The PLO vs. The Christians
Arafat’s war against Israel has shattered nearly as many old certainties as lives. One of the most seemingly solid of the certainties was that no one could attack Israel’s capital and live to tell the…
Israel in the News
Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2001
At the height of the recent Al-Aqsa Intifada, Palestinians and Israelis bemoaned the suffering it caused. Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, determined to widen the war and force international intervention on his behalf…
Israel in the News Jul/Aug 2001
At the invitation of Iran, Israel’s archenemy, members of the terror groups Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas met with parliamentary leaders of 30 Islamic countries at a two-day conference in Tehran. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan…
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2001
We have commented often in this space about the issue of revisionist history—the writing of fiction while calling it fact. The most recent blatant example is the Arab contention that the Jewish people have had…
Israel in the News May/Jun 2001
THE JERUSALEM POST—Fatah has issued a leaflet vowing to escalate the intifada and to make the lives of Gilo residents “hell.” The leaflet praised the recent killing of Israeli motorist Tzahi Sasson on the Bethlehem…
Christians and the Jerusalem Giveaway
When, during the 1967 Six-Day War, Israeli Colonel Mordechai “Motta” Gur uttered the electrifying words, “The Temple Mount is in our hands!” Jewish people danced in the streets; and Bible-believing Christians shared their unbridled joy.
Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2001
Sheik Hassan Nashrallah has a suggestion for all Jewish people living in the State of Israel. Nashrallah is the secretary-general for the Hezbollah terrorist organization that operated against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
Israel in the News Mar/Apr 2001
Israel needs 528 billion gallons of water annually to survive. But if things stay as they are, the Jewish nation will run out of fresh water in fifteen years, according to Ronald S. Lauder…
Listening for the Chariots
According to a recent report in Ha’aretz, Israel is weighing the prospect of international control over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Israeli newspaper reports that “Israel is not ruling out the possibility of acceding…
Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2001
Every now and then a story breaks that contradicts the notion that Jews and Palestinian Arabs could never live together in peace and mutual respect for one another. Recently, on the eastern…
Israel in the News Jan/Feb 2001
Dr. Aaron Grossman of Chicago, Ill., was shocked to discover that the Associated Press had supplied newspapers with a photograph of his badly beaten son and had identified him as a Palestinian being brutalized…
Knowing Who Your Friends Are
When a Jewish senator was interviewed on the subject of anti-Semitism, he frankly acknowledged how anti-Jewish prejudice had affected his life. “I believe,” he said, “that from time to time, every Jew looks around…
Losing the Vision?
We have entered the “post-Zionist” era. Yet God says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” What does this all mean for little Israel?
Israel in the News Oct/Nov 2000
HA’ARETZ (INTERNET EDITION)— Palestinian electricity consumption is climbing by 15–20 percent a year and could become a future time bomb threatening Israel’s limited reserves, a senior industry source said.
Never Missing an Opportunity to Miss an Opportunity
Speaking of Israel’s adversaries, someone once commented that “they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity!” If anyone wants proof of that wry observation, he need only consider the events that took place during…
Israel in the News Aug/Sep 2000
HAARETZ—Prime Minister Ehud Barak expressed his gratitude to Russian President Vladimire Putin for the freeing of Adi Sharon, a 12–year–old Israeli boy. According to Russian news agencies, the 13 gang members responsible for the kidnapping…
What Goes Around
We are all well acquainted with the names of people like Corrie ten Boom, Oscar Schindler, and Raoul Wallenburg. Each is distinguished for rescuing Jewish people who were marked for death by the satanically driven…
Israel in the News Jun/Jul 2000
THE JERUSALEM REPORT— Participants are currently being recruited for a new program to take non-Jews from around the world on tours of the Nazi death camps in Poland and then to Israel.
Eye on the Middle East Apr/May 2000
Who’s on First.” That famous comedy routine by Bud Abbott and Lou Costello had audiences in an uproar trying to figure out who was where on the baseball diamond.
Israel in the News Apr/May 2000
Born in Jaffa in 1935, Levy was a thirteenth generation sabra (native Israeli) who devoted his life to his country. He served in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) for more than twenty-five years…
Can Israel and Syria Make a Deal?
