Showing posts with label 1948. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1948. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Friday, January 15, 2016

Rick Joyner's Prophetic Perspective - "America Must Stand With Israel"

Leigh Valentine with LTG Jerry Boykin



Rick Joyner's Prophetic Perspective -  
"America Must Stand With Israel"







America Must Stand With Israel
Leigh Valentine


Thursday, January 14, 2016

In this episode, Leigh Valentine appears as guest host on Prophetic Perspectives to interview LTG (Ret) William G. (Jerry) Boykin about Israel’s history and its significance in our times.



The Warrior's Soul by Jeremy Boykin




Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Israel – The One To Watch - Now Think On This Steve Martin

Israel – The One To Watch
Now Think On This
Steve Martin


"Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:32-35 NASU)


Jesus, the Messiah, spoke directly to His disciples when asked when the end of the age would come, along with His return. “As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3 NASU)

He then proceeded to tell them about the signs to be aware of - wars, rumors or wars, earthquakes, famines and other birth pangs.

But the one event that would be the determining factor in starting the countdown to the end of the age would be “the fig tree”. In our Scripture studies we have come to know that the fig tree represents the land of Israel, occupied by the Jewish nation. When the fig tree put forth its leaves, we would know that summer was near. Jesus said when this occurred He would then be right at the door, ready to come again.

In May of 1948, the historical, undeniable prophesy of Isaiah 66:8 was fulfilled. Israel became a nation in our time, with the newly declared Jewish nation taking its rightful place on the land.

"Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.”

So what’s the big deal about Israel, and the Jews, as the ones to watch? And why, as believers in the nations, should we Gentiles, part of the Church of Yeshua (Jesus) support and stand with this very small nation, having less than 15 million people?

In 1979 Laurie and I, still newlyweds after two years, were part of a church group in LaSalle/Peru, Illinois. The former Baptist pastors, Stan and Dixie Buren, had gathered a small group of charismatics around them. Many of the members were seeking to be more involved with a national Christian movement called discipleship. To better achieve that purpose, we were invited to a conference held by Shiloh Fellowship in East Lansing, MI. The gathering was at Mackinac Island, in the very north of the great state of Michigan. Laurie and I made the long trip, with our two boys, Josh and Ben in arms, along with a few other carloads.

As a young couple (24 and 20 years old) we were fervently seeking the Lord. We wanted, in our heart of hearts, to be right in the middle of what He was doing. We were going to do what it took to follow Him, trust Him, and see His will come, on earth as it is in heaven. We were strongly committed.

The name of one of the speakers, Derek Prince, was familiar to us. He was an author too. The magazine, New Wine, published in Fort Lauderdale, had regular articles featuring five Bible teachers on a monthly basis. They were Derek, Don Basham, Bob Mumford, Charles Simpson and Ern Baxter. Personally, I devoured the messages each month, appreciating everything that was written. Derek was one of my favorites of the five.

(To this day I have kept all the editions of the magazine’s publications since 1984. Dick Leggatt, an editor of the magazine over its life span, is now President of DPM-USA, Derek Prince Ministries. Thank you Dick. And eight years after that Mackinac Island conference, in 1987, I began my eight years of working for Derek Prince Ministries, with David Selby, International Director, as my boss. Thank you David!)

Derek spoke on the last night of the conference, Saturday, and shared a message based on a little pamphlet he had written. It was called “Our Debt To Israel.” The words, spoken straight forward, hit my heart. I knew there was something very special about what he was saying, and that I needed to understand it. For this I am eternally grateful, as he made the Bible’s words on the subject clear, as to why Israel.

Pointing out that the Bible itself was written and accurately kept over these several centuries, by God’s chosen people, the Jews, was the starting point. All of the writers - Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, Nehemiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah and more – were all Jews. Because of this reason alone we have a huge debt to the Jewish people.

But the most important reason of all, in regards to our debt to Israel and the Jewish people, is the historical fact that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, was, is, and ever shall be a Jew. He came down from heaven, God becoming man, to the nation of Israel two centuries ago, to bring salvation to the world, both for Jew and Gentile alike.

