Trump Yells at Palestinian President amid Proof they are Paying Terrorists! - Ron Cantor MESSIAH'S MANDATE

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Trump Yells at Palestinian President amid Proof they are Paying Terrorists!

Ron Cantor —  June 1, 2017 —  Comments

President Donald Trump YELLED at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas saying,

“You tricked me in DC! You talked there about your commitment to peace, but the Israelis showed me your involvement in incitement [of violence against Israel],”

according to Israel’s Channel 2.

You might remember a few weeks back, the diplomatic Abbas came humbly to the White House, where he spoke of his peaceful people. He told President Trump:

“Mr. President, I affirm to you that we are raising our youth, our children, our grandchildren on a culture of peace.  And we are endeavoring to bring about security, freedom and peace for our children to live like the other children in the world, along with the Israeli children in peace, freedom and security.”

But apparently, Trump was provided with evidence to the contrary. It’s that whole thing about words verses action. For instance, just this week the Palestinians named a women’s center after Dalal Mughrabi who, along with others from the PLO hijacked a bus full of Israelis and killed 38 civilians. The Norwegians, who provided funds for the Women’s Center demanded their money back and their logo be removed from the center. Good for them. Even the U.N., notoriously anti-Israel, pulled support for the project.

Furthermore, just reported today, we now know the extent of payments to terrorists and their families from the Palestinian government. No doubt, this is what caused President Trump to dress down the Palestinian leader.

“The Palestinian Authority has paid out some NIS 4 billion — or $1.12 billion — over the past four years to terrorists and their families, a former director general of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and ex-head of the army’s intelligence and research division told a top Knesset panel on Monday.”

No Respecter of Protocol

It is a HUGE breakage of protocol to rebuke a fellow head-of-state (though Abbas is technically not a head-of-state), especially in front of his team, but Trump is no respecter of protocol. Abbas, who had been treated gently by Obama, was shocked at the President’s tone and reportedly, there was stunned silence for several minutes.

Israeli Knesset Member Michael Oren is right when he says, if we created a Palestinian State tomorrow, it would fail the next day (or shortly thereafter). When you teach your children hate and incite them to violence, you are not preparing to govern a country. Instead of focusing on education, institutions, medical facilities, infrastructure or the economy, they are focusing on glorifying suicide bombers. The issue is not merely “Do Palestinians deserve a state?” but can they govern a state? And that’s in the secular area of the West Bank.

What about Hamas

Gaza has been overrun by Hamas, who makes the Palestinian Authority, corrupt as they are, look like angels in comparison. After they won the hearts of the people through building hospitals and schools, they staged a coup and have been running Gaza like Iran for a decade. Their citizens live in terror. (Haven’t seen that reported on CNN!)

There is very little focus on building a functioning state, but instead they rely on donations from state-sponsors of terror to pay their bills. They literally can’t even afford the electricity that Israel provides them, but rely on the P.A. to pay the bill! In this way, they can focus on the more important matters of building terror tunnels with stolen concrete meant to rebuild homes, stealing U.N. aid from their people and using women and children as human shields.

Diplomatic Quicksand

President Trump has no idea of the diplomatic quicksand that surrounds this issue—an unsolvable puzzle and that has sucked the life out of more than a few diplomats. You are dealing with a people that has been brooding for 70 years or more in a culture of religious and racial inspired hate. And if the President pressures Israel to give up land, then he will be at odds with the God who put him in power.

There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. (Joel 3:2)

My prayer is that President Trump will see clearly and understand that as Jeremiah said, a leopard cannot change his spots. I understand the temptation. He is a dealmaker. But you are not dealing with two equals. One, a thriving democracy—creating breakthroughs in medicine, technology and defense. Another, an archaic region that condones wife-beating, death without trial and teaches hate and murder on television shows for children.

It is difficult to be in the business of killing innocent women and children for decades, celebrating murder like a holiday and setting up suicide bombers as role models, and then to suddenly love life, govern in righteousness and show goodwill to your neighbors.

The Big Letdown

In Israel, we have gone from elation over the President’s bold promise recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the Embassy from Tel Aviv, to deep concern over a $350 billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia and him suddenly becoming convinced that he can bring peace to Israel and her neighbors. Don’t get me wrong. Every Israeli wants peace. But we have learned time and time again, it takes two to tango.

