26. 16 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 SCAFI Free Online Events in Feb / Mar 2022

6. Caroline Glick n Israel has no choice but to fight the UN’s new permanent inquisition against it, and any business, government or judge that uses its reality-free reports. At the UN General Assembly last month, a large majority of member nations voted to lavishly fund a permanent inquisition against the Jewish state. The member states funded the operation of an ‘ongoing independent, international commission of inquiry’ against Israel. The commission, run by outspoken haters of Israel with long records of demonising it and its people, was formed by the UN Human Rights Council in a special session. Its purpose is to deny and reject Israel’s right to exist, its right to self-defence, its right to enforce its laws and its citizens’ rights to their properties and to their very lives. The Council’s decision to form its new permanent inquisition constitutes an unprecedented escalation of the UN’s political war against Israel for the past 50 years. To grasp the danger, it is necessary to understand how Israel’s foes operate at the United Nations and how their partners in Europe and Israel itself operate. We begin with the United Nations. In 2005, acting on pressure from the Bush administration, then - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan disbanded the UN Human Rights Commission. The Bush administration’s chief complaint was that the commission was antisemitic. The UN Human Rights Council was founded in 2006, and its members and UN staff wasted no time making it clear that they intended the new council to be even more antisemitic than its predecessor. Shortly after the HRC was established, it determined that demonising Israel would be a permanent agenda item. Item Number 7 is the only permanent agenda item that deals with a specific country. And like the council’s nine other permanent agenda items, Item 7 is discussed at every formal council session, which discusses “Human rights violations and implications of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.” However, having a permanent agenda item dedicated to specifically demonising Israel wasn’t enough to satisfy the HRC’s obsession with attacking the Jewish state. So, since 2006, the council has convened nine special sessions to expand its focus on Israel. To get a sense of just how overwhelming the council’s focus on Israel is, the council has convened just 19 special sessions to deal with every other country on the planet in the same period. The council’s template for demonising Israel has been fairly consistent through the years. Immediately after each Palestinian terror campaign against Israel comes to an end, the Holocaust-denying, terror-sponsoring PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas has his UN representatives ask for a special session to discuss the ‘war crimes’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ Israel supposedly carried out against the Palestinians. No one ever mentions that every single missile launched against Israel by the Hamas terror regime in Gaza constitutes a separate war crime. No one ever mentions Hamas at all. In short order, the council accedes to the PLO’s request and convenes the special session. On cue, the member nations’ representatives rise, accuse Israel of genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid , operating a killing machine, targeting children and any other crime they can think of. Then a majority of the members vote to form a new ‘commission of inquiry,’ led and staffed by ‘independent’ investigators, nearly all of whom believe that Israel has no right to exist and that Jews have too much power. At the end of its ‘in-depth investigation’, the commission issues a report which determines that Israel conducted war crimes and crimes against humanity. This brings us to the second arm of the international political war against Israel: Europe. Every HRC resolution to form a commission of inquiry includes a call to non- governmental organisations and other parties to submit testimonies’ and ‘reports’ that will substantiate the council’s blood libel that Israel committed war crimes and is inherently and incurably evil. NGOs registered in Israel, the PA, and Western countries answer the council’s call. And the final reports issued by each of the inquisitions include hundreds of citations from ‘testimonies’ and reports submitted by these NGOs as proof of Israel’s inherent venality. These organisations are not independent actors. European governments fund them and direct their operations. If they operated in the United States, nearly every NGO involved in the HRC’s witch hunts against Israel would have to register as a foreign agent of European governments. As Knesset member Amichai Chikli put it, “Europe is waging a war against Israel.” The reports the HRC publishes at the end of each fake commission of inquiry against Israel form the basis for the various boycott efforts against Israel that European bureaucrats carry out. For instance, based on one such report, EU member states stopped recognising Israeli veterinary certificates relating to agricultural exports from Jewish farmers in Samaria. This brings us to the third arm of the international political war against Israel: Israel’s European-influenced, progressive legal establishment. Last weekend, Haaretz published an interview with the former attorney general and recently retired Supreme Court Justice Meni Mazuz. Between the lines, Ma zuz explained the legal establishment’s methods for transforming anti-Israel UN documents into ‘law’. A significant portion of the interview dealt with Mazuz’s campaign from the bench to block military demolitions of homes of terrorists. Mazuz told Haaretz that for many years, including during his tenure as attorney general, he “thought that house demolitions were an immoral step, in contravention of the law whose effectiveness was dubious.” But when Mazuz served as attorney general, he lacked the authority to end the practice. As he explained, “I couldn’t tell the government that it is prohibited when dozens of Supreme Court decisions say that it is permitted.” But the minute Mazuz was appointed to the Supreme Court, he began legislating his political views from the bench. To substantiate his position regarding the demolition of terrorists’ homes, Mazuz said that he relied on ‘the positions of legal scholars’ in Israel and abroad and on the decisions of the UN Human Rights Council. “The demolitions cause us international damage,” Mazuz said. “Do you think that these things stay here? That they don’t come up every year at human rights councils in Geneva and international forums?” In other words, Mazuz made clear that along with several of his colleagues on the bench, he used the anti-Israel reports generated by the obsessively anti-Israel HRC to justify his rulings, which denied Israel the right to act in accordance with Israeli law in a manner that the duly elected government, and the duly constituted leadership of the IDF, deemed necessary in their efforts to quell Palestinian terrorism. Aside from a limited category of UN Security Council resolutions, UN actions and decisions are devoid of international law significance. Like those of all other UN bodies, decisions by the HRC are political documents without any legal weight. Mazuz and his colleagues in the legal fraternity exploit the public’s ignorance and the impotence of the government and Knesset to transform these political documents into ‘law’ through their judgments and legal opinions. And this brings us to the HRC’s permanent inquisition, whose operations a large majority of UN member nations voted to fund last week at the General Assembly. As Professor Anne Bayefsky explained in a detailed report published last week by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, the commission of inquiry’s mandate is effectively limitless. The commission is empowered to rewrite the entire history of the Arab conflict with Israel and determine that Israel’s birth was an original sin that must be undone. The commission is empowered to carry out an ‘investigation’ based on ‘testimonies’ which EU-funded anti-Israel groups will supply , describing fraudulent ‘war crimes’ that will form the basis of indictments of Israeli elected leaders, IDF commanders and line soldiers, and Israeli civilians who reside in Judea, Samaria and unified Jerusalem. The UN’s political ‘courts’, in turn, will agree to try them for these made-up crimes. Moreover, as Bayefsky noted, the commission is charged with making “recommendations on measures to be taken by third States to ensure respect for international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem...[to ensure] they do not aid or assist in the commission of internationally wrongful acts.” A similar statement is made in the resolution’s preamble regarding ‘business enterprises.’ The message in both cases is self-explanatory. The reports the inquisition will publish will serve as the basis for economic boycotts of Israel to be enacted by both government bureaucrats and businesses. Israel has no choice but to fight this commission and any business, government or judge that uses its reality-free reports. Israel must ensure that the antisemitic propaganda the commission puts out does not turn into ‘law’ through the actions of radical justices and government attorneys. Israel must reconcile itself to the fact that the EU bureaucracy and much of Europe is waging war against it and launch a vigorous counter-assault. Caroline Glick is an award-winning columnist and author of ‘The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East’. Abridged by Managing Editor. The full article can be found here: https://www.jns.org/ opinion/the-escalating-international-war-against-israel/ News 4 The Escalating War Against Israel February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. | Photo: Shutterstock

8. 6 Holocaust Remembrance The Legacy of Mendel Glick Nechama Bendet n Daughter of Mendel & Sarah Glick My father, Mendel Glick, was born in a small town in Poland in 1924 and was one of ten children. During the Holocaust, he endured untold horrors in four different concentration camps, where he was starved, beaten, left in freezing conditions and forced into slave labour simply because he was a Jew. My father lived on tiny scraps of food, eating grass to survive. He weighed less than 30 kilos at the end of the war. Dad was liberated by American soldiers who literally picked him up off the floor of his bunker as he was too weak to walk. Rather than being angry and bitter about his unimaginable suffering, Dad often spoke of the many miracles he experienced during the war. He spoke warmly and positively about all God did to help him to survive. One such miracle was when Dad’s foot was swollen, and he received permission to see the doctor at the camp. There was a long line of people ahead of him, and he queued for many hours. Just as it was Dad’s turn to be seen, the doctor said he was going to lunch and would be back in an hour. As my father’s foot was hurting him, he decided to take a short walk around the doctor’s clinic while he waited for him to return. At the rear of the clinic, he saw a truck piled high with the dead bodies of all the patients who had been ahead of him in the line. He quickly realised the ‘doctor’ was killing the patients who came for medical care, so he ran back to his bunk and saved his life. In a heart-warming story, my father spoke about Boruch Baker, a man occupying a bunk next to my father in the camp, who risked his life to sneak a piece of clothing from the crematorium, which he fashioned into a blanket so that he wouldn’t freeze to death during the harsh winter. Mr Baker would have been shot if he was caught, but miraculously, managed to return to the bunk undetected and, in an act of great kindness, tore the makeshift blanket in two and gave half to my father. Both men survived the Holocaust and moved to Melbourne. Seventy years after the war, Mr Baker’ s grandson began dating my daughter. Telling my father about their engagement, seeing my father dance at their wedding, and, just over a year later, kiss their child, remains one of the highlights of my life. Despite the depravity and torture my father suffered in the hands of the Nazis, he never complained and always spoke of his great love and affection for God, referring to Him as his ‘best friend.’ He often quoted his grandmother, who he recalled sitting with his mother and aunt before the war, discussing the rise in antisemitism, saying that God is correct and His judgement is always perfect. My dad often said not to talk about either good or bad things that happen to you. He was a humble man focused on living a productive, happy and quiet life. Whenever anyone asked him how he was, he invariably answered ‘good, always good.’ My father met my mother Sarah while peddling goods in Poland and married her in November 1945 in what is believed to be the first Jewish wedding in Poland after the war. My father knocked on a house that my mother was staying at with other orphaned girls after the war, and when my mother answered the door, he said that no lights were necessary, as her beauty lit up the room. He immediately proposed to her, and she accepted. I remember my father saying that after he proposed, he was so taken with emotion that he was unable to speak for a few minutes, but once he found his voice, he asked my mother what her name was. They were married for 72 years until Dad died and were completely devoted to each other. My father recalled walking along the streets of Poland after the war and meeting a Rabbi who blessed him with 120 children. My father was very troubled by this, worrying how he could possibly fulfil this blessing. After some time, it occurred to him that the 120 children could include all direct descendants that he and my mother would have together. It was not his custom to ‘count’ family members, but he was deeply grateful to have had nine of his own children and to see five generations of descendants during his lifetime, including children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, totalling far more than the 120 descendants he was blessed with. It was a source of great comfort to my parents, both of whom were sole survivors from their families, having both lost their parents and all their siblings, that they lived to see their grandchildren have grandchildren. In 1948, an aunt in Australia helped my father settle in Melbourne. With his wife by his side, and despite not being able to speak any English or have any savings, he established Glick’s Cakes and Bagels, an iconic bakery, bearing his name that still operates today, selling bagels and traditional Shabbat Challah loaves. My father lived in a small world, made up of his family, synagogue, and shop. He worked until his last day and was always cheerful and happy. He is my inspiration. Thank you to Nechama Bendet for providing the article and photos of her late father. | Background Photo: Auschwitz-Birkenau barracks 2019 © Perry Trotter, Holocaust Foundation February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Mendel Glick passed away in 2017, leaving a legacy of more than 170 children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren - he left the world a sweeter place. | Photos: Nechama Bendet Mendel and his wife Sarah, moved to Melbourne in 1948, where they opened their first bakery in the late 1960s. Mendel Glick, founder of Australia’s largest and finest kosher bakery chain, Glick’s Cakes and Bagels in Melbourne.

32. 14 Modern Israel February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Kay Wilson n Israeli Tour Guide | Author | Cartoonist The advantage of the radio - as opposed to television - is that it leaves far more to the imagination. The non-visual media allows us to tantalisingly ‘fill-in in the blanks,’ leaving us all to draw our own creative conclusions. The nuance of radio is something that Israeli Jewish journalist, Eran Zinger, has capitalised on for the good of Jews and Arabs in Israeli society. A familiar and popular radio broadcaster, Zinger would probably be unrecognisable walking down the street. But his voice is known throughout the land, as is his commitment to the cause of bringing harmony in society. Both these factors have boosted his ratings to make him one of the most popular commentators of the day. His rise to being one of the most listened to men in Israel has been methodical, determined and pragmatic. Flawless in Arabic, he chose to live in Haifa, a city of exemplary co-existence, studying the language at the city’s university. His aptitude for linguistics did not go unrewarded. He was soon offered a position on Israel’s national radio as a reporter on Arab Affairs. As Israel was dragged into the Second Intifada and the Second Lebanon War six years later, Zinger reported from the front line. When hostilities came to an end - albeit temporarily - Zinger was given his very own radio show, which, for the most-part, co-hosts with an Arab broadcaster. Skipping over the Israeli Arab politicians who take joy in complaining about everything and can’t decide whether they are Palestinian or Israeli, Zinger interviews the man on the street: Arabs who are fluent Hebrew speakers and immersed in Israeli culture. He offers a platform for them to air issues prevalent in Arab society. There are a wide range of topics, including agriculture, theatre, music, economics, and even crime. Every afternoon, Jews tune in and learn about the cultural richness of their Arab ‘cousins.’ Likewise, Arabs interviewed by the skilful Zinger talk fondly of their country, showing that they are Israeli citizens with the same ups and downs as their Jewish neighbours. Zinger is successful in expelling the Jewish or Arab issue - which many politicians inflame - and instead, he highlights humanity. Although Jews and Arabs may be culturally different, the banter and wonderful humour between Zinger and his interviewees reveal that everyone likes a good laugh. Israelis all over the country, whether Jew or Arab warm to each other because Zinger shows that behind the black and white, the Left and the Right are people - and people are people, whoever they are. The fondness shown towards him by both Arabs and Jews interviewees is remarkable. Void of an agenda, our favourite broadcaster creates space for people and allows them to be known beyond their ethnic or religious labels. In doing so, Eran Zinger skilfully skips around contentious issues and instead inspires empathy and respect - which is the only way to make waves in the Middle East. Making Waves Old radio broadcasting tower in downtown, Tel Aviv, Israel. | Photo: Shutterstock Times of Israel n Only 2nd time an Israeli-led measure has ever passed; initiative earns 114 cosponsors, is approved by consensus; Iran opposes but can’t force vote since it hasn’t paid its UN dues. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution aimed at combating Holocaust denial on 20 January 2022, in what was just the second time since Israel’s establishment that a measure its delegation brought before the forum managed to pass. The resolution provides a specific classification for Holocaust denial, using the working definition put together by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). It also provides actions expected to be taken by signatory countries in order to address the phenomenon and demands social media networks remove posts that fall under the IHRA definition. One hundred and fourteen countries cosponsored Resolution A/76/L30, and only Iran publicly voiced its opposition. The representative from the Islamic Republic — whose leaders have a long history of Holocaust denial — claimed the resolution marked another attempt by Israel “to exploit the suffering of Jewish people in the past as cover for the crimes it has perpetrated over the past seven decades against regional countries.” However, because Tehran has failed to pay its UN membership dues, its delegation has been stripped of some of its rights, and it was, therefore, unable to call for a formal vote on the Israeli resolution. As a result, the initiative was approved by consensus. In an impassioned speech introducing the resolution, Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan said that “Holocaust denial has spread like a cancer. It has spread under our watch. It has spread because people have chosen to be irresponsible and to avoid accountability. As the number of Holocaust survivors diminishes, Holocaust denial is growing at a terrifying speed... The younger generations are being indoctrinated on social media to doubt reality and trust deception,” Erdan continued, claiming that social media platforms are “shirking responsibility.” “‘We are only service providers,’ we hear from media executives. We recognise those words. We’ve heard them before. As you dodge responsibility, evil grows... Social media giants can no longer remain complacent to the hate that spreads on their platforms,” said the Israeli envoy. He began his speech recalling the story of Chaim, a Holocaust survivor from a small village in Romania whose wife and eight children were exterminated by the Nazis. Erdan called the resolution his “most important initiative” as ambassador. “Not only because I represent a Jewish state, not only because I am a Jew, but also because I am the grandson of Holocaust survivors.” He then revealed Chaim to be his late grandfather. The envoy invited a group of five Holocaust survivors and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, a child of survivors — to attend the vote. The resolution was introduced — and passed — on the 80th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference organised by the Nazis to coordinate the implementation of Hitler’s Final Solution. Abridged by Managing Editor. The full article can be found here: https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-general-assembly-adopts-israeli- resolution-aimed-at-combating-holocaust-denial/ Resolution to Combat Holocaust Denial Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, holds an enlarged copy of the resolution passed on 20 January 2022, to combat Holocaust denial, flanked by Holocaust survivors at the General Assembly. | Photo: Israel’s Mission to the UN

22. 12 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Biblical Insights from Heartland of Judea & Samaria Come to the Well Remember when you first started learning about Israel, and whether it was something about the Biblical feasts, covenants, or prophecy, you were amazed by how rich and meaningful it was? If your experience was anything like mine, you were astounded by how deep and heart-connecting these Biblical, Jewish, Israeli things were. Honestly, it kind of took me off guard. I thought, “Wait, I have given my life to Yeshua and I have studied the entire Bible, and yet, these people who do not believe in Yeshua are showing me things that I have never heard before, and they are resonating deeply within my heart! How can this be? Why do these Jewish things seem so good, right, and wholesome?” Often I feel like Rebecca. She, who was not born into the Abrahamic faith, found herself by a well, being asked to serve an Abrahamite. So too, I was invited to join Abraham’s family by serving a Jewish man—Yeshua. The first thing Rebecca did was to let down her pitcher into the well. She was not the only “non-Jew” who had a “well” experience. Hagar ran from Abraham’s house after she conceived Ishmael. An Angel found her sitting by a well and told her to go back to Sarah and submit herself to her (Genesis 16). Five chapters later Hagar finds herself on the move again. As they were crossing the desert their water supply was exhausted, and Ishmael was on the brink of death. Hagar cried out to God for help. God responded by promising to make Ishamael a great nation and by opening her eyes so she could see a nearby well. Twice Hagar received salvation from God through wells in the land of Israel. That same chapter tells of Abimelech, a non-Jew who saw that God was with Abraham. This time, there was a conflict over who had dug a well and who was the rightful owner. In the end, Abimelech acknowledged that Abraham had indeed dug the well. Rachel also began the process of being grafted into Abraham’s family at a well. Jacob came in, rolled the stone away, and allowed the springs of water to be given to the thirsty sheep. Moses had a very similar experience when he rescued the (non-Jewish) daughters of Jethro from evil shepherds and allowed their flocks to be watered. One of these daughters, Zipporah, ended up being grafted into Israel. Each of these Biblical accounts includes someone from outside the nation of Israel having a salvation experience, and a well is always a central element! Speaking of salvation experiences, one of the most epic depictions of salvation in the Bible is the children of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. The miraculous parting of the Red Sea and the defeat of Pharaoh’s armies reveal God’s great love for His people Israel. This is certainly one of the greatest rescue stories of all time! There’s something very curious that happens after the Red Sea parting. Moses finishes his song of thanksgiving, they depart from the banks of the Red Sea, and then in chapter fifteen verse twenty-seven it says, “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.” Is there anywhere else in Scripture that we have a random count of the wells and trees? There must be something significant about the numbers twelve and seventy. Twelve is pretty easy. There are twelve tribes in the nation of Israel. But what about the number seventy? Genesis chapter ten lists the names of the chiefs of the nations. At th e end of the chapter in verse 32, it says “...From these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.” If you go back and count the number of nations you will come to seventy. God instructed Israel to offer seventy bulls during the Feast of Tabernacles (Numbers 29). The Feast of Tabernacles is especially relevant for the nations (Zechariah 14:16-19). King Solomon, who prayed that God would hear the prayer of anyone in the nations who prayed towards Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 6:32-33), set up ten seven- branched menorahs in the Temple that he built. Isaiah the prophet and Yeshua the Messiah also declared that the Temple in Jerusalem would be a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7, Matthew 21:12). Now let’s go back to the wells and trees. If twelve stands for the people of Israel and seventy represents all the other nations of the world, then perhaps God is giving Israel a very important message here. Could it be that in the midst of Israel celebrating God’s miraculous deliverance from Pharaoh that God is reminding them that their deliverance is not only for them but for the entire world? When the Israelites saw the twelve wells and seventy palm trees did they remember the words that God spoke to Abraham: “In you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed”? The Israelites were being given a clear insight into their role in this world. They were to be the wells that would provide life-giving sustenance to the nations. Trees cannot live without water! As if to drive home His point, just two chapters later, God allows the Israelites to go without water. Was He just trying to provoke them? I don’t think so. Maybe He was trying to show them that there is a whole world out there in desperate need of living water. There’s one more “well” story that we need to take a look at. Much like Rebekah, Rachel, and Zipporah, a Samaritan woman made her way to a well. Much like Eliezer, Jacob, and Moses, Yeshua met her there and offered her salvation. Yeshua told her that He could give her living water. Water that, if she drank, she would never thirst again. Then He said something very interesting. He said, “Salvation is of the Jews.” I find it amazing that the Messiah himself would say that “salvation is of the Jews” ? Yeshua confirmed that the Jewish people are the wells of salvation for the world! Most Christians would agree with everything I have said up until this point. But their perspective on what I’ve said may be very different than mine. Many Christians see salvation as a change of status that gives them forgiveness of their sins so that they can have eternal life in heaven. They put a very large period after that sentence. I believe that by drinking deeply from the springs of salvation we not only gain forgiveness of our sins and eternal life, but we also begin a journey of gaining strength to walk the path of righteousness on this earth. I believe that when we accept Yeshua—our Jewish, Hebrew Messiah, as our head, then our perspectives begin to look more like His. By following Him we become more like Him. We should act, talk, and think more like Him every day. As Christians who have given our lives to Yeshua, we, of all people, need to know who He is! God’s Kingdom will come on this earth as it is in Heaven when His subjects become fully subjected to Him! Almost all of us Christians have come to faith in the God of Abraham with much Greco/ Roman baggage. I believe it’s time for us Christians to drink more fully from the springs of salvation. After spending more than fifteen years in the heartland of Israel, building relationships with and learning from the Jewish pioneers, my faith has been tremendously strengthened. I have drawn closer to God, gained a better understanding of His Word, and have come to know my Savior in a much fuller way. To all of you palm trees, let’s come together, in whatever ways we can, to support, be planted by, and partake of the depths of Israel’s well. I will close with these words from the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘for Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And in that day you will say: ‘Praise the Lord, call upon His name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!’” (Isaiah 12:2-6). Zac Waller Executive Director of HaYovel Could it be that... God is reminding [Israel] that their deliverance is not only for them but for the entire world?