In spite of all the optimistic talk in Washington, Jerusalem, and Damascus about peace being on the horizon, there are serious questions about how much, in the long run, can actually be achieved.
Eye on the Middle East Feb/Mar 2000
JERUSALEM—In an attempt to enlarge an exit to an underground mosque, the Muslim Wakf has been illegally excavating underneath the Temple Mount and dumping the dirt by the truckload into the Kidron Valley.
Israel in the News Feb/Mar 2000
JERUSALEM—The population in Israel has reached 6.2 million, and the Jewish population is approaching 5 million, according to recent figures published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). A CBS spokesman said he expects rapid…
Israel Extends Its Arm
Late last summer the Israeli Navy sent its fleet from the port of Haifa on a special mission. In concert with the navy, Israeli Air Force jets swept into the sky bound for the Mediterranean. Their combined mission was to form a gala welcoming committee. The recipient…
Israel in the News Dec/Jan 1999/2000
In the not-too-distant future, El Al will spray its airplanes with aromatic smells, in response to the offensive odors that often permeate airplanes. A “sample” plane will be sprayed on each flight at first, and after studying…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 1999/2000
Israeli lifeAn Israeli politician once told me that Prime Minister Ehud Barak is “Bibi compatible.” That is to say that Barak, who spent the major portion of his life in the military and is the nation’s most highly decorated soldier…
Is Everybody Happy? Don’t Count on It!
When the Sharm Agreement was signed at Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, last month, a mini-eruption of euphoria flowed into statehouses and liberal editorial offices all over the world. At long last, the spin was, we are on the road to…
Barak’s Government
Israel’s volatile political scene was struck by lightning the middle of this year with the election of Ehud Barak as prime minister. The One Israel party leader was the choice of nearly six out of every ten voters on May 17. Unlike the late Yitzhak Rabin…
Israel in the News Oct/Nov 1999
According to the Sunday Telegraph, the Iranian regime has significantly increased its funding of the Hamas terror organization to permit an escalation in attacks at a time when the government of Israel is working to advance…
Israel in the News Aug/Sep 1999
“This one we call Yirmiyahu, that one is Tikva and this one here is Fortuna Ziona,” said Col. Dan Engelhard, a pediatrician, pointing to the three newborns under his care. The three were born in the refugee camp hospital—delivered by…
Changing Horses at High Speed
With the dexterity of an old Pony Express rider, America’s current administration appears to have leaped into a new saddle with bewildering speed. Dust raised from the change of direction is causing great consternation in Jerusalem…
Getting Our Attention: Is It Too Late?
There is a threadbare story that I tired of hearing years ago. It had too much of the smell of musty homespun about it to appeal to me and many of my generation, but it made a point. The story had to do with a crusty farmer and his mule.
Eye on the Middle East Jun/Jul 1999
I was sitting on the balcony of my hotel room in Tel Aviv, Israel, a few weeks ago. It was about three in the morning, and it seemed to me that, although I couldn’t sleep, the rest of the world should be in bed. But it was not—at least not…
Israel in the News Jun/Jul 1999
As the United States moves to revive the stalled Israeli-Syrian peace talks, Defense Minister Moshe Arens said recently that the only way Damascus will make peace is if Israel withdraws from the entire Golan Heights. He is against…
Listen to the Children
The assumption now is that some sort of Palestinian state will soon be a fact of life for Israel and the Middle East. With the U.S. administration manifesting a perceptible policy shift in favor of Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians, coupled with…
Israel in the News Apr/May1999
Brown suede gloves worn by a Mossad agent who helped capture Nazi SS leader Adolf Eichmann 38 years ago have been donated to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, the institution announced…
Suicide on the Temple Mount
Jerusalem Police Chief Yair Yitzhaki confirmed recently that members of a Denver, Colorado-based doomsday cult have entered Israel. Their agenda, however, is reported to be anything but the usual tour of the Holy Land. Cult watchers…
How Israelis Feels About Jewish Believers
There has been much talk over the last few years about the state of religious freedom in Israel. Some have accused the government and Israelis in general of being hostile toward those who believe in Jesus as their Messiah. This perception is…
Interview With David Bar–Illan