The best hope for the Palestinians is a new leadership. But with Hamas on one side and the Palestinian Authority on the other, there is little hope that a genuinely peaceful movement could even survive to gain power.

Prime Minister is Sober

Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear this week that he is concerned. Yes, Trump has displayed more love and friendship towards Israel than Obama ever did, but Bibi made it clear that the US has not given Israel carte blanch as seen by the reversal on moving the embassy. The excitement in Israel over a Trump administration has quickly met reality.

“It is true that relations are warm and that there is a great understanding of our position, but a blank check? That is far from reality.”

“You heard President Trump. He came here, did extremely important things and touched us deeply, but he also said that he believes that Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) wants peace, and that I want peace. He also said that he believes that it is possible and necessary to arrive at an agreement.

June 1, 2017  Israel

“There is one fundamental thing that I always say: The reason there is no agreement is because they (the Palestinians) educate their children, generation after generation, that there will not be a State of Israel in any borders whatsoever.”

Bibi clearly thinks that President Trump is mistaken to believe that Abbas wants real peace. Bill Clinton learned this the hard way with Arafat, when, after investing countless days in a peace deal, Arafat simply said no, took his marbles and went home to start the second intifada. Hopefully Trump will see sooner rather than later, and by the tone of his rebuke to Abbas, it is looking like sooner, that peace with Israel has never been what they’ve sought—rather the elimination of Israel.

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This is the End of the Palestinian People by David Lazarus ISRAEL TODAY

This is the End of the Palestinian People

Wednesday, November 11, 2015 |  David Lazarus

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Palestinians

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015, again, two Palestinian boys, an 11 and a 13-year-old, stabbed and tried to kill a 37-year-old Israeli man at the train station. And I ask myself, “What kind of a society cheers when a 11-year-old stabs someone? How can I comprehend Palestinians who allow, or even send their children to kill Jews?”

Of course this is not really new. For decades the Palestinians have been sending suicide bombers, knife wielding women, crashing cars and tractors into innocent bystanders, and calling them martyrs. The ongoing incitement to jihad, martyrdom and the glorification Jew-killers, the lauding of parents who encourage their sons to kill Jews, the press jumping to illustrate blood filled scenes, including child warriors, children carrying guns, photos of fighters launching rockets aimed at Israeli civilians and children, is well known.

Now their children run in the streets with knives hoping to kill someone. As far as I know, the Palestinians are the only people group known to mankind that allows themselves to find “honor” in their children killing innocent people. No other culture I am aware of teaches their children to sacrifice themselves in order to take vengeance on innocent people.

Still, I hear people say, “We don’t understand the grievances of Palestinians. If we would listen to them and make life better for them there would be less terror in the world.”

Grievances? What grievances justify encouraging children to kill innocent people? They complain about Israel’s checkpoints, while their Arab brothers and sisters are being slaughtered like sheep in Syria, Iraq and around the Mideast. Complain away. We Jews love to complain. But I ask myself, “is there any other nation, culture or religion in the world that allows their offspring to sacrifice themselves in order to kill some unknown bystander?”

And yet, amidst all the hyped-up media and anger, I have not heard one word from Palestinian parents telling their children that it is wrong to attack Jews. I have not heard of teachers in Palestinian schools teaching children that it is wrong to run around stabbing people in the streets. Even politicians known to hide what they really think refuse to make a clear condemnation of Palestinian children running wild on murderous rampages.

If anyone is at all concerned for the Palestinians, demand action now, with an uncompromising, categorical end to this wickedness. Civilization is crumbling around us and we cannot afford not to confront this devious justification of murder propagated by Palestinians. Have our own values become so white-washed that we are yet blind to this clear manifestation of evil?

This so-called “intifada” is not really a battle against Israel, a battle they can never win. What we are witnessing is a war against the children of Palestinian and the beginning of the end for a future for the Palestinian people. If the Palestinians cannot find a way to prevent their own children from sacrificing themselves in order to kill Jews, they are doomed. They have rejected the basic principles of the sanctity of life, principles necessary to secure civilized human society, and if this downfall is not confronted, resisted and stopped immediately, it will result in the complete degradation and ruination of what is known as the Palestinian people.