27. 9 Analysis February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Yochanan Visser n Christians for Israel Correspondent | Israel The year 2021 was another eventful period in the existence of the young State of Israel, with many positive - but also negative - developments. The Corona Crisis First, there was the ongoing Corona Crisis, which was initially brought under control following an intensive vaccination campaign and sharp restrictive measures. These measures included a complete stop on commercial flights to Israel and the closure of schools, commercial centres and other places where public gatherings were held. On 1 January, Israel already had one million citizens vaccinated, and on 17 March, Israel became the world leader in the number of its citizens vaccinated. On 25 June 2021, the situation changed, and the number of new cases of Corona began to rise again as a result of the so- called Delta variant. As a result of these developments, the obligation to wear masks in all enclosed spaces was reintroduced. The new government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett changed the closure policy that Benjamin Netanyahu’s previous government strictly adhered to and decided to let the economy run its course. Bennett also decided to allow limited gatherings on the condition that the restrictive measures were enforced. On 1 August 2021, Israel became the first country in the world to introduce a third vaccination for citizens at risk. This was later extended to the entire population. Despite this, more than a million Israelis decided not to be vaccinated. At the end of the year, the fifth wave of Corona attacks began when the Omicron variant reached Israel. This variant also proved resistant to previous vaccinations as more than a third of the Omicron cases had received three vaccinations. In November, a list of ‘red countries’ to which Israelis could not fly was published, including European countries and later the United States and Canada. Meanwhile, Israeli companies developed new vaccines and even drugs to treat Corona patients. These drugs seem to be very promising in the efforts to finally get the crisis under control worldwide. At the end of 2021, there was a sharp increase in the number of new cases of Corona in Israel, but the number of seriously ill people being treated in hospitals remains fairly stable. War in May 2021 In 2021, Israel was again confronted with war when Palestinian terrorist movements in Gaza started a massive bombardment of cities and villages in the south of Israel with rockets at the end of May. However, the war started with a salvo of rockets on Jerusalem that the Israeli army (IDF) could not ignore. Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) started the war because Israel allegedly endangered the Islamic shrines on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and wanted to change the status quo there. A long-running court case against Arab squatters of buildings in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood was also used to justify the war. These squatters refused to comply with an order from a Jerusalem court. The court had previously ordered the Arab families occupying the properties to pay rent to the Jewish owners of the houses, something they refused to do. Attempt at a New Intifada At the end of 2021, Hamas and PIJ tried to launch a new intifada in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. The number of terrorist attacks there increased dramatically, forcing the IDF and the Border Police to call in reinforcements to control the situation. Israel also decided to strengthen the Palestinian Authority (PA) position to prevent a takeover by Hamas and PIJ in Judea and Samaria. PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is ver y unpopular among Palestinian Arabs; according to polls, 90% of the Palestinian population wants Abbas to resign. Israel is now conducting a so-called ‘realpolitik’; Defence Minister Benny Gantz has had several meetings with Abbas, resulting in new Israeli ‘goodwill’ gestures. The intention was clear; despite the fact that the government in Jerusalem knows that the Abbas regime is thoroughly corrupt, the Israeli government wants to avoid a ‘Gaza scenario’. Prime Minister Bennett’s government prefers to keep the PA in the saddle rather than let Hamas take control of PA-ruled areas in Judea and Samaria. End of the Netanyahu Era In 2021 the long period of rule by Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel came to an end. Despite the fact that Netanyahu’s Likud Party won the March elections by a large margin, Netanyahu failed to put together a coalition. This was mainly due to personal opposition to Netanyahu amongst politicians from both left and right-wing parties. Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid party was given the chance to form a government, and the former TV presenter succeeded against all odds. He agreed to appoint Naftali Bennett, whose party Yamina won only seven seats in the elections, as Prime Minister of Israel and to include the Arab party Ra’am in his coalition. Bennett will remain Prime Minister for two years, and then, if the coalition holds, Lapid will replace the Yamina leader and become Prime Minister of Israel for the next two years. However, the ‘government of change’ has a tiny majority of only one seat. So the question is whether the opposition led by Netanyahu will succeed in toppling Bennett and Lapid before Lapid can take over as Prime Minister. International Politics In the field of international politics, 2021 was a year of strong contrasts. On the one hand, there were spectacular successes in relations with Arab and Muslim countries. Kosovo, for example, established official relations with Israel and promised at the beginning of 2021 to establish its embassy in Jerusalem. Then there were the new relations with many Arab Gulf States and Morocco, which even concluded a defence pact with Israel in November. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain also implemented the so-called Abraham Accords and opened embassies in Israel, while the Jewish State did the same in these Arab countries. Trade between Israel and these Arab countries increased enormously, and extremely friendly relations. As a result of these new flourishing relations, ties improved with Egypt and Jordan, two countries with which Israel already had a peace agreement but where there was always a cold peace. Egyptian President Abdel Fatteh el-Sisi was particularly interested in improving relations with Israel and invited Prime Minister Bennett for an official visit to Sharm el- Sheikh. The visit was extremely successful and resulted, for example, in renewed Israeli gas deliveries to Egypt and cooperation in the rehabilitation of Gaza after the May war. The Growing Threat from Iran Despite the normalisation in relations with Arab countries, however, the strategic threat to Israel in the region continues to grow, primarily due to Iran. The Islamic Republic stepped up its bellicose activities against Israel in 2021 and is continuing to develop a nuclear weapon. Because the government in Jerusalem has no faith in the American attempts to revive the nuclear agreement with Iran (JCPOA), Israel is now more or less openly preparing for (military) action against Iran. To this end, a budget of 1.5 billion Shekel has been made available to the Israeli army, which is now holding frequent exercises in preparation for military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Meanwhile, through Mossad, Israel will increase its activities in Iran and try to carry out new acts of sabotage against Iran’s nuclear facilities. At the same time, Israel continues to disrupt Iran’s military build-up in Syria and Lebanon. Earlier this week, Israeli missiles struck containers containing equipment for transforming primitive rockets into precision weapons in the port city of Latakia in western Syria. Two Iranian militiamen were killed in the attack. This was one of the dozens of actions taken by the Israeli Air Force against the Iranian axis in Syria in 2021. New Developments Every Day Of course, these are only highlights; much more happened in Israel during 2021, with new developments, positive or negative, occurring almost every day. The Israeli economy became the fastest growing in the world last year, with a growth rate of more than seven per cent. At the same time, in this ‘Corona Year’, an increase in the number of poverty-stricken Israelis was recorded. More than 20 per cent of the population now lives below the poverty line, partly as a result of the Corona crisis. 2021 - A Turbulent Year for Israel Medics and hospital team members working in the Coronavirus ward of Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem. | Photo: Flash90 So the question is whether the opposition led by Netanyahu will succeed in toppling Bennett and Lapid before Lapid can take over as Prime Minister.

13. 3 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 On 27 January 1945 Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, where an estimated 1.1 million Jewish people had been murdered. In most other locations where mass murders had occurred the Nazi Germans had managed to destroy most of the infrastructure. They did not succeed at Auschwitz. Today Auschwitz is the physical symbol of the Holocaust (Shoah), which claimed an estimated 6 million Jewish lives. For this reason the United Nations has dedicated 27 January as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Among the Jewish victims were some 104,000 from the Netherlands and within that number there were at least 420 who were classified as Jewish Christians. Some years ago I was asked by Rev David Pileggi of Christ Church Jerusalem to research the fate of those Jewish people who were associated with the Church during the Holocaust. The first publication, Bazyli & Anna Jocz —Jewish Christian Victims of the Holocaust, was concerned with the Jewish Christians in Poland. Concerning the Netherlands I became aware of a certain ‘List’ with the names of full-blood Jewish people who stated their affiliation with the Church. In 2019 while on a research trip to Europe, including the Netherlands, this ‘List’ was located. The ‘List’, which was compiled in 1942, contains information relating to some 1,881 full-blood Jewish people. Basically those who registered as being associated with the Church were divided into three categories: Roman Catholic, Reformed and other denominations. Regulations prohibited me from photocopying or photographing the names, so they had to be typed out, together with other relevant information. Those same regulations hinder me from publishing these names. Back in Australia, I spent considerable time cross-referencing all of those names against the names of the known Jewish people in the Netherlands who were murdered in the Holocaust. It is clear that at least 420 Jewish Christians were murdered. The ‘List’ does not include Jewish people who became followers of Jesus during the War and who were subsequently murdered. It seems that many Jewish people did become genuine followers of Jesus during the War. Following the German occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940 the Protestant Churches formed a group with the aim of representing the collective Protestant Church to the German authorities. Then as anti-Jewish regulations became more evident the Roman Catholic Church joined this body in October 1941, which then became known as the ‘Interdenominational Consultation’, or IKO. When news of the deportations of Jewish people from the Netherlands to the ‘east’ became known in late June and early July 1942, the IKO sprang into action. They sent a very strong protest message to the Nazi leaders in the Netherlands, especially Reich Commissioner Seyss- Inquart. Their objective was primarily to protest the collective deportations of the Jewish people, and only secondarily to defend the Jewish Christians in their Churches. The Churches could effectively rally the support of some seven million Dutch citizens. The Nazi leadership, however, was determined to thwart such opposition to their officially sanctioned plan to murder all the Jewish people of Europe and surrounding regions, including the 140,000 or so living in the Netherlands. They set-out to neutralize the opposition of the IKO and also to divide it. In their response the Nazi leadership ‘promised’ that Jewish Christians (termed as baptized Jews) would not be deported. Although this was not the central purpose of the IKO protest, nevertheless the Reformed Church took this ‘promise’ seriously. As evidence later revealed, however, the Nazi leadership had no intention to honour this ‘promise’—they would wait to send the Jewish Christians ‘east’ at a ‘politically convenient time’. The Nazi leadership had no intention of allowing any Jewish people to survive. Faith meant absolutely nothing in the Nazi world-view—only bloodline. While the Reformed Church leadership then majored upon protecting the ‘baptized Jews’, the other constituents of the IKO, especially the Roman Catholic Church (under the leadership of Archbishop Johannes de Jong), persisted in their protest against the collective deportations. The Nazi leaders were very perturbed by this stance, and particularly by the Roman Catholic leadership. Consequently they ordered the arrest of the Jewish Catholics and for them to be sent ‘east’, which was a euphemism for being transported and murdered. Hundreds of Jewish Catholics were arrested on 2 August 1942, and some 113 were soon after murdered at Auschwitz. The Jewish Christians, especially the Catholics, were not immune thereafter from deportation and death, and more did die, although those in mixed marriages were part of a so-called ‘protected group.’ In 1943 these were offered the possibility of undergoing sterilization in order to be saved from deportation. Although over 200 Jewish Protestants were murdered by the Nazis, the vast majority remained protected due to the stance taken by the Reformed synod in July 1942. Many others went ‘underground’ and were hidden by brave Dutch citizens. Dutch Holocaust historian Jacob Presser states there were a number of so-called ‘protected’ groups of Jewish people. However from mid-1943 when the majority of the Dutch Jewish people had been sent ‘east’ (and murdered at Auschwitz and Sobibor) then the ‘politically convenient time’ arrived to begin deporting even those in the so-called protected groups. This included the Jewish Protestants, the majority of whom were then rounded up from May 1943 and ultimately sent to Westerbork camp in the east of the Netherlands. Then from September 1944 most of these were sent to Theresienstadt (Terezin) concentration camp in the Czech Republic. The majority of these survived, although in Theresienstadt, away from the proximity of the Reformed synod, they did not receive special privileges. *** Former Christian Reformed minister, Rev. Peter Abetz states, ‘ideas have consequences’. The ideology behind Nazism determined that the Aryan or Nordic peoples were more superior to all others, and at the bottom of the list of the ‘others’ were the Jewish people. As such they were going to assist the process of ‘natural selection’, of the stronger (the Nazi-Aryan-Germans) eradicating the weaker, that is, the Jewish people (as well as the Gypsies). Nothing was going to stop them from implementing this ideology, and if manipulation and deceit were necessary in the short-term, then this was done until the ‘politically correct time’ came, and the process of mass murder would then be completed. This ideology was evil, and unfortunately many people, in Germany and elsewhere, were part of it. What a lesson for us to learn today. The ‘spirit’ of genocide did not disappear in 1945. This period of history also reveals the positive legacy left by numerous Dutch Gentiles, such as Archbishop de Jong and Corrie ten Boom, of remaining faithful to Scripture and the Judeo-Christian heritage. One other aspect concerns the Jewish followers of Jesus themselves. Many times in history they have been misunderstood and even rejected by both covenant-related communities, Israel and the Church. However between 1939-1945 they suffered and many died, as followers of Jesus and as Jews. Perhaps it is time they are given their due respect, honour and place in history. © Kelvin Crombie 2022. ______________________________________________________ (An upcoming publication reveals, in part, what happened to the Jewish Christians in the Netherlands—initially as an Abridged Version. The fuller narrative will follow. Further details from Heritage Resources, PO Box 565, Mundaring, WA, 6073, or kelvin@heritageresources.com.au ). Historical Perspective Westerbork, The Netherlands-July 2021; View of barrack 56 symbolizing one of the many barracks of Transit Camp Westerbork, now monument for deportation of Jews to destruction camps WW2. 365 Focus Photography / Shutterstock.com Jewish Christians in the Netherlands in the Holocaust Kelvin Crombie Australian Historian, Documentor and Founder of Heritage Resources $15 (includes p+h) PAPERBACK | by Kelvin Crombie Jewish Christian’s in the Netherlands during the Holocaust: Abridged Version NEW!

10. 8 C4I News February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Rev Cornelis Kant n Executive Director | Christians for Israel International Sometimes extraordinary things happen. A fellow pastor, Rev Bram Krol, has been doing missionary work in the inland regions of the Ivory Coast (West Africa) for many years. Rev Krol works together with local Pastor Jean Christophe, who told him one day that he would like to know more about Israel. This is why Pastor Jean Christophe was connected to Christians for Israel and attended our biennial Forum in Jerusalem in 2019. In the autumn of 2021, the corona situation was stable in Ivory Coast, and we decided to organise a pastors’ conference on Israel, in two cities. Together with 20 colleagues from various denominations, Jean Christophe set to organising two events. Special Meetings During the visit to Ivory Coast, I was joined by Rev Krol, and given his knowledge of the country culture and his connections, this was very useful. Before the conferences took place, we had the opportunity to visit the President of the Baptist Churches in French-speaking Africa, Dr Robert Dion. Dr Dion shared that Israel had played a great and valuable role in building up the Ivory Coast during the first years of independence. We also visited the Department of Religious Affairs, where we were allowed to explain to a top official why Christians for Israel organised these conferences and what our core message is. It was very special that this top official asked us to close our meeting in prayer and pray for his ill director. Later, Jean Christophe told us that this official is a Muslim, and his job is to ensure that Christians and Muslims live together in peace. This made it all the more special that we could tell him about Israel from the Bible and offer him the book Why Israel? in French. Conference in Yamoussoukro The first conference was held in the city of Yamoussoukro, 250 kilometres inland. Over 150 pastors attended the conference. During a lecture and Bible study, I drew comparisons between the Old and New Testaments to clarify that Israel has a continuing role in God’s plan of salvation for the world. With a PowerPoint presentation, participants got an overview of the political history of Israel in the past 120 years, and a presentation about the worldwide mission and activities of Christians for Israel. Rev Bram gave a Bible study from Ezekiel 37 about the prophecy of the future reunion of the ten and two tribes of Israel. The participants told us they were very touched by the message. “I knew something about Israel, and I knew a few texts, but this clear overview was a revelation to me,” one pastor told us. Another said: “It is a miracle that this message is being shared with us at this time”. Conference in Abidjan The next day, we had a similar conference in the capital, Abidjan. Over 80 pastors attended the conference. One pastor enthusiastically shared: “The Holy Spirit has made it clear to us that we must do something with this message in our congregations. This is very important for French-speaking Africa”. The fact that the New Covenant, according to Jeremiah 31, is made with the house of Israel and Judah was an eye- opener for them. And that the New Testament contains such clear promises for Israel, for example, in the hymn of Mary and Zacharias , was also new to them. All the pastors went home with the French edition of the book Why Israel? written by Rev Willem Glashouwer. Once again, it became clear to us how important it is to organise these conferences for pastors. Future Developments Jean Christophe and our international team in the Netherlands are now in close contact about future developments. These pastors need to be supported with good Bible study material for their Sunday sermons and Bible study groups. Jean Christophe will set up a small local team and translate Bible study material into French, so we can develop a French- language website. We are grateful for these new developments, please pray with us for the growth of this important work in Ivory Coast. Rev Cornelis Kant and Rev Bram Krol received an Ivory Coast’s traditional dress (belonging to the descendants of the tribe of Dan). | Photo: Christians for Israel Miraculous Visit to Ivory Coast Worship during the conference. Conference in Abidjan. Pastor Jean Christophe presents the French edition of Why Israel?

16. 6 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Opinion Piece Ever since the creation of the State of Israel, the Catholic and other Christian churches have refused to pay taxes due to Israel and its municipalities on church- owned properties and income. Benjamin Franklin, one of the more famous founding fathers of the US, is quoted as saying “... in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes. 1 ” The first part may be true, but as for the Catholic Church in Israel, they are operating tax free. The modern State of Israel was internationally recognized by the UN in 1948. It took 45 years for the Holy See finally to recognize Israel in December 1993. Regardless, the Catholic Church (like everyone else) is subject to the laws of the country it operates in. And it should be matching its actions with their own teachings: According to the New Testament, Jesus said one should “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Mark 12:17 and Luke 20:25) and “Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due” (Romans 13:7). However, ever since the creation of the State of Israel, the Catholic and other Christian churches have refused to pay taxes due Israel and its municipalities on church-owned properties and income. In 2002, the Knesset canceled certain tax exemptions to religious institutions (of any denomination) that offer health, hospitality, and welfare services (with the exception of houses of prayer like synagogues, churches, and convents), ritual baths, and educational institutions that are not commercial activities. While it may seem reasonable that houses of prayer, ritual baths, and educational institutions be exempt from taxes, it is against internationally accepted rules of fair competition to exempt from taxes: hotels, stores, restaurants, hostels, guest houses, hospitals, welfare services, and leases of apartments belonging to churches. They operate like regular commercial businesses. They are classified as unrelated business activities and should therefore, be subject to taxes. Churches, mosques and synagogues are required to pay taxes in Israel on the profits made in Israel by their schools, hotels, hostels, hospitals. Furthermore, they are taxed on properties that are not places of prayer. IN DECEMBER 2017, the Jerusalem Municipality asked for payment of unpaid commercial taxes amounting to NIS 650 million (about $186 million) and froze church bank accounts. In response, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and other churches demonized Israel, going so far as to imply that Jerusalem does not belong to the Jewish state. For the Holy See and other churches, the argument that Jerusalem must be internationalized and become a corpus separatum (Latin for “separate body”) is so nonsensical because (1) Jerusalem has been the capital city of Israel since King David made it so in 1003 BCE (approx. 1300 years before the establishment of Christianity by Constantine in 313 CE). And (2) the Catholic and other Christian churches also have property outside of Jerusalem, so why just this demand of Jerusalem? In a CUFI article of March 13, 2018, then Jerusalem Mayor Nir Birkat said, “But does it sound logical to anyone that commercial areas like hotels, wedding halls and businesses should share this exemption, just because they are owned by the churches? Why should the Mamilla Hotel pay municipal tax while the Notre Dame Hotel across the street is exempt?” Shimon Shetreet, former deputy mayor and Hebrew University law professor, was quoted by World Israel News (February 26, 2018), “There is a difference between worship facilities and commercial facilities owned by the church. Many years ago there was a similar issue with yeshivot (Jewish educational institutions focusing on Torah and Talmud) that have wedding halls. There was also the case of the Bar Association with a party hall. Places of prayer are not taxed. Places of parties are subject to taxation. There are also stores owned by churches and synagogues that pay tax. Why not? Nobody is charging houses of prayer, so these protests are totally misleading.” Why do churches 2 insist that they are not obligated to pay taxes to the Jewish state, even though their scripture states that “...it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience” (Romans 13:5)? The church’s disregard of the law (international and Israeli), as well as its own teachings, means that Israeli citizens, whether they be Jews, Christians, or Muslims (of Jerusalem and elsewhere) are paying more than their share for sanitation, garbage collection, municipal services, and other taxes because of taxes that are not being paid by the church’s owned commercial businesses (shops, hotels, and restaurants). Ironically, this puts a harder economic burden on the poor, who the church is committed to serve. In addition, it should be mentioned that there are an untold number and invaluable Jewish artifacts in the Vatican archives that have been plundered over the centuries. The importance to return all of the plundered Judaica objects d’art, texts, and artifacts cannot be over stressed. From the Jewish perspective, all these plundered items are part of the Jewish identity, history, and holy religious practices. Many original Hebraic texts contain insight into Judaism as to how and why it is practiced today. These sacred religious artifacts and objects d’art depict Jewish communal life throughout the ages. If the Vatican’s tax bill was NIS 650 million (about $186 million) in 2017, how much is owed now, including interest and penalties? Perhaps the State of Israel could cut the Catholic Church a deal and offer a credit against the tax bill for the return of the Jewish treasures to the State of Israel. 1. www.jpost.com/opinion/taxes-are-only- getting-more-complex-opinion-681393 2. www.jpost.com/jerusalem/jerusalem-halts- taxes-that-led-to-closure-of-church-of-the- holy-sepulchre-543772 ______________________________________________________ First published in Jerusalem Post on 9th October 2021. Republished with permission. David S. Levine is a former NYC advertising agency and marketing executive, and also spent five years in the financial arena. He has been an officer/board member/speaker of industry, educational, and community organizations, as well as several new business startups. Currently he is semi-retired but continues as an instructor at Rutgers University School of Communication and Information and a consultant. He made aliyah in 2015 and lives in Ashkelon with his wife. Follow on Twitter @davidslevine . Will the Vatican ever pay Israel taxes due? David S. Levine Instructor at Rutgers University School of Communication and Information POPE FRANCIS meets with members of the American Jewish Committee at the Vatican in 2019 (credit: REUTERS)

20. 10 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 An Encouraging Message from the Heart of Biblical Israel The Heroes of Israel – Ordinary People Facing Extraordinary Challenges Sondra Baras Former Attorney, Bible Student and Director of CFOIC Heartland It has been two years since COVID began. In Israel, we went from total lockdown in the beginning to much more moderate instructions today. But even the moderate approach has taken its toll on the people of Israel. And especially on families with special needs. Imagine. You are a young mother of five and your son is severely disabled. He is cognitively impaired, unable to talk and in a wheelchair. He is a sweet little boy but requires constant care and attention. He needs complex physical and occupational therapy. Normally, he is picked up every morning at 7:30 and taken to a wonderful school for disabled children. There he not only receives the love and attention he needs, but gets all the therapies he requires. After school, he is taken to Heart of Benjamin for a few wonderful hours of fun and fellowship with other children with special needs, given a hot meal for dinner and then taken home before bedtime. This is a full but wonderful schedule for this young boy. This disabled child will get all the love and therapies he needs while living at home with his loving family. Meanwhile, the parents of this child can go out to work to support their large family and have quality time for their neuro-typical children. Now imagine COVID, quarantine, you are sick, your children are sick, the schools are closed, and all the other scenarios that have hit us over this past two years. Balancing work and family is always a challenge for parents of small children. For parents of a special-needs child, the challenge is even greater. They cannot just get a babysitter to watch their special-needs child if he is sick. And when he is home, they don’t have the professional care to help them attend to his special needs. Add COVID to this scenario and you have a nightmare. Special-needs children are particularly vulnerable to illness. Parents can’t go to work for days and weeks on end because they are caring for their special-needs child whose school is closed. And if the family is also financially strapped, the result is disaster. Enter Heart of Benjamin and the Samaria Family Assistance Program . Heart of Benjamin has been providing after-school, weekend and holiday programming for special-needs children for years. But during COVID, they rose to the challenge. They opened homes for special-needs teen-agers and young adults, enabling them to live there during the work week, in quarantine conditions, keeping them safe and occupied so their parents could work without worry or interruption. And once the rules relaxed, they carried on with the summer and holiday camps, all while maintaining strict hygiene rules to ensure maximum health protection. For those struggling to feed their families, even as they had to miss work or close their business, the Samaria Family Assistance Program was there to provide them with food vouchers and assist them in retraining and employment counseling. These two programs, Samaria Family Assistance and Heart of Benjamin , have been generously supported by Christians for Israel International for years and particularly by C4I Australia . And your support could not have come at a better time. These programs have been helping families in need living in Samaria for a long time, but when COVID entered the mix, the needs grew. Thank G-d, you were there to help provide the extra support that was so desperately needed. Who are these families who have come to us, and to you, for support? These are people who chose to settle in the Heart of Biblical Israel, in an area far from urban centers, where services are so much more readily available. And they came because they believed G-d was calling them to settle the land, to make a difference just by virtue of their presence, in the continued ability of Israel to hold on to its Biblical center. In 1974, the Yom Kippur war had just ended. The soldiers straggled back from their remote outposts in the Sinai and the Golan Heights, ready to return to ordinary life. But for a small group of young people, the war had pierced them in a unique spiritual way. The Six Day War had been an astounding victory just seven years earlier. But there was little practical action after the victory. The land had been liberated but apart from a few communities in the Jordan Valley and Judea, there was no movement to settle the Biblical Heartland. Following the Yom Kippur War, these young people understood that G-d was waiting for them to act and that He would bless Parents can’t go to work for days and weeks on end... And if the family is also financially strapped, the result is disaster. Special needs children receive vital therapies while enjoying fun and fellowship at Heart of Benjamin. Heart of Benjamin provides sheltered employment for young adults with special needs.

