IDF Rabbi tweets prophecy pointing to Messiah's coming

Sunday, November 18, 2012 |  Ryan Jones, Israel Today  

 

 

As more and more Israelis get called up for active military duty in preparation for a possible invasion of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, the chief rabbi of the Israeli army (IDF) has been posting inspirational scriptures to his Twitter feed.

Among the scriptures posted yesterday was Zechariah 12:10, a passage Christians and Messianic Jews see as pointing to Yeshua as Messiah.

"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication."

Due to Twitter's space limitations, the rabbi's post stopped there. The verse continues:
"They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son."

The IDF chief rabbi has posted that verse before, but it seemed to many to be especially timely now as the battle in Gaza rages and the world howls against Israel. It is also timely because of the verse immediately preceding it, Zechariah 12:9:

"On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem."

The rabbi's posting from Zechariah came just a day after Gaza-based terrorists fired a missile at Jerusalem.

Editor's note: His Twitter account is @IDFrabbi. I receive his tweets.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23505/Default.aspx

Opinion: London 1940-Tel Aviv 2012. What's the Difference?

Opinion: London 1940-Tel Aviv 2012. What's the Difference?

There is only one precedent of a modern democracy besieged under rocket attacks. The similarities - and the difference - are striking.

 

By Giulio Meotti, Italy

Israel National News

First Publish: 11/16/2012

Katyusha Missile

 

There is only one precedent of a modern democracy besieged under rocket attacks.

During the afternoon of September 7, 1940, 348 Nazi bombers appeared over London’s skies. For the next two months, London was bombed day and night. Fires consumed many portions of the city. Residents sought shelter wherever they could find it - many fleeing to the underground station that sheltered as many as 177,000 people during the night.

Little is said or written about the incredible courage being shown by the civilian population of Israel, but it is reminiscent of events 70 years ago in Europe.

Like the Londoners, who endured the blitz stoically, with British aplomb and quiet courage, the people of Israel are equally valiant, going about their daily lives knowing that killers might explode a bomb or rocket in any public place at any time. Since the year of the founding of the state, more than 60,000 rockets have fallen on Israel.

Unlike those who believe in a peaceful and political solution to the "Palestinian" question, the Hamas' Covenant proclaims: "There is no solution for the Palestinian question, except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors."

Israel is like Guernica, the Basque town that in 1937 was the premature victim of the savage and merciless Nazi Blitzkrieg that was to sweep Europe.

But there is a big difference between the two historic situations.

The Allies during the war didn't hesitate to impose a collective punishment on the German people, while today we like to believe that the State of Israel is facing just individual murderers and isolated fanatics, and must pardon the society that nurtures them.

The Arab population of Judea, Samaria and Gaza is responsible for Hamas' terrorism. Collective punishment of that population by Israel is - when administered in proportion to the evils it is meant to combat - justified and required. The Palestinian Arab population is responsible for Hamas and the PLO.

An enemy society is exactly what the Jewish State is confronting. And in Kiryat Malachi, three residents, killed by Islamic terrorists, are just the latest victims in the war between Israel and that society.

Israel lost the battle during the first Intifada, when Jewish civilians on the roads were routinely assaulted with rocks and firebombs by Arab gangs, because it didn't combat the attacks with the force that may have prevented them from evolving into the terror of today that comes from Gaza.

Palestinian Arabs rock-throwers were met with a vehicle that sprayed them with pebbles. Soldiers were armed with rubber bullets and given orders not to attack when not under attack themselves.
The Jewish "settlers" at that time called on the government to take punitive action against the villages from where the attacks were launched, but the Jewish residents were demonized themselves and were answered with self-righteous hypocrisy decrying the immorality of "collective punishment".
This is how evil has grown to surround Israel.

Even Israel's supporters in the West like to believe that the Jewish State, granting de-facto immunity to the society that sponsors terrorist savagery, committed itself to a higher ethical standard. We like to discern the IDF's "purity of weapons". But preferring an illusion of peace to retaliating with the full force at Israel's disposal against the terrorists' home base - their communities and their ideological supporters, who bear collective responsibility for the terror - is a Jewish crime, not a Jewish virtue.

Terror is a collective punishment, the answer to it must include collective punishment.
Terror is a collective punishment, the answer to it must include collective punishment.

Twenty years after the first Gulf War, Israel remains the only “bunkered” democracy in the world and is now even more relentlessly demonized and ghettoized.

Israel is a small country. This is not to say that it’s destined for extinction; only that it can be.
Moreover, in its vulnerability to extinction, Israel is not just any small country. It is the only country whose neighbors declare its very existence an affront to God and make its destruction a paramount national goal.

But if in 1991, Israel responded with understatement and quiet civil courage, let's hope that today it will react differently to genocidal terrorism. Because, as Joe McCain wrote few years ago, “the Jews will not go quietly again.”

And there is another big difference between London in 1940 and Tel Aviv in 2012: while the West backed the British resistance against the Nazi monster, Israel is alone in fighting a battle for all of us.

As Israelis are heading to shelters these days, the questions in their minds are two: Will the West come to our aid? How many friends can the Jewish State really count on these days?
Take a step forward and say that you are one of those friends. I did.

The writer, an Italian journalist with Il Foglio, writes a twice-weekly column for Arutz Sheva. He is the author of the book "A New Shoah", that researched the personal stories of Israel's terror victims, published by Encounter. His writing, often the Arutz Sheva op-eds, appears in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Frontpage and Commentary. He is at work on a book about the Vatican and Israel.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/162141

 

Israel destroys Hamas government HQ, troops prepare for Gaza invasion

Israel destroys Hamas government HQ, troops prepare for Gaza invasion

Saturday, November 17, 2012 | Ryan Jones, Israel Today            

 

Israel on Friday night bombed and destroyed the Hamas government headquarters in Gaza City just hours after Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil visited the facility in solidarity with the Gaza terrorist regime.

The destruction of the Hamas government building was seen as sending a message to both Hamas and Egypt that Israel is not afraid to escalate the fight if the threat of rocket attacks on southern Israel does not cease.

Meanwhile, rocket attacks on southern Israel did continue throughout the night and into Saturday morning. Four soldiers were wounded in one rocket strike, and countless civilians were treated for shock.

