Shalom brothers and sisters,

The well-known Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, "I cannot understand how you theologians and preachers can apply to the Church Scripture promises, which, in their plain meaning, apply to God's chosen people, Israel, and to Palestine [the common name for the land of Israel in centuries past]; and which consequently must be future…The prophetic books are full of teachings which, if they are interpreted literally, would be inspiring, and a magnificent assurance of a great and glorious future; but which, as they are spiritualized, become farcical…as applied to the Church they are a comedy."

I agree except that I would change "a comedy" into "an anti-Semitic tragedy" because that is exactly what this theology of replacement has produced. This was clearly seen in Hitler's referring to Martin Luther's view of the Jews as justification for the Nazi's "final solution" to the "Jewish problem."

Even today as far too many – one would be far too many – Western evangelical churches still cling to this anti-God theology, the Jews are viewed as "the bad guys," "white European colonizers," but their Islamic terrorist murderers gain the sympathy – if not the outright support – of multitudes of born-again, yet biblically illiterate, Christians.

Thank You precious intercessors

I do hope that those of you who have been with us on the Intercessors for Israel prayer tours are aware of how many of our intercessions over the decades which we prayed concerning various areas in Israel are in the process of being answered since Oct. 7th 2023.

How often have we stood on the Golan overlooking Syria and prayed and proclaimed His sovereignty over that enemy nation, including reminding God that much of what we were looking at is still part of the Promised Land? And in about a week Syrian President Assad's demonic regime fell, removing him from the scene and destroying Iran's most important link to its building of a ring of fire around Israel.

Yes, those who chased them out are dangerous Islamic Sunni rebels backed by Erdogan, Turkey's wicked anti-Christ-like leader, and Israel needs to still be on high alert, yet consider what Israel did in response to Assad's fall. It destroyed in a few days almost all of Syria's army's most dangerous weaponry, including its chemical and biological weapons, destroyed all of its air defenses, much of its air force and sank most if its navy. The result is that Israel now has a clear path over Syrian airspace to attack Iran if and when needed.

Within six weeks, Israel decimated Hizbullah, killing its leaders and destroying so much of its weapons depots and intelligence headquarters.

All of this was a result of Hamas' demonic attack against Israel's communities near the Gaza security fence on Oct. 7th 2023. The shock of that attack woke up – as the Japanese Admiral said of America after the attack on Pearl Harbor – the sleeping dragon. In Israel's case, it is a sleeping lion! It shook up the Jewish nation from just responding to terrorist attacks and caused it to realize once again that the best defense is a good offense.

When I was a sensei in a dojo – a teacher in a martial arts studio – before Yeshua saved me, we used to teach our students to try to talk your way out of a fight, then try to walk away, but if push comes to shove and you are pressed to defend yourself – then hit back first! And Israel is finally doing that.

Oct. 7th was horrific, but we prayed for God to somehow bring good out of even that disaster (Rom. 8:28), recognizing that Israel is the called according to His purposes. And He has. Fighting against Hamas in the tunnels in Gaza gave the IDF great experience to deal with the massive Hizbullah tunnels in Lebanon. Fighting an actual full blown war enabled the IDF to hone its techniques and to try out new technologies which proved to be very effective not only in Gaza, but in Lebanon and in Judea and Samaria.

Fighting in Judea and Samaria was something else that Israel decided to do more aggressively. While all eyes were on Gaza, the IDF and other Israeli security forces went full bore against the terrorists who were preparing to attack Israel from the Palestinian Authority [PA] areas. Israel even used its Air Force and drones against these Islamic radical terrorists with great success.

The bottom line is that Hamas' attack released the armies of the Lion of Judah to deal aggressively with its internal enemies and ultimately led to the destruction of Iran's multi-year multi-billion dollar plan to wipe Israel out by surrounding it with its proxies who would war against it and deter it from attacking Iran itself – especially its nuclear weapons development program. Thank You Lord!

Persisting in prayer

The issues that IFI prays about are long term matters. We do not expect to see answers as soon as we get up so-to-speak from our knees. But one thing I have noticed is that after hitting our arrows repeatedly on the ground, when the answers come – they often come suddenly. Syria's President Assad and his government's downfall and the accompanying wiping out of Iran's Shi'ite crescent over the Middle East is one very clear example of that.

Praying into the same issue consistently can be exhausting to the soul and we often need to die to self to ask Him one more time for this or that – yet because we know that what we are asking is in line with His will – since we base our intercession on His Word – we have great confidence to ask again, and again, and… well, you get the picture (1 John 5:14-15).

So for all of you who join us in praying through the alerts, and those who have been with us on our many prayer tours, please note that what is happening right now in the ME, with all of the chaos and craziness, is your fault! So we thank you, and give God the glory (Psa. 50:15)!

