The United States is ready to pull out of the UN Human Rights Council unless it institutes reforms, including removing Israel as a permanent item on its agenda, USA Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told an Israeli American audience. "The Human Rights Council will either adopt these reforms, or the United States will leave.” Haley said the USA proposed reforms include removing "Item 7,” which requires a report on Israeli actions in Judea & Samaria each time the panel convenes. She said the United States also wanted structural changes that would keep major human rights abusers from joining the council. Haley said the USA delegation was endeavoring to keep unpublished a list the UN Human Rights Council is compiling of companies doing business with Judea & Samaria settlements. Israel and the United States see the list as a blacklist for boycotters. She described one of the Obama administration’s last acts — allowing through a UN Security Council resolution condemning settlements — as a "betrayal” of Israel. (Times of Israel)
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 Western intelligence agencies warned former Lebanese prime minister Saad al-Hariri of an assassination plot against him, the Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported on 5 Nov. 2017. Asharq al-Awsat reported that the sources "revealed that he had received Western warnings of an assassination attempt that was prepared against him". Hariri announced his surprise resignation the previous day, citing a plot to kill him, and saying the climate in Lebanon resembled that before the assassination of his father Rafik al-Hariri, who was also prime minister, in 2005. He criticized Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah for their role in Lebanon and other Arab countries. Hariri travelled to Riyadh on 4 Nov. 2017 and did not return to Lebanon. His resignation was made in a televised statement from an undisclosed location. Saudi Arabia is an arch rival of Iran. Asharq al-Awsat reported unnamed sources as speculating that Hariri would remain outside Lebanon because of the security threat against him. (J.Post) [Comment]

In an unusual public declaration on Friday 3 Nov. 2017 the Israeli military announced it would thwart a potential takeover of a Syrian Druze town by jihadists. The IDF statement came after a Nusra Front suicide bomber killed at least nine people in Hader, which is located just across the border from Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. The IDF said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot and other top officers had conducted a situational assessment about what was transpiring in Hader. "The IDF is prepared and ready to assist the residents of the village and prevent damage to or capture of Hader, out of a commitment to the Druze population,” it said. Since the civil war in Syria erupted in 2011, Israel has largely sought to remain neutral in the bloody conflict. However, the IDF has responded with pinpoint strikes to occasional cross-border fire - both errant and intentional - in the Golan Heights and has reportedly bombed a number of Hezbollah-bound arms convoys and other targets in Syria tied to the Iran-backed, Lebanon-based Shia terror group in recent years. Israel has also provided medical treatment to thousands of people wounded in the fighting in Syria. (Algemeinger) Continue to pray for the safety of Israel’s northern borders. As scriptures describe it in Jer. 1:13, "a boiling pot” facing from the north is in danger of tipping over onto Israel’s land and communities. [Comment]

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed solidarity with the victims of Sunday’s 5 Nov. 2017 shooting attack on a Baptist church in Texas in which up to 27 people have been killed. Netanyahu said he was "horrified by the savagery in Texas. Our hearts are with the victims, their families and the American people,” the Israeli leader said. The mass shooting occurred at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, about 30 miles southeast of San Antonio. The gunman, who was later shot dead by police, walked in to the church at 11:30 on Sunday morning and began spraying the crowd with bullets. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said that on top of the 27 deaths, "many more” had been injured. Paxton said that "In a small town, I can imagine that these people are devastated. And everyone in the community is going to have some type of close relationship” to those either killed or injured in the shooting outrage. (J.Post) Many in Israel, including VFI staff members, join with PM Netanyahu’s shock and condolences regarding the Texas church shooting victims, their loved onesand community in this latest act of violence against the innocent. Please join us in prayer for the comforting and swift recovery of the injured, and for God’s closeness to those who are grieving. [Comment]

The United Arab Emirates’ top judo official apologized to his Israeli counterpart last weekend after a tournament in Abu Dhabi saw Israeli athletes repeatedly snubbed by their hosts because of their nationality. Mohammad Bin Thaloub Al-Darei, president of the UAE’s Judo Federation, and Aref Al-Awani, another senior Emirates sports official, apologized to Israeli Judo Association head Moshe Ponte over the fact that an athlete from the UAE refused to shake hands with an Israeli judoka after a match during the several-day tournament. They also congratulated the Israel team for their success in the tournaments. IJF president Marius Vizer called the move a "gesture of courage.” On Friday 27 Oct. 2017 the UAE’s Rashad Almashjari refused to shake hands after losing to Israeli Tohar Butbul in the first round of the men’s lightweight (66-73 kg) category. Butbul went on to win bronze, one of several medals won by Israelis at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam judo tournament. The group reportedly agreed that Israeli symbols would be permitted at the event next year, but there was no confirmation. Vizer only expressed hopes that "in the near future we can achieve the best condition of participation for the Israel teams.” (Koenig) [Comment]

A Jewish schoolgirl from the north London neighborhood of Stamford Hill neighborhood went to receive her package from a store providing internet mail services but was shocked by the racist slur she received from the salesperson. The girl reported that the salesperson stopped providing service for her while dealing with her order and started to address another customer. When she asked to receive her package, she was told: "Be patient, Jews come last." The girl, who was extremely insulted, informed the Hashomrim organization who reported the matter to local police. Police referred the incident to organizations working in England against anti-Semitism. (Arutz-7) "Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause….” Ps. 69:4 [Comment]

Governor Scott Walker issued an executive order on Friday 27 Oct. 2017 barring state agencies from engaging in business with entities that discriminate against the Jewish state. The Wisconsin governor's executive order came ahead of his departure for Israel on that same day with a 15-member trade group, running until 2 November 2017. "We stand firmly against discrimination in any form and we wholly support our friends in Israel,” said Walker, adding "I look forward to leading a trade delegation to Israel to foster new trade partnerships between Wisconsin and Israeli businesses.” Wisconsin becomes the 24th USA state to pass either an executive order or state law outlawing BDS activity targeting Israel. According to Walker's statement, Israel-Wisconsin trade relations are flourishing, with "Wisconsin exporting over $80 million annually to Israel and importing over $200 million annually from Israel." (J.Post) [Comment]

A visit from tens of thousands of migrating pelicans may be a gift for bird-watchers, but for Israeli fish farmers it can be costly. In response, Israeli authorities have taken to feeding the birds to help preserve the farms’ stocks. Members of staff at the reservoir in Mishmar Hasharon feed the pelicans with six tons of fish three to four times a week, during the three months that the pelicans are flying over Israel, in a project funded by the Israeli Agriculture Ministry. Estimates of the number of birds that pass over Israel each year range from 75,000 to over 100,000. They migrate from southern Europe to spend the winters in central Africa. "They eat here and in the north, and then they have enough food to continue to the south of Sudan.” (Reuters) "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”Mt. 6:26 [Comment]

Tel Aviv's Beaches

Carmel Market

The Tel Aviv Museum of Art

The Neve Tzedek Quarter

Namal, the old port