The ISIS suicide bombers who attacked Brussels airport on 22 March 2016, targeted passengers travelling to the USA and also Jewish people. Airport security camera footage shows one bomber apparently pursuing Hasidic Jews seconds before one of the blasts. One of the airport bombers attacked the Delta Airlines check-in at Zaventem airport. "Early on in the investigation there were indications that they targeted USA, Russian and Israeli check-in counters," a USA law enforcement source said. An airport source said a bomb that did not explode was left near the United and El Al counters, which face each other. Mohamed Abrini, a member of the attack team nicknamed the "man in the hat” who was arrested in Brussels on 8 April, 2016 told a Belgian court that one of the original targets in the attacks that killed 32 was the departure area for flights to Tel Aviv. Abrini ran from the scene of the airport attack without detonating his bomb-filled suitcase. "We know they wanted to target Americans. It’s clear they had quite specific targets,” the law-enforcement source told AFP. "We know they were obsessed with the Israelis too,” he added. (AFP) [Comment]

Israel approved the construction of approximately 2,500 homes in Judea & Samaria, most of them in existing settlement blocs, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced on 24 Jan. 2017. The decision came two days after a Jerusalem planning committee approved the construction of 566 housing units in East Jerusalem, and on the heels of a phone conversation over the weekend between Netanyahu and USA President Donald Trump, in which the two discussed their plans for the region. Most of the housing units will be built in the large settlement areas, notably in the city of Ariel and in Givat Ze’ev, outside Jerusalem. But some will also go up in settlements outside the larger blocs, due to prior agreements and court decisions. "We’re building - and will continue to build,” PM Netanyahu said, following the announcement. (Arutz-7) Pray Israel will stand strong in its resolve to provide much needed housing for its citizens and peruse its rights to expand well established and thriving Jewish communities – despite Palestinian and international unmerited disapproval. "For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.” Isa. 54:3 [Comment]

Gulf Arab states are quietly applauding the arrival in the White House of a leader opposed to their adversary Iran, even if they suspect Donald Trump's short temper and abrasive Tweets may at times heighten tensions in the combustible Middle East. While many countries around the world listened with concern to his protectionist inaugural address, Gulf Arab officials appear optimistic. They see in Trump a strong president who will shore up Washington's role as their main strategic partner in a region central to USA security and energy interests. In Gulf Arab eyes, that involves above all checking what they see as a surge of Iranian support for paramilitary allies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon and for fellow Shi'ite Muslims in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia's oil-producing Eastern Province.

Saudi Arabia in particular appears relieved at the departure of Barack Obama, who it felt considered Riyadh's alliance with Washington less important than negotiating a deal in 2015 to neutralize Iran's nuclear program. The relationship is a pillar of the Middle East's security balance. But it has suffered since Riyadh took issue with what it saw as Obama's withdrawal from the region, and a perceived inclination towards Iran since the 2011 Arab uprisings. There have been tensions over Syria, where Obama dismissed Gulf Arab urgings to give more aid to rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, who has survived thanks to Iranian and Russian backing. "Perception is important: Trump does not look like the kind of guy who will bend towards Iran or anyone else," said Abdulrahman al-Rashed, a veteran Saudi commentator. "If he behaves as he says, then we will see another Ronald Reagan, someone all the forces in the region will take seriously. That's what we have missed in the past eight years." (J.Post)

1. Doubt is natural

2. You're not defined by what other Christians say or do

3. You can always come back

Antonio Tajani who served in recent years as the deputy and acting president of the European Parliament was chosen on 17 Jan. 2017 to serve as president of the European parliament. 63-year-old Tajani defeated his left-wing rival by a significant margin and will serve for the next 2.5 years in place of Martin Schultz who served the two previous terms. The Conference of European Rabbis welcomed Tajani's election. The head of the Conference, Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinhas Goldschmidt said that Tajani is a "true friend and lover of Israel who has proved in his actions and declarations that he is 'good for the Jews'". In a speech before senior European rabbis and rabbinical judges and leaders of Jewish organizations from 32 European countries, Tajani said the rise in anti-Semitic acts must cause us to lead a determined fight against it and to eradicate it. We in the European Parliament will fight for the right to live on this continent as Jews. "We respect the precepts of your faith and will fight without compromise for this right. The Jews are and were an important part of Europe's history, present and future and we will continue cooperation between the EU and the Conference of European Rabbis and its representatives in foiling anti-Jewish legislation and fighting anti-Smuts," said Tajani. The Conference's representative in the EU, Belgian Chief Rabbi Avraham Gigi said that Tajani will balance the EU's attitude towards Israel as a "true friend of the Jewish nation." (INN) "Behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” Isa. 60: 2-3 [Comment]