17. 7 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 The Mandate for Palestine, created by the Council of the League of Nations (LoN) in 1922, carries not only historical significance but also strong legal weight. The rights of the Jewish people that are implied in the legal obligation to ensure the establishment of the Jewish national home laid one of the most important foundations for the existence of the State of Israel under international law. By the late 1930s, the LoN had become dysfunctional, and it was finally dissolved in July 1946. It was in effect replaced by the United Nations (UN), which came into existence in 1945. This brought to an end the system of Mandates under the LoN, and the role and responsibilities of the League and its Permanent Mandate Commission in relation to the existing Mandates. In 1947, the British finally announced their intention to terminate their responsibilities under the Mandate. The State of Israel was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 and the British withdrew on 15 May 1948. League of Nations Succeeded by the United Nations The United Nations was entitled to assume certain responsibilities of the League of Nations with respect to the Mandate system and existing Mandates, but it did not—and could not—take over the role of Britain as Mandatory. The UN and its Member States should according to Article 80 of the UN Charter respect the rights of the Jewish people and other peoples under the Mandates. It states: ‘Except as may be agreed upon in individual trusteeship agreements, (...) nothing in this Chapter shall be construed in or of itself to alter in any manner the rights whatsoever of any states or any peoples or the terms of existing international instruments to which Members of the United Nations may respectively be parties.’ This provision, which reflects the international law principle of “acquired legal rights”, constitutes part of the transitional arrangements from the system of Mandates under the LoN to the system of Trusteeships under the UN Charter. No attempt was made to place Palestine under the Trusteeship system. [i] The well-known Resolution 181 (II)— including the ‘Partition Plan’—that was adopted by the General Assembly (GA) on November 29th, 1947, is a non-binding decision by the GA with recommendations on the future of the Mandate territory; it is not a Trusteeship Agreement. Article 80 of the UN Charter is often referred to as the “Palestine Article” or the “Palestine Clause”. This indicates that it was drafted with the Palestine Mandate in mind. From the drafting history, it is clear that a Jewish delegation present at the San Francisco Conference in 1945 where the UN Charter was drafted, intended to protect the right of settlement of the Jewish people guaranteed by the Mandate. It was successful in having the word peoples included in the text, which was missing in the original draft. All participants in the discussions of the draft knew that the term peoples referred to the Jewish people in Palestine. Even if one would argue that the Mandate itself was brought to an end by the decision of the British Government to terminate it in 1948, Article 80 supports the “persistence of rights, interests and claims thereunder ...” The ICJ has also underlined the relevance of the rights bestowed by a Mandate on the people concerned after the demise of the LoN: “Their raison d’ être and original object remain. Since their fulfilment did not depend on the existence of the League of Nations, they could not be brought to an end merely because this supervisory organ ceased to exist. Nor could the right of the population to have the Territory administered in accordance with these rules depend thereon. This view is confirmed by Article 80, paragraph 1, of the Charter , which maintains the rights of States and peoples and the terms of existing international instrument until the territories in question are placed under the Trusteeship System.” The International Court of Justice In an Advisory Opinion in 1971, the Court again emphasized the continuing relevance of the rights of a people under a Mandate after the dissolution of the League of Nations. Unfortunately, the ICJ did not follow these precedents when the issue of the relevance of the Mandate for Palestine for the rights of settlement of the Jewish people was at stake in the Wall Advisory Opinion in 2004. Conclusion To sum up: the political and territorial rights of the Jewish people with respect to the land of Palestine pursuant to the Mandate for Palestine remained valid and effective after the termination by the British of their responsibilities as Mandatory, and of the LoN itself. In fact, the decision of the British in 1947, and their actual withdrawal from Palestine in May 1948, did not terminate either their responsibilities as Mandatory The territorial rights of the Jewish people under the Mandate are still relevant for determining the legal status of the parts of the former Mandate territory over which Israel (re-)gained control in June 1967, and that have not (yet) been formally incorporated in the State of Israel: Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza. _______________________________________________________ Dr. Matthijs de Blois is Senior Fellow at thinc. – The Hague Initiative for International Cooperation thinc. seeks to contribute to a fair solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—and other similar situations—on the basis that Israel is a legal, democratic state under international law. We conduct research, provide education and advise governments. The team in the Netherlands coordinates a worldwide network of experts in international law, politics and religion. Please support the work of thinc. by making a donation to Christians for Israel (see coupon on back page) or visit www.thinc.info Something to thinc. about with our new C4I strategic ministry partner The Continuing Significance of the Mandate for Palestine under International Law Prof. Matthijs de Blois Senior Fellow, thinc. Vredespaleis Den Haag aka The Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands) houses the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the United Nations International Court of Justice and The Hague Academy of International Law. All participants in the discussions of the draft knew that the term peoples referred to the Jewish people in Palestine.

21. 11 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Article continued + CFOIC Online Events in 2022 their efforts if they moved forward and followed His call. That year, a small group of men applied to the IDF as civilian contractors to help with construction in an army base on a hilltop located in the Biblical territory of Benjamin, overlooking what became the community of Ofra. Their plan was simple. The Government of Israel refused to plan for settlement in the area, so they would establish facts on the ground. They got the job, they applied for and received permission to live in the area, constructed temporary housing nearby, brought their families along, and the community of Ofra was born. Before the government knew what had happened, the first Jewish community in modern times north of Jerusalem was born. A few months later, another group got organized, determined to settle in the heart of Samaria. Calling themselves the Oak of Moreh group, they aimed to settle near the mountain where G-d first promised the land to Abraham (Genesis 12). In December 1975, they received grudging permission from the government to settle in an army camp just west of Shechem. That became the community of Kedumim, the first modern community in Samaria, in the territory of Menashe. Today the Heart of Benjamin and Samaria Family Assistance Programs serve the residents of Benjamin and Samaria, those same residents and their descendants who paved the way for settlement throughout Judea and Samaria. These are not ordinary people. Even as they struggle with the challenges that life has thrown their way, they remain heroic, steadfast in their faith and determined to contribute to the Nation of Israel in any way they can. They are the true heroes of Israel today. And you have stood with them in their greatest hour of need. *** Sondra Oster Baras was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio in an Orthodox Jewish home. She was educated at the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, a religious all-day school sponsored by the Cleveland Jewish community. Upon graduation from high school, Sondra studied religious studies at the Jerusalem College for Women in Israel. She completed her B.A. in history and English at Barnard College (Columbia University) and obtained her J.D. at Columbia University’s School of Law. In 1984, after practicing law in New York for a short time, Sondra moved to Israel. Sondra continued her legal career in Israel, after being accepted to the Israeli bar. In 1985, the Baras’ joined Neve Aliza, a group of North American Orthodox Jews that were building a new neighborhood in the small Samarian town of Karnei Shomron. Sondra soon became an active member of the governing board of the group and moved into the new neighborhood in 1987. Shortly thereafter, the first Intifada began, and Ms. Baras was drawn into activities advocating for the settlement movement. Since then, Baras has been an active spokesperson for the communities of Judea and Samaria. Baras maintained contact with CFOIC Heartland since its inception in 1995, and in 1998, she opened the Israel office in an effort to enhance the organization’s activities in support of the communities of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Since then, Sondra has been the director of the Israel office, coordinating much of CFOIC Heartland’s community support programs world-wide. To contact Sondra: sondra@cfoic.com _______________________________________________________ If you’d like to donate towards either of these amazing humanitarian projects you can do so by using our form on the back page and selecting CFOIC ( Christian Friends of Israeli Communities ) and once your donation is received it will be allocated towards these projects automatically. MONTHLY ISRAEL UPDATE AND BIBLE TEACHING You are invited to join a zoom meeting with Sondra Oster Baras Hosted by Joy Heylen, CFOIC Heartland’s Australian Representative 7:00 PM QLD Australia 2022 February 8 March 8 April 12 The meeting will begin at 7 PM QLD time. Other time zones will be adjusted accordingly. RSVP at: www.cfoic.com/oz Heart of Benjamin is a home away from home for special-needs children and adults C4I Dutch leaders, Rev. Henk and Harriet Poot, visit with senior citizens in Kedumim. Kindergarten children in Kedumim plant tulip bulbs donated by C4I Holland

23. 13 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Political Analysis Dr Ron Weiser AM Hon Life Pres of the Zionist Council of NSW Whilst Covid arguably brought Israeli Arabs and Jews closer together by shared experiences via the medical system and the resultant much greater general mixing of the two populations, Covid is having the opposite effect on Israel and Diaspora Jewry, where the gap is widening. Both areas present as strategic challenges. Internally, Israel is trying to work out how to interpret Mansour Abbas and his four seat Ra’am party. Abbas himself is treading a fine line by dampening ideological fissures, in exchange for practical gains for Israeli Arabs. In late December he made a landmark statement, significantly also in Arabic, where he said that: “ the State of Israel was born as a Jewish state, and it will remain one.” He continued, that the issue to be resolved “is the status of the Arab citizen in the Jewish State of Israel.” The statement was ground breaking and carries huge implications. It is nothing short of a revolution in Israeli Arab thinking. Even more so as it comes from an Islamist. However, the important and as yet unanswered question for Israel, is whether Abbas is alone or can even carry his own party along this path in the first instance. Secondly, whether enough Israeli Arabs back him or not. Abbas’ political strength is concentrated amongst the Bedouins in the south of Israel. Many of these Negev Bedouins live in unrecognised towns spread over the southern desert. As part of the Israeli government coalition agreement, three previously illegal Bedouin villages have now been recognised. Tens of thousands of Bedouin still live in illegal/unrecognised villages in an issue which has been growing over decades and which successive governments have been unable to resolve. This all led to an unexpected flashpoint around the planting of trees on land Israel says is State land and the Bedouins claim is their private property. The Israeli courts have not found Bedouin claims to be proven, as they are based on squatters’ rights, rather than formal titles. Two additional forces are at play here— and they both centre on trying to diminish Mansour Abbas’ political strength and credibility. Hamas is encouraging the violence as they feel particularly betrayed by Abbas’ ideological moves coming as they do, from common roots. And the other Israeli Arab parties sitting in opposition, are also trying to undermine Mansour Abbas’ gains and are inciting the Southern Bedouins as well. Both groups are trying to make Mansour Abbas look like someone who has sold his soul. Abbas, who has indeed achieved many gains for Israeli Arabs in a very short space of time, is now threatening the coalition’s future by pushing for an additional twelve unrecognised townships to become fully legitimate. This presents as the most recent threat to the government coalition’s stability. Turning to the Israeli/Diaspora relationship. On one level there is the general difficulty for traditional groups to travel to Israel because of current covid-19 circumstances. With two years now soon stretching into a third, the educational and connectivity deficit is growing rapidly. On quite another level, the raison d’etre of Zionism, that is Israel being the Jewish Homeland and open to all Jews, is also facing its challenges, especially when albeit for a short time, Israel barred Jews and Zionist supporters from entry. Of course, this was part of the overall rolling bans—but that is precisely the point. Is something happening to the special relationship between Israel and Diaspora Jews? Where, if at all, does this special relationship factor in? Or, when is it no longer special enough to make a difference? It is fair to say that there was nothing deliberate about the ban and that it was merely an unintended consequence of efforts to protect the health of Israeli citizens. But it is equally fair to say that the effects of this ban were not initially fully appreciated in Israel, nor considered central to decision making. On the other hand, in a parallel and similar way, both inside and outside Israel, is the new and growing trend in the method of how to count Jews. For some years United States Jewry has been dealing with the question of how to define the spouses of ‘out marriage’, where the partner, previously regarded as ‘non Jewish’, however identifies with and/or supports the family unit’s Jewish identity. This has led to some demographers claiming that contrary to previously accepted trends, United States Jewry is not only stable, but is even growing. Without debating the pros and cons of this, what is interesting is also what just happened in Israel. Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics confirmed last year, that Israel is facing a downward trend in her Jewish majority from approximately 80% at a point in the past, to last year’s official CBS announced 73.9%. Most of this fall results from a rise in a category called “Other”. The “Other” category does not include Israeli Arabs or Druze who have their own identity, but does cover many people who live in Israel and who consider themselves Jewish, but are not recognised as such by Halacha. Quite a number are the children of a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother. For the first time in Israel’s history the CBS has just created a new category— “Extended Jewish Population”—which covers a large majority of the people previously in the “Other” category. Combining the Jewish population figure of just under 7 million, together with the new Extended Jewish population figure of roughly another 500,000, brings us back to the 80% of Israel’s population being considered Jewish. MK Elazar Stern, a prime mover behind the change in CBS counting policy writes; “Because of their strong Jewish identity, we need to find language that embraces and incorporates these people, and which makes them realize that Israel includes them in the Jewish nation. Addressing the situation in the United States he says: “We also must look to the future. The last great reservoir of potential aliyah is from North America. In the event that increasing numbers of North Americans ever seek to make aliyah, Israel will surely see an influx of those who are intermarried, or are the children of intermarriage.” The realisation has firmed that after all, we are indeed all in it together. _______________________________________________________ Dr Ron Weiser AM is a Life Member of the ZFA Executive, Past President of the ZFA and Hon Life Pres of the Zionist Council of NSW. Covid Policies Threaten Israeli Gov Coalition & Israel’s Relationship with Disapora Jews Jewish immigrants making Aliyah in Ben Gurion Airport | Shutterstock.com / ChameleonsEye. Is something happening to the special relationship between Israel and Diaspora Jews?... when is it no longer special enough to make a difference?

14. 4 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 As we approach 2022, many are wondering what the year ahead may bring. While we can’t read too much into numerology, the number 22 associated with this year is a very significant prophetic number, carrying multiple layers of biblical meanings. 22—Number of Completion and Fullness The Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 letters—from the first letter Aleph to the final letter Tav. The Hebrew Bible features many ‘acrostic’ passages, which are passages using all 22 letters of the alphabet in sequence, with each successive letter starting a new line. From a Hebraic mindset, passages that use the entire Hebrew alphabet in this way speak of perfection, fullness and completeness. Here are some examples of acrostic passages in the Bible: Prov. 31:10-31—the perfect woman Psalm 112—the perfect man Psalm 119—the perfection of God’s law (each letter is used to make 8 successive lines) 22—Number of Chaos and Judgement There is also a correlation between the number 22 and the themes of chaos and judgment in the Bible. For example, three of Israel’s wicked kings were linked to the number 22: • Jer oboam ruled for 22 years • Ahab ruled f or 22 years • King Amon began his reign at age 22 Sadl y, the wicked rulers of both Israel and Judah led the people away from the ways of God. God’s resulting judgment on Jerusalem is graphically portrayed in the book of Lamentations. This book is written with four acrostic chapters, as it is describing the perfect and complete devastation of the city. A closer glance at these acrostic chapters, reveals a startingly find—the sequences of the 22 letters in these chapters are all partially jumbled. For Hebrew readers, this jumbling of letters would be painfully obvious (as it would be for us today if an author got their ABC’s mixed up). Is the jumbling of letters just a clerical mistake or does it carry a deeper meaning? The Rabbis affirm that this must have been a deliberate choice by the author to symbolise the jumbling of God’s divine order caused by sin, leading to both chaos and judgment. The destruction of Jerusalem featured in the Book of Lamentations, is further linked to the number 22 through the associated annual fast days on the Jewish calendar. The two most prominent fast days are the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av which mark the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem, the end of sacrifices in the Temple as well as the destruction of the Temple itself (by the Babylonians as well as the Romans on the very same day some 600 years apart). The 22 days between these two significant fast days are to this day an annual period of national mourning on the Jewish calendar. 22—Number of Hope and Restoration The minor prophet Zechariah refers to the fasting days marking the destruction of Jerusalem and promises that they will ultimately turn to joy and gladness (Zec. 8:19). Since the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians, many other disasters have happened to the Jewish people—on the very same days—intensifying this annual mourning period. Yet the prophet declares that a day is coming when Israel will be comforted not only of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple but also of all the other calamities that have happened to them—and when this happens, the 22 days of mourning will truly turn to joy. The number 22 being linked to joy and restoration is also found in the story of Joseph and His brothers. We all remember the story of Joseph’s agonising betrayal by his brothers, his years of slavery, his unjust imprisonment and how God raised him up to be second only to the Pharoah. It took a long 22 years before Joseph’s brothers finally stood before him, and a teary-eyed Joseph could finally reveal his true identity and embrace his brothers. Many scholars see the story of Joseph as prophetic of Jesus’ separation from His Jewish brothers. Like Joseph, Jesus has been thought of as dead by His people and like Joseph, He has now a foreign name (i.e. Jesus instead of Yeshua). As Joseph wore foreign clothes and spoke a foreign language, so Jesus has been ‘dressed’ in foreign rituals and religious traditions that conceal His true Jewish identity. Yet one day, He will be restored to His long-lost brethren, and this restoration is linked to the End Times and the number 22. 22—the End Time Hope The Jewish calendar, instituted by God Himself in Leviticus chapter 23, features three Autumn Feasts. These Fall Feasts which take place annually over the course of 22 days, give a panoramic prophetic preview of End Time events. • Feast of Trumpets— Repentance at the sounding of the great trumpet • Da y of Atonement— Restoration with Israel crying out to God as a Nation • Feast of T abernacles— Rejoicing as God finally dwells among His people again In this context, it seems like no accident that the Bible’s most detailed book of End Time prophecy, the Book of Revelation, has 22 chapters. 22—Chaos, Destruction, Restoration and Hope We have seen in this article how the number 22 is biblically linked to both chaos and destruction as well as to hope and restoration. It is tied to the End Time sequence of events that ultimately point us to the promised restoration of Israel and the coming of the Messiah Himself. While you and I may not (yet) be living in the final phases of End Time events, we have truly been through a few years of chaos and disorder caused by Covid. This challenging time has rocked many of our lives, whether it be financially, emotionally, physically, or spiritually. It has also rocked the very foundations of our societies, with great divisions, economic upheavals, and unrest in many nations. In the midst of this chaos, let us remember that our God is a God of restoration and order. The message of the number 22 shows us that God can, and will, turn sorrow and chaos into order and joy as we turn to Him. Let us take hope for the year ahead and believe God for better things to come in 2022. —————————————————————— Ps. Enoch Lavender is the Pastoral leader of Shalom Israel and serves as Assistant Pastor at Living Way Christian Network . A Hebrew Prophetic View on 2022 The message of the number 22 shows us that God can, and will, turn sorrow and chaos into order and joy as we turn to Him Biblical Commentary Through Jewish Eyes Enoch Lavender Pastoral leader of Shalom Israel and Assistant Pastor at Living Way Christian Network.

