01 January 2024

‘I sinned’: Former minister apologizes for dividing Israeli society
Former public diplomacy minister Galit Distal-Atbaryan apologized for taking action that increased strife in Israel, saying she was one of “about 100 people who shoved nine million [people] toward an abyss” in an interview with Channel 13 on Sunday. “It suddenly hit me, boom! Suddenly you realize that everything you thought you were doing well, you were doing badly.

Oct. 7 Terrorist Trial to Be Israel’s ‘Most Significant Since Eichmann’
Such are the volume and nature of evidence gathered in the interrogations of captured October 7 perpetrators that the imminent trial of the Palestinian terrorists would be Israel’s biggest and most high-stakes legal showdown since the 1960s. “The state of Israel has never before dealt with crimes and an investigation on this scale,” (read)

Israel expands scope of fight against Hezbollah, Iran
Israel had decided to expand its military responses to Hezbollah aggression on the Northern front after Iran was seen to expedite weapons delivery to the Lebanese terror group ahead of a possible full-blown war with Israel.

Kim Jong Un: Means must be mobilized to destroy US, South Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told the country’s military commanders the most powerful means must be mobilized to destroy the United States and South Korea if they choose military confrontation, state media reported on Monday. Kim said the danger of an armed confrontation on the Korean peninsula is fast becoming a reality …

You’re Not Antisemitic? Sure?
Amid the current debate over whether a new front will open up in Israel’s war against Hamas and its regional allies, it might be observed that this is already happening.

Russia employs ‘superweapon’ against Ukraine for first time in months
“On 14 December 2023, the Russian Air Force highly likely carried out the first use of an AS-24 KILLJOY air-launched ballistic missile since August 2023,” the UK Defense Ministry stated. “Russia launched at least one missile into central Ukraine, likely targeting a military airfield.”
The AS-24 KILLJOY missile accelerates to Mach 4 (roughly 3,000 miles per hour) after launch and may reach speeds as fast as Mach 10 (roughly 7,673 miles per hour).

UK, US planning strikes as 10 Houthis killed in Red Sea
Ten Iran-backed Houthi militants were killed after the US sunk their boats during an attempted attack by the militants against a container ship in the southern Red Sea, the militant group announced on Sunday evening. When the US helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely arrived at the scene, the Houthis fired at them as well. The helicopters returned fire, sinking three of the four boats and killing their crews. The fourth boat fled the area.

US to bring back aircraft carrier from Mediterranean
… the USS Gerald R. Ford will leave the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where it was sent after the Hamas attack on October 7.

Right-hand man of Hamas ‘Engineer’ eliminated
senior Hamas terrorist Abdel Fattah Ma’ali was eliminated on in an air strike in the Gaza Strip. Ma’ali was the right-hand man of Yahya Ayyash, who was nicknamed “The Engineer” and who was eliminated by Israel in 1996 using an explosive laden cellular phone.

Report: Tony Blair to promote emigration of Gazans to other countries
Tony Blair, Former Prime Minister of Great Britain, visited Israel last week and met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister Ganz. … he stated that he would re-examine the possibility of sending Gazan refugees to countries around the world. “if Tony Blair heads a team to promote the emigration of Gazan residents to countries around the world, we must commend this initiative.”

Growing criticism of Hezbollah in Lebanon as it attacks Israel
Criticism in Lebanon of the Hezbollah terrorist organization is increasing, as is the demand that it stop firing at Israel due to fear that the country’s citizens will pay the price. The chairman of the Christian Lebanese Forces party, Samir Geagea, claimed that “Hezbollah is doing manipulations at the expense of the fate of the Lebanese – claiming that it is helping Gaza. It is not helping Gaza, but harming it.”

More than 20 rockets fired towards central Israel as 2024 begins
Sirens were heard in the entire area of Gush Dan, central Israel and the Shfela (Judean Lowlands) around midnight on Sunday night. At least 20 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. Residents in these areas reported at least ten successful interceptions of rockets by the Iron Dome system. Hamas took credit for the firing,

Smotrich on Gaza: Palestinians should leave and Israelis should return
In an interview with Channel 12 news, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich discussed the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza, the importance of Israel maintaining security controls in the region, and the possibility of re-establishing Israeli settlements there after the war. Smotrich proposed encouraging “voluntary emigration.” “They want to leave. They have been living in a ghetto for 75 years and are in need.”

Dutch agency spying on Holocaust survivors for years ‘defies any idea of civilization’
The predecessor of the General Intelligence and Security Service in the Netherlands (AIVD), called the BVD, regarded Holocaust survivors who were part of the Dutch Auschwitz Committee as extremists and spied on them in the 1980s. That’s according to an analysis of 71,000 declassified documents by the Amsterdam daily Het Parool.

In plain sight: IDF finds explosive devices planted in Gaza kindergarten
The Israel Defense Forces destroyed explosive devices and other terrorist infrastructure inside a kindergarten in the Gaza Strip on Saturday as the military continued its offensive against Hamas. Troops found the explosives planted inside the school during searches on the outskirts of Al-Shati Camp on the northern Gaza coastline.

‘The fate of the 21st century is at stake,’ says CEO of Friends of the IDF in America
I’ve seen the video footage from the GoCam cameras from the Hamas terrorists – when you see this you just can’t even imagine a human being could do this,” he said. “This awoke and shook the world. Anyone with any decency understood that if Israel falls…next is Sunni Islam. Because the real target is the Saudi Arabian oil fields and Mecca and Medina, the holy sites to Islam. And then, ultimately to quote the Supreme Ayatollah, their ultimate goal is the Great Satan. It’s not just America. It’s Christian Europe and Western civilization. And what stands in their way is Israel.”

Heading into 2024, here are six Biblical truths Evangelicals need to embrace when it comes to Israel and the Arab/Muslim world
What a tragic and painful year 2023 turned out to be for Israelis, Palestinians, and much of the Middle East. More Jews were murdered on October 7 than any other time in the modern era since the Holocaust. the cost in blood and treasure for people on both sides has already proven terribly high – and it will get worse before it gets better.

Netanyahu won’t resign after war with Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out stepping down from office after the current war in Gaza, telling reporters he plans to stay in office even after the Hamas terror organization has been defeated.

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