In view of the turmoil now being experienced in the Middle East, we have decided to replace Israel In The News with an interview Elwood McQuaid conducted with Mr. David Bar-Illan on November 18, 1998. He is the Policy and…
Israel in the News Dec/Jan 1998/1999
Long lines of potential immigrants formed outside the Jewish Agency offices in Moscow…for the first time in years as the ruble continued to fall, according to Jewish Agency emissaries. In Israel, Absorption Minister Yuli Edelstein predicted that…
Eye on the Middle East Oct/Nov 1998
It is often difficult to feel certain you are getting the straight story when listening to spokesmen for the Palestinian Authority and their cohorts in the Middle East. The new Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheik Ekrima Sabri, recently appointed by Yasser Arafat…
Israel in the News Oct/Nov 1998
Israel’s high-profile rescue team in Nairobi continued to search for survivors in the rubble of the bombing of the us embassy in Kenya…,after having succeeded in rescuing a man, a woman, and her son. The army home front command rescue teams…
Prophetic Implications
The stepping aside of the United States, even temporarily, in favor of intervention in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians by the European Union brings to mind an end-times scenario. There is a strong indication that…
Eye On The Middle East Aug/Sep 1998
The idea of Israel’s making a complete withdrawal of its troops from southern Lebanon should cause a rousing celebration in Beirut and the Arab world. After all, withdrawal from south Lebanon has been the stated objective of…
Israel in the News Aug/Sep 1998
The government intends to lodge a protest with the Palestinian Authority over an interview PA Chairman Yasser Arafat gave…in which he compared the Oslo Accords to a temporary truce, saying he envied Palestinian suicide “martyrs”…
Israel in the News Jun/Jul 1998
By 2003, Israel will finally have fulfilled the dreams of its founders when it overtakes the United States to become home to the largest number of Jews in the world. This according to the Institute of the World Jewish Congress, which is…
The Peril of Pressuring Israel
Flying in the face of the contention that Israel must make unilateral concessions to Arab demands to relinquish land and make sweeping withdrawals from the territories are realities that, if not reckoned with decisively today, will certainly come back in…
Eye on the Middle East Apr/May 1998
Since the January visits to Washington by Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat, much has been said about a “demilitarized” Palestinian state. It is presumed that such a state would cause no appreciable problems for Israel, while bringing much aid and…
Israel in the News Apr/May 1998
The Absorption Ministry announced…that immigration was up more than 20% in the last six months of 1997, compared to the first six months of the year, with the majority of newcomers arriving from Ukraine and Ethiopia. Some 36,000 immigrants arrived…
Eggs Over Easy
It was a bad year for the Jewish people in Israel—suicide bombings, more deaths in Lebanon, murders of innocent civilians, and the peace talks at a standstill. To make matters worse, at year’s end the United States was pressing Prime Minister Netanyahu…
Saddam Hussein: Back to Square One
I was speaking to an Israeli official shortly after the Gulf War. “We are,” he said, “deeply appreciative for all that America did during the war with Iraq. Israel is grateful. But if I could, with all due respect, I’d like to offer an opinion: I’m afraid that perhaps the…
Eye on the Middle East Feb/Mar 1998
Iran is gloating. Russia, eager to once again become a major player in the Middle East, is touting the close ties being developed with the nation that sent hundreds of thousands of its children to death in the desert during its war with the Iraqis. Moscow has declared…
Israel in the News Feb/Mar 1998
The threat of missiles aimed at Israel is the most significant since the War of Independence, Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai warned recently.
“They can hit our most vital asset, the civilian population we are supposed to be defending,” he told…
Eye on the Middle East Dec/Jan 1997/1998
After the tragic suicide bombing on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem last September, Yasser Arafat was adamant. The bombers, he insisted, came from abroad; thus, he had no control over the invaders. As a matter of fact, the problem, he claimed, was with…
Israel in the News Dec/Jan 1997/1998
Hundreds of urns filled with human ashes that were discovered at the former Buchenwald concentration camp were buried [recently] at a mountain cemetery.
The 701 metal urns were found May 7 by carpenters working on the roof of…
Israel in the News Oct/Nov 1997
The Senate passed a major foreign relations bill [recently] that authorizes $100 million for construction of a new US embassy in Jerusalem. The bill has three other Jerusalem components.
