What Are Israel’s
Best Medical Advances? After the Sheba
Medical Center in Ramat Gan was named in the top 10 medical centers in the
world, we wanted to reflect on some of the best medical advances produced by
the Holy Land in recent years. Argo Medical Technologies’ ReWalk robotic
exoskeleton has gained huge media attention for allowing paraplegics to walk
and run, and it was even used in the London and Tel Aviv marathons. In addition
to being featured in the TV show “Glee,” the ReWalk Rehabilitation model currently
is used by patients in rehabilitation centers across North America and Europe.
There is also a model for
everyday
use, known as the ReWalk Personal, and it is currently available throug-hout Europe and awaiting FDA clearance in the United
States.
The PillCam is
still to date one of Israel’s most well-known and successful medical devices.
Created by Given Imaging, the pill which is swallowed contains a small camera,
making it an easier and less invasive form of an endoscopy and can detect disorders
of the GI tract. Nano Retina’s Bio-Retina, a tiny implantable device
inserted into the retina in a 30-minute procedure, turns into an artificial
retina that melds to the neurons in the eye. Activated by special eyeglasses,
the device transforms natural light into an electrical impulse that stimulates
neurons to send images to the brain. The prototype is advancing quickly through
clinical trials.
Further developments are expected to be
made in the fields of listening devices and dry eye treatment. In 2007, Audiodent developed an innovative hearing aid that clips
easily inside the mouth, using the teeth and jawbone to transmit sound to the
brain – improving sound quality enormously, particularly in loud places.
Looking at the future of medicine in Israel, Yaacov Nitzan
of WhiteSwell has raised $30 million in funding for
the treatment to remove excess fluid from lungs and other organs. The process
uses a catheter and is minimally invasive, to treat acute decompensated heart
failure (ADHF). London-based duo Yosi Romano and Ziv Leinwand’s new product called
Brizi, is set to revolutionize air distribution for
children’s prams. The built-in extractor pushes out unwanted air and passes
only clean air to the baby in the pram, something that is well targeted for young
parents and children in busy cities. (INN)
‘A Good Year for the Israeli Economy’: PM Benjamin Netanyahu on 31 March 2019 received the Bank of Israel 2018 Annual Report from Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Amir Yaron. “I am pleased to present you with the Bank of Israel 2018 Annual Report," Yaron told Netanyahu, noting, "This was a good year for the Israeli economy, which is in a good situation. The report reviews many aspects of the Israeli economy, monetary policy, social benefits and the balance of payments, as well as short-range fiscal challenges and opportunities to improve long-term growth.” PM Netanyahu said that he was "pleased to hear it. The economy is in a good situation because our policy is good. We reached a unique achievement in which unemployment is at an all-time low and wages are rising rapidly. This combination is unusual and not self-evident, but it is a great achievement.” (INN) Source: Vision for Israel, PO Box 7743
Charlotte, NC 28241
“I Love Israel!” – Brazil’s Firebrand President
in Tel Aviv: For his
first trip outside the Western hemisphere, new Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro chose to visit Israel, where he was welcomed by
PM Netanyahu and a full honor guard on 31 March 2019. Bolsonaro
is often referred to as the "Donald Trump of Latin America." He and
the USA leader have more in common than just right-wing ideology. Both are also
friends with Netanyahu... Much of Israel's foreign policy successes in recent
years rests on his personal relationships with leaders like Trump and Bolsonaro. Would Trump have moved the USA Embassy to
Jerusalem or officially recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights
if Netanyahu weren't at the helm? Maybe, but maybe not.
It can be argued that the centrist and
left-wing candidates vying for the premiership would have been far more
apprehensive about making such requests of the Americans. Netanyahu, by
contrast, is intimately familiar with the broad support, especially from
Christians, that Israel enjoys in both the USA and Brazil, and knows how to
leverage that support to score major diplomatic achievements.
Majority of
Israelis See Healthy Arab-Jewish Relations
- Eytan Halon
In
a survey published April 4th by online magazine Sicha
Mekomit, 76% of Arab respondents and 53% of
Jewish respondents said that, in their daily lives, relations between Jews and
Arabs are largely positive. Just 13% of Jews and 6% of Arabs said they did not
have sufficient contact with the other population group to answer.
When Arab respondents were asked whether they recognized a
Jewish people alongside the Palestinian people, 94% of Arabs answered approvingly.
46% defined themselves as Arab-Israelis, 22% said they were Arabs, 19% said
they were Palestinian-Israelis and 14% defined themselves as only Palestinian.
(Jerusalem Post)
Palestinian Authority Simultaneously Incites,
Refutes Terror
by Jo
Sarah Stanford, 3 April 2019
Palestinian
Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas spoke of peace when he met with students
from Harvard University last week. Yet mere hours earlier, his deputy, Mahmoud
Al-Aloul, gave a speech praising a terrorist who murdered
two Israelis last month. This once again highlighted the PA’s blatant hypocrisy
to refute and incite terror simultaneously—crafting their message to fit their
audience.
The students from Harvard met with Abbas at
the PA presidential headquarters in Ramallah. Abbas spoke in Arabic, with his
comments translated into English, telling the students he believes in “peace
and security for everyone,” reported the Jerusalem
Post.
