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Sarah Idan, Iraq’s 2017 Miss Universe beauty pageant contestant, is visiting Israel this week, a trip that has enraged people back home. Idan was criticized and received death threats after taking a selfie with Israeli contestant Adal Gandelsman during last November’s competition. She arrived in Israel this week and reunited with Gandelsman during a visit organized by the American Jewish Committee to “talk about peace.” Miss Iraq, who currently resides in the U.S., received the title in 2017 after the original winner was disqualified for being married. Her appearance in Israel drew harsh criticism from Iraqis on social media. Iraq...

Netanyahu also thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for his “fighthe annual Russia Day celebration put on by the Russian embassy took on added significance on Thursday because it was held in Jerusalem, the first national day to be held in the capital by any country in recent memory. “I am delighted to be here,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who in the past has sent other ministers to the Russian Day celebrations – said in the picturesque Sergei Courtyard in Jerusalem. “I am honored to celebrate Russia Day here with you in Jerusalem, and I predict we will celebrate many,...

For the umpteenth time, the United Nations General Assembly has voted to condemn Israel for defending itself. By a tally of 120 to 8, the members declared that Israel was guilty of “excessive use of force” against Palestinians who were protesting the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. The resolution also requested recommendations to protect Palestinians. For 10 weeks now, the two sides have clashed at the border, resulting in 120 Palestinian deaths. Israeli Defense Forces warned protesters not to approach the Israeli-Gaza border on May 14, the day of the embassy opening. They did anyway - some armed...

The missile can be fitted to the Israel Air Force’s F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighter jets and is meant to be dropped outside areas protected by air-defense systems. With tensions still high between Israel and Iran, a new supersonic air-to-surface missile designed for the annihilation of high quality targets has been developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Israel Military Industry Systems (IMI). Dubbed “The Rampage” after a popular video-game, it is an accurate supersonic, long-range air-to-ground assault missile with a warhead, rocket engine and advanced navigation suit which allows for precision targeting at a very low mission cost compared...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem The Shared Meal 
 (New Testament) Matthew 15 That Which Defiles 15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” 3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised US ambassador Nikki Haley for Wednesday night her spirited defense of Israel in the U.N. and her efforts to get an amendment to the resolution added that would condemn Hamas violence. "Israel appreciates the firm support of the Trump administration in Israel at the United Nations and Ambassador Haley's resolute statement today, which exposed the hypocrisy of the bias against Israel at the U.N.,” he said in a statement

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump’s Mideast negotiating team will visit the region 'next week' as it finalizes its as-yet unveiled Israeli-Palestinian peace plan and will hold talks on deteriorating conditions in the Gaza Strip. The trip comes as officials say the Trump administration is near completion of the plan with an eye on a possible release this summer. The National Security Council said Wednesday that senior adviser Jared Kushner and special representative for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt would travel to Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It said they would discuss “the next stages of the...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem The Shared Meal 
 (New Testament) Matthew 14 Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand 13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”...

The oil-rich Gulf States - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates - are not known for easily parting with their petro-dollars. But this miserly instinct dissipates when the Sheikhdoms perceive a direct threat to the stability of their respective governments. On Sunday, the three nations led by Riyadh pledged to provide Jordan with a cash infusion of $2.5 billion to help the arid kingdom prop up its free-falling economy. Separately, the European Union announced that it would provide Jordan with $23.5 million. The hefty Gulf State bailout is testament to how seriously they view the problem. Jordan has...

A spokesman for the Iranian government on Tuesday warned North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that U.S. President Donald Trump could nullify any nuclear deal with North Korea, reported The Associated Press. The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Mohammad Bagher Nobakht as saying, "We are facing a man who revokes his signature while abroad." Nobakht's remarks came following the historic summit in Singapore between Trump and Kim. Even before the summit began, Iran urged North Korea to be cautious, with a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry saying Pyongyang should enter the gathering with “awareness” because the United States has a...