Israeli military officials said the conflict is likely to last several more weeks. On Friday, the government approved the mobilization of 75,000 reserve troops in preparation for a possible ground invasion of Gaza.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23502/Default.aspx

 

Hamas Rocket Targets Jerusalem from Gaza

By Julie Stahl

CBN News Mideast Correspondent

Friday, November 16, 2012

 

    

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RISHON LEZION, Israel - Israeli security officials have confirmed to CBN News that at least one rocket fired from Gaza landed somewhere near the Gush Etzion community in the West Bank southwest of Jerusalem.

 

This is the first Gaza-launched rocket to reach the environs of Israel's capital.

 

Earlier, sirens sounded for the second straight day in the metropolitan area of Tel Aviv. The armed wing of Hamas has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

 

No damage or injuries have been reported in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, and officials now say that the rocket near Tel Aviv did not land, suggesting that it was shot down by Israel's Iron Dome defense system.

 

How troubling is it that Gaza rockets have reached Jerusalem? CBN News' John Waage, who has spent years covering the Middle East in our Jerusalem Bureau, has more. And will Egypt stand with Israel as it has in the past? Sr. International Reporter Gary Lane explains what to expect this time around, following this report.

 

Meanwhile, Palestinian rockets continued to fall on southern Israel Friday as the Israel Defense Forces ramped up its bombardments of terror sites.

 

The key for Israel, say residents, is to allow the country to finish the job.

 

Panic in Tel Aviv

 

 

Air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv Thursday for the first time since the 1991 Gulf War, snarling traffic and sending shock waves through the center of the country.

 

"The alarm -- some of us got panic (ked). I was in the street. I saw people run and trying to call their families. A few seconds later, it was normal," one Israeli teen, Adir Joseph, recalled.

 

"And in Tel Aviv it was also," Eden Kabaso, 16, said. "My sister lives there. When there was an alarm she got panicked. She cried. She was also in the street with her kids and it was not a comfortable situation."

 

One rocket reached farther north than ever before -- some 30 miles to the southern Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Lezion.

 

What do Christians need to understand about the spiritual battle at play here? CBN News' John Waage has more on Christian World News below (link at bottom of this feature story.)

 

 

"Everybody freaked out. It was crazy. It was the first time here in Rishon LeZion," Rafi Mor, a Rishon Lezion shop owner, said.

 

The army says in the last 36 hours they've struck more than 500 terror sites. Israelis in Rishon Lezion say their country should keep up the pressure.

 

"There's no way the people from the south have to endure all those missiles day after day after day," resident Omer Shani said. "There is no country in the world that will have -- that could have -- understood it. It can't go on. It just can't go on."

 

Mor agreed. "I think we should have done this step a long time ago," he said. "I think we should solve the problem over there for a long time now. The army needs its time to do its job and finish the work over there."

 

Tel Aviv area resident Ayelet Shoshani said, "I think they need to do more. Now, after what happened yesterday, I can feel (it) -- I don't know how people in the south live, I don't know. I think I would get mad to live like that. I don't think we can get used to that kind of life. It's very difficult."

 

"Don't stop until they are quiet," Rishon Lezion resident Ruthi Schlosser said. "They should go on and beg for (a) ceasefire because it can't continue like that. We are very happy here you know in the midst of Israel, but poor people who are living there, their life must be hell.

 

Israel agreed to hold its fire during Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Kandil's visit to Gaza on Friday, but rockets continued to slam into southern Israeli communities.

 

More than 300 rockets have hit Israel in less than 48 hours. Some 130 more have been intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile battery.

 

In the past, pressure from the international community has forced Israel to stop before it says it has accomplished its goals. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it won't happen this time.

 

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2012/November/Gaza-Renews-Rocket-Fire-as-Israel-Ramps-Up-Offensive/

Panetta to Barak: Israel Has the Right to Defend Itself

Panetta to Barak: Israel Has the Right to Defend Itself

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, reaffirms that Israel has the right to defend itself.

 

By Elad Benari, Israel National News 

 

First Publish: 11/16/2012

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta

AFP/Paul J. Richards

 

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak this week about the latest Israeli military moves in Gaza after increased rocket attacks from there, CNN reported on Thursday.

A senior U.S. defense official confirmed the conversation had taken place in the last few days while Panetta was traveling in Asia.

"They spoke about unacceptable attacks by Hamas and other groups in Gaza, and Panetta expressed the U.S. view that Israel has the right to defend itself," the official said, according to CNN.

The United States has given Israel the green light to go ahead with Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza. President Barack Obama spoke to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu early Thursday. A White House statement said that “the President reiterated to Prime Minister Netanyahu the United States' support for Israel's right to self defense in light of the barrage of rocket attacks being launched from Gaza against Israeli civilians. The President urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to make every effort to avoid civilian casualties."
The statement said Obama and Netanyahu agreed that Hamas needed to stop attacks on Israel to "allow the situation to de-escalate."

On Wednesday, State Department spokesman Mark Toner also underscored Israel’s right to defend itself, saying, “We strongly condemn the barrage of rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel, and we regret the death and injury of innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians caused by the ensuing violence.

“There is no justification for the violence that Hamas and other terrorist organizations are employing against the people of Israel. We call on those responsible to stop these cowardly acts immediately. We support Israel’s right to defend itself, and we encourage Israel to continue to take every effort to avoid civilian casualties,” he added.

The UN Security Council, at an emergency closed session on Wednesday, discussed the situation in Gaza without coming to any decisions. During the meeting, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice strongly defended Israel, saying that said there was no justification for the violence that "Hamas and other terrorist organizations" are aiming at Israel.

“We call on those responsible to stop these cowardly acts immediately,” Rice said, adding that the rocket attacks were harming efforts to end the Middle East conflict and create a PA state. “Hamas claims to have the best interests of the Palestinian people at heart, yet it continues to engage in violence that does nothing but set back the Palestinian cause. Attacking Israel on a near daily basis does nothing to help Palestinians in Gaza nor to move the Palestinian people any closer to achieving self determination and independence.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron also seemed to express an understanding for the IDF operation, when he told Netanyahu on Thursday "Hamas bears the principal responsibility for the crisis."

A Downing Street spokesman told AFP that Cameron told Netanyahu “the rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel by Hamas and other armed groups were completely unacceptable and that the increasing frequency of rocket attacks in recent days was the immediate cause of the situation.”

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, however, slammed the IDF operation as an act of savagery.

"Another savage aggression against the Gaza Strip has begun. Once again, the state of Israel is bombing the Gaza Strip," Chavez, a close associate of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whose country arms Hamas, told a cabinet meeting televised by state-run TV.