He spoke of his desire to see a Palestinian
state—but only through peaceful means. “We will not choose any way to achieve
our rights other than negotiations,” he claimed.
However, the Palestinian Media Watch
(PMW—an Israeli media watchdog group) was quick to point out the hypocrisy in
Abbas’s seemingly heartfelt claim. The PMW report released Tuesday showed a
video of PA Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul speaking
at the hometown of 18-year-old Palestinian terrorist Omar Abu Laila. Laila shot
and killed two Israelis in March—Sgt. Gal Keiden, 19,
and Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, 47-year-old father of 12.
Two days later, Laila was killed while resisting arrest. Al-Aloul
praised Laila for his actions, calling him a “martyr” and a “self-sacrificing
fighter.” He said the terrorist “represents all young Palestinians.”
Abbas himself also incites violence and hatred
against the Jews—when he is speaking to his own people and not the Western
media. “We bless every drop of blood that has been spilt for Jerusalem…” he
declared on Palestinian national television in 2015. “Every martyr will reach
Paradise and everyone wounded will be rewarded by Allah.”
Under the “Pay-to-Slay” scheme, Abbas also
provides large stipends to those who commit violent acts against Jews. This
comes at the expense of providing basic necessities to the Palestinian people,
including medical care and paying the long overdue salaries of government officials.
Yet
to the Harvard students who visited he said, “I do not like war, and I do not
believe in war…I would prefer to build a school than to purchase a tank, and
I’d rather build a hospital than buy a fighter plane,” reported the Jewish Press.
Nan Jacques Zilberdik,
a senior analyst at PMW called this “a well-rehearsed modus operandi in the
Palestinian Authority.” The PMW has documented a long history of hypocrisy and
duplicity within the PA leadership...
Source:
(Bridges for Peace, April 3, 2019)
Netanyahu Promotes "Principle of Victory" https://www.meforum.org
In an interview on
April 9th on Galey Israel radio
with Daniel Seaman, director of Middle East Forum (MEF)-Israel, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu promoted his "principle of victory," the latest
example of MEF's Israel Victory Project changing the conversation in Israel. In
this interview, the Prime Minister joins the ranks of dozens of Israeli and
American political, military, social, media and academic influencers MEF has
engaged with who subsequently endorse and adopt Israel Victory.
"My vision
[of Israel victory]: no concessions... Everything I do, I do from a position of
strength. Great strength and power," said Netanyahu. "Israel will
survive, and already flourishes and thrives as a result of a policy of
strength." The Prime Minister cited the U.S. recognition of Israel's
sovereignty over the Golan Heights and Brazilian president Javier Bolsonaro's visit to the Western Wall as recent fruits of
this principle.
Netanyahu
continued to articulate his point that Israel must achieve victory vis-à-vis
the Palestinians stating, "Only with strength and power... [only] by
standing up for our rights," can Israel win its war against the
Palestinians. "This is the 'principle of victory' that I promote," he
said.
When asked why
Israel can not defeat Hamas, Netanyahu said: "I strike Iran and Syria with
all our power... Trust me, Abu Mazen [Palestinian
Authority president Mahmoud Abbas] would be very happy if we went in [to Gaza]
and did the dirty work for him, putting at risk the blood of our soldiers. We
are prepared for that, of course, but not for his sake."
"The Israel
Victory Project started with an original idea by Daniel Pipes, developed over
many years, and a campaign launched in 2017," said MEF director
Gregg Roman. "Throughout history, conflicts end when one side wins and the
other gives up, its will to fight extinguished. This principle should be
applied to Palestinian-Israeli arena. Now, we have begun to build a paradigm
change in Israel: first Israel victory, then peace."
Last month, new
Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi ordered Israel's defense establishment
to plan for "winning a clear, decisive, irrefutable victory in the next
war it fights." Lt. Gen. Kochavi was appointed
by then Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who noted at the time that,
"Victory is ... the most important value" in choosing Israel's next
army chief.
The Israel Victory
Project promotes the principle that a Palestinian defeat is a precondition to resolving
the Arab-Israeli conflict. This means ditching the "peace process" in
favor of Israel imposing its will on its enemies...
Moshe Feiglin
and the Third Temple
Moshe Feiglin,
head of Israel’s Zehut party said:
“I don’t want to build a (Third) Temple in one or two years, I want to build it
now,”… “To build the Temple I need support, I can’t do
it alone.”
For the first time ever, an Israeli
politician has had the temerity to publicly declare what, for more than 2,000
years, the Jewish people have prayed for: build the Temple now.
The maverick Zehut
party is steadily gaining traction in the polls under the banner of Jewish
rights in the Holy Land, much to the chagrin of their left-wing opponents. A Temple
Mount agenda is built into his party’s platform which calls to move government
facilities to the Temple Mount and give the Chief Rabbinate authority over the
site. Many have said that this is an ex tremist
position which will lead to war, but Shmuel Sackett, co-founder of the party
and one of its candidates for the Knesset, refuted these claims.
“Building the 3rd and final Temple in Jerusalem
has been the dream of Jews for more than 2,000 years. The goal of the State of
Israel is to bring about the ful-fillment of the
Jewish dream and not the destruction of it,’ Sackett told Breaking Israel News.
