VOL. 1 ISSUE 3 • November 2024
50 TOP CHRISTIAN ALLIES OF ISRAEL
OCT. 7 — ONE YEAR LATER DOCUMENTING THE ATROCITIES NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS HAS ISRAEL FACT-FINDING MISSION STANDING WITH ISRAEL AT THE DOORPOSTS DEALING WITH PTSD AND WAR TRAUMA PROUD AND BOLD PRO-ISRAEL CLOTHING INCREDIBLE ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS “Flags of Fellowship” in Murfreesboro, Tenn., in remembrance of the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks, Oct. 6, 2024. Photo courtesy of IFCJ.
BISHOP PAUL LANIER’S ISRAEL STORY MEET ISRAEL’S FIRST CHRISTIAN OLYMPIAN
Israel InSight is the new online magazine for Israel’s Christian friends… From the team at award-winning Southern Jewish Life magazine… a new, unique publication for those who want to stay informed and deepen their connection with the land and people of Israel • Reliable coverage of Israel and the Middle East With context and information the mainstream press ignores
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Wear your support for Israel
Top 50 Christian Allies of Israel according to the annual list by the Israel Allies Foundation.
My Israel Story
Olam Tova designs are for those who have no problem making a statement about where they stand.
Bishop Paul Lanier, board chair of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews
“The selection itself — Mike Huckabee is one of Israel’s greatest friends — tells us that the days of public daylight between the U.S. and Israel are about to end.” David Friedman, ambassador to Israel during President Trump’s first administration, on the selection of Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel, an announcement that came as this issue was wrapping. We will have our recent interview of Huckabee on our website soon.
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Why Israel says UNRWA can not be allowed to keep operating in the region
Behind the scenes with the developer of Israel’s Iron Dome
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Actress Patricia Heaton urges Christians to display mezuzah cases in solidarity with the Jewish community
Israel developing PTSD treatments, with help from the Navy SEALS and friends in the U.S.
4 From the Editor 74 Reading Israel
82 Israel on Campus 99 Biblical Calendar: Cheshvan
86 Israel Sports 101 Israel Marketplace Israel InSight • November 2024
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The Beginning During each year, when the Torah is read in synagogues throughout the world, every time one of the Five Books of Moses is completed, everyone sings “chazak, chazak v’nitchazek” — “be strong, be strong, and let us strengthen each other.”
That, of course, is also the case at the culmination of the annual cycle of reading, when Deuteronomy is completed and the reading immediately starts again with the beginning of Genesis. (In our congregation, I am the one who does those readings every year). That day is Simchat Torah, literally “rejoicing with the Torah.” But when we said that phrase this year, it also marked the anniversary of the horrors of October 7, and a year of war that nobody wanted, but feared was inevitable.
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ADVERTISING Lee J. Green CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ginger Brook
It has been a year of advocating for the hostages, rooting out terror groups, dealing with the threat from Iran — and facing relentless hate on college campuses and anti-Israel demonstrations worldwide, as antisemitism has exploded and become acceptable.
SOCIAL/WEB Eugene Walter Katz
This issue features 50 Christian leaders who stand strong as allies of Israel, recognized by the Israel Allies Foundation.
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Rivka Epstein, Nathan Klein, Tally Werthan, Bebe Hudson, Belle Freitag, Claire Yates
But we can not afford to become weary. We must strengthen each other.
We have Bishop Paul Lanier’s Israel Story, and his journey to becoming the board chair of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. We also have a story about strengthening Israeli soldiers and civilians who have gone through and seen unspeakable horrors in the past year. The effort involves developing an app that can help people self-diagnose PTSD and get them treatment based on their level of symptoms. That project is in development, and those with a heart for the military can help support something that no doubt can also be used here with the U.S. military. We have answers that you won’t get in the mainstream media, such as why Israel feels the need to keep control over the Philadelphi Corridor in Gaza, or why the United Nations agency overseeing the Palestinians is toxic and must be dismantled.
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And that barely scratches the surface of what is in this issue.
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Let us be strong, and let us all strengthen each other.
Copyright 2024. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission from the publisher.
It has been a very difficult year for Israel and the Jewish community worldwide — check out the editorial at the end of this issue to see what has been happening lately. At a time such as this, your support and your strength are incredibly important.
Lawrence Brook Publisher/Editor
Please help us strengthen Christian support for Israel and the growing bridge between the Christian and Jewish communities by supporting our work. Subscribe if you haven’t already, and urge your friends to do the same! Your support is valued and needed. You can also advertise with us, or contribute to the magazine. Let us strengthen each other. We thank our many, many friends in the Christian community throughout the region who have been so helpful with their feedback, suggestions and insights as we launch this important publication, and we welcome your continued comments.
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PUBLISHER/EDITOR Lawrence M. Brook
November 2024 • Israel InSight
Views expressed in Israel InSight are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily shared by the magazine or its staff. We retain the right to refuse any advertisement.
ICYMI
In Case You Missed It Iranian athlete Saeid Sadeghianpour forfeited his Paralympics taekwondo match to Israeli athlete Adnan Milad. Milad, who is Arab, had his arm amputated after a work accident in 2018.
Courtesy of IFCJ.
“Flags of Fellowship” at Kibbutz Kissufim in southern Israel in remembrance of the victims of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks, Oct. 6, 2024.