Israel is the world's Jew today

Living in Israel makes me and my family a target for most of the nations in the world, especially post-Christian Western and Arab Muslim nations. I can understand the Jew-hatred by those possessed with an Islamic spirit, but exactly why do Western humanists also hate us? Is it jealousy, or scapegoating, or is it actually something much more sinister?

Psalm 83 pinpoints the real issue. The hatred of Jews is a fruit of their hatred of the God of the Bible who has chosen the Jews as His special treasured possession (Deut. 7:6). Yet He chose them so that through the Jewish race blessings – especially, but not exclusively, the good news of Messiah Yeshua – would go out from Jerusalem to the rest of the world (Acts 1:8; cp. Isa. 2:3).

Paul writes that God's promise to bless the families of the world through Abram and his seed (Gen. 12:3b) is today known as the gospel to the gentiles (Gal. 3:8). Gentiles can now be in a relationship with the One True God because He sent His Son to be born to a Jewish family in Bethlehem, in the land of Israel (Mic. 5:2; Matt. 2:6, 20-21; John 7:42).

The Lord Yeshua never left the land of promise during His years of ministry, although as a boy his parents took him to Egypt. King Messiah both died and rose from the dead right here in Jerusalem. [Sometimes I sing to myself, "On a hill down the block, stood an old rugged cross…"]

Messiah Yeshua ascended to glory from Jerusalem and will be returning to Jerusalem, most likely sooner than many believers think. Then He will sit on King David's throne (1 Sam. 7:12-13; Psa. 89:35-37; 132:11; Isa. 9:7; Luke 1:32; Acts 2:30) as the prophesied Greater Son of David and rule the world from Israel – whether they want it or not (Psa. 2:7-12; 72:8; 82:8; Zech. 14:16-19; Rev. 12:5)! He is not coming back to win an election as the world's president, or prime minister. He is coming back to take His rightful place as the Supreme Ruler of the world, the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords (Matt. 28:18; Acts 10:36b; Rev. 19:11-16). So during this time of global upheaval, massive condemnation of Israel and rising anti-Semitism throughout the world, the prayer at the end of the Bible is very appropriate for all believers to recite: Come quickly, Lord Yeshua! (Rev. 22:17, 20).

Donald Trump – America's next President

With the results of the US elections now confirmed, Donald Trump will once again become the US President when he is inaugurated on January 20th 2025, thus making him in the sight of many people the most powerful man in the world.

While I am very glad that Kamala Harris lost, and that Joe Biden and his background influencers linked to former President Obama, will be leaving the White House come January, yet I have concerns with Trump in regards to his relationship and interaction with Israel, and with Israel's Prime Minister [PM] Bibi Netanyahu. And I would urge all Americans and others who are breathing a sigh of relief because of the rejection of the left-wing craziness of woke-ism and anti-Zionism that has raised its ugly head in many places in the US – from universities to Hollywood to Congress – that whether Trump proves to be a blessing or a curse for America rests heavily on how he treats Israel (Num. 24:9b). Or as I wrote in a recent prayer alert: "Make America a blessing again – by blessing Israel!"

Trump was a real blessing towards Israel during his first term: he moved the US Embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem; recognized the Golan Heights as part of sovereign Israel; said that Israel's "settlements" in Judea and Samaria were not necessarily illegal; sanctioned Iran almost to bankruptcy; had Israel's back at the UN; and had an excellent relationship with Netanyahu.

Yet my concern stems from the fact that Trump has operated on the basis of loyalty – and in the past it was not loyalty to America, but to himself. Only God knows if he has changed. Remember, he literally cursed Netanyahu – "f**k Bibi" – when he accused him of being the first world leader to congratulate Biden on his victory in the last presidential election. Not only was that false, but even if it were true, Bibi needs to keep Israel's relations with America in mind and not Israel's relations with Trump.

Also, Trump did try to push his "deal of the century" – a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Although under the conditions he insisted upon the Palestinians could never have accepted this deal, yet in it Trump was willing to divide God's land, thus scattering any Jews who lived in the area given to the Palestinians, and create one more Islamic terrorist Jew-hating state right in the middle of God's land that He promised to give to His people – for His holy name's sake (Lev. 25:23; Jer. 32:41-44; Joel 3:1-2).

So far, he seems to have backed off wanting to push the accursed "two-state solution" in his second term, as he sees that reviving this plan today after Hamas' Oct. 7th massacre will be very difficult. Yet he loves making deals! Also, will he demand loyalty from Bibi in exchange for removing the various restraints that Biden and his administration have shackled Israel with and which has resulted in more deaths to IDF soldiers as Israel has had been forced to fight Hamas and Hizbullah with one hand tied behind its back.

