LLX News

By: Julie Stahl – Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN); cbn.com

ELI, Samaria – Following a recent spate of deadly terror attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to build thousands of new housing units in what the world calls the West Bank, also known – especially in Israel – as biblical Judea and Samaria.

The move angered international players, but millions of Israelis believe that reclaiming their biblical inheritance is the right thing to do.

The view from the hilltops of Eli is stunning, and even more so because it overlooks modern and ancient Shiloh (pronounced shee-LOH), the site where the Bible says the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant rested for nearly 4 centuries.

How do they know it’s the biblical site?

One resident, Eliana Passentin, the international desk director for the Binyamin Regional Council, likened the Bible’s description (in Judges 21:19) to a navigation App (Waze) pinpointing the ancient location.

“It’s like using Waze in ancient times tells you exactly how to get to Shiloh. And they said, ‘Behold, there is a feast of the Lord from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north of Beth El (Bethel).’ There’s a verse at the end of the book: ‘On the east side of the highway that goeth up from Beth El to Shechem and on the south of Levona.’”

cont’d…

https://www2.cbn.com/news/israel/jewish-residents-near-biblical-shiloh-connect-history-beautiful-hilltops

By: John Waage – Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN); cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – The week ahead will not be an easy one for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

As he recovers from a concerning bout of dizziness and a fall caused – doctors believe – by dehydration while at the Sea of Galilee, a medical event which required an overnight stay in the hospital, the prime minister will be steering the nation through another week of protests against his government’s judicial reform plan.

Additionally, although the position of prime minister is the most powerful office in Israel, Netanyahu will govern in Jerusalem this week while the nation’s ceremonial leader, President Isaac Herzog, meets with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and later addresses a joint session of Congress.

It’s Herzog’s second visit in the past year to Washington, and in the nearly 8 months since the Netanyahu government was sworn in, no invitation is yet forthcoming from the Biden White House for the prime minister to meet with him.

Israeli prime ministers have endured decades of frosty receptions from presidential administrations: Menachem Begin with Jimmy Carter in the 1970’s, Yitzhak Shamir with George H.W. Bush in the early 90’s, Benjamin Netanyahu with Bill Clinton in the late 90’s, and Netanyahu again with Barack Obama from 2009 to 2016.

For the most part, Israeli politicians know from experience that snubs from American administrations are to be taken with a grain of salt and covered in public with kind words about the “special relationship” between the two nations.

cont’d…

https://www2.cbn.com/news/israel/tough-week-netanyahu-israeli-and-us-efforts-isolate-him-may-backfire

By: Jon Brown – Fox News; foxnews.com

Pastor Yang Xibo greets news of $55,100 fine by thanking God ‘for allowing us to have a part in His affliction’

The pastor of a large house church in China is facing steep fines from the Chinese government in what a watchdog group is describing as a case of religious persecution.

Pastor Yang Xibo and his wife, Wang Xiaofei, who lead the Xunsiding Church, have been slapped with a combined fine of 400,000 yuan — or roughly $55,100 — for organizing religious activities, according to Texas-based nonprofit ChinaAid, which keeps an eye on Christian persecution in China.

Xunsiding Church is the largest house church in Xiamen, a port city on China’s southeast coast across a strait from Taiwan. House churches are Christian congregations that have not registered with China’s official Protestant or Roman Catholic churches.

The fine, which the Christian couple has been battling since 2021, was reportedly doubled on June 28, according to ChinaAid. The two recently announced on social media that they are refusing to pay.

cont’d…

https://www.foxnews.com/world/china-clamps-down-christians-fines-pastor-wife-running-underground-church-watchdog

“We support the French government in its fight against the scourge of antisemitism,” says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

Israel is closely monitoring and deeply concerned about “waves of antisemitism sweeping over France,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting.

“In recent days, we have witnessed criminal assaults against Jewish targets. We strongly condemn these attacks and support the French government in its fight against antisemitism,” he added.

Mass chaos has engulfed France since the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M., of Algerian origin, in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday.

Rioters in areas with large Muslim populations have torched cars and looted shops, clashing with police and causing hundreds of injuries.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/israel-news/antisemitism/23/7/2/299383/

Young Palestinians parade and brandish fake rifles as they are instructed on combat against the ‘Zionist enemy’ at Palestinian Islamic Jihad camp

By: Times of Israel Staff; timesofisrael.com

As they do every year, terror groups in the Gaza Strip are operating summer camps for the Palestinian enclave’s youth that includes military-style training in preparation to fight against Israel.

As part of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s activities, young Palestinians parade and train with fake rifles and are instructed on jihad against the “Zionist enemy.”

In previous years, children were taught to stab and stone Israeli police in order “to liberate Al-Aqsa,” while instructors lionized those who fall as “martyrs” against the enemy.

“These boys are trained in various ways to defend their rights in their territory and homeland,” PIJ official Darwish al-Gharabli told AFP. “Hundreds have participated in the camps of the al-Quds Brigades, the camps of glory and pride, ensuring that jihad and resistance will continue.”