Flags of Fellowship: IFCJ remembers the 1200 victims of Oct. 7 with displays worldwide (JNS) — The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews held a memorial event on Oct. 6 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in southern Israel. As part of the event, 1,200 Israeli flags were placed in Kibbutz Kissufim, representing the number of victims killed during the massacre. The flags were positioned in front of the burned house of Dafna Gershkovitz, daughter of firefighter Danny Gershkovitz, who was murdered alongside her husband, Ivan, on that Black Shabbat. The event was attended by Ayelet Shilo Tamir, CEO of the IFCJ; Dafna’s parents, Danny and Cecilia Gershkovitz; Eshkol Regional Council head Gadi Yarkoni; the council’s chief security officer
Ilan Isaacson; and Rabbi Reuven Deri. In parallel to the flag display at Kibbutz Kissufim, more than 350 churches, universities, schools and synagogues throughout the United States and Canada participated in the “Flags of Fellowship” project, displaying fields of 1,200 Israeli flags on their grounds to remember each person lost that day, and to honor the heroes and highlight the unity of Christians in support of Israel and the Jewish people. Overall, more than 300,000 Israeli flags were raised around the world. This event is part of the IFCJ’s ongoing efforts to raise awareness and support for Israel, combat rising antisemitism and mobilize Israel’s supporters globally to make their voices heard.
Is your church or organization having an Israel event?
Send us information beforehand for a calendar listing, and photos afterward!
israelinsightmagazine@gmail.com
On July 7, the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg was evacuated following an emailed bomb threat claiming explosives were placed around the building and the state’s Judicial Center “in the name of Palestine.” The email was sent to over 250 House and Senate members. A university student who sported a keffiyah at graduation and shouted out “Free Palestine” during the proceedings has reportedly been deported. The ceremony in question was at New York University — but not in New York, it was at their Abu Dhabi campus. A survey of Palestinians in June found that 96 percent of those who had not seen video footage from Oct. 7 believed that Hamas fighters did not commit atrocities against Israelis. Among those that had seen the footage, 54 percent — a majority — still felt that Hamas had not committed any atrocities. In the poll, 10 percent said they had seen the footage, though an earlier poll, in March, found 20 percent saying they had seen the footage. Andrew Makadsi, creative director to the pop star Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, has Israel InSight • November 2024
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Big Issues Why it matters: Israel bars UNRWA cooperation
United Nations “humanitarian” agency seen as infiltrated by terrorists and obstacle to peace By Canaan Lidor, Amelie Botbol
(JNS) — Israel’s Knesset on Oct. 28 made it illegal for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency to operate in Israeli territory, and for state officials to cooperate with the agency. The two laws were passed by a large majority following the exposure of UNRWA staff complicity in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, and despite pressure from the United States and other countries against the move. The Biden Administration was “deeply concerned” about the legislation, according to an unnamed U.S. State Department official cited by Axios. This echoes language used by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prior to the vote. Josep Borrell, the E.U. High Representative for Photo by Evan Schneider/U.N. Photo Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, tweeted that Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, talks the new laws “would de facto render UNRWA’s about UNRWA employees who were involved in the Oct. 7 vital operations in Gaza impossible, and seriously massacre. He spoke at the U.N. Security Council meeting on Oct. hamper its provision of services in the West 29, 2024. Bank.” The laws stand “in stark contradiction to “UNRWA — United Nations Relief and Works Agency international law and the fundamental principle of humaniwill operate no representation, provide no service or hold ty,” he added. any activity, directly or indirectly, in the sovereign territoUNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini ry of the State of Israel,” the law co-authored by Bismuth tweeted that the legislation “opposes the U.N. Charter and states. violates the State of Israel’s obligations under international The second law, passed by 92-10, states: “No state aulaw.” thority, including entities and individuals who legally hold However, experts on UNRWA, including former Israeli public office, will engage in any contact with UNRWA or its lawmaker Einat Wilf, who has written an acclaimed book representatives. ” This legislation was coauthored by MKs about the agency, dispute that the legislation contradicts international law. Israel is not party to any treaty compelling Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beiteinu), Dan Illouz (Likud) and Ron Katz (Yesh Atid). it to engage with the group or allow its activities, Wilf told “UNRWA will not operate in Israel, their benefits will be JNS. canceled, their entry to Israel will be banned. Total DisconThe two laws are by far the most robust parliamentary nect, ” Malinovsky tweeted following the votes. push by Israel against UNRWA, the largest donors of which According to its website, UNRWA employs some 30,000 are the United States and the European Union. The agenstaff, most of them Palestinians, including 13,000 in the cy for decades has been accused of providing cover and Gaza Strip. It also has staff in Judea and Samaria and eastincome to Palestinian terrorists while undermining peace ern Jerusalem. UNRWA also operates in Jordan and Lebaefforts. non. The law that bans UNRWA activity on Israeli territory, Being banned in Israel could end UNRWA’s work in Jeruauthored by Knesset member Boaz Bismuth (Likud) and six salem and greatly complicate its operations in Gaza and Juother coalition lawmakers, was passed by a majority of 87 dea and Samaria, where the organization is at least partially of the Knesset’s 120 lawmakers. Nine MKs present voted against the law, one did not vote. The remaining 23 lawmak- dependent on Israeli cooperation. ers were not present for the vote. In the wake of the Oct. 7 massacres in Israel, in which
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Israel InSight • November 2024
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STANDING with Israel
Actress Patricia Heaton urges everyone to display mezuzah cases in solidarity with Jewish community While traditionally, the mezuzah is seen as a symbol of a Jewish home, there is an effort underway to have it also be a sign of solidarity with the Jewish community by Christian allies. Actress Patricia Heaton, who is Catholic and is best known for roles in “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “The Middle,” started the MyZuzahYourZuzah campaign, posting a video of herself at her Nashville home, asking non-Jews to “please join me in the #MyzuzahYourzuzah campaign to show solidarity with your Jewish friends and neighbors, fight antisemitism and bless your household.” After Oct. 7, Heaton saw the Hamas-produced footage of their atrocities against Israelis and how campuses erupted in protest — of Israel. “I looked around for everyone else who was going to be outraged,” she said on a Sept. 23 appearance on Fox and Friends, “and it was very silent, so my partner and I created the October 7th Coalition, or O7C, to help Christians activate, to be as visibly and vocally supportive of Israel, the Jewish people, and fight antisemitism.”