My I add, that anyone who supports, condones or justifies in any way this present wickedness shall also be responsible for the outcome.

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Muslims Using Temple Denial to Deligitimize Jewish Race & the Coming of Yeshua - Ron Cantor

Ron Cantor - Messiah's Mandate from Tel Aviv

Muslims Using Temple Denial to Deligitimize Jewish Race & the Coming of Yeshua

10/15/2015 RON CANTOR  chrisma magazine

You can't open a newspaper in Israel these days and not see the self-righteous, hate-filled quotes of the leaders of regional Muslim majority nations condemning Israel for actions on our Temple Mount.

The King of Jordan is outraged over Israel's actions. He said, "Any more provocations in Jerusalem will affect the relationship between Jordan and Israel." He also said, "We join Muslims and Christians everywhere in rejecting threats to the Arab character of this holy city."

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has warned of a new violent uprising, an intifada, because of clashes at the temple Mount.

So just what is Israel's heinous crime?

Jews are visiting the Temple Mount! Our Temple Mount!

The Muslim world is seeking to paint a picture of Jerusalem as a city that is historically ethnically Arab (despite that fact that Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab nation). These Islamic Truthers, if you will, deny that there ever was a temple in Jerusalem.

Long-time Israeli diplomat and author Dore Gold coined the phrase "temple denial" in his 2007 book, The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City.

The goal of temple denial is to delegitimize, by Islamic pseudo-intellectuals and politicians, the Jewish historical claims to Jerusalem. Arafat was the first to popularize this fabrication. He claimed at the 2000 Camp David accords that the Jewish temple was in Nablus, not Jerusalem, and without any fact or evidence, that claim spread across the Middle East, according to Ambassador Gold, like wildfire.

However the Wakf, the Islamic authority that Israel allows to oversee the temple Mount, made a crucial mistake. In 1999, they permitted bulldozers to remove—are you ready—9,000 tons of dirt, without any archaeological supervision, from the temple Mount, in order to make a new entrance. This would be the archaeological equivalent of rape, as within that dirt should be a treasure trove of evidence that the temple Mount was the center of Jewish life from the time of King Solomon.

These 9,000 tons of dirt were unceremoniously dumped in the famous Kidron Valley. In 2004, some Israeli archaeologists got permission to start the Temple Mount Sifting Project. They arranged for hundreds of archaeologists and even tourists to help them sift through the artifact-rich soil. Recently a 10-year-old Russian tourist found a coin dating back to the time of King David and his son Solomon. This lends proof to a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount going back to around 1,000 B.C.

In addition, two half-shekel coins were found, one dating back to the time just before the temple's destruction and the other, to the time of the Hanukkah story, a little more than 150 years before Yeshua. Now this is huge, because Jews were made to pay a half-shekel temple Tax for its maintenance.

When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the half-shekel came to Simon Peter and asked, "Doesn't your rabbi pay the temple tax?" (Matt. 17:24)

The Muslim outrage over Jews visiting their "supposed" Holy Site is a fake controversy.

What isn't fake is that this piece of real estate is the most contested and controversial patch of land in the world. And for good reason: All of heaven and hell, angels and demons, all of the worlds spiritual forces will collide at this place for the final battle.

"Then the Lord will go out and fight those nations as He fights in the day of war. On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is to the east of Jerusalem. And from east to west the Mount of Olives will be split in two " (Zech. 14:3-4)

The Temple Mount is only a short walk form the Mount of Olives. Yeshua will take up His throne and the nations will come and worship Him, according to Zechariah 14:16, on the Feast of Tabernacles. 

Ron Cantor is the director of Messiah's Mandate International in Israel, a Messianic ministry dedicated to taking the message of Jesus from Israel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Cantor also travels internationally teaching on the Jewish roots of the New Testament. He serves on the pastoral team of Tiferet Yeshua, a Hebrew-speaking congregation in Tel Aviv. His newest book is Identity Theft. Follow him at @RonSCantor on Twitter.

