Pro-Israel News

By JNS.ORG \ 

10/29/2014 12:59 | The Jerusalem Post| 

While anti-Semitism in Europe and anti-Zionism on US college campuses are on the upswing, how is American Christian support for Israel trending? Stronger than ever, says the founder of the country’s largest pro-Israel organization.

“I can assure you that the Evangelical Christians of America support Israel right now in a more aggressive mood than at any time in my lifetime,” Pastor John Hagee, national chairman of the 1.8-million member Christians United for Israel (CUFI), told JNS.org. 

Hagee’s assessment of the pulse of Christian Zionism came one day after 5,000 people attended the 33rd annual “A Night to Honor Israel” at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. CUFI’s goal is to facilitate that same program in every major US city.

“We want to send the message to the world and to the Jewish people that Christians are standing up for the State of Israel and the Jewish people at home and abroad,” Hagee said. “It’s not conversation. It’s action.” 

At Sunday’s event in San Antonio, that action was the distribution of more than $2.8 million in donations to Israeli and Jewish charities by John Hagee Ministries. The causes included: Afikim Family Enrichment Association, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Avukat Or, Bikur V’Ezras Cholim, Forum for Christian Enlistment, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, Heart of Benjamin, International Council of Young Israel, Israel Help and Education Center at Kiryat Gat, Jewish Agency for Israel, Just One Life, Kefar Tsevi Sitrin, Koby Mandell Foundation, Magen David Adom, Meir Panim, Nahal Haredi, Nefesh B’Nefesh, Netanya Academic College, Ohr Torah Stone, Or L’Doron, Save a Child’s Heart, Shurat Hadin, Western Galilee Hospital, Women’s International Zionist Organization, World ORT, and Yad Vashem.

The Western Galilee Hospital is a Jewish hospital run by an Arab Christian that treats Syrian refugees—covering “all the bases in one shot,” said Hagee, who sought to address public misconceptions that Hagee Ministries focuses on political rather than humanitarian philanthropy.

“There are people who themselves have political agendas that they’re trying to drive, and they’re trying to do and say anything they can to ridicule what we do so that they can prove their bias is the correct position,” he said. “But no one can look at the millions of dollars that we have given to Israel and call it anything but humanitarian. … You look at that list of donors [from Sunday’s event] and it’s hard to say, ‘That’s not humanitarian.’”

But while Hagee Ministries focuses on faith and philanthropy, CUFI’s mission is different: education and advocacy. Participants of the organization’s annual Washington Summit visit their local US Senate and House of Representatives members to urge the support of Israel. Hagee cited those lobbying efforts as an example of Christian pro-Israel advocacy that adds value to what the Jewish community is already bringing to the table, since members of Congress are “not accustomed to gentiles coming in their office, 75 or 80 of them from their district.” 

“Whenever those kinds of numbers come from your district and say, ‘We are here to express our support for Israel and we are watching what Congress does with regarding to this specific thing, because this is great concern to us’—when the numbers are enough it becomes of great concern to every person running for election,” Hagee said.

When it comes to current pro-Israel causes, addressing the Iranian nuclear threat is at the forefront of the evangelical Christian community’s thinking.

“We’re all sitting on pins and needles, before November 24th, waiting for the decision [in negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 powers] to come down on Iran’s nuclear bomb efforts, and we all have this deep concern that it’s going to be a negative decision as far as Israel is concerned,” said Hagee. “[We fear that] America will once again be very conciliatory to Iran, and let them go forward with their maniacal nuclear plans.”

Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer echoed Hagee’s sentiment on Iran during his remarks at Sunday night’s event in San Antonio.

“Folks, I don’t know if there will be a deal with Iran next month, but Israel is very concerned,” Dermer said. “We’re concerned because a year ago, some hoped that the tough sanctions regime on Iran would only be dismantled if Iran’s nuclear weapons program was dismantled. Today, the international community is prepared to make a deal that would suspend and ultimately lift the sanctions. But no one is talking about dismantling Iran’s nuclear weapons program anymore.”