Yes in the face of all these concerns, if Israel stands on its own and does that which is right in God's eyes and does not bow down to any man – even a real ally like Trump – then how Trump reacts will determine how effective he will be in restoring America to even a semblance of the superpower status it once had. We are praying for wisdom about this whole situation – and asking God to guide us as we intercede.

Ultimately, God will have His way with the nations of the world and with His nation. And our prayer usually includes something along the lines of Psalm 115:1-3: Not unto us YHWH, not unto us, but unto Your name give glory, for Your mercy, and Your truth's sake. Why should the nations [+ gentiles] say, 'Where is their God?' But our God is in the heavens: He has done whatever He has pleased.

Israel's war against terror and the world's anti-Israel response

Nils A. Haug is a lawyer and a member of numerous international and national associations dealing with law. Retired, his focus today is political theory and current events. He holds a Ph.D. in Apologetical Theology, and is the author of 'Politics, Law, and Disorder in the Garden of Eden – the Quest for Identity'; and 'Enemies of the Innocent – Life, Truth, and Meaning in a Dark Age.'

Writing about Israel's war in Gaza, he says, "Hamas, a so-called liberation movement, was voted into power as the governing party by the Palestinian people of Gaza in 2006." They immediately warred against Arafat's Palestinian Authority [PA] and his Fatah faction, driving them out of Gaza, and killing many of them. Hamas also declared a jihad – a holy war – against Israel, seeking to kill Israelis and take over all of the land – from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

Designated "a terror group by Western nations," Hamas is "an Islamist fundamentalist group whose 1988 Covenant openly supports a Sharia [Islamic] law-based… Caliphate free of non-believers and a world free of Jews (end of Art. 7)." All non-Muslims whom they capture in war, "including Christians, are offered the choice of converting to Islam; being murdered" or living under them as dhimmis, "protected" 3rd-class residents who must pay the jizya, a protection tax, and live in humiliating circumstances.

In 1921, the renowned philosopher Franz Rosenzweig said that, "Following the path of Allah means, in the narrowest sense, propagating Islam through holy war," This exposes the real problem Israel faces today: "there are two sets of rules. Jihadists fight according to their holy-war rules while Israelis are restricted to Western rules of a 'just war', including, for instance, the Geneva Conventions."

Israel attempts to abide by these unbalanced rules of war, and "employs all possible safeguards to prevent or minimize casualties…" America's John Spencer, an urban warfare specialist and chairman of the urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point wrote, "Israel has created a new standard for urban warfare. Why will no one admit it?"

Israel is "committed to broad principles of just war theory and a restricted use of force wherein every military move is carefully, even obsessively, monitored by Western powers." These restraints hinder "Israel's freedom to respond as necessary in a fluid, real-time, permanently hostile environment." As the West gives terrorists a free-pass, it is "increasingly difficult for Israel to hold the high moral ground that they actually merit. Despite unprecedented efforts to protect the lives of Gaza's civilians…Israel – which Hamas, with the backing of Iran, savagely attacked on Oct. 7, 2023 – is still often wrongly seen as the aggressor."

Israel is also condemned because of "the false claims of civilian casualties by" the Hamas run Gaza Ministry of Health! "Despite Israel's compliance with humanitarian concerns, rules of war, and attempts to avoid civilian deaths," yet it is Israel that must make "concessions for a ceasefire," and not Hamas who should be pressured to immediately release Israel's hostages, most of whom are civilians.

Hamas, like other Islamic groups, "does not accede to the West's laws of war…Freed hostages tell of 'cages, beatings, death threats'." Hamas refuses to allow the Red Cross to see the hostages, yet demands that the Red Cross be given permission to visit Palestinian prisoners of war in Israeli jails.

Before Israel killed him, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's chief in Lebanon, threatened Israel with a war waged "without rules or ceilings." So Israel is fighting an existential war against an enemy that does not obey any rules whatsoever in war, while the Jewish nation is held to humanistic rules by the West and global NGO's – like the UN. This is totally unjust, yet we thank God that He fights with Israel, and for Israel, ultimately giving His nation the victory over His – and their – enemies (Psa. 44:4-6; 83:1-4).

Haug affirms that the land of Israel is the "legitimate home of the Jewish people…For nearly 4,000 years, love of this land has cemented the Jews' sense of identity, social order and security." In November 2023, Rabbi L. W. Dow, referring to the global push for an unbiblical "two state solution" – which, no matter how evil and hate-filled the Palestinians prove themselves to be, just refuses to die – declared, "It is we who will define ourselves and our relationship to the land. We do not need to fit your binary categories of ownership," Yet the deceived Western leaders who push for this do it "in the name of human rights, social justice, and supposed fair play."