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Israel and the Palestinians - THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

Israel and the Palestinians slide deeper into conflict

Stabbing attacks are multiplying, PA security forces are shrinking away in the West Bank, the IDF is getting more deeply involved and more Palestinians are joining the clashes.

BY AVI ISSACHAROFF October 9, 2015  THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

WRITERS

Avi Issacharoff, The Times of Israel's Middle East analyst, 

fills the same role for Walla, the leading portal in Israel. … [More]

RELATED TOPICS
ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
WEST BANK
PALESTINIAN TERRORISM
MORE ON THIS STORY
At Jerusalem stabbing site, protest tent marks new status quo
Israel may outlaw far-right Lehava organization
Abbas trying to quell violence — Israeli security officials
PM to Abbas: Stop the incendiary speeches about Temple Mount
Leading rabbi: Jewish visitors to Temple Mount sparked tensions
Jordan slams Israel for Palestinian deaths, urges world intervention
At least 6 Palestinians die in clash with IDF along Gaza border
Israelis buy pepper spray, sign up to self-defense courses as stabbing attacks surge
Attempted Afula stabber identified as Nazareth woman
Settler leader’s family hurt in West Bank crash as car pelted with rocks


The events of the last few days show a deeply alarming trend: Three or more Palestinians, mostly East Jerusalemites, are daily attacking Israelis — knowing that they are likely to die in the attempt. These are a kind of suicide attacks. They are far less devastating than the bus and restaurant and market bombings of the Second Intifada, but they are motivated by the assailants’ desire to become martyrs. The upsurge of these kinds of attacks is all the more disquieting given that the overwhelming majority of them are not organized by a terror group or known orchestrator, but rather are carried out by “lone wolf” terrorists.

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This simply didn’t happen at this kind of rate during the Second Intifada. At its height, in the spring of 2002, that strategic onslaught of terrorism was producing horrific suicide bombings every few days. But today, we have entered an almost surreal reality of attack after attack every day, mostly carried out by young Palestinians (mostly, but not only male) with no known previous involvement in terrorism, willing to kill and to die “for Jerusalem” and “for al-Aqsa.”


Is the day drawing near when one of the terrorist organizations will try to initiate a Second Intifada-style suicide bombing inside Israel? For now, at least, there is no intelligence information indicating this. But that does not mean no such plans exist.

Hamas does not want to declare all-out war against Israel, and to completely destroy its relations with the Palestinian Authority. Therefore, it apparently will not initiate this kind of attack. The same can be said of Fatah’s well-armed Tanzim forces. But it may well be that within Islamic Jihad, with the encouragement of the Iranians, there may be those who will — if only to “steal the show” and show up the “paralysis” of the rival terror groups.

Even without these kinds of bombings, the relentless daily attacks are sowing fear and deep disquiet among Israelis. This is a kind of assault not previously encountered. The closest precedent was a rash of knifings in 1990, on a much smaller scale, also motivated by concern for ostensible threats to the al-Aqsa Mosque.

Part of Israelis’ concerns stem from uncertainty: what exactly are we facing, and how is it going to develop? It’s not (yet) a popular uprising. In the Palestinian twittersphere, some are calling it the “al-Quds Intifada” — the Jerusalem uprising — much like the al-Aqsa Intifada of 15 years ago. But that’s just what would-be opinion-shapers are branding it. Are we truly entering a Third Intifada? It’s still hard to say with any certainty. Something has clearly shifted, however, and things are unlikely to revert to the way they were. The status quo that has prevailed since 2007, rooted in close coordination between the Israeli and PA security hierarchies, is coming to an end.
Uncomfortable meeting

The crack, or possibly the rift, in security ties between Israel and the PA is not official, and may not be irreversible. Nobody on the Palestinian side has formally declared that coordination is over. Quite the opposite. PA President Mahmoud Abbas is ostensibly maintaining it. His security chiefs met with their Israeli counterparts this week, despite all the problematics and sensitivities of such a meeting at a time like this.

Word of the meeting leaked out, and the PA promptly denied that it had taken place, claiming that it had rebuffed an Israeli invitation to meet. In fact, according to an Israeli source, PA officials — including Nidal Abu-Dahan, the head of PA National Security, Intelligence chief Majed Faraj and Preventive Security chief Ziad Habalreeh — discussed ways to calm the situation with their Israeli counterparts. The PA officials emphatically did not announce an end to the coordination, or any plans for such a rupture.

