Shalom from Zion

God's Word is our rock, especially as He seems to be shaking everything (Isa. 2:19-21; Joel 3:16; Hag. 2:6-7). The reason we trust in His Word is because it comes from Him. If we receive an e-mail from someone we know to be truthful, we tend to trust what is written. If the person has a history of lying, we would scan the e-mail much more judiciously – and rightly so.

Most English Bibles translate Psalm 138:2b this way: You have magnified Your Word above all Your name. Yet the Hebrew is better translated, for You have magnified Your Word upon all Your name. His Word is founded on His name, His identity and character. He is the Truth and so is His Word (John 14:6; 17:17). He is trustworthy, as is His Word (Deut. 7:9; Psa. 119:86, 138; Isa. 25:1). Both He and His Word are light (John 8:12; 9:5; Psa. 119:105; 2 Pet. 1:19) and life (John 14:6; Phil. 2:16) and eternal (Deut. 33:27; Psa. 119:89; 1 John 5:7).

The one sure way to discern what is happening in the world today will not be by reading the headlines – but by reading and meditating and praying on His lines found in His Word!

Israel has a new government

In a miraculous and very sudden turn of events, a unity government was formed between Prime Minister [PM] Bibi Netanyahu and the main leader of Blue & White, Benny Gantz. This led to its break-up, with the remaining parties now the head of the opposition, and it left Avigdor Liberman's party out of the government. Please remember that to keep up-to-date on Israel's current situation, sign up to receive IFI's Friday Prayer Alerts, or read them online every week. [www.ifi.org.il]

President Trump's "Peace to Prosperity" peace plan

Released in January, this is a good news/bad news situation for Israel with most of it being good.

Good: The Palestinians are finally being held accountable for their Jew-hatred and their goal to destroy Israel. What they must do to have America recognize a "Palestine" is impossible under their current leaders or the next generation who is brainwashed in violent Islamic antisemitism. They must affirm Israel as the Jewish homeland; give up the "right of return" of their so-called "refugees"; disarm Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza; agree to a demilitarized state; and accept an enclave on Jerusalem's outskirts as their capital. They will also need to be satisfied with only 70% of the "West Bank"; rewrite all their textbooks to see Israeli-Jews as "peace" partners, instead of as satanic agents who must be slaughtered; and they must give up all their financial support of terrorists in Israeli jails.

Bad: Israel must agree to creation of a "Palestine" in advance and there may be other things not in line with God's Word. Yet modern history shows us this is exactly what Israel's first PM Ben-Gurion did by agreeing to the 1947 UN Partition Plan, and look how God used that to stretch out Israel's tents. Also, if Trump keeps his word, Israel can annex 30% more of Judea & Samaria – including the essential-for-security Jordan Valley. Deuteronomy 7:22 gives us a biblical principle for this. God says He will not give Israel all the land to possess at once, or else the beasts will overrun it.

This deal is not all black or white, yet God still reigns, and we intercede from that basis, asking Him to lead us by His Spirit.

When the plan was revealed, Netanyahu told Trump he was "the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House," and he listed the above points in the deal's favor, adding that the "plan does not uproot anyone from their homes, Israelis and Palestinians alike." He concluded that Trump's plan destroyed the "big lie" that Israel illegally occupies its historic homeland. ("As peace plan rolls out, Netanyahu says he will annex Jordan Valley, settlements," TOI, 28 Jan. 2020)

Israel Today said that ever since Oslo in 1993, "the formula underlying the Middle East [ME] peace process was to accept Palestinian positions, turn a blind eye to their transgressions" since they were "oppressed," and demand "painful concessions of Israel." Trump's plan turns this rightside-up. An Israeli media commentator said, "Israel gains its concessions immediately and without conditions," while Palestinians will need "to go through ten levels of hell" that we listed above to gain theirs. ("Trump deal flips Peace Process on its head," Israel Today, 29 Jan. 2019)

Do the Palestinians even deserve a state?

Jason Shvili notes that while all "peoples have the inherent right to self-determination," including the Palestinians, yet not all "are ready" for it, and that includes the Palestinians today.