Venezuela broke off relations with Israel in 2009 during Operation Cast Lead.


http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/162150

Ashton, Merkel say Israel has right to defend itself

By TOVAH LAZAROFF, REUTERS

LAST UPDATED: 11/16/2012

German chancellor blames Hamas for escalation; EU foreign affairs chief calls for stop to rocket attacks.

Photo: REUTERS/Kimmo Mantyla/Lehtikuva

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and German Chancellor Angela Merkel both issued strong statements in support of Israel’s right to defend itself on Friday.

Ashton added that she hoped Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Kandil’s visit to Gaza on Friday morning would calm the situation.

“The rocket attacks by Hamas and other factions in Gaza, which began this current crisis are totally unacceptable for any government and must stop,” she said.

“Israel has the right to protect its population from these kind of attacks. I urge Israel to ensure that its response is proportionate,” she said.

“I am deeply concerned at the escalating violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip and deplore the loss of civilian lives on both sides,” Ashton said.

Ashton added that she had spoken with leaders in the region, including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and the office of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, as to how best to de-escalate the situation.

“In my discussions, I made the point that we must move forward in finding a solution to the Middle East conflict so that million of people in the region can finally live in peace and security,” she said.

A German government spokesman said on Friday that Merkel is "very worried" about an escalation of violence in the Middle East and calls on Hamas to immediately stop shooting rockets from Gaza into Israel."

"Hamas in Gaza is responsible for the outbreak of violence," spokesman Georg Streiter told a news conference. "There is no justification for the shooting of rockets at Israel, which has led to massive suffering of the civilian population.

"The Chancellor urges those responsible in the Gaza Strip to immediately stop firing on Israel. At the same time she calls on the Egyptian government to use its influence on Hamas to limit the violence and bring it to an end."

Streiter said the Israeli government had the "right and obligation" to protect its population.

UN human rights chief urges Hamas, Israel to step back from brink

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay denounced Israel's aerial attacks on Gaza as well as rockets fired by Hamas into southern Israel and called on both sides on Friday to step back from the brink.
"She's appalled that once again civilians are losing their lives... She urges both sides to pull back from an increasingly dangerous confrontation," her spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva.

"The High Commissioner has repeatedly and unequivocally condemned the indiscriminate firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel and is deeply concerned by the recent major upsurge in the number of rocket attacks and that they are now being aimed at a major city such as Tel Aviv," he said.

"She is also extremely concerned by the sharp increase in aerial attacks by Israeli forces on the heavily populated Gaza Strip in the past two days," he said.

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=292162

Jerusalem Dateline - Fifteen Seconds

Jerusalem Dateline

Chris Mitchell

CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief

Monday, November 12, 2012

Fifteen Seconds

What would you do if you had 15 seconds to find shelter from a rocket attack?

That's the reality people living in the southern Israeli city of Sderot have faced for more than 10 years.

When a Kassam rocket is fired from the Gaza Strip just a couple of miles away, it takes about 15 seconds for it to land. It doesn't pack a great deal of explosives but make no mistake, it can kill, injure, cause extensive damage, and terrify a population.

Living in Sderot is like playing Russian roulette. You don't know when a rocket or mortar shell will land or where. No wonder a large number of people suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Over the weekend, more than 120 rockets fell on Sderot and other towns and cities. Now with longer-range rockets, more than 1 million Israelis are in range of terror groups in the Gaza Strip.

This diagram shows the rockets and their ranges.




Their reach is getting closer to Tel Aviv and Israel's Ben-Gurion airport. It's hard to believe that any other nation would be expected to tolerate this kind of situation.

http://blogs.cbn.com/jerusalemdateline/Default.aspx

Netanyahu: Picture of Bleeding Baby Says It All

Netanyahu: Picture of Bleeding Baby Says It All

PM thanks Obama for understanding "Israel’s need to defend itself, and Israel’s right to defend itself."

By Gil Ronen, Israel National News 

First Publish: 11/15/2012,

Baby injured in Kiryat Malachi

Reuters

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a statement to the international media Thursday afternoon, in which he said Israel would continue to do its best to avoid civilian casualties on the enemy side, despite the fact that the enemy is targeting Israeli civilians and hiding behind its own. He also thanked world leaders for "understanding" Israel's right to defend itself.

The way the operation unfolds will depend on the number of civilian casualties caused to Hamas and its ability to expoit that in order to create pressure on Israel to stop punishing it militarily. This pressure has proven highly effective in the past, especially given the Israeli press's tendency to highlight casualties on the enemy side, thus weakening national resolve to go on fighting.

This is the text of the statement:

"In recent days and weeks, Hamas and the other terrorist organizations in Gaza have made normal life impossible for over one million Israelis," he said. "No government would tolerate a situation where nearly a fifth of its people live under a constant barrage of rockets and missile fire, and Israel will not tolerate this situation. This is why my government has instructed the Israeli Defense Forces to conduct surgical strikes against the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza.

"And this is why Israel will continue to take whatever action is necessary to defend our people.

"I want to remind you that seven years ago, Israel withdrew from every square inch of Gaza. Now Hamas, they took over the areas we vacated. What did it do? Rather than build a better future for the residents of Gaza, the Hamas leadership, backed by Iran, turned Gaza into a terrorist stronghold. They fired thousand of rockets at our cities, at our towns, at our civilians, at our children. They’ve smuggled thousands of rockets and missiles into Gaza, and they deliberately place these rockets and missiles in civilian areas: in homes, in schools, near hospitals. This year alone, they fired over one thousand rockets and missiles at Israel, including close to 200 rockets in the last 24 hours.

"I’m stressing this because it’s important to understand one simple point. There is no moral symmetry; there is no moral equivalence, between Israel and the terrorist organizations in Gaza. The terrorists are committing a double war crime. They fire at Israeli civilians, and they hide behind Palestinian civilians. And by contrast, Israel takes every measure to avoid civilian casualties. I saw today a picture of a bleeding Israeli baby. This picture says it all: Hamas deliberately targets our children, and they deliberately place their rockets next to their children. Despite this reality, and it’s a very difficult reality, Israel will continue to do everything in its power to avoid civilian casualties.

"I have to say that from my talks with world leaders, I have the clear understanding that they have a clear understanding of this. Yesterday I spoke to President Obama and I briefed him on Israel’s operations. I want to express my appreciation once again to President Obama for his unequivocal clear sided support for Israel’s right to defend itself. I also want to express my appreciation to the other world leaders I’ve had a chance to speak to in the last 24 hours: to President Hollande of France, to UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon, to EU Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton and to Quartet representative Tony Blair. I want to thank them for their understanding of Israel’s need to defend itself, and Israel’s right to defend itself.

