bibi Netanyahu demonstrated his pleasant baritone voice in recording a song “Yesh Bi Ahava” (I have love in me) with well-known Israeli singer, Eden Ben Zaken, for the charity, Ken LeZaken, which works with elderly in need. You can listen to it on this link:

blob: https://www.ynetnews.com/4b4ea0e1-5305-437e-85a8-bd1c42523fd4

(if you cannot open it, go to this article https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/SkSiww12v)

Perhaps we would all be better off if our politicians would stop their ‘politicking’ and just sing and dance instead!!

Our politicians are driving us crazy these days. They have perfected the art of the ‘zigzag’ – making a decision one day and reversing it the next. We do not know if we are coming or going. We don’t know what is open and what is closed, whether we can go to work or school, or must stay home. It is becoming impossible to plan more than a few hours ahead.

For example, last Monday (7/12) it was announced that from Wednesday(9/12) we would have a night time curfew until the 2nd of January. On that Wednesday morning the curfew was cancelled, and instead of increasing restrictions, they lifted them even further by allowing shopping malls to reopen, while at the same time warning us that Covid infection rates are reaching the level when a full lockdown is inevitable. Today (16/12) we are being told we will have another lockdown within the week. They have still not announced just when that will take effect and what will be open or not.

I think I want to be a cat. My cat gets up in the morning, stretches, goes outside for a pee, comes indoors again, eats breakfast and goes back to bed. What a life!! All I would have to do is find a human ‘mum’ and convince her to house, feed and care for me in every way. Sounds great, right? I do envy my cat’s lifestyle. No work, no worries, no commitments, no Covid, no economic crisis, no wars or terrorists to deal with a – just lots of sleep, food and cuddles. When I think about it though, I may not have a ‘mum’ but I do have a good shepherd who has promised to take care of my every need. He has promised never to leave nor forsake us. We do not need to worry or be anxious about tomorrow.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6: 25-34

One of the positive outcomes of the coronavirus crisis is that many people have been forced to reconsider their priorities. Israelis have been known to be consummate shoppers, often going into debt just to obsessively buy new things. With the shops closed and income limited, or even stopped, many have had to find new ways to find satisfaction and pleasure. People are reporting they have rediscovered the joy of spending time with their children and families are spending more time out in nature together. I even heard a report that many children who have been forced to ‘do school’ online for months are voluntarily leaving their screens and are going outdoors to play games. Of course there is a down side too. Many families are becoming very stressed, even traumatized, by having to spend more time shut up indoors together. There is an increase in the demand for help from social services and the incidence of depression, family violence and suicide rates are on the increase.

Many are glad that the year 2020 is drawing to a close. What a year it has been. For me it started off with being grounded for a few months after taking a nose-dive down a mountainside and injuring both shoulders, losing a lot of skin off one shin and dislocating a thumb (which still won’t bend). I am very thankful it was not any worse. I was just getting back to work and being able to swim again when the Coronavirus hit us. I managed to keep teaching online until the end of May, but since then our school has been closed down, and I have been out of work. We have been stuck at home during lockdowns and even when the lockdowns are lifted there is nowhere to go and nothing to do as all hotels, restaurants and places of culture and amusement are closed still. Wearing masks in public and social distancing have become the new norm. Life has become dreary and somewhat isolated. Our congregation has not met now for around 10 months, except for 2-3 times at one stage between lockdowns). I thank God for WhatsApp and Zoom. I also thank God that I have stayed healthy (at least from the Covid) as have all my friends and family. I still have a roof over my head, some food in the fridge and a little money in the bank, unlike so many around the world. I have so much to be thankful for.

Yesterday my housegroup met together face-to-face for just the second time in ten months. We had a picnic together at the Gazelle Park in Jerusalem. The weather was ‘British’ as someone remarked, overcast and threatening rain. But, it didn’t rain. It was just good to see friends face-to-face and be outdoors together. Two weeks ago we had our first picnic at the Sataf park near Mevaseret. Although we hadn’t met ‘in the flesh’ for a long time we have been meeting at least twice a week on Zoom and also informally in twos and threes. We are in constant touch with each other by means of WhatsApp and in many ways are sharing our lives more with each other than we did before the corona. We have also been able to reestablish ties with some of our former members who are now living in the States and who are again in daily fellowship with us online.

A few days ago I went for a long walk out in the forest. It was still overcast and cool but once more the rain held off. It was lovely to see some of the winter wildflowers beginning to appear and the landscape turning green.

Meadow saffron
Southern daisy

I have been making an effort to get out and about a bit between lockdowns. About three weeks ago I went up to Atlit with a friend to see the flamingoes that overwinter in the salt ponds there. It was a little difficult to get close to them to get a good photo. I did get the one below of the two flamingoes taking off in flight.

Walking on water? Flamingoes ready for takeoff. Atlit, November 2020
Flamingoes at the Atlit salt ponds 2008

Winter has truly arrived in Israel and we have had several episodes of heavy rain already, and, sadly, some severe flooding in the coastal towns. As I am writing (16/12) it is raining heavily again and there is again serious flooding in coastal regions. Streets, houses and many cars are being swamped as the rain overwhelmed the drainage system. During the earlier floods children had to be rescued from kindergartens, and in a first, even the IDF headquarters at the Kiryia in Tel Aviv was flooded out, as was the Glilot Army base which houses many intelligence units. After the first rain all the Mediterranean beaches were closed for swimming because of the pollution being washed into the sea all along the coast. At least the land is getting a good and much needed scrubbing. You can see some of the flooding in the articles referenced below (1). It seems that flooding is becoming more frequent and more serious in recent years. It doesn’t rain often here but when it does, it is very heavy and it just overwhelms the drainage systems. Ooh, that was a very loud clap of thunder. I am going to pause now and turn my computer off until this storm passes.

The wet November bodes well for the Sea of Galilee which, after last year’s abundant rain, is now only about 1 meter below its maximum level. It is expected to reach that maximum level this winter for the first time since 1992, and the water authorities are already preparing to open the Degania Dam to release water down the Jordan River to the Dead Sea (2). The Dead Sea has been drying up at an alarming rate of 1m per year for the last 30 or so years and this is creating thousands of huge sinkholes around the shoreline, threatening agriculture, roads and the tourist industry in the area. I can remember when the water would have lapped this rather poignant sign! What remained of the Dead Sea in 2013 is that thin blue-white line in the far distance. It is even further away now, so an addition of water from the Galilee would be very welcome. (Update 09/12 – a headline today in the Ha’aretz newspaper claimed that there are plans to pump water north from the Sea of Galilee instead of allowing it to flow south. Environmental agencies are opposing this as being too expensive and ecologically damaging (3).

The Dead Sea in 2013

COVID – 19 AND VACCINES

The first batch of vaccines purchased from Pfizer arrived in Israel one the 9th of this month. Since then there have been a number of additional shipments both from Pfizer and from Moderna. Medical and care personnel will be the first to receive it beginning this coming Saturday night. From Monday the Sick Funds will start vaccinating the over 60’s and those with high risk due to serious illness. Yesterday my Sick Fund, Maccabbi, announced that the people in these category could call their number to start making appointments. Within two hours the system overloaded and went down. It is still not working. This was a mistake. They should have done what they did with the flu vaccine which was to send out invitations to those eligible. I doubt they expected such an overwhelming response because polls have been saying that only 20% of Israelis are willing to receive the first batches of vaccine. However even just 20% is still a lot of people! I hope they improve their logistics.

HANNUKA

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Yesterday we lit the last candle of the Hannuka festival. It was a subdued affair this year with gatherings of more than 10 being banned. Of course some, particularly the ultra-orthodox ignored this and still gathered in large numbers.

Members of the Pnei Menachem community in Jerusalem celebrate Hanukkah without adhering to coronavirus restrictions, December 17, 2020 (video screenshot)
Members of the Pnei Menachem community in Jerusalem celebrate Hanukkah without adhering to coronavirus restrictions, December 17, 2020 (video screenshot) https://www.timesofisrael.com/hundreds-of-maskless-haredim-crowd-in-jerusalem-for-hanukkah-candle-lighting/

The word ‘hannuka’ means ‘dedication’. Hannuka is not one of the cycle of annual feasts prescribed in the Old Testament, since it commemorates events after the Old Testament period, but we know that it was celebrated from the period of around 150 years prior to Yeshua’s birth. In 167 BC the Greek ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, ritually desecrated the Second Temple. Three years later, the Jews were able to take possession of it again during the Maccabean Revolt, but in order to dedicate the Temple to YHWH, special consecrated oil was needed. Some oil was found but it was enough only for one day. According to tradition, a miracle occurred and the oil burned for the whole eight days needed for the dedication process. For this reason the Festival of Hannuka is also known as the Festival of Light, and we traditionally light the Hannukiah, the 8 branched candelabra, adding one light each night for 8 nights. Today we continue this tradition and also celebrate by eating oily foods such as sufganiot (donuts) and latke (potato fritters), and playing with spinning tops (dreidels). Yeshua celebrated Hannuka, as we can read in John 10. He went up to Jerusalem during the Feast of Dedication (Hannuka) and went to the Temple. It was there the Jewish religious leaders confronted him demanding that he tell them plainly whether he is the Messiah (Christ).

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are one.

John 10: 22-30

One of the best known Hannuka Songs is Maoz Tsur. It begins this way (in translation):

O mighty stronghold of my salvation,
to praise You is a delight.
Restore my House of Prayer
and there we will bring a thanksgiving offering.

This Hannuka, may many recognise just who is this Maoz Tzur, our Rock of Ages, and may His ‘house of prayer’ be established in our hearts.

Here is a modern rendition of the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mkOss8P5tg

CHRISTMAS

We do not really celebrate Christmas here in Israel but, since moving to Jerusalem, it has been my custom to go along to the carol service at Christ Church in the Old City on Christmas Eve. It’s usually a joyful evening of singing carols, meeting friends, eating home-baked Christmas cookies and supping on hot, mulled wine to keep out the cold. It is always very special as a lot of people wander in off the street too, just to see what is happening and to enjoy the music. It won’t be happening this year, but the Christ Church congregation will be broadcasting carol services online. You can join in via the link on their website – https://www.cmj-israel.org/christchurch (which also gives the times of the services).

Christmas celebrations have been cancelled in Bethlehem too, which is an economic blow to that city. I was saddened by the headline in one of our local online news sources which read, “Bethlehem Residents Light up the Christmas Tree with Little Comfort or Joy”. Perhaps the current restrictions give us a good opportunity to reflect on the real source of our comfort or joy, Jesus (Yeshua). God was incarnated as a baby, Jesus, born in Bethlehem to share in our human weakness, to suffer and die for our sins, so that we can have the comfort and joy of knowing that our sins are forgiven and we can have eternal life. That has never changed. Christmas is not about Christmas trees (a pagan tradition), Santa Claus, decorations, giving presents, eating massive meals- or even about gathering with our families. It’s about that little baby born (probably not on Dec 25) in Bethlehem in a humble manger. We have in Him so much comfort and joy. No virus can rob us of that.