Eye on the Middle East Oct/Nov 1997
According to a recent news report, the Palestinian Authority has drafted a plan creating a belt of Palestinian communities circling Israeli neighborhoods in Jerusalem. The announcement was made by Faisal Husseini, who is in charge…
The Anti-Missionary Bill: Giving Israel A Bad Name
The State of Israel…will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture…
Israel in the News Aug/Sep 1997
The Palestinian Authority is smuggling Katyusha rockets, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, all in preparation for a future conflict with Israel, a senior Israeli security source said recently.
National Unity Conference
An overflow crowd of approximately 1,500 evangelical Christians and Jewish people greeted Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a breakfast held at the J. W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, DC, in April.
Eye on the Middle East Jun/Jul 1997
The debate that has raged over the Israeli building project at Har Homa, an area in southeast Jerusalem, has raised a fundamental question—one that reflects the central issue in Israel’s sputtering peace process…
Israel in the News Jun/Jul 1997
Two radical Islamic groups praised the killing of seven Israeli schoolgirls by a Jordanian soldier, and called on Moslems to wage a “holy war” to regain Jerusalem. Jordan’s parliamentary opposition also came out in the…
Voices from the Sideline
Last December, a group calling themselves “Christians for Middle East Peace” placed an ad in the New York Times calling for Christians to lobby Washington to politically partition Jerusalem into capitals for Israel…
Seeing the Big Picture
The question is raised frequently these days regarding the wisdom of Israel’s current prime minister in signing onto the Oslo Accords and the land-for-peace formula.
Gentile Rule Over Judæa
Gentile rule over Judæa began in 605 B.C. when King Jehoiakim of Judæa became a vassal of Babylon. As pictured in Daniel’s visions of the image (Dan. 2) and the four beasts (Dan. 7)…
Eye on the Middle East Apr/May 1997
The explosion was deafening and lit the skies over a small village in northern Israel like a giant burst of lightning. Those who rushed to the scene on a fog-shrouded winter night found the shattered…
Israel in the News Apr/May 1997
The cabinet overwhelmingly voted [recently] to reinstate financial subsidies to all settlers by conferring “top national priority” status on the territories, amid warnings by security officials that a settlement drive could lead to confrontation…
You Get One Mistake
I have a good friend who served in Israel’s fledgling army during the 1948 War of Independence. He was fresh from Europe, after having successfully run the Nazi gauntlet in Poland as a disenfranchised Jewish war waif.
Prophecy And Politics
Throughout the negotiations carried on by both the Rabin and Netanyahu governments in Israel with their Arab neighbors, a persistent question has been raised by many Christians.
Light From The Tunnel
The infamous tunnel incident in Jerusalem, which saw more than 70 people killed and scores of others wounded, shook the Middle East peace process to its very foundations. Predictably, the Western media lurched into action…
The Election Results and the Peace Process
On May 29, 1996, an election took place in Israel that brought about a complete reversal of policy in our nation. The left-wing government of Shimon Peres, which had been in power for four years…
Israel’s New Reality
This statement, made by former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Perez, may have paved the way for his failure in May to be officially elected to that position.
Israel in the News Oct/Nov 1996
In a dramatic reversal, Swiss bankers have agreed to set up an independent commission with Jewish participation to determine what assets still in their banks belong to Holocaust victims.
Now More Than Ever
The ascent of Benjamin Netanyahu to the position of Prime Minister in Israel gave rise to a considerable amount of hand-wringing among international politicians, as well as liberal and anti-Israel elements in the news media.
The Last Word
America has once again witnessed the stomach-wrenching emotion of flag-draped coffins being carried from large Air Force cargo planes. Grieving widows and their children are told by grim-faced leaders that their loved ones did not…
Israel in the News Aug/Sep 1996
The Likud-led government voted into power will continue the peace process, honor Israel’s international commitments, and strive to heal rifts in the country, Prime Minister-elect Binyamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Israel in the News Jun/Jul 1996
Hamas, the Muslim group responsible for 62 deaths in four recent suicide bombings, said recently it would rekindle its terror campaign against Israel. “We will resume the wonderful martyrdom operations and light a fire again…
Israel in the News Apr/May 1996
Despite calls for a boycott by fundamentalists, Palestinian voters turned out in record numbers to give long-time Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a victory and a mandate for continuing the peace process with Israel.
