LLX News

By: John Waage – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – Before the FIFA World Cup soccer championships began in Qatar 10 days ago, Israelis were optimistic that the event could break cultural barriers in sports and within the Muslim world at large. After all, the government in Doha allowed direct flights from Israel and was even setting up a Kosher kitchen to accommodate Jewish tourists.

Qatar is the first Muslim country to host the world cup, and although protests against the Gulf nation’s funding of terrorism and other issues were prevalent before the games. Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, built an entire studio to cover the matches in Doha despite the Israel team’s failure to qualify for the final 32 teams. In the afterglow of the Abraham Accords and given Israel’s passion for soccer, it seemed like a solid decision.

Since then, the talk of Kosher kitchens has given way to darker accounts. The Associated Press describes an incident before the matches began when an Israeli Kan journalist was wandering through the venue and found a Qatari man in a traditional headdress and white robe, and approached him for an interview:

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/november/israelis-in-qatar-jarred-by-hostile-reception-from-fans-residents

By: Daniel Copeland – CBN News; cbn.com

ANALYSIS

Barna Group isn’t new to generational research—and the discouragement that sometimes comes with it. In research of Christianity and the Church, in particular, the news of declining faith and engagement, especially among young people, can tend to overshadow any bright spots in the data.

In this piece, however, I want to share some of those rare bits of good news: Our most recent (and largest) study to date shows that, for Gen Z, there is much reason to be hopeful and optimistic.

I want to address just one area here: their perceptions of the Bible.

We surveyed nearly 25,000 teens ages 13 to 17 from 26 nations. Those surveyed came from all faith backgrounds, including teens of no faith. We discovered the Church may have a launching point from which to begin authentically discipling this next generation.

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2022/november/study-shows-much-of-gen-z-believes-the-bible-is-true-ndash-heres-the-good-and-the-bad-news

By: Jerusalem Post Staff; jpost.com

The West Bank “is not occupied territory, it is disputed territory,” DeSantis told the RJC. “I don’t care what the State Department says.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis defended Israel’s claim to the West Bank in his speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s (RJC) annual leadership meeting on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

According to the 2024 presidential hopeful, the West Bank “is not occupied territory, it is disputed territory,” he claimed. “I don’t care what the State Department says.”

The Floridian was one of a host of Republican leaders who spoke at the convention, including former US president Donald Trump and likely the next speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, who told Jewish Republicans he plans to remove outspoken anti-Israel Democrat Ilhan Omar from the US House Foreign Affairs Committee.

cont’d…

https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/article-722930

By: Paul Strand – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – A German Jewish leader in Brandenburg state is making Aliyah to Israel and has called for his fellow Jews to flee the German nation because of rising anti-Semitism.

Semen Gorelik fled the former Soviet Union when he was young. Now he is calling for a mass exodus from the former Nazi nation that committed the Holocaust. In an interview with CBN News in Jerusalem, prominent Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said he understands why Gorelik would leave.

“It’s not safe for him. He doesn’t like hiding his Jewish identity in public,” Cooper explained. “He’s urging all other Jews to follow him and come to Israel.”

In a public letter on The Axis of Good website, Gorelik announced, “I recommend everyone who professes Judaism to leave this country as soon as possible.”

He wrote of Germany, “With its anti-Jewish foreign and domestic policies, the country has proven that anti-Semitism is an inseparable part of the state political ideology of this country. You can’t live in this country as a Jew!   And I don’t want to live in this country anymore.”

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/november/rise-in-anti-semitism-prompts-german-jewish-leader-to-leave-for-israel-urges-other-jews-to-get-out-while-they-can

By: Etgar Lefkovits – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

Congressional Israel Allies Caucus members call on 27 countries to help shutter organizations that exist solely to delegitimize the Jewish state.

In a renewed push of faith-based diplomacy, three heads of the U.S. Congressional Israel Allies Caucus have written to the leaders of more than two dozen countries urging them to vote to shutter two anti-Israel U.N. institutions in a vote that will come before the General Assembly later this year.

The appeal comes as the Palestinians pushed through a draft resolution at a U.N. committee Friday over the objections of the U.S. and Israel calling on the International Court of Justice to issue a legal opinion on Israel’s “prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of Palestinian territory.” The unilateral move is expected to be approved by the General Assembly by the end of the year.

The letter, which was signed by Reps. Doug Lamborn (R.-Colo.), Chris Smith (R.-N.J.) and Steve Chabot (R.-Ohio), urges 27 world leaders to join the U.S. in opposing the annual resolutions that approve the continued function and activities of two anti-Israel UN bodies, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) and the Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR). The signatories said the two bodies exist solely to delegitimize and defame the State of Israel.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/congressmen-urge-world-leaders-to-terminate-anti-israel-un-bodies/

Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

The former U.S. president was honored with the Theodor Herzl Gold Medallion at the Zionist Organization of America’s 2022 Gala in New York City.

Israel is a modern-day “miracle” and its relationship with the United States is deep-seated and multi-dimensional, former U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday.