19. 9 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Opinion Piece As I see current world events accelerating, thereby heralding the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, rather than becoming dispirited or anxious I become excited. Jesus tells us that when we see these things occurring to look up as our redemption draws nigh (Luke 21:28). Yes the Church is under attack but, conversely, we see how the Church strengthens and grows when it is persecuted. Satan’s wrath will not breach a Church built upon the unadulterated Word of God, unless the attacks come from within. A Church built on the Rock will ultimately be a victorious Church. Colin Stott of Global Recordings Network USA writes: “The Church of Jesus Christ, despite all of its appalling failures and sins, is the greatest force on earth for good and the only threat to Satan’s Kingdom. It is the only group of people on the planet feared by the god of this age. No other religion poses any threat to him. None. Just the Church. Satan trembles when he hears God’s people praising their Lord. Even the weakest saint on his or her knees surely strikes fear in the enemy camp. “No surprise then that the Church is always under attack. This is especially true today as persecutions and unspeakable horrors are befalling many of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world. We see also the abominations of today’s culture impacting our nations as a flood of evil threatens to overwhelm and marginalize the Church. Sadly, instead of influencing our culture for good, the Church finds itself being influenced by it. “How are we to respond? Such times call for us to confess that we have not been the purified Bride that God intends us to be. Nor have we been the salt and light necessary to restrain evil in our society. More than ever do we need to humble ourselves, repent and pray and turn from our sinful ways (2 Chronicles 7:14).” Jesus knew that Satan would attack His Bride, and warned us very early on. Just as He pronounced a blessing upon Peter proclaiming his answer as recorded in Matthew 16:17-18 as divinely inspired, He will bless His Church today if she continues to faithfully seek after righteousness, preach the Gospel and proclaim His Word in full truth. “And I say also unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Satan has no power over an individual or a church that shelters under the blood of Jesus Christ and the truth and leading of the Holy Spirit. Why is the Church so weak in parts today? The early Church was Jewish. Jesus was and is Jewish—the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). Catastrophically the Church of today has lost its ‘Jewish-ness’. I often quote this little poem as I am thankful for its simple but profound truth. The first line is attributed to William Norman Ewer and the rest of the poem to Cecil Brown. HOW ODD OF GOD TO CHOOSE THE JEWS BUT ODDER STILL ARE THOSE WHO CHOOSE THE JEWISH GOD BUT SPURN THE JEWS. Is the Church interpreting the times? Could that area of the Church that is buckling under Satan’s attacks be a malnourished Church, not feeding upon the whole Word of God from Genesis to Revelation? When we are malnourished we are susceptible to attack by a creeping malaise, weakness leading to illness which, in turn, can lead to paralysis or even death. Jesus told the Pharisees and Sadducees that they did not know the times in which they lived. Do we? In Matthew 16 Jesus spoke these words ‘But He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘The weather will be fair, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah”. Then He left them and went away.’ One of the most exciting pointers to the times is the return of the Jewish nation to Israel, a factor so many in the Church continue to miss. Is this the time of the fig tree and all the trees sprouting leaves? (Luke 21:29-31). How many in the Church neglect to pray for Israel and teach the signs of the times as outlined in the prophetic Scriptures? Many of these prophesies are spiritualised by some when in fact they are a manifesting observable fact, occurring before the eyes of those who wish to see. The Lord, as He promised, is bringing His people back to the land He covenanted to them. God does not break covenant. Does the Church wish to step into her fullness? Through His suffering upon the Cross Jesus engrafted us into the Olive Tree (Romans 9-11). Do we wish to bless God and our older Jewish brethren by praying for His chosen people with whom God has kept covenant despite their unfaithfulness? Do we wish to bless His people and in turn be blessed? (Gen 12:3). In his book ‘The Mystery of the Olive Tree’ Johannes Fichtenbauer writes: “It is not really possible to understand what the Church is, let alone talk about the ‘Messianic Jewish phenomenon’ without first being deeply confronted with the fact of Israel’s election—Israel as the Apple of God’s eye. The Church of the Gentiles will never reach the full measure of engagement with the plan of God on earth without understanding that it serves not just any God—but specifically the God of Israel. This has implications in all areas of our faith: in our theology and Christology, in our personal prayer life and our corporate worship, in our morals, in our evangelism, in the way we live out our family life in private and in the way that we are ‘Church.’” God invites us to work with Him as He watches over His Word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12). He extends to us a glorious and exciting invitation. ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders”’ (Isaiah 49:22-23a). Our generation is the one privileged to see this prophesy occurring from the rebirth of the State of Israel in 1948. The rise in numbers of Messianic Jews in Israel is wonderful to behold. There are thousands of Jewish believers in the land of Israel today. Are we praying for the full number of Jews to come to faith in Yeshua/Jesus, their Messiah? Is Satan blinding the Church to this call? In our blindness are we delaying the return of Jesus to a world crying out for restoration? Again I quote from Colin Stott: “Such times call for us to identify the real enemy. It is not our leaders who disregard God’s laws or those in the media or the politically correct brigade who mock us for our faith. Our fight is not against flesh and blood. No, our battle is with the powers of darkness that goad them to blaspheme the sacred and celebrate the obscene. “As prayer warriors we must boldly rise up and take the fight to the heavenlies where the real battle is being waged. We have spiritual weapons to demolish strongholds of deception and every godless philosophy and false belief system that tries to exalt itself above the knowledge of God. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). The Church, triumphant in Christ, must confront and destroy these if we are to see God’s kingdom advance. “And so we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. As the days get darker may our worship grow ever stronger. The more the enemy attacks the more praise God will receive! And let us show God’s love to those who rage against the Church and who want to silence it. (How they must fear the Truth!) This is no time to retreat but to step up our intercession for the persecuted Church and for God to be glorified among the nations. His honour matters!” Should we worry about cancel culture and woke-ism? Let the Word of God answer our question. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). I finish this chapter by again referring to the Lord and His work in Israel and the nations. The Gospel went out to the ends of the earth from Jerusalem and it is returning to the land in a wonderful and exciting way. There are marvellous ministries at work in Israel. Let the Church “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6). _______________________________________________________ Judy Russell is an advocate for Christians for Israel Australia. You can contact Judy at judy.russell@iinet.net.au Judy Russell Christian’s for Israel Advocate and host of popular worldview meetings, Parliament House, Sydney The Church is Under Attack Jesus told the Pharisees and Sadducees that they did not know the times in which they lived. Do we?

7. 5 News February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Hillel Frisch n It took the head of the Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement’s United Arab List party (Ra’am) to show that PA leader Mahmoud Abbas has no intention of making genuine peace with Israel. Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s condemnation of Ra’am Party head Mansour Abbas last month for saying that the Jewish state is here to stay illustrated, yet again, that the Palestinian leader has no intention of making peace with the Jewish State. The Israeli left, including former security officials and many European officials, are all united in the hope that Abbas is a peace-maker. This hope may have been one of the reasons behind the meeting last week between Abbas and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz in the latter’s home in central Israel. Mansour Abbas, the head of the southern branch of the Islamic Movement’s United Arab List party (Ra’am), entered the governing coalition led by Naftali Bennet and Yair Lapid with the aim of removing Benjamin Netanyahu from the premiership. For an Israeli Arab politician to state that Israel was born and will remain a Jewish state, and to insist that the Arab public be realistic and strive for a role in that state, is a welcome turn of events. (Though the Islamic Movement, the Muslim Brotherhood offshoot in Israel, is known to say what its audience wants to hear in Hebrew while providing its supporters in Arab with a different message.) Mansour Abbas went way beyond the dovish Israeli Arab stance of working within the Jewish state to turn it into a state of all its citizens or into a bi-national state. Mahmoud Abbas reacted with vociferous denunciations, expressing the Palestinians’ “refusal and disgust” at the Ra’am leader’s acknowledgement of the Jewish state. These “irresponsible remarks fuel the extremist right-wing groups in Israeli society,” which “run contrary to [the Islamic] religion, the legacy of the Palestinian people that extend from the beginning of time,” and strengthen the “imperialistic Zionist project,” said the PA leader. The remarks also increased the resolve of settlers to “defile” the Al Aqsa Mosque with their presence, he added. Abbas, of course, was referring to the Temple Mount as a whole since he well knows that Jews are not allowed into the mosque itself. Considering that the Temple Mount is the site of the two destroyed temples, the first destroyed by Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylonia and the second by the Romans, one wonders what kind of peace the PA leader intends to make. Of course, this is nothing new for the Israeli public, who know that Mahmoud Abbas has a doctorate in Holocaust denial. More recently, the Palestinian leader attacked Arab leaders who dared to normalise relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords. Of course, questioning Mahmoud Abb as’s potential peace-making role goes beyond ideological positions and rhetoric. At 86, Abbas can hardly soften his perception that the Jewish state is illegitimate. So even if he were to surprise the world with a change of heart, he could probably not muster the strength to lead Palestinians to follow. At present, he is busy trying to subdue any voice speaking of peace. The Israeli left widely subscribes to the thesis of missed opportunities from the days of Foreign Minister Moshe Sharrett. PM David Ben-Gurion presumably quashed their peace probes in the years before the Yom Kippur War. Again, according to this thesis, Isr ael likely missed another opportunity for peace during the talks between former Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and King Hussein of Jordan in 1987. Fortunately, Mahmoud Abbas’s reaction to Mansour Abbas’s remarks serves to warn the Israeli public from being duped. Hillel Frisch is a professor of political studies and Middle East studies at Bar-Ilan University and an expert on the Arab world at Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security. Abbas Shows True Colours PA leader Mahmoud Abbas. | Photo: Flash90 Short News Israel Exports Hit Record Exports from Israel soared to record levels last year. With an increase of almost 20%, the total amount will reach between US $ 135 and US $140 billion. The ministry said that some 39% of exports go to European markets, followed by American markets at 33% and Asia at 25%. | Photo: Flash90 Internet Use Increase Internet use among ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel is rising. Research has shown that their use has doubled since 2008. In 2008, about 28% of the community used the internet; now, it is 64%. Members of the ultra-Orthodox community are gradually integrating internet use into their lifestyles. The internet is mainly used for e-mail, looking up information, digital banking, work and government services. Cleantech Aims at Developing World An Israeli company has designed an off- grid household water purification system that it is sustainable, cheap, easy to use, and could provide millions of households in developing countries with clean drinking water. The system called Miriam’s Well, is powered by solar energy, and is fitted with advanced ultraviolet technology that kills viruses and bacteria. The device is lightweight, and purifies each litre of water for less than half a cent. Pinhas Inbari n Hamas’s attempts, led by Saleh al-Arouri, to infiltrate the West Bank worry not only Israel but also Ramallah and Jordan. Hamas’s efforts are currently the common denominator for the cooperation required of Israel and Jordan. Israeli and Palestinian Authority forces are already operating in the Jenin region of the West Bank. Developments there should be troubling Jordan’s King Abdullah II. Although Jordan is currently calm domestically, the Jordanian parliament is stressing the king. According to comments from journalists close to the palace, the king views the Muslim Brotherhood (Hamas’s umbrella organisation) as the source of the unrest. In mid-December, the Jordanian parliament challenged the government’s far-reaching water and electricity agreements with Israel. Then, on 28 December 2021, a brawl took place while the lawmakers discussed changing the fundamental laws to ensure gender equality. When it deliberated whether to attach the Arabic feminine form of the word ‘Jordanian’ alongside the masculine form, the resulting uproar included swearing and an exchange of blows. Eventually, a compromise was reached. The parliament passed amendments that enabled the king to appoint top public security and judicial officials, along with the grand mufti and royal advisers. An amendment was also approved to establish a National Security Council controlled by the king, which would handle all issues related to defence and security. But it came at a price. In an unprecedented move, the parliament removed the king as the head of the parliamentary security committee. Jordanian journalists close to the royal palace accused the Muslim Brotherhood of planning the provocations in parliament. The veteran leader of the Muslim Brotherhood branch in Jordan, Laith Shubeilat, did not hesitate to accuse the Brotherhood’s new generation of having ties to foreign entities—namely Iran. Shubeilat is no lapdog for the Hashemite regime; he had a str ained relationship with King Hussein and was arrested several times. Jordanian publicist Ahmed Salama reported that when King Abdullah allowed Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal and Ismail Haniyeh to attend the funeral of a senior member of the Brotherhood, Ibrahim Ghosheh, in August 2021, they exploited this humane gesture to persuade mourners to recognise the two Hamas figures as leaders of Jordan’s own Islamic faction. “The funeral turned into a pledge of allegiance to Hamas and its leaders,” Salama wrote. Moreover, their incitement “was an embarrassme nt to the government’s alliance with the Ramallah authority.” The goal of the Brotherhood, according to Salama, is to fragment Jordan as they have divided the Palestinians. Its logic is clear: just as they opened the door to Iran in Gaza, they want to divide Jordan to allow Iran’s infiltration there as well. Arouri’s attempts to infiltrate the West Bank are understood in Jordan as part of an Iranian mission also to infiltrate the ‘East Bank.’ Faced with this Hamas strategy, Jordan must coordinate with Israel and the PA. Pinhas Inbari is a veteran Arab affairs correspondent who formerly reported for Israel Radio and the Al Hamishmar newspaper. He currently serves as an analyst for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. This article was first published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Republished with permission. Hamas Seeks to Divide Jordan Caroline Glick n Israel has no choice but to fight the UN’s new permanent inquisition against it, and any business, government or judge that uses its reality-free reports. At the UN General Assembly last month, a large majority of member nations voted to lavishly fund a permanent inquisition against the Jewish state. The member states funded the operation of an ‘ongoing independent, international commission of inquiry’ against Israel. The commission, run by outspoken haters of Israel with long records of demonising it and its people, was formed by the UN Human Rights Council in a special session. Its purpose is to deny and reject Israel’s right to exist, its right to self-defence, its right to enforce its laws and its citizens’ rights to their properties and to their very lives. The Council’s decision to form its new permanent inquisition constitutes an unprecedented escalation of the UN’s political war against Israel for the past 50 years. To grasp the danger, it is necessary to understand how Israel’s foes operate at the United Nations and how their partners in Europe and Israel itself operate. We begin with the United Nations. In 2005, acting on pressure from the Bush administration, then - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan disbanded the UN Human Rights Commission. The Bush administration’s chief complaint was that the commission was antisemitic. The UN Human Rights Council was founded in 2006, and its members and UN staff wasted no time making it clear that they intended the new council to be even more antisemitic than its predecessor. Shortly after the HRC was established, it determined that demonising Israel would be a permanent agenda item. Item Number 7 is the only permanent agenda item that deals with a specific country. And like the council’s nine other permanent agenda items, Item 7 is discussed at every formal council session, which discusses “Human rights violations and implications of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.” However, having a permanent agenda item dedicated to specifically demonising Israel wasn’t enough to satisfy the HRC’s obsession with attacking the Jewish state. So, since 2006, the council has convened nine special sessions to expand its focus on Israel. To get a sense of just how overwhelming the council’s focus on Israel is, the council has convened just 19 special sessions to deal with every other country on the planet in the same period. The council’s template for demonising Israel has been fairly consistent through the years. Immediately after each Palestinian terror campaign against Israel comes to an end, the Holocaust-denying, terror-sponsoring PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas has his UN representatives ask for a special session to discuss the ‘war crimes’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ Israel supposedly carried out against the Palestinians. No one ever mentions that every single missile launched against Israel by the Hamas terror regime in Gaza constitutes a separate war crime. No one ever mentions Hamas at all. In short order, the council accedes to the PLO’s request and convenes the special session. On cue, the member nations’ representatives rise, accuse Israel of genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid , operating a killing machine, targeting children and any other crime they can think of. Then a majority of the members vote to form a new ‘commission of inquiry,’ led and staffed by ‘independent’ investigators, nearly all of whom believe that Israel has no right to exist and that Jews have too much power. At the end of its ‘in-depth investigation’, the commission issues a report which determines that Israel conducted war crimes and crimes against humanity. This brings us to the second arm of the international political war against Israel: Europe. Every HRC resolution to form a commission of inquiry includes a call to non- governmental organisations and other parties to submit testimonies’ and ‘reports’ that will substantiate the council’s blood libel that Israel committed war crimes and is inherently and incurably evil. NGOs registered in Israel, the PA, and Western countries answer the council’s call. And the final reports issued by each of the inquisitions include hundreds of citations from ‘testimonies’ and reports submitted by these NGOs as proof of Israel’s inherent venality. These organisations are not independent actors. European governments fund them and direct their operations. If they operated in the United States, nearly every NGO involved in the HRC’s witch hunts against Israel would have to register as a foreign agent of European governments. As Knesset member Amichai Chikli put it, “Europe is waging a war against Israel.” The reports the HRC publishes at the end of each fake commission of inquiry against Israel form the basis for the various boycott efforts against Israel that European bureaucrats carry out. For instance, based on one such report, EU member states stopped recognising Israeli veterinary certificates relating to agricultural exports from Jewish farmers in Samaria. This brings us to the third arm of the international political war against Israel: Israel’s European-influenced, progressive legal establishment. Last weekend, Haaretz published an interview with the former attorney general and recently retired Supreme Court Justice Meni Mazuz. Between the lines, Ma zuz explained the legal establishment’s methods for transforming anti-Israel UN documents into ‘law’. A significant portion of the interview dealt with Mazuz’s campaign from the bench to block military demolitions of homes of terrorists. Mazuz told Haaretz that for many years, including during his tenure as attorney general, he “thought that house demolitions were an immoral step, in contravention of the law whose effectiveness was dubious.” But when Mazuz served as attorney general, he lacked the authority to end the practice. As he explained, “I couldn’t tell the government that it is prohibited when dozens of Supreme Court decisions say that it is permitted.” But the minute Mazuz was appointed to the Supreme Court, he began legislating his political views from the bench. To substantiate his position regarding the demolition of terrorists’ homes, Mazuz said that he relied on ‘the positions of legal scholars’ in Israel and abroad and on the decisions of the UN Human Rights Council. “The demolitions cause us international damage,” Mazuz said. “Do you think that these things stay here? That they don’t come up every year at human rights councils in Geneva and international forums?” In other words, Mazuz made clear that along with several of his colleagues on the bench, he used the anti-Israel reports generated by the obsessively anti-Israel HRC to justify his rulings, which denied Israel the right to act in accordance with Israeli law in a manner that the duly elected government, and the duly constituted leadership of the IDF, deemed necessary in their efforts to quell Palestinian terrorism. Aside from a limited category of UN Security Council resolutions, UN actions and decisions are devoid of international law significance. Like those of all other UN bodies, decisions by the HRC are political documents without any legal weight. Mazuz and his colleagues in the legal fraternity exploit the public’s ignorance and the impotence of the government and Knesset to transform these political documents into ‘law’ through their judgments and legal opinions. And this brings us to the HRC’s permanent inquisition, whose operations a large majority of UN member nations voted to fund last week at the General Assembly. As Professor Anne Bayefsky explained in a detailed report published last week by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, the commission of inquiry’s mandate is effectively limitless. The commission is empowered to rewrite the entire history of the Arab conflict with Israel and determine that Israel’s birth was an original sin that must be undone. The commission is empowered to carry out an ‘investigation’ based on ‘testimonies’ which EU-funded anti-Israel groups will supply , describing fraudulent ‘war crimes’ that will form the basis of indictments of Israeli elected leaders, IDF commanders and line soldiers, and Israeli civilians who reside in Judea, Samaria and unified Jerusalem. The UN’s political ‘courts’, in turn, will agree to try them for these made-up crimes. Moreover, as Bayefsky noted, the commission is charged with making “recommendations on measures to be taken by third States to ensure respect for international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem...[to ensure] they do not aid or assist in the commission of internationally wrongful acts.” A similar statement is made in the resolution’s preamble regarding ‘business enterprises.’ The message in both cases is self-explanatory. The reports the inquisition will publish will serve as the basis for economic boycotts of Israel to be enacted by both government bureaucrats and businesses. Israel has no choice but to fight this commission and any business, government or judge that uses its reality-free reports. Israel must ensure that the antisemitic propaganda the commission puts out does not turn into ‘law’ through the actions of radical justices and government attorneys. Israel must reconcile itself to the fact that the EU bureaucracy and much of Europe is waging war against it and launch a vigorous counter-assault. Caroline Glick is an award-winning columnist and author of ‘The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East’. Abridged by Managing Editor. The full article can be found here: https://www.jns.org/ opinion/the-escalating-international-war-against-israel/ News 4 The Escalating War Against Israel February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. | Photo: Shutterstock

5. News 3 Short News Israel Approaches 9.5 million residents At the end of 2021, Israel’s population was close to 9.5 million — 9.449 million, to be exact. This number can be roughly divided into 74 per cent Jews, 21 per cent Arabs, and 5 per cent are neither. The population was slightly lower at the end of 2020, at 9.3 million. | Photo: Flash90 No US Consulate for Palestinians If it is up to Prime Minister Bennett, there will be no US consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem. “My position, which has been presented to the Americans by myself and by Foreign Minister Lapid, is that there is no place for an American consulate that serves the Palestinians in Jerusalem,” Bennett said. “Jerusalem is the capital of Israel alone.” The US administration sees the opening of a consulate for Palestinians to restore relations between the US and the Palestinians. After a cabinet meeting, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh declared: “The reopening of the American Consulate in Jerusalem is the most important issue for the Palestinians. We are focusing on the consulate because we want an American address that will take care of Palestinian affairs and form the nucleus of an American embassy in Palestine and express the recognition that Jerusalem is occupied Arab land.” Shtayyeh said. Syrian Bunker Uncovered in Golan An old Syrian bunker on the Golan Heights was recently uncovered after it had been abandoned following the 1967 Six-Day War when Israel captured the plateau from Syria. The bunker still contained hundreds of artillery pieces from the time of the Six-Day War. It was decided to detonate the munitions on site for security reasons instead of moving them to a blast site. The bunker was discovered during a government project aimed at locating and clearing old mines in order to make certain areas of Israel safely accessible to the public. | Photo: Flash90 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Micha Gefen n Israel Unwired With rumours of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine becoming more and more real, Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian air force to joint patrol with the Syrian air force near Israel’s Golan Heights. The sudden move has sent shivers down Israel’s defence establishment, which has made it clear that free movement inside Syria is critical to Israel’s defences. Israel’s strikes in Syria target Iranian advanced weapon systems deliveries to Hezbollah. Without a free hand, Hezbollah would be able to wreak far more havoc on Israel in a potential war. The Russian move is part of a larger push by Putin to regain the prestige that was lost by the fall of the Soviet Union. However, for Israel, the move by Putin puts the Jewish State in a very precarious position. It can no longer assume it has free movement, and any mistakes that result in the downing of a Russian jet will give Putin what he needs to clamp down on Israel’s sense of independence. With an invasion of Ukraine possibly only days away, one wonders what other military excursions Putin has planned. Micha Gefen is a foreign affairs expert and a subject matter specialist on Middle East insurgencies and how they pertain to Israel’s security. Russia Makes its Move Israeli reserve soldiers patrol on the border with Syria, in the Golan Heights, 25 January 2022. | Photo: Flash90 Koen Carlier n Aliyah Fieldworker | Christians for Israel Ukraine The situation in eastern Ukraine bordering Russia is becoming increasingly tense. We are trying to prepare ourselves for the worst. Recently, I read the article about Holocaust survivor Louis Polak, who was in hiding in seventeen different places. A Bible verse unknown to me caught my eye. The verse came from Isaiah 16:3, which says: “... hide the outcasts; betray not the fugitive.”. Perish the thought that this verse could materialise again in the near future in Ukraine! In 2014 in eastern Ukraine, war against Russia broke out, which we didn’t see coming. As a result, more than one and a half million Ukrainians fled to the middle of the country and to the major cities. Since the escalation, more than 8,000 Jews have left for Israel via our hiding place in Kiev. Dark Clouds Tensions are running high again in eastern Ukraine at the borders of neighbouring Russia. Still, everything is uncertain. The question is whether there will be an escalation, and if so, when and how big will this escalation be? We cannot answer these questions, unfortunately, but we do see that dark clouds gather over the land of the north. It doesn’t look as if the situation will brighten in the short term. The prophet Zachariah speaks a clear language when he says: “Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.” (Zachariah 2:6-7). Uncertainty Do the Ukrainians worry about these tensions in the East? Yes and no. Many civilians try to make ends meet every month and pay their housing costs. It is difficult enough to make ends meet again every month. Still, these gloomy messages reach them a s well. People think about what they are going to do and where they possibly might go to, should the situation get out of hand. People wonder whether the government and the army are capable of protecting them. There are many examples of looting and massacres when the war started in 2014. Many Jews made sure that they have their documents handy. Many of them who planned to make aliyah this year will try to move their journey forward. In the meantime, we will continue with our work. We help Jews with practical matters in making aliyah, but we are also busy packing and handing out food parcels. Thes e food parcels are intended for poor Jewish elderly and families in need. Our campaign Meals on Wheels still continues, in which elderly people receive a meal at home. We prepare for the worst and take precautions. In 2014 it became difficult for us to obtain large quantities of food supplies. Also, in March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, a 60,000-kilo order was blocked. We received delivery only after a week of tough negotiations. We want to avoid these situations and therefore are already planning to purchase extra food supplies. We hope to prepare some 12,000 food parcels during the coming weeks. They can be handed out in eastern, south-eastern and southern Ukraine. The packing is done by volunteers. This is reasonably easy, although sometimes it is a bit awkward because of long distances and the severe wintery conditions. We hear from Jewish elderly people who receive a food parcel regularly that these food parcels are a tremendous support in these dark and exciting days. Therefore we bravely continue to carefully pack these food parcels and hand them out with a big smile! Friendship The food parcels are regularly distributed among Holocaust survivors, poor families, Jewish refugees, children and the sick. A food parcel is more than a bag of food. It’s a sign of your friendship and your support, a testimony to our Jewish brothers and sisters that they are not alone. Will you help? Koen Carlier is an Aliyah field worker for Christians for Israel in Ukraine. Christians for Israel support the Jewish community in Ukraine and calls upon them to hear God’s call and return to the Promised Land. When Jews decide to make Aliyah, Koen and his team help them with transportation to the embassy or the consulate for exit papers and ultimately transport them to the airport to leave for Israel. Koen is married to Ira. They have three children and live in Vinnitsa. We’re Prepared for the Worst