“We must educate the world as to the beauty of that dream and to the wonderful
peace it will bring. Not every dream can be realized immediately but we must do
what we can to move closer to that reality.”…
The party’s manifesto includes canceling
agreements with the Palestinians, making Arab-Israeli citizens pass a loyalty
test and offering financial incentives to them to emigrate elsewhere if they
refuse to accept Jewish sovereignty over the land. He has also called for
Israel to annex the West Bank as a conflict solution.”
God says:
“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being
gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily
unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or
by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already
come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until
the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to
destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is
called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple,
proclaiming himself to be God.” (
II Thessalonians 2:1-4)
Editor's Note: The passage
above tells us that the future Beit HaMikdash (Temple) must be rebuilt before
the return of Yeshua and the "Rapture." Also, the man of lawlessness
(the Anti-Messiah) must make his appearance before these events take place.
In 165 BCE, Antiochus Epi-phanes desecrated the Second Temple. It was re-consecrated
in 162 BCE. It was the same Temple that Yeshua attended in His life-time.
Therefore, it is conceivable that the same Temple that is desecrated by the
future anti-Messiah will be re-consecrated and used as the future Millennial
Temple during the Messianic reign of Messiah Yeshua. RAC
Israeli-German Partnership for a Future Moon
Colony
In
the previous issue of Petah Tikvah we had a
fictional article about Jews colonizing the moon. John Sanocki
of Pennsylvania sent me an article published by the Jewish News Service,
authored by Ya'akov Lappin describing cooperation between two giant Israeli and
German companies for the development of an actual colony on the moon. Israel
Aerospace Industries and Germany's OBH Systems AG signed an agreement for the
development of a moon colony.
Initially, unmanned landers will be sent to
the moon to test out technologies for producing oxygen, water, and other
materials from lunar soil. These technologies will be needed for eventual
long-term human colonization on the moon. Eventually the moon colony might be a
gateway for travel to Mars. Israel Aerospace Industries and Israel's SpaceIL are cooperating to develop lifts to the moon much
cheaper and dependable than current technologies provide. Israel is joining the
exclusive club consisting of the United States, Russia, and China, which have
sent spacecraft to Earth's nearest neighbor.
Jewish Visits to the Temple Mount
Over
the last seven years, Jewish visits to the Temple Mount have increased from a
paltry 2,000 visitors in 2004 to 30,000 in 2018. Those numbers still pale in comparison
to the amount of Jews who opt instead to pray at the
Western Wall every day, but it is a noticeable shift in what Israel calls the
Status Quo. The Western Wall is for Jewish worship and the Temple Mount is for
Muslim worship.
Whatever the motivation for increased numbers
of Jews visiting the Mount, be it curiosity or compulsion, the shifting
demographics on the Temple Mount have created significant Palestinian
agitation. As recent history has proven: episodic reigns of Palestinian terror
are best incentivized by rumors of Jewish plots to destroy Al-Aqsa Mosque. Source: Jerusalem Connection
By Jerusalem Online
They
are not Jews, but they have been propelling U.S. policy in the Middle East
toward Zionism for decades. White evangelical Christians are one of the most loyal
voting blocs to U.S. President Donald Trump and a key factor in the president’s
constant backing of Israel.
Trump Congratulates Netanyahu on
Election Victory: USA President Donald Trump, who gifted PM Benjamin
Netanyahu with recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights just
two weeks before the elections, congratulated Netanyahu on his elections
victory. “I’d like to congratulate Bibi Netanyahu, it looks like that race has
been won by him." Trump called Netanyahu a “great ally” and “a friend,”
and characterized the campaign as “a well thought out race.” Trump
also said that Netanyahu's re-election will improve the chances of peace in the
region. “The fact that Bibi won means we’ll
see some pretty good action in terms of peace.” he said. “Everybody said, and I
never made it a promise, ‘you can’t have peace in the Middle East with Israel
and the Palestinians.’ But I think we have a chance, and I think now we have a
better chance with Bibi having won.” (J.Post)
‘No Fishing’ Sign Submerged in Kinneret's
Rising Waters: A no-fishing sign
accustomed to a low Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) was photographed completely
submerged, as the blessed rains this year continue to fill Israel's freshwater
lake. Each additional centimeter in the Sea of Galilee is 1.7 million cubic
meters, equivalent to one billion, seven hundred million liters, or 374 million
gallons of water. It comes out that for every centimeter the Kinneret rises, an
individual could take a continuous shower for 2,776 years. Since the beginning
of the rainy season, the lake has risen by about three meters. The Kinneret has
to rise another three meters to be full. (INN) Thank you to all who have prayed for an abundant rainy
season in Israel this year. The waters are flowing and hills and fields are
carpeted with wildflowers. “May He be like
rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.” Psalm 72:6
Netanyahu Heads
for Record Fifth Term - Tom Gross
In the outgoing
Knesset the Likud had 30 seats. In the 2019 elections Netanyahu has increased
his vote significantly. Why did he do so well?
The Israeli economy is thriving; the security situation is
generally good (despite ever present concerns) and very few Israelis have died
from terrorism compared to past years; and Netanyahu's diplomatic achievements
are considerable (he has formed close working relations with the leaders of the
U.S., Russia, India, China, Japan and Brazil, among others - including, crucially,
several Arab leaders).
