“I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel whom they have scattered among the nations and parted my land” (Joel 3:2)

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left…then he shall say unto them on the left hand:  Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire…And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous unto life eternal (Mt. 25:32-33, 41,46)

Dear Intercessors for Israel:

This past week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been paying a State visit to Israel.  As part of his official tour, he became the first member of the US State Department to visit Israel’s territories of Judea and Samaria (West Bank).  Pompeo also visited the Psagot Winery, in the vicinity of the Psagot community, in the Sha’ar Binyamin industrial area near Jerusalem.   Pompeo used his visit to announce that the U.S. will be branding goods made in Israeli settlements in the West Bank as “Made in Israel”   He declared that “All producers within areas where Israel exercises the relevant authorities…  will be required to mark goods as ’Israel’, ’Product of Israel’, or ‘Made in Israel’ when exporting to the United States,” The Psagot Winery then presented Pompeo with a bottle of a special wine blended and named in his honor.

Secretary of State Pompeo then flew aboard a Blackhawk helicopter, alongside Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi to view the Golan Heights.  In doing so, he became the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit this area, captured in 1967 from Syria in the Six Day war and later annexed.   Pompeo toured parts of the Golan on Israel’s border with Syria under heavy security (www.timesofisrael.com).  Secretary Pompeo then stated that:  “You can’t stand here and stare out at what’s across the border and deny the central thing that President Donald Trump has recognized, and what the previous presidents have refused to do,” Pompeo said, referring to Trump’s decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty in the area last year. “This is a part of Israel and central part of Israel,”. He condemned what he described as calls from “the salons in Europe and in the elite institutions in America,” for Israel to return the Golan to Syria.

The United Nations Condemns Israel

As if in response to Secretary Pompeo’s declarations, the United Nations overwhelming voted to condemn Israel.  The General Assembly approved a resolution November 18th by an 156-6 margin, that its member nations “ensure they do not treat the West Bank settlements (Judean and Samaria Communities)  and East Jerusalem (2/3 of modern day Jerusalem, including the Old City) as part of sovereign Israel,” (www.jpost.com ). All 27 members of the European Union voted in favor of the text as well as the United Kingdom. The six countries opposed to the resolution were Canada, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and the United States.

Wednesday’s resolution, approved annually, recognizes the sovereign rights of the Palestinian Authority to the natural resources of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, calling on Israel not to exploit these resources. The General Assemble then went on to affirm “the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people” claiming also their rights to the Golan Heights and all natural resources there  “including land, water and energy resources.” (www.i24news.com)

There is a future judgment coming again those nations which have sought to part the land of Israel.  These “goat nations” will find that their reward for acting against God’s people will be bitter, for “He who touches Israel, touches God’s eye” (Zec. 2:8).

Clouds of Conflict

To live in Israel, is to live constantly under the threat of war, invasion and terrorism. This past week, ISIS terrorists blew up an Egyptian-Israel oil pipeline in the Sinai, two rockets were fired from Gaza into Southern Israel, a modern underground tunnel (with air-conditioning and electricity) extending dozens of meters from the Gaza Strip into Israel was found, and explosives were discovered in the Golan heights near the Syrian border.

Golan-Syria IED’s (Improvised Explosive Device)

The explosive devices placed on the Israel-Syrian border and uncovered this past week, were anti-personnel mines activated remotely and designed to cause maximum injury to IDF troops.  Each detonation would have killed anyone within 15-meters (50 feet) radius and wound those up to 50 meters (164 feet) away.  Each IED contained 2,000 iron ball-bearings, and 2.5 kilograms of explosives (5.5 lbs).  The IDF observed these devices being placed on the border, three weeks ago by Syrian residents aided by Iranian Al-Quds revolutionary guards.  Soldiers from the IDF Engineering Corp’s elite Yahalom Bomb Disposal Unit dismantled the devices and removed them for intelligence-gathering purposes