9. 7 Holocaust Remembrance Wannsee and the Education Myth Perry Trotter n Co-founder of Holocaust & Antisemitism Foundation, Aotearoa, New Zealand On a Winter’s day in the early 1940s, fifteen men gathered in a grand estate in one of Germany’s most cultured cities. Among them were some of the best educated leaders of Europe’s most advanced society. Indeed, more than half of the men present held doctorates earned at the finest European universities. The date was 20 January 1942 and the meeting was what became known as the Wannsee Conference. Nazi leaders had gathered to plan the execution of The Final Solution. A strategy was established by which the eleven million Jews considered to be within reach of the Nazi regime could be efficiently eliminated. The best of German technology would be applied to a task consid ered essential to the advancement of society. Such goals were consistent with the prevailing ideology and would enjoy support from many within the educational institutions, the church and society more broadly. As we mark the 80th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference we must confront the oft-heard mantra and myth: the answer to antisemitism is education. Certainly in the case of Nazi Germany, education did nothing to prevent the rise of a genocidal regime and the subsequent murder of six million Jews. Indeed, it seems clear that many of the philosophical assumptions underlying the education of the time only propelled Jew hatred. But What of the Present Day? Recent surveys both here in New Zealand and overseas have revealed alarming trends. Of particular concern to our present topic is the finding that antisemitism, specifically anti-Zionism, is somewhat disproportionately present amongst academics and at institutions of learning. (Elsewhere we have made the observation that anti-Zionism is the weapon of choice for Western antisemites. It may also be the form of Jew hatred most likely to go unchallenged.) The statement “the answer to antisemitism is education”, is, in its unqualified form, quite unhelpful. It ignores the reality that all educational endeavours proceed on the basis of certain worldview assumptions - and those assumpt ions are seldom declared. Let me be clear: our Holocaust and Antisemitism Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand is an educational trust. We do indeed believe that Holocaust education can be exceedingly valuable, and we strive to produce outstanding resources in the form of exhibitions, events, websites and an App. But my point is this: none of us proceed from a position of neutrality - the notion of unb iased education is a fantasy. Whether our worldview is declared or undeclared it guides us today just as it guided the well-educated Wannsee fifteen who planned the industrialised murder of Europe’s Jews. Those of us committed to keeping Holocaust memory alive have choices. Will we take the politically lubricated path that sanitises and universalises the Holocaust, presenting it as merely one among many forms of racism and unkindness, harnessing its power in service of other causes? Or will we take the more difficult road and insist on antisemitism’s uniqueness and particularity, daring to declare that the Holocaust, taken in its broader historical context, did not and arguably could not have happened to any but the Jews? It is our underlying worldview that will answer that question. And that in turn will determine the fidelity of our educational and memorial efforts, and whether they will be fit for purpose and truly able to challenge hearts and minds. www.holocaustfoundation.com We Remember Ingeborg Woolf (nee Ponger) QSO Z”L: 1934 - 2021 Inge, born in Vienna, Austria in 1934, was the daughter of Evzen and Grete Ponger. She was only four years old when the Nazis marched into Austria during the Anschluss. She remembered vividly her neighbours happily putting out the Nazi swastika flag to wel come Hitler’s troops as they marched down their street, and the fear she felt. This memory forever shaped her life and her mission of combating hate and antisemitism. Inge, along with her mother and father, left Austria and moved to Czechoslovakia in 1938, seeking refugee status in the United Kingdom in 1939. They were able to leave Czechoslovakia for the United Kingdom after going through a conversion to Christianity, but her family always remained committed to their roots. Inge and her family would make the decision to emigrate to Wellington, New Zealand in 1957 and begin rebuilding their lives. It was in New Zealand that Inge met her future husband, the late Ronald Woolf, and with whom she helped set up the successful photography business Woolf Photography. Inge was instrumental in establishing the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand (HCNZ), becoming Founding Director and Board Member. Inge’s passion was educating students on the lessons of the Holocaust. Throughout the years since, she has been an active volunteer and educator at HCNZ. Inge was a living embodiment of the HCNZ mission to educate all students in New Zealand and to ensure that we Witness, Remember, Educate, and Act. Inge was the proud mother to Deborah Hart, current Chair of the Board of HCNZ, and Simon Woolf, current Wellington City Councillor. She was an adored grandmother, and great-grandmother. Loved and respected by many, Inge’s legacy lives on in the thousands that have heard her speak and give her testimony. She was a bulwark against hatred and antisemitism, challenging students, and adults alike to not be bystanders when hatred rears its ugly head. “Today the lessons of the Holocaust are poignant to combat increasing intolerance and racism, to teach the value of human rights and the celebration of diversity.” (2019) February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 | Photo: Auschwitz-Birkenau incinerator 2019 © Perry Trotter, Holocaust Foundation Thank you to the Holocaust Centre of NZ for providing these articles. www.holocaustcentre.org.nz In Jewish writing, Z”L is referenced after a person’s name who has passed away, meaning, “Of blessed memory, may he/she/they rest in peace. Paul Seideman Z”L: 1928 – 2021 On 13 November 2021, after a brief illness, aged 93 years, Paul Seideman passed away. Born in Prague, and as a young Czech Jew, Paul managed to survive the Lodz Ghetto, several concentration and labour camps, including Auschwitz, and a death march, during World War II. He was liberated at Dachau, aged 17. After liberation, Paul emigrated to Australia, and then New Zealand. Sadly Paul’s father and mother died in the Lodz Ghetto, in 1942 and 1941 respectively. To commemorate the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Soviet Army on 27 January 1945, Paul funded an annual Holocaust essay competition for New Zealand secondary students. This was established in 2014 under the administration of the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand (HCNZ). Originally for years 10 - 13 students, the Paul Seideman Holocaust Essay Competition grew into the Paul Seideman Annual Composition Prize, and students submit entries in a variety of formats to answer the questions posed. HCNZ is honoured to carry on Paul’s legacy and continues to administer this competition, which annually engages hundreds of students across the nation in Holocaust education. He was a generous benefactor and supporter of Holocaust education and remembrance in New Zealand.

2. Informs • Inspires • Comforts / Other Easy Ways To Donate Name on card: My Donation Today: $ Exp Date The 3 digits of the reverse of your credit card. (4 digits if using Amex) Card No Visa Mastercard Amex (Payable to Christian’s for Israel Australia Inc) Cheque/Money Order Credit Card *CVC Cardholder’s signature: Over the Phone 07 3088 6900 (during office hours) Securely Online c4israel.com.au TEL. 07 3088 6900 EMAIL info@c4israel.com.au www.c4israel.com.au Visiting address: 3398 Pacific Highway Springwood QLD 4127 P .O. Box 1508 Springwood QLD 4127 Australia ABN: 79 941 819 693 Christians for Israel Australia Inc. Bank Transfer BSB: 014-279 ACC: 405318551 REF: Member Number The most obvious solution that came to me was this: what if we could double our readership to 8,000 by the end of 2022? Currently we have a little over 4,000 readers and subscribers who collectively raise about $300,000 a year to bring comfort and support for Israel and the Lord’s people. We are a wealthy and prosperous nation of 25 Million and about half of Australian’s identify as Christian: we should be able to encourage, inform and inspire even more to bring comfort during these perhaps last days of disruption and uncertainty leading up the the return of Messiah. Word of mouth remains the best kind of advertising and everyone likes to get a gift from time to time, so here is my plan and where you can help with doubling our readership. Simply send C4I Australia the name/s and adress details of someone you know who would love to get a copy of this newspaper every two months and we will send you and your friend/s a free copy of Rev Willem Glashouwers Book ‘Israel: Covenants and Kingdom’ OR his most recent DVD ‘Signs of the Times’ — simply fill out and send in the form on page 15 of our insert. We can only provide this offer to Australian residents at this time so if you want overseas friends to get the paper we can send them an electronic copy via email or they can download it from our c4israel.com.au/ict or via our free mobile app (search C4I Australia in your app store). I’m reminded of the words of the apostle Paul who asked how will people know, unless someone tells them, and how will someone tell them unless they are sent. So that is part of my strategy in growing the ministry for 2022 and I pray you will be part of this exciting opportunity as well. God bless you as you continue to pray, and tell others and consider giving as well. Ian Worby, National Leader And the Christians for Israel Australia team. P.S. As you know the newspaper is without charge or obligation, and while we encourage donations to help ensure we can continue to print and post the next edition, we never pressure or bother our supporters for money, we simply let people know the needs and ask for prayerful support. We model our minstry on the words of Jesus, “Freely you have received; freely give” (Matt 10:8b NIV ).

15. 5 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 We began learning about the will of God in our last program, discovering that there are different categories within the concept of God’s will. The four categories are: 1. God’ s ‘decretive’ will, which we looked at last time 2. God’ s ‘preceptive’ will 3. God’ s ‘permissive’ will 4. God’ s ‘sovereign’ will (which is almost the same as His decretive will but more complex) In this article we’re going to look at God’s preceptive will. God’s preceptive will is His will for mankind as revealed in His Word, in His ‘precepts’ and ‘commandments’. God’s preceptive will is for His human creation with regard to conduct and behaviour, for example God’s precepts reveal that it’s God’s will that we don’t sin; steal, lie, murder, hate or engage in sexual immorality. It’s also God’s preceptive will that His human creation would love, repent, be generous, express care and compassion, be holy, show mercy and grace, engage in acts of kindness, speak the truth, forgive the wrongs of others and worship God. These can be seen clearly in the precepts that God has revealed in His Word. God’s preceptive will requires of course that we be conformed to His Word instead of the world. Romans 12:1-2, ‘I urge you brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.’ I heard a pastor tell of some counselling experiences he had, without naming names of course, but he shared how so many Christians had ended up in his office because they’d gotten themselves into so many bad situations by making foolish choices in behaviour and conduct. He said to them things like, “Why would you do such a thing, the Bible is quite clear that doing such a thing is wrong and carries a harsh consequence.” Their response was, “Wow, if I’d known the Bible said not to do this or that, I’d never have done it!” The point being...you have to read the Bible to know what’s in the Bible so you’ll know what you should and shouldn’t be engaging in so you can avoid the consequences and fall- out of doing really bad things. Our obedience should be coming from a heart and desire to please God and not other people. Usually, this desire to please God first comes from getting a proper understanding of just how wretched we are and what He did to save us and how much He loved us to die in our place. Romans 5:8, ‘God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ Paul taught the Ephesians that as Christians, no matter what their circumstances were, they were to do everything to please the Lord, even if they were slaves! Ephesians 6:5-6, ‘Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eye service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.’ Remember, the world is watching us. If we don’t demonstrate and reflect the nature and character of God by being obedient to the preceptive will of God...that is, that our actions and attitudes match what God’s Word says and expects of us, we damage both our own and the Lord’s reputation. There must be a visible difference between what we were like before coming to faith and what we’re like now that we’re on the journey of faith. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, ‘This is the will of God, your sanctification (the process of change); that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel (body) in sanctification and honour, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who don’t know God. And that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification (the process of change). So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.’ The world has its own standards of morality and ethics, and our societies are in a constant state of flux and at the moment, appears to be in a downward spiral when it comes to morals and ethics and behaviours. These trends are incredibly powerful and influential because they’re drumming them into us through media, entertainment and especially in our educational institutions. BUT, God says very clearly in that passage that if we reject the Bible’s standards of purity, ie: morals and ethics, we’re actually rejecting God. So it’s really important that we get our mind and heart aligned with God’s Word and not the trends of the world. So God’s preceptive will is about the precepts, commandments, standards and ethics as presented in the Bible that He expects His children to abide by. Shalom, Mandy. —————————————————————— Mandy Worby is an experienced Israel Tour leader and also the popular radio host of ‘Daytime’ featured on Australia’s national Vision Christian Radio network Monday to Friday 12am-3pm AEST . God says very clearly... that if we reject the Bible’s standards of purity... we’re actually rejecting God. Hebrew Foundations of Our Faith Mandy Worby Isreal Tour Host & Radio Announcer for Vision Christian Media The Will Of God Part 2: ‘Preceptive Will’

33. 15 From Our Projects Part of our mission is to comfort Israel and the Jewish people through prayer and action. If you would like to support one of our projects you can complete the coupon on page 16 or make an online donation. Thank you very much for your support! Aliyah Aliyah is the Hebrew word for the return of the Jewish people to Israel. We support Aliyah mainly from Ukraine (and the former Soviet Union), but also from India and France. Furthermore, we help new immigrants (in Hebrew: olim ) to integrate into Israeli society. Hineni Soup Kitchen We help the poor of Israel, by providing them with food. We do this in partnership with the Hineni Center in Jerusalem, headed by Benjamin Philip. Your gift for the soup kitchen goes directly to the purchase of food. Holocaust Survivors We support impoverished Holocaust survivors in Israel and Ukraine through various projects which provide assistance to survivors of the Holocaust. Those survivors are elderly and will not be among us for long, and there is a growing demand for practical assistance. Christian Friends of Israeli Communities (CFOIC) You can support the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, the heart of Biblical Israel. The main purpose is to encourage the people in the Biblical Heartland and to show them that there are Christians throughout the world who support them and share the belief that the areas of Judea and Samaria are part of Israel’s inheritance. Food Parcel Campaign Ukraine We distribute food parcels amongst Jewish people in Ukraine. These parcels are handed out to Holocaust survivors, needy families, and the sick. Those food parcels are a sign of friendship that demonstrates your support for our Jewish brothers and sisters and that they are not alone. Arab Christians Life for Christians in Bethlehem is often not easy. Christians for Israel supports the First Baptist Church of Rev Naim Khoury in Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The members of this church spread the gospel among Arabs and share their love and heart for Israel and the Jewish people. For country-specific or further information on our projects, go to our website, www.c4israel.com.au Overview of our projects February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Jerusalem Foundation n In many ways, the world is not what it used to be. And, just like 2020, 2021 presented its fair share of challenges as the world continued to navigate its way through the global coronavirus pandemic. And yet, the ability of special organisations and individuals to shine through the darkness, and provide light to those that do need it, was as evident as ever in Jerusalem. The Cafe Europa network - which provides social and support opportunities for elderly Holocaust survivors in Jerusalem - continued its special mission in the face of ongoing challenges to its usual work. With the elderly being the group at highest risk from the virus and facing the challenges of loneliness and isolation faced by those shielding at home, the six branches of Caft Europa in Jerusalem have had to adapt in creative ways to reach out to members in new ways. Caft Europa worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to provide essential services, including online, Zoom gatherings, discussions and activities to help deal with anxiety and extreme loneliness, assistance getting medications and food, and almost daily telephone contact. A special new project which took place last year enabled elderly Holocaust survivors and 12-year-old girls to celebrate their Bat Mitzvahs together. T he survivors enjoyed a series of six meetings with sixth-grade students from Jerusalem’s 3ehuda Halevi School. The girl’s were preparing to celebrate their upcoming Bat Mitzvah (a Jewish coming-of-age ritual for girls at age 12, marking the beginning of their maturity and responsibility as adults). Most of the survivors at Caft Europa never had the chance to celebrate a Bat Mitzvah at age 12 during the war. By helping the schoolgirls prepare for this new stage in their lives and creating art together, they remembered their own stories decades later and (belatedly) celebrated this special milestone with young girls from the future generations. Keren Naveh, Director of Community and Welfare at the Jerusalem Foundation, commented that Cafe Europa is one of the most exciting projects she is involved in. îSeeing the smile on the faces of the elderly, when they are invited to a concert we produced especially for them in Mishkenot Sha’ananim or when Holocaust survivors participate in a multi-generational Bat Mitzvah project with girls, is incredible.í îCafe Europa holds special importance to us and is a priority for the coming years,í says Jerusalem Foundation President Shai Doron. îIt is our duty to continue to support the Holocaust survivors living in the city, to give them a warm and welcoming ìhome’. Friends of the Jerusalem Foundation around the world have helped make this possible, but there is more to do. Our moral duty is to allow them to grow old with dignity, to have a sense of security and love in a world that gave them too little of these things when they were just children.í Mira Gol, an 83-year-old Holocaust survivor who came to Israel from the Netherlands and is a regular at Cafe Europa, says: îThis project is a highlight of our routine. For many of us, it is a place that is a social gathering and a home. Unfortunately, the coronavirus has caused a lot of damage to our entire age group, but, despite the restrictions in place, we are determined to continue this wonderful project.í Your support for Café Europa allows it to continue its operations and innovate new programmes in this era of uncertainty. O n behalf of the Jerusalem Foundation and the Holocaust survivors, we thank you for your support! To donate, complete the coupon on the back page. A Year of Innovation for Café Europa in Jerusalem Project Update Prepared with Care, Given with Love Koen Carlier n Aliyah Fieldworker | Christians for Israel Ukraine From December to mid-January, we packed and distributed no less than 5,100 food parcels and distributed over 5,000 kg. The packing with local volunteers goes reasonably smoothly, but the distribution, with long distances to drive, takes a long time. We always try to combine it with other visits. The circumstances are far from ideal: it’s winter and cold, with quite a lot of snow and there is Covid-19. People pay a lot of money for heating, prices are rising, especially for basic necessities. On top of this the tensions rise between Ukraine and neighbouring Russia and the question is whether there will be an escalation and if so, what’s next? We hear from the Jewish elderly that our food parcels delivered at regular intervals really help during these dark and difficult times. And yes, courageously we continue to pack the food parcels with care and distribute them with love. In the short term, we hope to be able to stockpile thousands of kilos of extra supplies in a number of places in Eastern, Northern and Southern Ukraine, so that if the situation were to deteriorate drastically, we would still be able to provide for the elderly and needy Jewish families. Will you help us? Each food parcel costs NZ $17 | AU $15 | US $11 | €10. To donate, complete the coupon on the back page.

3. Understanding Israel and world events from a Biblical perspective February 2022 Adar I - Adar II 5782 Israel & Christians Today is the premier publication of Christians for Israel 6-7 Holocaust Remembrance 3 Russia and Ukraine 8 Miraculous Visit to Ivory Coast 16 Help to Reunite Ethiopian Families www.c4israel.com.au | info@c4israel.com.au AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA Sunset with a panorama of the Old City Jerusalem. | Photo: Shutterstock Rev Willem JJ Glashouwer n President | Christians for Israel International The Holocaust stands alone among the massacres of mankind throughout the centuries. Six million Jews were slaughtered - not for what they had done, but for who they were: Jews! 27 January is the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is the date on which Russian soldiers liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp on 27 January 1945. The sad culmination of centuries of persecution of the Jews in Europe. Today, the Jewish State of Israel is in the dock. On 27 May 2021, the UN Human Rights Council adopted the most outrageous resolution ever on Israel. The world sheds tears at the Holocaust Memorial Day and then turns around and gives today’s Israel and the Jewish people a slap in the face – or worse. A Jew once cries out to the Lord: “O God, do not remain silent; do not turn a deaf ear, do not stand aloof, O God. See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads. With cunning, they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:2-5.) And the Lord says: “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham, my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.” (Isaiah 41) “Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity ... The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them ...” (Deuteronomy 28) The Elijah who was to come says, “The axe is already at the root of the trees...” (Matthew 3). “For our God is a consuming fire,” says the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 12:29). One day, from Jerusalem, peace will spread over the whole world. (Isaiah 2) Then Israel, God’s people, will no longer be the tail but the head. Not the Tail, but the Head The world sheds tears at the Holocaust Memorial Day and then turns around and gives today’s Israel and the Jewish people a slap in the face — or worse.

18. 8 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Beersheba and its Ongoing Legacy At the end of a long day on the 31st of October 1917, the Australian Light Horse realised that they had achieved a remarkable victory. However, little did they know that the geo-political outcomes of that victory would change the face of the Middle East and world history forever. They also had no idea that their victory and indeed the whole Middle East Campaign would be the genesis of an enduring bilateral relationship between our two countries. In Australia, there’s a tendency to see Israel purely through the lens of the Palestinian issue and the peace process. But that is a very myopic view as there is no country in the Middle East whose interests are more closely aligned with Australia’s than Israel. I would like to give two examples of how the legacy of their victory endures today. The Beersheba Dialogue Named in honour of the historic Anzac Light Horse victory at the Battle of Beersheba during World War I, it alternates its location between Australia and Israel each year. The “Beersheba Dialogue” is a partnership between the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University and brings together officials, parliamentarians and analysts from both nations. The inaugural meeting was on November 5th, 2015 nearly one hundred years after Beersheba! I would firstly like to quote from the former Australian defence Minister Linda Reynolds’ speech in 2020. Linda Reynolds said, “that we are witnessing the most strategic realignment since WW2”. The minister observed that “the two states (Australia and Israel) were now experiencing “grey-zone” activities which fall short of armed conflict but are designed to irritate, intimidate and injure, such as cyber attacks, trade interference, campaigns of disinformation, the use of paramilitary forces, the militarisation of disputed features, and the strength of the bilateral relationship deserves special recognition.” Current Australian Defence Minister, Peter Dutton made a very significant statement at the Beersheba Dialogue last year, when he said, “Australia is safer and more secure, when Israel is safe behind secure, internationally-recognised borders”. It is of some significance that he made reference again to the “Grey Zone War” being waged upon us that Reynolds referred to. It is a little known fact that we draw heavily on Israeli technology for our Defence Force and National cyber security. Elbit Systems of Israel produce much of this technology and actually assisted the Australian Light Horse Association Centenary of Beersheba Commemoration in 2017, with a donation of $10,000. The ANZAC Museum in Beersheba and Beersheba Vision Inc This wonderful museum, funded mainly by the Jewish National Fund, showcases our Light Horse History and thousands of Israeli students visit the museum every year. Beersheba Vision in partnership with the museum have designed an educational project to further educate Israeli students on this important part of their modern history. Beersheba Vision is a non-profit organisation, started some years ago, by the late Peter Kentley under the patronage of Tim Fischer AC, MP and deputy PM at the time. Beersheba Vision is providing funding for a literary and art competition on the subject of the Light Horse and its exploits. Seventy-three teachers from Israeli schools attended the launch of the project. As the epitaph on their Light Horse Memorial in Semakh says, “The Australian Light Horsemen keep galloping on”. —————————————————————— Barry Rodgers OAM, President of Beersheba Vision . To contact Barry please email him: admin@beershebavision.org If you would like to know more about Beersheba Vision please visit our website at www.beershebavision.org Barry Rodgers OAM President of Beersheba Vision Opinion Piece from Beersheba Vision Australia is safer and more secure, when Israel is safe behind secure, internationally- recognised borders Until... Fourteen Prophetic Horizons By Rev. Willem J.J. Glashouwer $25 (includes p+h) PAPERBACK Until is just a little word but has a far-reaching prophetic meaning. All events, everything that happens in the world seem to continue endlessly. History seems to move forward in circles. Or continues as a long line without an end. However, it is a process... until! And then everything changes! Finally, a turn for the good, even for the better! Yes, there is hope! The Bible centions many of these divine, prophetic ‘untils’. In this book, Rev. Willem J.J. Glashouwer has closely examined fourteen of these prophetic horizons. The result is extremely encouraging. It shows that history is not a circle that endlessly keeps spinning round and constantly repeats itself. History is a line, with a beginning and an end. History is coming to a climax with a final goal. From creation to re-creation. From Paradise to the Kingdom of God. Where are we today on this timeline of history? How close are we at this moment that the divine liberation of planet earth and its mankind becomes true reality? NEW! To get your copy use the form on the back page or to place your order instantly go to: c4israel.com.au/store