Dow and many others who criticize the "two-State solution," including those of us at IFI, are shocked at the blindness – on purpose or not – of "the international community's difficulty in comprehending the deep spiritual ties of the Jewish nation to their ancestral land." Basically, this proposal is "anti-Zionist and in practical effect, anti-Semitic…" Are they blind to the fact that more than "half of the land promised to Jews by the 1917 Balfour Declaration was reallocated by the British authorities to what is now the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan"? Then as if that was not enough, "Jewish rights to what remains of their historic land are continually denied, along with stupefying proposals that the Jews should be forced to be ruled by the very people desiring their extinction."

Haug wonders what "peace" can there "be between two conflicting core narratives, in which one party seeks the ideal of martyrdom… while the other desires to live in peace, without constant threats to its existence?"

He uses "Hamas' control of Gaza" as a perfect example. In 2005, under PM A. Sharon, Israel submitted to "US and international pressure to expel all Jewish inhabitants from Gaza," and to hand over that territory to full Palestinian control. This resulted in "a security vacuum which gave Hamas and other like-minded jihadists" an open door "to prepare for the total annihilation of their Jewish neighbors," which was in part "implemented on Oct. 7, 2023, with horrific consequences."

After Oct. 7th, the Jewish nation was tasked by the world with what would be "a fitting response" to Hamas' massacre "of Israel's innocent civilians of all ages, ethnicities, and faiths…" That is when "proportionality" was inserted into Israel's war of existence which resulted in "significant complications" for Israel.

For example, the International Court of Justice, whose authority Israel has never accepted, wrongly accused Israel of "failing to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. Yet genocide has never been on Israel's agenda," while it has openly been so against Jews by Hamas and its co-jihadists. They have forced innocent Palestinians "into situations in which they could be killed," so that as usual, Israel would be blamed.

Hamas purposely embedded itself "within the civilian population, such as dressing like them, to make it impossible to distinguish terrorists from civilians." When civilians get killed, Hamas blames Israel and turns the dead into 'hero-martyrs,' "therefore, the more deaths the better." Hamas' ex-leader Sinwar wrote in a letter on April 11, 2024, that civilian deaths are "necessary sacrifices" to "infuse life into the veins of this nation (Gaza), promoting it to rise to its glory and honor."

Here is the crux of the matter that most Westerners refuse to face: "Israel is not only fighting to prevent long-term future attacks from Gaza, but also to defeat terrorists from overwhelming the Judeo-Christian values that have been achieved over centuries with much sacrifice."

Today, as Western leaders face "significant Islamic populations in their midst," many seem to think that it is in "their political self-interest to criticize Israel's response despite any validity." This includes those heading up UN agencies, EU leaders and US President Biden and his administration. Today, as the West is in "an ethically compromised era, speaking the truth can be a risk…" Dr. Ron Paul, an American author and former politician, exposed this Orwellian mindset, stating, "Truth is treason in an empire of lies."

Prof. Haug added that while world leaders repeatedly proclaimed "that the Jewish nation would 'Never Again' be subjected to ethnic cleansing," they have criticized "Israel's attempts at securing their homeland," demanding an end to the war and "by imposing restraints purportedly to curtail civilian casualties." Meanwhile, they ignore what Hamas spokesman Hamad vowed just two weeks after Oct. 7th: "We must teach Israel a lesson and we will do this again and again." This attack "is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth."

Israel confronts this open "Jew-hate and death threats" daily. Yet the world "imposes sanctimonious restraints on Israel to prevent it from being able to defend itself." As British journalist Douglas Murray points out, Israel is the "only country in world who is never allowed to win a war, which is a reason why wars keep occurring."

Although the Biden administration pressured Israel to accept an "unacceptable" cease-fire, Netanyahu, "the Churchill of the ME," rejected it, and pushed on with his ultimate goal: "to destroy Hamas' military capability and rescue remaining hostages," and "to defeat terror for the future of the Free World."

As Haug then explains, "Israel's survival impacts the survival of Western civilization – the principles, ethics, and Judeo-Christian values upon which the culture and societies are founded. If these are lost or given away, the alternatives will be devastating for everyone." Or as Prof. Leon Kass said in Nov. 2023: "It is left to little Israel to make the first stand against radical evil and the new axis of nations dedicated to the demise of the West. With resolve, courage, and dedication, but, alas, with much more sacrifices, Israel will show the way." ("Israel's Response to Terror," N. A. Haug, Gatestone Institute, 18 July 2024)

In September, South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, wrote that calls "for a negotiated ceasefire with Hamas are not only immoral; they're dangerous." His warning followed the pressure from Western nations, including America, placed on Israel "to finalize a deal with the Gaza-based, Iranian-backed terror group."

He said that by demanding for "a negotiated ceasefire instead of surrender," the world sends not only Hamas, but all Jihadi terrorists a very "dangerous message: no matter what you do, no matter what evil you perpetrate, you will always be able to extract compromises and concessions. Your violence, intimidation, and terror works."