No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

John 3: 13-21

The Message And The Messenger | Northstar Church
https://faithbibleministries.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/jesus-birth.jpg?w=640

THE ABRAHAM ACCORDS

The Abraham Accords is the name being given to the agreements being forged between Israel and various Arab states, namely the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan and, just this week, Morocco. These accords are causing much excitement here as a whole raft of new business deals, trade and tourism opportunities are opening up. Already some 50,000 Israelis have visited the UAE. The video below shows Israeli goods on display in a large market in Dubai.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opC8WZSvGKo

IRAN

On Friday the 27th November ‘someone’ assassinated top Iranian nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Iran and most of the world is blaming (or congratulating!) Israel for this action. There has been no official statement of responsibility issued by Israel, as is normal policy with these matters. Nevertheless the loss of this scientist is seen as a severe blow to the development of nuclear weapons in Iran. The Iranians, of course, are convinced that the assassination was carried out by Israel. Apparently Fakhrizadeh was killed by a remote controlled drone. Iranian leaders are threatening payback and Israeli security is on alert.

Two days ago Israel in cooperation with the US successfully tested its new multi-tier missile defense system, which can shoot down a wide range of missile types, from long-range cruise missiles to rockets and mortars, and even drones. To date Israel is the only country to have such a capability. “Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the ability of Israel’s Iron Dome system to hit guided munitions is significant, “particularly as Iran increasingly seeks to arm its terrorist proxies with weapons that [have] evasive qualities. Has Israel developed tech to counter Iran’s lethal precision-guided munitions effort? It certainly seems so” (4).

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Psalm 20 : 7

NEW ISRAELI ELECTIONS

This coming Tuesday midnight is the deadline for the approval of a national budget for the year 2020 (no kidding – we are nearly in 2021 already). If the Knesset cannot reach agreement, the Knesset must be dissolved according to law, and new elections held by March next year. If this happens, and it seems inevitable, it will be Israel’s 4th election in two year period, something we can ill afford at this critical time.

CHURCH OF ALMIGHTY GOD

Recently I became aware that the pseudo-Christian cult called The Church of Almighty God, also known as Eastern Lightning, is attempting to infiltrate Israel. I stumbled across music videos in Hebrew which promote their twisted doctrines, which claim that a Chinese woman, called Yang Xiangbin (pictured above), is the second coming of Christ and the incarnated Almighty God. This dangerous cult, as bizarre as it is, has attracted a following of millions all around the world. I consequently wrote an article warning of this cult in Kehila News and you can read it on Beware the Church of Almighty God / Eastern Lightning » Kehila News Israel.

There are so many other things I could write about but in the interest of (finally) getting this update published I must stop now. Please keep the matters mentioned in prayer. God Bless you all over the Christmas Season and in the coming New Year.

REFERENCES

  1. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/S1WE0GdqP flooding and pollution https://www.ynetnews.com/article/BJ3x00C2cw more flooding https://www.timesofisrael.com/heavy-rains-batter-central-israel-cause-flooding-in-cities-highways/

2. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-wet-november-bodes-well-for-full-kinneret-1001351298

3. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-in-reversal-israel-might-pump-water-north-from-sea-of-galilee-1.9356871

4. https://www.defensenews.com/training-sim/2020/12/16/israels-launches-first-ever-multitier-missile-defense-test/

4. https://www.timesofisrael.com/daily-virus-case-count-jumps-to-over-1800-ahead-of-nightly-curfew/

My article https://news.kehila.org/beware-the-church-of-almighty-god-eastern-lightning/

CORONA CHAOS

August 4, 2020 /

How can it be that another month has passed? Time is flying by. We are now into the 6th month of the corona crisis and there is no end in sight. I seem to have adjusted to the ‘new normal’ staying at home mostly, not going out to work and seeing most of my friends only on Zoom. It is a strange life but it is life and I seem to still be keeping plenty busy. I am grateful that I and all my close friends and family are still healthy and that I still have a roof over my head and food on my table. I am so much better off than so many. It is good to count our blessings in such times – it helps us keep our balance.

Police clear off protesters who blocked a main road during a protest against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside his residence in Jerusalem early Sunday, Aug 2, 2020. (AP/Oded Balilty)
Social distancing – Israeli style!!
https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2020/08/000_1W68MH-640×400.jpg

Covid-19 in Israel

Here in Israel we are experiencing the ‘second wave’ of the virus amidst economic and political chaos. As of today (04/08) Israel has had a total of 74,430 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 546 deaths. A week or so ago, the rate of new infections per day was exceeding 2000, the fifth highest per capita in the world, even higher than the USA. The graph below shows the number of new confirmed cases per day in Israel since the beginning of the pandemic.

As you can see there have been many more cases in the ‘second wave’ than in the first but, compared to other countries, our death rate has remained very low, now standing at 546 in total, less than 0.1%. The curve showing the total number of confirmed cases per day (see below) appears to be flattening over the last few days, but this could be misleading as the number of tests carried out has also dropped. As you can see yesterday (03/08), the number of new cases jumped by over 1800 but the number of tests carried out doubled over the previous day. The steep drop for 04/08 reflects that it is still only midday and many more may be reported as the day goes on.

A better indicator of the situation is the graph below that shows the total number of confirmed cases since the end of February. As you can see the graph may be showing a levelling off, but it is way too soon to know for sure.

https://corona.mako.co.il/

You might be wondering how it is that Israel, which did so well at containing the first wave, has failed so dismally in this ‘second wave’. In the first wave, restrictions and a lockdown were quickly implemented and there was a high degree of cooperation by the general public. However, Israeli patience is short, and as soon as restrictions began to be lifted we immediately lost all discipline and many people began to act as if it were all over, gathering in large groups and ignoring government guidelines. It didn’t help that the opening of the lockdown coincided with a severe heatwave that sent thousands to the beaches and other open spaces contrary to restrictions at the time. Schools were also immediately reopened and it proved impossible for them to maintain the restrictions, especially in the heat. Some schools became centers of infection and had to be closed down. In the weeks that have followed the government has zigzagged on restrictions, changing their minds every day or so, until the general public became totally confused about what was allowed and what not, and they lost faith in the government. This of course has sent all the politicians scrambling for survival, as the government teeters on the edge of collapse and the possibility of new elections looms. The dire situation has sent thousands to the streets to protest the perceived failure of the government in ongoing demonstrations, which have at times devolved into violence between demonstrators and counterdemonstrators, and the police trying to keep order. Needless to say, the demonstrators are not keeping social distancing rules nor wearing masks, and it seems to me they pose a greater threat to us all than the weak and confused government.

Thousands of protesters chant slogans and hold signs during a protest against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside his residence in Jerusalem, Saturday, Aug 1, 2020. (AP/Oded Balilty)
10,000 Protestors outside the Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem, 01/08/20
https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2020/08/AP_20214647095172-640×400.jpg

Violence at a protest in Tel Aviv

Of course all this is having a detrimental effect on the economy and people are getting angry and scared as the months tick by and still no money is coming in. There are still around 800,000 unemployed, more than 20% of the workforce. Many sectors, the tourist, hospitality and entertainment industries especially, are still totally shut down and these represent a huge part of the Israeli economy. This week the government is making a cash payment to every Israeli in an attempt to cool the anger, appease complaints and stimulate the economy. This payment is however very controversial as a flat sum is being paid out irrespective of income and means, which means the rich and very rich, who do not need it at all, get the same payment as the desperately needy, while the payout is costing the country around 1.9 billion dollars which we will have to borrow. This may not be so easy as Israel’s credit rating is deteriorating because it has been unable to pass a National Budget in spite of 3 elections and a unity government. If a Budget is not passed by 25 August, we will automatically have to go to new elections – something we need like a hole in the head. While I will be grateful for the 750 shekel handout they promise me as a single individual, this amount will cover perhaps two trips to the supermarket and will not significantly help in the long term. I cannot see this move will in any way stimulate the economy.

The situation is bleak and the future is uncertain. Recently the Director General of the World Health Organization put it this way:

“The pandemic is still accelerating,… We know that the pandemic is much more than a health crisis, it is an economic crisis, a social crisis and in many countries a political crisis… The greatest threat the world faces is the lack of global solidarity and global leadership” (1).

The end result of this pandemic could yet result in the destabilization of many governments and nations, social chaos and world-wide economic collapse, the conditions just perfect for the establishment of a one-world government under the control of a strong, charismatic leader, the Antichrist, as the Bible predicts will occur in the end times.

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.  Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.  And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.  So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”

 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.  Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.  It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.  All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13 : 1- 8

“I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the tyrants.
 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold

Isaiah 13:11-12

Hospitals in Crisis

We are in the midst of the worst medical crisis to hit Israel and our hospitals are to be congratulated on the excellent care provided to the ill which has resulted in a very low death rate. However hospital authorities are warning that this could all change if the government does not do something to help them out. Yesterday some of the largest hospitals in Israel warned that they would have to start laying off staff as they can no longer pay their salaries, and this comes at a time when we are desperately short of doctors and nurses. Since the beginning of the corona crisis only 19 new hospital beds have been made available. A couple of weeks ago, the exhausted nursing staff went on strike for two days, pleading for help, and especially the hiring of additional staff. The government did say it would hire another 2000 doctors and nurses, but it is not clear where these highly trained people are going to come from, and who will pay them. Hospitals are warning they are close to collapse. If the rate of serious corona cases continue to rise we will soon be unable to treat those needing ventilation and we will see a sharp rise in the death toll. Please pray that a solution to this situation will be found.

Corona ‘Czar’

פרופ' רוני גמזו מציג את התוכנית שלו
Prof. Roni Gamzu giving his first press conference as the new coronavirus czar
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkCpm60lv

One ray of hope in this situation is the appointment two weeks ago of Professor Ronni Gamzu as the Corona ‘Czar’, an experienced medical professional in the public health field and a non-political figure, tasked with stopping the chain of infections and he has authority in testing, epidemiological investigations and quarantines. Gamzu lost no time in addressing the public and calling upon us to cooperate and work together with him and the government to fight this outbreak. He is working to present a logical and sensible plan of attack. A central part of his new plan will be the involvement of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to implement the epidemiological tracing of the infected, a somewhat controversial move as it involves the tracing of individuals by means of their cell phones, a serious infringement of privacy, but one temporarily sanctioned by the government under the emergency law.

No doubt there will be much controversy yet but at least now there is someone taking charge who seems to know what he is doing and has no personal political interests. Ynetnews put it this way, ”

At long last someone has decided to put his professional and personal ego aside in an attempt to create a consensus among all those who want to see Israel emerge from this mess. Gamzu’s opening moves are cause for optimism, and even if success is not guaranteed, we can finally see light at the end of the tunnel. If Israelis pitch in with Gamzu and his plan, there just might be a chance the country can defeat the virus without another lockdown and normal life can slowly resume. If not, all that await us are failure and disaster (2).

Please pray for Gamzu. He has terrible responsibility on his shoulders and needs all of God’s wisdom to make good decisions. Please also pray the politicians will not undermine his efforts. We need someone to reunite us as a people, and who will encourage us to pull together to get out of this mess.

With the school year about to start, at the beginning of September, there is talk of a possible total lockdown being imposed again towards the middle of this month. Although all effort is being made to avoid this happening, it may be deemed necessary to decrease the level of infection prior to the beginning of the school year. Decisions about schools opening, and under what conditions, have still not been reached. This is creating a high level of uncertainty and anxiety for students, parents and teachers.

