LLX News

By: John Waage – CBN News; cbnnews.com

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Iranian people in a broadcast interview Thursday night that a “horrible nuclear war” will ensue if the regime in Tehran is allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.

It was the first time Netanyahu, speaking with Iran International’s Pouria Zeraati, has directly addressed the people of Iran in a broadcast, and it came just hours after the prime minister met with U.S Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

“If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, this will be a problem all of us will face. It will change the world,” he said the interview, which was translated into Farsi for Iranians.

Netanyahu suggested an Iranian government armed with nuclear weapons could create a kind of domino effect – what he described as “the criss-crossing of the Middle East with nuclear tripwires, as other regimes who understand the danger of a nuclear Iran will rush to arm themselves.”

cont’d…

https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/israel/2023/march/in-direct-broadcast-netanyahu-warns-iranian-people-of-lsquo-horrible-nuclear-war-rsquo-if-iran-gets-atomic-weapons

By: Israel Today Staff; israeltoday.co.il

Top PLO officials hail blow to Netanyahu government and say it’s clearly time to abandon America as an honest peace broker.

What’s being hailed in the United States and Israel as a major diplomatic failure is cause for celebration among the Palestinian Authority.

The surprise China-brokered rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran presumably hobbles Israel’s efforts to normalize relations with the Arab world, while bolstering the Jewish state’s primary regional foe and the chief backer of Palestinian terror groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

“The Palestinian Presidency appreciates the Chinese role that contributed to reaching the agreement,” read a statement released by the Palestinian Authority. “We hope that the agreement will lead to stability and enhance the positive atmosphere in the region.”

For Israel and the West, any deal that aids the ambitions of the ayatollahs in Tehran can only lead to instability and more belligerence in the Middle East.

cont’d…

Popular conservative Jewish commentator Ben Shapiro excited about Christian revival.

By: Israel Today Staff; israeltoday.co.il

Whatever you may or may not think about recent events at Asbury College, we were surprised that Ben Shapiro would gush over a New Testament phenomenon. Is this one of those somewhat-rare instances of Romans 11:11 occurring?

“I say then, did they stumble that they might fall? God forbid: but by their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.” (ASV)

Shapiro is a young Orthodox Jewish American commentator on political and cultural matters who has gained a large audience in conservative circles. Some Orthodox Jews remain opposed to anything smacking of the New Testament due to a painful history of Christian antisemitism, among other reasons. But not Ben Shapiro. Take a look at Asbury through his eyes. He calls it:

“One of the most inspiring things I’ve ever seen.”

cont’d…

By: Pesach Benson – Israel Today; israeltoday.co.il

Aliyah, the ingathering of the exiles, has been accelerated by wars and rumors of wars, in particular Russia’s war on Ukraine.

(TPS) Ahead of the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Israeli officials reported that in the last year, 15,000 Ukrainian Jews have immigrated to Israel.

The numbers were based on figures provided by the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption, and by the Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental agency which facilitates Jewish immigration.

According to their figures, 24% were under the age of 18, 405 were 18-35, 37% were 36-65, and 21% were 66 or older.

After Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the  Ministry of Immigration and Jewish Agency launched a “Coming Home” operation, setting up emergency centers at border crossings. Ukrainian men of fighting age have not been allowed to leave the country.

cont’d…

The Russian invasion put Diana Bukman back in touch with her ex-husband in Israel. It also sent her former colleague across the world to Richmond, Va.

By: Mike Wagenheim – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

The term “displaced persons” doesn’t always capture adequately how much of a geographical impact wars have. Diana Bukman, who is now half a world away from a colleague in Ukraine and reconnected in Israel with her ex-husband, knows that all too well.

Moving to Israel was what made her first marriage fall apart. Her then-husband insisted on making aliyah, while she wanted to stay in Ukraine, where she directed a volunteer center in Odessa.

“It was not in my dreams to live in Israel,” she told JNS.