The Oslo Accords "gave the Palestinians limited autonomy" in Gaza and parts of Judea and Samaria," yet they have not shown a capability to govern it "in an effective and civil manner." The Palestinian Authority's [PA] rule has been an example of "mismanagement, corruption and dictatorship." Yet this is not the only reason why they cannot be trusted with a state, because those characteristics describe not a few governments in the ME.

Two other reasons are: first, "they have not proved they can exert effective control over their territory," which is a necessity "for the international community to recognize any new state." In 2007, Hamas took over Gaza from the PA by force and still rules it. So the "internationally recognized, legitimate leadership" of the Palestinians is not even in control of "territory for which they have jurisdiction. A functional, independent state" must have only one government controlling its area; the Palestinians do not.

Second, they are a threat to another nation. Hamas' leaders "publicly and repeatedly" state their goal is to destroy Israel, and the PA incites "violence against Israelis," while doing nothing to support the idea of two-states living in peace. Granting them independence would "be like creating another" Iran, endangering the security of Israel, and all other nations in the area. ("Are the Palestinians ready for a state?" J. Shvili, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 16 Feb. 2020)

PA President Abbas' Fatah faction said Trump's peace plan will fail. Political cartoons on Facebook and in the PA's official daily displayed Fatah's scorn for the deal, "and its insistence that Palestine must include" all the territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea [i.e., all of Israel]. One cartoon had the text: "Down with the deal of the century. Palestine is not a homeland that is sold and purchased, but rather a piece of the Quran that we will defend with [our] blood and souls." ("Fatah on Trump's peace plan: Palestine must be defended 'with blood'," JP, 3 Feb. 2020)

Abbas' top adviser, Abu Rudeineh, told Israeli journalists that it was Israel and America's fault that peace talks are stagnated. "We have not stopped being committed to peace, but demand it be done on our own terms." ("PA committed to peace, but only on our terms," Israel Hayom, 17 Feb. 2020) Muslims believe peace will only come when everyone is converted to Islam.

The Land and God's Word

Speaking recently in Ma'aleh Adumim, Netanyahu stressed that "without Judea & Samaria, our existence is in danger." He called Israel's biblical heartland, "our homeland…our identity and our legacy," and said that Israel's "future is here. Therefore, our enemies are trying to uproot us from the heart of our homeland…

"After the great euphoria of the Six Day War, a dangerous perspective became entrenched in the Left…Instead of fighting for Judea & Samaria," they said that if we just "give these lands to our enemies, they will do us a favor and make peace with our existence." So the the Left said give "land for peace" and when Israel tried that, it received terror instead.

If the Jews believed this, why should the nations have believed anything different? So the world pressed Israel to retreat to the 1967 lines. Yet from the late 1980s Bibi stood against this, fighting "against Oslo, the expulsions, and withdrawals." As the demands grew for Israel to withdraw, he had to resist the last two US administrations who worked against Israel with the "support of the left and Israel's media…"

After former PM Shimon Peres' funeral, a senior US figure told Bibi, "If you want such a great funeral…start giving in." Netanyahu replied, "I'm not worried about my funeral; I'm worried about preventing the funeral of my country."

When Trump, Bibi's personal friend of many years, became US President, he took this "opportunity to move from the defensive to the offensive," working closely with the new administration. He influenced Trump to leave the Iran deal, to accept Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the US embassy to it, and to state that the Golan Heights is sovereign Israeli territory. Backed by prayer, Bibi had a huge impact on Trump's subsequent decisions. ("Netanyahu: 'I'm worried about preventing Israel's funeral'," Arutz 7, 9 Feb. 2020)

Speaking to children at a religious school in the settlement of Mitzpe Yericho, Bibi said he was determined to "extend Israeli sovereignty to Judea & Samaria," as in Trump's plan, because he, Netanyahu, "believes in the Bible." He exhorted the children to study the Bible and to pray.

