HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ISRAEL

 

And all nations will call you blessed,
For you will be a delightful land,”
Says the Lord of hosts.   

 Malachi 3:12

http://www.israel21c.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Ashkelon-kids-YH-flash90.jpg

 

Last week the modern state of Israel celebrated its 68th birthday.  As Remembrance Day, in which we honor Israel's  23,447 fallen soldiers and victims of terror, a day of sadness and tears, drew to  a close on the eve of May the 12th, people gathered in every city, town and neighborhood to celebrate Independence Day with music, singing, dancing, ceremonies, and fireworks displays. The following day  parks and beaches were filled to overflowing as we enjoyed barbecues, picnics, visits to army bases and the traditional Air Force display.  For this one day we forget our differences and rejoice together, as one big warm, happy family, just thankful to be alive and to be in our own land again.

 

http://mendelistreethotel.com/sites/default/files/styles/hp_rooms/public/o-israel-independence-day-facebook.jpg?itok=D0AWiozr

 

 

 

Independence Day, Sacher Park Jerusalem

http://cdn.timesofisrael.com/uploads/2016/05/F090531DS13.jpg

 

Sometimes as I travel around this amazing little land I am filled with awe at what has been accomplished here in just 68 years. God has truly blessed Israel in spite of all our difficulties. In this tiny land, smaller than  New Jersey (or Otago for you Kiwis), which is mostly arid desert or rugged mountains, with little arable land and few natural resources, Israeli's have created a prosperous, modern democratic state, second to none in the world in many respects. On Independence Day Ynetnews published 20 beautiful photos from around Israel. Take a look on http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4802294,00.html

Size of Israel ( drawn to scale in blue) compared
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/relative.html 

 

On May 14th, 1948, Israel was declared a State and the following day a  confederation of  six Arab nations, led by Egypt, attacked. Below is a photo of the headlines of the Jewish newspaper, The Palestine Post, published two days later. Note the headline which reads "Egyptian Air Force Spitfires Bomb Tel Aviv; One Shot Down", and below it "2 Columns Cross Southern Border". The War of Independence lasted roughly 8 months and in spite of being vastly outnumbered and outgunned, Israel not only survived but even expanded its territory.


 

 

 

https://flashtrafficblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/israel.jpg?w=550

 

We have come a very long way since then.  At the end of the War of Independence Israel was not only impoverished by the war, and grieving for the 6000 lost lives, but it also had to absorb hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees from the enemy Arab nations. Yet in 2015 Israel was ranked 18th in the world according to the UN's Human Development Index, putting it amongst those nations with 'very high human development' .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index#Very_high_human_development.  

 

At the time of the declaration of statehood Israel's total population was only 806,000. Today there are ten times that number - 8,522,000, according to the latest statistics published on the Eve of Independence Day this year.   Of the total population 74.8%  are Jewish, 20,8% Arab and Christians, non-Arabs and other minority groups comprise 4.4%. Of the Jewish population 75% are born in Israel, which means that even today 1 in 4 are immigrants. 

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-turns-68-with-8-5-million-people-10-times-more-than-in-1948/

 

Not only has Israel's population grown but so has its affluence, as attested by the 3 million cars now clogging our roads. When I arrived in Israel, in 1979, many people did not have a telephone and you had to wait about 6 months to get a line. Now around 96% of all Israelis own at least one cellphone and landlines are becoming obsolete. In 1956/7 only 12% of homes had washing machines but now 96% do.

 

According to figures just out Israel now is ranked 8th in the world for life expectancy, ahead of the UK, the USA, New Zealand, and most of Europe. Men in Israel can now expect to live on average 80.6 years and women even longer, 84.3 years, in spite of ongoing wars, terror attacks and 3 million cars driven largely by maniacs.

 



The Ayalon Freeway in Tel Aviv
http://www.ayalonhw.co.il/download/pictures/pict_1_1.jpg

So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶ Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.” 

 Ezekiel 36: 35-36

Alongside the material growth and development of Israel we have also see a tremendous spiritual growth. Although Israel is still very far from being the Godly, spiritually awakened nation it will one day be, the LORD is hard at work preparing the ground.

