You’ve probably heard me say that when I am in Israel, I never want to leave. It’s hard to explain that feeling, but I know others who love Jesus and come to Israel feel that way too. I love Israel because Jesus loves Israel, and I love Jesus! When Jesus is in you, you can’t help but feel as He feels!
I always feel at home in Israel. When you come over the top of the mountains and see the city of Jerusalem before you, it’s magnificent and unforgettable, more so than any other city of the world. But, as Jesus looked out over the city, he wept because of what would happen to Jerusalem and its people in the future. Luke 19:41 Continue reading →
A group of Hispanic evangelicals have announced an alignment with the nation of Israel intended to “advance and deepen” the connection between Hispanic Christians and Israelis.
The partnership between the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem will revolve around the Feast of Tabernacles.
“Our objective is to exponentially increase Hispanic participation and attendance at the annual Feast of Tabernacles, held each fall in Jerusalem under the sponsorship of the Christian Embassy,” said Samuel Rodriguez, president of the NHCLC to the Christian Post. “We will encourage all followers of Christ in the Latino world to come to Jerusalem at this divinely appointed time, to see the biblical sites, stand in solidarity with Israel, and take part in this dynamic worship experience with believers from all over the world.”
The ICEJ’s Christian celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles is the biggest annual tourism event in Israel.
“We are excited about partnering with Dr. Samuel Rodriguez in this new initiative to bring more Hispanic pilgrims to the Feast each year,” noted Dr. Jürgen Bühler, ICEJ executive director. “Their presence in Jerusalem will have a great impact on the Israeli people, and it will only enhance the incredible fellowship we enjoy with Christians from across the globe at this unique biblical festival.”
The Supreme Leader of Iran has published a document that outlines a 9-step plan to eliminate Israel.
The 9 steps were also posted to the Twitter account of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“The only means of bringing Israeli crimes to an end is the elimination of this regime,” Khamenei wrote. “And of course the elimination of Israel does not mean the massacre of the Jewish people in the region. The Islamic Republic has proposed a practical and logical mechanism for this to international communities.”
The statements come as Iran is negotiating with western countries regarding their nuclear program.
“Up until the day when this homicidal and infanticidal [sic] regime is eliminated through a referendum, powerful confrontation and resolute and armed resistance is the cure of this ruinous regime,” the supreme leader writes. “The only means of confronting a regime which commits crimes beyond one’s thought and imagination is a resolute and armed confrontation.”
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called on the western countries negotiating with Iran to step back and realize this is the goal of Iran and that under no circumstances can that nation be allowed to continue on any path that would allow them to create an atomic bomb.
For the second time in two weeks, a terrorist has driven a car into a crowd of civilians in Jerusalem.
Security sources say that Ibrahim al-Acri, an Arab man with connections to Hamas, drove a car into four people at a light rail station in eastern Jerusalem. He then drove a quarter mile further to strike ten more people before crashing his vehicle.
He leapt from his car with an iron rod to attack people but fled when police arrived. He was shot as he attempted to avoid police.
Rescue workers on the scene say at least one of the victims at Shimon HaTsadik light rail station is dead.
Hamas claimed credit for the attack according to a statement obtained by USA Radio News.
“We call on the people of Jerusalem and the West Bank and all of the Palestinians to carry out more of these activities with full force in order to defend al-Aska,” said the Hamas statement.
A Palestinian terrorist who attempted to kill a Jewish activist died after a shootout with police and security officers.
Moataz Hejazi shot and wounded Yehuda Glick, an American born settler who has been leading a campaign to allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount. He has been a target of Muslims who believe Jews should be banned from even setting foot on Temple Mount.
“Anti-terrorist police units surrounded a house in the Abu Tor neighborhood to arrest a suspect in the attempted assassination of Yehuda Glick,” Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. “Immediately upon arrival they were shot at. They returned fire and shot and killed the suspect.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, ignoring the fact Hejazi attempted to kill a Jewish leader, said Israel’s police killing Hejazi is “tantamount to a declaration of war.” He called for a “day of rage” Friday against all Israelis.