"In the past 24 hours Israel has made it clear that it will not tolerate rocket and missile attacks on its civilians. I hope that Hamas and the other terror organizations in Gaza got the message. If not, Israel is prepared to take whatever action is necessary to defend our people."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/162129

Canada throws unwavering support behind Israel in Gaza war

Thursday, November 15, 2012 |  Ryan Jones, Israel Today  

The government of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper once again demonstrated its unwavering support of Israel on Thursday when it unequivocally backed the Jewish state's military response to incessant terrorist rocket fire.

"We fundamentally believe that Israel has the right to defend itself and its citizens from terrorist threats," stated Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird. "Far too often, the Jewish people find themselves on the front lines in the struggle against terrorism, the great struggle of our generation."

Referencing the hundreds of terrorist rockets that sparked Israel's "Operation Pillar of Cloud" - a provocation much of the world has suddenly forgotten about - Baird said that Canada "condemns the terrorist group Hamas and stands with Israel as it deals with regional threats to peace and security."

The Obama Administration also issued a statement of support immediately following the start of Israel's surprise aerial campaign on Wednesday evening.

"We strongly condemn the barrage of rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel," said US State Department spokesman Mark Toner. "We support Israel’s right to defend itself."

However, Toner also threw in what some might see as a veiled warning: "We encourage Israel to continue to take every effort to avoid civilian casualties."

It has been reported time and again that Israel takes more care to avoid civilian casualties than any nation on earth, including the United States. Some Israelis view remarks like Toner's as an assertion of moral superiority, and a suggestion that Israel needs to be reminded to act in a civil manner.

Of course, many also take it as a friendly warning that the rest of the international community is likely to use every Palestinian civilian casualty as a weapon to attack not only Israel's military actions, but its legitimacy as a nation.

Meanwhile, Russia and the Arab world predictably condemned Israel's military response in Gaza while almost completely ignoring the Hamas rocket barrage that preceded it, and Europe registered its displeasure over the "disproportionate" nature of the Israeli action.

Egypt recalled its ambassador to Israel in protest, and Israel returned the favor.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23497/Default.aspx

Sderot Fourth-Grader Tells Peres, ’We Live in Fear’

Sderot Fourth-Grader Tells Peres, ’We Live in Fear’

“We were born 'children of red',” a Sderot child tells Peres, referring to Color Red siren that rules their lives under rocket attacks.

 

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, Israel National News 

First Publish: 11/14/2012, 2:49 PM

Peres visits Sderot school

Israel news photo: Office of Preisdent/Amos ben Gershom

 

“We were born 'children of red',” a Sderot fourth-grade girl told President Shimon Peres Wednesday, referring to the Color Red siren that rules their lives and warns them of rocket attacks.

“We are children who live in fear that at anytime, we will hear a siren and have to leave the playground and our friends and run to bomb shelters,” sad Chen Malchiel, who spoke on behalf of religious school students during the president’s visit.

She told him, “We run to bomb shelters of four walls, without windows, which are very unpleasant.”

Chen thanked President Peres for coming to see their suffering first hand and took his hand to show him the shelters.

She concluded, “We look to G-d and to you, our honorable president, to do something so there will be peace and quiet and securiy.”

Peres told the children, “I come here as a grandfather who knows the pain of your mothers who do not know what it is to sleep at night. You should know that you are the source of strength and might of the People of Israel. You should know that all of the children of the country are proud of you. You are brave children who live in an abnormal situation.”

In a tour with foreign media, Peres said that Hamas is totally responsible for “the insufferable situation of missiles on Israel.”

“It is their responsibility to control terrorist cells that operate under their nose and with their quiet agreement,” the president said.

He added his voice to a growing number of political leaders who have called for a halt of funds to Gaza. “The world justifies transferring money to Gaza, led by the ‘generous’ emir of Qatar, [but] the world must understand that in the current situation, money is Gaza is equivalent to terror,” he charged.

The emir of Qatar recently became the first foreign leader to visit Hamas in Gaza since it took control of the region from the rival Fatah faction more than four years ago. The emir came with a $250 million check and a promise of more aid.

 

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/162082

Calling on Jerusalemites:

Calling on Jerusalemites:
Can You Find These Buildings 110 Years Later?

"Jerusalem Famille Juive" by Charles Chusseau-Flaviens (Credit: George
Eastman House, circa 1900)

Reviewing the historic photos of Jerusalem in the George Eastman House Museum, we came across this wonderful 110 year old picture taken by a French photographer, Charles Chusseau-Flaviens. 

It bears the caption "Jerusalem Famille Juive" -- a Jewish family in Jerusalem.



From their dress, we presume it is a Sabbath or Jewish holiday, and some of the shops are shuttered in mid-day.  Their walking in the middle of the street suggests that they're in a Jewish neighborhood and are not worried about carriages or horses.  And they're walking down an incline.

Google "Street View" looking up Malchai Yisrael Street in Jerusalem



The challenge: Can anyone locate these buildings in Jerusalem today? 
Over the course of 100 years buildings have been torn down, second stories added, and streets widened.

Are they walking down Jaffa Road toward the Old City?  We checked, and the store on the right is not the Ma'ayan Shtub shop. 

Perhaps they're walking through the Romema neighborhood on Malchei Yisrael Street toward Meah Shearim and the Old City beyond.  Thanks to Google's Street View program, we offer the possibility that the building is this shop with the distinctive rounded window and the two story building behind it with the unusual stonework on the edge of the walls.

 

http://www.israeldailypicture.com/2012/11/calling-on-jerusalemites-can-you-find.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IsraelsHistory-APictureADaybeta+%28Israel%27s+History+-+a+Picture+a+Day+%28Beta%29%29

 

Balm for Dashed Election Expectations - Jim Croft

Editor's Note: I can relate to this, and so I share this word from Jim Croft. His mailing list received it on Nov. 13, 2012.

Steve Martin

 

Balm for Dashed Election Expectations

Jim Croft

I felt acute grief when Barak Obama was declared the winner of the 2012 Presidential Election. Sorrowful sensations intensified throughout the night and into the next morning. I searched within to discern why I felt so grieved.

I choked up when the Lord’s answer registered in my spirit. As a member of Christ’s Body, I was vicariously carrying the devastating disappointment experienced by Christians who had been led to believe their prayers would be the determining factor in the election’s outcome. (Rom 12:15-16)

Many equate widespread national troubles to judgments for forsaking the Christian principles on which our nation was founded. The innuendo is that national ills would significantly diminish with a President committed to the Christian sentiments of the USA’s founding fathers. Both positions have capacity to wound because they don’t fully consider biblical truth and the realities of Church and World History.