Israel is
the 13th Happiest country in the world, according to the UN World Happiness Report
2019. (By contrast the UK is 15th and the U.S. 19th.) Last month Israel was
ranked 10th in the Healthiest Country Index (America is No. 35). Last week the Lancet
medical journal found Israelis now enjoy the healthiest diet in the world. (Spectator-UK)
Israeli
Millennials Helped Re-Elect Netanyahu - Felicia Schwartz and Dov Lieber
Israel's young
people supported Netanyahu's Likud and smaller parties that help him form
governing majorities. Born close to or after the 1993 Oslo peace accords
between Israelis and Palestinians, and coming of age during a wave of violence
known as the second Palestinian intifada, Israel's millennials take a harder
line on security and peace than older generations. Netanyahu's pollster, John
McLaughlin, said, "They like his policies on security and the economy."
(Wall Street Journal)
Why Netanyahu
Keeps Winning - Aaron Kliegman
Western analysts
and commentators are lamenting Netanyahu's victory. "Some of us don't understand
why [the Israeli people] would keep reelecting Netanyahu. I certainly
don't," said MSNBC host Joe Scarborough. He then asked what
Israelis see in Netanyahu that the rest of the world does not.
In Israel,
the most important issue is always security. For Israelis, their vote could
mean the difference between life and death in a way that most people in the
West cannot understand. The world's only Jewish state is located in a region
where most governments do not recognize its right to exist and have no qualms
about killing Jews, or about watching others kill them.
Directly
to the east, Israelis see the Palestinian Authority, which rewards terrorists
who try to murder them. To the south, they see Hamas, a terrorist group that
seeks Israel's destruction. To the north, they see Hizbullah,
which has 130,000 rockets pointed at them, and Syria, where the savage,
anti-Israel beast who runs the country has spent the last eight years
slaughtering his own people. And looming above, like a storm cloud, is Iran,
whose anti-Semitic regime is always working to drive Israel into the sea.
Netanyahu's views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are mainstream because
Israelis see how the Palestinian leadership repeatedly spit on, if not try to
cut off or blow up, their government's outstretched hand. (Washington Free
Beacon)
What Happens to
Palestinians Who Demand a Better Life?
Khaled Abu Toameh
Mohammed Safi,
27, lost his eyesight while being held in a Hamas prison. His crime: participation
in demonstrations calling for an end to the economic crisis in Gaza and protesting
new taxes imposed by the Hamas rulers. Safi's family says he lost his eyesight
under torture by Hamas security forces.
Safi's
case serves as a reminder how Palestinians living under the Palestinian
Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza suffer from repression, corruption
and bad government. The PA and Hamas tolerate no criticism and arrest political
opponents almost on a daily basis.
Had Safi
headed towards the border to hurl bombs and rocks at Israeli soldiers, he would
have been hailed as a hero by his Hamas leaders. Safi simply chose to speak
truth to power and place the misery of the Palestinians in Gaza squarely at the
feet of Hamas. He paid dearly for that choice. (Gatestone
Institute)
How Palestinians Could
Become "Collateral Damage" of Iranian
Extremism -
Dr. David L. Charney
Recently,
Maj.-Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, commander of the
Iranian Army, stated that Iranian forces were working to "annihilate Israel"
and "raze Tel Aviv...to the ground." Iran's drive to develop nuclear
weapons poses a number of problems.
There is abundant research and evidence that the
after-effects of a nuclear detonation, depending on how many kilotons, will
produce total devastation within a radius of 10 miles. Added to that are lesser
but also extreme destructive effects that will widen the radius of impact to
25-50 miles. Because Palestinian population centers are so close to Israeli
population centers, even with perfectly accurate targeting, a nuclear bomb is
highly likely to annihilate nearby Palestinian civilian populations, too.
Virtually
all Palestinians, whether living in the West Bank or in Gaza, or even in
Jordan, would become "collateral damage" of Iran's master plan to put
an end to Israel's existence. Aiming at Tel Aviv but actually hitting the West
Bank would represent only a 3% targeting error. How much confidence should
Palestinians place in Iranian science to feel safe and that they would be
spared? Not to mention the risk that Islam's third holiest site, the Dome of
the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, would also likely cease to exist.
And since Gaza is only 45 miles away from Tel Aviv, similar concerns would apply.
Adopting
stern policies removing Iran's option of deploying a nuclear bomb against
Israel simultaneously saves the entire Palestinian population from becoming
collateral damage of Iranian extremism. The writer is a practicing psychiatrist
in Washington. (Jerusalem Post)
Israel to the Moon: Work on Beresheet 2.0 Has Begun
Ryan Jones www.israeltoday.co.il 4/14/19
Putting his money where his mouth is, SpaceIL chairman Morris Kahn, the South African-born
billionaire who provided much of the funding for the Beresheet
project, announced over the weekend the immediate launch of project Beresheet 2.0.
"We started something and we need to
finish it. We’ll put our flag on the moon," Kahn said during a Saturday
appearance on Israel's Channel 12 News. "Project Beresheet
2 begins tomorrow… A mission team will be meeting tomorrow to start work.
...This is also a good lesson for the youth. I said that if you fail you need
to get up and try again and this is an example I have
to give them."