In 1948 there were around 150 Messianic believers in Yeshua living in Israel but many of them fled fearing persecution when the state was declared. By 1952 there were only 12 believers left in the Land and one of them, Ze'ev Kofsman, courageously registered the first Messianic congregation with the new government of Israel.  http://www.israeltoday.co.il/Portals/OnlineMagazine-0/201605-IT/index.aspx?mag=68db48e0-1674-4899-b61d-33e78222a536#25/z
When I first arrived in Israel, in 1979, there were only about 200 Messianic believers. Now there are an estimated 13-15000 Jewish believers living here and 265 registered congregations or Messianic organizations (ibid). This represents growth by a factor of 1,250! Although the majority of believers today are immigrants, there is now arising a  large, vibrant, on-fire second generation of Israeli-born, native Hebrew-speaking young people, who are now moving into leadership.  Though far from being a welcome part of Israeli society, the Messianic movement is gaining more and more acceptance and there is a greater openness amongst Israelis to the person of Yeshua than ever before.  This is the prerequisite for the lifting of the veil which currently blinds the Israeli soul.  

For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. ¹ But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. ¹⁶ Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

 

2 Corinthians 3: 14-15

 

According to the Dry Bones Prophecy of Ezekiel 36, first the bones come together, and then the sinews and muscles give the body form and only then does God send the Spirit into the physical body to give it life. I believe that we stand at a point in history where the bones and the sinews of the body of Israel are ready and God is poised to send His Spirit into the nation to give it life, the true life in the spirit.  We live in very exciting times - something one easily forgets in our daily scurrying about.  For even as these grand events play out in history we people must needs get on with our daily lives.

 

The situation in the Land seems to have calmed down considerably after months of almost daily terror attacks, especially here in Jerusalem and its surrounds.  There have been only two attacks since I last wrote, as far as I can remember. One took place just up the end of my street. A group of Arab youths attacked five elderly women out for a walk along the promenade. One of the women, aged 86, was stabbed repeatedly and seriously wounded and another octogenarian moderately wounded. What kind of cowardly people purposely target the aged and helpless. Certainly no heros! The attackers fled into the neighboring Arab village of Jebel Mukaber. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4801662,00.html

A few days later a  young Jewish man was lightly wounded by an attacker near the Damascus Gate http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Stabbing-attack-in-Jerusalem-One-Israeli-wounded-suspect-apprehended-454094.  A number of other attacks have been foiled including one just two days ago when 16 year old Palestinian youth was apprehended on the Jerusalem Light Rail carrying a knife with which he planned to attack police. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Terror-attack-thwarted-after-teen-caught-with-knife-on-Jerusalem-light-rail-454476

Please pray for continued calm and that life can return to a more normal condition. Pray too that we will not be lulled into carelessness. It is easy to let our guard down when things appear calm.

However I am sure the LORD will continue to protect Israel and bless her just has he has promised:

 But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come.   For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.   

I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.  I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. 

 

Ezekiel 36: 8-11

TUNNEL TERROR

 

Its a gorgeous spring morning here in Jerusalem and it is Shabbat. I love Shabbat. Here in Jerusalem it is truly a day of rest. Nearly all the shops are closed, the streets are almost devoid of traffic, and a hush falls over the city as we pause from our frantic lives. It is good to stop awhile and focus on the goodness of our LORD who gave us Shabbat. I also just need the rest. I could never keep going if it wasn't for this one day when I do not have to rush about doing this and that. It is not uncommon for me to rise late and eat a leisurely breakfast in my PJs sitting out on my balcony listening to the chorus of birds in the trees. It's a very special time.

 

We have just finished celebrating the week long holiday of Passover. Since this is the most beautiful time of the year in this land, which is still green from the winter rains and festooned with flowers, and the weather is perfect, Passover is the time many Israelis take time out from their busy lives and just go out to the forests and lakes and the seaside with their families, camping, making barbecues and just enjoying life. National Parks, hiking trails, beaches and 'watering holes' were full to capacity and roads clogged with traffic. It's at time like this you are hit by how small this little land is. It is just impossible to find a place 'a way from it all'.