In our daily reading of the Torah, the Scriptures, the Bible, as believers, we can know and understand the Lord’s heart for the Jewish people, through which He came, and His everlasting love for them now. We can see the fulfillment of His promises of restoration to them, how He has brought them back to their rightful Promised and Holy Land. It is now our part of our debt payment to them, to stand with them to the end of time.

Having been to Israel 11 times as of this writing in October 2015, my heart for Israel and the Jewish people continues to grow in love and appreciation, with a firm, long standing commitment. Our ministry, Love For His People, founded by Laurie and I in April of 2010, monthly send financial and prayer support to Jewish families in the Land. We are always looking to do more, as God the Father directs.

Why Israel? Because without the Jews, which remain as God’s eternal choice to reveal Himself to the nations, we would not have had a Bible. Nor would we have a living Messiah/Savior.

The Word says that in the last days all the nations will again rise up against these whom have continually been blamed for everything that has gone wrong. Really? Well, it is about time that someone like us, as believers, prove them all liars, and that His eternal Word is true.

We are to stand for Israel - because the Lord God of Israel, Who sees them as the "apple of His eye" - stands for them. He has promised to protect and keep them in His care. He has proven this over and over again.

Why Israel? Because God said so. And that is certainly enough for me and my house. May your heart and commitment be to do the same.

God the Father Himself promised that He would take the offspring of Abraham, born through the promised son Isaac, and not Ishmael, and give them the Land of Promise.

“Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!" Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.

And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year." Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.” (Genesis 17:17-22 NKJV)

God the Father again reaffirmed His promise, this time to both Jacob and Joseph, descendants of Abraham and Isaac.

As written in the Torah (Bible), Genesis 48:1-4, “Now it came about after these things that Joseph was told, "Behold, your father is sick." So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. When it was told to Jacob, "Behold, your son Joseph has come to you," Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed. Then Jacob said to Joseph, " God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and He said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.' (NASU)

An e-mail circulated in 2013, and because of the accurate statements given, I wanted to share it with you. (Sorry, I do not know the original source, to give due credit.)

Benjamin Netanyahu was asked by a reporter about Israel's occupation of Arab lands. His response was, "It's our land." The reporter was stunned.

Please read below "It's our land..." It has important information, since fair and accurate reporting from the media is sorely lacking, and facts are often lost, or even lied about, in the jumble.

"Crash Course on the Arab Israeli Conflict"--compiled by a Christian university professor:

1. Nationhood and Jerusalem: Israel became a nation in 1312 BCE, two thousand years before the rise of Islam.

2. Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 BCE, the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.

4. The only Arab dominion since the conquest in 635 CE lasted no more than 22 years.

5. For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.

6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.

7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.

8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.

9. Arab and Jewish Refugees: in 1948 the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Sixty-eight percent left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier.

10. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.

11. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands is estimated to be the same.

12. Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own people's lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.

13. The Arab-Israeli Conflict: the Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won.

14. The PLO's Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land, autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them.

15. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.

16. The UN Record on Israel and the Arabs: of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel.

17. Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel.

18. The UN was silent while 58 Jerusalem Synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians.

19. The UN was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

20. The UN was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

Many times in Scripture the Lord God of Israel has promised, and made good on it, that He would return the Jews to their land.

In Amos 9:11-15 it is written:

“On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name," says the Lord who does this thing.

"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;  they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up.” (NKJV)

And again in Acts 15:15-18 it is written:

“And the words of the Prophets are in complete harmony with this for it is written, ‘“After this, I will return; and I will rebuild the fallen tent of David. I will rebuild its ruins, I will restore it, so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, that is, all the Goyim who have been called by my name,” says Adonai, who is doing these things. All this has been known for ages.’ (Complete Jewish Bible)

He has done it, even as He spoke through the prophets centuries ago. The Jews have returned to the Promised Land.

These are incredible times. We have to ask what our role should be. What will we tell our grandchildren about what we did when there was a turning point in Jewish destiny, an opportunity to make a difference?

We stand for Israel, and continually watch what the God of Israel is doing in the Middle East.

