Status of Jewish Holy Sites
Under Jordanian occupation (May 28, 1948—June 7, 1967), all Jewish holy sites in East Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria were off-limits to Jews. In East Jerusalem, 58 synagogues were destroyed or desecrated. Jordan built…
ISRAELI LIFE
When Was the Holy Land an Independent Arab State?
For years Yasser Arafat has referred to Israel as “our country, Palestine” and has talked about retaking the land, “restoring its freedom,” and restoring the State of Palestine with “holy Jerusalem” as its capital…
Eye on the Middle East Nov/Dec 2002
Reading the news reports that flood the airways and Internet these days, one often tends to conclude that searching for good news is a vain pursuit. That certainly applies to what is taking place in
Israel in the News Nov/Dec 2002
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Web site has reported a new children’s outdoor game being played these days in the Palestinian Authority (PA) city of Ramallah. The name of the game was not reported…
Zvi Nov/Dec 2002
Where there is no faith, there is the tendency to hate. We see this every day as Arabs volunteer to become suicide bombers. And they wait eagerly to be called to do so. Those…
Standing Tall in the Rose Garden
When George W. Bush strode into the White House rose garden in June, much of the world waited somewhat eagerly to hear what the U.S. chief executive would say. He said a mouthful. Some likened…
Peace in Two Sentences
Why is it so difficult to find the formula for peace in the Middle East? What’s the problem, anyway? The problem and solution are two simple sentences.
America’s Perplexing Diplomacy
Israel is America’s most faithful ally in the Middle East, if not in the world. Yet U.S. policy toward this tiny democracy often leaves us scratching our heads.
Legacy of a Terrorist
Dictators make bad neighbors. And make no mistake; before he is an Arab, before he is a Palestinian, even before he is a Muslim, Yasser Arafat is a dictator. When he founded the Palestine Liberation Organization…
A Terrorist by Any Other Name
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. And if Nobel Peace Prize-winner Arafat funds and preaches terrorism, he’s every inch a terrorist.
Dateline: Jerusalem
The West Bank? The West Bank of what? Subtly slanted journalism is shaping the thinking of people around the globe—and it is not pro-Israel.
What Events in Israel Mean to the United States
Israel has a role unlike any other nation in the world. This outstanding article explains what America’s response should be to events in the Middle East.
Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2002
One of the most exciting aspects of a return trip to Israel is seeing the magnificent changes that take place in relatively short periods of time. Riding through the Galilee and Judean hills and seeing…
Israel in the News Sep/Oct 2002
Yasser Arafat’s Fatah terrorist organization is signed on posters throughout Judea, Samaria, and Gaza that threaten terrorism against Americans. The posters say attacks will take place if the United States continues to support Israel…
Zvi Sep/Oct 2002
In Psalm 94 it is written, “O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself. . . . How long shall the wicked triumph?” (vv. 1, 3). Each day the situation in Israel brings more grief…
From Bill Sutter’s Desk Jul/Aug 2002
For almost two years, the State of Israel has been under unusual pressure. She has suffered mercilessly at the hands of Arab-Muslim mobs and has been treated as an outcast by many countries…
Rachel Is Still Weeping
They stormed the Church of the Nativity and held nuns and priests hostage. Are these peacemakers? What is the truth behind the Muslim-Christian alliance?
Israel in the News Jul/Aug 2002
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been accused of massacring Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp when soldiers went after terrorists there. Dr. David Zangen, a senior pediatrician at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, was in Jenin…
Zvi Jul/Aug 2002
I was riding home on the bus recently, and an ultra-Orthodox man was seated next to me, reading from the book of Psalms. He was reading chapter 96, the same chapter we had read…
Eye on the Middle East May/Jun 2002
Late last winter a flurry of peace proposals began floating through the air of the Middle East. The situation in Israel was desperate. Palestinian terrorists were murdering innocent civilians at an alarming rate. In…
Israel in the News May/Jun 2002
The Israeli High Court of Justice has ruled that converts to Reform or Conservative Judaism inside Israel must be registered as Jews. The ruling overturns Israel’s long-standing policy that only those who convert under Orthodox…
Zvi May/Jun 2002
We live in a time when the eyes of all the world are looking on us. The Lord has chosen us, saying, “Yet now hear, O Jacob, my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen…
Palestinian Flags Over the Churches of Jerusalem?
