LLX News

“The big churches are using a very loud voice to malign, fabricate and twist the story,” says Rev. Peter Fast.

By: Etgar Lefkovits – Israel Today; israeltoday.co.il

A concerted effort is underway by some mainstream churches to convince evangelical Christians to be less supportive of Israel, the incoming head of an evangelical organization headquartered in Jerusalem says.

Rev. Peter Fast, CEO-elect of Bridges for Peace, spoke in an interview with JNS on [last] Tuesday.

The remarks come two months after the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem lambasted Israeli restrictions on the number of worshippers allowed into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem for the Holy Fire ceremony over Easter.

News agencies fanned the criticism worldwide, only to have it later emerge that a church engineer had requested the limitations over safety concerns.

“The big churches are using a very loud voice to malign, fabricate and twist the story to make Israel look like a human rights violator and oppressor of faith,” Fast told JNS.

cont’d…

https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/evangelical-leader-decries-mainstream-church-efforts-to-malign-israel/

By: Nicole Alcindor – The Christian Post; christianpost.comn

A new study on faith and relationships suggests that absent fathers and collapsed marriages might be two of the best explanations for why Christianity is declining in the United States. 

The Nationwide Study on Faith and Relationships, research recently released by the church-consulting organization Communio, reports that “family decline appears to fuel faith decline.”

The study drew data from a nationwide survey of 19,000 Sunday church attendees from 112 Evangelical, Protestant and Catholic congregations in 13 states. The research comes as marriage rates have dropped 31 percent since 2000 and 61 percent since 1970, while less than half of all adults under 30 today grew up in a home with married parents.

According to the study, individuals who regularly attend church are more likely to have fathers present in their lives.

cont’d…

https://www.christianpost.com/news/absent-fathers-collapsing-marriages-major-reason-why-christians-are-declining-study.html

By: Raymond Ibrahim – Raymond Ibrahim; raymondibrahim.com

Newborn baby Muhammads are taking Western Europe by storm—with Berlin being the latest target.  According to a May 8, 2023

• The first name Mohammed has gained popularity in Germany in the past year….  In Berlin, Mohammed was the most popular first name for boys in 2022. Last year he had ranked third…. In Bremen, the first name Mohammed has moved up from third place to second place…. In Hesse, too, the name of the Muslim prophet is on the rise. There he fought his way from eighth to third place.

This trend is occurring all throughout Western Europe.  Muhammad is the most popular name in the United Kingdom;  in major Belgian cities—including Brussels, the EU capital; in Oslo, the capital of Norway; and in the Netherlands’ largest cities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.

This is to say nothing of other Arabic/Muslim names, which are also topping the charts of newborn baby names. According to a 2015 report, in the UK,

There is a surge in Arabic names generally, with Nur a new entry in the girls’ top 100, jumping straight to number 29, and Maryam rising 59 places to number 35. Omar, Ali, and Ibrahim are new to the boys’ top 100.

Even in the United States, in 2019, Muhammad made the list of top 10 baby names. “Arabic names are on the rise this year,” the BabyCenter said, “with Muhammad and Aaliyah entering the top 10 and nudging Mason and Layla off.”

All this may seem innocuous enough.  After all, what’s in a name?

By: Chris Mitchell – CBN News; cbn.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – One of Pat Robertson’s greatest legacies was his steadfast stand for the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Israeli and Christian leaders told CBN News how important Pat’s support was.

Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, a frequent guest on The 700 Club, remembers how Pat stood with Israel.   

“We’re talking about support for Israel during some of our hardest times. Support for Israel’s right to defend itself, of our right to defend ourselves as a Jewish state,” Oren told CBN News.

“I remember during the dark days of the Second Intifada—2000, 2004, 2005—when there were no tourists in Israel, the hotels were empty, the flights were empty. It was Pat Robertson and the evangelical communities that revered him that kept support for Israel and our economy during those very dark days,” Oren said.

“We owe him a historic debt. I owe him a personal debt and for that reason, I will say most emphatically, may his memory be blessed forever,” he added.

cont’d…

https://www2.cbn.com/news/israel/israeli-christian-leaders-praise-pat-robertsons-early-and-steadfast-dedication-israel

The IAEA struck a deal with Iran that provides minimal monitoring of the nuclear program

By: Anders Hagstrom – Fox News; foxnews.com

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) closed two investigations into Iran’s nuclear program this week after drastically limiting the monitoring equipment installed at Iranian sites.

Israeli expressed frustration with the IAEA for what they argue is lax enforcement that could lead to Iran obtaining dangerous nuclear material. The IAEA was working to reinstall monitoring equipment that Iran had ordered removed after withdrawing from its 2015 nuclear deal, but the organization has only put a slim amount of equipment in place.

The IAEA also agreed to close two investigations into aspects of Iran’s nuclear program as part of the negotiations seeking a reinstallation of monitoring equipment. Israeli officials blasted that move as shortsighted.