The Jewish nation has been the one to keep our eyes on, even as the “apple of God’s eye” is surrounded by her enemies. The nation of Israel’s prophetic destiny is unfolding before our very eyes.

So keep your eyes open wide and your ears attuned to the Holy Spirit.


Now think on this,

Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People. Inc.

P.S. We sure could use your help to bless the families we do in Israel, India, Pakistan, Vietnam and the hurting ones here in the USA. Please give out of the abundance you have been given.

In May, 2106, my wife Laurie and I will be traveling to Israel to spend time we our friends. We support them in word and deed.

Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA humanitarian organization started in 2010 to share the love of the Father in the nations.


If these messages minister to you, please consider sending a charitable gift of $5-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless families we know in Israel, whom we consistently help through our humanitarian ministry. Your tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.

Click here for safe ONLINE GIFT GIVING THROUGH OUR WEBSITE using major credit cards: Love For His People. If you don't have a PayPal account you can also use your credit card or bank account (where available). 

Contribution checks can be sent to: 
Love For His People, Inc.  P.O. Box414   Pineville, NC 28134

Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.)
Please share Now Think On This with your friends.

Email: loveforhispeople@gmail.com  
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Full website: Love For His People

Now Think On This #197 “Israel – The One To Watch” by Steve Martin 
Date: In the year of our Lord 2015 (10.27.15) Tuesday at 6:30 pm in Charlotte, NC

All previous editions of Now Think On This can be found on this Blog, and on the website: Now Think On This

I would be most grateful if you'd share this encouraging word with your family and friends. You can easily use the social media icons below. Thanks! Steve

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

The Truth About 'Disappearing Palestine' - ISRAEL TODAY

The Truth About 'Disappearing Palestine'

Tuesday, October 20, 2015 |  Tsvi Sadan  ISRAEL TODAY
The "Palestine" maps shown in the newsroom of MSNBC on October 17 represented what the pro-Palestine crowd believes to be the "disappearing Palestine." These maps, often seen at "free Gaza" demonstrations, are a gutter tactic aimed at manipulating the masses by fictitious visual aids. 
Following protests, MSNBC reluctantly apologized by saying that "in an attempt to shed light on the geographic context of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, we aired a map that was factually wrong." Even if sincere, this apology can't undo the impression these maps left on millions of viewers that pay little attention to the well-documented anti-Israel bias exercised by MSNBC.
The "disappearing Palestine" maps shrewdly misrepresent the word "Palestine," which until 1948 was a territory ruled by Great Britain. This is why from 1917-1948, people dwelling in Palestine – both Jews and Arabs – were given certificates identifying them as Palestinians. This is why Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir could say that "we [Jews] are all Palestinians. Want proof? I still have my old [Palestine] passport."
This is why "disappearing Palestine" actually represents the gradual British retreat from their original plan designating all of what is now Israel and Jordan for a Jewish state.

The map above shows how the British envisioned the borders of the future Jewish state in 1920. In an attempt to pacify its Arab allies, however, just two years later these borders were dramatically changed to what actually represents present-day Israel. The map below shows the new 1922 British borders designated for the Jewish state.


Dramatic as this change was, "Jewish Palestine" was reduced even further by the "partition plan" to roughly half the size of the 1922 borders. The map below shows the 1947 UN Partition Plan, where the white areas represent Jewish territory.

The Arab rejection of the Partition Plan sparked the 1948 War of Independence, which left the West Bank in Jordanian hands. The map below shows that the borders of Israel from 1948-1967 were slightly larger than those of the Partition Plan.

Following the Six Day War in 1967, the Jordanian West Bank, Egyptian Gaza and Syrian Golan Height were conquered by Israel. Following the 1993 Oslo Accord, Israel agreed in principal to shrink its borders once again back to those that existed until 1967, but instead of returning the West Bank and Gaza to Jordan and Egypt, respectively, a brand new Arab state would receive the land. The map below shows Israel's future borders in light green.

