Shalom friends,

What an exciting – and exhausting – time to be alive! Watching this nation defending the free world against the threat of a demonic Shi'ite weapon of mass destruction – even if many in the world do not agree that this is what Israel is doing – is like watching a movie in which the good guy is misunderstood, even persecuted, yet prevails in the end. Of course, all of this is God's doing and we glorify Him for using Israel as His weapon of war to deal with this evil mountain He called Babylon (Jer. 51:20-25).

Once again, I want to emphasize that this newsletter is not meant to keep you up-to-date with the latest news. Not only that, it is impossible to do so as for example, while I am putting the finishing touches on this edition, early this morning Trump declared that the American Air Force "obliterated" whatever was leftover of Iran's nuclear facilities after Israel's Air Force had first shot,.

So if you are not already subscribed to Intercessors for Israel's Friday Prayer Alerts which I write weekly, please do so and that will let you know the current events surrounding God's nation and His soon-coming kingdom [www.ifi.org.il].

What I attempt to do in Watchmen, is to provide background information to make you aware of the forces that are trying to obliterate Israel, as well as some teachings to encourage you on your road to heaven.

On the road again…

Speaking of roads, since my last newsletter, Karen and I moved out of our home where we had lived for more than 30 years. That was in Gilo, a southern suburb of Jerusalem, while our new house is in Tsur Hadassah, a few miles south of Gilo in the Judean hills.

The move was one of, if not the, most difficult time of my life – personally, physically, and spiritually. And while we are getting settled in, the exhaustion from moving and dealing with all that that involves has made it very hard for me to do much else other than run Intercessors for Israel – both the various prayer meetings and the writing of the Friday Prayer Alerts. So please forgive me as these newsletters tend to be less frequent and further apart.

The good news is that the move showed me once more that if my salvation depended in anyway on me, I was doomed. I recall Lance Lambert sharing with us just before he graduated to glory, and after a serious illness, a word like this: "Grace! Without grace none of us would make it." This is what John Newton, the former slave trader, also emphasized after he was saved, when he wrote the first line of his much beloved hymn, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me." Amen, and amen!

Operation Rising Lion

On Friday the 13th of June, Israel finally attacked Iran with the aim of removing the threat of a nuclear weapon and a vast supply of ballistic missiles in the hands of the fanatical Shi'ite Iranian leaders from hanging over its collective head. We at IFI have prayed about this for decades and Israel's Prime Minister [PM] Bibi Netanyahu has been warning the world of this global danger ever since he was Israel's UN Ambassador back in the mid-1980s. Israel finally dropped the hammer and attacked with a plan that was also decades in the making.

It is still too early to tell the ultimate outcome and to know all of the details being reported, some real and some fake news, but Iran was totally taken by surprise with many of its top military leaders and nuclear scientists being given that which they had claimed to love: death!

This operation's name, "Rising Lion," is taken from Numbers 23:24, which is part of a series of incredible prophecies that God placed in the mouth of Balaam, that prophet for profit. After all, if God could speak to Balaam through his donkey, He could easily use Balaam to speak to Moab's King Balak and future generations.

Here is what Netanyahu said shortly after the IDF's initial strikes on Iranian nuclear targets. Comments in brackets are mine: "Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation aimed at dismantling the Iranian threat to Israel's survival…

"For decades, the leaders of Tehran have openly called for Israel's destruction. They have backed up their genocidal rhetoric with a nuclear weapons program. In recent years, Iran has produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine atomic bombs…More concerning, Iran has recently taken unprecedented steps to weaponize this uranium. If not stopped, Iran could develop a nuclear weapon in a very short time…This is a clear and present danger to Israel's survival.

"Eighty years ago, the Jewish people were victims of a Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime. Today, the Jewish state refuses to be a victim of a nuclear Holocaust…As prime minister, I have consistently made it clear: Israel will never allow those who call for our annihilation to develop the means to carry out their threats. Tonight, Israel has backed those words with action.

"We have struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment and weaponization programs. We targeted Iran's primary enrichment facility in Natanz. We also targeted leading nuclear scientists involved in Iran's nuclear weapons project.

"Additionally, we struck at Iran's ballistic missile program. Last year, Iran launched 300 ballistic missiles at Israel. Each missile carries a ton of explosives, threatening the lives of hundreds. Soon, those missiles could carry nuclear warheads, putting not hundreds, but millions at risk…Imagine 10,000 tons of TNT falling on a country the size of New Jersey. This is an intolerable threat. It must be stopped.

"Iran is now working on what it calls its 'new plan' to destroy Israel. The old plan failed. Iran and its proxies attempted to encircle Israel with a 'ring of fire' and launched the horrific Oct. 7th [10/7] attack. But the people of Israel and our soldiers rose like lions to defend our country. We crushed Hamas. We devastated Iranian proxies in Syria and Yemen. When Iran directly attacked us twice last year, we struck back inside Iran.

"Yet, in defending ourselves, we also defend others. We defend our Arab neighbors, who have also suffered from Iran's campaign of chaos and carnage. Our actions against Iran's proxy Hezbollah led to the formation of a new government in Lebanon and the collapse of Assad's murderous regime in Syria. The people of those nations now have a chance at a better future.

