Jewish World Update Nov/Dec 2023
Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli recently objected to the German government allowing comparisons between the…
ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT
Israel’s ‘Pearl Harbor’
Spies warned that conflict was imminent. Enemy troops were visibly massing. Yet, when the attack came on October 6, 1973—Yom Kippur…
Jewish World Update Sep/Oct 2023
The New York Times Jerusalem bureau chiefs and columnists have long referred to Israeli “occupied territory…”
Jewish World Update May/Jun 2023
The concepts of “Palestinians” and “Palestine” are political tools used to subvert, demonize, and destroy the Jews’…
Apples of Gold May/Jun 2023
We live very close to our Arab neighbors, so we see each other almost every day. A few months ago I had a long conversation with some of them…
Apples of Gold Mar/Apr 2023
It is written in Jeremiah 6:14, “‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.” It is also written, “I will give you assured peace in this place” (14:13)…
Radical PIJ Is Moving In
Recent clashes between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have underscored Iran’s…
From the Editor Sep/Oct 2022
My husband, Tom, had a wonderful opportunity recently to visit Israel on a tour led by the Zionist Organization of America. He was among a handful of Christians…
UN Rewrites Temple-Mount History
The UN General Assembly recently passed a resolution that calls Jerusalem’s Temple Mount by its Muslim name only…
Jewish World Update Mar/Apr 2022
The Jewish and non-Jewish political left has wildly denounced U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett…
Israel Prepares to Strike
The Israeli government recently allocated 5 billion shekels ($1.5 billion) to prepare the Israel Defense Forces to strike…
Jewish World Update Jan/Feb 2022
The recent U.S. congressional drama about funding for Iron Dome was merely a sideshow to a proposed amendment by…
Gut Feelings vs. Biblical Truth
Alarms are ringing after a new survey conducted by the Barna Group for the University…
Israel and Iran’s ‘Shadow War’
An ongoing shadow war at sea between Israel and Iran recently escalated when the Islamic Republic attacked…
We Stand With Israel!
There is no authority on Earth except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. That may seem like a strange statement in view of…
Has Ecoterrorism Hit Israel?
The February 2021 oil spill that polluted nearly half of Israel’s shoreline highlighted the country’s acute vulnerability to…
Apples of Gold Sep/Oct 2021
Deuteronomy 16:19 says, “You shall not . . . take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.” Therefore, it is written…
New Precision Weapon Could Devastate Israel
Iran is continuing to provide high-quality weapons to Hezbollah, including one that could give the terror organization…
Jewish World Update Jul/Aug 2021
Jewish people the world over are still grieving over the loss of more than 45 people who were crushed to death in a horrific…
The New Middle East
Last December I stumbled across an article that nearly knocked me off my chair. The headline read, “Israel and the UAE working together…
The Win-Win Infuriating Iran
Morocco recently established full diplomatic relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, an effort by the United States…
Israel, Lebanon Talk Maritime Borders
Israel and Lebanon recently initiated groundbreaking negotiations to resolve a long-standing maritime border dispute…
Erdoğan’s Move Toward an Islamic Caliphate
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently declared that his decision to…
Jewish World Update Jul/Aug 2020
The Danish Contemporary Bible 2020, the first Danish translation in more than 20 years, has removed the word Israel…
Realistic But Rejected
During the 2016 election cycle, presidential candidate Donald Trump often described an Israeli-Palestinian peace as one of history’s toughest deals…
ICC Invents Palestinian State
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, recently announced that…
Israel’s Precarious Situation
On the night of October 24, 2019, all of Israel’s television news programs led with the same foreboding report: Israel’s…
The Tightening Turkey-Hamas Connection
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently invited Hamas leader Ismail…
EU’s Bias Shines Brightly
The appointment of Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell as high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs…
Dispute Over Temple Mount Intensifies
Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan recently called for changing the status quo on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount…
Jewish World Update Sep/Oct 2019
The vast majority of media coverage of anything involving Israel includes false accusations, distortion or omission of facts, or some combination thereof…
Understanding the Powerful IRGC
The Trump administration’s recent designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “foreign terrorist organization” is part of a…
Jewish World Update Jul/Aug 2019
A 2,600-year-old clay bulla (seal impression) bearing the name of a servant of King Josiah was uncovered inside a public building…
Watching the Rapid Decline
You don’t have to be a political science expert to know the American political landscape is deeply divided. It wasn’t that long ago when Democrats and Republicans could rally around an issue…
Jewish World Update May/Jun 2019
U.S. technology giant Intel Corp. has announced it will invest an unprecedented $11 billion to expand its operations in Israel…