 

Ein Sataf, a natural spring,  near Jerusalem
http://cdn.timesofisrael.com/uploads/2016/04/F160424YS20-635x357.jpg
 

 

The Sea of Galilee during Passover 2016
https://cdn.jerusalemonline.com/images/AAABecca/seaofgalilee.jpg

 

I personally opted to avoid the crowds and the impossible traffic and stay home. Jerusalem was like a ghost town. The streets were practically empty as many vacationers were scared to come here after the months of terror attacks and the bus bombing that had occurred just two days before the beginning of the holiday. Many Jerusalemites took the opportunity to leave the city and enjoy the relative peace elsewhere. I stayed home and I enjoyed the peace and quiet at home or swimming at my local pool, working on a summer suntan. One day I took myself off to one of our local parks, the Gazelle Park, and found it almost totally deserted to my delight. The weather was a perfect 24ish (degrees Celsius) and the last of the spring flowers still blooming. The gazelles were grazing peacefully or sleeping. The frogs were making a terrible racket calling for mates. The city has put out deckchairs around the park and I found one, and just lay out under the shade of a tree, beside the little waterfall for the longest time. What could be better? Here are some of my photos:

Not all of us were able to relax at Passover and I am very grateful to all those who were busy guarding our borders , roads and towns, so that we could enjoy ourselves in peace. Some 3,000 police, border guards and soldiers were guarding the streets of Jerusalem alone.



Border guards near the Damascus Gate of the Old City
http://www.timesofisrael.com/passover-vacationers-fill-beaches-hiking-trails-beyond-capacity/



This week we all went back to work and life resumed its usual hectic pace. On Tuesday night though the nation paused once more as places of entertainment closed their doors,  and many attended services commemorating the loss of family members and the attempted genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust. As always the names of all those Jews murdered by the Nazis were read out. As the last of the survivors live out their last days many people are busy trying to record their stories before it is too late. After the Holocaust most of the survivors were too traumatized to want to talk about it and did not tell their stories even to their family members. It is only now after 60 years that they are beginning to talk, but these people are now growing old, and each year there are fewer and fewer. Yesterday at our congregation three of our members told the stories of family members who had survived the Holocaust and the many more who did not.  It was a reminder that although the generation of the Holocaust is passing away their children and their grandchildren still bear the scars, and it is important that the generations to come never forget what happened.



When the sirens sound on Holocaust Memorial Day all Israelis stop and stand in honor of the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust
http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Israelis+Observe+Holocaust+Memorial+Day+1Ipn-lLOS3yl.jpg

This is all the more so at this time as once more we are seeing a massive increase in Antisemitism all over the world. How short are our memories. There are still many who want to see the Jewish people and the nation of Israel wiped off the map. Once again Israel is being blamed for many of the world's ills, and vicious lies and distortions creating a groundswell of hatred and fear. The Arab press and others are reviving the ancient libels and accusations, and many are being deceived by these lies. Movements like the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) feed on latent Antisemitism  in order to undermine Israel's economy. Iran, ISIS,  the Palestinian government and various terror organizations, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, speak openly about their desire to push Israel into the sea.  From our point of view another 'Holocaust' seems all too possible.


http://www.prophecysociety.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/holocaust_remember.jpg





Although things have been relatively quiet over the Passover holiday there is still much tension in the air. The situation in the south seems once more to be reaching boiling point. On Friday Prime Minister Netanyahu called a special meeting of the Security Cabinet to discuss the escalation that has occurred over the last week.  During the last Gaza War in 2014 some 30 terror tunnels that passed under the border fence from Gaza and into Israeli territory, some opening near towns and kibbutzim in the area, were destroyed by the IDF.  In recent months new technologies developed by Israel have led to the recent discovery two new tunnels, the latest  this last week. This tunnel is 28m (90ft) deep and extends at least 300 m into Israeli territory (its opening has not yet been found). http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4799687,00.html

Over the last week IDF soldiers working near the border to destroy the tunnels, and trying to find any others that exist, have come under constant attack from Gaza.   Some 16 mortar shells were fired at IDF troops in at least 12 incidents over the last week.  Yesterday two rockets were fired from Gaza towards a civilian area in the Eshkol region. They fell in an open area and no damage or casualties occurred. The IDF has responded to these attacks with tank fire and aerial bombing of Hamas targets in the Strip. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4800244,00.html

Although Hamas claims that it is not wanting to open a war front at this time, they have made no secret of their preparations for an attack on Israel at some time in the future. They are very busy rearming and rebuilding tunnels and other  military infrastructure.  According to a senior IDF commander Hamas employs some 800 specialist tunnel diggers who receive a higher salary than other operatives  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4793038,00.html. If Hamas is not calling for war it is only because it is not yet ready and wants more time to prepare.