Israel's Beresheet
lunar lander came tantalizingly close to successfully executing a soft landing
on the moon. A sensor failure several kilometers above the moon's surface
resulted in the main engine cutting out. Control room engineers were hampered
in their effort to quickly restart the engine by a temporary loss of communication
with the craft. By the time they were able to restart the main engine, Beresheet was only 150 meters from the surface and falling
too fast.
Even so, as the heads of
NASA noted in subsequent statements and tweets, this group of Israelis
had managed to inspire the world by launching and nearly completing the first
privately-funded and operated mission to the moon.
Editor's Note: It is interesting that in the previous issue
of Petah Tikvah, we ran an article about Jews on the Moon. Then a
month later, an Israeli spacecraft almost landed safely on the Moon.
However, Israelis aren't afraid of failure. They learn from their mistakes and
try again! Even getting as far as they did was an amazing achievement.
Female
Muslim Braves Threats To Serve In IDF Infantry
Battalion
by Bat-Chen Epstein Elias, Israel Hayom
When Cpl. N., who serves in a mixed-gender infantry battalion, heads out on arrest operations in nearby Palestinian villages she usually talks to the locals in Arabic. N. is a 19-year-old pepper pot. She’s opinionated and knows what she wants. She is an observant Muslim who prays five times a day, and during the Ramadan fast mostly takes night shifts. She is an infantry soldier in the Lions of the Jordan Valley Battalion, which operates in Judea and Samaria and clashes with area Palestinians.
“I don’t stop to think that these people
are Arabs like me,” she says in fluent Hebrew. “I always tell myself that they
brought this situation—in which they are facing Israeli soldiers—on themselves,
and I perform my mission as I need to. It doesn’t matter where I come from and
who I pray to every day, or what I wear when I go home on leave. When I’m on a
mission I need to carry it out, in order to protect my friends, my country.
That’s why I enlisted,” she says.
Before she heads out on leave to her home
village in northern Israel, she dons civilian clothes and affixes her hijab,
the traditional headscarf that covers her hair and neck. She cannot return home
for the weekend in uniform or carrying her military-issue weapon.
“There are some people in the village who
realized that I’m in the army and started to threaten my family with violence,”
N. says sadly. “They tried to physically attack my family, and that’s scary.
Even though my parents support me, every time someone threatens them they take a step back. I was raised to love people, no
matter what their religion or beliefs.
She says she has also been threatened by
male Arab soldiers, who said they would harm her if she didn’t leave the army.
They were removed from her unit. But she says she has also received much
support from the others in her unit, as well as from battalion commander Capt.
Roni Avital and company commander Lt. Gal Yosef.
The corporal has plenty to say about people
who look at her askance. “If I listened to everyone who wasn’t supportive, I
wouldn’t have made it this far. I wouldn’t be dreaming of a career in the military.
I think that Arabs need to think not only about what the country can do for
them, but also about what they can do for the country.
“We need to take a look at ourselves, because
we live here, and if we want our rights, we need to do something, and one thing
to do is go all the way and contribute to the army. If we don’t fight together,
Arabs and Jews, we won’t have a country,” she says.
Consider
the Power of Intercession
Watchman
from Jerusalem, Chuck Cohen WFJ@IFI.ORG.IL
God's
nature does not change (Mal.
3:6; Jam. 1:17), yet He can change His mind and be persuaded
in response to prayer. If this is not true, then all the exhortations to prayer
and intercession in Scripture are fairy tales. Yet many times we read of God
seeking those who will stand in the gap before Him and plead for mercy in the
face of His divine right to execute judgment.
Ezekiel 22:30-31
relates that God seeks to find an intercessor prevailing in prayer before Him (Jam. 5:16-18), so
that He can display His attribute of mercy. But if no reason or intercessor is
found, His righteous judgment will be released. "I sought for a man among
them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me for the
land, that I not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore
have I poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of
My wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads," says the
Lord.
In Genesis
18:17, God questions whether He can hide from Abraham what He is
about to do to Sodom and Gomorrah. He knew Abraham would stand in the gap for
those wicked cities. While Abraham's intercession altered God's plan, yet there
were not enough righteous found to hold back God's judgment. It is eye-opening to read in Ezekiel 16:49 that the
first reason for Sodom's destruction was not sodomy – but pride! Today we have
Gay Pride parades and see an arrogant attitude of humanity against God.
In Exodus
32 Moses exhibits biblical intercession. Again
it is God who brings up the reason for His judgment on His people to Moses. If
God only wanted to destroy Israel for worshipping the golden calf, He would
have said nothing. After He tells Moses what He wants to do, He says,
"Leave Me alone!" (Ex.
32:10a AV) Imagine, the Creator of all saying to His
creature, "Do not interfere; move out of My way."
Moses must have sensed God was testing him
as he disobeyed and stood before Him, arguing that He must "repent" –
change His mind – about destroying Israel. Moses never cited Israel's sin or
made excuses for them. Instead, his prayer is focused on what would happen to
God's name, that is, His reputation, and to His promises. Seeking God's glory as
the goal of intercession always gets His attention – even if we do not always
get the answers we are asking for (Psa.
79:9-10; 115:1-3).