12. 2 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Pastoral Insights: A Series on Tabernacling with God Keith Buxton Seventh Encouragement: We learn from the booths of Tabernacles that we belong together In Leviticus 23:2 the Lord said to Moses, “These are My appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the Lord” . The Lord was speaking of all the seven major feasts in the Jewish calendar that He then went on to outline and which are recorded in the rest of Leviticus 23. The Feast of Tabernacles is the final one of these feasts, and as we well know is marked by much joy and thanksgiving as God’s chosen covenant people remember and celebrate His greatness, His grace and His goodness. We should note that they are the Lord’s feasts, appointed by Him. At the very least that should alert us to the fact that there are important things that we Christian believers who have been grafted into the olive tree that is Israel can learn. Our roots are Hebraic, and we are both unbiblical and unwise to forget that. An intriguing aspect of the four species that we have mentioned earlier—the palm, myrtle, willow (the lulav) and citron—which the Jewish people are commanded to bind together and wave in the sukkah is the fact that these are in Jewish literature likened to different parts of the human body. The palm—a man’s spine; the myrtle branch—his eyes; the willow—his lips; and the citron—his heart. From this we can be reminded that all parts of the body are to be united in offering dedicated service to the Lord. As Paul said, “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1). And so as Christians we may remember at the Feast of Tabernacles that we are all part of one body—the body of all those who believe in Jesus. We belong together, we need one another, and we need to guard our unity as the people of God. Satan is always out to destroy our unity if he could. At the same time, we also celebrate our spiritual connection with the Jewish people. Remember what Paul wrote about our being grafted into our Jewish root in an important section in Romans 11:11- 24— “I am talking to you Gentiles.... You, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root.... You do not support the root, but the root supports you.... Do not be arrogant....” How we need to reaffirm this today when reports of increasing antisemitism— triggered by arrogance, hatred, misinformation and outright bias—are featured in all sections of the media. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry releases an annual report on antisemitism in Australia. In the 2020 report, there was a decrease in reported antisemitic incidents compared to the previous year (probably due to pandemic restrictions), but there was a worrying increase in serious incidents such as physical assaults, intimidation and verbal abuse, including being accused of causing the current pandemic. It is vital that as Christians we continue to declare and demonstrate our unity and solidarity with the Jewish people, for we really do belong together as covenant people. Our roots as Christians go deep into Jewish soil, and we “share in the nourishing sap from the olive root.” That speaks of shared life! As we reflect once more on the week-long living by Jewish people in the sukkah or booth, it doesn’t take much to see how this would result in the breaking down of all kinds of barriers between people. Booth-dwellers become more aware of the things that bind them together than the things that may separate them. Think about it for a moment. As they pass the week in their fragile and very temporary booths, Jewish people are brought face to face with their own frailty. Young and old, rich and poor, student and businessman, unemployed and retired, they all come and sit in their sukkah —their own agendas take a very definite back seat. They are bonded together in their relationship with one another and also with the Lord and in His agenda for their lives. I guess it is a bit like going on a camping holiday or staying for a week in a caravan on the beach front. Barriers come down. Your fellow holidaymaker’s wealth and status are secondary when compared to the fact that you are having a break and letting your hair down a bit. You have long talks about the footy, or cast a fishing line or two together, and the demands and pressures of the world are (hopefully!) forgotten. You relate to others— and to God—in a new way. Sadly we can easily forget all that when we return to our regular jobs and our daily activities. But just maybe we catch a glimpse of how things can and should be in our relationships with one another... As Christians we should celebrate the things that bind us together far more than the differences that may separate us. May our churches be known for genuinely serving their local community rather than primarily reflecting a denominational distinctive. I don’t think that is being idealistic—I think it is close to the heart of our Father. Peter touched upon this when, writing “to God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia” [in other words, believers all over the place], he said, “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 1:1, 2:9). A chosen people—one people! Look around you! You are not surrounded by great statesmen or scholars or sports idols, and so on—we are in reality a collection of nobodies. But we are people of the Spirit! That’s the way Paul said it would be. That is the way God designed it: “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.... so that no one may boast before Him” (1 Corinthians 1:26-27,29). Perhaps our celebration of Tabernacles will encourage us to open our hearts to and accept one another in a new way. It is one of the unique works of the Holy Spirit within us to do just that. I am always encouraged by evidence of the increasing breakdown of barriers between believers and between groups of believers. 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 is particularly instructive here: “Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.” We can never say we have too much love or too much unity. There is always more we can do. May the reminder of all the varied customs and practices of the Feast of Tabernacles, and the experience of celebrating Tabernacles, help us to love each other—and our precious Jewish brothers and sisters—even more. May we learn from the booths of Tabernacles that we really do belong together. —————————————————————— Keith Buxton is an ordained pastor. He currently serves on the C4I Australia management committee and is a liaison with C4I Oceania Island affiliates Former National Director of Bridges for Peace Australia Traditional symbols of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot: Etrog (citron), lulav (palm branch), hadas (myrtle), arava (willow) ...we should celebrate the things that bind us together far more than the differences that may separate us

11. Dear Faithful readers and friends (Chavorim), Happy New Year to you all and Welcome to this February edition of Israel and Christians Today for 2022. I pray you and your families had a safe and relaxing break over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday period. Unfortunately for me and my wife and my son Steven, (who puts this insert together) and his wife, we all came down with the Covid virus, which we caught from other family members during the celebration of my mother’s 80th birthday, despite the fact that our family members that we caught the virus from were fully vaccinated. This left us all feeling quite low and unwell and fatigued and stuck at home in isolation for over a week, thus our annual holidays break was spoiled as we couldn’t travel or go to the beach or do the usual holiday activities. Fortunately my dear mother escaped getting infection so we see that as a divine blessing indeed. As I write this article we are hearing of a likely conflict taking place in the Ukraine with Russia. Russia is positioning hundreds of thousands of troops and tanks and other military assets around the borders of the Ukraine, and issuing an ultimatum to both America and NATO to dissolve the NATO agreements with all the former Soviet countries that border with Russia since 1997. The News reports America, the UK, Canada and other NATO nations are sending in armaments and troops to defend Ukraine from this likely conflict. American and Australian citizens in the Ukraine have been ordered to leave and return home. Israel is also making hasty preparations to bring thousands of Jewish Olim from the former Soviet country home to Israel. As you know we have a very important and active Christians for Israel Ukraine team that have been serving the diaspora Jews in the region with food, shelter and logistical help for those wanting to make Aliyah and return to their ancient home land of Israel. Our most recent project initiative of sponsoring Holocaust survivors and their families has been wonderfully successful with nearly 60 survivors being sponsored by our Australian readers. We don’t know what will happen at this stage, but I do want to ask for you to cover the C4I Ukraine team and the Jewish people they serve in your fervent prayers for protection and comfort during these already disrupted and turbulent times. Please check c4israel.com.au for updates as breaking news come to hand. Last year I mentioned we had been successful in obtaining official charity status as an income tax exempt charity. And for that we give God much praise and thanks. However we are still in the now protracted process of applying for Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status. To give tax deductibility for those donating towards our various humanitarian projects such as Aliyah (bringing the Jews home) and other special projects like our food parcel and hot meals on wheels programs, the First Home in the Homeland , Christians Friends of Israeli Communities (CFOIC) in Judea and Samaria, Aleh , which is looking after special needs children and many other important projects that bring comfort to Israel and her people. Our first 2 attempts were unsuccessful, because the Australian Charity and not- for-profit Commission , (ACNC) was unable to differentiate our more commercial activities such as this newspaper, and sale of products and our religious activities such as our online prayer calendar from the more obvious humanitarian and benevolent actives such as Aliyah and food, clothing, shelter and medical support projects. So we received advice that if we formed a new separate legal entity such as Christians for Israel Australia Foundation Ltd , then the ACNC would be likely to give us DGR for those entity activities. Both I and the committee of management team are now in the final stages of completing this new application process, and we hope and pray we will achieve DGR status by April this year. We ask for your prayers for wisdom and for favour and for those who might feel led to consider helping with the additional legal costs of nearly $2,000 on top of the original $8,000 costs for the process so far. Despite all of these setbacks, I am happy to report that our Oct-Dec quarterly disbursements of funds raised by our readers and supporters for distribution to the Jewish Agency was in excess of AUD$70,000! Roughly $40,000 for Aliyah and $30,000 for other humanitarian projects we promote. Our plan for 2022 is to continue to grow awareness and interest of this newspaper and our various online media initatives, such as our website, Facebook pages, and the free mobile app—and of course for more churches and individuals to receive copies of this newspaper every 2 months. We are also working on a similar strategy for the neighbouring island countries in the Pacific and Oceania to make these resources freely available via the internet, custom-made app and social media. Special Offer If you have family, friends, work colleagues or church members that would appreciate receiving this free newspaper in the mail or via email, please send us their address details. Use the coupon on page 15 on this insert and as an incentive you and the person you subscribe will receive either a copy of Rev. Willem J.J. Glashouwers book ‘ Israel: Covenants and Kingdom’ OR his latest DVD ‘Signs of the Times’. Also if you’d like to donate towards one of our projects to give comfort to the Lord’s people we encourage you to do that via the coupon on the back page or our secure website: c4israel.com.au/donate I wish to encourage and thank you all for being part of this small but very effective ministry. Remember, God says in Hebrews 6:10 – “God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.” In the strong and mighty name of Yeshua our coming King. ____________________________________ Ian Worby National Leader & Regional Director for Christians for Israel Australia & Oceania. February 2022 Report From Our National Leader Comforts Informs Inspires Ian Worby C4I Australia National Leader and Regional Director for Oceania Ian Worby with his wife Mandy in front of the Sydney Harbour Israel is also making hast preparations to bring thousands of Jewish Olim from the former Soviet country home to Israel Jewish families from Ukraine about to make Aliyah | December 2021.

1. Please send mail-in donations to: Christians for Israel Australia PO Box 1508 Springwood QLD 4127 AUSTRALIAN EDITION EMAIL: info@c4israel.com.a u PHONE: 07 3088 6900 ABN: 79 941 819 693 Thanks for your financial sup port See over for credit card and other giving options My Gift Your latest edition of Israel & Christian’s Today is enclosed. We hope you enjoy and are greatly encouraged by the latest News articles and stories. Simple. Just visit myaccount.c4israel.com.au and login with your username and password. Haven’t setup your online account? Go to myaccount.c4israel.com.au/ web/signup and follow the instructions. Need to change your address or Newspaper order? 11 February 2022 continued over... LeN0222 Growing the Ministry’s Impact in 2022 Dear friend, As we start 2022, I want to enlist your help in achieving a key goal for our ministry success. As you know, Christians for Israel Australia’s primary reason for being is threefold: 1. To inform Christians and other likeminded friends—bringing Biblical understanding into the Church and among the nations of God’s purposes for Israel 2. To Inspire them to love and bring practical aid to Israel and her people, as God commands in Isaiah 40:1 3. To promote comfort of His people through prayer and action Because we have not been able to travel and host face to face events, conferences or teaching seminars we rely on this little Newspaper— Israel & Christians Today, which we publish and send out to you and many others every two months. As I mentioned in this edition’s National Leader’s page, despite all the setbacks, lockdowns and disruptions we were still able to raise awareness and generous financial support of just over $70,000 in the recent Fourth Quarter of 2021. So to everyone who gives regularly, or even just every now and again as the Lord provides—Thank you! As the National Leader and visionary for this ministry I’ve been thinking and praying to the Lord about what we could do to increase our reach and effectiveness for this little but very significant ministry. $ ____________ MY TOTAL DONATION TO: Christians for Israel Australia Inc. Name: ___________________________________________________ Member Number: ______________________________________ Yes Ian, I’d like to give a special one-off donation towards... $__________ Aliyah: $350=1 person $1250=5 people $6250=25 people $__________ Food Parcels ($15 per parcel–see over for what’s included) $__________ for Newspaper Printing & Postage *please don’t use staples*

24. 14 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Opinion Piece from the Jerusalem Watchman My Bible Has No Old Testament If they still burned people at the stake, I’d be in trouble. I have ripped the page that separates Malachi and Matthew from my Bible, and have deleted the title “Old Testament” from everywhere in the Book. This is not being said to shock you. Or, just maybe—in a hopefully constructive way—it is. Every movement, cause and following has underpinnings—foundational origins from which they spring; on which they stand. This is true of one of the most pervasive, pernicious and persistent heresies in Christendom. Called Supersessionism —or Replacement Theology —it has held sway over most of institutional Christianity since the seeds of it were planted in the first century of the Common Era (AD). As its name makes clear, this theology holds that Christians have superseded the Jews as the new Chosen People— ergo, the Church has replaced Israel in the purposes of God. Why replaced Israel? Because, so goes the false and repulsive charge, Israel is guilty of deicide (murdering God); the Jews killed Christ. Do I need to spell out why the above is a lie? Do I need to explain why, even if the charge were true, Israel would retain its calling as a nation before God? The tentacles of this appalling teaching wormed their way into every main church denomination and twisted the truth—including those verbalised by Jesus—about the Jewish people, their Land and their destiny. And not just in traditional churches. Detritus from this insidious doctrine has polluted thinking and shaped eschatology in numerous so-called non- denominational or interdenominational churches, among them many that are “pro-Israel.” On a quest for the source of this sacrilegious creed, I travelled back to the Second Century scriptorium of one of the early church fathers, the Bishop Melito of Sardis (AD 100-180). According to a Wikipedia entry, “Melito held a foremost place in terms of bishops in Asia due to his personal influence and his literary works”. He was lauded by Clement of Alexandria (150-215), Tertullian (155-220), who wrote the antisemitic apologetic De Adversus Iudaeos , Origen (184-223), Eusebius (260-340) and Jerome (342-420) who “freely admitted his hatred of the Jews and their religion [and whose] caustic rhetoric reinforced the Christian church’s displacement of the Jews...” (Jerome and the Jews by William Krewson). What do we, Christians owe to Melito, this prominent ‘Godly’ man? His legacy includes the following two distinct, but interconnected, contributions: First—He penned “Peri Pascha ”, a famous sermon that would be preached in churches for centuries, massively influencing Christian views on the Jews including, very likely, Martin Luther’s. Ostensibly written to make a case for the date of the crucifixion, the piece “provides an accurate description of Christian feelings towards Jews at the time and their opinion of Judaism” and malevolently “blames [the Jews] for killing Christ”. Second—Melito compiled the earliest known Christian canon of the Old Testament. And he coined the term! That’s right. A self- hating (he was born Jewish) antisemitic ‘Christian Saint’ decided which books from the Bible that Jesus would have read would eventually form two thirds of the “Christian Bible”. And he decided to call that two-thirds “The Old Testament”. The clear thinker will immediately identify the problem: The term communicates the message that this part of the Bible is old . It is the Jews’ Bible (albeit in a slightly different format) and it is old . We Christians, have the New Testament, which is all about Jesus and the Apostles and so—as the thinking goes—must be “the most important part” of the Bible. Wicked Israel was “ Old ”, the saintly Church was “New”. The Bible—with its Old Testament- New Testament division—underscored this and, for 2000 years, published in this format, has rammed the message home. The Jews as a nation are Old Testament. The Land of Israel as the patrimony of the Jewish people is Old Testament, so the Jews’ claim to the Land of Israel is Old Testament. Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the seat of Israel’s kings is Old Testament. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David etc. are all Old Testament. The God of Israel is Old Testament. We, Christians have the New Testament. Jesus is God in the New Testament. The Gospel of the Kingdom is New Testament. John the Baptist, Mary, the 12 Disciples, Paul—they are all New Testament. The New Testament can stand alone. We don’t really need the old one. At best it is of secondary standing. We have even separated the New from the Old and print the New on its own. Is it any wonder that almost every Christian denomination on earth, and the vast, vast, majority of the world’s professing Christians, regard Israel as irrelevant to their faith? Is it surprising that most Christians will not come out in support of the Jews’ claim to the Land of Israel, will not politically punish their governments for seeking to rob the Jews of this land, and will support the illegitimate Palestinian cause? Stan Goodenough Journalist and an Israeli-accredited tour guide Is it any wonder that almost every Christian denomination on earth, and the vast, vast, majority of the world’s professing Christians, regard Israel as irrelevant...

4. February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Editorial 2 Colophon Israel & Christians Today is the premier publication of Christians for Israel Mission Our mission is to bring Biblical understanding in the Church and among the nations concerning God’s purposes for Israel and to promote comfort of Israel through prayer and action. Editorial Team Andrew Tucker International Editor-in-Chief atucker@c4israel.org Cathy Coldicutt Managing Editor newspaper@c4israel.org Marloes van Westing International Communications Manager international@c4israel.org Ian Worby, Bryce Turner, Rita Quartel, Marie-Louise Weissenböck and Marijke Terlouw Scripture references: THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. C4I Offices Christians for Israel International Leon Meijer, Chairman Rev Willem J.J. Glashouwer, President Rev Cornelis Kant, Executive Director P.O. Box 1100 | 3860 BC Nijkerk, The Netherlands | Tel: +31 33 422 0405 info@c4israel.org | www.c4israel.org The English Edition of Israel & Christians Today is published by the following English speaking branches: Christians for Israel - Australia Ian Worby, National Leader PO Box 1508, Springwood Queensland, Australia 4127 Tel: +61 (7) 3088 6900, info@c4israel.com.au www.c4israel.com.au Christians for Israel - New Zealand Bryce Turner, National Executive Director PO Box 12 006, Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand 1642 Tel: +64 9 525 7564, info@c4israel.org.nz www.c4israel.org.nz Christians for Israel - Korea Rev Paul Wonil Jung, Director Suite 3, 37 Railway Parade, Eastwood NSW, Australia 2122 Tel: +61 410 430 677 email: c4israelkorea@gmail.com www.c4israelkorea.org Christians for Israel - USA Tel: +1 925 984 6671 usa-info@c4israel.org www.c4israel.us DISCLAIMER - Articles printed in Israel & Christians Today expr ess the views of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Editors or that of the Board of Christians for Israel. The printing of articles or advertising in Israel & Christians Today does not necessarily imply either endorsement or agreement. ©Christians for Israel International Reproduction, or storage in a retrieval system or in any oth er form, is prohibited without permission. Please contact the Managing Editor should you wish to syndicate or republish any articles or materials appearing in Israel & Christians Today. UN’s Worst Attack Ever Andrew Tucker n International Editor | Christians for Israel The UN Human Rights Council’s recent creation of a permanent ‘Commission of Inquiry’ (COI) into Israel, and the General Assembly’s decision in December 2021 to fund it, represent the worst and most violent assault by the United Nations against the sovereignty of any UN member state. It is an outrage and must be challenged. Ever since their last failed military attack on Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Arab/Islamic world has been – purposefully, openly and in concert with Soviet/socialist countries, and more recently left-wing policy-makers in the West – manipulating the UN system to undermine the secure existence of the Jewish State of Israel. They have two primary weapons: the demand for creation of a State of Palestine within the ‘1967 lines’ and the allegation that Israel is an ‘apartheid’ state. The claim for Palestinian statehood has been remarkably successful. In 2012, the Arab/Islamic/Socialist world managed to procure a resolution in the UNGA granting Palestine UN ‘non-member observer state’ status. This technical decision proved a watershed. It has been used to launch a massive campaign to demand Palestinian statehood – without agreement, conditions or limitations – covering the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, as well as the right of all 5 million so-called Palestinian refugees around the world to ‘return’ to Israel (a non-existent right that is not claimed by any other refugees). Israel insists on the cessation of terror and a negotiated agreement that ensures its security. In 2021 the International Criminal Court capitulated to the Palestinian demands, holding Palestine to be a ‘State Party’ for the purposes of the ICC’s Rome Statute. The claim that Israel is an ‘apartheid’ state has been made ever since the 1970s by the Soviets and by anti-Semites like Bishop Desmond Tutu. It has recently gained momentum as a result of reports by left- wing NGOs like Human Rights Watch, supported by a myriad anti-Israel organisations and States and non-State actors, who question the legitimacy of the existence of a Jewish state. By claiming that Judaism is a race, the argument is made that the Jewish State structurally and systemically discriminates against non-Jews. This is, of course, a lie. Today, the apartheid claim is primarily being played out in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Established by the UN General Assembly in 2006, the UNHRC had an anti-Israel bias (the infamous ‘Agenda item 7'). There are 47 UNHRC members. Membership rotates, but at any given time, most of them are not Weste rn democracies, many of them members of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). In May 2021, the UNHRC established a permanent Commission of Inquiry (COI) that will investigate all alleged Israeli violations of international law. When Hamas launched rockets on Israel, including Jerusalem, and Israel responded by attacking Hamas military targets in Gaza Strip, Pakistan (on behalf of the OIC) called on the UNHRC to hold a special session to investigate Israel’s breaches of international human rights law. No mention was made of investigating Hamas’ blatantly illegal attacks on Israel, its use of human shields, etc. On 27 May 2021, the Council adopted a resolution that has been described by one commentator as one of the “most outrageous ever adopted by the United Nations”. The resolution was adopted by a vote of 24 in favour – with nine against and 14 abstentions. More than half of the states voting in favour were Islamic states. Not a single Western democracy voted in favour of the resolution. Twenty-two of the 24 states voting in favour of the resolution are not even considered to be ‘fully free’ democracies on the Freedom House scale. It has the mandate to look into all aspects of the State of Israel, including the root causes of the tensions. The COI will entertain both of the Palestinians’ main claims: that ‘Palestine’ is a State and that Israel is an apartheid state. The Commission has a massive budget and staff – $12 million in its first three years, and $5 million per year thereafter – and 18 permanent staff members, including a legal team – far exceeding any other inquiry or committee. All the Committee’s three members have a demonstrated bias against Israel. Evidence obtained by the Commission will be fed through to the ICC, which may use it in taking proceedings against Israeli leaders. Of course, Israel is subject to international law and should be held accountable for violations of international law, including humanitarian and human rights law. But it is unacceptable to consistently select one state and pick on it while ignoring major violators of international law. What about China in Tibet, Turkey in Northern Cypress, or Russia in Ukraine? It is time for the Western world to realise that the system they estab lished after WWII to promote world peace and security has been hijacked by the enemies of Western democracies. Western states should respond by withdrawing their funds from the UN Human Rights Council. Prayer Points By C4I Prayer Team Israel l “The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all ” (Psalm 103:19). Give thanks that the ultimate power on earth does not lie with men but with God. Pray that more people will confess this. l Like many other countries, Israel is still struggling with Covid-19. Pray for wisdom for the Israeli government as they continue to combat Covid-19, that they will take the right steps and make the right decisions. Pray for a blessing on all the research being done to develop medicines against corona (and other diseases, there is much ground-breaking research). l Israeli Foreign Minister Benny Gantz hosted Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. The meeting was met with both praise and criticism within Israel. Pray that steps will be taken towards peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel & the Nations l Unemployment and poverty is high in Gaza, with any development being delayed by corruption. The difference between rich (politicians and terrorists) and poor (ordinary citizens) is extreme. This is one of the reasons why people take out their anger on Israel. Pray that the situation in Gaza improves, and pray for the protection of Israel against the rage from Gaza. l In the last two years, 50,000 Jews emigrated to Israel. Give thanks that despite all the restrictions surrounding Covid-19, so many Jews were able to make Aliyah and return to Israel. Christians for Israel l Nowadays, antisemitism is on the rise, often in the form of anti-Zionism. This is also happening among Christians. Pray that people will change their minds about this. For daily Prayer Points, go to our website www.c4israel.com.au Meeting room of the United Nations Human Rights Council (Geneva, Switzerland). | Photo: Ludovic Courtès, Wikimedia Commons www.facebook.com/c4israelAUS

