Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Evangelical Donations to Israel - What Christians Should Know - ISRAEL TODAY

Evangelical Donations to Israel - What Christians Should Know

Wednesday, July 23, 2014 | Michael Decker israe

TOPICS:

What should Evangelical Christians know before donating to Israel-based ministries? How is it possible to make sure that these donations will be used for the purposes they were donated for? These important questions and others will be dealt with in the article below.

A breakdown of Evangelical donations to Israel

Evangelical Christians donate hundreds of millions of dollars towards Israeli causes each year. It is our desire at the Jerusalem Institute of Justice to protect these donors at the highest level possible so they can know that their donations are being used for the purposes to which they are designated.

Israelis of all walks of life appreciate Christian donations, a large portion of which is donated towards Jewish entities which advance various forms of humanitarian activity, and/or the general advancement of Zionism, and/or even towards the advancement of settlements in Judea and Samaria.

A lesser portion of these donations go to Christian and/or Messianic ministries, some of which are involved in humanitarian activity, Zionism, and the building of Jewish Christian relations, others which are involved in Church/Congregation planting, and the advancement of the local Christian and/or Messianic movement in Israel, and a large portion is also donated toward the direct spreading of the gospel in Israel.

Other donations go to charities of the Christian Evangelical Arab community that exists in Israel, in order to build the Christian Arab community, and also in order to spread the gospel in Israel.

Ever since Israel has opened its gates to migrant foreign workers from various third world countries, and also as a result of a large amount of asylum seekers in Israel from various third world countries, many Churches of foreign workers/asylum seekers were established, and many times this was done in the name of a large Evangelical Christian ministry from Africa, Asia, etcetera, and many of these Churches registered local charities. These charities in Israel have received some donations from the mother entities, even though they are probably mainly funded by the local Christian Evangelical community of these migrant workers, and/or asylum seekers.

The largest among all of the aforementioned charities in Israel are also established as 501c3s in the USA, and in other countries (according to the relevant legislation), but then are registered locally in Israel as well, for local operational purposes.

How to make sure your donation is meeting its purpose

It should be noted that the vast majority of Israeli charities and aid organizations, faith-based or not, are honest and transparent organizations. Israeli law is quite clear regarding management and reporting of funds by aid organizations.

However, some "charitable organizations" operate outside of the law either by incomplete disclosure of activity or by flat-out deception. Moreover, international donors are often unaware of Israeli regulations and therefore are unable to litmus-test aid organizations before making a donation. They are often too far away, moreover, to take legal action or any kind of other legitimate action, if they discover that they have been taken advantage of.

For example, in one case which I have represented, an "Israeli evangelist" solicited funds amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars from several specific donors in order to renovate a "ministry center." Fake photos of this "ministry center" were sent out to these specific donors, as evidence to the presumed need for urgent funding.

This "Israeli evangelist" mentioned to these donors that it is not possible for him to register an official charity, or even to receive these funds through an official bank wire to an actual bank account in Israel, since, according to him, evangelism in Israel is illegal, and he therefore cannot risk that these funds will be traced.

However, evangelism is not illegal in Israel. It is also perfectly legal to register an Israeli charity, even if the sole purpose of this charity is to propagate a certain religion, philosophy, worldview, etcetera. Jews for Jesus, for example, is a registered official non-profit (Amutah) in Israel, and their registration can be viewed by the public on the website of the Registrar of Amutot.

Had the well-intentioned donors been aware of this, they could have avoided being robbed.

I hope that the investigation of these cases will expose what really happened, and I am happy that the Israeli police forces, and the prosecution office of the Jewish and democratic state of Israel, are seriously investigating these matters.

The legal framework for the protection of donors

We do not want to discourage Christians from giving towards biblical causes, but believe that any potential donor from within the Evangelical community should take advantage of the legal framework which exists in Israel in order to protect donors.

Our purpose is that Christian donations be used for the purpose to which they were designated and that donors will be protected from scoundrels. Accordingly, I have provided below a review of the Israeli legal framework regarding donations.

There are essentially two types of charities in Israel: Amutot and "Companies for the Benefit of the Public."

Prior to 2007, a Company for the Benefit of the Public was not obligated to register with the Registrar of Public Endowments, and therefore many Companies for the Benefit of the Public operated without real legislative supervision.

Today, however, both Amutot and Companies for the Benefit of the Public are subject to legislative supervision, and those that meet basic requirements are issued a Proper Management Certificate, which serves as a validation that the organization in question is efficiently structured and run.