There are many other examples in the Tanach... And we see the same goal with the Lord Yeshua's
death on a cross – His mediation between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). We
deserve unmerciful judgments, but because the Father sent an intercessor to
stand in the gap for us, we are now recipients of His amazing grace...
Pelosi-Led
House Gives So-Called ‘Equality Act’ a Hearing
On April 2, the US House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Equality Act. This deeply misguided proposal would make sexual orientation and gender identity protected categories under federal civil rights law. Under the Equality Act, “discrimination” on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity would be unlawful in employment, housing, education, and public places. In essence, the Equality Act would make the same mistakes on the federal level that the State of New York made in passing the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA) in 2002 and the Bathroom Bill (GENDA) in 2019. The Equality Act states that “an individual shall not be denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual’s gender identity.” The bill would cause a wide range of problems, including:
Endangering women and girls by giving biological males access to homeless shelters for women and to women’s locker rooms and restrooms;-
Punishing public employees who decline to address “transgender” persons by their “preferred pronouns”;
Forcing employers to allow “transgendered” behavior in the workplace; and -
Punishing Christian-owned businesses that decline to provide services for same-sex ceremonies, such as catering to same-sex 'marriage.' -
Furthermore, concerns have been raised about whether the Equality Act would require boys that identify as transgender to be allowed to compete against girls in interscholastic sports.
Netanyahu Again on Time’s List of World’s 100
Most Influential People:
PM Benjamin Netanyahu recently won a fifth term as Israel’s prime minister and
on Wed. 17 April 2019 he was rewarded by Time magazine with inclusion for the
fourth time in a decade on its list of the world’s 100
most influential people. “Israel is Bibi’s nation,” Time columnist, David
French, wrote in a short piece explaining the choice and noting Netanyahu’s
recent reelection to a fifth term. “The reasons for his enduring appeal are
clear,” French wrote. “The Second Intifada undermined Israel’s political Left,
with fresh memories of suicide bombers rebuking the idea that there exists a
partner for peace. Ongoing rocket attacks launched by Hamas show that present
dangers are real. And Iran’s power and ambition signal that even two generations
after the Yom Kippur War, Israel can face existential threats.” French wrote
that in spite of the dangers, Israel is growing more prosperous and powerful,
with the elections showing that sufficient numbers of Israelis believe that
Netanyahu is not only partly responsible for that success, “but that he’s the
nation’s indispensable man". Netanyahu made the list in 2011, 2012 and
then again in 2015. He is one of only 27 people who have been on the list four
times or more. (J.Post) Source: Vision for
Israel, PO Box 7743
Charlotte, NC 28241
Editor's Note: Vision for Israel is a valuable source for
news. Barry & Batya Segal are the leaders of this
organization. They also do many charitable deeds among the poor,
Holocaust survivors, and new immigrants to Israel.
Yeshua
had no servants, yet they called Him Master.
He
had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.
He
had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.
He
had no army, yet kings feared Him.
He
won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.
He
committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.
He
was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today. Halleluyah!
Recent Massacres of Gun Violence
in Houses of Worship
In October 2018, a white nationalist rushed into the Tree of
Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and murdered 11 Jewish worshippers.
In March 2019, another white nationalist attacked two mosques in
New Zealand, killing 49.
In April 2019, Radical Islamists affiliated with ISIS attacked
three churches in Sri Lanka, as well as hotels frequented by foreign tourists.
Altogether, at least 253 people were murdered.
We condemn all attacks on houses of worship, as well as the
murders of innocent worshippers. The last (and worst) attack was done by
Islamic terrorists. People of different faiths worried that this might lead to
more "Islamophobia." One thing that would lead to less Islamophobia
would be less violence committed by Muslims. Israel has suffered from Islamic
violence for more than a century. Now the rest of the world is suffering from
Jihadi attacks.
We hear so much about Islamophobia. Why do we not hear
about Christianophobia? And how about Judeophobia?
After all, Christians and Jews are being persecuted or murdered, and in most
cases, the perpetrators are Muslims. Most of the terrorists happen to be
Muslims. Muslims are also responsible for the murders of most Muslims: Sunnis
vs. Shiites, etc.
Charles Gardner
www.israeltoday.co.il
Amidst all the unprecedented shaking of
our troubled world, especially in the wake of the terrorist attacks on churches
in Sri Lanka, it was wonderful to be reminded on Resurrection Day of the
greatest truth of all – that Jesus is risen! Not only that, but he is also
coming back in glory to judge the living and the dead.
We were attending a joyful Passover celebration
with friends in a community hall near Sheffield when this truth was driven home
afresh. It was explained that in Jewish tradition, when a guest who had left
the table for some reason wished to indicate that he was coming back to finish
off his meal, he would fold the napkin beside his plate. In the same way, when
the stone was rolled away on that first Resurrection morning, the burial cloth
that had covered Jesus’ head (also translated napkin) was folded up by itself,
separate from the rest of the grave-clothes (John 20.7), which was perhaps
another way of saying: “I am coming back!”
The emphasis of the entire Passover feast
was one of freedom, powerfully retelling the message of how the Jews were freed
from their slavery in Egypt through carrying out God’s instructions in daubing
the blood of a sacrificial lamb on the doorposts of their houses.