All of this increases dramatically the chances of a massive terror attack on Western nations. "As the US, the UK, and the EU, in the name of a false moral equivalence, abandons Israel…to the savage wolves of Hamas, they strengthen the forces of terror – and the next target will be the West itself."

This global pressure on Israel increased after "the horrific murder of six innocent Israeli hostages" by Hamas, which exposed "the darkness of the evil that Israel is up against," says Goldstein. He emphasized that a "moral distinction between Israel and Hamas" is being ignored by the world's powers. "Hamas is a terror organization driven by violent jihadi ideology. Israel is a peaceful, free democracy seeking to protect its citizens. To seek a compromise solution between Israel and Hamas is to endorse evil. It is to do a deal with the devil." Because of this, the war in Gaza is not a battle between two legitimate entities. "'Ceasefire' implies a moral equivalence between two sides, but 'surrender' says one side is bad and must be defeated…" Yet we have not heard the UN demanding an unconditional surrender from Hamas, nor have we seen the West consistently backing Israel.

Goldstein exposed "the grave dangers in treating this conflict like a typical geopolitical dispute," as Hamas is not like "a conventional adversary," but it is "driven by a violent jihadi ideology that thrives on the suffering of innocents." It "uses its own people as human shields, and uses Israelis – both living and bodies of the fallen – as hostages with gross, unheard of, sadism to inflict maximum psychological torture."

Observing that Western allies should give Israel "full political, diplomatic and military support," so that it can defeat Hamas, Goldstein is dismayed that the opposite has occurred. America has held back the delivery of some weapons, and the UK stopped some weapons sales totally. "When Israel assassinates terror leaders like Hamas head Haniyeh, President Biden says these actions aren't helping hostage negotiations. It's misguided to think negotiating with Hamas will solve anything."

Recalling World War II, he writes, "In 1945, as the Allied forces neared victory in the war against Germany and Japan… there was no suggestion of a ceasefire or compromise, no question that the goal was unconditional surrender. Asking Israel to negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas now, as it is winning the war, would be like telling the Allies to stop short of victory and leave Hitler in power in a weakened Germany."

With the continuation of war in Gaza, thanks in large part to Netanyahu's resistance against the pressure from Israel's "friends," Goldstein's message is simple: "There can be no accommodation or compromise with the evil ideology of jihad. It must be defeated." ("SA Chief Rabbi Goldstein: Why a ceasefire is not the answer to the Israel-Hamas war," Arutz 7, 9 Sept. 2024)

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, an Iranian-America political scientist, and a Harvard-educated scholar, is president of the International American Council on the ME, and an author of books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He also sees how Israel is defending the Judeo-Christian Western society – basically by itself.

He asked, "Culminating with the dispatch of arch-terrorist Yahya Sinwar" in mid-October, "how many of the world's most vicious terrorists has Israel liberated the world from in a few short weeks? Little Israel is showing the world how to win again – and saving civilization and a free way of life into the bargain. For those of us fortunate enough to live in a free society," we must "let Israel keep winning!"

Israel's current "multi-front war" against the regime in Iran and its many terrorist proxies is a war that "the West should have taken on" a long time ago. Yet US President Obama, the Biden-Harris administration and the governments in Europe, "rather than confronting the threats presented by Iran, they appeased and bankrolled it." The West's leaders ignored sanctions, including secondary sanctions, which resulted in "providing billions of dollars to terrorists to enable them to attack Israel," as well as US troops in the ME, and the financing Iran's various weapons program, including its nuclear developments.

Rafizadeh said that Obama deceived many people with his Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), when he said that it "achieved a detailed arrangement that permanently prohibits Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon" and that "It cuts off all of Iran's pathways to a bomb," when it did no such thing. The JCPOA's problem was its "sunset clauses," which "assured Iran that it could legitimately have as many nuclear weapons as it can produce in just a few short years." And with Iran's proxies, Hizbullah and Hamas, and its main ME ally Syria, basically removed from play, chances are that it will speed up its development of nuclear weapons.

Obama's attempt to avoid confrontation had only "strengthened Iran and its terror networks by allowing them to expand their influence and aggressions unchecked." Historically this strategy has proven to be suicidal, yet rather than learn history's lessons, the West repeats history's mistakes of how to confront a dictatorial bully.

As Iran and its anti-Western allies use the bribe money to further their goals, the West leaves "Israel to fight a war that should never have been Israel's alone." Whether through "diplomatic miscalculations, the need for votes, cowardice and a fear of conflict," they are basically outsourcing "their responsibilities for maintaining global peace to Israel…" [Are we seeing the beginning of Deuteronomy 28:13 coming to pass?]

Rafizadeh continues, saying not only is Israel defending Western values by itself, but "Europe, the UN and their institutions have been trying to undermine Israel at every turn." The Jewish nation is left struggling with Iran, the world's number one state sponsor of terrorism, as well as Iran's "well-armed proxies" which Iran had hoped to use to shield itself from Israeli retaliation.