Addressing the rise of the Islamic State terror group—a threat that he said “would pale in comparison” to Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon—Dermer noted the ongoing persecution of ancient Christian communities and other minority groups in the Middle East.

“Kurds and Yazidis are hunted down and sold into slavery in the 21st century,” he said. “Militant Sunni and militant Shi’ite [Muslims] massacre each other and even their own if their subjects don’t heed their unforgiving creed.”

Hagee told JNS.org that Christian Zionists see the Islamic State threat within the context of the historical persecution of Jews.

“ISIS (Islamic State) murdering Christians and decapitating children is one of the most extreme forms of terror that we have seen in our lifetime, but as far as Christians supporting Israel is concerned, we see it just as a continuum of the terrorist organizations that have been formed over the years that have a covenant to kill every Jewish person on the face of the earth,” he said, citing Hamas and Hezbollah as well as their state funder, Iran.

Popular radio talk show host and author Dennis Prager made a similar point on Sunday, telling the crowd at Cornerstone Church that no matter who is being persecuted, understanding the battle against evil is about “understanding the Jews’ role.” 

“How people regard Israel is a litmus test of their whole values system,” Prager said. “Do they resent that which works, that which is healthy, that which is productive?… Evil focuses on the Jews. Period. Jew-haters are the world’s evil group. There are no wonderful people who happen to hate Jews. Those who hate Jews are announcing, is if they wore a button, ‘Hello, I’m evil.’ That is the way it is. … The Jews carry the burden of God in history. Even Jewish atheists, even Jews who hate being Jews, even Jews who hate Israel—the anti-Semite doesn’t distinguish. Zionists went into gas chambers, anti-Zionists went into gas chambers, Orthodox Jews went into gas chambers, and atheist Jews went into gas chambers. They don’t care—it’s a Jew. The Jew is the embodiment and representation of God on this earth, whether they like it or not.”

Prager described a “civil war” within Christendom between left-wing groups like Presbyterian Church USA, which last July approved a boycott of Israel at its biennial general assembly, and right-wing elements whose replacement theology argues that Jews are no longer God’s chosen people. But CUFI is “the Christian center,” Prager told the crowd.

“There’s nothing wrong with being right-wing, but you’re not,” he said. “In Christendom, you are truly the center. Because there is a right wing that you are fighting just as much [as the left]. … this is Christians united not just for Israel, but for the integrity—‘I’ is for integrity—of Christianity. You are fighting a fight within and without, and God bless you for doing so, because we need you to win. If you lose, it’s over, for the U.S. and for much of the world.”

Scalia noted that even if Congress couldn’t recognize a country, it could declare war on a country, which seems far more consequential. He also seemed to dismiss the impact of issuing the passports the way Congress authorized, saying “it just has an effect on the State Department’s desire to play nice with the Palestinians.”

Alito also said that the court shouldn’t rule based on the fact that some around the world might misunderstand what the justices would be blessing by allowing Congress’s law to stand.

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“It’s not a misperception. It’s an accurate perception,” Verrilli said, noting the intent of the law was to take a stand in favor of Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem.

Chief Justice John Roberts said that by putting up a big fight over the issue, Obama and Bush made the consequences of the passport issue more severe.

“The executive has litigated this case as a self-fulfilling prophecy that it’s going to be a big deal,” Roberts said.

While Verrilli said allowing the law to take effect would damage America’s role as “an honest broker” in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, Lewin said too much was being made of the impact.

“That passport when shown would not be making any kind of political statement,” Lewin argued. “The consequences described by the solicitor general are grossly exaggerated.”

That prompted Kagan to chime in, noting significant unrest in Jerusalem just in the last few days around disputed holy sites in the old city.

“This seems a particularly unfortunate week to be making this no-big-deal argument,” Kagan said. “Right now, Jerusalem is a tinderbox….Sort of everything matters, doesn’t it?”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor seemed focused on the notion that the law would compel the executive branch to make a statement it disagrees with.

“They’re asking the government to lie,” she said.