All the guests had done the same – figuratively-speaking
– by marking the blood of Jesus, the ultimate Passover Lamb, on their hearts.
The freedom from being enslaved by worldly passions felt by all of us was palpable,
and was also exuberantly expressed through music & dancing.
This is a freedom open to all who embrace
what Christ has done for us on the cross – including (name withheld for her
protection) who caused quite a stir when she addressed an Israeli congregation
in a black burqa with just a small opening for her eyes.
You could have heard a pin drop as she began
to tell her story: “I was born and raised in a Muslim country. The word Yehudi
(Jew) was instilled in me as a bad word, a cuss word. The Yehudi should not
exist… they should be killed. I never thought to question why.
“I was with my father on one occasion as a
crowd gathered and we were pushed to the front. I saw a woman tied up, sitting
on a box. A man pulled out a long sword and beheaded the woman. My legs were
shaking, my heart beating fast, and my father said, ‘If you don’t listen to our
teaching, this will happen to you one day.’
“I was a broken person. In my prayer time I
lifted up my hands and cried out to Allah for help. ‘Please help my father stop
beating my mother. Please help my father stop beating me.’ But no help came.
“Eventually our family went to America, and
when my grandmother died of a heart attack, I was devastated. I lost my best
friend. I was hurting so much only crying helped. A woman called Paula asked me
if I was OK, and I started to cry. She put her arms around me and gave me a
hug. Then she said, ‘Would you like to go to church with me?’
“When
I walked into this church I experienced love and
acceptance from these people like I never had before. For the first time in my
life I heard a message from the Bible. It was about Yeshua (Jesus), how he read
from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah: ‘The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor, to heal the broken-hearted, give sight to the blind, and to proclaim
liberty to the captive.’
“It was the first time I heard words of freedom
and healing. I was blinded with so much hatred and I was desperate to be freed.
I knew the decision to leave Islam was a big one. But I was desperate to know a
living God.
“On the day that I gave my life to becoming
a follower of Jesus I said, ‘God, forgive me. I did not know I hated your people.’”
And taking off her burqa, she announced to the congregation: “Now I don’t need
this anymore.”
She explained: “I love the Jewish people because
it is their God and their Messiah I’m following and he told me to love them.
This is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the nation of Israel is God’s
heartbeat.
“I had never heard about the Holocaust, and
now I meet with Holocaust survivors. I hear their stories and I share mine with
them, saying: ‘Your Messiah changed my heart; he rescued me and brought joy in
my life again. I am blessed.’”
Another reminder of the Messiah’s second
coming is the Golden Gate... The gate was
sealed shut in 1541 by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to prevent the much anticipated entry through this portal of the Jewish Messiah
(thus fulfilling the prophecy in Ezekiel 44:1-3). And to make doubly sure it
could never be fulfilled, the Turkish occupiers established a Muslim cemetery
in front of it, knowing that a Jewish priest would not be able to pass through
it.
Jesus is thought to have passed through
this gate on Palm Sunday, when he came down from the Mt of Olives and entered
the Temple (Luke 19.28-48). Once in the city, he said he would not be seen
again until Jerusalem recognises him as Messiah
(Matthew 23.37-39).
According to Zechariah 14:4, his feet will
one day touch the Mt of Olives after which he will liberate the city from her
slavery to sin and strife and bring lasting peace to both Arabs and Jews.
The Nikki Haley Interview That
Says It All by Phil Schneider
The first question is great and exposes the real self of Nikki Haley. Why did she leave the UN in the first place? She was super-popular. But she had tremendous clarity of mind when she made the decision to take a break. She artfully explains her motives for moving on from the United Nations. But, if you listen closely, you’ll realize that she is setting herself up for a major move on the national stage. When? When the Donald decides to move on or is forced to retire. That means 2020 or 2024. There is a very good chance that this proud leader will become the first woman to become President of the United States.
Nikki vs. the World at the UN
She
speaks the truth, and she says it simply in a matter of fact way. The way she
breaks down the Jerusalem Embassy issue is just a pleasure to listen to. She is
actually not very into self-promotion even when she promotes herself. She
doesn’t hide that she actually had little international experience when she
began her tour of duty at the UN. Haley will be perfectly positioned as the
person to continue the positive Trump policies without all of the baggage that
President Trump has. After 8 years of President Trump, the United States will
probably look for a more conciliatory candidate – even if the policies of the
Trump administration continue to prove effective and popular.
Why Israel?
When
Haley is asked to explain why Israel is so vilified at the UN, her answer is so
enlightening. First off, she explains that the main drive of so many countries
in voting against Israel is because of pressure from Arab countries who have so
much oil and wealth. But, she also points out that
even most of the Arab countries are not as anti-Israel as they seem. She
believes that the major issue that drives their attitudes is actually envy. Yes
– they are envious of the State of Israel. With this kind of understanding, she
has been able to move the norms of the Middle East discussion to one where
truth is the guiding hand, and not bias.
From
Hamas Rockets in Sderot to Antisemitic Gunmen in California
Israel
Today Staff www.israeltoday.co.il
An American-Jewish woman was tragically
killed, and the local rabbi and two Israeli congregants were wounded. Among
them was 8-year-old Noya Dahan,
whose face and leg was hit by shrapnel.