Internally, the Iranian regime has a track record of suppressing dissent and committing "human rights abuses on a massive scale…Its foreign terror activities include funding and arming militias, rebel groups, and terrorist organizations across the ME, Africa and South America." The West's failure to deal with these threats had provided Iran the space and financing to flourish, while at the same time they abandoned "Israel to confront this monstrous regime alone. Instead of helping Israel defeat Iran's terrorism… or even just thanking it, the West goes out of its way to defame, sabotage and attack Israel."

Today, Iran "is reportedly in the final stages of producing…'an Islamic Bomb', is supplying Russia with weapons for "its war on Ukraine, and arming terrorist groups" in Iraq and Yemen, perpetuating the conflict and chaos in those nations. It is now allied with Russia, China and North Korea – all dangerous enemies of the West. Its links with anti-American regimes in Latin America are also very concerning. "These alliances present a dangerous escalation in Iran's strategy to extend its reach into the Western Hemisphere, far beyond the ME. Israel, by confronting Iran…is confronting a global network of malign actors that threaten peace and stability worldwide."

When Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7th 2023, it slaughtered 1,200 people, "including infants, torturing, beheading, raping and burning alive many of the victims, and kidnapped more than 250 others." This was just the latest atrocity "in a long series of gruesome acts committed by Hamas." Yet despite this act of war against Israel, which the PA and other Palestinian terrorist groups have justified, Hamas, "with US encouragement, seemed to assume, that they will be able to resume ruling the Gaza Strip," and so continue its jihad – holy war – against the people of Israel.

After mentioning Israel's attacks against the Houthis in Yemen, Rafizadeh writes that while it "is the West's responsibility to confront these forces," only Israel is doing it. Western powers "should be at the forefront of the fight against terrorism," yet they "have abdicated their role, leaving Israel to bear the burden…Israel has been stepping in where others have hesitated or even enabled its aggression – an indictment of the West's inability to take up its own responsibilities."

This bold Iranian-American continues, writing that if the West has become "too fearful or reluctant to engage directly in the fight against injustice, terror, and tyranny, the very least it can do is stand with Israel and stop trying to sabotage it at every turn." Support must not be only in words "but include political, diplomatic and military backing. By failing to support Israel fully," the West has empowered nations "working to revise the world order – from one of freedom to one of tyranny…

"Israel is single-handedly carrying the weight of multiple fronts in the battle against terrorism. The Free World…currently under threat in at least three theaters – Eastern Europe, the ME and the Indo-Pacific – should be at the forefront of this fight. Instead, Israel is left to do the work that the Western democracies should have undertaken long ago…Israel's struggle is not just for its own survival but for the security and peace of the Free World. The West, through its passivity, is failing not only Israel, it is hollowing out its own survival." ("Israel Fights Alone, Carrying by Itself a Catatonically Suicidal West," M. Rafizadeh, Gatestone Institute, 19 Oct. 2024)

On Oct. 24, 2024, Masoud Aali, an Iranian religious scholar who wants to see the West fall, declared on Iran's IRINN TV that, "Israel is not an ordinary country or government. It is the fortress of…the West. If you manage to conquer it, you can conquer the West. It is the executive arm of Western hegemony. If you cut off this arm, Western hegemony will collapse." He noted that from the start of the 1979 Shi'ite revolution, the Ayatollah Khomeini emphasized "the destruction of Israel as a religious idea and strategy, and not as a political idea…He knew that Israel has to be annihilated," in order to prepare the way for the Shi'ite Messiah, the Mahdi, the Hidden Imam, to appear." (MEMRI-TV, Oct. 2024)

Bill Clinton sets the record straight!

Columnist Ruthie Blum, a former adviser to Netanyahu, reported on ex-US President Clinton's jaw-dropping words of truth which he shared at a rally for Kamala Harris in Michigan just before the recent US elections. He confronted those voters who were opposed to her because of "her administration's ostensibly unforgiveable support for Israel. He did this by setting the record straight about the Palestinian Arabs' attitude to the Jewish state."

While calling for a re-start of the two-state solution "peace process" he publicly exposed the culprit behind this process' repeated failure. "I understand why young Palestinian and Arab Americans…think too many people have died…But if you lived in one of those kibbutzim in Israel, right next to Gaza, where the people there were the most pro-friendship with Palestine – the most pro-two-state-solution of any of the Israeli communities were the ones right next to Gaza – and Hamas butchered them."

Clinton continued: "The people who criticize [Israel's response] are essentially saying, 'Yeah, but look how many people you've killed in retaliation. How many is enough for you to kill to punish them for the terrible things they did?' That all sounds nice until you realize what you would do if it was your family and you hadn't done anything but support a homeland for the Palestinians, and one day they come for you and slaughter the people in your village. You would say, 'You have to forgive me, but I'm not keeping score that way.' It isn't how many we've had to kill because Hamas makes sure that they're shielded by civilians. They'll force you to kill civilians if you want to defend yourself."