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on 18 Jan. 2017 promised a "diplomatic response” if USA President-elect Donald Trump moves the embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Speaking at a press conference in Bethlehem, Abbas called on Trump not to move the embassy to Jerusalem, warning that there would be a "political and diplomatic” response to such a move. He did not elaborate. The PA chairman said there is a need to establish an international mechanism and a set schedule to realize a comprehensive peace based on the resolutions of international institutions, UN Security Council Resolution 2334 and the two-state solution within the pre-1967 borders. He also claimed that the year 2017 is the last chance to discuss and work towards the implementation of the two-state solution in order to reach a peace agreement with the "Israeli entity". Abbas said this opportunity must not be missed and called on all the countries that have not yet recognized the "state of Palestine” to do so. The PA chairman has in recent weeks warned several times against moving the embassy to Jerusalem. On 17 Jan. 2017 he told Trump that moving the embassy would be a "provocation that would harm the peace process”. Two weeks ago, Abbas wrote Trump a letter in which he warned the President-elect against moving the American embassy, saying that such a move would be crossing a "red line" and could jeopardize peace prospects. (Arutz-7) Upon reading PA leader, Mahmoud Abbas’ ongoing, tiresome rhetoric regarding the dangers to the so called "peace process,” and who is or might be responsible for the collapse of the "two state solution” or what must be done to end "Israel’s occupation,” etc. it can only be said that lies and failed responsibilities writhe and squirm at the feet of the Palestinians and their terrorist loving, Israel hating leaders. In truth, they want Israel destroyed, period, and "peace,” is the last thing on their minds – rather text books that teach Palestinian children to hate and glorify the murder of Jews, no recognition what-so-ever of Israel in text books and maps, the glorification of terrorist murderers as national and religious heroes, and not one, single, baby step towards peaceful co-existence with the Jewish state.

One can only continue to hope and pray that Abbas and the Palestinian people will escape the sewer of deception in which they continue to wallow, and that the rest of the world will stop buying into it as well. In finality, Mr. Abbas, you and those you purportedly lead are the ones to blame for the ruin of the "Peace Process.” It is already dead, not threatened, not endangered, but in the grave. So go do something, anything, worthy of honor and respect with a glimmer of hope for its resurrection! Spend some of the billions that tax payers of the world continue to send to you to build bridges - literally and otherwise - in your relationships with Israel and the nations, rather than paying terrorist salaries and sponsoring hate mongering and murder against God’s beloved people, Israel. [Comment]

 Incoming President Donald Trump was asked by Israeli media sources on 17 Jan. 2017, if he intends to go through with his pledge to move the USA Embassy to Jerusalem. "Of course I remember what I said about Jerusalem. You know that I am not a person who breaks promises," Trump responded in remarks published on Thur. 19 Jan. 2017. Likewise, this week, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Trump's nominee to be the USA ambassador to the UN, was asked during her confirmation hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee if she supported Trump's campaign promise to move the USA embassy to Jerusalem. "Absolutely," Haley said. "And not only is that what Israel wants, but that is what this Congress supports." (Asharq Al-Awsat-UK/Times of Israel) Pray that Donald Trump will keep his repeatedly published promise to move the USA embassy to Jerusalem. Intercede that he and his administration will grow in their love and respect for- and delight in - Israel and the Jewish people. May the lies that have been perpetrated against the Jewish state be exposed, unraveled, shattered. [Comment]

While serving as a senior adviser in the White House, Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will work to help broker a Middle East peace deal. Trump said that Kushner, Ivanka Trump's husband, would take on the task of negotiating peace between Israelis and Palestinians– an appointment Trump has previously floated due to the fact that Kushner "knows the region, knows the people, knows the players." Kushner has no previous diplomatic experience, but steered Trump's foreign policy throughout his presidential campaign and subsequent presidential transition. "What we know, he’s a really tough, smart guy, and we hope he will bring new energy to our region,” Israel's defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said of Kushner. (J.Post) "For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers” Prov 11:14. Intercede earnestly for Donald Trump and his carefully chosen administrative team that they may strengthen and lead the USA with wisdom and clarity, and cultivate among the nations respect and support for Israel. Pray also for the physical protection of Donald Trump from political and religious extremists. [Comment]

President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office using two Bibles - one belonging to Abraham Lincoln, and the other a gift from his mom, the inaugural committee announced this week. "In his first inaugural address, President Lincoln appealed to the ‘better angels of our nature,’” said committee chair Tom Barrack "As he takes the same oath of office 156 years later, President-elect Trump is humbled to place his hand on Bibles that hold special meaning both to his family and to our country,” Barrack added. The Lincoln Bible, a burgundy velvet-bound copy, was used by two other presidents for their swearing-in: Lincoln in 1861 and Barack Obama in 2009 and 2013. Trump’s family Bible was given to him in 1955, by his mother when he graduated from Sunday Church Primary School at First Presbyterian Church in Queens. (NY Post) [Comment]

President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, blasted the global body over its treatment of Israel at her Senate confirmation hearing, on Wed. 18 Jan. 2017. "Nowhere has the UN’s failure been more consistent and more outrageous than in its bias against our close ally Israel," Haley said in the opening remarks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Any honest assessment also finds an institution that is often at odds with American national interests and American taxpayers." Noting that the United States contributes 22 percent of the UN budget, far more than any other country, Haley said, "Are we getting what we pay for?" She also promised to work with USA lawmakers to pursue what she described as "seriously needed change" at the United Nations. The UN’s anti-Israel bias is well-known and was even acknowledged by its former Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, before he stepped down at the beginning of this month. Haley’s hearing came weeks after the UN Security Council passed Resolution 2334 which was critical of Israel’s presence in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. Some Republican lawmakers, led by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, have threatened to cut USA funding for the UN following the anti-Israel resolution. (Reuters) [Comment]