It is my prayer that this article will be an antiseptic that will encourage renewed confidence in God’s willingness to answer scriptural prayers for those with governmental authority. To provide understanding, it will be a necessity to give some unpublicized information about God’s dealing in human affairs. The good news is that the end of the matter is better than the beginning and provides good reason for joyful optimism.

Weighty Vote
Along with millions of other Christians, against hope, I chose to activate my faith to believe that Romney would win the presidency. Our hopes were not sufficient to overrule one element central to all elections. The key component was the will of Almighty God.

The underlying reason for Obama’s victory was not voter bloc failure; Governor Chris Christi’s sudden admiration of the President; and a terrible storm named Sandy. The plain truth is that God chose Obama over Romney to lead our nation during the next phase of bringing us closer to the end of the age. The Lord did so in spite of our disapproval of the administration’s stand on the redistribution of wealth; fiscal responsibility; entitlements; abortion; same sex marriage; Islamic issues; and Israel.

No matter what form of government, whether republic, democracy, monarchy, military or Islamic dictatorship; God has never relinquished his right to promote or depose whomever he wishes. (Psa 75:4-7) The Old and New Testaments confirm that it is God who appoints and sustains heads of State and governmental institutions.

What’s the use of Prayerful Voting

After Judas betrayed Christ and hung himself, the disciples sought his replacement. The choice was narrowed to spirit-filled Joseph and Mathias. God knew which man he had appointed for the office. To avoid argument about the Lord’s choice, the disciples prayed and then tossed dice to see whom the Lord had chosen. The lots landed in favor of Mathias. (Acts 1:23-26)

Thus it is with elections by ballot. Citizens participate by prayerfully casting their votes. The winner is the candidate that is the Lord’s choice.

Since God is in ultimate control, a stolen election is providentially impossible. If it does happen, its purpose is likely the eventual exposure, humiliation and impeachment of the cheater. At the same time, we must be mature enough to accept the fact that many rulers throughout history came to power and kept it by ruthless measures. There have been many situations where the actions of evil politicians were the slow train for what God eventually turned around for good.

Daniel 2:20-21, 4:17, 35; and 2 Sam 23:2-4 convey the following concepts: The Most High God rules in the kingdoms of men by installing and removing rulers by his sovereign choice. Some that he chooses are seekers of wisdom and some are the basest of men. God does as he pleases among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can restrain his hand or question what he does. The ideal is that Kings should rule justly in the fear of God, but remarkable numbers don’t.

There are no guarantees that intensity of prayer puts inept, cruel and unjust rulers on the fast track to removal from office and replacement by wise God-fearing rulers. This is evident by the caliber of Roman Emperors during the initial stages of Christianity; history’s Islamic regimes; and the 20th Century’s Hitler, Stalin, and Chairman Mao. All toll; tens of millions of believers were imprisoned and butchered by despots whose administrations often lasted decades. Many of the nations of Mediterranean and the Middle East that were Christianized by the Early Church were taken over by Islam by the 9th Century. They have been predominantly Muslim far longer than they were predominantly Christians.

The Bible promises that the godly will suffer persecution. (Matt 24:9; 1 Thes 5:4) We are possibly fast approaching the point when it is American believer’s turn to experience tribulations. It has nothing to do with judgment for sin and prayerlessness. It is a guarantee that accompanies the holy aroma of Christ within that has come upon myriads of Christians since the martyrdom of Stephen. (2 Cor 2:15-16)

Eye-Opening Principle

Why would God refuse to answer the prayers of his people to replace inept and unjust rulers? There are 2 interrelated reasons: First, wise and kind rulers and

those who are foolish and tyrannical are all denoted in the Scriptures as servants of God.

Secondly, as time advances toward the end of the age; heads of State are unwitting players in bringing about conditions most suitable to God’s plans for each generation. Principle – God favorably answers most prayers related to blessings for individuals. Nevertheless, prayers pertinent to the destiny of nations are often overruled by his will.

Nebuchadnezzar was the idolatrous king of the Babylonian Empire. He erected an image of himself to be worshipped by everyone under his authority. Nevertheless, Jeremiah prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar was God’s servant. (Jer 25:8-9) The Apostles Paul and Peter said the same of the administrations of the Roman Emperors of the First Century’s Christian Era and encouraged believers to comply with their regulations as best they could without violating conscience. (Rom 13:1-7; 1 Pet 2:13-17) That was a difficult command to obey.

The Church was birthed in a hostile political, religious and economic environment. The 10 emperors of Christianity’s first century of establishment are best described as cruel tyrants of corrupt administrations.

On the Day of Pentecost Caligula was Emperor. He was infamous for addiction to hideous sex orgies. Few emperors of that period died natural deaths. Relatives that might have been successors for office were frequently assassinated before they could display ambition. Oposing senators were executed at whim. Food shortages and excessively high taxation were common. During the year of 68-69AD the power struggle for emperor was so confused that 4 emperors attained rule in a single year.

Titus burned Jerusalem’s Temple to the ground in 70AD and lined the streets with crucified Jews. A favorite pastime within the Roman Empire during the first century of Christianity was persecuting Christians. The last emperor of that period was Domitian and he outperformed all of his predecessors in murdering believers.

Perplexing and as trying as the times were, there are not any explicit New Testament examples of Christian leaders encouraging their congregations to pray for the removal of adversarial politicians. Believer’s response to political persecution was to pray for an increase in miraculous healings. (Act 4:23-31) The Apostolic mandate for every fellowship gathering was to give foremost place to prayers and thanksgiving for the salvation of all men, especially rulers. The objective was for believers to have sufficient peace to live quiet, godly lives for the sake of spreading the Gospel. (1 Tim 2:1-5)

Faulty Premise

Many wonderful Christians have been influenced by a teaching that sounds biblically sensible and historically on target. It asserts that the societal and

economic ills that have hit the USA would be healed if believers would pray and fast for a conservative government and for a return to Judeo-Christian values. The premise suggests that our nation was practically trouble free prior to 1972 when the horrors of abortion were legalized and the earlier decisions to remove prayer and Bible reading from schools began to be enforced.

The argument does not hold up under thorough investigation. Yes, our nation was supremely blessed prior to 1972. And though not everyone is willing to admit it, to a generous extent our country has continued to be blessed since.