Using his experience gained by hosting "the 2000 Camp David Summit to forge a treaty that would result in the creation of an independent Palestinian state," Clinton admitted, "I worked hard on this. And the only time [PLO chief] Arafat didn't tell me the truth was when he promised me he was going to accept the peace deal that we had worked out, which would have given the Palestinians a state on 96% of the 'West Bank' and 4% of Israel – and they got to choose where the 4% of Israel was. So they would have the effect of the same land of all the 'West Bank'. They'd have a capital in east Jerusalem."

He then laid out the truth of the situation, highlighting the details. "[The Palestinians] would have equal access, all day, every day, to the security towers that Israel maintained all through the 'West Bank' up to the Golan Heights. All this was offered, including…a capital in east Jerusalem and two of the four quadrants of the Old City of Jerusalem, confirmed by the Israeli PM Ehud Barak, and his Cabinet. [The Palestinians] said no. I think part of it is that Hamas did not care about a homeland for the Palestinian Arabs. They wanted to kill Israelis and make Israel uninhabitable."

Then he said, "I've got news for them. [The Jews] were there first. Before their faith [Islam] existed, [Jews] were there, in the time of King David, and the southernmost tribes had Judea and Samaria." ("Amos Schocken's lies, Bill Clinton's truths," R. Blum, Arutz 7 Op-ed, 4 Nov. 2024)

Looking back, we see the hand of God hardening the hearts of the Palestinian leaders so that they would not accept this traitorous deal being offer by Barak to them. God has done this repeatedly since Israel has been reborn and always the ultimate result is good for Israel and brings glory to Him!

The fall of the post-Christian West

Dr. Yoram Hazony is an Israeli-American philosopher, a Bible scholar, and political theorist, whose specialty is nationalism and conservativism. Below are excerpts from an Israel Hayom interview from late May.

Hazony sees the West as "suffering from an immense post-biblical void." America and Europe have taken the Bible out of their curriculum, so that now they are "falling apart at the seams internally and too weak to deal with their external threats."

His Western colleagues want to hear what "the Jewish people, have to say about the crises that the West has been undergoing in the last few decades. From various points of view, they regard Israel as a role-model state."

The feast of Passover "is the First Independence Day of any nation in history." The Bible tells of a nation that is set free from Egyptian bondage, which "then establishes an independent state in its own land," yet without trying "to establish an empire to rule over other nations. The Exodus,… the crowning story of Jewish history… has had an unparalleled impact on the political order of the entire Western world. It gave birth to the idea of national freedom and the concept of a nation-state that gives expression to the unique nature of a defined group of people, and which usually rise up to resist empires threatening to swallow them up."

To validate this statement, Hazony gave a short historical review: "From the time of King Alfred the Great," who united the English tribes and formed "the 'United Kingdom' in the 10th century based on the precedent of the unification of the tribes of Israel," then to the Czechs [14th century], the Dutch [16th], the Poles and French [17th], they all looked "to the Bible to establish their own nationhood. The same dynamics occurred…in the US: there is a good reason why the founding fathers of America kept going back to the scriptures, and claimed to be 'The New Israel.' Not in the Christian sense," as in replacement theology, "but in the sense that they saw in our story an example to be followed and they sought to imitate our ancestors."

In the 20th century, this idea of national freedom found in the Tanach [Old Testament], reached the ends of the earth. This concept "does not stem from the other cultural pillars of the West – neither from ancient Greece, where the Greek city-states constantly fought one another, nor from Rome, which was underpinned by a clear imperialist tendency. Passover might well be our national holiday, but its voice is heard far away."

Hazony notes that Jewish thinking has made a huge "impact on the West," which was magnified by some of the "important Protestant thinkers, whose reading was based on the 'p'shat' (the plain literal meaning of the verse) of the Biblical text." He clarifies that he does not mean "that everything the Christians adopted from us has authentic Jewish roots, but the messages that I am talking about are indeed deeply rooted in our tradition."

Asked about the issue of democracy and individual freedoms, he cautions against idolizing it. "In the right dose, individual freedom is a vitally important value, but when you make individual freedom into the be-all and end-all, then every public question is met with the same answer: Is there any reason to maintain and preserve our boundaries? Individual freedom will tell you no. Is there a good reason to educate our children to serve in the military, to celebrate the Shabbat, festivals, and other important events for our collective Jewish identity? It is always the same answer – the individual should decide what to do with his life. When you espouse only that value without adding additional components to public life, the liberal government collapses within the space of two generations, simply as it has no mechanism that knows how to preserve traditions that are vital to society."

