“His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted Him and come out unscathed?” Job 9:4
EU: WE DO NOT RECOGNIZE ISRAEL’S SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE GOLAN HEIGHTS: 28 EU member states have rejected the United States recognition of Israel’s 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights from Syria. US President Donald Trump signed that declaration in Washington this week, during PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House. But the move has been widely rejected by the international community. “The position of the European Union as regards the status of the Golan Heights has not changed. In line with the international law and UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 497, the EU does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights,” the EU member states said in a short statement issued on Wed. 27 March 2019. The previous day, five EU members of the Security Council also issued a statement against the move explaining that it did not recognize Israeli sovereignty over any territory Israel captured during the Six-Day War in 1967. This included; France, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, and Poland. Acting US Ambassador to the UN Jonathan Cohen defended the move, explaining that any peace agreement would have to address Israel’s security needs in the Golan Heights. “To allow the Golan Heights to be controlled by the likes of the Syrian and Iranian regimes would turn a blind eye to the atrocities of the Assad regime and destabilizing presence of Iran in the region,” Cohen said. (J.Post)
PENNSYLVANIA STATE REP. HORRIFIES DEMOCRATS WITH OPENING PRAYER HONORING YESHUA: Republican Pennsylvania State Rep. Stephanie Borowicz outraged Democrats by mentioning Jesus [Yeshua] 13 times in her invocation on the day of Pennsylvania’s first female Muslim representative’s swearing-in. Borowicz thanked Jesus, [Yeshua], “the King of Kings; the Lord of lords; the great I Am; the One who’s coming back again; the One who came, died, and rose again on the third day”, for the honor of being His ambassador, asked forgiveness on behalf of America for forgetting Him and for Him to heal the country, praised Him for President Donald Trump’s support of Israel and declared that “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow.” Democratic Pennsylvania State Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, the first female Muslim representative in the state’s legislature, decried the prayer as offensive, as did state Democratic leadership. (Dailycaller)
VIOLENCE SIMMERS IN GAZA STRIP DESPITE EFFORTS TO REACH CEASE-FIRE: The Israel Defense Forces resumed strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip Tuesday night 26 March 2019 and into the following day as rockets were fired into southern Israel, including two toward the city of Ashkelon that were intercepted by Iron Dome. The exchange followed that of the previous night, when the Israel Air Force destroyed numerous high-profile sites in Gaza, including a “secret” Hamas headquarters and the office of the terror group’s leader, Ismael Haniyeh. During that offensive which came in response to a rocket attack this week that wounded at least seven civilians in central Israel, Hamas and other armed groups in the Palestinian enclave launched more than 60 projectiles at the Jewish state. An unnamed senior Hamas official told media sources Iran had ordered the launch of the rocket, which crashed into a house over 60 miles away. The official said the order was given to an Islamic Jihad cell in the coastal enclave, although Hamas’ leadership was aware of it. (Medialine)
PA: UPSURGE OF TENSIONS COULD LEAD TO ‘EXPLOSION’ IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA: As all eyes are on the Gaza Strip following this week’s firing of a rocket at the Kfar Saba region and the subsequent Israeli military strikes on Hamas targets, the situation in Judea & Samaria is heating up, following a series of incidents in which five Palestinians and two Israelis were killed in the past two weeks. Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah warned that the mounting tensions in the West Bank [Judea & Samaria] could grow into a “new intifada” against Israel. Several Palestinian factions have called for increased protests in the coming days. Hamas said that the Palestinian “resistance” in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] will continue to “use all methods to confront Israeli crimes.” The Hamas terrorist group in control of the Gaza Strip, according to PA officials, is trying to divert attention from its problems at home by inciting Palestinians in Judea & Samaria to carry out attacks against Israel. (J.Post)