The case for solidarity
Heaton decided to use the mezuzah as the symbol of solidarity and support, and came up with the name MyZuzah for the project. However, MyZuzah was already the name of a Jewish organization that was established in 2017 to encourage the placement of kosher “fair trade” mezuzahs on every Jewish home in the world, even doing so free for those who can’t afford one. MyZuzah has over 420 partners in 74 countries, and has distributed over 18,000 mezuzahs in the past five years. MyZuzah Program Director Alex Shapero said Heaton reached out to them a few weeks ago, “and we were happy to get on board.” Seeing the outpouring of anti-Israel sentiment across the country, Heaton “was frustrated at the lack of allies and people who were willing to say that this is wrong,” Shapero said. The campaign kicked off with Heaton’s appearance at the Israeli American Council Summit in Washington, followed
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by the Sept. 23 appearance on Fox & Friends, and the posting of her video, which as of press time has over 2.5 million views. The mezuzah was also chosen because many college students have reported that mezuzahs they put up on their dorm rooms have been vandalized or ripped down. Heaton said “we have to stand up for the Jewish people and for their right to exist, their right to be Jewish and practice their faith.” Shapero said Heaton’s effort “comes from a place of pure love and support, and a desire to stand in solidarity.” In the first few days, they received “hundreds” of orders. They have been trying to ship as many as possible before the Oct. 7 anniversary, and recipients are asked to post photos or videos to social media of them putting the mezuzah up. MyZuzah carries a wide range of mezuzah cases, from Gary Rosenthal, “Bourbon Barrel,” Yurkovsky, and hand-embroidered designs in clear cases from Yad LaKashish, “Lifeline for the Elderly” in Jerusalem. The “Solidarity Case,” a basic clear case for $18, has a yellow ribbon in place of the scroll, which the website states is “only required for Jewish homes.” Orders through MyZuzah go toward their program to supply mezuzahs in the Jewish community.
Wide range of opinions
An official Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry account responded to Heaton’s post: “We are lucky to have you” and “We love this so much.” “As antisemitism reaches unprecedented levels, thank you, Patricia Heaton, for standing in solidarity with the Jewish people,” it said. “You are the definition of a righteous gentile,” wrote John Podhoretz, the editor of Commentary magazine. “Thank you, Patricia Heaton.”
The “Solidarity Case” is a mezuzah case that has a yellow ribbon calling for the safe return of the Israeli hostages, rather than containing the handwritten parchment scroll that is commanded only for Jewish homes.
Michael Dickson, the executive director of StandWithUs, wrote that “this is some serious love, allyship and solidarity,” and “may the mezuzah protect your home and your loved ones.” The watchdog StopAntisemitism said it was “thrilled” by Heaton’s call. Eylon Levy, former Israeli government spokesman who is very active on social media, said “this is a really beautiful gesture of solidarity, and the Jews dunking on this don’t understand how urgently we need our friends and allies to speak up.” But not everyone is applauding the effort. Shapero said that because of a lack of non-Jewish allies throughout history, many in the Jewish community have a “healthy sense of suspicion,” especially around non-Jewish use of Jewish symbols, which often is followed by attempts to proselytize. In recent years, there has been concern about the promotion of mezuzahs by “messianics” especially with cases using symbols related to Jesus. As for the sacred nature of the mezuzah, Shapero said the case “is merely the protective housing. The important part is the scroll on the inside,” and non-Jews are urged to put up just the case. He said that many Jews are unaware of that distinction — he has heard of people who put up the case but discarded the scroll, thinking the case was the important part and the scroll was an unnecessary instruction sheet that they could not read because it is in Hebrew. Julia Ioffe, a founding partner of Puck News and its Washington correspondent, wrote that non-Jews shouldn’t affix mezuzahs. “This is not a show of solidarity but of weird and continued appropriation of our culture and religion,” she wrote. (In another post, Ioffe, who is Jewish, joked about non-Jews getting circumcised in solidarity with Jews.) “This is not the move. There are far better ways for allies to show their support,” wrote “Bluegrass Rabbi” Shlomo Litvin, who co-runs Chabad of the Bluegrass and the Chabad Jewish Student Center at the University of Kentucky. “Having said that: If you don’t have mezuzos… don’t comment here.” David May, research manager and a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said “I have mixed feelings about this, but I’m grateful for people who want to show solidarity with the Jewish community. If every house had a mezuzah and if every male wore a kippah, Jews wouldn’t be such easy targets.” Heaton “isn’t claiming to be Jewish and isn’t claiming to represent Jewish values,” he wrote. “She is just there to show
X screenshot
Patricia Heaton places a mezuzah on her front door.
solidarity.”