In fact, earlier this week, PA security officials safely extracted Israeli solders who had entered PA territory by mistake, and also carried out a series of more than 20 arrests among Hamas activists.

But the PA security chiefs did, nonetheless, convey a sense of disquiet to the Israelis. What they were wondering was, what happens next? As in, if they help calm the situation, and thwart the upsurge in attacks, what will the Israeli government do for the PA? Faraj, who is regarded as particularly close to Abbas, was one of the officials making this concern clear, the source said.

Israeli suggestions to withdraw forces from certain areas, and allow the PA to deploy there, were met with hesitancy. For instance, there was talk of the PA placing forces at the northern entrance to Ramallah, across from the IDF’s Judea and Samaria HQ. The Israelis pointed out that it was an affront to the PA for Palestinian youths, including Hamas supporters, to be running riot so close to the PA’s own West Bank capital. But the PA officials were disinclined to act decisively to completely douse a fire they feel was started by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers surrounding al-Aqsa.

There was also talk of encouraging a greater Jordanian role regarding the contested holy site, specifically for King Abdullah to reassert a more direct role in the oversight of the Muslim holy places there. Such a move, it was thought, might constitute another de-escalating step, to follow up on Netanyahu’s ban on MKs and ministers, Jewish and Muslim, from visiting the site.

In truth, however, another reason for the PA security chiefs’ hesitation was that most of the demonstrations taking place in West Bank cities in recent days and weeks have been organized by Fatah activists, not senior Fatah officials directed by Abbas, but Fatah and Tanzim figures some of whom are close to the leadership and some of whom directly work in the Fatah bureaucracy. The PA security apparatuses have no interest in entering into confrontations with these people. And the absence of the PA forces was indeed conspicuous this week during clashes in Bethlehem, Tulkarem and Ramallah.

This may also explain the dramatic rise in the numbers participating in these protests and clashes. Now, hundreds are gathering — 10 times as many as was the case a mere two or three weeks ago.

Fatah wants to play a role in the confrontation against Israel, in part so as no to lose more of the Palestinian street to Hamas. All this unsurprisingly hinders Israeli-PA security coordination. And that’s not about to change.

The bottom line: The PA forces no longer can, and no longer want to, do what they were doing a few short weeks ago.

A case in point: Three days ago, gunmen from Ramallah opened fire at an IDF command post in Beit El. These were Fatah-Tanzim gunmen. The PA security forces told them to desist, but it is unlikely that this order will be heeded for long.
Abbas’s thinking

It may be that the current situation has its perceived benefits for Abbas. He’s not ripping up relations with Israel altogether, and he is not directly responsible for the deteriorating situation. But the escalation is producing so much anxiety in Israel that, Abbas may be calculating, Netanyahu may resort to widening his coalition, to bring in the center-left National Union, and perhaps even freezing settlement construction.

In this context, Abbas’s insistent refusal to condemn the terror attacks is telling. In the past, he did condemn all attacks and bloodshed. This time, he has been silent, and his Fatah colleagues have been hailing and praising the attacks.

The breach between Israel and Abbas, as reflected in his speech to the UN General Assembly last week, was followed, predictably, by the planned dispatch by Abbas of a delegation to Gaza to discuss a unity government with Hamas, except that Hamas refused to host Abbas’s emissaries.

Again, it is not impossible that this new wave of terror will be calmed for a while. But the fundamental causes will remain. The coals will keep burning unless or until there is a substantive diplomatic process — even in the highly unlikely event that the specific issue of al-Aqsa is effectively addressed.

For now, the cycle of violence is well and truly in motion: Palestinian attacks, in some cases bringing Jewish “revenge” attacks, and more Palestinian attacks, and wider Palestinian demonstrations, with a rising insistence by Fatah that it play a role. The PA security forces shrink away. The IDF has to intervene more directly — as in this week’s operation by undercover forces near Beit El. And the deterioration accelerates.

