The Lord is exalted, for he dwells
on high; he will fill Zion with his justice and
righteousness. He
will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of
salvation and
wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this
treasure.
(Isaiah 33:5-6)
The world is full of COVID-19! When you read the papers
or turn on the TV that is all you hear about and despite the fact that it
originated in China, there are those who are laying the blame on Israel.
Nothing new there.
Israel is suffering badly with the coronavirus. When it
first hit the country they seemed to get a hold on it very quickly, but looking
at all the reports it seems that they may have come out of lockdown to early
and this has caused a resurgence. At the beginning of July the head Infectious
diseases, Miri Weinberger stated “The country is about to lose control of the
pandemic” he went on to say “ We are close to the point of no return where
there will be mass infection and burdens
of severely-ill patients”.
At the time of writing www.worldometers.info which
reports on all the figures from around the world and is quite accurate states
Israel has 80,054 cases of which 55,256 have recovered and there have been 576
deaths. At its highest the death rate was 10.88%, that figure has now dropped
to 1.07%. In comparison to the UK, the UK has 308,134 cases (no reported
figures for those recovered) and 46,413 deaths (although following and
investigation by the UK Government that figure has been revised down to around
28,000).
Unfortunately, COVID has had other affects.
In Brazil, many Brazilian Jews who were planning to start
a new life in Israel have been prevented from leaving. There is frustration and
anxiety over the situation among those who should have left.
Brazil is regularly among the top 10 countries that send
the most immigrants to Israel every year. In 2019 nearly 700 Brazilians moved
to Israel.
West Bank – Israel’s planned annexation of Judea
and Samaria (West Bank and the Jordan Valley have bought it widespread
condemnation from around the world.
Many believe it to be illegal and that Israel are
occupiers with no right to the land. There have also been many who state that
Israel should give up the land they took back in 1967 as well, because again,
they are illegal occupiers.
BUT… according to international law, if you are attacked
and while expelling the invader, you take some of their land, its yours.
So, Israel is not doing anything illegal and is justified
for its own protection in annexing this area.
The Trump peace plan would allow Israel to apply
sovereignty to 30% of the West Bank, including all settlements and the Jordan
Valley.
There have been warnings against the annexation from the
foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, France and Germany and our own PM Boris
Johnson has personally contacted Benjamin Netanyahu and spoke against the
annexation.
South Africa – The governing political party, the
African National Congress has called for Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng to be
censured for expressing support of Israel. Mr Mogoeng backed the Jewish state
in a webinar hosted by the Jerusalem Post. He lamented his country’s adoption
of a ‘lopsided attitude’ towards the Israel-Palestinian conflict and stated it
would have greater influence if it displayed a more balanced approach.
Mogoeng added that as a practising Christian, he believed
that those who curse Israel will themselves be cursed.
Hamas – Hamas has turned down an offer $15bn
(£11.6 billion) in development aid to Gaza…. because it was conditional on
demilitarising the terror group.
Hamas Political Chief Ismali Hanlyeh told a Qatari News
site “They said we must dismantle our military groups and get rid of all our
weapons, especially the long-range missiles that can reach Tel Aviv.” “Hamas
will not give up Palestine, its weapons, the resistance, the right of return
and Jerusalem in return for money”.
Another senior Hamas official has also confirmed that a
member of the terror group defected from Gaza to Israel. The Hamas official
told a pro-Hezbollah TV station that the ‘collaborator did not have any maps or
information about the Hamas maritime force’. But later, the Arabic news site
Amad reported that the escaped Hamas official was the head of the Izz-ad-Din
al-Qassam Brigades’ naval commando unit. He left the Gaza Strip in an Israeli
boat, carrying classified information and a laptop computer. The website al-Arabiya
claimed the man took with him a treasure trove of information on the locations
of missile storage sites, training bases and hiding places.
Ukraine – The remains of 286 Jews who were
murdered in the Holocaust were found in two basements in Sataniv, Ukraine. The
Nazis captured the town in 1941 and began systematically killing Jews. On May
15th, 1942, Nazis and Ukrainian police locked the 286 Jews in cellars
and suffocated them. The remains – mostly women and children – will be buried
in a mass grave.
Albania – Albania unveiled a Holocaust memorial in
the Capital to honour Albanians who protected Jews from the Nazis. The
inscription said that “Albanians, Christians and Muslims endangered their lives
to protect and save Jews”.
Albania was the only country where no Jews were killed by
the Nazis or were handed over. Albanians protected hundreds of Jewish friends
and helped other Jews who fled from Germany and Austria by either smuggling
them abroad or hiding them at home.
“We are the only country where the Hebrews came in search
of protection and salvation” said premier Edi Rama.
Please continue to hold Israel in your prayers, I urge
you to continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the IDF and IAF as
they continue to serve and protect the nation.
The Lord is not far away.
Maranatha
Steve.
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