By: David Isaac – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

Half of the country’s consumable wheat products and a third of its animal feed are supplied by Russia and Ukraine, according to numbers from the Ministry of Agriculture.

The problem of national food security, which formerly preoccupied specialists, began to penetrate the world’s consciousness with COVID-19 supply disruptions, but it’s Russia’s war with Ukraine that has given governments a jolt. Ukraine, together with Russia, supplies the world with 27% of its wheat and 53% of its sunflower oil and seeds. While some countries, like the United States, have well-developed food strategies, Israel does not, with experts telling JNS there is a lack of strategic planning, poor coordination and government turf wars. They warn that the longer the government fiddles, the worse things will get.

“Our prices are just beginning to rise. Unless the war ends quickly—and it doesn’t look like this is going to be over quickly—everyone around the world is going to be scrambling over food within their societies and in competition between states,” Aron Troen, professor at the School of Nutrition Science and the School of Public Health at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told JNS.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/war-in-ukraine-sparks-food-security-fears-experts-say-israel-needs-national-strategy/

By: Jerusalem Post Staff – The Jerusalem Post; jpost.com

With the resignation of MK Idit Silman from the coalition, there are now four possible scenarios of what will come next.

With the resignation of MK Idit Silman from the coalition, here are four possible scenarios of what will come next:

1. Domino effect

Another member of the Knesset quits the coalition and helps the opposition – led by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu – to pass a bill dispersing the Knesset and taking Israel to a new election.

In this event, immediately after the dispersion of the Knesset, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid would become prime minister until the formation of a new government.

For Silman, the ideal situation would be for another member of Yamina to break away from the party so that she can then – together with earlier Yamina rebel MK Amichai Chikli – form a new faction that would be able to merge with an existing party and run in a new election.

cont’d…

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-703372

By: Dr. Tom Copeland – The Jerusalem Post; jpost.com

Opinion: Anti-Zionism is poised to shape the future of Evangelical support for Israel.

While American Protestants have long been seen as key allies to the Jewish state of Israel, there are disturbing signs of an emerging anti-Israeli sentiment. This comes in pure political form, as when the Presbyterian Church USA recently opposed the Abraham Accords. Somewhat more quietly, the American BDS movement depends on support from academics, social justice warriors and from liberal religious communities.

Until the 1930s, there was broad American Protestant support for a future Jewish home, some of it driven by hope of proselytizing Jews, some of it by the hope that a Jewish state would bring the world closer to the return of the Messiah. Today, many conservative American Christians support Israel more on political than theological grounds: Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, is a strategic partner to the United States in a hazardous region of the world, and there is a strong feeling that the Jewish people deserve a homeland of their own after the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust. 

Mainline Protestants (the seven largest and oldest denominations in America) were initially in favor of Christian Zionism, but their views began to diverge shortly after 1948. They observed Israel’s expansion in the 1967 war and the condition of Palestinians in refugee camps, and during the 1970s these denominations began passing resolutions condemning Israel and arguing for Palestinian rights and statehood. The fall of apartheid in South Africa, and Israeli responses to the Second Intifada (including the construction of the security fence), solidified Mainline opposition to Israel at the turn of the new century. Despite recent protestations by the liberal World Council of Churches that it no longer supports BDS, the WCC and all of the Mainline denominations continue to move forward with BDS policies.

cont’d…

https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-702574

By: Micah Halpern – The Jerusalem Post; jpost.com

ABOVE THE FOLD: The Bible still plays an ever-important role, even in modern warfare.

There are, of course Russian spies all over Ukraine. We would expect no less. They scout and they report back to their superiors. And sometimes, they are caught. Sometimes, their cover – as they say in B-movies – is blown.

Ukrainians have figured out how to ferret out many of the Russia spies wandering around their country. And their trick, the litmus test to discover who is a real Ukrainian and who is a fake, is as far from high tech an anything can be. They use the ancient biblical tool called the shibboleth.

While the languages spoken in Russia and Ukraine are similar, there are significant differences. Note, for example, the phonetic spelling of the first names of the respective leaders of both countries. They carry the same name, yet they spell their names and pronounce their names with nuanced differences. In transliteration, it’s Vladimir for Putin and Volodymyr for Zelensky.

cont’d…

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-702384

Jewish News Syndicate – jns.org

A delegation is working with those in Moldova—mostly children and the elderly who were forced to leave their homes at short notice.

LeMa’anam, an association of doctors who treat Holocaust survivors voluntarily, has sent a large delegation of medical and humanitarian aid to refugees in Moldova.

The delegation includes 35 doctors and primary-care physicians for families and children, in addition to other specialties including psychiatry, ENT, gynecology, orthopedics, along with nursing staff psychologists and social workers.

The delegation is working with refugees arriving in Moldova—mostly children and the elderly who were forced to leave their homes at short notice. In addition, the team will also provide initial treatment of the wounded.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/physicians-for-holocaust-survivors-provide-medical-care-to-ukrainian-refugees/

Jewish News Syndicate – jns.org

The family, including an infant, was stuck in Odessa • “This whole ordeal is far from over,” says Dr. Zev Neuwirth, who led the rescue mission.

