Commentary

Above-Average Rainfall Falls Short

{image_1} Israel’s rainy season—the majority of which traditionally runs from the fall (or autumn) until the early spring—had posted above-average rainfall as of early April in various areas around the country, including the North where the Sea of Galilee is located. The lake is a key part of Israel’s fresh water supply. Despite that good news, the past few years’ drought means that even an above-average rainy season isn’t enough to recover from the bad years.

800 Million-Shekel Plan for Arab Sector

{image_1}Amid warnings of a third intifada outbreak, the Ministry for Minority Affairs announced a government plan to invest NIS 800 million [about US $215 million] in Israel's minority population, as part of a perennial project. The plan will invest the funds in 10 selected towns during the next five years. The investment will focus on four main realms: occupational development, infrastructure, upgrading the transportation network, and preparing plots of land for construction.

Broken Promises

{image_1}An Arab refugee in Lebanon described in an interview on Palestinian Authority [PA] TV how he and other Arabs left for Lebanon from Israel during the 1948 war after Arab leaders said their absence would be temporary: “They [Arab leaders] said, 'A week, two weeks, approximately, and you'll return to Palestine,'” said Sadek Mufid. This refugee's testimony is yet another example of how Palestinian leaders, writers, and refugees themselves have begun to speak out in recent years and openly blame the Arab leadership for the creation of the Arab refugee problem.

Gaza Teen “Killed” by IDF Recounts Egyptian Prison Ordeal

“I won’t go back there even if they offered me [US] $1 million.” Muhammad Farmawi, the 15-year-old boy from the Gaza Strip who was thought to have been killed by Israel Defense Forces [IDF] soldiers [the end of March], revealed on April 5th that he had been held in an Egyptian prison.

“Lawfare” and the Middle East

{image_1} After landing at London’s Heathrow Airport, Israeli Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog remained seated in his airplane seat after the pilot requested he be the last person to leave. He then got a troubling comment from an airline steward—the Israeli military attache in the United Kingdom wanted to speak with him. Almog called the attache and found out an arrest warrant had been issued against him for war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Despite coming to London to fundraise for a group helping autistic children, Almog would never get off the plane, returning to Israel instead. Although the warrant was later canceled, as Almog had left the court’s jurisdiction, it was far from a one-time incident.

Ashkenazi: We Won’t Rely on Foreign Armies

{image_1}ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES CHIEF OF STAFF GABI ASHKENAZI gave a speech in Berlin in October in which he promised never again to allow foreign armies to be the sole protectors of the Jewish people. “We will never look lightly upon those who scheme our demise. We will not deposit our security in the hands of foreigners, and we will allow no one to control the future of the State of Israel,” he said during a ceremony held at the ill-famed Platform 17 in Berlin, from which many Jews left for concentration camps.

10 Commandments of Arab Myths

1. The Palestinian people have a historic connection to the land.

{image_1}There is no such thing as a “Palestinian people.” When the Romans changed the name of Israel to Palestine, the people living in the land at the time were Jews, not Arabs.

In Range: The Missile Threat and Israel’s Response

{image_1} One night in early November of last year, Israeli Navy commandos boarded a freighter ship flying an Antiguan flag in the Mediterranean Sea. The naval forces were looking for smuggled weapons heading for Hizbullah in Lebanon. What they found was staggering. According to Isranet, 320 tons of weapons, including rockets, mortars and more, were packed in crates aboard the ship, known as the Francop. Locating the origin of the arms was easy—IRISL (Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines) was clearly labeled on some of the containers.

Fatah: Peace Partner or Peace Preventer?

{image_1}They openly call for maintaining the option of “resistance.” They run children’s programs on television that refer to Israeli cities as Palestinian ones. And, they glorify terrorists in public events and by naming government-funded facilities after them. No, the Palestinian group in question isn’t Hamas. It’s the supposedly moderate Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). Yet, despite the above examples, Abbas publicly denounces terrorism and declares that the preferred route to statehood is negotiations. If this sounds confusing and self-contradictory, that’s because it is.

Preparing the Way for the Mahdi

{image_1}One of the many things that religious Jews and Bible-believing Christians have held in common throughout their shared history is the fact that they are each what might be called a “waiting people.” And even the least religious among Jews and Gentiles alike have been aware of just what it is both communities are waiting for—the Messiah. Arguments have abounded between them as to when He will come, how He will be recognized when He gets here, and perhaps most importantly, whether or not He has been here before. But all arguments aside, the bottom line is not up for debate in either community—He is coming.