Tension in the North

Two weeks ago a Hezbollah operative was killed by an attack on Iranian installations in Syria and Israel has been blamed. Hezbollah promised to avenge this killing and last week a group of Hezbollah operatives penetrated the Israeli border but were chased back by IDF forces who spotted them. Thus frustrated, another attempt was made, this time from Syrian space, and four operatives tried to plant explosive devices in an abandoned IDF base. They were killed by IDF fire and an aircraft. Yesterday morning the Imam Ali base near the town of Abu Kamal, in eastern Deir Ezzor region close to the border with Iraq, was attacked by unidentified aircraft and 15 Iranian-backed militiamen were killed. A number of positions, bases and weapons stores were destroyed (3). Israel has not admitted to carrying out this attack but has an ongoing policy of attacking Iranian supply lines, installations and weapons stores in Syria.

Please pray this escalating tension will ease. The last thing anyone in this region needs right now is a war.

Tension in the South

The southern border is relatively quiet but there have been a number of rockets being fired into Israel over the last weeks and also at least one incendiary balloon. With the fire risk season approaching its peak we do not want to see a resurgence of the balloon warfare we experienced over the last few years.

Wildfires

Fire season is upon us. Yesterday there was a major wildfire across the valley from here near Ein Kerem (the birthplace of John the Baptist). Some buildings and public buildings were threatened and around 200 severely handicapped children had to be evacuated because of the risk of smoke inhalation. Fire fighting planes and firefighters succeeded in extinguishing the fire. It served however as a warning that as temperatures rise and the late summer winds increase, the wild fire season is once more upon us.

Iran

Iran is also battling a serious crisis with the coronavirus, but lately it has also been hit by a string of explosions and fires at both civilian and military strategic installations. At first they tried to say these were accidents but the number and nature of these events clearly indicate that they are attacks. Israel is of course being implicated but there are a number of other possibilities too . Foreign or domestic organizations opposed to the regime may well be responsible.

Where is God in all this?

The situation is grim but I believe that God is still in control and has a purpose in all this – namely to call the unsaved to consider their lives and confront the possibility of death. God desires that no man, woman or child would die. He has provided a solution through the death and resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus), who has conquered death and promised eternal life to all who will follow him.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

This is the message that needs to be proclaimed to all mankind today. There is hope, certainty and safety in Yeshua if we are willing to follow Him. Without him there is only doubt, turmoil and darkness.

Please pray that this message will go forth loudly and clearly here in Israel. Congregations have not been able to meet face-to-face for nearly 6 months now and we are all being challenged to find new forms and ways to fellowship together and to proclaim the gospel effectively and clearly. One way this is being done is through the internet. I can recommend the videos being produced by OneforIsrael – just google them. Though they are in Hebrew , English subtitles are provided. Some of these videos have reached more than 500,000 Israelis and there is much fruit. Please pray for this ministry and especially for their protection (they have received death threats) and that they can continue their work. Pray too for other internet releases. Below is a fun one based on the story of Noah, produced by the Messianic Jewish Alliance and performed by the Music and Media School in Jerusalem.

Finally here is another video, produced by OneforIsrael which exposes the basis of the spiritual bankruptcy of Rabbinical Judaism as it is practiced today.

‘My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
    the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
    broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Jeremiah 2: 13

Broken cisterns

References:

  1. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12345574
  2. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkCpm60lv
  3. https://www.timesofisrael.com/15-said-killed-in-mystery-airstrikes-on-iranian-backed-militias-in-syria/

BOARING?

May 25, 2020 /
A female boar and two piglets
Some residents of Haifa not social distancing or wearing masks – tsk!!
https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/B1IWSoEuU

Life has been somewhat restricted of late, first because of the health restrictions due to the Covid-19 virus, and now because of an unprecedented heatwave, but it is far from boring. These wild boars in Haifa are making the most of it anyway!!!

As has been reported in numerous places around the world, the wildlife in Israel has just loved the absence of human activity in our cities. While the wild boars are wandering about Haifa, and ibex have taken over the promenade in Eilat, swifts have claimed the Western Wall here in Jerusalem. For you nature lovers, take a look at this video – it is just so beautiful. We have swifts here in Mevaseret too and after the sun sets I love to lie out in my recliner on the deck and watch them swirling overhead swooping up all the insects for their supper.

https://www.haaretz.com/science-and-health/.premium-easing-of-israeli-restrictions-effectively-end-coronavirus-lockdown-with-no-return-1.8782255

It is more than a month since I last updated my blog. The problem is that so much is happening here and around the world I don’t know where to start. Today (16 May) we in Israel are sweltering in a severe heatwave which is forecast to continue at least until the end of the week. The temperature here in the Judean Hills reached 37 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) today but in Tel Aviv and elsewhere it topped 40 degrees or more. It is not unusual for us to get heat like this at this time of year (I can remember it once hitting 45 degrees in Netanya for 3 days in a row) but it is unusual for the sharav winds that bring this heat to last so long (around 8 days). I cannot remember a sharav as long in all the 40 years I have lived here. It is not unpleasant here in Mevaseret as the humidity is only about 12% and my home, shaded by trees, has not yet lost its winter coolness. Others are not so fortunate.

Needless to say, thousands of people are flocking to the beach to cool down even though the beaches are still ‘closed’ due to the Corona virus restrictions. The beaches will not officially reopen until Wednesday this week.

Kindergartens and the lower grade schools reopened last week, and the remainder of elementary grades and the high schools opened their doors this week, under strict restrictions and hygiene requirements. One of the requirements is that children wear masks and windows are left open. In this heat it became not only very uncomfortable for staff and children wearing masks but also dangerous to their health, so today the requirement for the wearing of masks was temporarily lifted until the end of the week.

With the heat comes the risk of wildfires breaking out in the forests. The heavy winter rains mean there is abundant undergrowth which is now drying off and already tinder dry. The pine and cypress trees which dominate the forest here exude flammable vapors and even a bit of glass in the sun is enough to start a fire. Yesterday one moshav not far from here, north of Beit Shemesh, was evacuated when threatened by a fire but fire fighters managed to bring it under control before it reached the houses. There were reported 1300 fires around the county the same day, and this is only the beginning of the fire season.

This morning I ventured out to one of the local shopping malls to stock up on cat food and a few other items. It was strange to go there after being in lockdown for over two months. There were few people inside, and even fewer actually shopping, but all the shops seemed to be open. This is the first week the indoor malls have been allowed to open.

Israel is slowly, slowly opening up for business, though there are still many restrictions in place. We can now move freely around but we must wear masks in public spaces. Businesses are reopening but many, such as the restaurants, theaters and sports clubs, are still not permitted to work. Many businesses will probably never reopen as the enforced closure and the lack of access to markets, not to mention the absence of tourists, has hit them hard. Our unemployment figures went from around 4% before the virus struck to a maximum of 27%. This has now decreased since the return to work has begun but it still hovering around 24-25%. That means that more than 1 in 4 workers are out of employment, and this figure does not include the self-employed or those, like myself, who were part-time workers being paid by the hour, and who do not qualify for the unemployment benefit.

Its hard to see how the economy can recover and in the months to come many will be going hungry here in Israel (like in many places around the world). Fortunately Israel as a nation is better off than most in that we were in a good economic state at the beginning, but many individuals and families are in dire straights. Even at the best of times many in Israel live from one pay packet to the next and now, with nothing coming in, credit is running out. Even if you qualify for unemployment benefit, it only lasts for around 5-6 months, and it provides only a monthly payment of 80% of your last pay packet. For most, that is not enough to make ends meet. If the government does not step up and provide more significant aid many will be going hungry in the months to come. Even before all this, one in three children in Israel were going to bed hungry and now there will be many more. Worst hit is the tourist industry and in Eilat, for example, unemployment is currently at 70%. There is some hope that internal tourism will help out but with the future uncertain and prices very high, I don’t think many will be rushing to fill the hotels.

I too have joined the ranks of the unemployed. I was fortunate to be able to keep working by teaching online until this past Thursday ( 14 May) when our semester finished. Our school is now closing down for the foreseeable future as there will be no intake of new students (who come from the USA) in the Fall and possibly in the Spring of 2021 either. We do not know if or when we will be able to reopen. All the teaching staff have been laid off. I have a small pension but it is not sufficient to live on. I will have to try, like so many others, to find other work to supplement it, but I am confident that God will provide. He always does.

24 May 2020 – update. Thankfully the heatwave has at last broken and the temperature here dropped from a max of 38 degrees to a mere maximum of 17 degrees today – a drop of 20 degrees in 24 hours! It is lovely though to be able to breathe fresh air again and it is even raining in the northern parts of the country – something unheard of at this time of year. This heatwave was the longest and hottest on record.

Here are some figures relating to the Corona crisis in Israel. The total number of reported cases to date (24 May) are 16,712, with 14,093 recovered, and 279 deaths. Israel has one of the lowest death rates per number of infections. It may be because of our excellent medical staff, the Mossad managing to locate and purchase planeloads of medical gear, including ventilators, the cocktail of drugs being used to treat the ill, but I do know that none of that would have been of any use were it not for all the prayer going forth and the will of God. Thank you for all your prayers.

It is now two weeks since we started our return to ‘normal’ or to the ‘new normal’ and so far there has not been an upsurge in new cases except in a very few localized places. We are all praying that this will continue and a second wave does not eventuate, so please keep praying for us here (as well as for your own countries and all the world of course).

IN MEMORIAL

Since the beginning of the corona crisis we here in Israel have marked several holidays focused upon commemoration. First there was Purim, the commemoration of the rescue of the Jews of the Persian Empire by the intervention of Queen Esther. Passover followed, with the commemoration of the first Exodus from Egypt, and then we marked Holocaust Day in remembrance of the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. A little later was Memorial Day when we remembered the 23,816 fallen soldiers and the 4,166 terror victims who have been killed in the modern State of Israel, and the next day, we celebrated Israel’s 72nd Independence Day.  This last Friday (22 May) we celebrated Jerusalem Day , which commemorates the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967.

This year there was a somberness to all these days of remembrance. We could not gather in extended family groups, attend our congregations nor participate in the normal ceremonies or festivities. Passover and Independence Day were spent in strict lockdown confined to our own homes, instead of gathering with our families and friends. Though sad, I felt that this made these days even more poignant and meaningful somehow. We had time to pause and reflect instead of frenetically rushing about shopping, planning menus and travelling (or sitting stuck in traffic jams). We were separated physically from each other but perhaps we were more together in spirit. I think of the words of Psalm 46,

“Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth…

 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

God has brought us all to a halt, and given us precious time to reassess our lives, to reset our priorities and to know that He is God. It is also a time to remember all that God has done in the past. One day this pandemic will also pass into our collective memory and become part of our history, but until then, we can choose to make the most of this opportunity to pause and draw nearer to our God and to exalt Him among the nations.