Justices Stephen Breyer and Antonin Scalia sparred a bit when Scalia interrupted Breyer as he explained why he didn’t think the State Department’s policy of entering “Taiwan” on passports of Americans born in Taiwan undercut the executive branch’s position in the Jerusalem case.

“China objected to that,” Scalia interjected.

It’s “not whether China objected or didn’t object. I’m not interested in that,” Breyer replied.

It was the case’s second trip before the Supreme Court. In 2012, the justices rejected lower court rulings that the dispute amounted to a political fight between Congress and the president that the courts should not resolve. However, the high court’s ruling sent the case back to the lower courts without addressing the merits of the dispute.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled last year that the passport law unconstitutionally infringes on the president’s power to recognize foreign countries and to decide what territories they have sovereignty over.

By JPOST.COM STAFF \ 

10/30/2014 12:22 | The Jerusalem Post| 

Prime minister holds discussion over rising tensions in Jerusalem, orders increased forces around holy city.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday morning, following the shooting of Yehuda Glick, that the struggle in Jerusalem may be long and drawn out but calm must be reinstated. 

The prime minister held a special meeting on the shooting and increase in tensions and violence in Jerusalem. In attendance were the defense minister, security minister, the head of the Shin Bet, the police chief, the mayor of Jerusalem and IDF representatives, among other officials.

Netanyahu opened the meeting by sending wishes to Glick and thanked the police for quickly finding the terrorist responsible. 

"A few days ago I said that we are standing before a wave of incitement by radical Islamists and also by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who said we must limit Jewish entry to the Temple Mount. I still haven't heard any condemnation of these provocations from the international community. The international community needs to stop its hypocrisy and act against those who provoke the situation, those who want to change the status quo," he said. 

He continued and said he is preparing for increased tensions in the holy city. 

"I have ordered a major increase in presence of forces...so that we can maintain a safe Jerusalem and also keep the status quo in holy sites."

Netanyahu concluded by saying that "the struggle here can be long and drawn out, but here, like all the other struggles, we need to put out the flames. Neither side needs to take the law into their hands, we need to act calmly, responsibly and decisively."

Rabbi Yehuda Glick, who holds dual US and Israeli citizenship and is the spokesman for the Joint Committee of Temple Organizations – was in serious condition after being shot in front of the capital’s Menachem Begin Heritage Center Wednesday night.

According to police, the shooting took place at approximately 10:30 p.m. outside the memorial center, located near the Old City by a suspect riding a motor bike who fled the scene.

By JPOST.COM STAFF \

10/29/2014 09:48| The Jerusalem Post| 

With the media buzzing over a possible crisis between Jerusalem and Washington amid sharpened US rhetoric – it seems no one is staying out of the fray. 

After the Prime Minister's Office put forward plans to build over a thousand housing units in east Jerusalem, a move which has sparked a series of condemnations from world powers, including the US, President Reuven Rivlin is the latest to weigh in on the issue.

In an interview with Army Radio on Wednesday, Israel's tenth president made a distinction between building for the purpose of incitement and lawfully settling one's country. "If construction is done to get even" with terrorists – it is wrong, he said, noting that construction is "not a provocation." 

Rivlin made clear that the newly-authorized building plans in Ramot Shlomo and Har Homa were in areas "we will never desert."  

As for tensions with the Obama administration in light of reports that US officials complained about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies vis-a-vis Iran, the Palestinians, and settlement expansion, Rivlin said relations with Washington were paramount in forming policy, or as he put it: "Three principles bind Israel's foreign policy: the first, is US ties; the second – US ties; the third, which is no less important, is US ties."

Even as State Department officials voiced concern about the possible consequences of building beyond the 1967 lines, seen by the Palestinians as borders of a future state, the president said that America understood the capital's status: "We built Jerusalem and it will continue to be inhabited throughout the entirety of the city."

Rivlin gave the interview from Poland, where he is on an official state visit, his first time abroad since taking office in July. He was invited by President Bronislaw Komorowski for the opening of an exhibit at the Polin Museum, formerly known as the Museum of the History of Polish Jews.