Other past symbols
This is not the first time mezuzahs have been used as an item of solidarity. In 2022, the Hillel at Indiana University distributed mezuzah cases to non-Jewish students with the inscription “I stand with my Jewish friends” after over a dozen mezuzahs were ripped from dorm doorposts. In 1993, a “Not In Our Town” campaign in Billings, Mont., responded to antisemitic incidents with the distribution of pictures of a menorah in the local paper, for the entire community to post in their windows in solidarity. Shalom Hartman Institute President Yehuda Kurtzer said the MyZuzah YourZuzah controversy is “total nonsense,” saying righteous gentiles who stand with the Jewish community are cherished, and their well-meaning gestures “should be simply welcomed and thanked.” Shapero said “It is a privilege to help Patricia Heaton and the righteous non-Jews who want to put up a mezuzah case in solidarity with the Jewish community.” Israel InSight • November 2024
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Proud and Bold Olam Tova launches with clothing designs promoting Israel
At a time when many people are reluctant to make a public display about supporting Israel, Jenna Galbut is helping people wear it on their sleeves. And their chests, their legs, their foreheads…
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Galbut, who made a name for herself in the last decade as a personal development guide online, and has more recently done brand development and investment advising, recently opened Olam Tova, an online clothing store with bold, youthful designs that carry a message — that the wearer is a proud supporter of Israel, and isn’t going to hide it. The clothes also have another purpose — profits are sent to help Israel recover from the Oct. 7 attacks. Olam Tova, Hebrew for “A Good World,” is part of her response to how October 7 changed her outlook, and enables people to “support Israel, and look good doing it.” On July 24, there was a launch party in Miami for Olam Tova, with singer and social media influencer Montana Tucker as keynote speaker. The evening also included former Israeli spokesman in Britain Eylon Levy, who is the subject of one of the designs. Also on the program were IDF paratrooper Sam Fried, UnOrthodox comedian Chani Lisbon, author Dov Forman, activist Adela Cojab, comedian Yechiel Jacobs, life coach Vivace Maxvictor and producer Zack Sage Fox. “Growing up, I was very Americanized,” Galbut said. “A lot of American Jews took Israel for granted — it would always be around, we didn’t have to worry.” But growing up with relatives who survived the Holocaust, she was taught to “be careful,” that there is never a period of 100 years without something bad happening to the Jews. October 7 “shifted and repositioned my identity,” while being very depressing. She had been active with the Me Too movement and marched with Black Lives Matter, but found that when it came to the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, her concern and solidarity for their causes was not reciprocated. “It was really hard being abandoned by my friends, the people I marched with,” she said. “I’m showing them video of October 7 and they won’t say a thing. That was really heartbreaking.” She decided to channel her energy into doing something for Israel. She has a friend who is connected to a family in Kfar Aza that stayed in hiding for 48 hours as Hamas rampaged through the area. “When they came out, everyone was dead.” She really wanted to be able to help families like that, and came upon the idea of designing Isra-
el-themed clothing as a way of raising a lot of money quickly, to help Israelis. She figured that she taught herself how to design materials when she self-planned her wedding in 2022, so “I could probably figure this out.” In November, she started organizing Olam Tova and coming up with “trendy and cool” Israel-related designs. It turns out that the clothing has a dual purpose. In addition to raising money for causes in Israel, it is a physical demonstration of support. “It is time to start being loud and proud, because we won’t survive otherwise,” she said. “We don’t have time any more to be hiding.” Fashion “is inherently activism,” she said. “Any time you are wearing an article of clothing… you are sending a subliminal message to the one who is seeing it.”