Hamas fighters inside a tunnel
http://images1.ynet.co.il/PicServer4/2014/08/19/5532916/55328780100488640360no.jpg

The sad thing is that while Gazan citizens sit and wait for essential building supplies, such as cement, so that they can rebuild their homes lost in the last war, Hamas is channeling all the cement and building supplies into building its tunnels and other military installations.  The tunnels reach as much as 30 m underground and the ground is just sand. The tunnels have to be strongly lined with concrete. Indeed there have been several instances recently of tunnels collapsing and workers being killed during their construction.

This week we saw another consequence of the chronic mismanagement of the Gaza Strip at government level. One of Israel's main water sources, the desalination plant at Ashkelon, was forced to close for the third time in recent months because the sea water it uses was found to contain dangerous levels of E.coli and other bacteria due to raw sewage drifting northwards along the coast from Gaza. Over 900 million cubic liters of raw sewage is dumped into the Mediterranean every day from Gaza, polluting its own coastline and contaminating its own water sources, and drifting towards Israel in the northward current along the eastern Mediterranean shoreline.  http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4780754,00.html

Last year a new water treatment facility was completed in  northern Gaza with international funding at a cost of $100 million. This facility has however not come on line because of the erratic supply of electricity in the Gaza Strip. The Strip has only one power station and this supplies roughly 30% of its needs. The remainder is supplied by Israel (around 60%) and Egypt. https://electronicintifada.net/content/how-gaza-gets-power/7844 Of course Israel is blamed for the power shortages in Gaza but what other country in the world is expected to supply electricity to its enemies, something we continued to do for humanitarian reasons even during the war? Although it is true that Israel was accused of bombing the Gaza power station during the last war, something that Israel denied,  that station was operating fully after just two weeks of the supposed attack http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2014/09/destroyed-gaza-power-plant-miraculously.html.  In fact the station was not 'destroyed' as claimed, just some diesel tanks. 

The shortage of electricity is also blamed on the Israeli blockade of Gaza. In spite of the blockade however Israel continues to facilitate the transfer of fuel into the Strip, but Hamas strategically refuses to buy sufficient to meet the needs of its citizens (suffering citizens are a powerful weapon it its propaganda war), and Fatah, which is contractually responsible for footing the bill, refuses to pay for it. Instead Israeli taxpayers, myself included, are paying for Gaza's power supply.

 What is more, many of the 'shortages' are not because there is insufficient energy being generated or supplied, but because of infighting about how it is allocated and mismanagement of its distribution. Qatar has offered to fund a project to bring more power lines into the Strip. Israel approved the scheme but Palestinian President, Abbas, refused the offer, thus perpetrating the suffering of his people. http://mondoweiss.net/2016/03/uproar-in-gaza-as-abbas-rejects-new-electricity-lines-to-address-power-crisis/

This is a prime example of the complexity of issues here. It is rather simplistic to merely blame Israel for the suffering of the Palestinians, which though extreme and regrettable, is very largely the result of their own actions.

This coming week we will mark Israel's Remembrance day when we remember and honor all those who gave their lives in the various wars and in terror attacks, since the founding of the State.  Again places of entertainment will close and ceremonies of remembrance will be held all over the country. Few families in Israel have not lost someone and many visit the graves of the fallen.

http://www.vosizneias.com/assets/uploads/news_photos/thumbnails/700_t6ak6sis4xi0fzkac9wjqnfo39yjncgr.jpg

 With nightfall on the Day of Remembrance (Yom Hazichron) the mood suddenly changes as Israel's Independence Day begins. This year we will celebrate 68 years since the founding of the State. This juxtaposition of moods, mourning followed by rejoicing, is  difficult emotionally but very much characterizes the people of Israel who have endured unimaginable suffering, but still retain their affirmation of life which they live with great courage and even joy.

http://jccsyr.org/images/2016-Israel-independence-day-445.gif

Please pray that we will pass these solemn and joyful national days in peace this year.