[Chuck: Recently, I have also become concerned about this idolization of democracy. According to Messiah Yeshua, the furtherance of God's kingdom and His glory is more important than my personal needs or desires. The growth and maturing of Messiah's Body is also more important than any individual feelings or inclinations that I may have. As Yeshua said, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. (Matt. 16:24; see also Luke 9:23)]

The victory of extreme liberalism in today's society is obvious and dangerous. Hazony explains, "For the last three generations, liberalism has been winning everywhere. The first thing it did was to convince the masses that they needed to remove religion from public life." US President Roosevelt and General Eisenhower often said that the war against the Nazis was a "war for Christianity." He asks if we could even imagine Biden saying something like this today. "Back in the '60s, following the legal rulings of the US Supreme Court, Bible studies were removed from public schools and were made illegal. Since then, religion has been afforded less and less respect in American public life."

After communism's fall, the West thought Marxism was finished, but then radical leftist professors "equipped with neo-Marxist theories" started teaching how "society is built from a struggle between groups of oppressors and oppressed…" The oppressed have no choice but to overthrow "the ruling class…oppressing them," whether they are men, whites, and after Oct. 7th, Jews. Just like today's liberals "have no tools to fight against the Islamic supremacist movements in the West, so too they will lack the tools to prevent the neo-Marxists from taking over the universities in the US."

He also has great concerns for Europe's future, seeing its current situation as "difficult, perhaps even dire." Based on what we see today, he does not think the Western world will "be able to contend with the domestic Muslim and neo-Marxist threat, as the only tools it has to do so are liberal tools, which are not really capable of confronting these threats."

So how can Israel prepare for a future where it may even lose its few remaining Western allies? He responds by challenging us to recognize this stark truth: "Wherever the belief in God and respect for the Bible and the Christian tradition are lost, there is no vacuum; this almost always gives rise to antisemitism." This is obvious with today's "revolutionary left." Historically, the basic reason why America, the UK, and the West in general "chose to help Zionism was its respect for the Bible and the contribution of the Jews to the West, as well as the belief that God will help the Jews." Once this was removed, one can "look at Israel as an anachronistic project of a strong nation-state preventing a much weaker group from attaining self-determination."

The interviewer, seeing this as "a prophecy of doom," asked if there is also a "prophecy of comfort?" Hazony replied with a truth which is absolutely vital for us as we intercede: "It is important to remember that God is omnipotent. We humans are not so gifted at knowing what the future holds…I draw hope from meetings with nationalist and Christian groups, unbelievably staunch supporters of Israel; it doesn't matter whether this is in England, Hungary, Italy, or the US. I have been profoundly impressed by their determination and willingness to struggle against the strong forces of the global left. Every one of these people is seriously concerned about the future of his nation and they are really not sure that they will be able to win, but they are investing everything they have in an effort to do so. It is precisely because we are the people of the Bible that we must help them…"

Hazony is part of "The National Conservative Movement" which has been holding conferences among like-minded people. He said that in today's woke-atmosphere many "people in the academic world feel if they speak out in favor of the nation-state, religion, and family values – they will be dismissed and thrown aside, left with no existence." Surprisingly, Israel is a model state for many of them. "We wish we could be like Israel" is what he hears throughout the global right. It looks up to Israel with its "high rate of natural increase," where a large majority of Israelis "fasts on Yom Kippur, holds a Seder on Passover, gets married at a religious ceremony, and serves together in the army…It is a pity that the opinions voiced by these people are not heard in Israel." ("The West is suffering from a post-biblical void," Israel Hayom Interview, 23 May 2024)

Hatred and God

Here are a few verses that most believers would have a hard time confessing to God. Yet they are verses that King David prayed to God and he is seen as a man after God's own heart. We need to understand that hating what God hates is seen as a positive virtue in Scripture (Psa. 97:10: Prov. 8:13). For example, the fact that I now hate my sin is the absolutely best proof of my salvation! Before I was born-again, I loved my sin, but now… (Psa. 101:3; 119:104, 128; Amos 5:15a; Rom. 12:9).

Listen as King David prays to God: Do I not hate them, YHWH, that hate You? Am I not grieved with those that rise up against You? I hate them with perfect [+ complete] hatred; they have become my enemies. He then asks, Examine me God, and know my heart; try [+ test; prove] me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked [+ idolatrous] way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psa. 139:21-24)

Hatred is a very strong emotion and while God can hate and remain totally sinless (Deut. 12:31; Prov. 6:16-19; Jer. 44:4; Rev. 2:6, 15), we need to be very careful in what we hate and, like David, constantly ask Him to examine us for godly motives.

The name of YHWH [that is His essential nature] is a strong tower:
the righteous run into Him, and is safe.Prov. 18:10

Blessings from Jerusalem

Chuck Cohen