Speaking at the Zionist Organization of America’s 2022 Gala in New York City, Trump said, “The United States and Israel are not just allies on a military basis, but economically and politically; we’re allies morally, culturally and spiritually and we always will be—at least if I have anything to do about it.”

The former president spoke after being honored with the organization’s Theodor Herzl Gold Medallion.

Founded in 1897, the Zionist Organization of America played a key role in the Jewish state’s re-establishment, and today is a leading American Jewish organization dedicated to defending Israel and the Jewish people; fighting against all forms of antisemitism, including anti-Jewish boycotts; and promoting the Jewish people’s lawful right to live in and settle historic Jewish lands.

Notable attendees among the 700 guests on Sunday night included the Trump administration’s chief Middle East peace negotiator Jason Greeblatt, Israeli parliamentarians Amir Ohana (Likud) and Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism), and law expert Alan Dershowitz.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/trump-israel-is-a-miracle-but-some-american-jews-not-doing-the-right-thing-by-it/

By: John Waage – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – The vote counting is finished following Tuesday’s Israeli elections, and Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc won a solid 64-seat majority in the Knesset, opening the door for the nation’s longest-serving prime minister to return to office after 17 months in the opposition.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid conceded defeat and called to congratulate Netanyahu Thursday evening while assuring Israelis of an orderly transition. In a statement, Lapid said, “The State of Israel is above political considerations. I wish Netanyahu success, for the people of Israel and the State of Israel.”

Tom Nides, the US Ambassador to Israel, also called Netanyahu and said he looked forward to working with him to help maintain the “unbreakable bond” between the two countries.

The final count gave Netanyahu’s Likud Party 32 seats in the next Knesset. Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party finished second with 24 seats, followed by the Religious Zionist Party with 14 seats, and Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party with 12.

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/november/its-official-netanyahu-bloc-wins-israeli-elections-with-64-seats-pm-lapid-concedes

By: Julie Stahl – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – When COVID closed Israel’s borders in 2020, it virtually shut down businesses depending on tourism.  As restrictions lifted in March of this year, the long wait for visitors ended and Christians from around the world are flocking back to the Holy Land.

Tour buses once again line the streets of Jerusalem, while boats full of tourists are back on the Sea of Galilee.

Galilee Worship Boats Captain Daniel Carmel welcomes the change.”(It’s) not like in the year of 2019, but it is so blessed. Hallelujah! We have groups and we have no complaints,” he exclaimed.

CBN News joined Carmel and a group of more than 40 Brazilians, many who were making return trips to Israel. Sara Limasilverio from Sao Paulo first visited in 2008 as a 15-year-old.

 “It feels amazing, and I was waiting for this moment,” she said. “Our trip changed like three or four times because of the pandemic. But now that we’re here, we’re enjoying every single moment. The presence of God, it’s so beautiful. And the joy of the Holy Spirit on us, it’s amazing,” she continued.

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/october/israelis-and-tourists-both-celebrate-as-visitors-return-to-the-holy-land-in-pre-pandemic-numbers

By: Julie Stahl – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – With nearly 100 percent of the votes counted in the Israeli elections, it seems that former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party will return to power.

Netanyahu urged his supporters to wait until final results are in before declaring victory. Still, according to the count so far, it seems clear that Netanyahu has a solid majority to form an ideologically conservative government.

In Jerusalem early Wednesday morning, Netanyahu told a cheering crowd of supporters, “One thing is already clear: our way, the way of the Likud, has proven itself.”

After the initial exit poll results came in Tuesday night, the celebrations began at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center. Those results held up with less than 3 percent of the votes remaining to be counted, virtually assuring that Netanyahu will extend his time as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. 

Netanyahu promised, “I will establish a nationalist government that will see to all Israeli citizens without any exceptions.”

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/november/israels-vote-count-nearly-complete-as-netanyahu-and-religious-parties-win-big

By: Caroline Glick – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

The real issue dividing Israeli society isn’t former premier Benjamin Netanyahu or the economy, but something far more basic: Israeli society is being torn apart by the issue of national sovereignty.

Most of Israel’s commentators insist that Tuesday’s Knesset elections—the fifth in fewer than four years—are about the same thing the last four were about: Benjamin Netanyahu. If you vote for Netanyahu’s Likud Party, or for the other three parties in his right-religious bloc, then you are for Netanyahu. If you vote for caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, or for any of the members of his left-Arab bloc, then you are against Netanyahu. Nothing else is up for grabs.

The notion that politics in Israel can be boiled down to whether a person loves or hates Netanyahu was never true, at least for voters. Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, Gideon Sa’ar and their colleagues in the Yamina and New Hope parties who bolted the right and formed the current left-Arab government are rightly viewed as having betrayed their voters. Last May they put their hatred and envy of Netanyahu above their professed ideology and their voters to oust their camp from power and give Israel its first post-Zionist government.

Today, there is no “Never Bibi” right. Bennett isn’t running. Shaked is about to be wiped out at the polls. Sa’ar has joined Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s leftist National Unity Party.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/opinion/jewish-sovereignty-is-on-the-ballot/