Wearing Israel In May, she did photo shoots in Mississippi and Georgia, spotting the occasional Israel flag on the back roads or outside a church. Some Olam Tova designs are more subtle, like a turquoise, blue and green pattern with the Hebrew word Shalom in black, or the word ‘Freedom” with a subtle American and Israeli flag pattern. Others are much more pointed — shirts that say “Hamas was not expecting October 8 Jews” and an even more direct play on the Hebrew phrase for “The nation of Israel lives” — “Am Yisrael F—ing Chai,” only the actual shirt eschews the hyphens. Bad words are a motif for other shirts, such as one stating “’Israel’ and ‘Jewish’ are not bad words,” and “If Zionism is a dirty word, then talk dirty to me.” Other phrases include “Spread hummus not hate,” “Only losers are antisemites,” “Dear Antisemite, your hate only makes us stronger,” “Zionism is sexy” and “Jews bite back.” The abandonment she felt from previous allies after October 7 is manifested in a shirt with the quote “I was a bleeding heart liberal but they left me with a bleeding heart.” There are dresses with Israeli flag, Chai or Israeli national seal patterns, Israeli flag leggings, and a July 4 pattern in reds and blues incorporating Israel InSight • November 2024
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Helping Israel deal with wartime trauma
Tech company enlisting U.S. Christians, Jews to address overwhelming mental health need According to the Israeli Center for Mental Health, around the demand is great, immediate access is rare. Having a 70 percent of Israelis have mental issues such as anxiety self-assessment app will give increased accessibility and or distress from the October 7 attack and subsequent war, convenience, “early detection of symptoms, and widespread and the Ministry of Defense estimates that 30 percent of use that can save lives by leading to early interventions.” wounded soldiers have some form of post-traumatic disorThe project is partnering with the Master Life Coach der. Training Institute in Dallas. The institute’s CEO, Rodney With the incredible need for therapeutic solutions, Gil Love, has known Ilutowich for years, and after Oct. 7, he Ilutowich, founder and CEO of technology education com- contacted Ilutowich with the idea of using technology to pany Compedia, was recently in Alabama to garner support assess trauma. “I thought I was going to have to sell him on for the Israeli Trauma Healing Project, which will provide the idea,” but Ilutowich “said let’s go. We’ve been let’s go-ing scalable healing for Israeli soldiers, civilians and their fam- ever since.” ilies, using technology to provide post-trauma therapy on a Love said “We’ll be able to reach out using the app and wide scale, far beyond the country’s current capacity. the assessment tool to see what the level of PTSD is with “The level of stress and post trauma now in Israel is horthese men and women, and treat them where they are.” rific,” he said. “There aren’t enough therapists and psychiaAfter the assessment, the trauma project envisions three trists in Israel.” categories of assistance. The biggest part, which would Don Carmichael, a Birmingham fundraising consultant, reach the most people, is a digital solution through Hesaid “they can only involve so many people” on a onebrew-language technology, for “lighter kinds of trauma.” to-one basis. “How can you provide For “heavier cases,” there would be something scalable that can really in-person treatment with therapists, reach people on a large scale?” also with life coaches trained in this Carmichael has worked with Iluarea. towich before, when Ilutowich was The third category is experiential on the board of Yad Vashem and the outdoor therapy, partnering with the museum was working on a new wing Israel National Leadership Center in about the Righteous Among the NaAriel, which was developed by JH Isrations. el in Birmingham. Ilutowich said that “the need is The digital platform for hosting the growing every day… I see it as an content has already been developed emergency situation.” Shortly after his by Ilutowich, at a cost of $3 million. Alabama visit, news broke of a woman The content itself comes mainly from who survived the Nova music festival the United States Navy’s SEAL Future On Oct. 20, Nova Festival survivor massacre, but committed suicide on Foundation, which Ilutowich said has Shirel Golan took her own life on her 22nd birthday. “a lot of experience.” her 22nd birthday. She had lost 11 Ilutowich noted that the Israeli gov- friends on Oct. 7. He stated that more Navy SEALs ernment is not focused on the issue killed themselves after coming back because they are in the middle of trying to win a war. “They from Iraq than the number who were killed in active duty take care of people who are wounded… they know how to there. Upon returning to civilian life, many “couldn’t find treat them,” he said. “The soul is something elusive.” themselves in society again.” To help with this pressing need, and knowing that early He added, “we can’t afford to let this happen in Israel.” intervention is critical, his team is looking to develop a The SEAL Future Foundation developed tools and rePTSD assessment app that would evaluate the presence of sources for successful transition back to the civilian world, PTSD, so the proper level of treatment can be planned. and is donating its trauma treatment content “to help their Because assessments have typically been in person and brothers in arms in Israel.”
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Compedia will translate the content into Hebrew and modify the content to an Israeli Jewish culture, and all content “will be Bible supported.” The content will be available on demand, accessible from rehabilitation centers and from home, and will incorporate digital activities and animation to encourage engagement and participation. With the help of groups in Birmingham, Ilutowich is working to raise $380,000 for the first phase of the project. The first phase will fund the translation and digital conversion, and the rollout to soldiers. The first goal, developing the assessment app, is $50,000. The next phases will adapt the program for youth, grade schools and kindergarteners, then the final phase will be full implementation of the program. Christian supporters of Israel in Birmingham pray for Gil Ilutowich is willing to travel or speak remotely Ilutowich on Sept. 26 to any group or individual who wants to help the least 200,000 people, so “the whole world would be against project become a reality. us.” Compedia was founded in 1987, providing educational For Israeli soldiers, who meticulously warn civilians betechnology for companies like National Geographic, and fore launching operations, and who are fighting an enemy educational games based on Bob the Builder, Casper and that dresses as civilians instead of being in uniform so they the Muppets. Their products are in over 40 languages with never know who might be trying to kill them, “their souls millions of users, and now use the latest AI and AR/VR have been hurt by being in that situation.” Many have been technologies. in the field for 10 months. They also provide educational resources around SpaceIL, As with so many in Israel, for Ilutowich this is not just a and were instrumental in the digital proliferation of iTaLAM, a Hebrew and Judaics curriculum used by Jewish Day concept. Oct. 7 was supposed to be his son’s last day of service in the IDF, and he was supposed to pick him up on Oct. Schools around the world. 