Palestinians threw rocks at police as they attempted to capture and ultimately had to kill Hejazi. Hejazi had been in prison for 11 years for previous attacks on Israel.
A 3-month-old American baby is dead after a terrorist attack in Jerusalem.
Police officials say that an Arab man drove his vehicle into a crowd of people near a light rail stop around 6 p.m. local time. The stop was less than a 1,000 feet from the Israeli National Police Headquarters.
“The vehicle ran over a number of people, including several Americans, as they exited the train, and the suspect was shot when he attempted to flee the scene by foot,” an official told the Jerusalem Post.
“Nine people were injured, three seriously, including an American infant who died after sustaining critical injuries.”
The suspect is reportedly in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds.
The Arab man comes from a neighborhood where Arabs were angry that nine Jewish families had moved in two days ago.
Police and IDF forces across Israel are on high alert Friday because of the possibility of clashes between Jews and Muslims as two major holidays collide on the same day.
Yom Kippur and Eid al-Adha overlap for the first time in over 30 years.
Reinforced police units have been deployed in cities that have significant Muslim minorities: Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa and Acre. The military has closed the West Bank and the Gaza Strip which is usually done during the major Jewish holidays.
Yom Kippur is a major day in Israel where devout Jews ask God to forgive them for their sins. Almost all businesses close and TV and radio stations usually are off the air.
The Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha lasts three days and consists of family celebrations and events.
Israeli officials did not say if the increased security will end after Yom Kippur or ocntinue through the end of the Muslim holiday.
In their first meeting since the 50-day Israel-Hamas war, President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a cordial tone.
Netanyahu praised President Obama for his commitment to destroy the Islamic terrorist group ISIS and his willingness to stand with Israel against Islamic terror. Obama said that Israel was dealing with a “turbulent neighborhood.”
Obama said there needs to be new and different efforts to end violence in the region.
“We have to find ways to change the status quo so that both Israeli citizens are safe … but also that we don’t have the tragedy of Palestinian children being killed as well,” Obama said.
Netanyahu also took time to praise Obama and the U.S. Congress for their support of more funding for the Iron Dome rocket defense system. The PM said the system saved “so many lives” during the conflict with Hamas.
However, the PM took a more aggressive tone when he said that further steps need to be taken to keep Iran from becoming a nuclear power.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called out the hypocrisy of world leaders in condemning and attacking the Islamic terrorist group ISIS while not seeing the similarities between ISIS and Hamas.
Netanyahu spoke to the general assembly of the United Nations on Monday.
“Last week, many of the countries represented here rightly applauded President Obama for leading the effort to confront ISIS, and yet weeks before, some of these same countries, the same countries that now support confronting ISIS, opposed Israel for confronting Hamas. They evidently don’t understand that ISIS and Hamas are branches of the same poisonous tree,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu laid out the similarities between the groups including their expressed desire to destroy the nation of Israel.
“As Hamas’ charter makes clear, Hamas’ immediate goal is to destroy Israel, but Hamas has a broader objective. They also want a caliphate. Hamas shares the global ambitions of its fellow militant Islamists, and that’s why its supporters wildly cheered in the streets of Gaza as thousands of Americans were murdered in 9/11, and that’s why its leaders condemn the United States for killing Osama bin Laden whom they praised as a holy warrior,’ Netanyahu explained.
Netanyahu said that ISIS must be destroyed and that Israel will back the effort to eliminate the extremist group.
A Syrian aircraft has been shot down over the Golan Heights by Israeli defense systems.
The shooting down of the aircraft is the first time since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War that the battle has crossed into Israeli territory in a major way. Until this point, only stray mortar fire had struck Israeli territory.
Israeli Defense Forces say that the plane was a MiG-21 fighter jet and a surface-to-air missile took the plane down. The wreckage of the plane landed in Syria and the pilot reportedly was able to eject and land in Syrian territory.
Syrian government spokesman tried to claim the shooting down of the plane meant Israel was supporting the terrorist group ISIS. World leaders immediately dismissed the Syrian claim as “absurd.”