"The same is true for the brave people of Iran. I have a message for them: our fight is not with you. Our fight is with the brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 years. I believe your liberation is near, and when it comes, the bond between our two ancient peoples will flourish once more.

"I assure the civilized world: we will not let the world's most dangerous regime obtain the world's most dangerous weapons. And Iran plans to give these nuclear weapons to its terrorist proxies, making the nightmare of nuclear terrorism all too real.

"The increasing range of Iran's ballistic missiles would bring that nuclear nightmare to the cities of Europe and, eventually, to America. Remember, Iran calls Israel the 'small Satan' and America the 'great Satan', and for decades, it has led millions in chanting 'Death to Israel' and 'Death to America'. Today, Israel is responding to those genocidal calls with action – and with a call of our own: Long live Israel and long live America…

"The hardest decision any leader faces is to stop a threat before it fully materializes. Nearly a century ago, facing the Nazis, a generation of leaders failed to act in time. They were paralyzed by the horrors of World War I and determined to avoid conflict at all costs – and they got the worst war in history. They adopted a policy of appeasement. They ignored all the warning signs. That failure led to World War II, the deadliest conflict in history, claiming 60 million lives, including six million Jews – one third of my people.

"After that war, the Jewish people and the Jewish state vowed: 'Never again'. Well, never again is now. Today, Israel has shown that we have learned the lessons of history. When enemies vow to destroy you, believe them. When enemies build weapons of mass destruction, stop them. As the Bible teaches us, when someone comes to kill you, rise and act first. [This is a famous rabbinic saying and is not a direct command found in scripture.] This is exactly what Israel has done today: We have risen like lions to defend ourselves.

"Over 3,000 years ago, Moses gave the people of Israel a message that has steeled our resolve ever since: 'Be strong and courageous,' he said. [This is from Joshua 1:7 and is a direct command from God, not Moses, to Joshua.] Today, our strong and courageous soldiers and people stand united to defend ourselves against those who seek our destruction. And in doing so, we defend many others, and we roll back a murderous tyranny. Generations from now, history will record that our generation stood its ground, acted in time, and secured our common future.

"May God bless Israel; may God bless the forces of civilization everywhere." ("'Never again is now': Netanyahu announces strikes on Iran nuclear targets," JP, 13 June 2025)

This tweet on X from Amjad Taha (@amjadt25), a United Arab Emirates citizen who is likely a Muslim, was posted about three hours after the beginning of Operation Rising Lion. It says openly and publicly what I wish more people in the West, especially believers, would have the courage to say.

"Israel is not just standing for itself today. Israel is standing for all 8 billion souls on this planet, standing between humanity and the abyss.

"Do not test a nation forged in fire. Do not provoke a people born from Exodus and exile. By striking the Islamic regime's nuclear weapons in Iran, Israel is doing what the world should have done long ago.

"To every Israeli today, the world sees you are lions. The world feels you are eagles soaring. You didn't beg for sympathy. You rose in strength.

"Oct. 7th was not just an attack on Jews. It was an attack on humanity. And while the world looked away in silence, Israel stood up and fought back for all of us. Now, the terrorists of Hamas, the armed wing of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza, have finally learned. This is the end. Return the hostages or be erased.

"As the Bible declares, The Lord will march out like a champion, like a warrior He will stir up His zeal. With a shout He will raise the battle cry and will triumph over His enemies. (Isa. 42:13) Yes, the Middle East stands with Israel, with every soul that the regime in Tehran has killed in Yemen, #Gaza, Sudan, Syria, Iraq.

"This is not revenge. This is reckoning. And #Israel is leading it, not in hatred, but in justice."

May the Lord reveal Himself to this man and to many other Muslims who – whether openly or more likely, in secret – stand with the Jewish people against the Islamic monsters who would destroy us all.

Giulio Meotti, an Italian journalist, writes a twice-weekly column for Arutz 7. Concerning Israel's war against Iran, he noted how Iran's "atomic bomb was an open secret" until R. Grossi from Argentina was made head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency – the IAEA. Grossi exposed how "Iranian violations had become flagrant, both in terms of the volume of enriched uranium and the level of enrichment," up to 83%, which is a step away from the 90% "needed for the bomb."

These levels are totally "not justifiable for civilian use," as nuclear power plants use uranium enriched only up to 3-5%. His conclusion was that currently "Iran could have over 230 kilos of uranium for military use in three weeks, enough for ten atomic weapons" in its underground facility of Fordo – which Trump just "obliterated"!

Meotti asked, "What is pushing Iran towards the atomic bomb?" He then wrote that a year ago, B. Sansal, an imprisoned Algerian novelist, told him, "Iran is convinced that if it succeeds in destroying Israel, all Muslim countries will pass under its flag and it will form the largest empire in the world with two billion followers. The Islamization of the world is planned and organized over the course of a century."

Sansal added, "The only solution is to overthrow this regime before it acquires nuclear weapons, which would make it completely immune to any threat."