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!

 Jerusalem is built
As a city that is compact together,
Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the Lord,
To the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
 For thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
 Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces.”
 For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
 Because of the house of the Lord our God
I will seek your good

Psalm 122



MIRACLE NATION

 

 

Even if there are moments when we think we've never had it this bad, even if the political situation is a source of doom and gloom for many, we should remind ourselves once a year that the reality we live in far exceeds all our dreams and expectations...

The State of Israel is a miracle.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4649829,00.html

Thus read the headlines in one of Israel's leading papers today, Israel's 67th Independence Day.

 Independence Day celebrations in Tel Aviv (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4649829,00.html

 'Miracle' is a word overused these days but let us pause a moment and remember what 'miracle' really means. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines 'miracle' as an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs.

From the very beginning Israel was an extraordinary nation that resulted from the divine intervention of the LORD in human affairs. We sometimes refer to the people of Israel as the 'chosen people' as if God lined up all the nations and chose Israel out of them. But this is not so. God called up one man, a man of faith, Abram (later to be renamed Abraham), and from his seed created the nation for His purposes, in order to bless all the other nations (Genesis 12: 1-3). Not only that, at least three of the four mothers of the nation of Israel, Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel, were all barren, and God supernaturally opened their wombs in order to create the nation (Genesis 11:30;Genesis 25:21 and Genesis 29:31,30:22). Scripture does not record whether Leah was also barren but it does say that God opened her womb ( Genesis 29:31). Whatever the case, the people of God, 'Am Israel, was established, called and formed by the express intervention and initiative of the LORD. A miracle nation indeed!

Through Israel, the LORD brought forth all the prophets, the revelation through history of God's love for humankind, the prophets, the Holy Scriptures, and, greatest gift of all, the Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus), through whom the world would be redeemed and saved. Should we then be surprised that modern Israel is also a 'miracle nation'?

In the early years of the nineteenth century the entire population of the region now known as Israel and the "Palestinian territories" (the West Bank, or Judah and Samaria), probably had a population of only around half a million including Jews and Arabs (1). European travelers at this time described an almost empty land with a dwindling population of Jews, Arabs and a variety of others, all afflicted by poverty and disease. Mark Twain, in 1867, described it thus

"There is not a solitary village throughout its (the Jezreel Valley) whole extent - not for thirty miles in either direction. There are two or three small clusters of Bedouin tents, but not a single permanent habitation. One may ride ten miles hereabouts and not see ten human beings ... (in reference to the Galilee) these unpeopled deserts, these rusty mounds of barrenness, that never, never, never do shake the glare from their harsh outlines, and fade and faint into vague perspective; that melancholy ruin of Capernaum; this stupid village of Tiberias, slumbering under its six funereal palms... We reached Tabor safely ... We never saw a human being on the whole route. ...Nazareth is forlorn... Jericho the accursed lies in a moldering ruin ... Bethlehem and Bethany, in their poverty and their humiliation.... Bethsaida and Chorzin have vanished from the earth, and the "desert places" around them ... sleep in the hush of a solitude that is inhabited only by birds of prey and skulking foxes" (2)

Jerusalem Early Twentieth Century



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Jerusalem_panorama_early_twentieth_century2.jpg

 



Jerusalem 2011

On the Eve of this year's Independence Day the population of Israel stands at 8,345,000, 75% of which are Jewish, and 21% Arab. In 1948, at the establishment of the state, the population stood at only 806,000. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4649494,00.html  This represents a 1000 fold increase in just 67 years.




