THIS WEEK’S GLOBAL UPDATE
A Note from Jonathan Bernis
Shalom, my friend!
Thank you for your love and compassion for the Jewish people – in Israel and around the world.
I’m so grateful that you are willing to stand with God’s Chosen People and their neighbors through your ongoing prayers and financial support.
And I pray you’ll experience a special outpouring of God’s blessing on you for your faithfulness to His people. Just as the Scriptures promise, “I will bless those who bless [Israel]” (Genesis 12:3).
Please join us in praying for God’s strength, protection, love and blessing to be upon His people, wherever they are around the world. And that He draws them to Himself through the Good News of Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah.
Thank you for your partnership in this work of ministry.
To the Jew first and also to the Nations,
Jonathan Bernis
President & CEO
Jewish Voice Ministries International
Headline News
Israel Kills Another Top Islamic Jihad Commander in Gaza City Airstrike
The Times of Israel reports that a recent Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip killed a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad member, Iyad al-Hassani, head of the terror group’s operations department. This is the sixth in the latest round of hostilities.
The strike in the Gaza City neighborhood of Nasser that killed al-Hassani, along with another man the military said was his assistant, dealt yet another blow to the terror group.
In a joint statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet security agency said al-Hassani was a top official in the group’s military council who had replaced the head of Islamic Jihad in northern Gaza, Khalil Bahtini, who was killed in an Israeli strike previously.
“He was involved in all the decisions concerning the rocket fire and rocket barrages carried out by the group toward Israel,” the IDF said.
The IDF further said that the air defense systems – Iron Dome and the medium-range David’s Sling – intercepted 296 of the rockets, marking a 91% interception rate of projectiles heading for populated areas in this recent barrage of attacks. Several rockets have landed within towns, killing one and injuring several others, as well as causing extensive damage.
The rest landed in open areas without causing damage, according to the IDF. Most rockets targeted towns in southern Israel, but some reached as far north as Tel Aviv.
The military also said it had carried out strikes against 254 targets belonging to Islamic Jihad.
Israeli officials have insisted that they are keeping the fight limited to Islamic Jihad and not the larger and better-armed Hamas terror group, which rules the Strip, hoping to avoid widening the conflict.
Following 5 days of exchanged fire, during which, over 1,000 rockets were launched into Israel, a ceasefire was declared on Saturday, May 13th.
Updates from the Middle East
Abbas Compared Israel to Nazism, Demanded UN Ban Israel During First-Ever “Nakba Day”
Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, addressed the UN assembly during its first-ever commemoration of “Nakba” or “Catastrophe” Day, the Palestinian term for Israel’s Independence Day. The state of Israel harshly opposed the event, calling it a “distortion of history,” and said it had convinced many other countries to also boycott the commemoration. This year marks Israel’s 75th anniversary of becoming a free state.
Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s Tweet Calling Israel “Apartheid State” Gets Torn Apart by Instant Fact Check
Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib tweeted early last week that “Speaker McCarthy wants to rewrite history, but the apartheid state of Israel was born out of violence and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. 75 years later, the Nakba continues to this day.” This tweet was in response to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's post noting the “special relationship” between Israel and the U.S. Tlaib’s tweet was the subject of an instant fact check by Twitter. The fact check first points out that Israel was created by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181, linking to the document at the U.N.'s official website. The fact check then points out that the “ethnic cleansing” Tlaib claimed happened “affected both Jewish and Arab communities caught up in the war initiated by 5 Arab states who opposed the existence of Israel.” The last note pointed out that Israel has over 20% Arab citizens who have “full and equal rights,” linking to a Democracy Institute study that found the country’s Arab residents had declining rates of infant mortality and rising life expectancies.
Anti-Semitic Incidents, Hate Crimes on the Rise in California
According to a report recently released by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), more than 500 anti-Semitic acts targeting Jewish people, including assault, vandalism and harassment, were committed in California last year. That’s an increase of more than 40% from 2021, underscoring a proliferation of hate crimes and extremism in the state. The report on California comes after the ADL released another report, in collaboration with Tel Aviv University’s Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, that shows anti-Semitic incidents are at a new high worldwide, with the upward trend intensifying in the U.S.
Pray with Us This Week
Please pray for:
- God to continue to protect innocent lives from the fighting in Ukraine and to bring a peaceful end to the invasion by Russia
- God to surround His people in Israel, who are constantly facing threats and violence from surrounding enemies
- God to give wisdom and insight to Israel’s leaders to make wise decisions and for there to be unity among the Jewish people in Israel
- Peace in the hearts and minds of the people of Israel and their enemies
- The Jewish people to recognize Yeshua as their Messiah
- God to soften the hearts of those who would deem Israel’s existence a “Catastrophe”