Palestinian/MSNBC propaganda says the exact opposite simply by misrepresenting Mandate Palestine as a Palestinian state that supposedly pre-existed Israel. If anything, therefore, "disappearing Palestine" represents nothing less than the disappearance of Israel. Since Arabic is written from right to left, the proper meaning of these maps becomes obvious. The yellow areas in the MSNBC map represent the envisioned gradual disappearance of Israel.

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Sunday, May 17, 2015

Cause for Israeli Celebrations: Coincidence or Divine Providence?

Cause for Israeli Celebrations: Coincidence or Divine Providence?


Are the blood moons a coincidence considering everything else that is happening around Israel right now?
Are the blood moons a coincidence considering everything else that is happening around Israel right now? (Reuters file photo )
Standing With Israel
This week, Israel celebrates two separate milestones of events that took place a generation apart, but which are interrelated and part of God's promise being played out before our eyes. Or maybe they are simply interesting coincidences. See what you think.
First, on May 14 1948, the day Israel declared independence, Israel's modern founding fathers anchored the rebirth of the Jewish state in God's promise, the voices of our prophets, and our history in a document that included this passage:
"The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books...
The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations ...
Placing our trust in the Almighty, we affix our signatures to this proclamation at this session of the provisional Council of State, on the soil of the Homeland, in the city of Tel-Aviv, on this Sabbath eve, the 5th day of Iyar, 5708 (14th May, 1948)."
Coming out of the ashes of the Holocaust, seeing the rise of the third Jewish commonwealth in the Land of Israel, might be miraculous enough.  Certainly, amid the catastrophe that befell the Jewish people in the first half of the 1940s, it might have been unimaginable to think that just years later, after the murder of six million Jews, the Jewish state would be reborn. I'm not sure anyone would have bet on it, but then again, it's never wise to bet against God.
Further miraculous, despite the horrors of the Holocaust, it's clear for thousands of years that God's promise to the Jewish people is, and always will be, valid. He never gave up on the Jewish people, and because he is faithful and does not break promises, He never will.  The simple reality of the Jewish people surviving and thriving over the centuries might not have been what any bookmakers would have taken bets on, but the reality is clear. 
It's not that the ensuing 67 years have been easy. We've lost almost as many victims to terror and war as the number of days since our independence. Sadly, that doesn't look to change any time soon. But then again, while we don't know what God has in store, I wouldn't be betting against Him, or us.
Then, in 1967, on the 28th of the Jewish month of Iyar, this year observed on May 17, God revealed He had more in store. Only two days into what would be a triumphant victory of the Six Day War, Israeli troops restored sovereignty to all of Jerusalem, which had been torn in two since 1949. The entire Old City including the religious sites of Judaism and Christianity had been occupied and desecrated by Jordan until that point.
Jews could only pray to pray at the Western Wall, much less ascend to the Temple Mount.  Access to Christian holy sites was limited. There was certainly no freedom of religion for Jews or Christians in the city of peace, founded by King David, that once housed Solomon's Temple, and in which Jesus worshiped and preached.
Was Israel's reunification of Jerusalem merely the product of superior military might or strategy? Was it just the triumph of wills by a people motivated by prayers for thousands of years to be able to return to and rebuild our capital city? Was it simply a coincidence? Or, was it an act of God, reminding us that His hand is in everything as he continues to fulfill His timeless promise?
While it is only a coincidence that these anniversaries fall only three days apart this year based on the solar (Gregorian) and lunar (Biblical) calendar, these events are certainly no coincidence. One could say, borrowing a baseball analogy, 1948 was making contact, and 1967 was the follow through. Now, we continue to watch the ball arching and sailing 400, 500 feet out of the park. I can hear the announcer, "Another home run for God, No. 1 on the winning team, leading the league once again, and always.  The crowd is going wild!"
It's no little thing that only under Israeli sovereignty that all faiths have access to their respective holy sites in Jerusalem with the one profound and glaring exception that non-Muslims are not allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. Not yet.
It's no little thing that Israel is the home of the persecuted Baha'i minority, and that it's the only country in the Middle East where Christians are not only not threatened, but are thriving, can worship freely and are increasing in numbers.
For the past few years, much has been said, written and preached about the Blood Moon phenomena, and how this year is the second of two in which there will be two consecutive blood moons, each falling out on the Jewish festivals Passover and Sukkot (Tabernacles), just like 1948-49 and 1967-68. Some claim to know what this means. I don't. I just know it's not a coincidence. The same way Israel's Declaration of Independence in May 1948 was not a coincidence, and Israel's victory and reunification of Jerusalem in 1967 was not a coincidence.
This year, there's also something new, at least as it relates to the U.S. Several people have declared their candidacy for president in the election that will take place in 2016.  Many, if not most, are clearly pro-Israel. For each of them, this week ought to be a natural time to express their clear commitment to Israel and Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Regardless of whom you support, please share this and ask them to use these milestones to express their unequivocal support and solidarity with Israel. 
What do you think? Are these coincidences, or are they divine providence?
Jonathan Feldstein was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six. Throughout his life and career, he has been blessed by the calling to fellowship with Christian supporters of Israel and shares experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel. He writes a regular column forcharismanews.com's Standing With Israel. You can contact Jonathan at firstpersonisrael@gmail.com.
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Saturday, November 29, 2014

