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Let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” Amos 5:24
20th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION FOR VISION FOR ISRAEL & THE JOSEPH STOREHOUSE: Join us in London June 28 for the 20th Anniversary Celebration of Vision for Israel & the Joseph Storehouse. It will be an all day celebration at the Emmanuel Centre. For more information call our UK office at 01793-862121 to register now.
HUNT FOR MISSING TEENS INTENSIFIES: DOZENS OF TERROR TUNNELS DISCOVERED IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA: The IDF has discovered dozens of terror tunnels and hiding holes in the Hebron area while searching for the three teens kidnapped in Judea and Samaria. Some of the tunnels were found inside Palestinian homes under furniture and washing machines. Israel’s elite Yahalom engineering unit also discovered close to 20 laboratories for manufacturing improvised explosive devices hidden in homes. Israel’s Lt. Col. Yogev Bar-Sheshet has described the raids against Hamas in the ongoing search for abducted teens saying that, « Some 500 troops raid two villages every night; they detain people and seize arms. We may not have been able to prevent the kidnapping but at the very least we are thwarting the next one. You cannot escape the feeling that this mission is of great national importance; you cannot do more than what we have been doing. We are arresting as many terrorists as we can; they are on the run. The Palestinian public will not enjoy a good night’s sleep so long as theabductees have not been returned. » Israeli PM Minister Netanyahu addressed his cabinet, Sunday saying the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are continuing their search for the abducted Israeli teenagers, and will soon provide to the world incontrovertible proof that Hamas is behind the recent kidnappings. (Ynet/Israel Hayom) Once again, a miracle is needed to locate the whereabouts of these kidnapped Jewish young people. Please pray that by security leadings and divinely given intuitive hunches and information these abducted teenagers will be discovered and released from terrorist hands.
HUCKABEE: US MUST HELP ISRAEL BRING BACK CAPTIVE TEENS: The US must declare the kidnapping of three teenagers in Gush Etzion will not be tolerated and work to bring them home, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said in the Knesset Monday. The kidnapping is « nothing less than an act of antisemitic, rabid hatred, » he declared. In light of the fact that one of the boys, Naftali Fraenkel, is a US citizen, Huckabee said the US « must speak out boldly and say this is unacceptable. Whoever took this young man must understand there will be no lack of response if anything untoward happens to him. » The former governor said that, “In order to help in the search, the US should share intelligence with Israel and once the boys are found, the kidnappers should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law – if there’s anything left of them to bring to justice. I think most of the American people agree with that, » he posited. « Could anyone on this earth justify the kidnapping of those three boys? Can anyone celebrate that? » (Jerusalem Post) Actually, yes; Amin Maqboul, a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, said on Saturday that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians support the abduction of Israelis. Many Palestinians have celebrated the latest kidnapping with loud parties and fireworks, and by handing out candy on the streets. On Monday Hamas political chief Khaled Meshal said that while he cannot confirm or deny the kidnapping of the three Israelis, in any case he congratulates and blesses the abductors.
HAMAS TERRORIST ARRESTED FOR PASSOVER EVE KILLING OF ISRAELI MAN: A Hamas operative released under the 2011 exchange for Gilad Shalit has been arrested for gunning down Baruch Mizrah near Hebron on Passover eve, the Shin Bet security service announced Monday. The cabinet ruled the suspect will have his home demolished. His son was also arrested, and the two were indicted Monday. PM Benjamin Netanyahu praised the security services for what he called the speedy process of tracking down the killer. Ziad Awad and his son Izz Hassan Ziad Awad were arrested for the April 14 shooting of the 47-year-old father of five. The senior Awad is accused of carrying out the shooting, while his son allegedly assisted him in planning the shooting and coordinating the escape. The shooting was religiously motivated, the Shin Bet said, with the elder Awad telling his son that “according to Islam, whoever kills a Jew goes to heaven.” Awad, was released in 2011 as part of the prisoner exchange for Shalit before completing his term. Over 1,000 Palestinian security prisoners were freed to secure the release of Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in a 2006 raid into southern Israel, who was held hostage in Gaza. Dozens of other Hamas men freed in the Shalit deal have been arrested in recent days in Judea and Samaria as Israel searches for three Israeli teenagers kidnapped by Hamas, on June 12. (Times of Israel)
NO MORE DEALS TO RELEASE PALESTINIAN PRISONERS: Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett said the arrest ofZiad Awad for the April killing of Baruch Mizrah, father of five, underlined that any further prisoner exchanges were untenable. “Today it was publicized that Baruch Mizrah who was killed in April, was killed by a terrorist released in the Shalit deal,” Economy Minister Bennett said in a statement. “When the Israeli government releases terrorists, at that very moment we seal the fate of entire families, we just don’t know yet the victims’ faces or names. After 30 years it is clear Israel should not release any more terrorists, in any situation, period. (Times of Israel)
ISRAELI TEEN KILLED, THREE WOUNDED IN EXPLOSION ON SYRIA BORDER: An Israeli teen was killed and three contract workers for the Defense Ministry were wounded, one seriously, on Sunday by an explosion near the border fence with Syria in the Golan Heights. The Israel Air Force struck nine Syrian military targets on Monday night, in response to Sunday’s cross-border missile shooting. (Ha’aretz) Continue to pray for the safety of Israel’s northern and southern borders and residents of Jewish communities there.