Last weekend, after the terror attack near Itamar in which Naama and Eitam Henkin were gunned down in front of their children, some 40 incidents of Jewish attacks on Palestinians were reported. That constitutes a portent of what could unfold during the olive-picking season, which is now getting under way. Each week’s Friday prayers constitute another event that potentially widens Palestinian participation in protest and violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank.


In a classic Catch-22, each new Palestinian terror attack prompts pressure on the government to cancel work permits for tens of thousands of West Bank Palestinians in Israel and for the imposition of a closure on the territories — as Zionist Union’s Isaac Herzog, of all people, urged on Thursday. Such a step would likely be disastrous, and would probably mean that rather than 3,000 Palestinians participating in West Bank protests against the IDF, we would see 30,000 or more.

At which point, any attempt to halt a popular uprising would become almost impossible.

Netanyahu: Radical Islam Reaching Israel

By Julie Stahl and Chris Mitchell

CBN News Middle East Bureau

Friday, October 09, 2015

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JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israel is on high alert due to growing violence in Jerusalem and surrounding areas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has even declared the Temple Mount off limits to Knesset members.

Netanyahu warned his country that the flames of radical Islam burning throughout the Middle East are also reaching Israel.

"We are in the midst of a wave of terrorism. Terrorists that have been incited and who are riven with hate are trying to attack our people – babies, children, men and women, civilians and soldiers," Netanyahu told the nation.

In just two days, Palestinians carried out 10 stabbing attacks in Jerusalem and other cities in Israel and the disputed territories, including two at the Lion's Gate in Jerusalem's Old City.

Rock-throwing and fire-bombing cars are regular occurrences as well as rioters clashing with Israeli soldiers.

Netanyahu and other government ministers went on live television to calm anxiety.

"Israelis are acting with bravery, composure and determination to neutralize and eliminate the terrorists. This requires extraordinary courage and resourcefulness and we are proud to be part of a country that has such citizens," he said.

Netanyahu blames Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and the Islamic Movement in Israel.

He also said the Islamic Movement "is igniting the ground with lies regarding our policy on the Temple Mount."

Earlier, Netanyahu declared the Temple Mount off limits to Knesset members, including Arab MKs, in an effort to calm the situation.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat called on Israelis with gun permits to carry their weapons. Some schools went on strike because parents are afraid to send their children to school.

Many are asking if this violence could be a third intifada Palestinian uprising. But Palestinian expert Pinchas Inbari, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told CBN News it doesn't matter what it's called.

"They are throwing stones, they are killing, they are shooting, they are stabbing so they are not quiet," he said. "So whether it is an intifada or not is not important."

Inbari says overall, Israel wants to deal with troublemakers and not create friction with the entire Palestinian population.

Menachem Begin’s Bond with Christian Zionists

Posted by: Raphael Poch March 27, 2014  Breaking Israel News

“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (Proverbs 17:7)

Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin delivers an address upon his arrival in the US for a state visit, January 1, 1978. (Photo: USAF)

Former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin was the first president to openly welcome Christian Zionist support of Israel. Commemorating the 100th year of his birth, the Menachem Begin Heritage Center together with the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem (ICEJ) have put together an evening which focuses on this unique relationship that Begin began, and has continued until today.

Begin’s relationship with Christian Zionists was one of deep respect and longevity. Timothy King, one of the founding directors of ICEJ, ran the first Feast of Tabernacles event in Jerusalem in 1980. Begin attended and addressed the feast in 1981, which was his first public embrace of Christian Zionism. During the address he expressed thanks to Christian Zionists around the world for their support of Israel.

The Begin Center approached David Parsons, Media Director of the ICEJ, a number of times over the years in an effort to partner together and create programming. The event, which took place on Wednesday, is the culmination of those efforts.

Parsons said that Begin started a movement among Israeli Prime Ministers and Jerusalem Mayors, many of whom now come to make important addresses to the Christian world at the ICEJ.

“The relationship goes all the way back. Many of the early Zionist leaders were helped and befriended by Christian Zionists,” Parsons explained to Breaking Israel News. “Leaders such as Herzl, Montefiore, and Rothschild had close friends who were Christian Zionists, and those friends helped often worked behind the scenes to help them get what they needed when they needed it.”