Yet Jacques Chirac, the former French president "aligned with the Islamic world for interests and ideology," had said that an Iranian atomic bomb would not be "very dangerous." Meotti asks, "Maybe a little dangerous?"

Meotti continued that there comes a time when "moderation" actually becomes "cowardice and ambiguity turns into complicity." This is one of those times.

Concerning America's involvement, and please note he wrote this before Trump pulled the trigger, Meotti said that he doesn't put a lot trust in the Americans mainly "because they have never understood much about Islam and the ME," which even after bombing Iran may prove to be sadly true. He recalled how Andrew Young, America's UN ambassador under Jimmy Carter's Administration in the late 1970s, had seen the Ayatollah Khomeini as "a saintly social democrat" and actually "compared his Islamic revolution to the American civil rights movement."

Also, America has a modern history of getting involved but never finishing the job: "the Taliban have returned to Afghanistan, ISIS has arrived in Iraq, the 'Arab Spring' has ended with civil wars and coups, in Syria after the dictator the caliph has arrived…"

Turning back to Iran, he noted that since 1979, "Iran has been a rogue regime that has seized one of the world's oldest and most cultured civilizations (Persian and Zoroastrian, not Islamic) and turned it into a weapon of terror and destabilization." It is a "theocratic dictatorship that has been slaughtering its people for 50 years."

This is what the Ayatollah Khomeini said in 1980: "We do not worship Iran; we worship Allah, because patriotism is another name for paganism. I say: let this land (Iran) burn. I say: let this land go up in smoke, provided that Islam emerges triumphant in the rest of the world."

Yet many deceived Westerners insist on "a moral or strategic equivalence between this regime and the democratic state of Israel…an open society, an ally of the West, and a victim of ongoing terrorist aggression."

In 2001, Iran's then "moderate" president Rafsanjani, said: "The Jews must truly expect the day when this superfluous limb will be amputated from the body of the Muslim area and the Muslim world, and all the peoples who have gathered in Israel will once again scatter around the world and become refugees."

Meotti writes that while a number of voices in the West "warn that the Israeli attack on Iranian facilities could provoke a further escalation," yet the truth is that "Israel has done what many in the West privately admit had to be done." Even the new German Chancellor Merz, at the June G7 meeting remarked that "Israel is doing the dirty work for all of us in Iran."

He concludes, "Thanks to Israel for leading the fight and opening our eyes (maybe)." ("Israel has led the fight and – maybe – opened our eyes," G. Meotti, Arutz 7 Op-ed, 20 June 2025)

Trump's desire to be known as a man of peace

While this was written in January, it is still relevant today. Former Israeli Ambassador Yoram Ettinger is now an author and public speaker on issues related to Israel and America. He wrote a warning to Trump, who openly desires to be known as a man of peace, about the dangers of not understanding the Middle Eastern mindset when dealing with Muslim Arab nations.

Stopping "wars and terrorism is a noble aspiration," yet it crashes up against the "reality of no intra-Muslim peaceful coexistence during the last 14 centuries," that is, since Mohammed started Islam. "In fact, since 1948, intra-Muslim wars have featured a toll of mega-million fatalities (e.g., 3 million killed during two civil wars in the Sudan, 3 million during the Pakistan-Bangladesh war, over 1 million during the Afghan civil war, close to 1 million Syrians killed by Hafiz and Bashar Assad, 1 million killed during Iran-Iraq war, 350,000 in Yemen's civil wars, etc.)," which adds up to 9 plus million Arabs slaughtered by Arabs as compared to about 130,000 Arabs killed in their wars against Israel.

Also, any plans to stop wars and terrorism must also consider the record "of intra-Muslim unpredictability, violent intolerance, ethnic and religious fragmentation, despotism, tenuous regimes-policies-accords, intrinsic terror and subversion."

Ettinger prophetically added that all schemes to deal with wars and terrorism demands "a regime-change in Iran, which has become the chief global epicenter of anti-US terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering and proliferation of advanced military systems all the way to Latin America and the US homeland." Decades of diplomatic solutions and "US and UN economic sanctions…have failed to moderate Iran"; rather it has bolstered its anti-US capabilities as "economic sanctions are relatively ineffective when imposed on fanatical, apocalyptic regimes," and in the face of numerous "financial, trade and diplomatic ways to bypass sanctions through 3rd parties," which either oppose sanctions, or oppose America, or support any anti-American regimes. Moreover, as shown by the previous Biden Administration, "economic sanctions are reversible."

In reality, "Iran's defiance of economic sanctions has enhanced its strategic posture, regionally and globally."

Yet if the current Iranian regime would fall, it "would remove the Ayatollahs' machete from the throats of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and all other pro-US Arab regimes," not least of which is Israel, and it would reduce "regional and global violence," as well as likely leading to an expansion of the Abraham Accords.