Bibi added, "Every Shabbat I read the weekly Torah portion… with my son, Avner. I don't just say the words. I live it. I breathe it! I believe it!" ("Netanyahu: I believe the Bible!," Israel Today, Feb. 10, 2020)

Israel commits war crimes?

Late in 2019 the International Criminal Court's [ICC] chief prosecutor, F. Bensouda, endorsed investigating "Israel regarding alleged war crimes stemming from 2014's Operation Protective Edge in Gaza; its settlement activity since then; and the IDF's response to weekly riots along the Gaza border fence." A JP editorial retorted, "Israel does not commit war crimes."

While some Israeli soldiers might commit crimes in combat – as do all nations' soldiers when fighting deadly enemies, if this occurs, Israel's "military and civil courts deal with the cases and hold those involved responsible." But to commit war crimes with intent is never an option for the IDF. ICC's Bensouda also said there is a "reasonable basis" that Hamas and other "Palestinian armed groups" committed war crimes as well.

JPost: "As if there is any doubt that indiscriminate firing of thousands of rockets" on Israeli civilians, or intentionally setting thousands of acres of agricultural land and forests on fire "is anything but a war crime." It was very offensive for Bensouda to equate Israel and terrorist groups. Unlike terrorists, "Israel does not intentionally harm civilians in Gaza or anywhere else."

Furthermore, "Jews living at the site of the biblical Shiloh, or in the shadow of the Western Wall and Temple Mount, are not committing war crimes. One can argue the political wisdom of their living there…but to say that a Jew living in Judea – the cradle of Jewish civilization – is a war criminal is ridiculous…" ("War Crimes," JP Editorial, 22 Dec. 2019)

At a weekly Security Cabinet meeting, Bibi slammed the ICC's decision, accusing it of becoming "a weapon in the political war against the State of Israel." He called this decision "absurd" as the ICC was created after WW II to handle "problems that states would raise regarding war crimes, such as genocide or large-scale deportations." The ICC's purpose was to deal with states lacking "true judicial systems in law," systems usually available in the West.

Yet the ICC has addressed a claim from the PA which does not represent a real nation, "and accused the only democracy in the ME, which operates in accordance with the highest legal standards of the western democracies…" Also, Israel is not a signatory of the ICC, so "the court has no jurisdiction" over it.

This decision also "contradicts historical truth. It opposes the right of the Jews to settle in the Jews' homeland. To turn the fact that Jews are living in their land into a war crime is an absurdity of unimaginable proportions."

Lastly, it "contradicts contemporary truth…Who are they accusing? Iran? Turkey? Syria? No – Israel!" What hypocrisy. ("Hague tribunal being weaponized against Israel." Arutz 7, 22 Dec. 2019)

Anti-Semitism is evolving

David Weinberg, VP of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy & Security, wrote that Jews are very aware of the global rise of anti-Semitism. Yet this new wave "is particularly alarming because of a series of disturbing trends…:

As "Jew-hatred" surges in the West, it has not grabbed much "mainstream media attention nor inspired popular outrage." Also "Western thought-leaders" downplay it as an anti-Semitic scholar noted, "If hatred of Jews can be justified as a misunderstanding or ignored as a mistake or played down as a slip of the tongue or waved away as 'just anti-Zionism' …it will be." And when "politicians and intellectuals" do condemn it, they insist on condemning "Islamophobia" and "all forms of racism" as well. This is a "politically correct refusal to acknowledge the uniqueness of antisemitism," or its dominance over "all other hatreds…" As British columnist Melanie Phillips said, "People can't stand the uniqueness of antisemitism because they can't stand the uniqueness of the Jewish people." This includes "progressive Jews" who equate "antisemitism with anti-Muslim abuse," to show "that they aren't claiming any special status as victims."

Weinberg adds that US Congresswoman Tlaib and colleagues use their position "to bring anti-Semitic policies and rhetoric into the mainstream," while the media, "obsessed with the novelty of their identity" and loving their "progressive" politics, refuse to confront their Jew-hatred. The national Democratic leadership refuses to condemn it as well.