What they don’t realize is that America’s history is a mixed bag of blessings and curses. The truth is that America has never been free of severe widespread trials and societal prejudice and injustice. Surfing the Internet would convince most anyone that they don’t want to go back to the good-ole-days-when-things-were-bad.

Exploration reveals a history of wars; epidemics; natural disasters; violent labor disputes; economic challenges; 80% of all business ventures failing within 5 years; gender bias and the oppression of minorities. Most present day Christian Conservatives might decry the nation under a curse if translated to live in former years.

This is a thumbnail sketch of what happened while abortion was outlawed; while we prayed and read Bibles in classrooms; and while greater percentage of conservative politicians ruled: Roughly 50% of the original super religious Jamestown and Plymouth Colony settlers died of exposure, starvation and disease within a year of arrival. Various intensities of Indian wars took lives and destroyed property in most every westward movement from 1607 until the final victory over the Paiutes in 1915. From its founding to 1972, Americans fought in 23 domestic and foreign wars; and there was a persistent line of spontaneous army and naval engagements with foreign powers to protect US interests. There was hardly a decade exempt of widows grieving loss of husbands and families disadvantaged by horribly crippled wounded warriors.

During the same centuries epidemics of smallpox, yellow fever, malaria, cholera, measles and polio struck hundreds of thousands in wave after wave of successive generation plague installments. For many generations quarantine signs regularly appeared on homes throughout America. From March through November of 1918, 500 thousand citizens died of the Spanish Influenza pandemic. Hundreds of thousands more were taken ill with it.

Then there was the stock market crash of ’29; and the dustbowl famine and Great Depression that hit in 1930 and lasted into the ‘40s to complicate every family’s life. And finally, I must mention the USA’s natural disasters of floods, earthquakes, winter storms, hurricanes, fires and the like. Single incidents of those

calamities took more lives and took longer to rectify prior to Roe vs. Wade than after it.

With history in mind, can anyone claim overwhelming proof that our citizenry was more blessed in the past than now?

Salt of the Earth

The Early Church believed that prior to the Coming of the Lord there would be a tremendous visitation of the Holy Spirit and an ingathering of souls into the Body of Christ. Therefore, Christians endeavored to live undisruptive lives that would draw secret admiration even from their persecutors. The concept was that many of the evil would be so shamefaced about God’s attestation of those whom they previously hated that their hearts would be opened to receive Christ. (1 Pet 2:11-17)

America is not God’s holy nation, but the Church of Jesus Christ is. Jesus described believers as the salt of the earth. We can regain our saltiness if we shift our focus of prayer and fasting from the healing of our land to the healing of the nation of the Church to become all Christ intends it to be.

Salt has 2 functions. First, it brings out flavor for that which is bland and unappetizing and it sweetens foods that are sour and bitter. Secondly, it preserves from corruption.

Our salt assignment from God is to believe that we can bring sweet flavor to bitter circumstance. We can do so by exercising faith to follow God’s instructions to Israel while in Babylonian captivity. We are to build businesses and homes; and choose to enjoy family life as though every aspect of existence were ideal. We are to pray for our cities and nation with full faith that as they prosper so shall we prosper. (Jer 29:4-7)

Our salt value will also be greatly increased as we pray for and receive more power for miraculous healing. There is hardly anything more appealing than coming up on a neighbor’s blindside and healing one of their loved ones of a wasting illness. It is especially so when done without showbiz fanfare and in the mode of being naturally supernatural.

The Lord is coming for a Bride without spot or wrinkle. To qualify we must be dedicated to embracing salt’s ability to hold off corruption. For believers, that demands that we challenge one another to live righteously.

One way or the other, Christians are often trodden under the feet of evil men. We deserve it if we continue to criticize sinners for acting like sinners when we so often are exposed as having secret lives of the same. (Matt 5:13) Only righteous salt can cause sinners to yearn for the fruit of salvation.

Believers activate salt’s flavor enhancing and anti-corruption qualities by being a people who refuse to incessantly grumble about the government. Prayers of faith for the salvation and welfare of governmental leaders is saltiness that has God’s approval.

Personal Word

For an entire year, I became feverishly preoccupied with the election via cable news. For me, it was a mistake to allow myself to become entangled with the affairs of this world as God's Kingdom is not of this world. (Jn 18:36; 2 Tim 2:4) I am not called to purposely antagonize the world. My brand of the scent of Christ from within keeps me on the front-burner of controversy without extra provocation.

At this juncture, politics and cable news are as disdainful to me as cheap wine after a teen’s first overdose of it. I bless God that my days feel as though they’ve been supernaturally lengthened for productivity in keeping with my calling.

jcm888@comcast.net 
Florida, USA

Netanyahu: 'It's our Right to Defend our People'

By Chris Mitchell and Julie Stahl

CBN News Jerusalem Bureau

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israel is mulling stronger military action after a spike in Palestinian rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on southern Israeli cities.

Part of Israel's preparation is informing the international community what Israelis are facing on a daily basis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu briefed some 70 foreign ambassadors and diplomats in the southern Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon, well within range of rockets from the Gaza Strip.

"If an alarm is sounded, all of us have exactly 30 seconds to find shelter," Netanyahu told the diplomats.

The invitation came as more than 120 rockets pummeled southern Israel in a 48-hour period, scoring several direct hits, closing schools, and sending shock waves throughout the south.

"This is the situation in which 1 million Israelis find themselves in," Netanyahu continued. "That's families, old people, children, babies…(who) are targeted on a daily basis by people who took areas that we vacated, that the government of Israel vacated, came in there, and are now hiding behind civilians, while firing on civilians, firing on our children."

The diplomats were shown video of what it's like to run for cover and wait for the explosions.

Since 2001, nearly 13,000 rockets and mortars have landed in Israel, more than 8,000 of them since the government's 2005 pullout from the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu said the situation is unacceptable. "I don't know of any of your governments who could accept such attacks. I don't know of any of the citizens of your cities who could find that acceptable and something that could proceed on a normal basis," he said.

Israel police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said foreign-made rockets with a 30-mile range can hit Israeli cities like Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Beersheva.

"This is made in foreign countries such as Iran and China, and which smuggled in through Rafah crossing, makes its way through Egypt, into Israel, into the Gaza Strip, and then fired directly into the southern part of Israel.

Besides the rockets, Israel often battles the international pressure to exercise restraint, but many Israelis are saying enough is enough.

Netanyahu said Israel would fight for the right to defend its people.