A year ago this month, when Russia invaded, Bukman wanted to stay in Ukraine to help, but her mother insisted that she pack her bags and flee the country with her two children. Her intended destination was Germany, where she could easily find work in her field. But a Jewish Agency bus brought her and her children to Bucharest, Romania.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/one-year-into-the-war-the-displacement-physically-and-emotionally-of-ukrainian-jews/

Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

“UNRWA’s lengthy and detailed history of promoting anti-Semitism, violence and terrorism through ‘educational’ materials, and its continued ties to Hamas, should completely disqualify this corrupt entity from receiving any U.S. taxpayer funding,” says Rep. Chip Roy.

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) formally introduced The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Accountability and Transparency Act on Friday, which aims to stop the flow of American taxpayer dollars to that body.

“UNRWA’s lengthy and detailed history of promoting anti-Semitism, violence and terrorism through ‘educational’ materials, and its continued ties to Hamas, should completely disqualify this corrupt entity from receiving any U.S. taxpayer funding,” said Roy when announcing the bill.

“UNRWA has failed to meet previous commitments to stop its hostility towards Israel, and it is an obstacle to peace. Israel is one of our greatest allies and closest friends; we cannot say we truly stand with them while helping prop up a corrupt organization like this. If our actions do not match our words, then our word means nothing,” he added.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/us-lawmakers-introduce-bills-to-halt-flow-of-american-tax-dollars-to-unrwa/

By: Jerusalem Post Staff; jpost.com

The Foreign Ministry denied on Sunday that the United Hatzalah team sent to provide disaster relief to Turkey following the earthquake left early following a verified security threat.

Israel’s Operation Olive Branch delegation will conclude its rescue operations in Turkey and return to Israel in the coming days, according to a Sunday statement from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. 

The IDF delegation thus far has been able to rescue a total of 19 people trapped in the rubble in the aftermath of Turkey’s recent devastating earthquake that has already claimed the lives of over 25,000 people. 

Earlier on Sunday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry denied that the United Hatzalah team sent to provide disaster relief to Turkey following the earthquake left early following a verified security threat in the country.

cont’d…

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-731348

By: Lazar Berman – The Times of Israel; timesofisrael.com

Israel to send tents, medication, blankets, could receive wounded for medical treatment; first of two Israeli teams to head for Turkey tonight; Syria denies asking Israel for help

Israel is sending aid to Syria as well as Turkey as they grapple with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that killed over a thousand people in the region, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday.

Netanyahu said that Israel had received requests through diplomatic channels to assist in Syria, and that aid would be provided there.

“A request was also received to [provide relief] for the many who were injured in the earthquake in Syria,” Netanyahu said, and therefore he has “instructed that this be done.”

cont’d…

https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-says-israel-will-send-earthquake-relief-to-syria-as-well-as-turkey/

By: Jerusalem Post Staff; jpost.com

Thousands injured as hunt for untold numbers trapped in rubble • Israel launches rescue operation in Turkey, 150 to fly out on Monday

https://www.jpost.com/international/live-updates-730728

By: Jonathan S. Tobin – Jewishs News Syndicate; jns.org

The U.S. decision to strip arms stockpiles stored in the Jewish state to resupply Kiev’s forces in its deadlocked fight with Moscow is a gamechanger. Why is no one protesting?

For the last 11 months, Israel has sought to signal its opposition to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine while avoiding being dragged into a war that compromises its own security and interests. Threading that needle has been a difficult task, but it was an issue on which both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main political foe—Yesh Atid Party leader Yair Lapid—have been in agreement.

Nevertheless, Israel is now being made to pay a steep price for the war. The news, broken last week by The New York Times, that the U.S. is emptying the strategic reserve of arms and ammunition it has stored in Israel for Middle East emergencies, as well as for the Jewish state to draw on in the event of its being attacked, marks a turning point.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/opinion/the-ukraine-war-starts-to-undermine-israeli-security/