The requirement for a Proper Management Certificate was established in 1998 as a prerequisite for government funding, and since 2001 every Amuta which provides services to the government must hold a Proper Management Certificate. This can also help to protect donors, and many donors will only donate towards a charity which holds a Proper Management Certificate.

Amutot that do not hold a Proper Management Certificate are usually in a primitive stage of funding and development, really are not functioning properly, or are simply oblivious in good faith to these very basic requirements. There is no reason for an Israeli Christian/Messianic charity not to possess a Proper Management Certificate.

Please see the article I have written on this subject for a description of the requirements to obtain a Proper Management Certificate.

For the sake of clarification, in this article I am focusing only on donations which are given directly to Israel, not via registered charities in the USA, or any other country in the world.

An encouragement to give

In light of the above article, I strongly encourage any potential Evangelical donor to consider requesting information regarding the ministries you are supporting. I encourage you to see to it that they are within the confines of biblical principles, as well as possessing a Proper Management Certificate, which would confirm legal registration.

I invite you as Evangelicals to continue supporting Israel. Your generosity is a tremendous blessing to the reputation of Evangelicals within Israel. Your generosity is both a provision and a statement of support, both in prayer and in finances.

I hope this article solidifies how to properly investigate where donations are going in order to guarantee that these donations are fulfilling their purposes, which will, in effect, hopefully increase the donations that are generated into Israel.

The information stipulated above is obviously generic, and should in no way replace official legal consultation.

About the author:

Michael Decker has a B.A. in law and is a licensed attorney in Israel. He is a partner in the law offices of Yehuda Raveh & Co., which represents more than 150 charities in Israel on a regular basis. Michael also serves as Senior Legal Advisor to the Jerusalem Institute of Justice.

For further inquiries regarding the issues mentioned in this article, please do not hesitate to contact Michael at: mdecker@yrlegal.co.il.

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Israel Surprised by EU Call for Hamas Disarmament

Wednesday, July 23, 2014 | Israel Today Staff

TOPICS:

Hamas

Israel was pleasantly surprised on Tuesday when European Union foreign ministers echoed Jerusalem’s demand that Hamas and its terrorist allies be disarmed as an outcome of the current Gaza war.

“The EU calls on Hamas to immediately put an end to these acts and to renounce violence. All terrorist groups in Gaza must disarm,” read the first clause of a joint statement issued following a meeting in Brussels.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued its own statement praising “the European Union’s call for the disarmament of the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip of their weapons and the demilitarization of Gaza. These EU statements are completely in line with the perception that guides Israel in the fight against terrorism and they open the door for cooperation in implementing common principles for restoring peace and security.”

Indeed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the week told CNN that the international community must “undertake a program to demilitarize Gaza,” explaining that Israel could not tolerate a war with Hamas every couple years.

A week earlier, Netanyahu explicitly told visiting Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini that the disarmament of Gaza had become a major goal of the current war and for Israel in the long-term. Prior to that, former Israeli Defense Minister Shaul proposed offering $50 billion investment in Gaza in return for Hamas handing over its missile stockpiles.

Tuesday’s EU statement agreed with the Israeli leaders that the status quo in and around Gaza cannot continue, and that more should and could be done to open up that territory and return it to economic stability.

Israel has long maintained that it desires a Gaza Strip that is prosperous and self-sustaining. In fact, Israel withdrew from the coastal enclave in 2005 with that goal in mind, having left behind a wealth of Israeli agricultural businesses for the use of local Palestinian residents.

However, Israel is also adamant that this end goal cannot come at the expense of security for the citizens of the Jewish state. Of course, were the EU’s condition regarding disarmament met, that obstacle would be removed.

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Fleeing 'place full of death,’ Jews from eastern Ukraine weep for homeland - HAARETZ

Fleeing 'place full of death,’ Jews from eastern Ukraine weep for homeland

Hundreds of Jews have been made refugees by the fighting in the east of the country.

By JTA | Jul. 21, 2014 HAARETZ

Jewish men and boys in a synagogue in Donetsk, Ukraine, Friday, April 18, 2014.

Jewish men and boys prepare to read prayers in a synagogue in Donetsk, Ukraine, Friday, April 18, 2014.Photo by AP

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Anatoly Lazaurenko’s face betrays no emotion as he watches footage of an old woman he used to know lying in the rubble of what once was his home in the war-torn city of Slavyansk.

Oblivious to her mangled face, Anatoly, 8, points to a corner of the computer screen to indicate the bombed-out apartment in eastern Ukraine that his family fled last month as a tense standoff between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces escalated into urban warfare.

