A report based on information from senior USA officials suggests that outgoing USA President Barack Obama will not try to force any "peace” moves on Israel during his final weeks in office. According to media sources Obama now has no intention of presenting one last peace proposal or of altering USA policy by recognizing Palestinian statehood at the UN. Prior to last month’s USA presidential election, many were certain that Obama would use his final weeks in office to try to secure for himself a positive legacy regarding the Middle East conflict. But the surprise electoral victory of Donald Trump seems to have saved Israel from that particular headache. Reports suggest that knowing Trump would simply shelve any final proposal he put forward, Obama prefers not to leave office amidst public confrontation regarding his views on Israel. (Israel Today) Continue to pray that there will indeed be no bad surprises for Israel on the part of Obama during his final weeks in office. [Comment]

Itamar Marcus founder and director of the well known Palestinian Media Watch says world parliaments are waking up to the fact that the Palestinian Authority uses their aid to fund terrorists. Great Britain suspended 25 million euro to the PA in October 2016 over the salaries that are paid to Palestinian Arab terrorists and their families. There are also pushes in the USA Congress and the EU Parliament to halt funding for the PA due to the payments to terrorists and the constant incitement to commit attacks against Jews. "The Palestinian Authority pays all terrorists in Israeli prisons a salary of up more than 4 times the average salary in the PA." Marcus said. Members of Congress and various European parliaments have expressed increasing concern over the use of their money to fund terrorists who committed attacks and even murder against Israeli citizens- and even foreign citizens such as American citizen Taylor Force. The USA provides the PA with $400 million in funding annually. The EU provides 250 million euros each year to the PA, and various other countries within Europe also provide individual funding to the PA. The PA receives aid from international organizations, such as the UN, as well. (Arutz-7) Pray that all international governments and organizations will stop paying into the coffers of the Palestinian Authority whose leaders support and honor jailed terrorists who have carried out attacks against Israel. [Comment]

 Israel's Minister for Public Security Gilad Erdan told the Knesset on Wed. 30 Nov. 2016 that 40-50% of the fires that broke out across Israel last week were the result of arson, based upon "the estimates of professionals." The Fire Services backed up his claim. (Times of Israel) Please continue to pray for those who have suffered injuries and lost property in this national emergency, and help us at Vision for Israel to do all that we can for those who have contacted us in desperate need, having lost everything in the fires. [Comment]

Arab media reported on Wed. morning 30 Nov. 2016 that Israeli aircraft carried out two airstrikes in the Damascus area overnight Tuesday. One report said that the first airstrike hit a weapons warehouse belonging to the Syrian army near Damascus. The second attack targeted a convoy of cars belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist group. Other Syrian websites reported that the attack on the Hezbollah convoy was meant to thwart a delivery of missiles from Syria to Lebanon. According to these reports, the convoy was bombed after it left the airport in Damascus. On 28 Nov. 2016 Israeli aircraft attacked a facility belonging to the ISIS terrorist organization in the Syrian part of the Golan Heights. The assault was in retaliation to Sunday’s attack on IDF forces who were engaged in operations along the Syrian border. (Arutz-7) [Comment]

It's okay to be disappointed

Lean on your supports

Focus on hope and the Grace of God

 A controversy is raging over Israel’s proposed legislation aimed at muffling the five daily Muslim calls to prayer from local mosques. In recent decades, the call of the muezzin has been amplified by multiple loudspeakers, resulting in tremendous noise pollution starting at 4:30 AM every morning. While Jewish residents have been most vocal in complaining about the muezzin loudspeakers, local Muslims have expressed outrage over the bill, which last week gained approval from PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet. Arab Members of Knesset say the bill will limit religious freedom for Muslims in the country, and the Palestinian Authority has threatened to take the matter to the UN Security Council. But when pressed on the issue, many local Muslims admit that the volume of the muezzin’s call is excessive. Nor has similar legislation in Muslim countries ever elicited such opposition. In Egypt, for example, the use of loudspeakers to amplify the muezzin’s call is restricted. Muslim scholars at Al-Azhar University previously determined that the loudspeakers are a modern invention, and therefore have nothing to do with the Islamic law that mandates calling the faithful to prayer.

In 2011 the UAE limited the volume of mosque loudspeakers following repeated complaints by Muslim residents. In June 2015, Indonesia’s vice president established an investigative committee to look into the problem of noise pollution caused by mosque loudspeakers. As the largest Muslim population country in the world, Indonesia has hundreds of thousands of mosques all blaring their calls to prayer at the same time. Even in Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam, the government ruled that calls to prayer could only be amplified by a mosque’s indoor loudspeakers, and no longer using the loudspeakers fixed to the top of the minaret. In Europe, Switzerland decided nine years ago to ban minarets altogether, and in Cologne, Germany approval to build a new mosque was only granted in 2007 after the local Muslim community undertook in write not to use loudspeakers to amplify its calls to prayer. None of these decisions resulted in international crises. There are many Muslims in the Jerusalem area who can’t stand the daily harassment of the loudspeakers. But the moment Israel’s government dares to intervene (and in exactly the same way as Muslims governments have in recent years) it is accused of being discriminatory and racist. (Israel Today) [Comment]

 A senior Iranian military commander predicted on 21 Nov. 2016 that the Palestinian Arabs would "get rid of Israel” in the next 10 years. Speaking to students near Tehran, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi said the Palestinian territories will be "freed from Israel's occupation” within a decade, expressing hope that the ideology that led to Iran's Islamic Revolution would help the Arabs to eliminate Israel. Naqdi further claimed that the Islamic Revolution helped Iran get rid of the United States over 35 years ago, rescued the country from Saddam Hussein's aggression and helped the Lebanese to get rid of the Americans as well.

"The comments are another example of the anti-Israel and anti-American rhetoric that is constantly spoken by Iranian officials. Chief among them is Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has referred to Israel as a "cancer” and in the past threatened to "annihilate" the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. In March 2016 the Supreme Leader ruled out his country having ties with the United States or "the Zionist regime” – that is, Israel – claiming he had proof that the United States was planning a coup in Iran. In May of this year a senior Iranian military commander threatened Israel and claimed that his country can destroy the Jewish state "in less than eight minutes”. Earlier this month, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, claimed Israel is the biggest threat to humanity, world peace and international security. (Arutz-7) God’s word promises in spite of Iran’s violent rhetoric against the Jewish state:"Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations.” Joel 3: 20

A dedication ceremony was held Tues. morning 22 Nov. 2016 at the Masada National Park, for the Dead Sea Research Institute, in which Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian Authority scientists will work together to study the endangered Dead Sea in order to find ways to rehabilitate it and the region around it. The institute was established under the aegis of the International Cooperation Ministry. Additional partners are the Tamar Regional Council, Tel Aviv University, the Jewish National Fund and the National Parks Authority. Studies carried out by the institute will concentrate on issues such as climate and environmental medicine and health; flora and fauna, environment, geology, archaeology, as well as bio- and nano-technology. (Arutz-7) [Comment]