During this time, my home country, New Zealand, and Australia also celebrated ANZAC DAY, which commemorates the thousands of brave soldiers from those countries who fought and died in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and more recently in Afghanistan and elsewhere. I have just finished reading a book which examines the pivotal contribution the ANZAC (New Zealand and Australian Army Corps) soldiers made to the reestablishment of Israel as the national home of the Jews. In WWI they were instrumental in the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the liberation of the Holy Land from Turkish rule. In WWII they played a central role in the prevention of the plans of the Nazi army to conquer the Holy Land and Jerusalem. We here in Israel owe them a huge debt and I am proud of my small nation who sent these young men into the battle so far from home. Few of them had any idea of the importance of what they were fighting for, and so many of them died ignorant of the role they were playing in God’s plan of redemption for the world. It made me think how we foot-soldiers in the spiritual war also often have little idea of the role we play in that warfare. Sometimes all we can see is the blood, the heat, the sand and the suffering in the trenches. We may die not knowing the value of the role we played, but the important thing is that we play it. I strongly recommend this book – it is scholarly, well researched and yet very readable (though not a light read). It is called “Anzacs, Empires, and Israel’s Restoration 1798-1948” and is written by Kelvin Crombie, an Australian who lived here for many years in Jerusalem and was the historian at Christ Church in the Old City. It is available as a paperback on Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/Anzacs-Empires-Israels-Restoration-Crombie/dp/0646352989/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Kelvin+Crombie&qid=1589896634&sr=8-3

At the outbreak of World War I, New Zealand was only about 60 years old as a nation and had a population of only 1.1 million people – about the size of Jerusalem today. In that war alone, 18,166 New Zealand soldiers were killed or went missing in action, and 41317 were wounded. In World War II, 140, 000 NZ men and women served and 11,928 of them never came home. New Zealand’s ratio of soldiers killed per million of population (at 6684) in WWII was the highest in the Commonwealth (with Britain at 5123 and Australia, 3232).  One person died for every 150 New Zealanders. This must have been a serious blow to the fledgling nation but it served to bind us together and bring us into maturity as a nation. Every town in New Zealand has its War Memorial which lists the names of those lost. It never meant much to me growing up but I now realize how important it is to remember. Just as we as individuals are so largely made up of our memories (imagine who you would be if you could remember nothing of your past), so too is a nation.

Israel has a strong national memory stretching back thousands of years. Memory is reinforced by holding memorials. God again and again in the Bible tells us to remember, to remember all he has done. The annual cycle of all of Israel’s festivals is based on the concept of remembrance. They are designed to remind us, and every generation, of what God has done. This builds our faith and binds us together as a people. It also serves as a witness to the faithfulness and power of God. Jesus too, when he was about to die on the cross for our sins, instituted the Lord’s Supper telling his disciples to “do this in remembrance of me“(I Corinthians 11:24-25)

This week, on Thursday night-Friday, we will be celebrating here another feast – the Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost)- also known as the Feast of First Fruits and the Feast of the Ingathering (Leviticus 23:15-22, Exodus 34:22, Numbers 28: 26-31, Deuteronomy 16:9- 12). This is a feast of thanksgiving for the ingathering of the first fruits of the winter wheat harvest, and a reminder of the goodness of God and the good land He has given to Israel. Deuteronomy 16:12 says ‘”.. and you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt”. The Torah (the Law) was given to Moses on Mt Sinai on this day, and of course, for Christians and Messianic believers we remember that it is the day of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

It is always good to remember the blessings God has given us throughout our years. Perhaps this year, as many of us (and perhaps some of you my readers) are having to face unemployment and loss of income, it is even more necessary to remind ourselves of God’s provision in the past as it builds our faith in trusting him for our future. For me personally, I remember that in 1984 I arrived (for the second time) in Israel with just 50 NZ dollars in my pocket, no return ticket, and no surety the authorities would allow me to stay in the country, much less work and earn a living. Here I am, still here, 36 years later and I have never gone hungry even one day, nor suffered from the lack of a roof over my head, nor clothes on my back. God has provided for my every need (if not for my every want) and this gives me faith He will continue to do so until the end.

COVID-19 IN PALESTINIAN AREAS

You may be wondering what is happening in the West Bank and Gaza with respect to the corona virus epidemic. In both regions the number of infected and dead has remained very low, because of the lack of tourism coming into those areas, and the closed borders between them and Israel and the strict measures implemented by both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority with the cooperation of Israel. We are glad that this has occurred because if the virus was to have taken hold there it would have spread quickly with devastating results because of the dense population, especially in Gaza, and inadequate medical resources. Pray that this continues and no ‘second wave’ spreads in these areas. This past week, in a first-ever flight from the United Arab Emirates into Israel, a plane brought 14 tonnes of medical equipment, including ventilators, intended for the Palestinians. In yet another classic ‘shoot-yourself-in -the foot’ move the Palestinian Authority refused to accept this generous, and much needed, aid as a protest against the warming relations between the UAE and Israel (and no doubt as an appeasement to Iran, their sponsors). Hamas has threatened a massive missile strike on Israel should there be a major outbreak of the virus in the Gaza strip, this in order to extort Israel to provide economic and medical assistance.

ISRAEL HAS A GOVERNMENT (AT LAST)

Last week a government was sworn in in Israel, after 3 elections and months of wheeling and dealing. The government is a broad-based coalition government (I almost said ‘a unity government’ but that would be somewhat inaccurate) involving the right wing Likud Party under Netanyahu and the Blue and White Party under Gantz. It was sickening to listen to the various MKs vying for ministerial positions like kindergarten kids saying “but I deserve this or that post”. Ministries were handed out, or even created, to broker political deals rather than considering who was the best man or woman for the service of the country, we now have an unwieldy, expensive, inflated and possibly unworkable government of sorts. It remains to be seen if it will be able to function.

The Prime Ministership will be shared between Gantz and Netanyahu, with the latter taking the first half of the term. This makes sense from the point of view of continuity but we have the bizarre situation of having a Prime Minister in power while he is being tried in the criminal courts on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The trial began today with Netanyahu claiming the charges are trumped up and political in nature . With the trial set to continue for months if not years, one wonders how he will manage to fulfill his role as Prime Minister while juggling court appearances. One also wonders how he can get a fair trial with it all being so politically charged and with so much public exposure and debate. Please pray the judges will make an unbiased judgment based on truth, law and righteousness.

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, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,  who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

I Timothy 2: 1-4

SECURITY

During the period of lockdown we have enjoyed something of a respite from terror attacks, largely due to the restrictions of free movement, but nevertheless there have been a number over recent weeks. On Memorial Day, just minutes after the sounding of the memorial siren, a 62 year old woman was attacked and stabbed by a Palestinian teenager in the town of Kfar Saba near Tel Aviv. The woman was moderately to seriously injured, and the attacker, who was shot by passers-by, lightly wounded before being arrested. Here is a video of another attack, a car ramming attack, at a border post outside Maaleh Adomim (east of Jerusalem): https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-border-guard-hurt-in-ramming-stabbing-attack-outside-jerusalem/. The soldier was first struck by the car and then stabbed with a pair of scissors and suffered moderate injuries. The terrorist was shot and killed by other soldiers on the scene. These attacks, like many others, appear to have been spur-of-the-moment opportunistic attacks born out of simmering hatred and anger, but others are a result of organized cells which plan and attempt to carry out much more serious attacks,

The Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency) revealed that it, in collaboration with the IDF and the Israeli Police, arrested three terrorists and thwarted their plan to bomb the Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem, and IDF positions and roads in Ramallah and the Binyamin area (north of Jerusalem). This is just one of many major terror attacks that have been thwarted recently, making it clear that Hamas has remained highly active in recruiting operatives and planning terror attacks in the West Bank. The arrested terrorists were recruited and financed by a Hamas student organization, know as the “Kutla Islamaiya”, that operates at Birzeit University near Ramallah.

Please continue to pray against these plots to massacre Israeli civilians and security personnel. The fight to protect Israel from terror is ongoing and requires massive manpower and resources. In 2019 alone the Shin Bet foiled some 500 major terror attacks. I thank God for all the courageous men and women who do this job. May He protect them and continue to protect us through their work. Pray too for the young men and women who get drawn into becoming terrorists, having been brainwashed into a culture of hatred and violence which idolizes martyrdom for ‘the cause’. So many lives ruined, both those of the terrorists and their victims, – and for what?

ANNEXATION

I had to learn a new Hebrew word recently, ‘sipuach‘ which means annexation. As the first step in implementing Trump’s ‘Pleace Plan’ Netanyahu plans to annex a the Jordan Valley and exchange this area for the ‘Triangle’ a predominantly Arab enclave in Israel. On the surface could be seen as a fair land swap since the Jordan Valley is populated mainly by Jews and the Triangle by Arabs. The problem is that it is a deal that is being imposed unilaterally and what is more, the Arabs of the Triangle do not want to lose their Israeli citizenship and the far better standard of living than they would have under Palestinian Authority rule. Expressing his anger, Mahmoud Abbas the leader of the Palestinian Authority, has threatened to cease all security cooperation with Israel and the peace treaty with the Kingdom of Jordan, which is predominantly Palestinian, seems also to be crumbling. Instead of peace this move could well bring about a new war and/or a new Intifada. Is the annexation God’s will? I do not know. I know the Jordan Valley is part of the land that God promised to the people of Israel forever, but I do not know if this is the time or the way to take possession of it. Personally, I do not know how to pray about this issue except to echo Jesus’ prayer – “ Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven“.

IRAN

Iran is battling with a serious outbreak of the Covid-19 virus with 135,701 reported cases and 7,417 deaths as of today (25 May). With this, and on top of the economic crisis resulting from the sanctions against it, you would think they would have other things to think about rather than attacking Israel. But not so. Three days ago, on Jerusalem Day, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in his annual speech in support of the Palestinians described Israel as a “cancerous tumor” that “will undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed“. Such rhetoric is hardly new and we hear it just about every day coming out of Iran.

According to Ynet News (1) Israel has spent more than a billion shekels in the last three years attacking Iranian positions in Syria in an effort to prevent Iran from turning the Israel-Syrian border into their frontline from which to attack Israel. These Israeli sorties have continued even during the corona lockdown. There are now rumors that Iran is withdrawing from its positions nearest to Israel. We should not interpret this as any kind of victory since it is undoubtedly merely a strategic withdrawal allowing Iran to redirect its military resources in a different way, particularly to the cyber war against Israel.

On the night of April 24th, six of Israel’s water and waste water treatment facilities were subjected to a cyber attack which has been identified as coming from Iran. The attack was largely foiled by our cyber security forces and caused no interruption in water services, but it represents an escalation in the cyber war, since it targeted civilian infrastructure, and this is considered a red line. A few days later a major port in Iran was attacked by hackers and this is being blamed on Israel. An Israeli cyber expert and former senior defense official told Al-Monitor (2) that it  “was a first-of-its-kind attack and they were not far from inflicting human casualties”.

Less than two weeks later Iran’s major port, the Shahid Rajaee terminal in Bandar Abbas, suffered a massive cyber attack which many have attributed to Israel. This port which handles 60% of Iranian trade was “paralyzed for at least three days, with most of its computer systems crashing, lengthy lines of trucks observed outside its gates and a giant traffic jam of vessels blocking entry from the sea” according to a senior Israeli intelligence source (2). An anonymous Israeli cyber expert expressed the opinion that “Someone used a sophisticated cyber weapon prepared well in advance for D-Day…This was not a spur-of-the-moment draw. It activated strategic cyber weaponry that reflects the capabilities of a cyber power and was prepared in advance for an all-out cyber clash. Someone wanted to convey a clear message that included a warning, a deterrent and a display of capabilities. It seems to have succeeded.”