Like many Ukrainians, the boy has become inured to disturbing sights after months of violent conflict in his country. Even after watching the video, Anatoly says he would rather be home — under fire, but with his friends and classmates. But his mother insists they are staying with relatives near Dnepropetrovsk, far from the battle zone, as long as the fighting persists.

“Every day Anatoly asks me in tears if we can go back yet,” says his mother, Ludmila.

The Lazaurenkos are among hundreds of Jews made refugees by the fighting in eastern Ukraine, part of a larger movement of tens of thousands of people who have fled since pro-Russian militias — some toting heavy caliber machine guns and mortars — took up arms against government troops in March.

Hundreds already have died in the fighting, including the 200 passengers and crew aboard a Malaysia Airlines jet shot down over eastern Ukraine on Thursday by what American and Ukrainian officials say was a Russian anti-aircraft missile fired from rebel-controlled territory.

On Friday, two Jews — Svetlana Sitnikov and her daughter, Anna — were killed in an explosion in the eastern city of Lugansk.

The Jewish refugees are surviving on assistance from local and foreign Jewish groups that in recent weeks have launched major rescue and relief operations. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and community officials are helping to provide housing, monthly stipends, food and medicine in what they describe as one of largest mobilizations in the history of Ukrainian Jewry.

“We’re talking about a multi-element package designed to improve the situation of each and every person who left the battle zone,” said Yoni Leifer, the head of operations in the Dnepropetrovsk region for JDC. A separate relief operation is being carried out by the Chabad-led Jewish community of Dnepropetrovsk.

The Lazaurenkos decided to leave Slavyansk last month after government forces began engaging the separatists. But Ludmila Lazaurenko does not blame Ukrainian troops, who launched their offensive following the standoff with the rebels.

“We were pro-Russian,” Lazaurenko said of herself and her parents, Nadezhda and Alexander Belovol, who fled with her and Anatoly. “But that changed after we saw how they fought from inside the houses of civilians, with no regard for their lives. There is no excuse for that.”

Two weeks after the family left, they learned from a television news broadcast that their house had been blown up.

“We started crying when we saw that nothing was left,” Lazaurenko said. “We have nothing now.”

For those without relatives to take them in, JDC and the Jewish community of Dnepropetrovsk have arranged rooms in the community’s various institutions. The Beit Baruch old age home reached its capacity last week after 28 people were given spots in vacant rooms.

Among them are Rosa Dvoskina and Sofia Sanina, two women in their 80s who fled Slavyansk and Lugansk, respectively, earlier this month.

“I made it out, but I can’t stop thinking about my poor friends and neighbors who are still trapped there without water or medicines in a place full of death,” said a weeping Dvoskina, who had lived in her apartment building for 40 years before having to leave.

Like most refugees, Dvoskina and Sanina say they fled out of a general concern for safety unrelated to the fact that they are Jewish. But their neighbors at Beit Baruch, an Orthodox family of seven from Donetsk who requested not to be named, said anti-Jewish graffiti began to appear in the city as the rule of law weakened.

“We started seeing swastikas painted on park benches, buildings,” the family’s grandfather said.

Amid lingering uncertainty about the future of Ukraine’s embattled eastern border cities, Dvoskina and Sanina are thinking about immigrating to Israel, though they would prefer to return to their homes. Other refugees, including Elena Libina from Donetsk, are determined to leave permanently for Israel.

Libina is staying in a community facility in Dnepropetrovsk only until her immigration application is approved. Meanwhile, the Jewish community is arranging for the rescue of her 91-year-old aunt, who remains trapped in Lugansk.

“We felt the tension rising and noticed that bus tickets out of the city were increasingly becoming more expensive,” Libina told JTA. “When they bombed the administration building, I left.”

Dnepropetrovsk is one of Ukraine’s largest Jewish communities, with 50,000 members. Several oligarchs, including the banking magnate Igor Kolomoisky, have poured millions into the community’s institutions, including several Jewish schools and the $100 million Menorah Jewish Community Center, a 450,000 square-foot facility that includes luxury mikvah baths, kosher restaurants, a Holocaust museum and a day care center.

Zelig Brez, the community’s director general and right hand of the city’s influential chief rabbi, Shmuel Kamenetsky, said organizing the rescue and relief operation isn’t merely a religious duty but part of his responsibility toward Ukraine’s smaller Jewish communities.

“It comes with the territory of being an engine of Jewish life in Ukraine,” Brez said.

The community has made wide use of its facilities to help house the refugees. Elena Konigina and her 12-year-old daughter, Ksenia, have stayed at a scenic countryside resort near the Dnepropetrovsk suburb of Pavlograd since they fled Lugansk in May.