Apples of Gold May/Jun 2019
Israel’s Independence Day is fast approaching. That is when we celebrate our independence in the land. I fought in the War of Independence in 1948 so that we, the Jewish people, could live in our homeland…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2019
It was troubling to watch the video of Rafi’s Jeep going up in flames, the victim of an incendiary balloon launched in Gaza and carried by the wind into Israel. Within seconds, the entire Jeep was aflame…
The Gaza Problem
The Israeli cabinet’s decision to accept a cease-fire with the Islamist terror group Hamas after Palestinians fired more than 450 rockets and mortar shells from the Gaza Strip into Israel within a two-day period set off a heated debate…
Jewish World Update Mar/Apr 2019
In response to the increasing anti-Semitic attacks in France, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed Diaspora Affairs and Education Minister…
Big Shoes to Fill
Nikki Haley’s departure as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations elated the political Left and saddened those who love Israel. In less than two years, Haley set a new American standard that leaves her successor with big shoes to fill…
The Plan to Hitch Israel to Saudi Arabia by Rail
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Transportation Minister Israel Katz have announced a historic plan to establish a rail link between Israel and Saudi Arabia…
Jewish World Update Jan/Feb 2019
Pro-Israel students at Columbia University in New York City recently hosted a protest against the school’s “pervasively hostile environment” toward Zionist students…
Making Something Out of Nothing
Somehow Israel always seems to find itself in the middle of a controversy. Israel’s parliament recently passed a bill called the Jewish Nation-State Law, and immediately it made headlines around the world…
The Flap Over Israel’s Nation-State Law
The Knesset recently enacted a new law that declares Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and that they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in it…
O Jewish Town of Bethlehem
This Christmas season, as we gather in our churches to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and sing the carols of Christmas, we no doubt will sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” one of the most beloved hymns of all time…
Jewish World Update Nov/Dec 2018
“Holocaust memory and Jews are under attack [in Europe],” said Elisha Wiesel, commenting on the recent desecration of the childhood home of his late father, renowned…
Israel Has the Right Idea
Universities have become a hotbed of anti-Israel, anti-Semitic activity. Students call Israel a “terrorist state” and encourage others to engage in “intifada” and violence. Professors compare Israel to Nazi Germany and peddle the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement…
U.S. Quits UNHRC ‘Cesspool’
After more than a year of warnings, the Trump administration has followed through on a pledge to withdraw the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), calling it a “cesspool of political bias…”
The Man Who Believed in Miracles
If you hold an American passport and were born in Jerusalem, this might be the time to get your document updated. Perhaps now, 70 years after Israel gained its independence, the U.S. State Department will finally print “Jerusalem, Israel” on your passport…
Jewish World Update Sep/Oct 2018
“You are the ammunition for Hamas’s guns; you are the warheads for its missiles,” Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the UN General Assembly when it recently condemned Israel for…
From the Editor Jul/Aug 2018
Some things seem almost too absurd to be true. But life is filled with absurdities when it comes to Israel. Do you see the ladder in the photo below? It has leaned against the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem for at least 150 years…
The Emerging Realignment
Saudi Arabia recently granted Air India permission to fly over its territory on new routes to and from Israel. The decision to open Saudi airspace to commercial jets bound for the…
If I Forget You, O Jerusalem
Among the many things God cares about, three stand out: Israel, Jerusalem, and the Temple. During my Hebrew-school days, I learned about these things in multiple ways. From the Jewish Scriptures, I learned God set Jerusalem in the midst of the…
New Film Helps People Advocate for an Israeli Jerusalem
Why is it so important for the United States to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel? Why does Jerusalem mean so much to the Jewish people and the Jewish state?
Sneak Preview
The land of Israel. The most hotly contested region in the world. The Jewish people say it is theirs, and the Arabs say it is theirs. Yet God tells us clearly to whom it belongs: In the last days, He says, “I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the…
Jewish World Update Jul/Aug 2018
The brutal murder of 85-year-old Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll marks the 11th time in 12 years someone has been viciously killed in France specifically for being Jewish and attests to the alarming rise of…
Is Iran Forcing Israel Into War?
In a dramatic escalation of tensions along Israel’s northern border, an Iranian attack-drone recently violated Israeli airspace. Israel shot down the drone and then sent warplanes into Syria to take out the command center that launched…
Happy Birthday, Israel!