A few days ago, on the eve of Jerusalem Day, hundreds and some say even thousands of Israeli websites were hacked. Victims opened their screens to find a faked video of Tel Aviv being bombed and the words in Hebrew and broken English saying ” Be ready for a big surprise“, and “The countdown of Israel destruction has begun since a long time ago” and more threatening phrases with links to anti-Israel YouTube videos (3). This attack was carried out by an international group of hackers who call themselves the “Hacking Saviours”. No government or military websites were affected, but many businesses and private individuals were affected.

This latest cyber attack was attributed to Iran by some but according to cyber security expert, Noam Rotem in an interview with Calcalist (4) “Defacement attacks are considered the lowliest type of hacks and there exists a range of automated tools to deflect them. There is little technical knowledge needed to conduct them and often they are carried out by teenagers…Such attacks have little value beyond propaganda and should be taken in proportion. There is very little likelihood that this rudimentary attack is part of a significant, state-backed effort.” Other cyber security experts seem to agree that this was a very rudimentary attack carried out by amateurs intent on harming Israel and probably not linked directly to Iran, but it is symptomatic of a paradigm shift in the nature of modern warfare, which threatens not only Israel but the whole world. It is an especially attractive method of attack for terror organizations and states which may not have powerful armies, the arms or finances to carry out more conventional attacks. Israel is investing massive amounts of money and personnel into fighting this cyber war.

The corona virus crisis has revealed our modern civilization’s vulnerability. Not only did a tiny, invisible virus bring us all to our knees but have you thought what would have happened, and still could, if something were to destroy the internet? How many of us enjoyed keeping in contact with our family and friends, doing our shopping or carrying out our jobs using the internet while under lockdown? What would happen if the internet, or even our electricity supplies, went down? The world would simply grind to a halt. We have come to depend on electricity and computers for just about everything from our water supplies, our food growth and distribution, transport, trade and medicine. It would not take much to destroy civilization as we know it.

The current corona virus epidemic sweeping the world has brought many people literally to their knees in prayer. I want to share with you this beautiful song sung by Messianic believers Yair Levi and Shai Sol, and which is based on the prayer of Moses for his sister, Miriam, when she was struck down with leprosy (Numbers 12:13) ” Al na refa la” (God, please heal her). It goes on with the words ” az nithazek v’nitrape” (Then we shall be strengthened and we will be healed). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CISaQO5sdQ. This song has swept the world and been sung and translated into many languages. I feel it has a special anointing on it and it expresses our deep need and longing for God to heal the world. Yair said this about the response to the song, “Getting so many messages from people all around the world is incredible. If I have the privilege to spread prayer around the world, to me it’s just crazy. When people from all over the world translate and sing a prayer for health, it feels like it is literally the end of times.”

SHELANU – A MESSIANIC TV CHANNEL IN ISRAEL

There is much darkness in the world but I want to end with a report of a ray of light in that darkness. Miraculously, and I mean that very literally, a Messianic TV channel has been permitted to broadcast in Hebrew on Israel’s main cable television service, Hot. This would have been unthinkable just a few years ago but here it is broadcasting the gospel in Hebrew, a sign of the changing attitudes and increasing openness in Israeli society. Of course there is a kickback and much controversy is raging in the Press (5) with many up in arms because of its perceived evangelistic intentions. Some powerful organizations and people are attempting to have the Broadcasting Authority revoke its permit to broadcast, claiming that it is aiming to proselytize minors (which is illegal in Israel). Please pray this channel, called Shelanu (Ours), will be able to continue to broadcast freely and also pray that the content of the programming will be doctrinally and theologically sound, and present a clear and correct gospel message in a way that will reach many hearts.

REFERENCES:

  1. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ry8M8ZlqI
  2. https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/05/israel-us-iran-mike-pompeo-aviv-kochavi-cyberattack-port.html https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/cyberattack-on-israeli-websites-says-countdown-to-destruction-has-begun/
  3. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3825492,00.html
  4. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3825571,00.html
  5. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/10/israel-threatens-to-pull-evangelical-christian-tv-station-aimed-at-jews https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/preaching-about-jesus-is-who-we-are-were-christians-says-god-tv-627578

DEADLY RAINS

January 11, 2020 /
Image result for tractors rescue nahariya
A military truck evacuates residents through a flooded road in the northern city of Nahariya, on January 8, 2020. (Meir Vaknin/Flash90)
https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2020/01/F200108MVFF03.jpg

Its definitely an evening for staying home – for those of us who made it home that is. Tonight I am so very grateful for my cosy, warm and, above all, dry home. My only problem is the cat who is bored and desperate to go outside. Every few minutes he demands to go out but when I open the door for him, he takes one look at the freezing rain and heads back inside. Now he is trying to destroy my computer, and I just found my earphones swimming in a glass of water. He is driving me crazy!!!! Does anyone want a cat?

3D Printing?

Israel is once more battling a severe winter storm, our second in the last week. Last Saturday heavy rains fell along the coast, and in some places as much as 80mm fell in the space of 2 hours, totally overwhelming the drainage systems. Thousands of vehicles, homes and businesses were flooded in south Tel Aviv. Four people died, two who were swept away by flood waters and two who were trapped in an elevator that flooded in south Tel Aviv.

Yesterday (08/01) the rains came back and dumped around 100 mm in a short time in the region of Nahariyah and Haifa causing serious flooding. Heavy runoff from the interior hills and surrounding areas added to the problem. The floods there claimed one life. Motti ben Shabbat (38), who together with two others had successfully rescued three people from a drifting and overturned car, was swept away himself. Some hours later searchers found and recovered his body from the sea. The normal emergency services were dealing with thousands of cries for help and were just not able to reach everyone, so volunteers with tractors and 4x4s came, many from neighboring Arab communities, to help evacuate children from a school, a kindergarten and the many commuters trapped by the floodwaters. Some heavy diggers ferried people, men, women and children, even babies, across the floodwaters in their scoops. Some of the people had been waiting 4-5 hours for rescue. A woman with 6 small children was rescued from her flooded home by a neighbor with a kayak. Eventually the army arrived with heavy vehicles to help stranded people.

Image result for tractors rescue nahariya
A man escapes his car
https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/01-9.jpg

Today (09/01) the rains have continued to fall, spreading southwards and causing serious flooding in the city of Ashdod and the towns and settlements in that area. In Kibbutz Emunim 100 school children had to be rescued from a school completely surrounded by flood water. It is still raining and it is expected to continue until tomorrow afternoon. It is not so much the quantity of rain that has fallen but the fact that it is falling in heavy downpours over short periods of times and this just overwhelms the drainage systems. Although localized floods are not uncommon here, Israel has never before experienced flooding on this scale.

Flooding in Nahariya ()
Flooding in Ga’aton Avenue in Nahariya yesterday
https://i1.wp.com/besttv232-ynet-images1-prod.cdn.it.best-tv.com/PicServer5/2020/01/05/9701790/970177932811665640360no.jpg?zoom=1.2999999523162842&w=640&ssl=1

Here in the Jerusalem area we have been spared the very heavy rain and flooding, although it has been raining steadily for the last 24 hours, and we could still get some heavy rain overnight. It is very cold and the nighttime temperature has been hovering around the 4 degree mark. If the temperature were to drop just another degree or two the rain could turn to snow, but this is not expected at this time.

The good news is that the rains have filled the rivers and streams in the Golan and Galilee and as a result the Sea of Galilee has risen some 80 cm over the last month, and over a meter since the rainy season began, and there is still a lot more water flowing into it. It rose 23 cm just yesterday. There is also a good meter of snow on the higher reaches of Mt Hermon which when it melts in spring will also flow into the Sea of Galilee. News is just coming in that the country has broken a more than 50-year old record for rainfall in the northern part of the country. In the northern coastal plain and Western and Upper Galilee some 400 mm (16 inches) of rain has fallen in the last two weeks alone, with some areas reaching 450 mm (18 inches), well in excess of annual averages https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-breaks-50-year-record-for-most-rainfall-613693

It is now Shabbat (11/01) and I am glad to say the sun is shining. The rain petered out yesterday and now we are busy drying out. I have just done the rounds of my house spraying all the mold with this amazing Israeli invention which you just spray on and in minutes all the mold disappears. You don’t even need to wipe it up. Once again God has blessed the world through his people Israel (Genesis 12:3 “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”) Sadly there will be much need for this product as those with flooded homes and businesses set about cleaning up.

TO STOP A WAR OR TO START ONE?

The weather has given us a perhaps welcome distraction from the tension in the Middle East. Last weekend (03/01) the USA assassinated Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s most powerful military general. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of the PMF, also known as Hashed al-Shaabi, and Mohammed Reza al-Jaberi, the protocol officer and the head of public relations for the group, were also killed. The PMF (Popular Mobilization Forces) is an Iraqi sponsored umbrella organization comprising some 40 different militias, formed in 2014 to coordinate the protection of Iraq from the Islamic State forces.

After the assassination of Soleimani, the US Department of Defense issued the following statement:

“At the direction of the President, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel by killing Qassem Soleimani. General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more.”

President Trump then made a statement that “We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war“. You can see his whole statement on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HmtWkAV49w

Only time will tell whether this act will stop a war or start one!

Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Quds Force. (picture-alliance/dpa/Leaders Official Website)
General Qassem Soleimani
https://www.dw.com/en/qassem-soleimani-timeline-of-events-following-iranian-generals-assassination/a-51910195

What is certain is that Iran could not just let this assassination pass unavenged. In a culture of saving face, revenge is always required. This last weekend Iran fired 15 missiles at US military bases in Iraq. No American or other personnel were injured or killed. It is hoped that this will satisfy the ‘need’ for revenge but there are many other extremist militias which might also desire revenge.

As the missiles were being fired off a Ukrainian passenger plane crashed as it was taking off from Tehran, killing all 176 people on board, including 82 Iranians, 57 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, as well as nationals from Sweden, the UK, Afghanistan and Germany. Initially the crash was blamed on a technical malfunction, but this morning (11/01) news is coming in that Iran has admitted the plane was downed by an Iranian missile, the result of ‘human error’.

In view of this embarrassing and tragic incident, and the somewhat tame acts of vengeance for Soleimani’s assassination, Iran may feel the need to assert itself again in order to save face. However, as stated in Ynetnews, ” It would be wrong to consider the Islamic Republic weak or underestimate its military strength – its supreme leader made a calculated choice not to put Trump’s resolve to the test this time” – and he has a reason. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rJg64YVeI

Iran has repeatedly threatened to attack Israel should the situation escalate. We have lived so long with the spectre of Iran’s threats hanging over us we are not easily moved by such rhetoric, but we are nevertheless watching the situation closely. Israel has so far not played any part in this unfolding series of events, and is trying to maintain a low profile, but PM Netanyahu did make a statement supporting Trump’s action.