The girl's family had originally lived in
Sderot, where they came under regular Hamas rocket fire from the nearby Gaza
Strip. Noya's father, Israel Dahan,
told Israel Radio that their house in Sderot had been hit several times, and
that he had been wounded in a terrorist rocket attack. That situation had
prompted the family to leave Israel for California several years ago.
But on April 27,2019, the family realized
that they had "come from fire to fire," Dahan
told Israel Radio. "It can happen anywhere." Also wounded was Noya's uncle, Almog Peretz, who had likewise left Sderot for the perceived
safety of California.
Speaking to Israel Channel 12 News, Peretz recalled, "A person with a big rifle, (an AR-15
assault rifle), entered the synagogue and started shooting everywhere. At first we thought the ceiling had collapsed, but then I
turned around and saw he was aiming his weapon at me. There were many small
kids next to me. I took a little girl who was our neighbor and three nieces of
mine and ran. I opened the back door and we ran with all the children to a
building in the back. I hid them in that building. As I picked up the girl, the
terrorist aimed his weapon at me. I was shot in the leg."
Jim Sinkinson
Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME)
PO Box 3460
Berkeley, CA 94703
jim@factsandlogic.org
For
decades, the Palestinians have believed that time was on their side—that they
would eventually defeat Israel and drive the Jews out of the Holy Land. Yet
with each passing day, Palestinian leverage diminishes, to the point today that
a sovereign Palestinian state now seems barely a remote possibility.
As
Israel gains economic strength and global influence—U.S. News &
World Report just named it the world's 8th most
influential nation—the Palestinians sink further into hopelessness and economic
depression. This is only hastened by its incompetent dictatorships—Fatah in
Judea-Samaria (West Bank) and Hamas in Gaza.
When
the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993, the majority of Israelis supported plans
to make peace with the Palestinians, and specifically a two-state solution. In
2000 and 2008, Israeli prime ministers, with U.S. backing, offered the
Palestinians a state in about 98% of the West Bank and a capital in
Jerusalem—both of which offers Palestinian leaders rejected.
Today—following
two Palestinian Intifadas, in which some 1,300 Israelis were killed, and decades
of other murderous terrorist acts, with virtually no compromise offers by
Palestinians for peace—only 34% of Israelis support a two-state solution.
Clearly,
frustration with Fatah intransigence on peace, plus continued missile attacks
by Hamas, have driven Israelis to the right. Whereas the center-left Labor
party dominated Israeli politics for generations, Labor captured only 5% of the
seats in parliament in the most recent elections, while right-leaning parties,
led by Netanyahu's Likkud, took 65% of the seats.
Thus,
the two-state solution—leading to a sovereign Palestinian nation—is virtually a
non-starter in Israel. Today, 42% of Israelis support some type of annexation
of land in Judea-Samaria that is currently controlled by Israel.
In
June, the long-awaited Trump peace plan is due for unveiling. No matter what
its tenets, the Palestinians have already rejected it—so it's dead on arrival.
But the Trump plan, along with other initiatives already undertaken by the
Trump administration, plus major changes recently in the Middle East political
terrain, will change the global conversation about peace with the Arabs indelibly—no
matter which party wins the next U.S. election. The big losers in that
conversation are the Palestinians.
Beyond
the borders of the Holy Land, the greater Middle East has been rocked by two
Iraq wars, the Arab Spring fiasco, the Syrian civil war, the rise and fall of
al-Qaeda and the ISIS caliphate, and the ascendancy of jihadist forces Hizbollah, Hamas and nuclear-ambitious Iran.
While
the U.S. and Israel were willing to risk a corrupt and wobbly Palestinian state
in the early years of this century, that willing-ness has virtually disappeared
in Israel and seems increasingly scary to both the right and center of the U.S.
political spectrum.
Even
more important, Trump has effectively taken Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem
off the table, has finally stopped U.S. funding of Palestinian salaries for
terrorists, has stopped financial support of the Palestinian-jihad-sup-porting
UNWRA, has pulled the U.S. out of the ultra-anti-Israel U.N. Human Rights Council,
and blessed Israeli rule over the Golan Heights.
These
initiatives alone would suffice to move markers unalterably down the field—even
if some of them are upended or modified by a future administration. But now a
Trump peace plan will inevitably contain eminently reasonable offers of an
improved political and economic living situation for the Palestinians. Their
rejection of them will again expose their recalcitrance—and make it more
difficult for subsequent administrations to turn the clock back in future
negotiations.
The
lesson for the hapless Palestinians is clear, at least to everyone but their
leaders: Every refusal of peace with Israel, every delay in reaching a
compromise, every day longer they cling to the dream of expelling the Jews from
"Palestine" diminishes the possibility of independence, peace and
prosperity for the Palestinian people.
You
can't blame Israel for this sorry state of affairs (though the New
York Times will try), and you can't blame President Trump for it. History
is working against the hope of a Palestinian peace—and the Palestinians
themselves are working against it.
Next
time you see an op-ed or hear a friend blaming Israel or Benjamin Netanyahu for
the lack of a Palestinian state, I hope you'll speak up—clarify that it is
Palestinian choices alone that are responsible for their plight. They have, as
Israeli diplomat Abba Eban once suggested, never
missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Sadly, they've squandered
many, many that will never come again.