YOU ARE STANDING WITH ISRAEL AND BLESSING HER PEOPLE IN NEED ISRAEL
Natalya, her husband Yuri, and their two daughters were living in Ukraine in the winter of 2022 when the war broke out. “We had to flee from our home because of the war,” she said tearfully. “It was horrifying. We needed to take our children to safety.”
Yuri had Type 2 diabetes and other serious medical issues—and the stress was taking a major toll on his health. Because of their Jewish heritage, the couple decided to relocate to Israel. Natalya wanted a better life for her girls, who were good students, and to offer them “a home and security … to connect with their Jewish roots.”
After they settled in Israel, Yuri received the medical care he needed—but then Natalya was diagnosed with cancer. They were in a new country with no family. She said, “It was so, so hard. I had to ask for help.”
But you were there for them. Through CBN Israel, you bought them groceries, furniture for their apartment, and computers for the girls to do schoolwork. Natalya and Yuri were able to get established while focusing on their recovery. “I feel like I’m not alone,” Natalya
exclaimed. “Thank you!”
Your gifts to CBN Israel are blessing others who need to know they aren’t alone—including Holocaust survivors, terror victims, and single mothers.
Survival in the Holy Land is challenging, especially with the ongoing war, and many need our help. Your continued support can bring a lifeline of nutritious food, housing, and financial aid to those who are hurting. Thank you for giving them hope!
NEW IMMIGRANT | NATALYA’S STORY
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THE DIFFERENCE!
ISRAEL RELIEF
Your support provides food, clothing, housing, education, and hope to Israel’s most vulnerable people. You are blessing victims of war and terror, Holocaust survivors, widows, orphans, single moms, refugees, and others who desperately need our help.
ISRAEL NEWS
Your gifts make it possible to produce unbiased, independent journalism through broadcasts, podcasts, and online media dedicated to informing the world about what is happening in Israel and the Middle East through our news bureau in Jerusalem.
FAMILIES OF HOSTAGES FIND HEALING IN THE DESERT
Orian’s nightmare began on October 7, 2023, when her family believed her 23-year-old brother, Elyakim, had been abducted by Hamas terrorists. For seven months, they held out hope for his safe return.
Sadly, in May 2024, their hopes died when his remains were found. He had been killed by terrorists the day of the attack as he heroically rescued others who were wounded.
Today, for many families like Orian’s, the struggle for emotional healing is an ongoing battle. But thanks to you, they are experiencing much-needed comfort and closure through a series of therapeutic retreats sponsored in part by CBN Israel.
ISRAEL FILMS
Your funding helps produce groundbreaking films that tell the true story of Israel, its right to exist in the face of growing antisemitism, its extensive biblical history, its innovative and entrepreneurial culture, and its commitment to helping others—even its enemies.
ISRAEL INSTITUTE
Your partnership enables us to shape the future of Israel advocacy by training, educating, and equipping the next generation of Christian leaders to stand with the Jewish nation and counter anti-Israel propaganda, disinformation, and antisemitism.
25 to 30 family members at a time. With professional therapists and social workers—and an escape from the daily demands of life—you are giving families of the 251 hostages and other October 7 terror victims an opportunity to deal with their trauma. You are also providing them with psychological, financial, career, and legal help in an effort to avert a widespread PTSD crisis.
In a desert oasis retreat center in Eilat, near the soothing waves of the Red Sea and scenic mountains, Orian and others are discovering peace and the steps to moving forward. In partnership with Kamim, an organization offering long-term assistance to former hostages and their families, CBN Israel is hosting this special time away for
Because you cared, Orian was able to participate in this crucial time of respite, and she is slowly finding her way to healing. Speaking from her heart, she said, “This retreat has been so meaningful, and I am so grateful to those who helped make it possible.”
By supporting CBN Israel, you are making a life-changing difference for hurting people in the Holy Land. Thank you for providing them with groceries and other essentials, plus housing, financial aid, and the priceless gift of encouragement.
THE DISASTROUS LESSON OF THE GAZA DISENGAGEMENT
By Julie Stahl
Twenty years ago this August, Israel “disengaged” from the Gaza Strip. It was a horrendous ordeal that divided the country and uprooted more than 9,000 Israelis from 21 thriving Jewish communities in Gaza and four in Samaria, also known as the West Bank.
Dubbed the “Disengagement,” the plan aimed to withdraw from Gaza and leave it completely under Palestinian control, allowing them to govern it as they saw fit. Then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his administration contended that this unilateral withdrawal would lessen tensions with the Palestinians and pave the way for peace.
Thousands of successful, prosperous Israelis were uprooted in 2005. The agricultural communities they had built into a flourishing
$60-million-per-year industry provided 15 percent of Israel’s exported vegetables. Yet these Jewish families were removed and forced to start over, which was highly controversial. The 9,000 residents of Gush Katif refused to leave voluntarily, believing they had settled on biblical land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with the blessing of the Israeli government.