Two weeks before the assassination of Soleimani, Iran, Russia and China carried out joint military exercises over 4 days. This is of great concern. We can no longer see Iran as an isolated nation. It has two very powerful allies and we would do well not to underestimate this coalition. Iranian Rear Admiral Gholamreza Tahani said in a televised speech, “The message of this exercise is peace, friendship and lasting security through cooperation and unity … and its effect will be to show that Iran cannot be isolated. ” ( https://citizentruth.org/russia-and-china-display-solidarity-with-iran-in-recent-joint-military-exercises/ ). One cannot help but wonder what these three powerful nations are planning.

Many people see these events as possibly leading to World War III or the great apocalyptic battle of Gog and Magog prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39. If one looks around the world today it is not hard to be shaken by the events taking place, floods, fires, wars and rumors of wars. I think we would all be wise to take Jesus’ words, quoted below, seriously, and not allow ourselves to react hysterically to these things or to be troubled unduly, but to weigh them soberly and with caution.

And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Matthew 24: 4-8

NEW WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY

Two days ago Israel unveiled a new technology that can shoot down incoming missiles, rockets, drones or anti-tank missiles. It would work alongside the existing iron dome technology to protect the civilian population, as well as being used in military confrontations. One of the big advantages of a laser technology is that it needs only a supply of electricity to work, and keep working, whereas stockpiles of anti-tank missiles are limited. In addition it would cost only a few dollars to fire the laser beam off. Each firing of an Iron Dome missiles costs around $US15,000 . According to the Ministry of Defense this new technology is a ‘game changer’. https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israels-Defense-Ministry-announces-breakthrough-in-laser-technology-613568

https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/SJ3Ea5meI lazer techno

DEFENSE REVIEW OF 2019

The IDF has released its annual review of defense matters for 2019. According to this report Gazan terrorists fired some 1295 rockets at Israeli civilians in 2019. Of the missiles fired, 729 landed in open areas, and Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted another 478, about 85% of those coming towards built up areas. This is the highest number of incoming missiles since the 2014 Gaza War. On the other hand terrorist activity in the Palestinian controlled areas of the West Bank has decreased. In 2019 there were just 51 terrorist attacks recorded in the West Bank and Jerusalem area as opposed to 76 attacks in 2018 and 75 in 2019 and 141 in 2016. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HySwzLygI

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274040

TOURISM BOOM

The year 2019 was a record-breaking year for tourism in Israel, with over 4.5 million tourists, and increase of 10% from the previous year and a 55% increase from three years ago. According to Aliyah and Integration Minister Yariv Levin, “We have received more than NIS 22 billion from tourism, and created more than 13,000 new jobs, resulting in a total of more than 150,000 jobs created due to the influx of tourists”. https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Record-45-million-tourists-visited-Israel-in-2019-613161 Most of these tourists visit Jerusalem while here. The population of Jerusalem is only around 1 million so this means that for every Jerusalem resident some 4 tourists visit our beautiful and fascinating city visit! No wonder our roads and services are being stretched to their limits. Much work is being done around the city to increase accommodation options, and solve the problems of transport, and this in the short term is causing much inconvenience and stress to us all.

ISRAEL EXPORTS NATURAL GAS

The discovery of large natural gas reserves off the coast of Israel in the last 20 years has opened the door for the export of gas to neighboring countries. On 2 January Israel signed a contract with Greece and Cyprus to construct a gas pipeline to Europe from Israel. This would ease Europe’s dependence upon Russia for its supply and provide a lucrative market for Israel’s gas. Needless to say Turkey is not happy to have been bypassed by this agreement. Israel has been exporting natural gas to Jordan since 2017 and plans to begin export to Egypt by mid-January https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/BJYroan0H . The Israeli government is also encouraging the use of natural gas domestically and power stations are switching from coal and oil to the far less polluting natural gas.

O JERUSALEM!

Finally I want to finish by reminding us all of God’s love for Israel and Jerusalem in particular. I grew up on a farm and often saw a mother hen calling her chicks under her wings when she perceived danger. For me this is a very powerful image and one dear to my heart.

Delusions and Drones

August 31, 2019 /

Today is the last day of August and the last day of the school holidays for more than two million Israeli children. The almost traditional start-of-the-school-year teacher’s strike has been staved off this year at the last minute, and one can almost hear the sigh of relief uttered by parents across the land. I am not so sure about the teachers.

Terry Wise comic
https://www.israel21c.org/back-to-school-israeli-style/

THE ‘GAME’ OF DRONES

This summer has seen the rise of a new style of warfare in the Middle East – the war of the drones. I don’t mean the kiddies toy or the camera drones, but drones equipped for military purposes. Cheap and easy to build, drones can fly low, evade radar and heat sensors, are difficult to spot visually and are almost silent. These weapons are already being used not only by national military forces but also by terrorist organizations including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria. Such weapons are capable of causing much damage and loss of life in a conflict situation. The Jerusalem Post put it this way, ” What started as a child’s toy has turned into a strategic weapon in the hands of militaries and non-state hostile actors across the skies of the messy Middle East.
From the crowded cities of Beirut and Gaza to the sandy deserts of Yemen and Iraq, weaponized drones have brought a whole new assortment of security threats to the forefront and have raised the stakes in the tensions between Israel and its enemies (1).

Israel too has drones of its own and for some time now has been using them to fight against the incendiary balloons flown into Israel from Gaza and to drop tear gas canisters on rioters at the border.

IDF soldier with drone that intercepted incendiary balloon from Gaza (Photo: Reuters)
IDF soldier with drone that intercepted incendiary balloon from Gaza (Photo: Reuters)
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5318598,00.html

Israeli companies have also been working on countermeasures to detect and shoot down drones. One recently unveiled by the company Smart Shooter is the SMASH2000 which attaches to military rifles and enables anyone to be able to track and very precisely shoot down a fast moving target on land or in the air, such as a drone (1). However a spokesman for the company, Dr Abraham Mazor, pointed out that “The threat of drones is a multilayer threat…There is not only one kind of drone that we have to defeat; there are many kinds, in terms of height, weight, velocity; and therefore there is no one solution for the threat posed by them” (1).

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are busy building up their drone arsenal and have already sent attack drones into Israeli territory. In May last year at least three drone attacks were made on Israeli towns in the south. None caused damage or injury but explosions were heard and fragments found. It is thought that this was probably a practice run for a larger planned attack in the future. It is feared the drones could attack Israel’s Iron Dome batteries, military bases or civilian towns. They can carry explosives and gas canisters. A drone dropping a chlorine gas canister could bring about multiple fatalities in a built-up area for example.

On Thursday (22/08) an Iranian UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), or drone attack from Syria was repulsed by Israeli forces. According to the IDF spokesperson, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, Iran’s Qud’s Force, part of the Revolutionary Guards had been preparing the attack for several months and had sent four Iranian drone operators to Syria to control the UAVs during an attack on northern Israel. Each drone was to carry several kilograms of explosives and crash into Israeli targets, serving as unmanned suicide bombers, or “kamikaze drones”. Fortunately for us, Israeli intelligence had discovered the plot and has been keeping track of the operation. Conricus did not explain how Israel had foiled the attack (2).

The following Saturday (24/08) Israeli aircraft attacked an Iranian military targets in the village of Aqraba, southeast of Damascus, where the drone operation was centered, killing at least 5 people including Hezbollah terrorists and at least one Iranian official (2).

The next day two drones crashed in Beirut, Lebanon. One exploded and damaged the Hezbollah Media Center and killed two Hezbollah terrorists. Hezbollah claim these drones were launched from Israeli gunboats, but the IDF has not commented. Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is nevertheless threatening to carry out a revenge attack, intending to kill at least 2-3 Israelis, within 72 hours, according to the Kuwaiti Al Rai newspaper and reported by the Israeli News Channel Arutz 7 this morning (3,4).

Broken windows are seen on the 11-floor building that houses the media office of Hezbollah in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, August 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/troops-in-north-gird-for-possible-reprisal-attack-after-hezbollah-threat/

The IDF believes that Hezbollah does not want to start a war with Israel at this time and will limit its attack to military targets. As a result Israeli forces in the north have been on high alert all week and all leave for soldiers in the region cancelled. The movement of military vehicles within a 5 km distance from the border has been limited and there are unconfirmed reports that IDF vehicles containing mannequins dressed in army uniform have been placed along the border presumably to confuse Hezbollah operatives (5). Civilians have been instructed to go about their daily activities as normal.

Although neither side wants a war only time will tell if this situation will escalate or not. Netanyahu has threatened dire consequences if even one Israeli soldier is as much as scratched.

DELUSIONS

Against this background of growing tensions between Israel and its enemies, Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran, President Trump has announced his intention of unveiling his ‘peace plan’ for Israel and the Palestinians, either before or after (he has said both on different occasions) the Israeli elections on September 17. This announcement came the same week Trump identified himself as both the “King of Israel” and “the Chosen One” (6). Trump is suffering from delusions of grandeur and sees himself as the savior of the world. I am very concerned that many Christian and Messianic believers (and others) here in Israel are enamored of Trump because of his pro-Israel stance, including the moving of the US Embassy to Jerusalem. Whilst I am grateful for Trump’s support for Israel, I am concerned about his Messianic delusions and his perception of himself as the savior of the world. I don’t usually comment on political matters but at the risk of becoming very unpopular I feel the need to speak out. I feel we need to exercise great caution in whom we support. Jesus warned us of a period of deception in the end times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzlxrPC_E_U

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 

Matthew 24: 3-5

I don’t think many Israelis or Palestinians believe that peace is possible at this time. Just this week PA Prime Minister, speaking at the Jalazone Refugee Camp, threatened ‘we will enter Jerusalem as fighters by the millions‘ and that all the Israeli settlements and houses ‘will disappear, by the will of Allah’ (see video). This is our ‘partner for peace’?

Interestingly Abbas claims that the Palestinians are the descendants of the Canaanites, and therefore the land belongs to them. He should be aware of God’s judgment on the Canaanites. God called Abram to the land of the Canaanites and told him that He would give him this land. However when Abram arrived the iniquity of the Canaanites was not complete and the Israelites were sent into Egypt for 400 years until the time was ripe for the destruction of the Canaanite peoples (also referred to in the Bible as Amorites).

God said to Abraham, “Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God”.

Genesis 17:8

Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it… Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.  And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.  Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.  But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Genesis 15: 7, 13-16.

God allowed the Canaanites ( sometimes called the Amorites in Scripture) to remain ‘until their iniquity was complete’. By identifying themselves as Canaanites (even though this claim has no historical basis in reality) the Palestinians may be sealing their own fate. How long will God allow the Palestinians to remain in the Land? Is their iniquity yet complete? Not yet, but it is getting close!!

APARTHEID STATE?