“But Begin stands out. He was the first Zionist Leader and the first Israeli Prime Minister who openly embraced Christian support and took it beyond the step of having just a close friendship with specific Christian leaders. Other Prime Ministers such as Golda Meir and Ben Gurion had those as well. But Begin openly acknowledged the help and support of Christian Zionists in a way that no Israeli leader had done before, and that resonated,” said Parsons.

The ICEJ, which has been around for 34 years, has an “established record of support for Israel and we pride ourselves on having good relationships with other Jewish organizations.”

Parsons recalled two specific incidents in which an embattled Israeli prime minister reached out for Christian support and showed the world that Christian Zionists are behind Israel.

In 1996, Netanyahu opened the tunnel leading from the Western wall to the Via Dolorosa amid violent Palestinian riots.  With the whole world pressuring Netanyahu to close the tunnel, he refused and informed the world at the ICEG’s peace gathering that he would not give in to international pressure.  Netanyahu’s statement from the ICEG headquarters was an important moment in showing the world that he had the support of the Christian Zionist community.

The second incident occurred in the summer of 2000 when then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, at that time the leader of the opposition in the Israeli Knesset, went up to tour the Temple Mount. His visit was one of the main catalysts for Palestinians starting the second intifada.

“Sharon did not speak publicly about the incident for almost two months, and when he did, he spoke at our peace gathering in October. It was the first time he addressed the media on the issue, and it too was in an effort to show his support for the Christian Zionist world, and to show the world that he had our support,” said Parsons.

Daniel Gordis, the keynote speaker at Wednesday’s event, explained to Breaking Israel News that it was Menachem Begin’s worldview that enabled him to embrace Christian Zionism as no other leader had before him.

“Begin’s worldview and universalism was the reason that he could be so committed to the Jewish people on the one hand and be open to Christians on the other. His universal perspective came from the Bible, a biblical worldview if you will, and that is something he shared with the Christian community.”

When asked what a “biblical worldview meant” Gordis responded by saying: “ Begin saw the world through biblical lenses. The Bible is deeply committed to telling the story of the Jewish people, and at the same time the Bible is also deeply committed to telling the story of other peoples as well. Whether it is Deuteronomy 2 or the story of the Tower of Babel, or the prophets messages to the people of the world and the end of day when all the nations will live together, the Bible is filled with a commitment to the betterment of both the Jewish people and the rest of the nations as well. And through these lenses he was able to connect to others who also looked at the world seriously through the Bible. Begin and Christian Zionists spoke a similar kind of language.”

Parsons, who has developed a strong friendship with Gordis, initiated their relationship by reaching out to Gordis a few years back at the Shalem College (at that time Institute) where Gordis is the Senior Vice President and the Koret Distinguished Fellow.

“He just called me up one day and we really hit it off. We worked together on various projects, and the ICEJ does a beautiful work for the Jewish people,” said Gordis.

On Wednesday, in addition to Gordis’ keynote address, were addresses by other prominent figures such as the President of the Begin Center Herzl Makov, as well as ICEJ Executive Director Dr. Juergen Buehler who will be talking about Christian Jewish Relations. Other highlights included a greeting via video from Rev. Rebecca Brimmer that discussed her father’s unique relationship with Begin.

Parsons said that “the event was in essence a celebration of the continued support that Christian Zionists have shown to Israel, and the appreciation of Israel and its leaders such as Menachem Begin to Christian Zionists the world over for their continued support and efforts to help Israel.”

Gordis brought the message of the evening home; “The leaders of Israel’s independence generation embodied a biblical sort of statesmanship, in which their stewardship of the new state was crucial to the rebirth of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland. This was true of no one so much as Begin, who saw the world through utterly biblical lenses.”

“The Bible, he believed, was actually the Jews’ deed to the land. The Tanakh fed his adoration of Jewish fighters. And it gave context to Begin’s sense of time and purpose—in a way that has been true of none of Israel’s leaders either before or since. Devoted to the Jews, he believed with all his heart that those of other faiths were no less created in God’s image. A man of great faith, Begin understood the difference between a biblical worldview and a narrow ideology.”

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12814/menachem-begins-bond-christian-zionists/#ViJtMC5QjpFopC4W.99