There is also opposition to "the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism," which explicitly states that "anti-Zionism – the delegitimization of the Jewish state" is anti-Semitic, because "Judaism is a creed that… combines religion, nationhood and a homeland…" Also, anti-Zionists uses" the same tactics of demonization, discrimination and double standards against Israel that anti-Semites historically (and still today) use against Jews;" with the goal "to strip Jews and or Israel of any rights or power."

Today's "need to combat antisemitism" distracts Jewish leaders and groups from other vital battles: "keeping Jews Jewish and keeping Israel safe." Budgets shift "from core Jewish education and pro-Israel advocacy," to the "struggle against hate" and the need to invest in "local security."

This is a mistake; historically, Jewish activism has never been" key to fighting antisemitism, as it is "a disease of non-Jews and can be eliminated only by non-Jews." And, with the "current rates of assimilation and intermarriage there won't be many Jews left in the Diaspora to protect, within just a generation or two."

Weinberg concludes that "defense of the modern State of Israel is the central historic challenge of the Jewish people for the 21st century…" ("Distortions in the fight against antisemitism," D. M. Weinberg, JP Op-ed, 12 Dec. 2019)

The increase of anti-Semitism today

Jeremiah 16:16 is happening now; the hunters have been sent forth. "American Jewry is under attack:" anti-Semites assault Jews with weapons or verbally, in the streets, or synagogues, and on social media, "simply because they are Jews."

And this is only the beginning. The story of Jewish life in exile is clear. "We start at the bottom, reach an apex," and then sink "into an abyss of terrifying violence." This historical pattern was seen in Egypt, Persia, Spain, Portugal, England, Poland, Russia, Germany, Iran, Iraq, etc. "After the golden period, comes the period of hatred." This is what we see in America today.

US Jews thought "this time would be different," and followed in their forefathers' footsteps, who also said "this time will be different," that, with "all we contributed to the host nation, it won't reject us." Then reality hits with "its inevitable, sobering wake-up call." Jews are in real danger, and aliyah – the return to Israel – is their only hope! ("On the precipice of a volcano – history repeating itself for US Jews," Ariel Kahana, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 30 Dec. 2019)

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations VP, Hoenlein, and CEO Daroff, interviewed by The Times of Israel, said, "rising anti-Semitism in the US is sowing fear among Jewish communities, changing the nature of what it means to be a Jew in America, and shaping a new discourse on US Jewish identity."

FBI statistics reveal that "Jews were again the victims of the majority of hate crimes based on religion in the US in 2019," including fatal attacks which continue in 2020. Hoenlein sees the deadly violence as "the end of the age of innocence for American Jewry," and Daroff notes that security is now the central issue for American Jews.

Are US Jews afraid? Hoenlein: "Yes …there's a higher level of fear than I remember from any time."

Asked about American Jewry's future, he said, "it will be much more Orthodox or traditional," and smaller. "The only place where" there is "a burgeoning birth rate is here in Israel," with an average of three to four children per family, while in the US and Europe families are shrinking. ("'People are afraid,' says Hoenlein, as anti-Semitism changes US Jewry," TOI Interview, 10 Feb. 2020)

Islam according to the Koran

Turkish journalist and political analyst Uzay Bulut, wrote that Turkey's president Erdogan, head of a NATO nation, "incited violence against non-Muslims," telling members of an Istanbul mosque, "Our God [Allah] commands us to be violent towards the kafir [infidels/unbelievers] …like in Syria."

Dr. B. Warner, head of the Center for the Study of Political Islam adds, "Islam divides the world into Muslims" and kafirs, and the sacred Islamic texts – the Koran, the Sira (Mohammed's biography), the Hadiths (traditions of Mohammed) – demand religious, political and cultural superiority over kafirs.

The Koran's definition of kafir is not neutral, describing them as "evil, disgusting, and the lowest form of life. Kafirs can be tortured, killed, lied to and cheated." So to translate kafir by just an 'unbeliever', "does not reflect the political reality of Islam."