Disturbing photos & captions attached…

https://www.timesofisrael.com/gaza-youths-march-and-train-to-fight-israel-at-palestinian-islamic-jihad-summer-camp/

By: Eric R. Mandel – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

The Fourth of July is a time to reflect on what Israel can teach America about love of country.

This June, I was privileged to hear an American lieutenant-general studying at the Israel Defense College speak about American patriotism and the lack thereof. He said he was saddened that he recently read that less than a third of young Americans are proud to be citizens of the United States.

Indeed, a March poll taken by The Wall Street Journal revealed that only 23% of Americans aged 18-29 say patriotism is important to them. Of all adults, only 38% said, “Patriotism was very important, down from 70% in 1998.” Americans place “low importance on these values, many of which were central to their parents’ lives.”

In contrast, 86.2% of Israeli Jews feel a sense of belonging to the Jewish state, according to a 2022 Israel Democracy Institute poll.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/jns/israel/23/6/25/297823/

By: Pesach Benson – Israel Today; israeltoday.co.il

Since 1994, the program has graduated 20,000 students, mostly from Africa and Asia.

Israel’s Arava region is not the most likely location for a center to teach agriculture. Stretching along Israel’s southern border with Jordan between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, the area is known for its hot weather and sparse rainfall.

But it was those conditions which attracted Hanni Arnon to launch the Arava International Center for Agricultural Training (AICAT) in 1994. The program brings students from developing countries to learn practical agriculture with Israeli farmers living in the Arava.

“The fact that we are located in the Arava, in the desert, with no natural resources, gives students added value. They understand that human capacity is very important, that you can overcome challenges and odds, and that even you can make the desert bloom,” Arnon told the Tazpit Press Service as a group of 35 Azerbaijani students were finishing an intensive 10-month course.

cont’d…

“The big churches are using a very loud voice to malign, fabricate and twist the story,” says Rev. Peter Fast.

By: Etgar Lefkovits – Israel Today; israeltoday.co.il

A concerted effort is underway by some mainstream churches to convince evangelical Christians to be less supportive of Israel, the incoming head of an evangelical organization headquartered in Jerusalem says.

Rev. Peter Fast, CEO-elect of Bridges for Peace, spoke in an interview with JNS on [last] Tuesday.

The remarks come two months after the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem lambasted Israeli restrictions on the number of worshippers allowed into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem for the Holy Fire ceremony over Easter.

News agencies fanned the criticism worldwide, only to have it later emerge that a church engineer had requested the limitations over safety concerns.

“The big churches are using a very loud voice to malign, fabricate and twist the story to make Israel look like a human rights violator and oppressor of faith,” Fast told JNS.

cont’d…

https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/evangelical-leader-decries-mainstream-church-efforts-to-malign-israel/

By: Nicole Alcindor – The Christian Post; christianpost.comn

A new study on faith and relationships suggests that absent fathers and collapsed marriages might be two of the best explanations for why Christianity is declining in the United States. 

The Nationwide Study on Faith and Relationships, research recently released by the church-consulting organization Communio, reports that “family decline appears to fuel faith decline.”

The study drew data from a nationwide survey of 19,000 Sunday church attendees from 112 Evangelical, Protestant and Catholic congregations in 13 states. The research comes as marriage rates have dropped 31 percent since 2000 and 61 percent since 1970, while less than half of all adults under 30 today grew up in a home with married parents.

According to the study, individuals who regularly attend church are more likely to have fathers present in their lives.

cont’d…

https://www.christianpost.com/news/absent-fathers-collapsing-marriages-major-reason-why-christians-are-declining-study.html

By: Raymond Ibrahim – Raymond Ibrahim; raymondibrahim.com

Newborn baby Muhammads are taking Western Europe by storm—with Berlin being the latest target.  According to a May 8, 2023

• The first name Mohammed has gained popularity in Germany in the past year….  In Berlin, Mohammed was the most popular first name for boys in 2022. Last year he had ranked third…. In Bremen, the first name Mohammed has moved up from third place to second place…. In Hesse, too, the name of the Muslim prophet is on the rise. There he fought his way from eighth to third place.

This trend is occurring all throughout Western Europe.  Muhammad is the most popular name in the United Kingdom;  in major Belgian cities—including Brussels, the EU capital; in Oslo, the capital of Norway; and in the Netherlands’ largest cities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.

This is to say nothing of other Arabic/Muslim names, which are also topping the charts of newborn baby names. According to a 2015 report, in the UK,

There is a surge in Arabic names generally, with Nur a new entry in the girls’ top 100, jumping straight to number 29, and Maryam rising 59 places to number 35. Omar, Ali, and Ibrahim are new to the boys’ top 100.

Even in the United States, in 2019, Muhammad made the list of top 10 baby names. “Arabic names are on the rise this year,” the BabyCenter said, “with Muhammad and Aaliyah entering the top 10 and nudging Mason and Layla off.”

All this may seem innocuous enough.  After all, what’s in a name?