Tel Aviv in 1909
http://www.museodiromaintrastevere.it/var/museicivici/storage/images/musei/museo_di_roma_in_trastevere/mostre_ed_eventi/mostre/cento_volte_primavera_fotografie_di_tel_aviv_dal_1909_ad_oggi/288567-13-ita-IT/cento_volte_primavera_fotografie_di_tel_aviv_dal_1909_ad_oggi_large.jpg

Tel Aviv Today

http://israelvalley.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files/000/010/781/original/tel_aviv_3.jpg?1396947420

If you want to see more photos of this modern miracle nation, take a look at this website

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4650018,00.html

By the way, I happened to be standing on Mt Arbel when the photograph of it was taken by the photographer, Israel Bardugo,  in a helicopter. Here he is - in his helicopter:

 

 

Since 1948, in spite of all the odds, Israel has flourished.  Here is a list of just some of the accomplishments of modern Israel as compiled by  Rabbi John Rosove two years ago:

•     Israel is the only country in the Middle East that based its principles of government on both democratic liberal values and on the values of the Biblical prophets.
•     Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth.
•     Israel has the world's second highest per capita rate of published books.
•     Israel is the only nation on earth that resurrected an ancient language, Hebrew, as its national language.
•     Israeli poets and song writers are regarded as heroes.
•     Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees.
•     Israel has more museums per capita than any country.
•     Israel developed the cell phone, Windows NT and XP operating systems, Pentium MMX Chip technology, the Pentium-4 microprocessor, the Centrino Processor, voice mail technology, and AOL Instant Messenger ICQ.
•     Israel has the highest per capita rate of home computers in the world.
•     Israel designed the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security system.
•     Israel designed and implemented the Iron Dome Defense system.
•     Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees in the world.
•     Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation, and one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.
•     Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship in the world.
•     Israel is second in the world in the number of start-up companies behind only the U.S.
•     Israel has the world’s largest per capita number of biotech start-ups.
•     Israel has the third largest number of NASDAQ listed companies, behind the U.S. and Canada, and is ranked second for venture capital funds.
•     Israel has the highest average living standard in the Middle East.
•     24% of Israel’s workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world; 12% hold advanced degrees.
•     Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce.
•     Israel is a world leader in water renewal, recycling, desalination, and solar heating.
•     Israel invented the drip irrigation system used around the world.
•     An Israeli company is developing a toilet that needs no water and generates its own power to turn solid waste into sterile and odorless fertilizer in 30 seconds, thereby affecting 1.1 billion people who do not use a toilet.
•     An Israeli scientist has developed a way to preserve 50% of every grain and pulse harvest lost to pests and mold in the developing world.
•     Israel won international praise for the speed and expertise with which it responded to a 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti that killed 300,000 by sending a team of 240  Israeli doctors, nurses, rescue and relief workers to set up an advanced field hospital to work in search-and-rescue missions.
•     An Israeli company developed a water purification system that delivers safe drinking water from contaminated water, seawater and even urine thereby addressing the tragedy of 1.6 million children under the age of five who die annually from untreated drinking water in developing nations.
•     Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.
•     Hadassah medical researchers found the gene that causes liver disease, thus paving the way for new treatments for alcoholism.
•     Tel Aviv University Scientists say a nutritional supplement commonly sold in health food stores can delay the advance of degenerative brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
•     Israel's Given Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill that can view the small intestine from the inside to detect for cancer and digestive disorders.
•     Israeli researchers developed a device that helps the heart pump blood that is synchronized with a camera that helps doctors diagnose the heart’s mechanical operations through a system of sensors.
•     An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment.

http://www.jewishjournal.com/rabbijohnrosovesblog/item/israel_on_her_65th_birthday_taking_pride_in_her_accomplishments

If you are thinking about boycotting Israeli products or academics, think twice!!! You may be shooting yourself in the foot (you would have to throw away your cell phone and computer - just for a start!). Modern Israel is truly fulfilling her God-given calling to bless the world.

(For more go to http://israel21c.org/technology/israels-top-45-greatest-inventions-of-all-time-2/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Israeli_inventions_and_discoveries
http://israel21c.org/social-action-2/the-top-65-ways-israel-is-saving-our-planet/)

 

 Yet, all this is nothing compared with what will be. For as the Apostle Paul said of his brethren, Israel:

I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. ¹² Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!       

Romans 11: 11-12.

 THE BEST IS YET TO COME!

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4648587,00.html
 (1) Dershowitz, Alan " The Case for Israel"  2003 John Wiley and Sons
 (2) Twain, Mark "The Innocents Abroad" Oxford University Press, NY, 1996 pp. 485,508,520,607-608.

LEST WE FORGET

 

Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!
Many are they who rise up against me.
² Many are they who say of me,
“There is no help for him in God.” Selah

³ But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
⁴ I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah

⁵ I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.
⁶ I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me all around.