Dr. A. Bostom, author of The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War & the fate of non-Muslims, said, "Authoritative Koranic commentaries, classical and modern, as well as canonical hadith, traditions of Islam's prophet Muhammad, support Erdogan's hateful and predatory views toward non-Muslims."

Bulut: "The fact that these words were uttered by" the head of an apparent NATO ally and candidate for EU membership, is a dire warning to all non-Muslim nations. ("Erdogan: 'Our God commands us to be violent to the kafirs," U. Bulut, Arutz 7, 15 Nov. 2019)

Yasmine Mohammed, author of Confessions of an Ex-Muslim, tries to warn the "naive West" of Islam's true nature, saying that most western nations suffer "from a toxic mix of arrogance and naiveté that makes them… underestimate the power of Islam…"

She said the typical Muslim's experience of a "pervasive hate for Jewish people," is learned at a young age. For Muslims, the word for Jew is not only "a pejorative, it is used as a curse word." This hatred is "a learned behavior…and the hate of Israel is an extension of that." ("Ex-Muslim to 'Post': Trying to teach 'naïve West' about true nature of Islam," Hannah Gal, JP Interview, 19 Aug. 2019)

Melanie Phillips says the term "Islamophobic" protects Islam. "Palestinian misdeeds, including Jew-hatred, can't be acknowledged. Nor can Jew-hatred coursing through Muslim society in general…because the Islamic world is given a free pass on the grounds that it is the historic victim of the west. So any such criticism is silenced by the claim it is 'Islamophobic'."

While genuine anti-Muslim prejudice must be condemned, yet just a hint of "Islamophobia is used to silence any criticism of the Islamic world, including Islamic extremism." ("Don't fall for bogus claims of 'Islamophobia'," M. Phillips, The Jewish Chronicle, 16 Dec. 2019)

The European war against Israel

Italian journalist Giulio Meotti wrote that in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council released "a blacklist of more than 100 companies" it accused of "violating Palestinian human rights by operating in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank." This is the first "attempt by the UN to literally boycott and strangle the economy of a democracy."

In The Hague, the ICC's chief prosecutor's decision to begin "war-crimes investigation into [Israeli] settlement policies," is the first that Court will try "to legally shame and indict Israeli policies and presence in its Biblical lands…" The International Court of Justice, also in The Hague had already said that Israel's security fence is illegal, although it stopped many "Palestinian suicide bombers" who wanted to kill thousands of Jews.

Last fall in Brussels, the EU's Court of Justice "ruled that products made in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria" must not be labelled "Made in Israel." Add to that Europe's media who refuse to call terrorists, "terrorists," but instead calls them "militants," and one sees that Europe is now "the epicenter of a political and legal war against Israel…"

In today's Europe, what "remains of Jewish community life… takes place behind bulletproof doors and barbed wire," and the end of the existence of Europe's Jews is discussed calmly and fatalistically. How is it "that Molotov cocktails can be detonated against a synagogue in Gothenburg and Europe stays silent?"

Yet European Muslims "are encouraged to manifest their anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, legitimated by Europe's journalistic and political speech which always demonizes Israel," while EU leaders take every opportunity to publicly express their "enmity towards the State of Israel throughout the international arena."

After WW II, Europe's foundations were "placed on three fundamental values of Judeo-Christian culture: democracy, human rights and the rule of law," the same values of the State of Israel. Yet today's Europe has been re-infested with "its ancient hostility towards the Jewish people… But this mass anti-Semitic European psychosis has far-reaching symbolic dimensions," especially as it rejects its society's biblical foundations. "It is a Europe submerged by self-hatred. Its days are numbered." ("… Europe puts Israel under siege," G. Meotti, Arutz 7 Op-ed, 14 Feb. 2020)

Pope Francis vs. God

This Pope is as far from being a true Christian as any recent Pope. If what he has planned goes ahead, it might show millions of Roman Catholics how far that Church has turned from God. On May 14th, Israeli Independence Day on the Gregorian calendar, Francis will reject God and exalt man!

