Israel Takes a Stand Against Persecution of Middle East Christians-3

$2.2 Million Grant Funds Hebraic Heritage Course for Jews and Christians

"Again I asked him, 'What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?'  He replied, 'Do you not know what these are?'  'No, my lord,' I said.  So he said, 'These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.'"  (Zechariah 4:12–14

The United States-based Templeton Foundation (JTF) has awarded Machon Herzl (the Herzl Institute of Jerusalem) a $2.2 million grant for helping Jews and Christians study Jewish texts together. It is being hailed as the first ever multimillion-dollar push toward bolstering Jewish theology. Yoram Hazony, president of the Herzl Institute, praised the move, saying in a press release, "We're not just talking about Christians wanting to help Jews out of solidarity or charity, we are talking about the dominant faith of Western civilization [that is] saying: 'The Jews have something to give us, something that we need.'" "This is not something that appears in the old playbook for Jewish-Christian dialogue," he emphasized.

Yorom Hazony, President of Herzl Institute

  

As well, next year in Jerusalem, in a program co-sponsored by the Jerusalem-based Herzl Institute and the King's College in Manhattan, Christian students will be able to attend a semester program called "Biblical Philosophy and Hebraic Heritage,” a course in which they will study and learn from Orthodox Jewish teachers for a summer. The goal of the program is to unlock theological understanding from fresh, alternative perspectives. "This is completely new dialogue, where we look at Old Testament text and rabbinic texts, and Christians are willing to look at Judaism and the Jewish text through Jewish eyes with Jewish lecturers," Hazony stated. Hazony identified a "new sense that there are many Christians who want to hear what Jews have to say," which "fits very well with a dormant Jewish feeling that we have a mission to say something, but for a long time people weren’t interested in hearing what we have to say."  The program, to take place June through August 2015, will include such picks as "The Philosophy and Political Theory of the Hebrew Bible;" "The Impact of the Hebraic Heritage in Western History;" and "Jews, Judaism, and Zionism in the Middle Eastern Context."  "This is what the Lord Almighty says:  'In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, "Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you."'"  (Zechariah 8:23)

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon inside a Hamas terrorist tunnel near

Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha in Israel.

Ban Ki-Moon Blames Israel for Gaza War as PA Snares $5.4 Billion

“For three sins of Gaza, even for four, I will not relent.  Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom, I will send fire on the walls of Gaza that will consume her fortresses.”  (Amos 1:6-7)

During a visit to Israel and Gaza, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon walked through a Hamas terror tunnel last Tuesday, after a donor conference in Cairo on Sunday where he claimed that Israel’s “occupation” was responsible for the Gaza war. “We must not lose sight of the root causes of the recent hostilities: A restrictive occupation that has lasted almost half a century, the continued denial of Palestinian rights and the lack of tangible progress in peace negotiations,” Ban said at the Cairo conference, which drew $5.4 billion in pledges for Gaza’s reconstruction. While Ban’s remarks at the Cairo conference drew anger from several sides, including the Anti-Defamation League and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the secretary general’s response two days later to the terror tunnels implied surprise at the reach of Hamas: “I was shocked by the tunnels used for the infiltration of terrorists.  No one needs to live under the constant threat and fear of rockets and tunnels digging underground,” Ban said, after Israeli soldiers led him through the sites of the war’s greatest impact.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) meets the Tragermans at Kibbutz

Nirim in Israel.

Ban also visited with Daniel Tragerman’s relatives, including his mother, Gila, who had implored Ban in a letter to accuse Hamas of “war crimes” for the more than 3,600 rockets Hamas launched into Israeli civilian areas, wreaking havoc and killing several, including 4-year-old Daniel.  Gila’s letter came after Ban accused Israel of “war crimes” on the day of Daniel’s murder. “I just met the grandparents and uncle of Daniel, four years old, just a young boy.  What has he done wrong?  Why has he to die?  Even without knowing anything, even without being able to grow up. “I conveyed my deepest condolences to the family, but I only hope that my words of condolence will help a little bit to heal their wounds, but that may not be enough.  For that, I am urging again that the two parties address all the underlying issues, to bring peace and harmony and security to the two peoples,” Ban said following his meeting with the family.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with UN Secretary

General Ban Ki-moon.

A day after Ban’s errant remarks in Cairo, Netanyahu publicly stated before meeting with Ban that Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 completely invalidated the idea of an “occupation” in Gaza.  “The root cause of the violence that burst from Gaza is not Israel’s occupation in Gaza, for a simple reason: Israel doesn’t occupy Gaza,” Netanyahu said.  “Israel left Gaza to the very last centimeter, to the very last inch.  We uprooted all the settlements and vacated all the settlers.  So there is no Israeli occupation of Gaza.”  “The root cause of Hamas’ rocket fire on Israel is Hamas’ opposition to Israel’s very existence,” he said.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) meets with Mahmoud Abbas,

President of the State of Palestine, in Cairo, Egypt.

Israeli Knesset (Parliament) Speaker Yuli Edelstein spoke to Israel Radio about similar statements at the conference to “end the ‘occupation’" that were issued by Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas. “What he calls ‘ending the occupation’ already happened in the Gaza Strip in August 2005,” Edelstein said. Edelstein also criticized Cairo for not inviting Israel to the Gaza-reconstruction conference and said Gaza’s ability to rebuild its civilian infrastructure will require more than Sunday’s successful fundraising. The donations, including a $1 billion pledge from Hamas-funder Qatar, lack proper supervision, which might lead to the incoming wealth falling straight into the hands of Hamas terrorists, Edelstein said.  “The damage coming from a lack of supervision is double: Nothing will reach the population and Hamas’s temptation to start a new round of violence once it strengthens itself will be great, so all of the money invested in rehabilitation will go down the drain,” he said.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (second from left) meets with internally

displaced persons (IDPs) during his visit to the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Israel has shifted significantly in permitting  the movement of people and produce in and out of Gaza this week, allowing Gazan farmers and fishermen to transport their goods to the West Bank market for the first time since 2007, when Hamas violently took over the Gaza Strip. Israel also continues to donate humanitarian aid to Gaza, and this Tuesday alone sent in 3,000 tons of construction materials to rebuild Gaza’s civilian infrastructure. The 2,000 tons of gravel, 600 tons of cement and 400 tons of steel will be monitored by a supervisory team of Israeli, PA, and UN representatives, in order to keep the materials from being used to build terror infrastructure.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin opened his sukkah to the public during

the week-long holiday of Sukkot.  In the photo above, Secretary-General of

the United Nations Ban Ki-moon signs the guest book.