8. His son did eventually come home — after being stabbed Ilutowich said Compedia has previously been working by a terrorist. He has since recovered. with the Joint Distribution Committee, which allocates FedHis daughter was also called back to her elite unit, and eration-raised funds in Israel, on a project for children with autism, specifically about dealing with trauma among autis- Ilutowich said “the horrific things she saw made her so tic children. He said those children are tied to a routine, and sick,” as the trauma manifests itself in physical sickness. Ilutowich grew up around Holocaust survivors. “All my if you interrupt the routine, as happens during war, “it is a disaster,” so they worked with universities to develop a unit neighbors, all the people I knew were Holocaust survivors.” It wasn’t until he was older and visited Arizona, seeing on how to deal with stress. Compedia worked with the Yahalom Unit, a special oper- old people joking around, that he realized that old people ations unit of the IDF, creating 3-dimensional environments weren’t automatically sad. “As the son of Holocaust surviin virtual reality to simulate the Hamas tunnels the soldiers vors, I have some of that trauma in me.” He noted that one-third of the soldiers killed in the Yom would encounter in Gaza, so they could train virtually, with Kippur War of 1973 were sons of Holocaust survivors. avatars as virtual Hamas fighters. He added, “I don’t want another generation of sad old They also created a simulation of the Hezbollah tunnels, people.” which he said are “huge. Trucks can go there.” With the war continuing, Ilutowich said he is “willing to Ilutowich said Hamas spent billions to construct a tundevote my life to this, it is so important.” nel network for themselves while leaving Gaza civilians exposed, with the hope that Israel would wind up killing at More information: blessil.org Israel InSight • November 2024
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50 American evangelist Franklin Graham heads this year’s list of Israel’s top Christian allies around the world. The list is compiled every year by the Israel Allies Foundation, which mobilizes support for Israel worldwide. They have a network of over 50 Israel caucuses in legislative bodies around the world. According to the Foundation, each of the Christian allies “has been particularly vocal in their advocacy, positioning themselves as some of the most prominent defenders of Israel globally. “This diverse group, which includes pastors, former politicians, and organizational leaders, represents the leading voices championing Israel in 2024.” The list is released at the beginning of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a time when Christians from around the world come to Jerusalem, inspired by Zecharaiah 14:16, which speaks of a time when all nations will gather in Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday. At a time when Israel is seen as needing all the allies it can get, this is the first list since the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion and massacre, as that happened
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on Simchat Torah last year, the end of the Sukkot holiday. The individuals on the list have served to counter the international condemnation that Israel has faced for defending itself from an existential threat led by the Iranian regime. Last year, the list was led by former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is second this year. British author and political commentator Douglas Miller, who has been widely praised for public and vocal support for Israel in Britain and around the world, was not listed as a Christian ally, as he considers himself an atheist. “It is a great honor to stand with Israel. This nation was brutally attacked and has every right to defend itself from those who want to wipe it off the face of the earth,” Graham said in a written statement. “As a Christian, I believe the Jews are God’s chosen people, and so we want to do all that we can to stand with Israel in this hour of great need and provide for those who are constantly at risk. I continue to encourage everyone to ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem’ as the Bible teaches.”
Photo by Rhododendrites via Wikimedia Creative Commons
Israel’s Top Christian Allies Israel’s
50Israel’s Top Christian Allies
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Franklin Graham
Photo credit: BGEA
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Mike Pompeo
Franklin Graham is a prominent American pastor and humanitarian who leads both Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Through Samaritan’s Purse, Graham oversees extensive humanitarian efforts, including disaster relief and development projects worldwide, with a focus on providing aid and support to communities in need. Graham is a vocal advocate for Israel’s rights and security, frequently expressing his support through public statements and initiatives that emphasize Christian solidarity with the Jewish state. Additionally, Samaritan’s Purse provides humanitarian aid to Israel, reflecting his commitment to supporting the country both spiritually and practically. Following the Hamas attack on Israel in early October, Samaritan’s Purse immediately deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team. In November 2023, Graham visited communities along the Gaza border to witness the
devastation firsthand and offer additional humanitarian aid to displaced families and those who had lost loved ones. Currently, they are providing 42 armored ambulances — including 28 that will be armor-plated and bulletproof — and are building ambulance response stations near the Gaza and Lebanese borders in areas that are constantly at risk. Samaritan’s Purse has also supplied 1,000 Advanced Trauma Life Support kits for doctors and healthcare workers in Israel. Since the Hamas attack, they have sent three airlifts to Israel with critical relief supplies and have deployed doctors and nurses to support the medical system in northern Israel. They are also undertaking six construction projects, including two ambulance centers — one in Avshalom on the Gaza border and the other in Shlomi on the Lebanese border — two trauma resilience centers, an equine therapy center, and an OBGYN clinic for Bedouins in the south.
Mike Pompeo is a politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Trump as both the director of the CIA and secretary of state. In his role as secretary of state, he was a strong advocate for Israel, supporting its claims to Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, Judea, and Samaria, and playing a key role in brokering the Abraham Accords. During this time he established what became known as the “Pompeo Doctrine,” which held that the United States no longer viewed Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria and the settlements there as “inconsistent with international law.”
Before his tenure in the Trump administration, Pompeo served as a U.S. congressman for 16 years, during which he was an active member of the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus. His unwavering support for Israel and the Jewish people earned him the Peace Through Strength Award, presented by American Ambassador to Israel David Friedman at the new Friedman Center. Together with Ambassador Friedman, last year Pompeo produced and starred in “Route 60: The Biblical Highway,” a film traversing the 150-mile road through Judea and Samaria which highlights the incredible biblical sites found along it.
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DIGGING Israel
Photo by Menachem Wecker
A portion of the mosaic, dated to about the year 230, on view in the exhibit “The Megiddo Mosaic: Foundations of Faith” at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 15, 2024.