Spielberg Film Honors U.S. Pilot Defenders of Israel

Film Honors U.S. Pilot Defenders of Israel



During Israel's 1948 War for Independence, a small band of American pilots quickly left everything they had in the States and risked their lives to take to the skies in defense of the brand new nation.

They were part of the Machal, or the Volunteers. In effect, they founded the Israeli Air Force. David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, would later say they saved the nation.

Their remarkable story is the subject of a new Spielberg documentary--not Steven Spielberg, but his sister, Nancy.

She produced the film, called "Above and Beyond," which includes recollections by several of the pilots.

The film was screened at the Jerusalem Film Festival this summer, with the audience giving one Machal pilot, 94-year-old Lou Lenart, a standing ovation. "Above and Beyond" also opened the Calgary Jewish Film Festival earlier this month.

The production will come to theater screens in 2015, and Spielberg told The Jerusalem Post she plans to turn the documentary into a feature film.

"One of the hardest parts of making the movie was deciding what I had to leave out. There were so many capers, so many stories, you can't include them all," she said.

In 1966, Hollywood told the story of one of the heroic pilots, Mickey Marcus, in the film, "Cast a Giant Shadow," starring Kirk Douglas. Marcus was killed by friendly fire in battle.

Tinseltown hasn't paid much attention since then.

The American Machal pilots not only risked their lives, they also risked their citizenship. With urging from the State Department and the Pentagon, the United States had placed an arms embargo on Israel, fearing reprisals and backlash from Arab leaders that could endanger oil supplies.

The State Department made every effort to stop President Harry Truman from recognizing Israel in May, 1948. Having failed that, the leadership succeeded in an official embargo.

Israel had tremendous difficulty cobbling together the planes, military equipment, and personnel needed to stave off attacks from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq.

Thanks in large measure to the pilots from places like Brooklyn, New York, and St. Paul, Minnesota, the new nation survived, then thrived.
Source: CBN News

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

“The Significance of the Rebirth of Israel” - Joel Rosenberg


Joel Rosenberg

Israel turns 66. Here’s the story of how the U.S. almost didn’t support the prophetic rebirth of the Jewish State in May of 1948.