⁷ Arise, O Lord;
Save me, O my God!
For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone;
You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.
⁸ Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah

Psalm 3  

 

As I sit down to write the air is filled with the wailing of the muezzin calling the Muslim faithful to prayer, a reminder of the fact that the LORD's redemption of this, His Holy City, is not yet complete. Every time I hear the muezzin it prompts me to prayer, that soon they will be silenced, and only the voice of the God of Israel will be heard in this city.

 

YOM HASHOAH

A Holocaust survivor lighting the flame at Yad Vashem
http://www.blog.standforisrael.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/
YomHashoahYadVashem2015.jpg

It has been a solemn week here in Israel as we observed Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. Flags fly at half-mast and all places of entertainment are closed. The sirens sounded at 10AM and all cars stop, and people everywhere stand in silence for two minutes as we remember those 6 million Jews who were murdered by the Nazi Regime during World War II. Every settlement, village and neighborhood has its own memorial ceremonies, and at the official national memorial ceremony, held at Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Museum), the names of the Jews who perished are read out, lest we forget that those 6 million ‘statistics’ were real, living people, with names and lives and families.  Survivors of the Holocaust, now elderly men and women, give testimony and light torches, lest we forget that in spite of the horrors they experienced, they not only survived but overcame all the odds and lived a full life, marrying and raising children, and grand-children and great grandchildren. This is the proof of victory. Hitler and his henchmen tried to destroy ‘Am Israel’ (the people of Israel) but not only did he fail, the Holocaust provided the motivation for the establishment of the State of Israel, and the survivors came and worked and struggled to make it the amazing, wonderful nation it is today. What a testimony!

MEMORIAL DAY

This coming week we will be commemorating the 23,320 soldiers and victims of terror who have fallen since the arrival of the first Zionists in the 19th Century, including the 116 who have perished in this last year, and the one killed just this week in yet another terror attack in Jerusalem*. It too is a solemn day.  Ceremonies are held at the Mt Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem and in every town, village and neighborhood. Sirens again sound and we all stand in silent contemplation and respect, remembering those who have given their lives in defense of us all. Immediately upon the end of Memorial Day, we switch gears and begin to celebrate Independence Day, our 67th. It is sometimes hard to make that switch but it is fitting, for our Independence has only been won through the shedding of much blood. Always our celebrations are underlain by sadness; that has long been the lot of the Jewish people and so it is still. Only when Messiah comes will he wipe away the tears and our joy be untarnished by grief.

* Before I even got to publish this news is coming in today (Sunday 19th) of yet another victim of a terror attack in the Sharon region, a cyclist run down by a car, bringing the number killed this year to 117

ANZAC DAY

And we are not alone. This week too, New Zealand and Australia commemorate ANZAC Day, which commemorates the landings of the Australian and New Zealand forces on the beaches of Gallipoli in Turkey during the First World War, exactly 100 years ago this year. During those landings, 5709 Australian and 2721 New Zealand soldiers were killed and many more wounded. This was a serious blow for those fledgling nations and awakened strong nationalistic feelings. This tragedy is credited with igniting the beginning of independent national identities in Australia and New Zealand.  This year, the centenary year, large public celebrations will be held in both nations on ANZAC Day which is the 25th April. 

Today news is coming in of a massive police operation in Melbourne, Australia, in which  they captured 5 Muslim young men who had been plotting a terrorist  attack during the ANZAC celebrations in that city. The Australian Federal Police Acting Deputy Commissioner, Neil Gaughan,  said  that they have evidence that has led them to believe it was ISIS inspired. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-18/five-arrested-in-melbourne-after-a-joint-terrorism-operation/6402810. This particular plot has been foiled but it raises fears that there may be other cells or individuals plotting other attacks. This all just underlines the seriousness of the Salafi Muslim threat, not just to the Middle East and Israel, but also to the whole free world.  Many are our enemies that rise up against us!!!

IRAN DEAL

In my last post I wrote of the deal signed between Obama and his allies and Iran regarding Iran's nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions. It now seems we have all been misinformed. It now is becoming apparent that no such deal was signed.