For years I had a dream. I wanted my hometown baseball team (the Cleveland Indians) to play the Chicago Cubs in the World Series. I had adopted the Cubs when I lived in Chicago. Both teams excelled at losing…
The Cyber War Against Israel
Facebook. YouTube. Instagram. Twitter. For most of us, these sites serve as entertaining outlets where we post pictures, share opinions, and watch videos of cats (so I’m told) or of a deer eating a snowman. (That one was viewed several hundred thousand times.) But for Israel, social-media platforms have become…
Echo Chambers of Hate
Every 83 seconds, someone uploads an anti-Semitic post to social media. In 2016 alone, more than 382,000 anti-Semitic posts appeared on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram1—many of which were never removed—denying the Holocaust; portraying the Jewish people as genetically inferior…
Israel in the News May/Jun 2018
A wave of anti-Semitism has been washing over Poland after the country banned all speech that suggests Polish complicity in the Holocaust, and the nation’s Jewish community is worried…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2018
As we all know, President Donald Trump in December officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. Why it took seven decades for the United States to do so can easily…
The Perpetual No
No, no, no! Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s resounding “No!” came as no surprise when President Donald J. Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel…
Israel in the News Mar/Apr 2018
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries—the world’s largest manufacturer of generic drugs and one of Israel’s largest employers—has announced its decision to lay off…
Preparing for War
As tensions rise along the Lebanese-Israeli border, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has warned that the next war between Hezbollah and Israel will include Syria. “In anything that transpires, it will be one theater,” he said. Syria and Lebanon together, Hezbollah, the Assad regime and all…
Israel in the News Jan/Feb 2018
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said recently Israel will not accept the new, unified Hamas-Fatah government unless Hamas renounces terrorism and acknowledges Israel’s right to exist. “Israel opposes any reconciliation…
Follow the Money
A big Art Buchwald fan in my younger years, I’d expectantly scan the editorial pages for his usually hilarious, syndicated column that parodied some of the ridiculous aspects of current events. I thought of the late Mr. Buchwald recently and wished I…
No Longer Science Fiction
When a quadcopter from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel recently, the Israel Defense Forces released a brief statement saying it had taken it away for checks. The seemingly mundane incident is, in fact…
A Wow Moment
The beat goes on as the Arabs pick up where the Ammonites left off. Have you ever read a Scripture verse you had read many times before, but suddenly it seemed brand new to you? I have. I call it a Wow! moment. My most recent Wow! moment came after reading Judges 11: “And the…
Israel in the News Nov/Dec 2017
Israel has provided free medical care and hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid to more than 200,000 war-afflicted Syrians over the past year. The project, called “Operation Good Neighbor,” launched in…
Iranian Threat Grows
As the war in Syria enters its end-game, Iran is closer than ever to achieving its long-term, strategic objective of establishing a land corridor for direct and unimpeded access to the Mediterranean Sea. The so-called Shiite Corridor—which…
Miracle at Be’er Sheva
Few people probably associate Australia and New Zealand with the Balfour Declaration. But here is a look at a little-known miracle that helped to shape that segment of history.
Millenials and Israel
A quarter of the millennials in the United States sympathize more with the Palestinians than with the Israelis. This signifies a big shift. How did it happen, and what can be done about it?
Israel in the News Sep/Oct 2017
A new, high-tech Bible curriculum has ignited a Bible revival in Israel’s public high schools. Developed by the Museum of the Bible, headquartered in Washington, DC, in partnership with…
The ‘Fake News’ Frenzy
Based on the laws of supply and demand, truth has become a valuable commodity. If it were tea, its scarcity would make it extremely expensive. As we are inundated with the activist media’s half-truths and lies, which some call “fake news,” the real thing is…
The Same Old Same Old?
U.S. President Donald J. Trump has reversed himself on several important promises regarding Israel. On the campaign trail, he pledged to be a stalwart friend of the Jewish state but some of his initial policies actually mirror those of former…
Israel in the News Jul/Aug 2017
If you’re a resident or tourist in Israel and have a life-threatening medical emergency, Magen David Adom’s revolutionary smartphone app may save your life. Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical service…
From the Editor May/Jun 2017
June 1967 was a good time to be Jewish. At least it seemed that way to me. I was a teenager during the Six-Day War, and I was so proud of the Israeli soldiers. Not only were they fighting for their country, but they were fighting…
Inside View May/Jun 2017
Does God fight for Israel? When Israel triumphs over multiple Arab armies attacking on multiple fronts, it certainly seems that God fights for Israel. Such was the case in 1967 when Israel won a humanly improbable…
End of the Two-State Solution
U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced he will not insist on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “I thought for a while the two-state looked like it may be the easier of the two. But honestly, if Bibi and if…
Ma’ale Adumim: It’s Not What You Think It Is
Before we arrived in the spring of 2000, I asked the 16 members of our Friends of Israel Youth Adventure team (now called ORIGINS) to describe what they thought a settlement would look like.