It was a painful and ugly scene, with Israeli soldiers physically dragging their own people out of their homes, while they cried and pleaded with the soldiers not to evict them. In some cases, the soldiers themselves were crying. Yet, after more than three decades of successful building and farming on the Gaza sand dunes, it took just a week for Jewish life
A Jewish couple in Gaza pleads with Israeli soldiers before being driven from their home.
there to be erased.
Not only did the Palestinians receive the land. A group of American Jewish philanthropists raised approximately $14 million to buy 800 greenhouses (including advanced irrigation systems, packing houses, and infrastructure) from the Israeli settlers, with the proceeds helping them rebuild their lives elsewhere. The Palestinian Authority was to take control of the greenhouses and operate them, aiming to integrate them into Gaza’s economy and provide jobs to Palestinian workers.
However, looters quickly dismantled or vandalized many of them. The greenhouses that remained operational fell victim to inadequate planning, limited electricity and water, poor security, export restrictions at Israeli border crossings, and rising tensions between Fatah and Hamas.
Ultimately, the plan to use the greenhouses as a bridge to economic growth failed, highlighting the challenges of translating goodwill into sustainable prosperity without stable governance and security.
Three Jewish communities in Gaza along Israel’s northern border had always believed they would never be evacuated because they were
essential to Israeli security. But they, too, were evacuated and became Hamas training grounds and launchpads for rockets into Israel. Tunnels dug under the border also became a threat.
Hamas had been involved in earlier rocket attacks even before the disengagement, but these intensified and became more organized once Hamas was emboldened by the withdrawal and asserted itself as a key player in Gaza.
Within weeks after the disengagement, Hamas began launching Qassam rockets into southern Israel—particularly targeting the town of Sderot, which became known as the bomb shelter capital of the world.
In the last 20 years, there have been at least seven major military operations in response to various attacks from Hamas. In 2006, Operation Summer Rains was triggered by the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Five years later Shalit was released in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, including Yahya Sinwar, who later became the mastermind of the attack on October 7, 2023.
The future of Gaza is now in question. But most believe that the 2005 Disengagement set the stage for October 7, 2023—the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Left to Right: A woman sobs as Israeli soldiers evict Jewish families from the Gaza Strip. During the disengagement, Israeli authorities demolished all Jewish residential buildings. Gaza-based terrorists have been launching rockets into Israel for decades.
THE GOD ON WHOM WE CAN CALL
Lord, I cry out to You; make haste to me! Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You. Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice (Psalm 141:1-2).
In this psalm, King David equated calling upon the Lord with the sacrifices that occurred in the Temple in Jerusalem, specifically the daily evening sacrifice. Priests offered the whole burnt offering twice a day, in the morning and evening.
Like most other sacrifices, these did not pertain to sin offerings. Rather, they represented Israel’s daily encounter with the God who dwelt in the Temple. Sacrifices in the Bible and in the ancient world were about feasting with the deity. The daily whole burnt offerings represented the consistency of Israel’s relationship with God.
When David intoned his call upon God, he likened his prayer to the evening sacrifice—something daily, consistent, and a testimony to continual engagement with the Lord.
Life in the Temple of Jerusalem functioned around these twice-daily whole burnt offerings. Do we pray when it’s convenient, and do we call on God only when we are in need? Or do we build the rhythm of our daily lives around our times of prayer?
Our world fills each day with distractions. They may be good distractions, such as children and spouses, jobs and activities. None of these is inherently wrong or bad. But they often lay claim to too much of our attention. Too often, we allow the distractions of life to sidetrack us from consistent, daily engagement with the Lord.
Incense was used in the Temple to cover the smells accompanying sacrifices and sacrificial activities. Incense made the sacrifices and the Temple smell sweet before the Lord. God yearns for us to call on Him. He desires our prayers, which smell sweet before Him.
Like the psalmist, let us build our lives around our engagement with God, daily and consistently. And we have the assurance that He will answer when we call.
PRAYER:
Father, may our efforts, our attention, and our focus center on engaging with You daily. Thank You that when we call upon You, we know You will answer. Amen.
PRAYER POINTS
Pray that Israel does not make any deals that compromise God’s plan—like trying to give away more land.
Pray for God to pour out His Holy Spirit upon Israel, Gaza, and the entire region.
Pray for God’s protection over Israel’s soldiers as they seek to defend the country on multiple fronts.
Pray for God to grant divine wisdom to Israel’s government and leadership.
Pray for Christians to strongly oppose all forms of antisemitism and to stand in solidarity with their Jewish brothers and sisters.
Pray for Christians to use their circles of influence to communicate facts from reliable sources like CBN Israel and CBN News.
Pray for our CBN Israel team as we continue to offer relief and support to terror victims, hostage families, Holocaust survivors, and others who desperately need our help.
Pray for our CBN News team in Jerusalem as we continue to report the unbiased truth during these unprecedented times.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem—and all of Israel and the Middle East!
DO YOU HAVE A PRAYER NEED?
Based on the New York Times bestseller by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, The Genius of Israel reveals why the Jewish state is largely immune to the social problems that plague many Western societies.
Filmed on location in Israel and hosted by Gordon Robertson, this CBN Films documentary explores the unique religious and cultural traditions that make Israel one of the most innovative and resilient democracies on earth.