by joelcrosenberg
Israel-rebirth-newspaper
(Tel Aviv, Israel) -- After an amazing and fascinating week in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for which I'm so grateful, I arrived in Israel last night to celebrate the 66th anniversary of the rebirth of the State of Israel. This is my first time to be here for Independence Day and it is very special.
Today, many take the existence of the modern nation of Israel for granted. But it is actually a stunning miracle and the fulfillment of ancient Bible prophecies.
Indeed, few Americans know how close the U.S. government came to refusing to support the establishment of the State of Israel in May of 1948. Few realize that most of President Truman’s advisors were dead set against the Jewish state, despite the horrors of the Holocaust, and that even many American Jews didn’t support the re-creation of Israel.But God had His purposes. He had His plan. And He made sure His plan came to pass, and remarkably, the U.S. played an interesting role in those prophetic developments.
It is a fascinating story, and one I shared in some detail in my non-fiction book in 2012, Implosion. Here are some excerpts you might find interesting on this Israeli Independence Day:
“The Significance of the Rebirth of Israel”
Over the past six decades, the United States has been Israel’s best friend and chief ally. That warm and strategic relationship began with President Harry Truman’s official and highly public decision to be the first world leader to recognize and support the newly declared State of Israel on May 14, 1948. Yet few Americans realize the tectonic struggle that took place at the highest levels of the U.S. government and almost prevented Truman from making or implementing that decision.
Until recently, despite decades of studying Jewish history, traveling to Israel, and working with various Israeli leaders, I had no idea just how close the Jewish state came to being denied early and critical recognition by the American government. Not long ago, however, an Israeli friend recommended that I read Counsel to the President, a book that takes readers inside the Oval Office and describes the political infighting against Israel in vivid detail. What I found absolutely fascinated me.
The book is the memoir of Clark Clifford, a highly respected Democrat who served as senior advisor for and special counsel to President Truman. Later, Clifford served as chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board for President John F. Kennedy, as secretary of defense under President Lyndon Johnson, and as an informal but highly trusted advisor to President Jimmy Carter before retiring from government and later passing away in 1998 at the age of 91. Clifford’s memoir explains his up-close-and-personal role in some of the most dramatic moments of American history in the post–World War II years, from advising Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, to helping Johnson seek an exit strategy from the Vietnam War, to counseling Carter during the darkest days of his presidency, to playing poker with Winston Churchill on a train bound for Fulton, Missouri, where Churchill was set to deliver his “Iron Curtain” speech.
Yet Clifford didn’t begin his 709-page tome with a description of any of these events. His first chapter, titled “Showdown in the Oval Office,” begins like this:
May 12, 1948—Of all the meetings I ever had with presidents, this one remains the most vivid. Not only did it pit me against a legendary war hero whom President Truman revered, but it did so over an issue of fundamental and enduring national security importance—Israel and the Mideast.
Clifford noted that Truman regarded then–secretary of state (and decorated Army general) George C. Marshall as “the greatest living American,” yet Truman and Marshall were on “a collision course” over Israel that “threatened to split and wreck the administration.” Simply put, “Marshall firmly opposed American recognition of the new Jewish state,” opposition that was “shared by almost every member of the brilliant and now-legendary group of men, later referred to as ‘the Wise Men,’ who were then in the process of creating a postwar foreign policy that would endure for more than forty years.” President Truman, in contrast, was a strong supporter of Israel, in large part because of his belief in the Bible….

Interestingly, Clifford noted that Ben-Gurion and his advisors had not yet decided on a name for the Jewish state. “The name ‘Israel’ was as yet unknown,” Clifford wrote, “and most of us assumed the new nation would be called ‘Judaea.’”…..
Also interesting is the fact that Truman’s support of the creation of the Jewish state was opposed by many American Jews, a fact unknown or forgotten by many friends of Israel.
“A significant number of Jewish Americans opposed Zionism,” Clifford wrote in his memoir. “Some feared that the effort to create a Jewish state was so controversial that the plan would fail. In 1942 a number of prominent Reform rabbis had founded the American Council for Judaism to oppose the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. It grew into an organization of over fourteen thousand members, which collaborated closely with State Department officials.” Clifford also noted that Arthur H. Sulzberger, the Jewish publisher of the New York Times, and Eugene Meyer, the Jewish publisher of the Washington Post, “opposed Zionism” as well.
Nevertheless, Truman had spoken favorably of the creation of a Jewish national homeland since not. long after taking office. In 1947, for example, Truman had publicly made it the policy of the United States government to back passage of the United Nations Partition Plan, creating the legal framework for the rebirth of the State of Israel as well as an adjoining state for the Palestinian Arabs. To succeed, the Partition Plan needed a two-thirds majority vote of the U.N. General Assembly. With just days to go before that historic vote on November 29, 1947, however, supporters of the plan were still three votes short. Some have suggested that President Truman personally called leaders of other nations to encourage them to support the American position. Others say he didn’t but that staff in his administration did; the record is not clear. Either way, most historians—including David McCullough, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his extraordinary biography Truman—acknowledge that Truman wanted the plan to pass and played a role behind the scenes.
In the end, Truman got his way. The Partition Plan dramatically passed at the last moment, thirty-three to thirteen, with ten abstentions….