‘TAKE IT FROM THIS BENJAMIN, IT’S NOT ABOUT THE BENJAMINS’: Israeli PM Netanyahu spoke via satellite to the AIPAC conference after cutting his Washington visit short in order to get back to Israel to oversee the response to escalating Hamas rocket fire. In the speech, the prime minister did not shy away from Rep. Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitic tweet trying to reignite the horrific libel that Jewish finances control the world. Netanyahu told the 14,000-strong crowd gathered for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee annual conference: “Take it from this Benjamin, it’s not about the Benjamins. The people of America support Israel not because they want our money, it’s because they share our values.” Netanyahu went on to say that “those who seek to undermine American support for Israel must be confronted. They don’t stop at criticism of Israel’s policies but spew venom that has long been directed at the Jewish people. To all the anti-Semites out there – we stand up, we fight, and we win,” the prime minister said to roaring applause. In the 10-minute speech, Netanyahu also praised USA President Donald Trump for his recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. “Thank you, on behalf of all the people of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “The Golan Heights is indispensable for our defense. It’s part of our history and we shall never, ever give it up. It is part of Israel,” the prime minister confirmed. (Israel Today)
DUTCH ISRAEL BOYCOTT SUPPORTER TRIGGERS ISRAELI WINE SHOPPING CRAZE: As a supporter of boycotting Israel, Mieke Zagt had no intention of marketing Israeli wine when she posted on Twitter a picture of it on sale at the Hema Dutch supermarket chain. The opening shot for the campaign was a tweet that Zagt, an Electronic Intifada contributor posted Mon. 25 March 2019. “Hey, Hema, you’re selling Efrat wine from Judean Hills as made in Israel. Is this possible? Efrat and Judean Hills are in occupied Palestinian land. Efrat is an illegal Israeli colony. Can you verify the origin?” Zagt wrote, attaching a picture of the bottles in question. In reality, the Efrat Winery is one of Israel’s oldest and located in Tsor’a, a town that is located within Israel’s 1949 armistice line. Despite its name, the wine is not from a disputed territory. But Zagt’s tweet ended in more than a geography lesson. Gideon van der Sluis, a Dutch-born Israeli business consultant, and several other pro-Israel advocates began engaging on Twitter with like-minded users about Zagt’s tweet. Within 24 hours it became the top-trending item on Dutch Twitter, with people from around the country using it with pictures of freshly bought Efrat wine bottles. Within hours, both the red and white Efrat wines were sold out from the online store of Hema – a huge chain with 525 stores in the Netherlands alone. The wine began selling even faster after Christians for Israel, an international group whose headquarters is just outside Amsterdam, posted an article on their website and Facebook page encouraging their many thousands of readers and supporters to buy Efrat Wines. Hema has declined to say how many bottles were sold, citing their policy. But they acknowledged that many of their branches as well as their online store have run out of Efrat wine. Esther Voet, the editor-in-chief of the NIW Dutch Jewish weekly, said she found the story amusing. “It’s hilarious,” she said. “Everybody started to buy Israeli wine.” (J.Post)
ANCIENT JEWISH VILLAGE UNEARTHED IN EASTERN JERUSALEM: Impressive remains of a Jewish village from the Hasmonean period, approximately 2000 years ago, are currently being uncovered in a salvage excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Shuafat neighborhood of Jerusalem where an elementary school will be built. The excavation has yielded remains of a large wine press containing fragments of many storage jars, a large columbarium cave (rock-cut dovecote), an olive press, a large ritual bath, a water cistern, rock quarries, and installations. The most significant feature of the excavation is an extravagant burial estate, which included a corridor leading to a large courtyard chiseled into the bedrock. The courtyard had an encompassing bench, with the entrance to the burial cave from its façade. The cave included several chambers, each with oblong burial niches chiseled into the walls. In order to respect the buried parties, and in accordance with the orthodox restrictions of disturbing the burials, the cave was sealed. The earth which covered the courtyard of the burial estate contained some large building stones, some of which are elaborate architectural elements common during the 2nd temple period. The current excavation has only exposed a small part of a larger village that existed to its south. However, despite the limited exposure, the finds seem to indicate that the village was of agricultural nature, and among other things produced wine and olive oil, as well as breeding doves. Doves were an important commodity during the time of the Second Temple and in other periods as well, as meat and eggs were consumed by the people and also used for sacrificial offerings at the temple. (INN)
The suggestions, opinions and scripture references made by JNN writers and editors are based on the best information received.
Blessings from Jerusalem,
Barry Segal with the Editorial Staff