Six Days In June
When the 1967 Six-Day War erupted, the Jewish state had just celebrated 19 years of independence. Levi Eshkol, 71, was both prime minister and defense minister. Eshkol had replaced the legendary David Ben-Gurion in June 1963. Filling Ben-Gurion’s shoes…
Message in the Wall
Sounds of gunfire, soldiers singing “Jerusalem of Gold,” and the faint sound of a shofar were heard over the army wireless. It was June 7, 1967, and the Israel Defense Forces paratroopers had just liberated the Temple Mount and Western Wall.
Fifty Years Later
The Six-Day War begot the hackneyed catchphrase Israeli-occupied West Bank. Mindless talk of the “occupation” generally goes hand-in-hand with unvarnished ignorance or a willful disregard of the area’s strategic value.
Rehearsal for Armageddon
How important is Jerusalem to the Jewish people? Their souls have been intertwined with it for more than 3,000 years. Unfortunately, their heartache is not over. This article was written shortly after Six-Day War and ran in the…
It’s Not Over ‘Til It’s Over
A city’s significance is often measured by its commercial importance, the height of its skyscrapers, or the grandeur of its architecture. But Jerusalem is not like any other city. Jerusalem’s significance comes from the One who chose to dwell…
Israel in the News May/Jun 2017
If you’re a runner and love Israel, you may be interested in signing up for the third annual Bible Run on October 6, a reenactment of the first-ever recorded marathon—the trek of a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin who ran from…
Inside View Mar/Apr 2017
A friend of mine asked me, “Is there any way to make sense of the Middle East today?” There is so much turmoil. The entire region seems ablaze in conflict; and Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt are…
Apples of Gold Mar/Apr 2017
The Lord said in 1 Kings 21:19, “Have you murdered and also taken possession?” People are still killing and trying to take Israel’s land. The Arabs constantly seek to destroy us and demand that we compensate them for war…
UNESCO’s Propaganda War on Israel
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has approved a resolution that denies a Jewish connection to Jerusalem. Advanced by the Palestinian Authority (PA), with the help of Algeria, Egypt…
Israel in the News Jan/Feb 2017
Donald Trump will be the most pro-Israel president in the history of the United States, a Trump advisor told The Jerusalem Post. “The level of friendship between the U.S. and Israel is going to grow like never before…
Inside View Nov/Dec 2016
“This is the most important lesson you will learn today!” Rafi said as the Jeep came to a stop on a dirt road, about half a mile from the fence dividing Gaza from Israel. Rafi climbed out with a…
Israel in the News Nov/Dec 2016
World Vision, an American-based Christian charity, has shut down its Gaza office, laid off 120 Gaza employees, and canceled its projects in the region after Israel indicted its Gaza manager for allegedly funneling $7 million…
Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2016
Representatives from 26 countries and international organizations met in Paris recently in an effort to relaunch stalled peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. But the initiative is doomed to fail…
Israel in the News Sep/Oct 2016
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu vowed that the recent terror attacks in Judea and Samaria will not drive Israelis from their homes. “We will strengthen this place,” he told the…
Eye on the Middle East Jul/Aug 2016
Israel has acquiesced to a plan to transfer sovereignty of two strategically important islands in the Red Sea from Egypt to Saudi Arabia as part of an informal, emerging alliance between…
Israel in the News Jul/Aug 2016
An online petition has been launched calling on UNESCO to reverse its recent “insulting” resolutions that deny any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount or Western Wall…
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2016
After nearly six years of discord, Turkey and Israel are working to repair bilateral relations. Reconciliation is said to be imminent. Analysts say Turkey is motivated by a desire to obtain access to Israeli natural gas in order to…
What America Needs
When Americans tune in to the presidential debates, most of them already know what they want to hear. They’re ready for a new hope and change. That’s why CNN’s Republican debate in December was the…
Eye on the Middle East Mar/Apr 2016
The Israel Defense Forces recently detained 90 Birzeit University (BZU) students, teachers, and employees for association with terrorism. BZU, near Ramallah, probably the most prestigious and liberal of the…