Hours before Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Yasser Arafat made his December pledge to stop the suicide bombings and terrorist attacks on innocent Israeli civilians, he made another promise. Speaking in a mosque in Palestinian-held Ramallah…
The Blight of Anti-Semitism
In the Middle East, Israel occupies a sliver of land 8,019 square miles in area. Her immediate, hostile neighbors occupy 2.2 million square miles—270 times more land than Israel. Yet they want what Israel has…
Israel in the News Mar/Apr 2002
Plans by the terrorist organization Hamas to produce homemade Katyusha rockets in the West Bank were foiled after the Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency, arrested a Hamas operative at the Rafah border crossing as he…
Zvi Mar/Apr 2002
On March 28 our holiday of Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, will begin. It is a holiday that celebrates our redemption from slavery in Egypt. But more important, Pesach teaches of our redemption from sin…
When Terror Is Not ‘Terror’
Does abhorrence of terrorism depend on the nationality or religion of the victim? Are some lives less precious than others, so much so that the word terrorism would not apply to murderous attacks on these…
Eye on the Middle East Jan/Feb 2002
According to a report in The Jerusalem Post, Israeli Cabinet minister Dan Meridor hailed a recent Palestinian statement as “a major breakthrough.” Apparently the Palestinian Authority (PA) has offered to resettle Arab refugees in the
Israel in the News Jan/Feb 2002
The deputy chairman of Iraq’s Revolutionary Command Council told about 350 Islamic clerics recently they should support a holy war against Israel to “expel the sons of apes and pigs from Palestine.” Speaking to representatives…
Zvi Jan/Feb 2002
First, I wish to express my sorrow to the many families who are suffering because of what happened in America on September 11. It was a terrible tragedy. We are familiar with tragedy in Israel…
Israel’s Quest for Peace
What happened to the Oslo “peace train”? Did it even leave the station? Ride the rails of inquiry for a look at why there still is no peace in the Middle East.
Duplicity: The PA Strategy to Destroy Israel
“Say one thing, do another.” Such is standard PA procedure. This insightful article is chock-full of facts that reveal the inconsequential value of PA promises.
Israel’s Internal Battle
Religious vs. Secular. Likud vs. Labor. Hawks vs. Doves. For a country fighting to stay alive, little Israel has more than its share of domestic troubles.
Syria: Certain Foe, Uncertain Future
Take a trip through the history of Syria and learn how a country that once embraced Christianity has become a home for despotism and terrorists.
Israel in the News Nov/Dec 2001
Engineers have found that sections of the southern wall of the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, are in “intermediate” danger of collapse, possibly due to the Moslem Wakf Authority’s significant construction work directly above…
Zvi Nov/Dec 2001
Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way, and smote those behind thee, even all that were feeble behind…
U.S. Embassy–Closing the Door Once More
Early in June the current administration opted to follow the lead of former President Clinton, at least temporarily, by closing the door on moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Citing security interests…
Israel in the News Sep/Oct 2001
According to an Internet report on Yahoo!® News, the poll was conducted by the Palestine Center for Public Opinion from May 24 through 26 and showed 76 percent of respondents favored “operations like the May…
Zvi Sep/Oct 2001
Almost every Jewish home here has a mezuzah nailed to the right doorpost of the front door. A mezuzah is a small receptacle that contains a piece of parchment on which is written Deuteronomy 6:4–9.
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…
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…
Zvi Jul/Aug 2001
The first time I received a Bible, I knew nothing about faith, especially about faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was 1948, during the War of Independence here in Israel.
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…
Zvi May/Jun 2001
The world has so many big countries. Russia has 6.6 million square miles of land; Canada has 3.8 million. Even Jordan has 57,354 square miles of land. We have only 7,850 square miles.
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.
History by The Wishing Well
The ugly tentacles of revisionism are spreading over the Temple Mount. And if Arafat has his way, they eventually will reach all the way to Christ Himself.
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.
Zvi Mar/Apr 2001
Many people here live with horrifying memories of the Holocaust. They came here to find peace. But with the unrest in Israel today, the terrible fear they lived with in Europe has returned to them.