It is imperative to see that in the ME, ending wars and quashing terrorism "requires recognition of the central role played by 1,400-year-old fanatical, religious and imperialistic ideologies/visions, which transcend financial and diplomatic benefits. Fanatical, religious and megalomaniacal ideologies have driven Shi'ite terrorists (e.g., Iran's Ayatollahs, Hezbollah and the Houthis) and Sunni terrorists (e.g., the Muslim Brotherhood and its branches, such as Hamas), mandating them to bring 'apostates' and 'infidels' to submission."

While money holds sway in most Western societies, it is replaced by "fanatical ideologies" in Iran, with Hezbollah, ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and last but not least the PLO who run the Palestinian Authority. These "fanatical ideologies" are all laid out most clearly in "their foundational charters, school curriculum, mosque sermons, official media, public monuments and financial support of terrorists' families."

Ettinger adds that "school curriculum is the most effective production-line of terrorists, and the most authentic reflection of the rogue entities' strategy/vision. School curriculum transcends moderate statements shared with the West." Those statements are part of the Islamic doctrine of Taqiyya, which teaches Muslims that is perfectly acceptable for them to lie to further Allah's goals, and which is used all of the time "to mislead and overcome the 'infidel' West."

The West's fixation with the moderation they hear from many ME Muslims, especially their leaders, tends to blind Western leaders to the problematic and frustrating Middle Eastern "walk" – which is so often the direct opposite of their talk. One excellent example is how US representatives in the ME "are exposed to a barrage of pro-Palestinian Arab talk, while the Arab walk on the Palestinian Arab issue has been (since 1948) anywhere from indifferent to negative." This is seen clearly when one considers that "the six Israel-Arab peace treaties were not preconditioned upon the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state."

In opposition to Western policy makers, most Arabs are aware of the historically consistent alignment of the Palestinians "with radical global entities, such as Nazi Germany, the Soviet Bloc, Ayatollah Khomeini, and international terrorism, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, China and Russia." This track record has pro-US Arab regimes convinced "that a Palestinian Arab state would add fuel to the ME fire, and they are, at least privately, dead-set against seeing a Palestine arise inside of Israel, not for Israel's sake, but for their own sake."

Finally, it is important to recognize that while "Negotiation and deal-making are perceived by the West as a step toward reconciliation, but for terrorists it is a step toward regrouping and bringing the Western 'infidel' and the 'Great American Satan' to submission. And as comforting as a hand-shake with ME terrorists (and their supporters) may be, President Trump is surely aware that leopards don't change their spots; only their tactics!" ("President Trump, beware of ME reality," Amb. (ret.) Y. Ettinger, Arutz 7 Op-ed, 29 Jan. 2025)

Ettinger's last statement about what Trump must surely know is a burden for us in intercession as so far we have not seen the US President to be aware of that biblical truth about leopards (Jer. 13:23). Of course, if the leopard becomes born-again, then not only his spots but everything else about him is turned into a new creature (2 Chr. 5:17).

A new antisemitism that erases the Jews

Jonathan Liebernan, a rabbi and physician, lives in Netanya, Israel. He wrote about a new form of Jew-hatred that erases the Jews. He referenced David Baddiel, a British Jewish author, who in 2021, "wrote a brilliant, incisive, and incredibly revealing book titled Jews Don't Count," explaining how "Jews are treated differently from all other minorities." One example is that Jews in the West are seen as "too white" to deserve "the same consideration as other victims of racism." [Yet in Israel most Jews would not be considered "white" by the West!] He labeled this new antisemitism a "second-class racism," as it is "tolerated or even ignored by those who claim to fight against bigotry" in all of its other forms.

When Lieberman first read the book, which was before "the seismic events of" Oct. 7th [10/7], the Hamas massacre, he thought "it should be required reading," as it clearly explained "the modern phenomenon of Jew-hatred," which continues even in "supposedly progressive circles."

The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, also from the UK, had written quite extensively on this topic, dissecting "the mutation of antisemitism across history. First, they hated us because of our God. Then they hated us because we 'killed their God'. Then they hated us because we were different. Then they hated us because we tried to be the same. Next, they reviled us as a subhuman race without a home of our own – culminating in the Holocaust. And now, in a perverse historical irony, they hate us because we do have a home of our own, and because we dare to defend it."

Today, a new stage of this "mutation of antisemitism has emerged," which is based on Baddiel's observation that "Jews don't count" and "which has reached an even more malignant level: historical theft. This involves the deliberate alteration of history to erase Jews from their own narrative." It accuses Jews of being colonizers who are trying "to displace an indigenous people," that is, today's Palestinians. Yet they have no historical link to the biblical "Philistines" of whom they say they are their descendants. Nor do they have an indigenous history or language or culture which separates them from the Arabs in the nations surrounding Israel.

This accusation against the Jews in Israel is not new; it began in 1964 with the creation by Egypt of the PLO, the Palestinian Liberation Organization. As this was three years before the 1967 Six Day War, what area were these newly named "Palestinians" trying to liberate! Not only did they go about to create "their own 'ancient' peoplehood" but in conjunction with that lie, they denied the history of the Jews.

Lieberman: "With the help of the unashamedly anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, corrupt, and morally bankrupt UN, the biblical and historical reality of Jewish existence in the Land of Israel for over 3,000 years has been steadily eroded. The world, largely ignorant and disinterested, has been conditioned to accept fiction as fact."