ISIS GUNMEN SEIZE BORDER CROSSINGS WITH JORDAN AND SYRIA: The Iraqi government appears to have lost control of its western borders after Sunni terrorists captured the border posts of Turaibil, on the Jordanian border, and al-Waleed, on the Syrian frontier, on Sunday after government forces pulled out. One tribal leader said that 90% of Anbar, the vast, mainly Sunni-populated province to the west of Baghdad, is now in rebel hands. Jordan increased its border defenses with Iraq on Sunday after ISIS gunmen seized territory close to its border in Anbar province and took control of the only land crossing with Iraq. A Jordanian minister said traffic had halted and there were signs of chaos at the crossing that serves as a major artery for passengers and trade between the two countries. Last week, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) announced it would « soon bring the Islamic state » to « brothers in Jordan. » ISIS has identified Jordan as a vital « linchpin » to uniting its young caliphate. Yet even more attractive to ISIS is the stretch of Jordan Valley farmland separating Jordan from Israel and the Palestinian territories – with leaders eyeing a push into the territories and the possible « liberation of Jerusalem. » The group hopes to create a state combining territory in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon and Israel. Secretary of State John Kerry is traveling in the Middle East this week to build support among leaders from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to help stabilize Iraq. But many of ISIS’ wealthy donors come from within Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and Kerry will have to pressure them to help cut off the group’s funding. (Ammon-Jordan/Reuters/CBS)
REPORT: US, UK KNEW ABOUT ISIS TAKEOVER MONTHS IN ADVANCE: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIS) takeover of Iraq earlier this month took the world by storm, as the successive fall of several major cities in the Sunni-dominated northwest left Iraqis fleeing and world leaders shaken. Kurdish intelligence, however reported news of a strategic alliance and pact between Islamist groups to topple Mosul and other major Iraqi cities with ISIS’s help as far back as January, media sources reported Sunday. Shortly after the fall of Fallujah to ISIS, an informant reportedly stepped into a Kurdish intelligence office to reveal the news that ISIS officials had networked with remnants of Saddam Hussein’s regime to plan a large-scale invasion. But while Kurdish handlers ran immediately to the US and Britain with the information, the West allegedly sat back and did nothing. « We had this information then, and we passed it on to your (British) government and the US government, » Rooz Bahjat, a senior head of Kurdish intelligence, told UK reporters. “We knew exactly what strategy they were going to use, we knew the military planners, » he added. « It fell on deaf ears.” He warned that the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was now a greater threat to western countries than Osama bin Laden had been in 2001. But the West may be responsible for more than just the current waves of ISIS takeovers. Both Bahjat and one other official stated the West’s lack of resolve to tie up all the loose ends in the 2003 invasion caused the current crisis on the grand scale. And the future does not look promising, they said. (Israel National News) “Like a broken tooth or a lame foot is reliance on the unfaithful in a time of trouble.” Prov 25:19
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (PC-USA) DIVESTS FROM ISRAEL: Jewish organizations in America reacted with disbelief at Friday’s decision by the Presbyterian Church (USA) to divest $1.9 million from companies implicit in Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria, according to media reports. In a 310-303 vote taken during its General Assembly, PCUSA agreed to divest from Caterpillar, Hewlett Packard and Motorola Solutions. In response, the American Jewish Community accused PCUSA’sleadership of « facilitating the delegitimization of Israel in the guise of helping Palestinians. » Rabbi Noam Marans, one of AJCdirectors, said the vote is a decision “celebrated by those who believe they are one step closer to a Jew-free Middle East. » PMNetanyahu on Sunday criticized the decision by PCUSA saying the vote was misguided and unfair. « When the Middle East is fragmented in this horrible war, this savage, savage war between militant Shiites and militant Sunnis, the only place where you have freedom, tolerance, protection of minorities, protection of Christians and all other faiths is Israel, » said Netanyahu. « Let’s arrange a bus tour for Presbyterians in the region. Let them go to maybe Syria, Lebanon, Iraq. And my only suggestion for them is it be in an armor-plated bus, and they shouldn’t announce that they’re Christians. » Earlier last week, the highest governing body of PCUSA also voted, by a 3-to-1 margin, to allow its ministers to perform same-sex marriages. (Worthy News/Ynet/AP)
SUDANESE MOM SENTENCED TO DIE FOR CHRISTIAN FAITH IS FREED: Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman who gave birth in a Khartoum prison after being sentenced to death in May for allegedly converting from Islam to Christianity, has been freed, media reports have confirmed. Ibrahim, 27, refused to renounce her Christian faith in court in May, prompting a judge to sentence her to hang for apostasy. Sudan’s national news service said the Court in Khartoum on Monday canceled the death sentence after defense lawyers presented their case, and that the court ordered her release. Ibrahim was reportedly whisked away to a confidential location and that her lawyers will be meeting with representatives from the US Embassy later this week. (Fox News) The release of Meriam Ibrahim and her two infant children from prison is truly an answer to many prayers! Intercede that no Sudanese judicial powers will reverse this decision, and the Ibrahims and their children will soon return safely to the US.
The suggestions, opinions and scripture references made by JNN writers and editors are based on the best information received.
Barry Segal with the Editorial Staff