Having said that, many Palestinian Arabs are quite happy to live in Israel and cannot be counted as enemies. Living in the Jerusalem area I brush shoulders, quite literally, every day with my Arab neighbors. People who accuse Israel of being an apartheid state have no idea what they are talking about. In Israel Arabs, Jews and others shop in the same shops, swim in the same pools, use the same hospitals and buses and visit the same public toilets – a far cry from the Apartheid of South Africa. Everyday relationships between Arabs and Jews are usually friendly and helpful. Yesterday, for example, I had occasion to go to the after-hours medical clinic where I was received very warmly by the Arab receptionist and treated by an Arab doctor and nurse. Afterwards I traveled to the neighboring Arab town to fill my prescription. I was grateful to have Arab neighbors since Shabbat was about to start and all the Jewish pharmacies were already closed. For the same reasons thousands of secular Jews flock to eat in the excellent restaurants in this same Arab town on Shabbat. When I go shopping in my local supermarket I often see Jewish customers chatting warmly to the Muslim Arab lady who cuts the cheeses in the deli section. Yesterday I visited a Jewish friend in hospital. An Arab nurse directed me to her room. Another Arab nurse brought her her medicine. The other patient in her room was an elderly Arab woman. Her visitors greeted me and introduced themselves in a very friendly manner. It was an Arab family who helped me find my way to the exit afterwards. It just shows that at a grass-roots level peace is possible. It is really only a minority who want terrorism and war, but sadly they are the ones we hear about most. Here is an interesting video made by an Israeli-Arab Muslim woman :

References:

  1. https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/New-system-allows-soldiers-to-eliminate-drones-with-one-shot-600118
  2. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/267875
  3. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/268155 https://www.dw.com/en/israel-on-edge-after-syria-strikes-lebanon-drone-attack/a-50175246
  4. https://www.timesofisrael.com/troops-in-north-gird-for-possible-reprisal-attack-after-hezbollah-threat/
  5. https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Is-the-IDF-deploying-dolls-along-the-Lebanese-border-600086
  6. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/21/trump-press-conference-greenland-jewish-democrats

PEACE PLAN?

July 9, 2019 /

One thing you can never complain about when living in Israel is boredom. There is never a dull moment around here. So much has happened over the last couple of weeks I don’t know where to start. Perhaps a good place to begin is with the Word of God, for it puts things into a proper perspective. This is what I read this morning:

Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
    it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
 Praise the Lord with the harp;
    make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
 Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully, and shout for joy.

For the word of the Lord is right and true;
    he is faithful in all he does.
 The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of his unfailing love.

 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
    he puts the deep into storehouses.
 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the people of the world revere him.
 For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.

 The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
    he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
    the purposes of his heart through all generations.

 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people he chose for his inheritance.
 From heaven the Lord looks down
    and sees all mankind;
 from his dwelling place he watches
    all who live on earth—
 he who forms the hearts of all,
    who considers everything they do.

 No king is saved by the size of his army;
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.
 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save.
 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
 to deliver them from death
    and keep them alive in famine.

 We wait in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
 In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you.

Psalm 33 (my emphasis)

So here goes….

IRAN

It never ceases to amaze me how, just when I think matters are so tense they are about to explode into violence, events increase the tension even more. How tense can things get? When will we get to the breaking point?

In my last blog I wrote about the attacks on the oil tankers in the Gulf. Since then, tension between Iran and the USA has ratcheted up another notch or two. On June 19 Iran shot down an unmanned military drone belonging to the USA using a surface-to-air missile system. This RQ-4A Global Hawk is not the sort of drone you might see your neighbor’s kids playing with. It has a wingspan larger than a Boeing 737, is valued at around $US 110 million, and at the time of the attack was patrolling the Straits of Hormuz at an altitude of 22,000 ft. Iran claims this drone had violated Iranian air space but the USA denies this, saying it was shot down over international waters in the Straits of Hormuz (1). We will probably never know the truth, but this was no doubt a very dangerous incident and could have triggered all-out war. Indeed the following day a USA attack on Iranian military positions was only 10 minutes from being carried out, planes were in the air and ships in position, when the US President Trump suddenly called it off (2). Why he did so I am not sure, but news sources say Trump suggested that the shooting down of the drone was carried out by a ‘loose and stupid‘ Iranian officer without authorization from Teheran (3). That seems unlikely to me but rather a face-saving way of avoiding the consequences of attacking Iran. In any case, war was avoided on this occasion, but tensions continue to mount. This Monday, Mojtaba Zolnour, chairman of Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, in comments carried by the Mehr news agency, stated that “If the US attacks us, only half an hour will remain of Israel’s lifespan” (4).

On Monday this week Iran announced that it had passed the 300kg limit of low-enriched (3.67%) uranium set by the 2014 Nuclear Pact and the following day, Tuesday, it further stated that it would now enrich uranium to a 7% level, beyond that needed for electricity generation or any other legitimate use, but still below the 90% needed for a nuclear bomb. Yesterday, President Rouhani of Iran said in a cabinet meeting ” On July 7, our enrichment level will no longer be 3.67 percent. We will put aside this commitment. We will increase (the enrichment level) beyond 3.67 percent to as much as we want, as much as is necessary, as much as we need”(5). Trump responded in a tweet saying ” Be careful with the threats, Iran. They can come back to bite you like nobody has been bitten before! “. This ongoing war of words reminds me of a kindergarten argument but these ‘tots’ are armed with rather more than some plastic blocks!

SYRIA

Meanwhile in Syria the situation is also tense. Last Sunday ( 30/06) it was reported that all four of the Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft missile batteries were already operational near the town of Masyaf in northern Syria.

Satellite image of S-300 anti aircraft missiles in Syria (Photo: ImageSat International)
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5540547,00.html

Just hours afterwards, the Syrian London-based Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israeli jets and naval gunships attacked at least ten Syrian government targets, among them a research facility and Hezbollah bases, near the Syrian- Lebanon border, and that fires broke out as a result of the attack (6). They also claimed that 15 people had been killed including 9 foreign and pro-government militia personnel and 6 civilians including a baby. There were no Israeli casualties. An errant Russian-made missile fired by the Syrian air-defense system hit north of Nicosia in Cyprus (6). There were no casualties as the missile landed in an open area on a mountainside.

Israel, as is its long-standing policy, has not admitted to carrying out the attacks, but it has repeatedly made clear that it will not tolerate the buildup of Iranian-funded and equipped Hezbollah bases in Syria, and it has carried out many similar attacks in the past. The map below shows Iranian bases in Syria as of April 2018 (the yellow dots).

Iranian military presence in Syria (source: skynewsarabiya.com, April 30, 2018) https://www.memri.org/reports/reports-arab-media-iranian-bases-syria

BEN GURION AIRPORT

For about a month now aircraft operating in Israeli airspace have been experiencing disruptions in their GPS systems. According to the Israel Airports Authority (IAA), these disruptions do not endanger flights as pilots have alternative navigation systems they can use. Israeli authorities have been trying to find the source of these disruptions and fix them, but without success. At least some IAA officials are blaming Russia, saying it is a result of electronic warfare intended to protect Russian planes operating out of their base at Khmeimim Air Base in northern Syria (7). Russia is denying this, of course.

On Monday (1/07) Ben Gurion Airport had another incident to deal with. I turned on my TV mid-afternoon just in time to watch a Boeing 737, with 152 people on board, make an emergency landing. I didn’t breathe for a few minutes as I prayed fervently for their safety. Thank God the pilots managed to bring the plane down safely and all the people were disembarked without incident. The Bulgarian-owned plane had taken off from Cologne airport in Germany and afterwards rubber debris had been found on the runway. The Israeli Airports Authority was notified and the Air Force scrambled some fighter jets to check out the plane. They saw that the left rear tire had been shredded. This information would have helped the pilots know how to land the plane on the remaining 3 wheels. I am happy to say that the 100 or so ambulances and fire trucks that had been assembled at the runway were able to go back to their bases unused. The plane has since been discovered also to have problems with its radar system and has been grounded until repaired.

A Bulgarian charter plane makes an emergency landing at Ben Gurion Airport
https://www.timesofisrael.com/plane-that-made-emergency-landing-at-ben-gurion-reportedly-grounded-by-new-issue/

GAZA

The situation with Gaza is still up and down. Last week approximately 100 fires were started in Israeli territory by incendiary devices attached to balloons flown over from the Gaza Strip. On Thursday (27/6) alone some 30 fires were ignited, a record number in one day, since the ‘balloon war’ began over a year ago. The following day Israel and Hamas made yet another ceasefire agreement and this past week saw a drop in the number of incendiary attacks. On Friday (5/07) some 7000 Gazan rioters burned tires, hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers and two were caught crossing the border fence with a knife. Some 40 Gazans were reportedly injured in the Israeli response (8)

This seemingly endless tit-for-tat round of rioting, incendiary attacks, punishments and concessions is wearing thin, especially for the residents of towns and kibbutzim near the Gaza perimeter. Knesset Member Alon Shuster had this to say after a fire was ignited within his kibbutz, Kibbutz Meflasim, ” The fire has reached inside Kibbutz Mefalsim,… “Soldiers, security officials, firefighters and kibbutz members are working to put it out. But we get the impression that Netanyahu doesn’t care at all.” He added that “The resilience of the residents of the south will weather any challenge, but the neglect by the Israeli government has reached the point of criminal negligence, and it’s time that someone said so” (9).

I don’t think the current government is negligent or uncaring. However with elections looming in September it is unlikely they are going to take any drastic steps before then. What is more, the alternative is frightening – an all-out war with Hamas probably necessitating a ground incursion which would lead to massive casualties on both sides including civilian losses. No one is keen on such a scenario.

Yesterday (8/07) yet another terror tunnel stretching from Gaza into Israeli territory was uncovered, the 18th tunnel discovered since the end of the 2014 Gaza War, known in Israel as Operation Protective Edge. Together with the 37 tunnels destroyed during that war, this brings to 55 all the tunnels discovered so far. Imagine how many homes, hospitals and schools that could have been built with all that concrete! This latest tunnel was discovered during the construction of the 65 km underground barrier and sensor system being built around the Gaza Strip designed to prevent such tunnels from being built. This project, begun in 2016 and due to be completed by the end of this year, is costing Israeli taxpayers some 3 billion Israeli shekels ( = 1 billion US dollars) ( 10).

A picture taken in January 2018 of a destroyed Palestinian Islamic Jihad tunnel, leading from Gaza into Israel, near the southern Israeli kibbutz of Kissufim. (Jack Guez/AFP/POOL)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-uncovers-cross-border-attack-tunnel-from-southern-gaza/

TRUMP’S PEACE PLAN

This past week also saw the unveiling of the first phase of Trump’s Peace Plan for the Middle East, the economic workshop held in Bahrain. It would seem that the Plan is based on the idea that economic prosperity for the Palestinians would bring about peace. If so, it is doomed to failure. The root of the unrest in the Middle East is ideological and religious, not economic. This was highlighted by the refusal of the Palestinians to participate in the workshop, which they see as a US-Zionist conspiracy to end the political rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people (11).

The Plan heralded by the US as ‘the opportunity of the century’ was seen by the Palestinian leadership as an attempt to buy them off, and they called for other Arab states to boycott the workshop. Only two brave Palestinian businessmen attended and at least one of those was arrested (and later released) on his return home. Here in Israel, we have a saying ” The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity” – referring to the many occasions in which they could have attained a state of their own, and economic prosperity, but refused to compromise on their ideological and political demands. Massive amounts of money have been poured into Gaza and the West Bank. They should be the richest people on earth, but much of this money has been sunk into developing military weapons and infrastructure with which to attack Israel, or was diverted into the deep pockets of their leadership.