“Greatest discovery since Dead Sea Scrolls” Megiddo mosaic goes on view at Bible Museum in Washington By Menachem Wecker
trying to say to me about ancient history, about the history of Christianity, about the place in Israel and so much more,” (JNS) — For hundreds of years, a mosaic lay hidden in Megiddo in northern Israel until, in 2005, it was found and Campo said. “This object really is a way for us to come together — a preserved as a local prison sought to expand. The mosaic way for us to see that these tiny little tesserae, these tiny recently made the trip — in nearly a dozen pieces — across little chips, these beautiful pieces when placed together — the ocean to Washington, where it is on exhibit at the Muthey tell a remarkable story of unity,” he told those assemseum of the Bible. The exhibit “The Megiddo Mosaic: Foundations of Faith” bled. “We truly are among the first people to ever see this, to experience what almost 2,000 years ago was put together is on view until July 6, 2025. by a man named Brutius, the incredible craftsman who laid At an opening reception for the exhibit on Sept. 15, the flooring here.” Carlos Campo, CEO of the museum, said that the mosaic, The mosaic, which contains a very early mention of the which dates to around the year 230, like an Impressionist name of Jesus and includes an illustration of two fish, as show that opened recently at the nearby National Gallery of well as a variety of geometric patterns, is “the greatest disArt, requires stepping back to take in the broader, unifying covery since the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Campo said. picture. Gil Lin, the head of the Megiddo Regional Council, “Frankly, I’m still stepping back, because as I step back, agreed in his address at the reception. I learn more about the power of this object and what it’s
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“The Megiddo mosaic represents the most significant ar- adorn floors. chaeological find since the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Lin said. “This “All the mosaics in the Roman period and the Byzantine mosaic, nearly 1,800 years old, is the earliest known house period are just like a carpet — that you walk over it,” she of prayer and the first physical proclamation of Jesus Christ said. as God. For billions worldwide, it’s not merely an artifact JNS asked if religious people at the time would have but a tangible link to shared history, tradition and faith.” found it anathema to tread on sacred symbols, and might The “priceless treasure from antiquity” have preferred instead to walk around The mosaic is the earliest religious symbols or divine names. Savarwill return home and will be installed where it was found and where it can be example to proclaim iego said ancient people didn’t have such best appreciated, he promised. “Megiddo a concern and would have walked on the Jesus as divine will do everything to build an ideal home mosaics and would have sat around them. for the Megiddo Mosaic and preserve this It is significant, she told JNS, that four invaluable piece of history,” he said. women are named in the mosaic, as is the man who created “Israel’s rich history has yielded countless archaeological the mosaic. The women could have been martyrs or could wonders, yet even our most seasoned historians stand in have been significant in other ways. awe of this remarkable discovery,” he added. “My father “We don’t know for sure,” Savariego said. “It doesn’t say used to say, ‘If these floors could share their past.’ Well, in Megiddo, they never stop talking.” Eliav Benjamin, deputy chief of mission at the Israeli embassy in Washington, said at the reception that the “extraordinary artifact” reflects “the deep connections that unite us all, our nations, our people over history across the globe.” “This is probably one of the best well-kept secrets not just in Israel but in the entire world until now,” he said. “So definitely a special occasion now to have it exposed for the first time. People in Israel haven’t seen it. People in the world haven’t seen it.” He noted that the symbol of the fish in the center of the mosaic, which scholars think may refer to fish as symbols of Christianity, is on display in Washington as the High Holidays approach, and that the fish head is a Rosh Hashanah Photo by Menachem Wecker symbol for “a new beginning and a good start.” A portion of the mosaic (including a very early reference to Jesus), dated to about the year 230, on view in the “This definitely is time for this, too,” he said. exhibit “The Megiddo Mosaic: Foundations of Faith” at Also in line with the approaching Rosh Hashanah holiday, the Museum of the Bible in Washington, on Sept. 15, 2024. there was a recitation of the Shehechiyanu blessing at the ribbon cutting that opened the show. what they are doing there.”
‘Like a carpet’
Alegre Savariego, curator of the Rockefeller collection and mosaics at the Israel Antiquities Authority who worked on the exhibition, told JNS that the most important thing for viewers to take away from the show is the significance of one of the inscriptions. “We found the name of Jesus before Christianity was part of the Roman empire,” she said. The inscription is the second one to be found naming Jesus, after a church in Dura Europos in present-day Syria, Savariego told JNS. She said that mosaics in this time period were meant to
It’s also unusual to have so many women named. “Not like this together,” she said. “You will have one sometimes, but not four.” The artist being named is also noteworthy. “Usually, you don’t have it,” she said. “This is the only one in Israel.” One of the inscriptions on the work notes that “Brutius has carried out the work.” “The artists who created mosaics were a skilled workforce in the Roman Empire. Despite the practical and decorative value their work brought to Roman structures, only about 100 of them signed their work,” a wall text in the exhibit states. The exhibit contains stones, which viewers could handle Israel InSight • November 2024
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MY Israel STORY
Leading the Fellowship
A late-night commercial sparked a powerful new path for IFCJ’s Bishop Paul Lanier While the main purpose for the television commercials the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews runs is to garner financial support for the IFCJ’s humanitarian work, sometimes the commercials provide something else. For instance, a future board chairman and passionate advocate. Bishop Paul Francis Lanier and his wife, Debbie, founded Hope Community Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., in 1990, and have led the church ever since. He is also an author, composer and recording artist. Lanier’s father and both grandfathers were pastors, and his great-grandmother helped establish a church during the Great Depression. He constantly heard stories about Israel every Sunday and midweek. “I was aware of, comfortable with and fervently embraced the narratives because they are part of my faith,” he said. Lanier said that when experiencing Jesus or the apostles, one must also engage with Abraham and Sarah, Moses, the prophets and the Israelite kings. The land of Israel, he notes, is where “soul and soil” come together and the stories from Sunday School come alive, and after visiting Israel, what one sees on the evening news becomes personal. However, when he was growing up in his part of North Carolina, “if I had met Jews, I am not aware of it.” He doesn’t recall any antisemitism — if anything, there was ignorance because there weren’t Jews around, and the topic never really came up. His church has always been heavily involved internationally, such as constructing church buildings in Africa and doing projects in Latin America. Their first trip to Israel was in 1995, and they went back numerous times over the years, with his daughter, Kaylyn, spending a semester there. Debbie and Kaylyn had left Israel just before the world shut down over Covid in 2020. In September, his first grandchild was born. Her name? Hadassah Hope.