Israel in the News Feb/Mar 1996
Some 57% of the population trusts that … Prime Minister Shimon Peres will be able to lead the country and continue the peace process, according to a survey of 500 Jewish adults…
Israel’s Darkest Day
Israel’s era of innocence died with the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Theirs was not an innocence bred by naiveté. At its core it was tough—much like the exterior of the Sabra cactus after…
Israel in the News Dec/Jan 1995/1996
Slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was buried (November 6), with President Clinton among world leaders who gathered amid extraordinary security. Rabin, 73, was shot (November 4) at a peace rally in Tel Aviv;
Jerusalem: Showing the Right Stuff
When Captain Scott O’Grady emerged from the Bosnian underbrush and gave a relieved America the “thumbs up” sign, Newsweek magazine hailed the young pilot as a gutsy American kid who had “the Right Stuff.”
The Peace Process
From a distance, which is where I sit, things don’t look promising for Israel. Frankly, I, along with hosts of Christians who are deeply committed to promoting Israel’s best interests…
The State of the State
The subject of politics can be volatile and is often avoided in polite conversation. Still, jokes about politicians, parties, and their performance permeate our society. Who among us is not interested in the various national…
Terrorism Has Taken a New Twist
Until recent years, every organization, group, or institute in Israel, along with geographic regions where there was a concentration of people, planned their defense according to the well known ways of terror attacks…
Israel in the News Oct/Nov 1995
For the second straight year, Israel has been named “The Most Preferred Destination in the Middle East” by the magazine Travel Trade Gazette. The award was presented to the Government Tourist Office in North America…
Israel in the News Aug/Sep 1995
The satellite transmits video signals sharp enough to “make out license plates in Baghdad,” an official at Israel Aircraft Industries told AP. The possible military missions of such a device include high-resolution photography, electronic surveillance, and measuring the electromagnetic levels of various objects.
American Troops on the Golan: Another Bad Idea
In a world awash with bad ideas and catastrophic consequences, it is not out of line to counsel caution and offer a bit of good sense to those who make the decisions that affect us…
Israel in the News Jun/Jul 1995
News photos of Palestinian policemen raising a Nazi-style salute increase anxiety among Holocaust survivors, according to a Bikur Holim Hospital psychiatrist who researched survivors’ ability to cope with the present.
The Specter of the Holocaust
“We still have the option of Jihad.” These were the words of PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat after three Palestinians were killed when Israeli soldiers returned fire leveled at them in the Gaza Strip.
Israel in the News Apr/May 1995
The US has received signals from 18 Arab states that they will make peace with Israel once it and Syria have struck an accord, sources in the Clinton administration and outside it have told the…
Two Faces of the Middle East
The trees look a bit better along Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv these days. New leaves have sprouted on limbs that were denuded of foliage when a mad bomber from Hamas triggered an explosive device…
Israel in the News Feb/Mar 1995
Fifty-seven percent of Israelis would oppose a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights even in exchange for full peace with Syria, according to a Gallup poll conducted for The Jerusalem Post and the Independent Media…
A Clear and Present Danger
Life in the Middle East is often fraught with danger for citizens who hope only to live in peace. It goes without saying that the current peace process is a risk-taking venture that reflects…
Israel in the News Dec/Jan 1994/1995
A Roman Catholic Church document acknowledging the “co-responsibility” for the Holocaust has been drafted, it was revealed recently. The document goes far beyond any previous official Catholic pronouncement regarding the Christian roots of anti-Semitism…
The Messiah’s House Is Empty
In the village of Kfar Chabad, just off the highway linking Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, stands a large brownstone house. I wrote about it in this space shortly after its cornerstone was laid in 1992.
Living With the Peace Process
On September 13, 1993, Israel signed a peace treaty with the PLO, an organization then known as one of our worst enemies. You would expect that after such an historic step…
Israel in the News Oct/Nov 1994
Jerusalem will remain the capital of the Jewish people forever, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin told the conference of Jewish National Fund leaders recently. He was responding to a statement by PLO leader Yasser Arafat that…
Handshakes and High Hopes
It was a photograph far more captivating than the proverbial “a picture is worth a thousand words” theme. The Royal Jordanian jet with King Hussein on board was flying in lazy circles at low altitude…