This distortion of history is not just a Jewish problem – "it is a societal one" – and an omen of major future dangers. "If historical truth can be manipulated so easily, then any group, at any time, can be vilified, marginalized, or erased. We have seen this pattern before. It starts with the Jews, but never ends with the Jews."

The virus of antisemitism has thrived "for millennia by adapting to the prevailing ideologies of the time. It has now adapted once again – morphing into historical theft, a denial not only of Jewish suffering in the Holocaust and on 10/7, "but of Jewish existence itself." ("Historical theft: A deliberate new antisemitism that erases Jews" J. Liebernan, JP Op-ed, 7 Feb. 2025)

Arabs against Hamas

While the world is focused on the Iranian-Israeli war, Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza continues because of what Hamas both did, and how they did it, to Israelis on that fateful day of 10/7. Yet they did it based on their radical – yet literal – interpretation of the Quran. Below are some Muslim Arabs who despise what Hamas does and did and are bold enough to openly write about it.

Bassem Eid, a Palestinian Arab human-rights activist, lives in the Judea/Samaria area of Israel. In late January, referring to the negotiations to see the release of Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7th, 2023, he wrote that many as possible would "be returned safe and sound to their surviving family members," adding that "'Safe and sound', in this case, is a relative term."

Eid noted "that many, if not all, the hostages have undergone ongoing abuse of nearly every conceivable kind …sexual, physical, emotional and psychological. We have to understand that they are not coming back as the people they once were and that the harm they have suffered will haunt them for the rest of their lives." Turning to the wider picture, he stated, "Similarly, the damage that Hamas has deliberately inflicted on both Israeli and Palestinian Arab societies, as well as the broader region, is deep and lasting."

He rehearsed how the hostages were kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, as "1,000s of Hamas operatives and other Palestinian Arabs invaded southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, massacring more than 1,200 people in a single day, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust."

Eid said that many of women and girls, were, as he called it, "murdered twice," being "subjected to brutal rape and genital mutilation before they were slaughtered."

Hamas also carried more than 250 living captives back to Gaza. Some terrorists even accessed "their victim's social-media accounts and live-streamed their acts of brutality."

This abuse on the hostages has continued until today. Those who were released "in earlier ceasefires have testified" to all sorts of depraved sexual acts which they were forced to commit, or were committed on them by the terrorists.

Yet sexual abuse was just one type of savagery which they experienced. "Hostages were kept in tiny cages in complete darkness underground." Many kidnapped children were "branded with a heated object. Some hostages were operated on by veterinarians. They were also psychologically tortured with claims that Israel had already been destroyed and no one was coming to save them."

He then asks the question over which he has struggled: "Why would anyone, even terrorist operatives, behave with such abject cruelty toward fellow human beings?" The answer is revealed in "Hamas' ideology of hate. Its founding charter commits to the annihilation of the State of Israel and for it to be replaced with an Islamic theocracy under Sharia [strict-Quranic] law." This is reinforced in "Hamas-controlled Gaza" by a media steeped in anti-Semitism "and an education environment in which even children's programming and school textbooks are full of misinformation about the alleged perfidy of Jews and calls for their annihilation."

Eid continued, writing that just after 10/7, Israel was attacked by Hizbullah in Lebanon, resulting in the displacement of "tens of thousands in both countries," most of whom have not yet been able to return. Then the Houthis in Yemen, armed and financed by Iran, also attacked Israel. Their flag openly declares their goal by having this slogan written on it: "Death to the USA, Death to Israel, Curse the Jews, Victory to Islam."

All of the above had the effect of derailing peace efforts between Israel and other Arab and Muslim nations, "including the near-signing of a peace treaty between Israel and Saudi Arabia," which has now been revealed to be one of the main reasons why Hamas launched their 10/7 massacre.

Eid concludes, writing "that even if all of the hostages were to return home tomorrow, nothing would go back to the way it was. Rape is often a trauma with lifelong impacts; just consider the effects of nearly a year and a half of captivity and unrelenting abuse. Nor will the Gazan population, which has been under Hamas rule since 2007, easily unlearn the lessons of control by a brutal genocidal regime that uses hospitals, schools, mosques and churches as military sites…Like the Nazis before them, there is no just compromise with Hamas that leaves them in power. They must be unseated; everywhere they hold sway, for the monstrous scars they left behind even to begin to heal." ("The wickedness perpetrated by Hamas can never be undone," B. Eid, Arutz 7 Op-ed, 31 Jan. 2025)

Khaled Abu Toameh, an Israeli-Arab Muslim commentator, also wrote of Hamas' demonic intentions towards Israel and the Jewish people. "Some people in Israel are demanding that PM Netanyahu step down and agree to Hamas' demand to end the war in the Gaza Strip," as if the 10/7 attack "was just another round of fighting with the Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group." But they fail to see that it is "another phase of the Islamists' Jihad (holy war) against Israel."