"We'll take whatever action is necessary to put a stop to this. This is not merely our right, it's also our duty, and it's something that I think is understood not only by you, who are here in Ashkelon today, but by any fair-minded person in any fair-minded government in the world. They would understand that it's our right to defend our people, and this is what we shall do," he said.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2012/November/Netanyahu-Its-our-Right-to-Defend-our-People/

Israel will reenter the Gaza Strip if necessary

Israel will reenter the Gaza Strip if necessary, Barak warns as rocket tally rises over 140

Egyptian-mediated ceasefire takes effect; PM set to meet foreign envoys Monday; defense minister says IDF will deal ‘hard and painful’ blow to Hamas

By Ilan Ben ZionNovember 11, 2012, Times of Israel

 

An Israeli man examines the damage caused to a house in Sderot by a Kassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Sunday (photo credit: Edi Israel/Flash90)

The Israeli military will not hesitate to enter the Gaza Strip in order to strike Hamas and protect Israeli citizens, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday evening, following more than a day of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

The defense minister made it clear that “if we are forced to go back into Gaza in order to deal Hamas a [serious] blow and restore security for all of Israel’s citizens, then we will not hesitate to do so.”

Islamic Jihad reported late Sunday that an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect at 9:30 p.m. local time, however sporadic rocket fire from the Strip continued into the night, with 3 rockets landing in the Shaar Hanegev regional council. No injuries or damage were reported.

 

Barak placed full responsibility for the weekend rocket barrage on Hamas, the Islamist terrorist group-turned-political party that has ruled the Gaza Strip since a violent coup in 2007.

 

“The firing [of rockets] has been relentless today. As far as Israel is concerned, Hamas is responsible for the rocket fire and all other attempts to harm our soldiers and civilians [from Gaza], even when other groups participate. And it is Hamas that will pay the heavy price; a price that will be painful,” Barak warned.

 

“During the last two days, the IDF, upon my instruction, has been evaluating a host of options for harsher responses against Hamas and the other terror organizations in Gaza. We will strike with an ever-growing intensity,” he said, adding, “Hamas and the other terror organizations recognize the capabilities of the IDF.”

 

Palestinian terrorist groups fired more than 140 rockets at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip on Saturday and Sunday.

 

One struck a home in the border town of Sderot and another hit a house in the Shaar Hanegev region. Four Israeli civilians were injured in the two-day rocket barrage.

 

In a related incident, four Israeli soldiers were wounded on Saturday when their jeep was hit by an anti-tank missile.

 

Israeli retaliatory strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip since the escalation began on Saturday have left six Palestinians dead and dozens wounded.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to meet Monday with foreign ambassadors, in what was described as an effort to boost legitimacy and understanding for a possible wider Israeli response to the rocket fire from Gaza. Netanyahu was expected to tell the envoys that their countries would not tolerate the kind of onslaught southern Israel has had to endure.

 

Israel unilaterally removed its citizens and soldiers from Gaza in August of 2005. In response to relentless rocket fire, the IDF launched an air and ground campaign — Operation Cast Lead — into the Hamas-controlled Strip in late-2008.

 

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-will-reenter-the-gaza-strip-if-necessary-barak-warns/

 

 

Palestinians Escalate Rocket Attacks on Israel

CBNNews.com

Monday, November 12, 2012

 

  

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Palestinians in the Gaza Strip bombarded southern Israel with more than 75 rockets and mortar shells in a 24-hour period. At least eight of them were longer-range missiles.

The Iron Dome anti-missile battery intercepted one missile fired at the coastal city of Ashdod, just north of Ashkelon. Another exploded north of the city, without any injuries or property damage.

 

Three Israelis injured by shrapnel were evacuated to medical centers in Beersheva and Ashkelon, and three others were treated for shock.

 

A factory in Sderot sustained a direct hit for the fourth time. Rockets damaged two vehicles, including a neighborhood patrol car in Sha'ar Hanegev, injuring two men. A third citizen was injured by shrapnel near a school, YNet reported. An electric power pole was also hit.

 

The latest escalation came after terrorists fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli army jeep patrolling near the Karni border crossing early Saturday evening, injuring four soldiers, two seriously and two moderately.

 

The more seriously injured were airlifted to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva, where both underwent emergency surgery. One remains in critical condition. The other soldiers were transported by ambulance to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.

 

Two Islamist terror groups claimed responsibility for the attack: the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades and the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the "armed" wing of Hamas.

 

Following the attack, Israel Air Force pilots targeted two rocket launch pads, two munitions storage facilities and a weapons manufacturing plant in Gaza, confirming direct hits.

 

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum blamed Israel for the escalation, saying it was tied to upcoming Israeli elections in January.

 

"Our resistance to the occupation and the Zionist soldiers killing our people is legitimate as defense of our families," Barhoum told reporters. "We will not allow Palestinian blood to be the price for electoral and political achievements in Israel."

 

Six Palestinians were killed in the airstrikes, two members of Islamic Jihad, and seven injured, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency, Ma'an, reported.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel "won't sit idly by."

 

"The IDF is operating and will operate in Gaza," Netanyahu told ministers at Sunday morning's cabinet meeting. "The terror organizations are taking tough blows from the IDF, and Israel won't sit idly by," he said. "We are ready to step up our response."

 

Netanyahu also mentioned incidents along the Syrian border, where fighting between the government and rebel forces has spilled over into Israel recently. "We are ready for any development on the Syrian border as well," he said.

 

On Sunday, for the first time since 1973, IDF troops fired warning shots into Syria after a mortar shell hit the Golan Heights.

 

"IDF Forces fired warning shots and relayed a message to the Syrian forces via the United Nations that warns against additional firing," the IDF Spokesman's Office said in a statement. "Additional firing will prompt a quick response."

 

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2012/November/Palestinians-Escalate-Rocket-Attacks-/

 

Gaza rockets continue; Israelis have had enough

Gaza rockets continue; Israelis have had enough

Monday, November 12, 2012 | Ryan Jones, Israel Today            

 

 

Residents of southern Israel said they have suffered long enough at the hands of Gaza-based terrorists, as a barrage of missiles and mortar shells that began over the weekend continued into Monday morning.

By Monday morning, nearly 150 rockets and mortars had hit communities across southern Israel over a 36-hour period. There was widespread damage, and seven people were physically injured during the attacks, including four soldiers whose patrol vehicle was hit by an anti-tank missile.

There was a brief lull on Sunday night, reportedly brokered by Egyptian intelligence, but Palestinian terrorists quickly broke the truce with a medium-range missile that hit just outside a home in the southern Israel town of Netivot as local residents were trepidly preparing their children for the dangerous journey to nearby schools.