Benignly called the "Global Education Pact," this decree aims to welcome in a "new humanism," as David Martin in a Canada Free Press column on Feb. 29th, explained. Archbishop Zani, the Congregation for Catholic Education's secretary, said the theology behind this event is that, "God 'withdraws' in order that man might be free." He adds that the lesson of Creation, "places the focus on man …God creates but then withdraws. He leaves man, saying, 'Go!"' So the Pope's New Humanism "advocates 'Freedom' from God." ("Pope Francis to infect the Christian World with a sickness of the soul," Judi McLeod, Canada Free Press, 29 Feb. 2020)

Today, if you hear His voice – return to Zion

Psalm 147:2 says that God will gather Israel's outcasts. Recent Jewish Agency statistics back that up as "over a quarter of a million immigrants arrived in Israel between 2010 and the end of 2019…from 155 different countries." ("A quarter of a million immigrants in a single decade," Arutz 7, 22 Dec. 2019) Hallelujah!

Jews in exile today, like the Jews who were in Babylon, want to help heal the gentile nation they are in, but they cannot succeed and worse, they are not where God wants them (Jer. 51:9-10). Tzvi Fishman coined a term for this condition – "diasporavirus"! Just as we "sympathize with, and pray for the speedy recovery," of Coronavirus victims, "we must empathize with, and pray for the speedy recovery of our brothers and sisters suffering from the devastating plague of Diasporavirus [DV]…

"While Coronavirus is accompanied by fever, making an early diagnosis possible, DV is far more difficult to detect." Most Jews infected don't realize how sick they are, "because the virus has damaged their sensory system, adversely affecting their mental capacities and numbing their spiritual being." They no longer feel their "Jewish soul's anguish" of being a captive in a foreign land. Nor do they even see it as "exile" or "captivity."

"Because of the mental disorder caused by the DV epidemic," they end up believing that they're already living in the Promised Land. "In severe cases, they forget Jerusalem entirely," or see Israel as a nice place to visit, "but not as a life goal, and all of the national facets of Torah" as well as "the vision of all the Prophets of Israel" to dwell in the Land become external, "something for the Israelis," but not for them. The cure is simply to return home. ("The Disaporavirus," T. Fishman, Arutz 7 Op-ed, 18 Feb. 2020)

Thoughts on Coronavirus

The global panic seems media driven, being always in the headlines. Often its dangers are reported without any comparison or percentages of age groups or physical conditions of those most at risk, or who have died. Could this be part of what was spoken by Yeshua in Luke 21:25-26a? There shall be signs in the heavens and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity… Men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking at those things which are coming on the earth… With access to the internet, most people have a front row seat to watch in real time all "those things" that hit our world.

Coronavirus has also negatively impacted the global economy. Since the Anti-Christ will be allowed to use the economy to control people and nations (Rev. 13:17), is this the time for his entrance? If not, we now see how sudden his rise could be.

Israel is blessed to have Netanyahu who immediately took this threat seriously and declared war on it. Many nations then followed his lead. Necessarily, the topic of health and security vs. personal liberty has come to the fore. For people living in a nation that exalts personal liberty – it will be harder for their leaders to make hard decisions and take timely actions. Israelis have been through so many national crises – like Saddam's scuds or suicide bombings – that most of us understand if our personal liberty must take second place to the survival of our nation.

For believers to make personal liberty their top priority is a misunderstanding of our position in God's kingdom. Though we are redeemed, set free from slavery to sin, it is so that we can be bond-slaves for Messiah. To see personal freedom as our ultimate goal prevents us from serving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30).

Recall that 'believers' who said to Yeshua that they had done this and that in His name, heard Him reply, Depart from Me workers of lawlessness. I never knew you! (Matt. 7:22-23). They were doing only their own thing and not serving the King.

The day of salvation is our "Dependence Day." Set free from the power of sin, we now depend on and try to obey our Master – in everything. We are part of a spiritual Kingdom – not a democracy – and one does not vote for their king; one only serves Him or not.

Be still and know that I am God.Psa. 46:10a

Chuck & Karen Cohen