Some of you may know of Mosab Yousef, the son of Sheik Hassan Yousef, one of the co-founders of Hamas. Mosab defected from Hamas and became an informer for the Israeli Shin Bet for ten years preventing scores of terror attacks and assassinations, and later became a Christian believer. He is now living in the USA and he wrote the book, “Son of Hamas“, which I would highly recommend. This past week his younger brother, Suheib Yousef, also defected from Hamas and fled to an unknown location in Asia. Suheib had a senior position in Hamas and worked in Turkey gathering information which he said was “sold to Iran in return for financial assistance“. In an interview, broadcast on Israel’s Channel 12 news, Shueib said he had decided to leave Hamas because of its corruption. He also said that the Turkish branch of Hamas actively recruits people, including children, to carry out terror attacks in Israel. He added, “The goal of the attacks in the West Bank is to kill civilians, not for resistance, or Jerusalem, or liberating Palestinian land and not even because they hate Jews. They send these innocent people because they want to export the crisis [from Gaza] to the West Bank.” He called Hamas a racist terrorist organization that is dangerous for the Palestinian people. He also expressed revulsion for the corruption of the Hamas leadership. He said, “Hamas senior officials live in fancy hotels and luxury buildings, their kids are in private schools. They’re paid generously by Hamas, earning between $4,000 to $5,000 a month. They have security guards, swimming pools and country clubs. They eat in high-end restaurants, paying $200 for one course, while a family in Gaza lives on $100 a month.” He went on to criticize their double standards regarding the weekly “March of Return” protests at the Gaza border fence saying, “I want them to send their own children to carry out attacks” and ” Why doesn’t Ismail Haniyeh go to the fence to throw stones?” (12).

ETHIOPIANS PROTEST

On the evening of Wednesday last week at least 50,000 commuters were stuck for 5-7 hours in traffic jams caused by protesters blocking main arterial roads all over the country. These protests were a spontaneous uprising of the Ethiopian Jewish community expressing their anger at the racist targetting of their community by the police and discrimination against them in general. Many non-Ethiopians joined the protests and even many of the stranded travelers. The protests turned violent in places and 111 police, firemen and passersby were treated for injuries and 136 protesters arrested. At least one car was torched and many others damaged.

These protests were triggered by the shooting dead of a 19-year-old Ethiopian man, Solomon Tekah, by an off-duty policeman in the northern town of Kiryat Haim. The policeman saw three teenagers beating up a young boy and he tried to break up the fight. The attackers then turned on the policeman throwing stones at him. Fearing for his, and his wife and children’s safety, he claims he fired a shot at the ground to warn them off and the bullet ricocheted up and killed Tekah.

Since Wednesday there have been some protests and demonstrations but they have on the whole been nonviolent and have not disrupted traffic, largely because the family of the killed man asked protesters to refrain from violence, and respect the 7-day period of mourning for their son. Police also warned protesters they would take stronger measures if demonstrations became violent or disrupted traffic. While most Israelis have sympathy for the Ethiopians who are discriminated against in many ways and have suffered from unacceptable police violence against them, I fear that demonstrations of this kind will turn people against them even more. Furthermore, there is a large number of disaffected youth and anarchists who are only too happy to jump on whatever bandwagon they can find to cause trouble.

That said, this incident is being seen by the Ethiopian community as just the last of a long line of incidents of racism and brutality, carried out especially by the police, against the Ethiopian community in recent years. Some such incidents have been caught on video and widely circulated. Public Security Minister, Gilad Erdan, condemned the intolerable violence by some of the demonstrators, but also said that the protests were “an explosion of pain and rage by teens and many young people who truly feel that they have no future here, and that they are judged by the color of their skin.” He also said “I listened this week for hours to young people from the community and heads of organizations. Their words broke my heart. Talented young men and women, eloquent and erudite, told me of many expressions of racism and humiliation they’ve faced in every step of their lives: In school, in the army, in the job market and yes, to my great sorrow, in police treatment of them as well” (13).

Racism is rife in Israeli society, something that shocked me deeply when I first arrived, given the history of the Jews. On one hand it is not surprising in a society made up of immigrants from all over the world. We all come bringing our own prejudices and attitudes towards the other. I can remember moving into a Yemenite neighborhood, the first ‘Anglo-Saxon’ (as English speakers are known here) to live there. It was not long before a ‘spy’ was sent in, ostensibly to borrow a green pepper. When I saw her inspecting my kitchen closely I asked her what she was doing, she said: ” We thought your house would be much dirtier“. She then told me they believed that ‘Anglo’ homes were filthy. There may be some truth to this claim in their eyes since Yemenite women typically keep their homes spotless and often wash the floors several times a day. I certainly do not do that! We had a good laugh and ended up friends, but it reinforced to me how we all have our prejudices.

The Ethiopians who immigrated to Israel in the 80’s and 90’s have been the target of much discrimination, not the least because they are easily identifiable by the color of their skin. They came mainly from primitive villages in the countryside and were largely uneducated and illiterate. They also tended to be quiet-spoken, unassuming and somewhat passive, contrary to the outgoing, noisy and often aggressive Israelis. This put them at a severe disadvantage economically and socially. Although many young Ethiopians have succeeded admirably becoming doctors, lawyers, reaching high posts in the army and in politics, others are still struggling to integrate. Unemployment in the Ethiopian community is around 13%, three times the national average and on average Ethiopians earn about 1/3 less than the national average (14). Israel must work harder to eradicate these inequalities, and remove the prejudices if we are not to explode from within. We have had a succession of governments that have failed to deal with the many serious social issues within Israeli society. I hope and pray that the September elections will bring in a government that will take these matters seriously.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES

There have been three significant events in the world of archaeology in Israel this past week or so. First, archaeologists broke through the final wall opening up the now-subterranean ‘pilgrimage road’ which Jews in ancient times used to walk from the Pools of Siloam to the Temple Mount (15).

US Ambassador to David Friedman (L) speaks during the opening of an ancient road at the City of David archaeological and tourist site in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem on June 30, 2019. (Tsafrir Abayov/AFP)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-envoys-hammer-through-ancient-east-jerusalem-path-dug-under-palestinian-homes/

Secondly, the DNA analysis of bones from the ancient Philistine city of Ashkelon confirms the belief that the Philistines were of European origin (16).

Philistine remains in Ashkelon
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/265474

Finally, today it was announced that archaeologists have found and identified the ancient Philistine city of Ziklag (17). Ziklag was one of the cities granted to the tribe of Simeon within the territory of Judah (Joshua 15:31, Joshua 19:5). When David fled from King Saul he took refuge with the Philistine King Achish in the city of Gat. King Achish then granted the city of Ziklag to David and David dwelled there one year and four months.

So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. Now the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months.

I Samuel 27: 6-7

From Ziklag David raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites, and consequently the Amalekites attacked Ziklag and burned it, taking captive all the inhabitants including David’s two wives (I Samuel 30:1) After consulting the LORD, David pursued the Amalekites and succeeded in freeing all the captured people and they returned to Ziklag. David was in Ziklag when he heard the news that King Saul was dead (II Samuel 4: 10). In the book of Nehemiah Ziklag is listed as one of the cities in which dwelt some of the people of Judah who had returned from the Babylonian exile (Nehemiah 11:28).

Pottery assemblage from Khirbet a-Ra’i, which archaeologists have identified as biblical Ziklag. (Excavation expedition to Khirbet a-Ra‘i)
https://www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologists-say-they-found-town-where-future-king-david-took-refuge-from-saul/

SOME SHORT NEWS ITEMS

Traffic Woes.

From 12 July the old Highway 1 entrance to Jerusalem will be blocked for at least 3 years. Traffic will be diverted to other routes into the city. In the long term a new entrance via a tunnel from Motza connecting with Begin Boulevard is hoped to ease the current bottleneck but until construction is complete we are going to experience even more disruption to traffic flow than we are already subject to (18).

Rebuilding Mevo Modiin

A fire on 24 May this year destroyed 40 of the 50 homes in the settlement of Mevo Modiin, also known as the Carlebach Moshav. It was founded by Shlomo Carlebach, popularly known as the ‘singing Rabbi’ and was a haven for Orthodox religious musicians, artists and ‘free spirits’. The fire now believed to have been caused by nationalistic (Palestinian) arson also burned homes in the neighboring Kibbutz Harel, and around 2000 acres of national parkland and public land. The affected people, 60 families, have vowed to rebuild and both the Jewish Agency for Israel and Jewish Federations of North America are offering immediate emergency assistance to the families. In addition the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews said it will provide up to $5,000 in assistance per family (19).

A woman surveys what remains of her home in Mevo Modiin.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/digging-through-the-charred-wreckage-of-the-carlebach-moshav/

‘Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob,’ says the Lord,
‘Nor be dismayed, O Israel;
For behold, I will save you from afar,
And your seed from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet,
And no one shall make him afraid.

Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured;
And all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
Those who plunder you shall become plunder,
And all who prey upon you I will make a prey.
 For I will restore health to you
And heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord.

Jeremiah 30: 10, 16-17

References:

  1. https://www.procon.org/headline.php?headlineID=005449 https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/20/middleeast/iran-drone-claim-hnk-intl/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/25/middleeast/iran-drone-shooting-capabilities-npw-intl/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/20/us/rq4a-global-hawk-drone-intl/index.html
  2. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/20/world/middleeast/iran-us-drone.html
  3. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/20/iran-us-drone-attack-trump-response
  4. https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-official-if-us-attacks-israel-will-be-destroyed-in-half-an-hour/
  5. https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-warns-iran-nuclear-threats-will-come-back-to-bite-you/
  6. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5540547,00 http://www.timesofisrael.com/15-said-killed-9-of-them-foreigners-as-israel-strikes-iranian-sites-in-syria/ https://www.timesofisrael.com/satellite-intel-firm-syrias-entire-s-300-air-defenses-likely-operational/
  7. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/265174 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-says-gps-mysteriously-disrupted-in-its-airspace-but-planes-secure-1.7413357 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/russia-responsible-for-gps-disruptions-in-israeli-airspace-army-says-1.7415700 https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israeli-airspace-suffers-weeks-of-GPS-disruption-source-unknown-593762
  8. https://www.timesofisrael.com/7000-protest-on-gaza-border-after-latest-understandings-between-israel-hamas/ https://www.timesofisrael.com/7000-protest-on-gaza-border-after-latest-understandings-between-israel-hamas/
  9. https://www.timesofisrael.com/gaza-incendiary-balloons-spark-dozens-of-fires-in-southern-israel/
  10. https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-uncovers-cross-border-attack-tunnel-from-southern-gaza/
  11. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2019/06/palestinians-denounce-deal-century-manama-event-190624132107671.html
  12. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/265552
  13. https://www.timesofisrael.com/manslaughter-charges-said-off-the-table-for-policeman-who-shot-ethiopian-israeli/
  14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA9dTt2pybY
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHJFIBUQkbA
  15. https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-envoys-hammer-through-ancient-east-jerusalem-path-dug-under-palestinian-homes/
  16. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/265474
  17. https://www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologists-say-they-found-town-where-future-king-david-took-refuge-from-saul/ https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Biblical-city-of-Ziklag-where-King-David-took-refuge-found-594955
  18. https://www.timesofisrael.com/entrance-to-jerusalem-to-close-in-july-exacerbating-traffic-woes/
  19. https://www.timesofisrael.com/digging-through-the-charred-wreckage-of-the-carlebach-moshav/
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