The IAF (Israel Air Force) then launched a series of air attacks against Iranian and Syrian targets in Syria late on Tuesday in response to these IED’s.  The Israeli strike covered the border area and Damascus, targeting the central command of Iranian forces near the capital’s airport and a compound housing high-level Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Former Military Intelligence chief and executive director of Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, announced that the overnight IDF attack was a renewal of the “war between wars” that Israel has been conducting against its enemies in southern Syria.  “We’ve observed hits on Iranian forces near the Damascus airport, the Syrian Seventh Division command and Syrian anti-aircraft defense batteries, all indicating Israel will thwart any attempts to make the border along the Golan Heights an active conflict zone,” he said. (www.ynetnews.com )

“Modern Day Yael’s

The IDF employs a special group of women that are tasked with detecting sounds of underground digging and construction.  These are female soldiers in the Gaza division, selected for their superior hearing.  They are modern day Yael’s, for it was Yael (Jael) who wrapped Sisera in a rug and then dispatched him (Jdgs. 4).  These IDF women heard these construction sounds and then reported the presence of this new tunnel, to their superiors.  Such tunnels are constructed to provide access to Hamas terrorists to gain entrance into Israel to kidnap Israelis and commit acts of terrorism.  The IDF had to construct an elevator in order to send troops down to block this tunnel, which was 74 meters (242 feet) underground.(www.i24news.com)

Please pray Psalm 121:1: “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” 

Tourist Islands

Israel is still “battling” the Corona virus.  This nation is again emerging from its second lock-down and looking possibly to mandating a third lock-down, in an effort to slow the infectious rate of the virus.  One of the most severely hit “industries” is the tourist trade.  The nation is closed for all extents and purposes. 

The Knesset is working on passing a law permitting the existence of “tourist islands” for Israelis only.  The idea is to permit citizens who have had a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours, the right to visit Eilat or the Dead Sea city of En Bokek and enjoy themselves.  This temporary solution may help somewhat with filling empty hotels and resurrecting businesses in these areas, but the lack of testing facilities is hindering this move.

The Birds of the Air

Israel is a nation, that is known for its birds.  Its location places it in the center of numerous migration paths for varied species of birds, whose huge flocks even appear on radar.  In the past two weeks over 100,000 birds have flown into Israel’s Northern Hula Valley reserve.  Thousands of cranes have descended into Hula Lake to feed, to rest, to mate and even stay.  These birds are red-crowned Eurasian cranes which fly in from Russia, Finland and Estonia and are migrating to Ethiopia’s Lake Tan.  Others chose to “sit out” the entire cold season in Israel.  The nature reserve is also full of Israelis who just want to go out, after Israel’s second lockdown  and “be in nature, to see the birds, and to breathe a little.”(www.i24.com)

House of Peace

Although Marylois and I are not at the House of Peace, but at the Global Outpouring Center in Arkansas, there is still ongoing ministry at the House in Jerusalem.  Our weekly prayer group continues to meet and intercede. 

Two weeks ago, on a Sunday afternoon, our maintenance man Hadar, had a word of knowledge to go check on the House.  Opening the front door, he was surprised to see water all over the living room floor.  Quickly shutting off the main supply, he discovered that a water line union to a toilet upstairs had failed.  He cleaned up the mess, pulled the rug outside to dry and notified Murad the plumber and us.  The problem was a water line seal/joint within the upstairs Master Bedroom/bathroom wall. 

We now need to tear apart a portion of the cement wall to fix this problem (Israeli homes have their electrical and water lines buried either in the floors/and or the cement walls), replace the tank (which is inside the wall) and upgrade the toilet (which is 25 years old).  The cost is somewhere around 3,000 NIS or $900.  If you would like to help the House of Peace with this expense, we would be so grateful.  Please send your gift to Global Outpouring, P.O. Box 447, Jasper, AR 72641 or go on line to  www.globaloutpouring.org and press donate.  Mark all gifts for House of Peace.  We thank you, for standing with us in this work.

Shabbat Shalom,

Gene and Marylois/House of Peace