United Hatzalah’s medical relief mission to Ukraine last week rescued five injured members of one family, including an infant, from the war-torn nation, according to a spokesperson for the organization.

After having received reports on the afternoon of March 6 about several injured and sick refugees needing evacuation from Odessa, Dr. Zev Neuwirth led a small team of medical personnel through the Palanca border crossing from Moldova.

The team also brought with it medical equipment and supplies to provide treatment and support to a convoy of 150 Ukrainian refugees headed out of the country, according to a spokesperson for United Hatzalah.

After making it through multiple roadblocks, they were forced to stop and take shelter in an apartment in Odessa due to a curfew, said Neuwirth.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/united-hatzalah-team-rescues-injured-family-of-five-from-ukraine-in-22-hour-operation/

By: Emily Jones – CBN News; cbm.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel is setting up a field hospital in Ukraine to serve those trapped in the war with Russia.

The field hospital will include treatments for children and adults, an intensive care unit, a delivery room and first aid clinic, Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced.

“We are acting on our moral duty, we increase the humanitarian aid and we extend our help to the Ukrainian People,” said Minister of Health, Nitzan Horovitz. “The Ministry of Health sent aircrafts with medical equipment and medicines and now we will also establish a field hospital to aid the refugees on the scene. The Ministry of Health and the State of Israel stand clearly on the side of the Ukrainian People. We shall continue to assist, as much as needed, in saving the lives of civilians whose lives were destroyed in a moment.

The field hospital will be operated by Israel’s Sheba Medical Center, Clalit Healthcare Services and medical staff from other hospitals.

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/march/israel-setting-up-field-hospital-in-ukraine

By: Michael Brown – The Christian Post; christianpost.com

According to Pat Robertson, Vladimir Putin is being “compelled by God” to invade Ukraine. Indeed, “He went into the Ukraine, but that wasn’t his goal. His goal was to move against Israel, ultimately.” And, according to Robertson, this was all prophesied by Ezekiel, who lived more than 2,500 years ago. Is this true?

Over on the Bible Prophecy News website, Dr. Bob Thiel asks, “On February 24, 2022, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin announced a ‘special military operation’ into Ukraine. Are Jewish sources correct that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the start of the Gog and Magog war of Ezekiel 38? Are Protestant sources, and people like Trumpet editor Gerald Flurry right that Vladimir Putin is the ‘prince of Rosh/Rush’? Does Ezekiel 38 include Russia? What are some of the other nations involved in Ezekiel 38? Does this battle happen BEFORE or well AFTER Jesus returns? Can you know the answer from the actual passages in Ezekiel 38?”

A Christian Zionist website makes this claim (note that this was posted on December 10, 2021, so more than two months before the Russian invasion): Based on Ezekiel 38-39, the armies that will one day invade Israel “include Russia and Turkey from the north, Sudan/Libya (possibly including Algeria and Tunisia) from the south and west, and Iran from the east. Consequently, sometime in the future, an enormous military force surrounds Israel, which is far beyond their capacity to defeat. God alone can deliver them from annihilation, which Ezekiel reveals He does (38:17–23; 39:1–6).”

cont’d…

https://www.christianpost.com/voices/did-the-prophet-ezekiel-predict-russias-invasion-of-ukraine.html

By: Anugrah Kumar – The Christian Post; christianpost.com

Is Russia’s war on Ukraine a significant event in terms of prophecies recorded in the Bible? As many Christians debate this question, Southern California Pastor Greg Laurie explains why he believes we are living in the End Times.

“This is war at a scale we have not seen in a long time,” Laurie, senior pastor and founder of the multi-campus Harvest Christian Fellowship in California, says in a video message posted on his church’s website, referring to Matthew 24:6, which reads, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.”

The following verse, he adds, talks about plagues being around us in the last days. “If the coronavirus is not a plague, I don’t know what it is. It’s a global plague.”

Many Bible scholars believe that the mention of Magog attacking Israel in Ezekiel 38 is modern-day Russia, he continues.

According to another prophecy in Ezekiel, Jewish people will be scattered and regathered in their land again, which has been fulfilled, Laurie continues, explaining that during World War II and after the Holocaust, Jewish people from around the world began to return to their land. And Israel officially became a nation on May 14, 1948.”

But Scripture also says that a nation from the extreme north of Israel, called Gog and Magog, will march on her, he says, adding that Ukraine used to be a part of the Russian Empire until 1991.

cont’d…

https://www.christianpost.com/news/russias-war-on-ukraine-are-we-living-in-the-end-times.html

By: Julie Stahl – CBN News; cbn.com

Israel is scrambling here and in Europe to pave the way for thousands of Ukrainian Jews to immigrate to Israel.  The first three flights are expected Sunday in Tel Aviv. One of them is bringing 100 Ukrainian Jewish orphans.

The Jewish Agency for Israel is working together with Christians to help Jews trying to escape Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

“We are in touch with different communities and leaders of these communities – rabbis. We [are] helping them organize buses to the border. And then [at] the border, we meet these buses and we help them to cross this border to accommodate them in the neighboring countries,” said Roman Polonsky, Jewish Agency Regional Director for the Former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Germany.

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2022/march/urgent-aliyah-israel-prepares-for-thousands-of-ukrainian-immigrants