The attack was not because Hamas "wanted to release Palestinian convicts from Israeli prisons or improve the living conditions of the Palestinians under its rule in the Gaza Strip." Its aim was focused on destroying Israel and replacing it with an "Islamist state."

Abu Toameh said that since "its violent, brutal takeover" of Gaza in 2007, "Hamas has done nothing to help the local residents." It has built no hospitals or schools or invested in the economic welfare of its people, but with Iran's and Qatar's help, it "has devoted huge resources to manufacturing weapons, such as rockets and missiles, and building a massive network of tunnels," turning Gaza into "one of the largest bases for Jihad and terrorism in the ME."

After 10/7, Hamas "affirmed its commitment" to destroy Israel, as in a document issued just after its attack, Hamas declared its opposition "to the presence of Jews in Israel. The document frankly admits that the conflict did not start…when Israel declared independence in 1948, or on 10/7," but over 100 years ago, "including 30 years of British colonialism and 75 years of Zionist occupation." It explains that Hamas "is a Palestinian Islamic national liberation and resistance movement. Its goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project."

Hamas' 1988 charter underlines the centrality of Jihad as the chief way for it to reach its goals, stating that "An uncompromising Jihad must be waged against Israel and any agreement recognizing it's to right to exist must be totally opposed." Thus it views the "problem of Palestine" through a "religious-political Muslim" lens, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as between Islam and those "infidel" Jews. Declaring "Palestine" wakf, that is "sacred Islamic land," means that it is absolutely "forbidden to give up even one inch of it because no one (including Arab-Muslim rulers) has the authority to do so."

It is vital to know that the Hamas charter quotes Hassan al-Banna, the creator of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1928. He said, "Israel will arise and continue to exist until Islam abolishes it, as it abolished what went before." Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is the number one Sunni terrorist organization throughout not just the ME, but the world.

Abu Toameh hopes that US President Trump will finally "designate the Muslim Brotherhood… as a Foreign Terrorist Organization," which would make it more difficult for nations "that promote and finance jihadi terrorists," like Qatar and Turkey, to continue supporting the Brotherhood.

"Since its founding, Hamas has remained completely faithful to its charter." It has never accepted "Israel's right to exist; it has rejected all peace agreements between Arabs and Israel," and having carried out "thousands of terrorist attacks against Israel, its leaders have vowed to keep" doing that "until Israel is annihilated."

The 10/7 massacre was just another step in its "efforts to eliminate Israel. Iran and Hamas do not care if tens of thousands of Palestinians" are killed, as long as their Jihad against Israel is eventually successful. And after 10/7, Qatar's government sponsored media constantly praised what Hamas did, and supported further atrocities like that.

Weeks after the massacre, Hamas leader Mashaal confessed that it was purposely "sacrificing Palestinians" to destroy the Jewish Nation. "We know very well the consequences of our operation on 10/7. The Palestinian people are just like any other nation. No nation is liberated without sacrifices."

Abu Toameh continued, "Anyone who believes that Hamas would abandon Jihad as a result of a ceasefire agreement is engaging in extreme self-deception. Hamas has not yet accomplished its mission of destroying Israel. Hamas' main goal, especially now, is to remain in power after the war."

He added that it was time "to remind the world of what senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad" said right after 10/7: "The Al-Aqsa Flood [Hamas' name for the massacre] is just the first time, and there will be a second, third, and fourth, because…Israel is a country that has no place on our land. We must remove that country."

The conclusion is simple and just: "In a civilized world, a terrorist group that is openly hell-bent on genocidal destruction has forfeited its right to exist." ("Hamas' October 7 massacre is part of its Jihad to destroy Israel," K. Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, 24 Feb. 2025).

This report brought joy to my heart. Atta Farhat is an Israeli-Druze and a mayor of a town in northern Israel. He is also "an ardent Zionist." Speaking recently on various Hebrew news outlets, "Farhat encouraged the Israeli government to stand up unapologetically to the Muslim world." Noting the difference between how people view the world, he stressed that a "Middle Eastern Muslim mentality understands exercising power on behalf of one's own tribe or religion, whereas Israeli/Western mentality tries to juggle too many competing values."

He added that "The more you 'grovel' before them [in negotiations, etc.], the more they see…it as weakness on the part of the Jews, clear and simple. The more they see you standing up for your existence, for your eternal-historic right in this land, they start to say, 'We are dealing with Jews like Joshua Son of Nun, and not the Jews of 1948 and onward'."

Israeli Druze's mother tongue is Arabic. Many of them serve in the IDF, and because of their history under Islam, they are often very anti-Muslim. "Their observations of Israeli society vs. the massive bloc of over a billion Muslims arrayed against Israel are illuminating."

Farhat notes that the 2005 disengagement from Gaza, and the removal of 9,000 Jews from their homes there, sent the "wrong message to Hamas and the Muslim world. They did not view it as a kind-hearted gesture on behalf of fair and considerate neighbors. Instead they perceived it as retreat, as a small victory whetting their appetite to take control of all Israel."