28. 10 Theology Recommended Reading Johannes Gerloff n Theologian, Journalist, Lecturer & Author This is the third in a series of articles on Romans 9-11, based on the book Rejoice, You Gentiles, with His People by Johannes Gerloff, which is expected to be published in early 2022. Having explained how sinners who lack the glorious presence of the living God (Romans 3) may become children of God and heirs with Messiah (Romans 8), the Apostle Paul continues: I am speaking [the] truth in Messiah! I am not lying! My conscience confirms as an additional witness in the Holy Spirit: My sorrow is overwhelming, unceasing the pain in my heart. I have been praying to be myself cursed, cut off from Messiah for my brothers who are my [blood] relatives according to the flesh. (Romans 9:1-3) Paul’s emotions are full of ‘great (inner) sorrow’. This is not an agony that the Apostle feels now and then; it is continual. Paul is ready to make every sacrifice for Israel’s sake. He is prepared to surrender not only his earthly life but even his eternal communion with the Lord and Saviour if this will contribute to the well-being of the Jewish people. The wish “to be cursed and cut off from Messiah”, for whatever reason, seems to be in fundamental contradiction to the Biblical teaching of the assurance of salvation, which Paul had just developed in the preceding chapters. But Paul was not the first Jewish leader to say: “I have been praying to be myself cursed, cut off from Messiah for my brothers...”. Another prominent example is Moses, who had received the two stone tablets that were inscribed by the finger of God. Immediately afterwards, the Lord sent his servant back to the people; “for your people whom you have brought up from Egypt have corrupted themselves. Quickly they have left the way of life which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molded calf , have worshipped it and sacrificed to it” (Exodus 32:7-8). Moses realised that God’s destructive judgment upon his chosen people was fully justified. However, instead of agreeing with God’s plan, Moses pleads: “Now, take their sin away, please! But if this is impossible, then, please, blot me out of the book that you have written” (Exodus 32:32). In view of God’s holiness on the one hand and the immensity of the nation’s guilt on the other, Moses saw but two possibilities: Either the people themselves had to take the curse, which they had brought upon themselves through their idolatry, and be judged to (eternal) death – or he himself would take their place and the (eternal) death sentence upon himself. This exact same attitude displayed in Moses we also find in Jesus of Nazareth. Israel’s Messiah stands up for God’s stubborn, unrepentant and yet eternally- chosen people: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem... how often did I long to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings” (Matthew 23:37). The Lord did not lose sight of the terrible judgment to come. Yet, as with Moses, the promise of unbroken communion with the God of Israel has the last word. The time will come when they will see Him and say: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 23:39). This love for Israel is visible even on the cross. There, Yeshua hung as the one who is cursed. He was the only one “who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore, He was able to bridge the gap for his people and bear their guilt. In spite of all the hatred, scoffing, and rejection that He experienced from the leaders of those for whom He suffered, the accursed did not curse. Rather, under unimaginable inner and external pain, Messiah prayed: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!” (Luke 23:34). Many Biblical personalities have borne this love in their hearts and confessed it. Instead of distancing himself from the guilt of his people, Isaiah – like Moses, Jesus and Paul – identified himself with Israel, and – like Samuel, Jeremiah and Daniel - he identified personally, in God’s presence, with the burden of guilt his people had brought upon themselves: “We – not: they! – should have been as Sodom, and we – not: they! – should have been like unto Gomorrah!” (Isaiah 1:9). This love that springs from the Spirit of Yeshua is the basic prerequisite for any dealing with or discussion about Israel. It is the sole legitimate foundation for any theological debate about Israel, for only this love corresponds to the heart of God. Without th is love, all prophetic knowledge, all faith, all dedication and effort for the ‘right cause’ is nothing in the eyes of the one and only God (1 Corinthians 13). What Does This Mean Today? If present-day Israel grumbles against the loving-kindness of her God - then our reaction can only be that we intercede together with Moses for them before our Heavenly Father: “Let the power of the Lord be great... Please pardon the transgression of this people according to the greatness of your loving-kindness” (Numbers 14:17, 19). If the Jewish people persist in dancing around all the imaginable ‘golden calves’ of our time, running after all the ‘ba’als’, if they should strive to be ‘like all the nations’ and (for whatever reason) reject the Lord’s Messiah – then we can only say, “Father, forgive them; for they do know not what they do! – and if not, blot me, I beseech you, out of thy book that you have written” (Luke 23:34; Exodus 32:32). If the “Israel according to the flesh” should persecute the Church, be hostile towards the ‘Stevens’ and ‘Pauls’ of today, only then will we – “being full of the Holy Ghost,” the Spirit who permeated the thinking and desires of Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Jesus, Steven and Paul, – be able to see “the heavens opened” (Acts 7:54-60). And if the whole world characterises modern Israel not only as a ‘war criminal’, an ‘occupying power’ and ‘anti-Christ’, then let me share another observation from the Biblical texts mentioned above: In view of Israel’s actual state in Jeremiah’s time, the prophet would have had every reason to call his people a ‘whore’ or a ‘prostitute’. But he calls her “the virgin daughter” (Jeremiah 14:17), according to God’s original design and according to “the gifts and calling of God”, which are “without repentance” (Romans 11:29). The Apostle Paul did not begin his explanation of Israel’s designation and future by clarifying who they actually are - that they rejected the Messiah of Israel and opposed the anointed One of the Lord and his followers. The terminology he used to describe the Jewish people is positive without reservation – and the expression which the Church so often used to label Jews throughout two thousand years of history, “cursed and cut off from Christ,” he applies exclusively to himself. Until... Fourteen Prophetic Horizons by Rev Willem JJ Glashouwer Christians for Israel (2020) Many Christians think that the Bible does not contain any clear timelines but that creation and recreation somehow go on endlessly, history repeating itself time and again. We can never say for sure where we are in history, and the Bible does not help us to understand secular history. Rev Willem Glashouwer examines the remarkable prevalence of the Greek word heoos (meaning ‘until’) in both the Old and New Testaments. The recurrence of this tiny word shows that history is no circle that continues to rotate endlessly and repeat itself constantly. No, history has a beginning and an end. History is a line, from creation to recreation, from paradise to the Kingdom of God. God is a God of time. He has times and seasons, and He intervenes in the affairs of men. Without falling into the trap of dogmatic end-time scenarios, Glashouwer eloquently shows that we can confidently say that momentous prophetic events are occurring and will occur, ushering in the Kingdom of God. For example, chapter 3 explores the reference in Romans 11:25 that “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in”. This opens the door to a consideration of God’s amazing purposes with both Jews and Gentiles, their interrelationship, and the significance of this for the whole creation. He connects the Bible with historical events and current affairs. We gain a deeper understanding of the depths and height and width of our Creator’s amazing plan for this world, which He loves and has redeemed. This book helps us make sense of the world we live in. It encourages us to be salt and light in the world and point the way to the coming of Jesus Christ. If you would like to purchase this book, it is available through our website: https://myaccount.c4israel.com.au/shop/ product/c4ioz050bk-until-222 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Cut Off from Messiah | Photo: Shutterstock This love that springs from the Spirit of Yeshua is the basic prerequisite for any dealing with or discussion about Israel.

31. 13 History February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Facts Speak In 2021 Review IRON DOME 31 fired from LEBANON Rockets fired at Israel 4,500+ fired from GAZA approx. 90% Intercepted by the infiltrations into Israel attempted 10 kg of drugs caught before being smuggled into Israel 120 guns seized before being smuggled into Israel 75 & SAMARIA incidents of rocks thrown at Israelis 5,532 arson attacks against Israelis 1,022 shooting attacks on Israelis 61 stabbings attacks Israeli 18 illegal guns and weapons confiscated by the IDF 397 terrorist weapon- manufacturing factories shut down by the IDF 9 (11,386,270 NIS) in terrorist funds seized by the IDF US$ 3.6 MILLION+ helicopter evacuation and rescue missions 184 operational fighter jet flights 1,000 naval operations 100 SYRIA + LEBANON 2 fired from SYRIA Short News 2021 National Jewish Book Awards Honour Henrietta Szold Dvora Hacohen’s biography, To Repair a Broken World: The Life of Henrietta Szold, Founder of Hadassah, has won two awards, including Jewish Book of the Year. Szold dedicated her life to creating opportunities for both Jewish women and the disadvantaged. | Photo: Flash90 Improve Physical Performance Most of us can conjure up a vivid mental image of our favourite food. Just thinking about it can make our mouths water. Israeli physical therapist Amit Abraham heads a lab at Ariel University that’s translating this phenomenon into innovative training protocols to enhance dancers’ and gymnasts’ performance and improve rehab results for people with Parkinson’s disease. “Parkinson is a multifaceted condition, mostly known for slowness of movement, rigidity, balance dysfunctions and resting tremor. About 60% of individuals also have sensory and cognitive deficits. We thought mental imagery could address these deficits,” he explains. This unique embodiment approach taught people to connect imagery with physical sensations. This intervention eased both motor and non-motor symptoms of the disease. www.israel21c.0rg Medical Inventions Change Surgery Several companies in Israel have developed technologies that combine robotics and artificial intelligence, creating a new reality in the field of surgery, allowing unprecedented accuracy during operations, along with a shorter recovery for patients. The Israeli company Human Xtensions has developed a small robot that allows the surgeon to perform very complex abdominal operations in hard-to-access areas. Beyeonics has developed digital headsets for eye surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons and brain surgeries. Medtronic has developed the Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a minimally invasive procedure to replace the aortic valve, drastically reducing patient recovery. | Photo: Human Xtensions IDF ACTIVITY Bryce Turner n Christians for Israel New Zealand 2022 marks 75 years since Britain handed over responsibility for the Palestine Mandate, to the United Nations. An action which resulted in UN Resolution 181: The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine (November 1947). In 1922, Palestine was among former Ottoman territories placed under British and French administration by the League of Nations. All of these territories eventually became fully independent States, including Palestine, where in addition to the rendering of administrative assistance and advice, the British Mandate incorporated the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The Balfour Declaration supported the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. Although Britain was required to allow Jews to immigrate and settle the land, from about 1930 British heavily curbed Jewish immigration, leaving European Jewry exposed to Nazi extermination in the Holocaust. Arab demands for independence and resistance to Jewish immigration led to a rebellion in 1937, which was followed by continued fighting from both Jews and Arabs. Britain considered and proposed various formulas to bring independence to a land ravaged by violence. In 1947, the British government turned the ‘Palestine problem’ over to the UN. Excerpt from the speech of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr Ernest Bevin, to the House of Commons 18 February 1947: “Sir, I am very sorry to have to inform the House that the Conference with the Arabs and the consultations with the Zionist Organisation about the future of Palestine which have been proceeding in London have come to an end because it has become clear that there is no prospect of reaching by those means any settlement which would be even broadly acceptable to the two communities in Palestine....” ... “We have, therefore, reached the conclusion that the only course now open to us is to submit the problem to the judgment of the United Nations....” Following the British announcement that it would end its authority over Palestine, a UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) was established. Various proposals were considered, including one- state and two-state options. The UNSCOP Majority Report recommended dividing the British Mandate-controlled area of Palestine into two states, one Arab and one Jewish, with Jerusalem to be an ‘international’ city. According to the plan, the two states, roughly equal in size and natural resources, would cooperate on major economic issues, sharing their currency, roads, and government services. Considerable pressure was placed on the UN, with Zionists lobbying the White House to have the plan endorsed. At the same time, opponents of the plan issued severe warnings, with Arab states warning Western powers that endorsement of the partition plan might be met by an oil embargo, or even see the Arab states realign with the Soviet Bloc. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Said, vowed: “We will smash the country with our guns and obliterate every place the Jews seek shelter in”, and told British diplomats that “if the United Nations solution was not ‘satisfactory’, “severe measures should be taken against all Jews in Arab countries”. Jamal Husseini, then spokesman for Palestinian Arabs to the UN, promised “The blood will flow like rivers in the Middle East”. Haj Amin al-Husseini, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem explained that the Arabs did not intend merely to prevent partition but “would continue fighting until the Zionists were annihilated.” Azzam Pasha, the General Secretary of the Arab League, stated “We will sweep them [the Jews] into the sea.” Syrian president Shukri al-Quwatli told his people: “We shall eradicate Zionism.” On 29 November 1949 the General Assembly voted to accept the UNSCOP Majority’s partition plan: Resolution 181. The Zionist leadership accepted the plan, albeit reluctantly, as it offered at least two of their requirements — sovereignty and control over immigration. The Palestinian Arabs and the surrounding Arab nations, rejected it outright and indicated that they would reject any other plan of partition, refusing to accept the establishment of a Jewish state in the region. The Arab states’ delegations declared immediately after the vote for partition that they would not be bound by the decision, and walked out. The Arab delegations to the UN issued a joint statement the following day stating: “the vote in regard to the Partition of Palestine has been given under great pressure and duress, and that this makes it doubly invalid.” On 16 February 1948, the UN Palestine Commission reported to the Security Council that: “Powerful Arab interests, both inside and outside Palestine, are defying the resolution of the General Assembly and are engaged in a deliberate effort to alter by force the settlement envisaged therein.” The UN Partition Plan was never implemented. Six months after the UNSCOP report and the passing of Resolution 181 in the UN General Assembly, one of the two envisaged States proclaimed its independence as Israel on 14 May 1948. Immediately following this declaration, and as the British administration was still packing up and departing, the neighbouring Arab States attacked the brand new nation of Israel. By the close of war in 1949, the Arab forces had expanded to hold 77% of the territory of Mandatory Palestine, including the larger part of Jerusalem. Israel did not gain control of its lost territory until the Six-day war of 1967. Often the subject of fiery debate, Resolution 181 remains another line in the long history of Israel and the Middle East. As for its relevance today, most prevalent opinion amongst academics and international lawyers accepts the non- binding nature of such UN General Assembly resolutions, especially when – as was clearly the case with Resolution 181 – one of the two parties directly concerned flatly rejected the resolution. In the 75 years since Resolution 181, and in light of the ever-increasing torrent of resolutions against Israel, one must question whether the Resolution – and indeed perhaps the United Nations – has any relevance in the Middle East at all. 75 Years Since Resolution 181

30. Signs of Faith By Kees de Vreugd Mikveh In this series, ‘Signs of Faith’, objects that express Jewish faith are explained and discussed. What does a Jewish community need to make Jewish life possible? One of the most important things, even more, important than a synagogue, is a mikveh. A mikveh is a ritual bath. Through it, life is consecrated and sanctified. This does not only refer to the body. Pans, dishes and other eating utensils are also ritually cleansed before they are put into use, so that they are kosher. The mikveh must meet a number of requirements. An average person must be able to immerse himself completely in it. The Talmud states an amount of water that is equivalent to about 575 litres. There must be a certain amount of natural water from a well, from the ground or rainwater, which can be supplemented with (hot) tap water. The water must flow in. The mikveh may not be a movable ‘vessel’, it is therefore constructed on-site. It has no drain but is emptied manually. The mikveh is not meant for hygiene but for ritual purity. Therefore, before entering the mikveh, you must wash thoroughly, clean your nails well, etc., so that the water of the mikveh can reach every spot of your skin. The Bible (e.g. Leviticus 15) describes cases for which ritual cleansing is necessary. The need for ritual cleansing is related to the presence of the tabernacle in Israel’s midst. But the mikveh provides a spiritual elevation that is also experienced at various events in Jewish life today. Before marriage, a bride and groom go to the mikveh. Married women go to the mikveh after their monthly period, and also after the birth of a child, and a father before the circumcision of his son. Before the beginning of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), one goes to the mikveh. Many Orthodox men also go to the mikveh before the Sabbath, and many Hasidic men even go every day. The Hebrew text of Jeremiah 17:13 contains the word mikveh, which is translated as ‘hope’: “Lord, Hope of Israel.” But a Jewish interpretation relates it to Yom Kippur: “As a cleansing bath for Israel is the Eternal One.” “That contact with God is the final atonement. That contact brings everything into purity” (Rabbi Evers, Jerusalem). 12 Israel & the Law February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Professor Gregory Rose n Israel is often accused of infringing international law, But what is international law? Who ‘makes’ international law? Is it really a legal system, or just politics? ‘The Rule of Law’ A legal system only really exists when there is a ‘rule of law’. The expression ‘rule of law’ was coined by an English law professor named Albert Dicey (1835-1922), referring to the tradition of the control over sovereign power by law that emerged in 1215 in England when King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Carta presented by the lords of the land. The core concept is that no one should be above the law – not even the government. The law should apply to everyone equally. The judiciary should be independent and impartial, and government institutions are to act in accordance with the law. In theory, the UN is an artefact of international law and subject to the rule of law. Pursuant to its own Charter, the UN is bound to operate in accordance with it, including the principle that all states are sovereign and equal (article 2(1) UN Charter). International law is, in theory, a legal system. However, in practice, the international legal system is weak because it lacks the coercion of a global or collective sovereign to enforce it. There is no multinational peacekeeping force or international police force capable of imposing the rule of law. This means that the rule of law is essentially consensual – i.e. it is based on an agreement between sovereign states. This means decisions or statements are often made by States in the name of law when in reality, they are political decisions. The Voting Practice of the UN Many governments and others refer to UN resolutions as if they are legally-binding documents. That is a mistake. The UN General Assembly and Security Council are political bodies; they do not ‘make’ international law. Technically, the only resolutions that are ‘binding’ are Security Council resolutions adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter. None of the resolutions adopted by the Security Council over the years in relation to Israel have been adopted under Chapter VII. The Security Council is the UN’s highest body. There are five Permanent Members (USA, China, Russia, UK and France) and ten Non-permanent biennial members. The member states of the Security Council have developed a practice that is actually in breach of the Charter. The Charter (article 27) requires that all the five Permanent Members of the Council give an affirmative concurring vote for a decision to be made. In practice, the Permanent Members have adopted the practice that they can abstain from voting. This is what happened in December 2016 when the Council adopted Resolution 2334, declaring settlements to be a ‘flagrant violation of international law’; the US abstained from voting on that resolution. Resolution 2334 is a politically-driven statement, not a legally-binding decision. Voting in the United Nations General Assembly is politically-driven, reflecting the various geographical and political groups. There are five regional blocks of countries (see diagram above). To show how political the voting is, consider that when the UN General Assembly voted to admit Israel as a UN member in 1949, there were 58 UN members. 37 voted for, 12 voted against, and nine abstained. But 33 years later, the UN counted 141 countries and 86 General Assembly members adopted resolution 37/123, condemning Israel as a ‘non-peace-loving state’. Since the UN is only open to peace-loving states, the language used in this resolution was clearly aimed at evicting Israel from the UN. The African bloc is the largest one with 54 countries. The Asian bloc contains 53 countries, which means that more than half of all UN members come from Asia and Africa (107/194). The third-largest group is Latin America, with 33 members. The Western countries (Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand) comprises only 28 members. The smallest is the Eastern E uropean Group, with 23 members. Across regional groups, there are networks of UN member states, like the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which has 55 members and the Arab League (with 23 members). The OIC member countries number an absolute majority within the African bloc and almost half the Asian bloc. Through its members, the OIC can carry the direction of voting in the UN, just like in an ordinary election. Those who have a special agenda will then vote in accordance with it. This system is made possible by a legal fiction, called sovereign equality, based on the Treaty of Westphalia (1648). Each state is accordingly treated as if a person and has one vote. For example, Nauru (5000 inhabitants) has the same vote as India (1.2 billion inhabitants). Ironically, this distorted basis for voting based on the fiction of equality enables Israel to be treated unequally. When Politics Enters International Law The creeping of politics into legal jurisdiction under UN institutions is an inevitable feature of the structure of the UN. Many decisions and cases regarding Israel show the blending of geopolitics with law. Sometimes, even judicial bodies act like political bodies. Both the UN International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the Israeli Wall (2004) and the International Criminal Court’s 2021 decision that the Court has jurisdiction over crimes allegedly committed by Israelis on ‘the territory of Palestine’ were largely based on the presumed legal authority of the UN Security Council and General Assembly. When political power overrules law, there is no rule of law. In the UN, we can observe this play out as ‘lawfare’ – leveraging the political power of numbers in the widespread campaign not only to politically demonise Israel but also to also delegitimise Israel in international law. Prof. Gregory Rose is a Professor with the School of Law at the University of Wollongong and a member of ANCORS (Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security). His expertise is in international law, particularly national security and environmental protection. He is an Academic Advisor to The Hague Initiative for International Cooperation (thinc.) This article is a summary of a lecture delivered on 23 Septemb er 2021 in Session 1 of the Israel on Trial series organised by thinc. in partnership with The European Leadership Network (ELNET). The 5-part series can be viewed here: https://www.thinc.info/education/elnet-course/ The UN, Israel and the Rule of Law UN Regional Blocs

25. 15 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Stan Goodenough’s article continued Sign up a friend to ‘Israel & Christians Today’ Newspaper and receive the ‘ Israel: Covenants and Kingdom book ’ or the ‘ The Signs of the Times DVD ’ FREE * ! Your Full Name: ____________________________ Address: _________________________________ _________________________________________ State: ________________ Postcode: __________ Friends Full Name: _________________________ Address: _________________________________ _________________________________________ State: ________________ Postcode: __________ Number of Newspapers Bi-monthly: c 1 c 2 c 5 c Other: ______________________ *1 Book or DVD per person. limited offer. while stocks last. SEND DETAILS TO: Christians for Israel, Australia , PO Box 1508, Springwood, QLD, 4127 Israel: Covenants & Kingdom Book by Willem J.J. Glashouwer OR Please choose ONE of the gifts (left) to receive upon successfully signing up a new friend to ‘ Israel & Christians Today’ Newspaper. The Signs of the Times DVD (7+ Hours Teaching) by Willem J.J. Glashouwer The friend/church you nominate to receive the Israel & Christians Today Bi-monthly Newspaper will also receive a complimentary copy of the BOOK / DVD as well. A few truths about the “Old Testament”: Another word for “Testament” is “Covenant”. There are at least five covenants in the “Old Testament”: • The Covenan t with Noah to “never again destroy the earth with a flood”—it has not passed away. It is not old . • The Covenan t with Abraham, to give him and his descendants the Land of Canaan as an everlasting inheritance— everlasting is everlasting. It is not old . • The Covenan t at Sinai, the Law on tablets of stone. Jesus said that not one jot or tittle of this would pass from it until heaven and earth pass away—it is not old . • The Covenan t with David, whereby God promised that David would always have a son to sit upon his throne—always is always—this covenant is not old . • The New C ovenant (or New Testament). This is a Covenant that God has yet to make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Where do we read about it? In Jeremiah 31:31, in the “Old Testament”! It, too, is not old . None of these testaments, these covenants, is old . And yet they are in part of the Book Christianity calls old . A few more points: • Jesus ’s Bible was only the “Old Testament”. He never read the New. • The Scriptur es the Bereans searched to determine whether what they were hearing about Jesus was true, was the “Old Testament”. (Acts 17:11) • When Paul tells T imothy that “All Scripture is given by inspiration from God” (2 Timothy 3:16) he is talking about the “Old Testament.” My Bible begins in Genesis and continues, without pause or break all the way through to Revelation. It has no Old Testament. Period. If you have not viewed your Bible this way before, I very much encourage you to do so. It will revolutionise your reading and understanding of God’s Word. Which is what it all is—God’s Word. And it never gets old. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8 & 1 Peter 1:24-25). —————————————————————— Stan Goodenough is an Evangelical (Gentile) Israel-accredited tour guide who for 30 years called Jerusalem home. After Covid-19 collapsed tourism to Israel, he moved with his family to the Czech Republic from where he is closely following events tied to the unparalleled wonder of Israel’s unfolding rebirth. When the borders reopen, he plans to return to guiding God’s Land. www.jerusalemwatchman.org Jesus teaching the masses | LUMO - The Gospels for the visual age / lightstock.com