Embattled weekend host singled out lavish bat mitzvahs and suggests the US had no stake in the terrorist threat from Iran NEW YORK (JTA) — Embattled MSNBC host Joy Reid published posts on her now-deleted blog mocking a lavish bat mitzvah, criticizing the late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and suggesting the US had no stake in the terrorist threat from Iran. The 2006 posts on The Reid Report criticizing bar and bat mitzvah celebrations and addressing Iran were first reported by The Daily Caller. JTA found additional posts critical of Sharon and the media coverage of Jews and Israel....

China’s activities in the South China Sea have proven to be one of the most contentious geopolitical issues of the Trump Presidency. Leading up to a successful summit in Singapore between President Trump and North Korean leader Chairman Kim Jong Un, new data released by Israeli Private Intelligence Firm ImageSat shows that China removed anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles from Woody Island, in the South China Sea last week. Woody Island, also referred to as Yongxiang Island, is the largest of the Paracel Islands claimed by China in the South China Sea. In recent years, China has taken major steps to...

Inland lake where Christians believe Jesus walked on water has reached its lowest level in a century The shrinking Sea of Galilee, the inland lake where Christians believe Jesus walked on water, is to be topped up with desalinated seawater. A plan given Israeli cabinet approval will pump 100 million cubic metres of water annually by 2022 into the lake in the Galilee region, said Yechezkel Lifshitz, from the country’s energy and water ministry. In 2017 Israel’s water authority said the sea, hit by years of drought, had reached its lowest level in a century. Situated 200 metres (656ft) below...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem The Shared Meal 
 (New Testament) Matthew 14 John the Baptist Beheaded 14 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, 2 and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” 3 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Herod wanted to kill John, but he...

Heavy fighting in Yemen between pro-government forces and Shiite rebels has killed more than 600 people on both sides in recent days, security officials said Monday. A charity said meanwhile that an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition had destroyed a new cholera clinic in the country's north. Government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, have been advancing along the western coast in recent weeks as they battle the Iran-allied rebels, known as Houthis. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. Witnesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals,...

Prince William will sit down for talks with the Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian president during his historic visit to the Middle East. William will also visit Jordan, and the capital Amman where his wife the Duchess of Cambridge lived from May 1984 until September 1986. 'The non-political nature of His Royal Highness's role – in common with all Royal visits overseas –allows a spotlight to be brought to bear on the people of the region: their cultures, their young people, their aspirations, and their experiences.' The palace said his 'goal' is to meet as 'many people from as...

Israeli Military Industries Systems, or IMI Systems, in cooperation with Israel Aerospace Industries, abbreviated IAI, is close to finishing development of a new air-launched, precision-guided, high-speed weapon called Rampage that can hit targets more than 90 miles away. The announcement comes as Israel steps up its cross-border campaign against Iran and its interests in neighboring Syria, which has seen an increasing emphasis on stand-off capabilities given the complex air defense environment in that country, but the weapon could also be especially attractive to a number of foreign military forces. The two Israeli state-run companies officially unveiled the new weapon in...

(News, Comment, Analysis) "What will Israel's reaction to this be? How effective will Syrian air defenses be against a reaction? What will Russia's reaction be to Israeli attacks on its ally's forces?" Col. Pat Lang on his "Sic Semper Tyrannis" blog 6/10/2018 The word from Syria is that the Assad regime is planning their "largest offensive of the war" to launch this week. The report published by "Almasdar News" Saturday June 9th says the big offensive expected in southwestern Syria against the jihadists is about to kick off. The US State Department issued a statement May 25th warning the Syrian...

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem The Shared Meal 
 (New Testament) Matthew 12 Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath 12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” 3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu released a video Sunday in which made an "unprecedented offer" to the Iranian people to help solve Iran's water crisis by creating a Farsi website with detailed plans on Israeli water conservation technologies and strategies. "The Iranian people are victims of a cruel and tyrannical regime that denies them vital water," Netanyahu stated. "Israel stands with the people of Iran, and that is why I want to help save countless Iranian lives." He noted that "Iran's meteorological organization says that nearly 96% of Iran suffers from some level of drought" and that Iran;s Environmental Minister had...