Konigina would like to immigrate to Israel, but Ksenia is a minor and cannot exit the country without the consent of both parents. Konigina says she does not know how to reach Ksenia’s father, whom she divorced several years ago.

Even if she could go, Konigina worries that the situation in the Jewish state won’t be much better.

“I don’t know what good that will do,” Konigina said. “They are shooting there, too.”

Gaza in 1917. What Led to Such Terrible Destruction?

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

Gaza in 1917. What Led to Such Terrible Destruction? -- Excerpts from a previous posting

Posted: 21 Jul 2014

Gaza City in World War I, 1917 (Library of Congress). What caused such destruction?

Turks prepare to attack the Suez Canal, 1915

In the early 1900s, the British Empire relied on the Suez Canal to maintain communications and trade with India, Australia and New Zealand. And that was precisely why Germany encouraged Turkey to challenge British rule over Egypt and British control of the Suez Canal.

In early 1915, the Turkish army in Palestine crossed the Sinai and attacked British troops along the Suez.

The British army beat back the attacks, took the war north into Sinai and pushed the Turkish army back to a defense line stretching from Gaza, located on the Mediterranean, to Be'er Sheva, some 40 miles inland.

Great Mosque of Gaza (circa 1880)

The Mosque after the fighting (1917)

In March and April 1917 the British army attempted to push through Gaza and up the Mediterranean coast in battles that involved as many as 60,000 soldiers, British and French ships firing on Gaza from the Mediterranean, the use of poison gas, and the deployment of newly developed British tanks. The British suffered a disastrous defeat.

Ruins of Gaza, believed to be after the 1917 battles

British trenches in Gaza. After the defeat, the
British army switched to more mobile tactics.

British tanks destroyed in the Gaza fighting

The British campaign for Jerusalem would be stalled for six months. It would be led by a new commander, a large number of reinforcements, and a new strategy that took the war in a new direction, east toward Be'er Sheva.

British Prisoners of War, captured in Gaza 1917

Footnote: History records Jews living in Gaza for thousands of years. [View the mosaic depicting King David from a 6th century synagogue in Gaza.]

Mosaic of King David
(Israel Museum)

Ottoman tax records showed dozens of Jewish families in Gaza in the Middle Ages. One of the most famous Gazan Jews was Rabbi Israel Ben Moses Najara (16th Century) who composed prayers and Sabbath zmirot (songs) popular to this day. He was buried in Gaza.

Jewish families fled Gaza in the 1929 pogroms. Population records still showed Jews living in Gaza until 1945.

Kfar Darom, named for a community mentioned in the Talmud, was a Jewish kibbutz established in the Gaza Strip in 1930 that was abandoned in the 1948 war. Kfar Darom was reestablished in 1970 but evacuated by Israel in the 2005 "dis

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

FAA bans U.S. airlines from Israel over rocket threat - USA TODAY

FAA bans U.S. airlines from Israel over rocket threat

Bart Jansen, USA TODAYJuly 22, 2014

Delta Air Lines, United and US Airways each canceled flights Tuesday to Israel because of safety and security concerns, after a rocket attack near Tel Aviv's airport.

At 12:15 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration prohibited U.S. airlines from flying to Ben Gurion International Airport for 24 hours, after a rocket landed about 1 mile from the airport.

"The FAA will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation," FAA said in a statement. "Updated instructions will be provided to U.S. airlines as soon as conditions permit, but no later than 24 hours" from the last order.

Delta Flight 468, a Boeing 747 with 273 passengers and 17 crew members, diverted to Paris on Tuesday after reports of a rocket near Tel Aviv. The airline, which typically flies between New York's JFK airport and Ben Gurion, suspended service indefinitely.

United Airlines canceled flights 84 and 90 from Newark to Tel Aviv.

"We are suspending operations to/from Tel Aviv until further notice," United spokeswoman Jennifer Dohm said. "We are working with government officials to ensure the safety of our customers and our employees and will continue to evaluate the situation."

US Airways also canceled a flight to Israel Tuesday. Flight 796, which began in Los Angeles, was canceled in Philadelphia before leaving for Tel Aviv.

The airlines said they are working with FAA and other government agencies to monitor the situation.

The State Department has been warning to defer non-essential travel to Israel since Feb. 3 because of hostilities with the West Bank and Gaza.

Long-range rockets launched from Gaza since July 8, 2014 have reached many locations in Israel, including Tel Aviv. While many rockets have been intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, there have been impacts that have caused damage and injury.

Israeli Defense Forces said in its Twitter feed that Iron Dome had intercepted one rocket above Tel Aviv while a second rocket fell in the town of Yehud, about a mile and a half from the airport.