29. 11 Biblical Reflection Kameel Majdali n Director | Teach All Nations Inc. In our series about current events and the last days, we have learned that the Biblical covenants and the prophets are crucial to understanding the future. Two key prophets are Abraham and David, attested to in Genesis 20:7 and Acts 2:30. While Abraham the patriarch did not make any recorded prophetic utterances, his walk with God and God’s covenant with him thrust him into the prophetic realm (Note: The near-sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22 was a prophetic act which speaks of the sacrifice of the only begotten Son and his resurrection [Hebrews 11:17-19] ). Our second unlikely prophet, David, the King, also had a transformational covenant with God. In addition, the psalms he wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit were highly prophetic and Messianic. Davidic Covenant 2 Samuel 7:11-17; 1 Chronicles 17:10-15; Psalm 89:3-4; Jeremiah 33:22, 25-26. This remarkable covenant came about in a heart- warming way. Against great odds, God plucked David from total obscurity of the sheepfold and made him King of Israel. David loved and worshipped the God who promoted, protected and blessed him. Despite so many attempts against his life, his surviving and thriving was a miraculous testament to God’s goodness. Paradoxically, while the King lived in palatial splendour in a house of cedar, the God of Israel dwelt in a tent. David was troubled by this apparent absurdity - why should the servant live better than the Master? God’s ark needed a house, and David was determined to build a magnificent dwelling for the Lord. David shared his vision with Nathan, the prophet, who initially responded, “Go ahead and do what’s on your heart.” Yet soon thereafter, God told Nathan “No,” David was not to build the house of the Lord, later known as the temple. He was a man with much blood on his hands from waging great wars (1 Chronicles 22:8). Nevertheless, God graciously offered David something far better in return; He would build David a house - not a physical building - but an indestructible dynasty. From this exchange between God and David came what has become known as the ‘Davidic Covenant.’ It represents and builds on the ‘seed’ aspect of the Abrahamic covenant. While it includes statements about ‘chastening’ and ‘building the temple,’ the key points of David’s covenant are as follows: 1. God will give David a (special) son (2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Chronicles 17:11); 2. The Son of David will sit on his father’s throne (2 Samuel 7:12; 1 Chronicles 17:11-12); 3. The Son of David will rule and reign forever (2 Samuel 7:13; 1 Chronicles 17:12); 4. The Son of David will simultaneously be the Son of God (2 Samuel 7:14; 1 Chronicles 17:13). This singular individual, both Son of David and Son of God, became known as Messiah (Christ in Greek), the Anointed One. While the Old Testament recognised three categories of anointed - prophets, priests, and kings - the Son of David goes much further. He is the Ki ng of kings, Lord of lords, the Anointed of the anointed; a prophet like Moses, a priest like Melchizedek, and a king like David. When the angel Gabriel announced to Mary of Nazareth that she would be the mother of Messiah, he mentioned the ‘two fathers:’ He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his Kingdom, there shall be no end - Luke 1:32-33 In verse 32, the coming baby is called ‘Son of the Highest,’ namely God, and David is also referred to as ‘his father.’ Verse 33 announced the fulfilment of the Davidic covenant - He will reign forever. In essence, the Son of David will rule the people of God in the promised land (2 Samuel 7:10) and the whole world (Psalm 22:27-28; Zechariah 14:9). Messiah will have a righteous reign, with universal peace, prosperity, and blessing. Pilgrims will come worldwide to God’s mountain in Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-4, Zechariah 14:16-19). The Kingdom established by the Son of David will never end. This covenant is so important that it is confirmed by other passages like Psalm 89; Isaiah 9:6,7; 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5,6; 30:8,9; 33:14-17,19-26; Ezekiel 37:24,25; Hosea 3:4,5; Amos 9:11; Luke 1:30-35,68-70; Acts 15:14-18. Again, we emphasise: The Son of David is the Son of God. Jesus stresses this point in His dialogue with the Pharisees in Matthew 22:41-45. He is David’s Son and Lord, root and offspring (Revelation 22:16). In summary, what does the Davidic covenant have to do with the future and with last days prophecy? Ratified three thousand years ago, it promised an everlasting kingdom at the end of the age. Jesus Christ, who came a thousand years after David, preached about this same Kingdom (Matthew 3:2; 5:3; 5:20; Mark 1:15 and many more references). The coming Kingdom, which will replace the kingdoms of this world (Revelation 11:15), has a king, and that King is the Son of David, Son of God, Messiah. So get ready: the King and His Kingdom are on the way. How do we know? Through the covenants and many prophecies like Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, and elsewhere. It’s time for the church to walk in the light of prophecy (2 Peter 1:19) and get ready for the coming King (Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:7). Meet the Prophet David: A Key to Understanding Current Events and the Last Days Isreality The Western Wall is a wall in the Old City of Jerusalem in Israel. It is a remnant of the complex on which the Second Jewish Temple once stood. Today it is considered one of the holiest sites in Judaism. However, the Temple Mount remains the most holy place in the world for the Jewish people. It is, therefore, sad that Jews are not allowed to pray there. The Western Wall is also known as the Wailing Wall. Many people think that the Wailing Wall owes its name to the fact that you can go there with all your complaints. This is a misunderstanding. After the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, many Jews gathered at the only remaining wall of the Temple complex: the western wall of the plateau on which the Temple was built. Because of the mourning over the destruction of the Temple, the wall was soon jokingly called the ‘Wailing Wall’ by non-Jews. Jews themselves speak of the Western Wall, in Hebrew HaKotel HaMa’aravi, often shortened to Kotel. The Western Wall is adjacent to the Temple Mount. This mountain is called the Temple Mount because King Herod’s second Jewish Temple complex once stood upon it. He built the wall and embellished it. You’ll read about this in the New Testament, for instance, in John 2:20. In Psalm 132, God says of this place that it is His resting place forever. “For the Lord has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling: ‘This is my resting place forever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it.’” Psalm 132:13-14 Why Place a Note in the Western Wall? After saying a prayer, many Jewish and non-Jewish visitors put a little prayer note in the Western Wall. This ritual probably originated in the eighteenth century, when Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar instructed a needy man to place an amulet between the stones of the wall. The idea of the prayer notes is consistent with Jewish tradition, in which it is believed that the Divine presence has never left the Temple and human prayers still ascend to heaven through the Western Wall. Today, hundreds of thousands of notes are placed between the stones of the wall each year. Twice a year (around Passover and the Jewish New Year), special cleaning teams collect the prayers. Because the destruction of sacred texts is forbidden in Judaism, the notes are therefore buried on the Mount of Olives. What is the Western Wall? February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 | Photo: Shutterstock 10 Theology Recommended Reading Johannes Gerloff n Theologian, Journalist, Lecturer & Author This is the third in a series of articles on Romans 9-11, based on the book Rejoice, You Gentiles, with His People by Johannes Gerloff, which is expected to be published in early 2022. Having explained how sinners who lack the glorious presence of the living God (Romans 3) may become children of God and heirs with Messiah (Romans 8), the Apostle Paul continues: I am speaking [the] truth in Messiah! I am not lying! My conscience confirms as an additional witness in the Holy Spirit: My sorrow is overwhelming, unceasing the pain in my heart. I have been praying to be myself cursed, cut off from Messiah for my brothers who are my [blood] relatives according to the flesh. (Romans 9:1-3) Paul’s emotions are full of ‘great (inner) sorrow’. This is not an agony that the Apostle feels now and then; it is continual. Paul is ready to make every sacrifice for Israel’s sake. He is prepared to surrender not only his earthly life but even his eternal communion with the Lord and Saviour if this will contribute to the well-being of the Jewish people. The wish “to be cursed and cut off from Messiah”, for whatever reason, seems to be in fundamental contradiction to the Biblical teaching of the assurance of salvation, which Paul had just developed in the preceding chapters. But Paul was not the first Jewish leader to say: “I have been praying to be myself cursed, cut off from Messiah for my brothers...”. Another prominent example is Moses, who had received the two stone tablets that were inscribed by the finger of God. Immediately afterwards, the Lord sent his servant back to the people; “for your people whom you have brought up from Egypt have corrupted themselves. Quickly they have left the way of life which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molded calf , have worshipped it and sacrificed to it” (Exodus 32:7-8). Moses realised that God’s destructive judgment upon his chosen people was fully justified. However, instead of agreeing with God’s plan, Moses pleads: “Now, take their sin away, please! But if this is impossible, then, please, blot me out of the book that you have written” (Exodus 32:32). In view of God’s holiness on the one hand and the immensity of the nation’s guilt on the other, Moses saw but two possibilities: Either the people themselves had to take the curse, which they had brought upon themselves through their idolatry, and be judged to (eternal) death – or he himself would take their place and the (eternal) death sentence upon himself. This exact same attitude displayed in Moses we also find in Jesus of Nazareth. Israel’s Messiah stands up for God’s stubborn, unrepentant and yet eternally- chosen people: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem... how often did I long to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings” (Matthew 23:37). The Lord did not lose sight of the terrible judgment to come. Yet, as with Moses, the promise of unbroken communion with the God of Israel has the last word. The time will come when they will see Him and say: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 23:39). This love for Israel is visible even on the cross. There, Yeshua hung as the one who is cursed. He was the only one “who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore, He was able to bridge the gap for his people and bear their guilt. In spite of all the hatred, scoffing, and rejection that He experienced from the leaders of those for whom He suffered, the accursed did not curse. Rather, under unimaginable inner and external pain, Messiah prayed: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!” (Luke 23:34). Many Biblical personalities have borne this love in their hearts and confessed it. Instead of distancing himself from the guilt of his people, Isaiah – like Moses, Jesus and Paul – identified himself with Israel, and – like Samuel, Jeremiah and Daniel - he identified personally, in God’s presence, with the burden of guilt his people had brought upon themselves: “We – not: they! – should have been as Sodom, and we – not: they! – should have been like unto Gomorrah!” (Isaiah 1:9). This love that springs from the Spirit of Yeshua is the basic prerequisite for any dealing with or discussion about Israel. It is the sole legitimate foundation for any theological debate about Israel, for only this love corresponds to the heart of God. Without th is love, all prophetic knowledge, all faith, all dedication and effort for the ‘right cause’ is nothing in the eyes of the one and only God (1 Corinthians 13). What Does This Mean Today? If present-day Israel grumbles against the loving-kindness of her God - then our reaction can only be that we intercede together with Moses for them before our Heavenly Father: “Let the power of the Lord be great... Please pardon the transgression of this people according to the greatness of your loving-kindness” (Numbers 14:17, 19). If the Jewish people persist in dancing around all the imaginable ‘golden calves’ of our time, running after all the ‘ba’als’, if they should strive to be ‘like all the nations’ and (for whatever reason) reject the Lord’s Messiah – then we can only say, “Father, forgive them; for they do know not what they do! – and if not, blot me, I beseech you, out of thy book that you have written” (Luke 23:34; Exodus 32:32). If the “Israel according to the flesh” should persecute the Church, be hostile towards the ‘Stevens’ and ‘Pauls’ of today, only then will we – “being full of the Holy Ghost,” the Spirit who permeated the thinking and desires of Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Jesus, Steven and Paul, – be able to see “the heavens opened” (Acts 7:54-60). And if the whole world characterises modern Israel not only as a ‘war criminal’, an ‘occupying power’ and ‘anti-Christ’, then let me share another observation from the Biblical texts mentioned above: In view of Israel’s actual state in Jeremiah’s time, the prophet would have had every reason to call his people a ‘whore’ or a ‘prostitute’. But he calls her “the virgin daughter” (Jeremiah 14:17), according to God’s original design and according to “the gifts and calling of God”, which are “without repentance” (Romans 11:29). The Apostle Paul did not begin his explanation of Israel’s designation and future by clarifying who they actually are - that they rejected the Messiah of Israel and opposed the anointed One of the Lord and his followers. The terminology he used to describe the Jewish people is positive without reservation – and the expression which the Church so often used to label Jews throughout two thousand years of history, “cursed and cut off from Christ,” he applies exclusively to himself. Until... Fourteen Prophetic Horizons by Rev Willem JJ Glashouwer Christians for Israel (2020) Many Christians think that the Bible does not contain any clear timelines but that creation and recreation somehow go on endlessly, history repeating itself time and again. We can never say for sure where we are in history, and the Bible does not help us to understand secular history. Rev Willem Glashouwer examines the remarkable prevalence of the Greek word heoos (meaning ‘until’) in both the Old and New Testaments. The recurrence of this tiny word shows that history is no circle that continues to rotate endlessly and repeat itself constantly. No, history has a beginning and an end. History is a line, from creation to recreation, from paradise to the Kingdom of God. God is a God of time. He has times and seasons, and He intervenes in the affairs of men. Without falling into the trap of dogmatic end-time scenarios, Glashouwer eloquently shows that we can confidently say that momentous prophetic events are occurring and will occur, ushering in the Kingdom of God. For example, chapter 3 explores the reference in Romans 11:25 that “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in”. This opens the door to a consideration of God’s amazing purposes with both Jews and Gentiles, their interrelationship, and the significance of this for the whole creation. He connects the Bible with historical events and current affairs. We gain a deeper understanding of the depths and height and width of our Creator’s amazing plan for this world, which He loves and has redeemed. This book helps us make sense of the world we live in. It encourages us to be salt and light in the world and point the way to the coming of Jesus Christ. If you would like to purchase this book, it is available through our website: https://myaccount.c4israel.com.au/shop/ product/c4ioz050bk-until-222 February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Cut Off from Messiah | Photo: Shutterstock This love that springs from the Spirit of Yeshua is the basic prerequisite for any dealing with or discussion about Israel.

34. 16 From our Projects Help to Reunite Ethiopian Families The civil war raging in Ethiopia poses an imminent danger to the lives of thousands of Ethiopian Jews in the camps of Gondar and Adis Ababa, who for decades await airlift to Israel and reunification with their families. Already facing mortal danger from Covid-19, severe food shortages, malnutrition and other harsh living conditions, Ethiopian Jews are more desperate than ever to reach Israel. Many thousands are waiting in Ethiopia to join their families in Israel. Most have left their homes and villages to wait in the major cities of Gondar and Addis Ababa. Despite their ongoing limbo and harsh conditions, the communities in these cities maintain a strong Jewish identity and carry out daily Jewish rituals. Aliyah from Ethiopia in Recent Years The Israeli Government announced a decision in December 2020 to raise the number of Ethiopian immigrants allowed entry under the Family Reunification Program to 2,000, laying the foundation for the immediate Aliyah of hundreds more Ethiopian Jews in an operation known as Tzur Yisrael. This decision was especially timely due to the extremely harsh living conditions for Jews waiting in Ethiopia, which has only worsened due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The intensifying civil war in Ethiopia has also played a factor in the Israeli Government’s decision to increase the number of new immigrants from Ethiopia and expedite the process. Operation Tzur Yisrael officially ended on 11 March 2021, after bringing nine flights with a total of 2,112 Ethiopian olim (immigrants) to Israel. At the time when the last of the 2,000 Ethiopian new olim landed in Israel, Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog (now President of the State of Israel) said of the operation: “The final Operation Tzur Israel flight arrived reuniting countless families a fter far too many years apart. This is a moment that tugs at the heartstrings, reminding us that our mission to bring the remaining members of the community waiting to make Aliyah is far from over.” Thanks to the continued leadership of Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, Minister of Aliyah and Integration, the continuation of Aliyah (immigration to Israel) from Ethiopia was approved by the Government of Israel in November 2021. This important and historic decision will bring 3,000 Ethiopians to Israel and reunite them with their families in the spring of 2022. This operation is particularly important as some families have been separated between the two countries for years, sometimes more than a decade. Together, we can help these Ethiopian Jews to reach their dream of returning to Zion. Our goal as Christians for Israel is to support this historic airlift by bringing one plane with 250 new immigrants from Ethiopia. Please help the Ethiopian Jews who are eligible to make Aliyah and reunite them with their families! To donate, complete the coupon below. February 2022 | Israel & Christians Today Adar I - Adar II 5782 Members of the Falashmura community arrive at Ben Gurion airport on 11 March 2021. | Photo: Flash90 Yes, I would like to make a donation towards... C4I MINISTRY 1 TEACHING RESOURCES DONATION PRICE inc GST SEE OUR FULL RANGE AT: C4ISRAEL.COM.AU/STORE QUANTITY SUB TOTAL $ _______ SUB TOTAL DONATION $___________ MY TOTAL $ ___________ $ ___________ $ ___________ My donation for general admin costs (inc print & post) Thinc. 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(BOOK) by Willem Glashouwer $25 each ____________ Understanding Israel and world events from a Biblical perspective February 2022 Adar I - Adar II 5782 Israel & Christians Today is the premier publication of Christians for Israel 6-7 Holocaust Remembrance 3 Russia and Ukraine 8 Miraculous Visit to Ivory Coast 16 Help to Reunite Ethiopian Families www.c4israel.com.au | info@c4israel.com.au AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA Sunset with a panorama of the Old City Jerusalem. | Photo: Shutterstock Rev Willem JJ Glashouwer n President | Christians for Israel International The Holocaust stands alone among the massacres of mankind throughout the centuries. Six million Jews were slaughtered - not for what they had done, but for who they were: Jews! 27 January is the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is the date on which Russian soldiers liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp on 27 January 1945. The sad culmination of centuries of persecution of the Jews in Europe. Today, the Jewish State of Israel is in the dock. On 27 May 2021, the UN Human Rights Council adopted the most outrageous resolution ever on Israel. The world sheds tears at the Holocaust Memorial Day and then turns around and gives today’s Israel and the Jewish people a slap in the face – or worse. A Jew once cries out to the Lord: “O God, do not remain silent; do not turn a deaf ear, do not stand aloof, O God. See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads. With cunning, they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:2-5.) And the Lord says: “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham, my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.” (Isaiah 41) “Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity ... The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them ...” (Deuteronomy 28) The Elijah who was to come says, “The axe is already at the root of the trees...” (Matthew 3). “For our God is a consuming fire,” says the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 12:29). One day, from Jerusalem, peace will spread over the whole world. (Isaiah 2) Then Israel, God’s people, will no longer be the tail but the head. Not the Tail, but the Head The world sheds tears at the Holocaust Memorial Day and then turns around and gives today’s Israel and the Jewish people a slap in the face — or worse. Understanding Israel and world events from a Biblical perspective February 2022 Adar I - Adar II 5782 Israel & Christians Today is the premier publication of Christians for Israel 6-7 Holocaust Remembrance 3 Russia and Ukraine 8 Miraculous Visit to Ivory Coast 16 Help to Reunite Ethiopian Families www.c4israel.com.au | info@c4israel.com.au AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA Sunset with a panorama of the Old City Jerusalem. | Photo: Shutterstock Rev Willem JJ Glashouwer n President | Christians for Israel International The Holocaust stands alone among the massacres of mankind throughout the centuries. Six million Jews were slaughtered - not for what they had done, but for who they were: Jews! 27 January is the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is the date on which Russian soldiers liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp on 27 January 1945. The sad culmination of centuries of persecution of the Jews in Europe. Today, the Jewish State of Israel is in the dock. On 27 May 2021, the UN Human Rights Council adopted the most outrageous resolution ever on Israel. The world sheds tears at the Holocaust Memorial Day and then turns around and gives today’s Israel and the Jewish people a slap in the face – or worse. A Jew once cries out to the Lord: “O God, do not remain silent; do not turn a deaf ear, do not stand aloof, O God. See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads. With cunning, they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:2-5.) And the Lord says: “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham, my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.” (Isaiah 41) “Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity ... The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them ...” (Deuteronomy 28) The Elijah who was to come says, “The axe is already at the root of the trees...” (Matthew 3). “For our God is a consuming fire,” says the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 12:29). One day, from Jerusalem, peace will spread over the whole world. (Isaiah 2) Then Israel, God’s people, will no longer be the tail but the head. Not the Tail, but the Head The world sheds tears at the Holocaust Memorial Day and then turns around and gives today’s Israel and the Jewish people a slap in the face — or worse. Understanding Israel and world events from a Biblical perspective February 2022 Adar I - Adar II 5782 Israel & Christians Today is the premier publication of Christians for Israel 6-7 Holocaust Remembrance 3 Russia and Ukraine 8 Miraculous Visit to Ivory Coast 16 Help to Reunite Ethiopian Families www.c4israel.com.au | info@c4israel.com.au AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA Sunset with a panorama of the Old City Jerusalem. | Photo: Shutterstock Rev Willem JJ Glashouwer n President | Christians for Israel International The Holocaust stands alone among the massacres of mankind throughout the centuries. Six million Jews were slaughtered - not for what they had done, but for who they were: Jews! 27 January is the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is the date on which Russian soldiers liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp on 27 January 1945. The sad culmination of centuries of persecution of the Jews in Europe. Today, the Jewish State of Israel is in the dock. On 27 May 2021, the UN Human Rights Council adopted the most outrageous resolution ever on Israel. The world sheds tears at the Holocaust Memorial Day and then turns around and gives today’s Israel and the Jewish people a slap in the face – or worse. A Jew once cries out to the Lord: “O God, do not remain silent; do not turn a deaf ear, do not stand aloof, O God. See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads. With cunning, they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:2-5.) And the Lord says: “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham, my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.” (Isaiah 41) “Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity ... The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them ...” (Deuteronomy 28) The Elijah who was to come says, “The axe is already at the root of the trees...” (Matthew 3). “For our God is a consuming fire,” says the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 12:29). One day, from Jerusalem, peace will spread over the whole world. (Isaiah 2) Then Israel, God’s people, will no longer be the tail but the head. Not the Tail, but the Head The world sheds tears at the Holocaust Memorial Day and then turns around and gives today’s Israel and the Jewish people a slap in the face — or worse. Please post cheque or money order to: Christians for Israel Australia Inc (don’t use staples) NEW INTERNET BANKING DETAILS: BSB: ANZ BANK— 014-279 Account No: 405318551 Ref: Your name & donation purpose. 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