“Closing the case could have extremely dangerous consequences, and it conveys a message to the Iranians that they are not required to pay a price for their violations and that they can continue to deceive the international community on their way to achieving a full military nuclear program,” a spokesman for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.

cont’d…

https://www.foxnews.com/world/israel-calls-nuclear-watchdog-accuses-them-making-extremely-dangerous-deal-iran

The singer and actor, who was president of ZOA’s California chapter, died on May 21 at the age of 95.

By: Menachem Wecker – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

Some 15 or 20 years ago, Mort Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, saw a man who looked a lot like entertainer Ed Ames at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference in Washington.

“He was tall. He stood out among everyone,” Klein told JNS. “I knew it wasn’t Ed Ames, because he was at an AIPAC conference. Ed Ames wouldn’t be at an AIPAC conference. He’s not a Jew!”

Klein asked the 6-foot-3 man if anyone had ever told him he looked like the singer and actor. “He said, ‘Sir. I am Ed Ames,’” Klein told JNS. “I said, ‘I bet you tell that to everybody. I can’t believe you’re Ed Ames. What are you doing here at an AIPAC conference?’”

Ames said “I’m a Jew and a Zionist,” Klein recalled. “I said, ‘You’re Jewish? Ed Ames is Jewish?’ I didn’t know.”

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/jns/zionism/23/6/5/292458/

Chip giant says Israel-1 supercomputer valued at several hundred million dollars is a ‘major investment’ that will boost next-generation AI workloads

By: Sharon Wrobel – The Times of Israel; timesofisrael.com

US gaming and computer graphics giant Nvidia said Monday that it will build the nation’s most powerful generative AI cloud supercomputer called Israel-1 which will be based on a new locally developed high-performance ethernet platform.

Valued at several hundred million dollars, Israel-1, which Nvidia said would be one of the world’s fastest AI supercomputers, is expected to start early production by the end of 2023.

“AI is the most important technology force in our lifetime,” said Gilad Shainer, Senior Vice President of high performance computing (HPC) and networking at Nvidia. “Israel-1 represents a major investment that will help us drive innovation in Israel and globally.

cont’d…

https://www.timesofisrael.com/nvidia-taps-into-israeli-innovation-to-build-generative-ai-cloud-supercomputer/

Israel National News; israelnationalnews.com

Meir Tamari, 32 and the married father of two young children, is identified as the Israeli civilian brutally murdered near Hermesh.

The Israeli man brutally murdered near the town of Hermesh in northern Samaria has been identified as Meir Tamari, a 32-year-old Hermesh resident.

Tamari, who was shot dead by terrorists on Tuesday afternoon, is married and the father of two children, ages one and three.

Tamari moved to Hermesh four years ago, after marrying his wife, who grew up in the town. Just recently, the couple finished building their home.

Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, said, “This is very difficult news. Our heart breaks together with that of the entire family, the town, and the entire nation of Israel. It hurts so much to say this now, but we all understand: The writing was on the wall. We could have prevented this terror attack. This terror attack occurred just meters from a checkpoint which, if it were active, this terror attack would have been prevented.”

cont’d…

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/372109

By: Menachum Wecker – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

The near-complete Hebrew Bible edged out a volume by Leonardo da Vinci as the most expensive sold at auction ever.

First, there was the possibility that Renaissance man par excellence Leonardo da Vinci was Jewish. Now, the oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible, Codex Sassoon, which dates to around the year 900, beat da Vinci’s Codex Leicester as the most expensive book ever sold at auction.

Business magnate Bill Gates bought the latter for $30.8 million in 1994.

On May 17, Tel Aviv’s ANU–Museum of the Jewish People bought Codex Sassoon for $33.5 million at Sotheby’s auction house in New York. (Although the Hebrew volume is a higher price, the da Vinci manuscript is pricier when adjusted for inflation; with the buyer’s premium, a charge in addition to the hammer price, the sale totaled $38.1 million.)

Alfred H. Moses, a former U.S. ambassador to Romania and active member of the Georgetown Jewish community, and his family purchased the Hebrew manuscript on behalf of the American Friends of ANU and gifted it to the museum, according to a press release from the auction house. Moses is chair of the museum’s international board of governors.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/tel-aviv-anu-museum-of-the-jewish-people-buys-codex-sassoon-for-38-1-million/

David Friedman – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

Some have said that the Abraham Accords were achieved despite moving our embassy to Jerusalem. No, the Abraham Accords were signed because of the move.

On May 14, 2018—exactly the same date and even the same hour that David Ben-Gurion announced Israel’s independence 70 years earlier—I presided over the opening of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem, the eternal and undivided capital of the State of Israel. Apart from family milestones, it was the greatest day of my life, and an experience I will never forget.

Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem was, of course, deeply meaningful to Israel’s citizens and all of world Jewry. It was a firm rejection of the false claim that Jerusalem could or should be divorced from Israel’s national identity. Even more important, it was the recognition by the leader of the free world that Jerusalem, indeed, represents the realization of thousands of years of fervent prayers by an ancient people to be restored to their national capital.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/opinion/5-years-on-the-us-embassy-in-jerusalem-remains-the-key-to-peace-in-the-middle-east/