A well-known Israeli commentator, Shoula Romano Horing, an attorney, claims that,

 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was correct when he said on April 9 that the White House was lying about what the Americans call a framework agreement regarding the Iranian nuclear program.
 

Iran Agreement

The soft power of diplomacy actually works / Aviad Kleinberg Op-ed: American sanctions led to the rise of a pragmatic regime in Iran, which isholding talks to freeze its nuclear program and silently cooperating with US efforts to restrain radical Sunni forces. Full op-ed

Obama is untruthful when he repeatedly claims that Iran has agreed to a detailed and comprehensive nuclear framework agreement. Iran has never signed or agreed to the framework agreement. The framework agreement, with its many specific numbers, productions limits and specific deadlines, is an Obama and Kerry wish list of their own best case scenario of a futuristic agreement.

 
Two documents were produced in Switzerland on April 2. The first document is a detailed US fact sheet titled, "Parameters for a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Nuclear Program," which the Americans refer to as "The Framework Agreement," which Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and the media have repeatedly discussed.

The second document is a thin, page and a half statement read jointly by European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, which lacked any of the details, numbers, and deadlines mentioned in the framework agreement. Those two documents contradict each other on many points and reveal Obama and Kerry's dangerous lies. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4647981,00.html

Horing is not alone in her belief. This week Senator McCain also accused Kerry and Obama of fabricating the 'agreement', saying  in a radio interview with radio host, Hugh Hewitt,

"I can't blame the ayatollah, because I don't think they ever agreed to it," McCain said. "And I think John Kerry tried to come back and sell a bill of goods, hoping maybe that the Iranians wouldn't say much about it."

In response to Senator McCain's accusations, Secretary of State, John Kerry responded thus," It's an unusual affirmation of our facts that come from Russia, but Russia has said that what we've set out is reliable and accurate". http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/04/12/john-kerry-so-far-iran-has-lived-up-to-its-end-of-nuclear-deal/ 

What has the USA come to when it has to rely on the witness of Russia to support its acts? Russia is no impartial observer in the situation. It has a strong stake in the lifting of sanctions against Iran, and it has wasted no time in taking advantage of the supposed lifting of sanctions, under the 'deal', to sell an advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Iran. Israel's Intelligence Minister, Yuval Steinitz, responded to this news thus:

 "Instead of demanding Iran put an end to the terrorism its instigates in the Mideast and around the world, it is being allowed to attain advanced arms which will only spur its aggressions...While Iran disregards article after article of the agreement reached last week, the international community is already begun to ease restrictions on it...
 
This is a direct result of the legitimacy that Iran obtained from the emerging nuclear deal...
 
This is proof that Iran will enjoy (an)economic surge in wake of the removal of sanctions which it will use for arming itself and not for the benefit of the Iranian people."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4646752,00.html


Russia is also standing behind Iran in its support of the Houthis insurgency in Yemen, and justifies its sale of the S-300 system in the belief  that "the conflict in Yemen will eventually lead to a direct clash between the Iranians and the Saudis, which will lead to a Saudi attack on the Iranian nuclear facilities".
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4646869,00.html
 
THE LATTER RAINS

This week Israel has been blessed with a drenching of later-than-usual latter rains. In the early hours of Wednesday morning we were all awakened by the crashing of thunder and the clatter of hail on our roofs. Over the several following hours around 40 mm of rain fell on the city, flooding dozens of homes and cars across the city. Several of my friends had their homes flooded. When I set off for work I was surprised to find the ground outside my building white like snow. It was a thick layer of hail.

Hail in Givat Ze'ev (Photo: Tehila Menachem)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4647639,00.html

 

Flooding in Silwan (Photo: Jerusalem field researchers)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4647639,00.html

Though most of the world has been enjoying warmer-than-usual April weather we have been having an extended winter. I cannot remember having such heavy rain in April. Usually by now it is easing off and the most we can expect is a few showers. Traditionally it always seems to rain on Independence Day when we are all outside enjoying our mangals (barbecues), and according to the weather forecasts, this year will be no exception. Nevertheless, whatever the weather, we will be celebrating the goodness of the Lord, in that we have survived one  more year, the 67th of the modern State of Israel. Please pray that we as a people will give the glory to God, who has preserved us and brought us back to the Chosen Land.

Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah
Psalm 3:8