"We heard a siren, ran for shelter and then the blast sounded," a Netivot resident told Israel's Ynet news portal about Monday morning's attack. "I don't know how long this will last. It's scary. Kids on their way to school are hysterical, and there's no one to save them."

Local residents told The Jerusalem Post that after 10 years of suffering such attacks they have had enough, and many just want to leave the area, which, of course, is precisely the aim of the terrorists - to drive the Jews of lands they consider to be Muslim territory.

Ruvik Danilovich, the mayor of the large southern town of Beersheva, said that it was time for the government to take decisive action and end what is becoming a war of attrition. Danilovich was scheduled to meet with the heads of other local communities ahead of a meeting on Tuesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Sunday, Netanyahu warned that if the rocket fire did not cease, Israel would up the ante. "The world needs to understand that Israel will not sit idly by in the face of attempts to attack us. We are prepared to intensify the response," said the prime minister.

A similar threat was issued by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and even dovish President Shimon Peres said the "idiotic" rocket fire from Gaza warranted a "swift and strong" response from Israel.
Israeli military officials have been saying for over a month now that another ground invasion of Gaza was only a matter of time, as the only way to truly stop the rocket fire is to root out the terrorists in house-to-house combat.

But many Israelis remain skeptical of their leaders' threats, remembering that the government, fearing international condemnation, typically only takes decisive action when there is a significant Jewish death toll.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23488/Default.aspx?ref=newsletter-20121112

 

Christian pastor: The Church is hopelessly anti-Semitic

Christian pastor: The Church is hopelessly anti-Semitic

Friday, November 09, 2012 | Ryan Jones, Israel Today            

 

At an interfaith conference bringing together Jewish leaders and Protestant Christian pastors outside Jerusalem this week, several of the Christian representatives painted a very worrying picture about the future of relations between Israel and the mainstream Church.

While an estimated tens of millions of individual Christians around the world love and support the Jewish state, many of the mainline Protestant churches have been actively boycotting Israel, encouraging pro-Palestinian activism and demanding that Western governments stop sending aid to Jerusalem.

One of the main Christian representatives at the conference was Rev. Paul Wilkinson, associate minister at Hazel Grove Full Gospel Church in Stockport, England. Over the past few years, Wilkinson has studied up close the phenomenon of what he calls "Christian Palestinianism," a politicized movement that seeks to eliminate Christian support for Israel and transfer it to Palestinian nationalists.

Wilkinson said he is "completely pessimistic in terms of believing that I, we, are going to overturn 2,000 years of erroneous theology that has manifested itself in all kinds of diatribes and anti-Semitic factions" within the Church.

Wilkinson said that what stands behind Christian Palestinianism is classic Replacement Theology, which he called a "Goliath of theology in the church."

Rev. Andrew Love of the United Church of Canada agreed with Wilkinson that exaggerated humanitarian concern for the Palestinian Christians is being as the "rationalization for ultimately what I believe to be anti-Semitic ideas and anti-Semitic policies."

Wilkinson lamented that this hatred for Israel, which harks back to millennia of hatred for the Jews, is rooted "deep in the heart of the Protestant Church," and is unlikely to be uprooted.

The Times of Israel provided a full report of the event, as well as interviews with several of the speakers. Their article on the conference is worth a thorough read.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23483/Default.aspx

8,500-year-old skeletons found in ancient well

By SHARON UDASIN

Jerusalem Post

 

11/08/2012

Skeletal remains of a young woman and older man discovered at the bottom of a Neolithic well in the Jezreel Valley.

Photo: Clara Amit / Israel Antiquities Authority

In a mortal mystery that cannot help but beckon the age-old tragedies of Antigone and Haimon, or Romeo and Juliet, the 8,500-year-old skeletal remains of a young woman and an older man have been discovered at the bottom of a Neolithic well in the Jezreel Valley.

Excavators discovered the well during a dig of the Israel Antiquities Authority at Enot Nisanit in the western Jezreel Valley, which occurred ahead of an enlargement of HaYogev Junction at Road 66 by the National Roads Company. Archeologists are estimating that the well was built approximately 8.500 years ago, and the young woman found at its bottom was around 19 years old, with a man "older than her," according to the Antiquities Authority.

Archeologists are now left to ponder how the man and woman ended up at the bottom of the well – musing about possibilities such as a tragic accident or even a vengeful murder.

“What is clear is that after these unknown individuals fell into the well it was no longer used for the simple reason that the well water was contaminated and was no longer potable," said Yotam Tepper, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The well was connected to an ancient farming settlement, built of stones and bedrock, and at one point residents had used it for their subsistence, Tepper explained. Two capstones to narrow the opening had been set on top of the well, which measures about 8 meters deep and 1.3 meters in diameter, he added.

Many artifacts found in the well, such as flint sickle blades for harvesting, arrow heads and stone implements, are sure indications that the people who quarried it were among the first farmers in the Jezreel Valley, according to Tepper. Other discoveries in the well shaft, like animal bones, charcoal and other organic items, will enable future studies about the domestication of plants and animals, as well as help determine the exact age of the well, he explained.

“The well that was exposed in the Jezreel Valley reflects the impressive quarrying ability of the site’s ancient inhabitants and the extensive knowledge they possessed regarding the local hydrology and geology which enabled them to quarry the limestone bedrock down to the level of the water table," Tepper said. "No doubt the quarrying of the well was a community effort that lasted a long time.”

Dr. Omri Barzilai, head of the Prehistory Branch of the Israel Antiquities Authority, stressed that wells from the Neolithic period are "unique finds in the archeology of Israel, and probably also in the prehistoric world in general."

To date, the two oldest wells in the world have been exposed in Cyprus, indicating the onset of the "domestication phenomenon," according to Barzilai.

"It seems that ancient man tried to devise ways of protecting his drinking water from potential contamination by the animals he raised, and therefore he enclosed the water in places that were not accessible to them," Barzliai said.

Excavators previously exposed a well 1,000 years older than those in Cyprus at the Atlit Yam site in Israel, he explained.

Whether the man and women at the well's bottom were the victims of sparring families, a crime of love, or a simple accident, the well itself will be a valuable tool to examining an ancient civilization.

"The exposure of these wells makes an important contribution to the study of man’s culture and economy in a period when pottery vessels and metallic objects had still not yet been invented," Barzilai said.

http://www.jpost.com/Sci-Tech/Article.aspx?id=291031