Human Shields: 'Hamas Wants Israel to Kill Their Children'

By Chris Mitchell

CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

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GAZA BORDER -- Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in a confrontation with Hamas infiltrators disguised as Israeli soldiers wearing suicide belts inside the Israeli border.

The IDF killed most of these infiltrators. So far, the Israel Defense Force has destroyed more than 20 tunnels and killed nearly 200 Hamas terrorists since the start of its ground operation.

Here on the Israeli-Gaza border you can see the plumes of smoke from the fighting within Gaza city. The IDF has called up 60,000 troops in Operation Protective Edge. About 30 soldiers have died in the line of battle.

Israeli soldiers find themselves fighting an enemy that uses the same tactics as al Qaeda in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Col. Richard Kemp, who commanded British ground troops in Afghanistan, refutes the claim that Israel has committed war crimes.

"The British forces fought against the Taliban for many years in Afghanistan," Kemp said. "They use human shields. They attempt to lure us to kill their civilian population. It's a common theme among Islamist extremist groups in this world."

"Everything I've seen would suggest to me that Israel is not committing a war crime," he said. "Far from it. Israel is going further than most other countries in this world, going to prevent the loss of civilian innocent civilian life."

"The people that are committing the war crimes are Hamas who fire rockets into Israeli civilian population indiscriminately and who also use their own people as human shields," he continued. "That is a war crime."

"Hamas wants the Israeli Defense Force to kill their children, their women, that's what they want to happen," he said. "They want to get the propaganda; they want to get the publicity, the sympathy and the pity of the world to by getting the Israelis to kill their population. That's exactly what their tactic is."

Former IDF spokesperson Avital Leibovitz said Hamas deliberately put Palestinian civilians in harm's way during the intense fighting in Shebalia.

"We are trying to do everything we can in order to make sure that civilians are evacuated from the area," he said. "However, as we've seen from Hamas time and time again, the Ministry of Interior is forbidding their civilians -- it's really tragic -- he's forbidding them from leaving those areas and we find ourselves in very tough situations."

On the diplomatic front, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and U.S.Secretary of State John Kerry are in the region trying to broker a ceasefire. Yet Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said they would continue to fight Israel.

"For shall you bless the righteous, O Lord..." - Israel365

For shall you bless the righteous, O Lord; you shall cover him with favor as with a shield.

PSALMS (5:12)

כִּי אַתָּה תְּבָרֵךְ צַדִּיק יְ-הֹוָה כַּצִּנָּה רָצוֹן תַּעְטְרֶנּוּ

תהילים ה:יב

kee a-TA t'-va-RAYKH tza-DEEK a-do-NAI ka-tzi-NA ra-TZON ta-t'-RE-nu

Today's Israel Inspiration

There is a story of a great rabbi who recently passed away in Jerusalem, who, during his life, would sometimes sit near the window of his home and quietly bestow blessings on all those who passed by. He explained this unusual habit, saying that most people only wish someone a "good morning" when seeing them in person. But he taught that even when not meeting someone face to face, we should still work on instilling a feeling of good will toward them. Learn more about the power of bestowing blessings on others in an inspiring new eBook!

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Questions from God

This inspiring 1-minute video leaves such a powerful impression that you'll want to share it with all your friends. In question after question, we discover what's truly important in life.

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Christians Threatened by ISIS

Over this past weekend, militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria set fire to a 1,800-year-old church in Mosul. Hundreds of Christian families have also fled the city after being threatened if they did not convert or pay a tax.

Star of David Micro Calligraphy Print

Look closely and you'll see that this gorgeous print is composed entirely of words from Isaiah 62, blended together to form a colorful Star of David. This beautiful piece of art is by talented artist Ellen Miller Braun, sharing her love of Zion and the Bible with a unique talent.

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Israel Photo Trivia

Can you guess where this photo by Igor Farberov was taken? Hint: These fisherman are in one of the world's oldest port cities. Send me an email or post your guess on Facebook!

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Thank You

Today's Scenes and Inspiration is sponsored by new Bible partner Billie Walk of Michigan. Toda raba!

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“Everything is So Inspiring”

It’s great to hear from so many of you - stay in touch and let us know where in the world you are enjoying Israel365!

Stay in Touch »

Dear Rabbi Tuly, I thank you very much for the daily messages, the videos, photos etc. Everything is so inspiring. I appreciate it very much. G-d bless you also in the future to be a light for the nations and Israel. Thank you very much. All the best from Switzerland. M.J.

Shalom,
Rabbi Tuly Weisz
RabbiTuly@Israel365.com

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Wednesday, July 23, 2014