He added something I wish all Jews and all Christians would take to heart: "There is no doubt that the Gaza Strip is part of the Land of Israel. According to Jewish Torah, the Land of Israel is a gift from the Holy One… to the people of Israel." When the Jews willing give up part of their land, then ME Muslims think, "If the Jews have given up their sense of historical right and denied the Torah that they should believe in – we will defeat them'." ("Druze mayor urges Israel to start thinking 'Middle Eastern'," Israel Today, 6 Mar. 2025)

Palestinians for Hamas

British columnist Melanie Phillips exposes the flip-side to the spirit of the two Arabs quoted above, which is that a vast majority of Palestinians, including those living under Hamas' vicious rule in Gaza, support Hamas.

In a June 5th interview on NPR's Morning Edition, Graeme Groom, a British surgeon who recently worked in Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip, made some ridiculous "one-sided and naïve" comments, stating that Israel's campaign in Gaza "is directed almost exclusively at the blameless and defenseless." Phillips said his shockingly "false accusation that Israel is specifically targeting civilians echoes some of the darkest periods in Jewish history, when blood libels were a regular occurrence."

She continued that way "too many pundits and bureaucrats at the UN, EU and NGOs strive to portray Gazans as unwilling captives of Hamas, trapped under an oppressive regime with no power and no responsibility." Yet this ignores "the complicated and troubling reality that a significant portion of Gazans support Hamas and its violent actions, including the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023."

When the Ramallah based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR), did a survey in March 2024, it exposed that "71% of Gazans said Hamas was 'correct' to launch the 10/7 terrorist attacks," even though there was "mass killings and kidnappings of Israeli civilians." This demonic view was still above 50% when the PCPSR took another survey in May 2025. In addition, "64% of Gazans opposed the disarmament of Hamas, which all goes to show "not only support for Hamas' past actions but also a commitment to continued Hamas terrorism."

Phillips notes that these "murderous views" are also found outside of Gaza as well. "In the same PCPSR poll, 88% of Arabs in Judea and Samaria," that is the so-called Palestinians, "also rejected the idea of disarming the group." This confirms an Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweet on X on April 22, which stated that the Palestinian Authority [PA] "isn't educating children, it's indoctrinating them: Maps without Israel; Teachers praising martyrdom; Textbooks glorifying terror. As long as they teach hate, there's no hope for peace. Stop ignoring it. Stop funding education that leads to terror."

The 1993 Oslo Agreement states that PA President Abbas and his security forces must "apprehend, investigate and prosecute perpetrators and all other persons directly or indirectly involved in acts of terrorism, violence and incitement" (Annex I, Art. II, 3-c, Oslo II). The PA has openly and obviously disregarded this obligation for over three decades by now. "The PA has never taken any tangible actions against incitement."

In fact, a "recent study from Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies reviewed PA school curricula and found that the PA continues to 'espouse some of the worst views against Jews and Israel in their textbooks'." [Yet even Saudi Arabia is today eliminating much of their anti-Israel, anti-Semitic teachings in their school books!]

Phillips writes that some make excuses for the Gazans, which "Prof. Ilya Somin did in an Oct. 2023 article in Reason, by comparing Gazans to Russians living under Putin's regime," who are a "people with limited freedom who are not morally culpable for their government's atrocities." But this comparison "only holds if public opinion runs sharply against the ruling power. In Gaza's case, significant public backing for Hamas is the truth." And while there are dissenters "who resent Hamas and blame it for the destruction visited upon their society," they are in the "minority and do not disprove the fact that widespread support for Hamas continues, as measured in credible polls."

Phillips conclusion is an example of a clear-thinking person who refuses to reject true facts: "Policies concerning refugees, foreign aid and ceasefires must be informed by the reality that a large segment of Gaza's population supports a terrorist organization. Acknowledging this is essential if Israel is to be successful in its effort to destroy Hamas and prevent future 10/7-type attacks that Hamas has repeatedly and consistently pledged to carry out." Israel dare not misread the extremism that permeates Gaza's majority, as "doing so risks allowing the terrorist organization to survive. "The international community needs to also "recognize that Gazans are not victims of Hamas; they are full participants in shaping their society's situation. They elected Hamas, and they support Hamas. It is time to stop getting Gazans wrong." ("Getting Gazans wrong: Understanding support for Hamas and the Oct. 7 attacks," M. Phillips, Israel Today, 11 June 2025)

Politically correct vs. Biblical correct terms

What we call things is extremely important because truth is extremely important to God (3 John 1:4). Truth is being trampled openly in the streets of most post-Christian Western countries today (Isa. 59:14). In fact, multitudes now firmly believe that there is no ultimate truth, but each person's truth is as valid as anyone else's. Are we seeing God fulfilling His prophetic word in 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 and giving people who reject a love of the truth over to "strong delusion"?

Also, woe to the person who dares to tell someone with a mindset of no ultimate truth that their truth is wrong, or it is a lie and is in reality blasphemous to the One who is the Truth (John 14:6) and whose Word is true (John 17:17). This applies to the Body of Messiah as well, as when we share with some believers the truth about Israel and the Jews, they refuse to accept His Word and often reject us as even being saved (Gal. 4:16).