Given  Truman’s backing of the Partition Plan, it would seem in retrospect that his decision to formally support the new state of Israel was a fait accompli. But the political crisis inside the White House and State Department was real and festering for the next two days. Tensions mounted, and time was running out. Reporters were asking what the president would do on the issue, and the advisors closest to the president had no clue. President Truman kept his cards close to his vest. Clifford later wrote  that he thought “the chances for salvaging the situation were very small—but not quite zero.”
By May 14, neither the secretary of state nor the secretary of defense nor any of the Cabinet or senior advisors knew which side the president would come down on. Then, a few hours before Ben-Gurion’s scheduled announcement, an aide to Secretary of State George Marshall called Clifford at the White House to say that Marshall still did not support the creation of Israel but would not oppose the president publicly if he declared in favor. This was a significant breakthrough. With less than an hour to go, the State Department aide called back to suggest again that Secretary Marshall hoped the president would delay making any decision for more internal discussions, presumably over the next few days.
“Only thirty minutes . . . before the announcement would be made in Tel Aviv,” Clifford recalled, “the American segment of the drama was now coming to a climax.” Clifford told the aide he would check with President Truman and get back to the secretary. He waited three minutes, then called the aide back, saying delay was out of the question. Finally, atsix o’clock, the president formally announced his final decision to Clifford. The United States would recognize and support the State of Israel. Truman handed his statement to Clifford, who immediately took it to the president’s press secretary, Charlie Ross. At 6:11 p.m., Ross read the statement to the press, and thus to the world:
Statement by the president. This government has been informed that a Jewish state has been proclaimed in Palestine. . . . The United States recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority of the new State of Israel.
History had been made. Bible prophecy had just been fulfilled. After a long and painful labor, the State of Israel had miraculously been born in a day. “Who has heard such a thing?” the prophet Isaiah wrote more than seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth. “Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children” (Isaiah 66:8, NIV).
What’s more, the first world leader officially to recognize Israel’s legitimacy was a Christian who had been raised reading the Bible and believed it was true. Most of his senior advisors had vehemently opposed the creation of Israel. Much of the American Jewish community opposed it too. The Arab world would soon turn against the United States and move increasingly into the orbit of the Soviet Union. Yet Truman backed Israel anyway because he believed it was the right thing to do, the biblical thing to do.
“The fundamental basis of this nation’s ideals was given to Moses on Mount Sinai,” Truman once told an audience. “The fundamental basis of the Bill of Rights of our Constitution comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus, St. Matthew, Isaiah, and St. Paul. The Sermon on the Mount gives us a way of life, and maybe someday men will understand it as the real way of life. The basis of all great moral codes is ‘Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.’ Treat others as you would like to be treated.”
That is not to say that Truman made all his decisions based on Scripture. Truman was an intensely private man when it came to spiritual and religious matters, and he did not often discuss what he believed about the Bible and how he connected those beliefs to public policy. The 1940s were a different age. Presidents rarely discussed such matters with the public. Truman even felt reticent about discussing his beliefs with Billy Graham, as Graham described in his autobiography. However, it is not conjecture to say that Bible prophecy was a critical element in Truman’s decision-making process.
Clifford confirmed it in his memoir. “[Truman] was a student and believer in the Bible since his youth. From his reading of the Old Testament he felt the Jews derived a legitimate historical right to Palestine, and he sometimes cited such biblical lines as Deuteronomy 1:8, ‘Behold, I have given up the land before you; go in and take possession of the land which the Lord hath sworn unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.’”
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joelcrosenberg | May 6, 2014 at 5:48 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL:http://wp.me/piWZ7-307
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