People for a Land
You would think that such a want ad would yield few, if any, applicants. Yet just after the turn of the twentieth century, forty thousand Jewish people made aliya (immigration to Israel)…
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…
Zvi Jan/Feb 2001
We have a saying in Israel: Curses, like chickens, come home to roost. But a curse cannot rest where a blessing has been pronounced. Many rabbis today are making new laws, and they claim these…
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…
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.
Zvi Oct/Nov 2000
Many people come here to Jerusalem every year. As it is written in Isaiah 2:3, “for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”
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…
The First Line of Defense
Once a year an Orthodox community in Israel assembles to honor the boys from fatherless families who are ready for bar mitzvah. The fathers of these boys all lost their lives in service to their…
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…
Zvi Aug/Sep 2000
The days are fast approaching when Jewish people all over the world will come to the synagogues for the holy day of Yom Kippur. Before this great Day of Atonement, many Orthodox people cluster around…
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…
From Badge to Banner
Vexillology. Most people have never heard the term; but according to World Book Encyclopedia, it is the study of the history and symbolism of flags. Its root can be traced to the Latin word for…
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.
Zvi Jun/Jul 2000
Here in Israel, there is a new surprise every day. But never was I as surprised as I was recently when I took my wife to the hospital on the bus—and I have lived here…
The Man Who Brought Hebrew Back to the Land
For its first issue of the year 2000, The Jerusalem Report, a prominent international Jewish magazine, published the results of a poll in which it asked its readers to choose the one hundred greatest Jews…
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…
Zvi Apr/May 2000
Here in Israel, many people believe that if they perform good deeds (mitzvot), heaven will be opened to them. They say that repentance and good deeds will shield them from retribution.
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…
Zvi Feb/Mar 2000
Every day we see the Orthodox distributing leaflets on the street. They are free to do this, not like us. We must have eyes in the back of our heads to stay out of trouble.
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…
Zvi Nov/Dec 1999/2000
Since the recent election here, the ultra-Orthodox have been devoting much energy going from house to house, talking about repentance and telling people that good deeds are a shield against retribution. They make a big noise, but…
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…
Israel at the Crossroads
As I sat in the Israeli Government Press Office auditorium with many “weathered” journalists from around the world, a scene unfolded on the large-screen television before me that amazed us all. There in Washington, D.C….
A Palestinian State?
With a new Israeli prime minister who appears more open to negotiating with the Palestinians than his predecessor, it is appropriate to raise this question: What would a Palestinian state involve?
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…
How Can I Believe in God?
Israel is a small country, and at times we feel as if we are sheep among wolves. But even though we are small, we remain strong because the Lord is with us. Most people living in Israel, both Jews and Arabs, do not know the Lord. The Arabs…
Eye on the Middle East Aug/Sep 1999
There is a Muslim family living on a kibbutz in Israel today. How they arrived at their new home is a story that defies virtually all conventional wisdom about the ability of Jewish people and Muslims to coexist. The family is from Albania. They were forced…
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…
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…
Zvi Apr/May 1999
Here in Israel we are facing new elections, and there is great competition among the political parties. Every party and every politician wants to be the greatest, and there is no love or consideration among the candidates. Everyone wants…
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…
Zvi Feb/Mar 1999
In Israel, many of the ultra Orthodox people follow the age-old tradition of merrymaking at the graves of famous rabbis. They do this every year—it is a big part of their religious life. When they go to these graves for their annual time of…
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…
Zvi Dec/Jan 1998/1999
This year, as every year, the people of Israel are facing with fear and misunderstanding the time when Christians celebrate the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Some acquaintances approached me the other day and said…
Israel at 50: The Battle For Soil And Soul
To the casual observer of life in the Middle East, the real struggle there appears to be about the issue of soil. Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs are arguing over “land rights.” At times, this struggle has erupted into violence over how…
Israel At 50: Its Chaotic Political System
Israel is a thriving democracy in the heart of the mainly Muslim Middle East. The Jewish state is the only full and stable democracy in the region, although a few other countries are attempting to move in that direction. However, Israel’s rambunctious…
Israel At 50: Celebrating the Year of Jubilee
The year 1998 is the Year of Jubilee—the 50th birthday of the State of Israel! What is going through the minds of Israelis on the state’s 50th birthday? What are the expectations of its citizens? Since Israel is a nation of immigrants…
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…