In relation to the battle over God's land and people of Israel there are a number of terms that are used – often even by friends of Israel, including Jews and Christian Zionists – that distort the truth and thus confuse the thinking of these people, and contribute to the spreading lies about this subject, both inside and outside of the Body. Here are a few:

"The West Bank" is the modern name for the biblical heartland of the Jewish people, Judea and Samaria. This term, the West Bank, comes from the time when it was under Jordanian rule after Israel became a nation in 1948, until the 1967 Six Day War. This period was only 19 years. When compared to the biblical truth that Israel has called this place its home for over 3,000 years, to call it this non-biblical term is absurd.

Biblically it is the heartland of the nation of Israel, Judea and Samaria. And it is to these areas that God brings back His people in the last days (for example see Jer. 31:3-5; Zech. 12:2-8). I have even corrected intercessors as they have prayed with us at IFI and have referred to it as the West Bank even though they knew better. It is imperative for us to start calling it by its biblically-correct term.

"The Diaspora" is the name which Jews typically used to refer to their "home" among the gentile nations. It comes from the Greek word for "scattering." Yet neither this term nor even the term "the Exile" is found in Scripture to describe their true condition. According to God Jews living outside of the land of Israel are in "the captivity" (Deut. 30:3; Ezra 2:1; Psa. 14:7; 85:1; Jer. 32:44; 33:7, 11; Joel 3:1-2, plus many more verses).

Of course, using this biblically correct term would be very uncomfortable for those Jews who still refuse to obey God and return to Zion. Diaspora is such a nicer sounding word which has become so familiar that no guilt or condemnation is attached to it.

"Anti-Semitism" is a term invented by a German journalist, Wilhelm Mar, in 1879. He realized that using the more accurate term – Jew-hatred – was not very polite, or scholarly, even if it was very accurate. Therefore he substituted anti-Semitism which is the term used today. Yet if Jew-hatred is resubstituted for that, then we are faced with the essence of the issue.

Jew-hatred, and hatred of the nation of the Jews, Israel, has been around for centuries as we read of God calling out Edom and Esau in Mount Seir, who are the spiritual forefathers of Islam, because of their "eternal hatred" for the children of Israel in Ezekiel 35:5, 11; cp. 25:15.

Messianic meditations on the New Testament

Romans 7:12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good (cp. Neh. 9:13; Psa. 19:7-12).

This is a very clear and straightforward statement yet many believers still think such negative things about God's law that they end up believing just the opposite of what Paul wrote here.

Romans 9:3-5 For I could wish [+pray] that I myself were cursed [Gk: anathema] from Messiah for my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites; to whom is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service [+worship] of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom Messiah according to the flesh came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

Note how Paul does not use the past tense when describing what God had given to Israel – but he speaks in the present tense although this is written after the cross and Messiah's resurrection! Yet those who are deceived by replacement theology overturn this verse and strip Israel/the Jews of all these gifts/responsibilities placed on them by God.

Romans 10:4-8 For Christ is the goal of the law for righteousness to all who believe. For Moses writes of the righteousness that comes from the law, 'That the man which does those things shall live by them,' (Lev. 18:5) but the righteousness which comes from faith speaks like this, 'Say not in your heart, who shall ascend into heaven (Deut. 30:12)?' (that is, to bring Messiah down) or, 'Who shall descend into the deep [lit; abyss]?', (that is, to bring Messiah up again out from the dead.) But what does it say? 'The word [rhema] is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart: (Deut. 30:14)' that is, the word of faith, which we proclaim;

Some versions, like the KJV, translate "end" instead of goal, but that is not the best way to translate the Greek word telos in this verse as the impossibility for man to keep the law perfectly was part of God's way of showing sinful humans their need of His help and His grace – which is today found in Messiah Yeshua.

Do we truly understand what Paul is saying here? Moses describes a righteousness that is obtained by the law in Leviticus 18:5, but this same Moses also describes a righteousness which is obtained by faith – which is also found in the Law of God – in Deuteronomy 30:12-14! This is not Old Testament righteousness as opposed to New Testament righteousness. This is God's righteousness, either by works or by faith – both described by Moses in the Law of God!

Romans 11:18 Boast not against the branches [the Jewish nation]. But if you [gentile believers] boast, [know that] you do not bear the root, but the root bears you.

I see that root (singular) as God's promise to the Jewish forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that in their seed all the families of the earth will be blessed (Gen. 12:3b; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14). And that promise is called by the Holy Spirit through Paul the gospel to the gentiles: And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the gentiles through faith, announced beforehand the good news to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all gentiles be blessed'. (Gal. 3:8; cp. Gen. 12:3b)

Also, please note that "seed" can be either singular or plural according to the context, and the context of God's promises to the forefathers it is both: the Promised Seed Yeshua, as per Genesis 3:15, coming forth from the forefathers and their seed/descendants – the physical nation of Israel, from which salvation, and so much more, came into the world (John 4:22).

Fear not; I am the First and the Last: I am He that was dead and am alive. And, behold, I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of hell and of death. Amen!Rev. 1:17b-18

Blessings from Tsur Hadassah

Chuck Cohen