Commercial break
Late one night in 2009, after leading a full day of Sunday services, Lanier went downstairs at 2 or 3 in the morning and turned the television on, “and there was an infomercial for the IFCJ. I had never heard of them, never seen the man sitting there in a house in eastern Europe.” The man, of course, was Yechiel Eckstein, an Orthodox
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rabbi who thought far outside the box and realized there was a large segment of the Christian community that loved Israel and the Jewish people, but there was almost no acknowledgement of this, let alone awareness in the Jewish community. In 1983, Eckstein launched IFCJ, which in the Jewish community was generally met with skepticism at best. At the time, Lanier explained, “there was no bridge” between the communities, but “he was able to reach certain Christian platforms that gave him the opportunity to present his dream — and Christians grabbed it.” He understands why there was “honest hesitance” in the Jewish community, as roughly 72 percent of the Nazis had identified as Christians. By 2009, Eckstein’s late-night commercials giving Christians the opportunity to help support elderly and impoverished Holocaust survivors in eastern Europe and in Israel were widespread, and IFCJ was one of the main expressions of the growing support for Israel and the Jewish community among Christians. In the commercial Lanier saw, Eckstein spoke about the living conditions for the Holocaust survivor he was visiting. “He talked about the stench, so articulately and passionately that I smelled it, he talked about the cold and I felt it. He convinced me if I would send a little bit of money the next morning I could make life better for her.” It “exposed part of my soul I didn’t know I had,” so even though he knew nothing about the organization, he asked Debbie about it and she agreed. Four years later, as he did a 40-day fast, he told his congregation that he felt they were meant to be a blessing to Israel. “It became part of our conversation with God.” The church initially raised funds for IFCJ to assist Holocaust survivors in need, currently their efforts go toward Aliyah, helping Jews from around the world move to Israel. He eventually met Eckstein, who came to speak at the church and “knocked it out of the park.” In 2017, Eckstein was speaking at a church in Charlotte, and asked Lanier to join the IFCJ board. “I’m not a board kind of person, I’m not an executive” and he hates board meetings. He hesitated and prayed about it. “I needed to know it mattered to my family, to my congregation, that it On Aug. 1, Bishop Paul Lanier accompanied 154 French Jews who were moving to Israel.
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Exploring the evidence of God’s covenant with Israel
“The Israel Dilemma,” new Patterns of Evidence documentary, in theaters in November Central to the Jewish claim on the Land of Israel is the idea that the land was promised to Abraham and his descendants through Isaac by God, as part of an eternal covenant. Anti-Israel groups reject that idea. Christian filmmaker and documentarian Tim Mahoney’s latest Patterns of Evidence film, “The Israel Dilemma,” explores the case behind the covenant. It will be screened in theaters nationwide on Nov. 13, 14 and 17. “This film gives Jews, Christians, and anyone interested in the Middle East a framework of objective evidence for understanding God’s plan,” said Mahoney. “Beginning in Genesis 12, God promises to make Abraham a great nation and to give them the land of Canaan. “From this and other ancient prophecies, and the evidence assembled in the film, we begin to see God’s firm foundation: He promised the Land of Promise to the Jews. This is part of His bigger plan for the world, and His plan will not be thwarted.” Working with Jewish and Christian scholars and religious leaders — some of whom express skepticism over the Biblical accounts — Mahoney mainly uses archaeological evidence to corroborate events in the Bible. Citing Moses’ prophecies in Deuteronomy, the Israelites would go through five phases — establishing a kingdom, the kingdom being destroyed, the Jewish people scattered and then persecuted, and then the return. Taking each of the five phases, Mahoney examines contemporary scholarship to corroborate Biblical accounts in the Prophets, and match them to Moses’ prophecies. Until recently, there was a debate over whether the Israelite kings even existed because of a lack of archaeological evidence, but in recent years there have been archaeological finds — from Jewish and non-Jewish sources — referencing those kings and other Biblical figures in their time period.
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Accounts of the conquest of Israel in the 700s BCE are found in records of other groups in the region, along with the Babylonian conquest of Judea leading to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. One of the debates in the film centers on the timing of the prophecies in Deuteronomy, with Tel Aviv University archaeologist Israel Finkelstein making the case that it, and many other writings, were recorded after the events as a way of explaining what happened, perhaps around the fifth century BCE. Others point to the structure of the Hebrew in the book, as well as contemporary references from centuries earlier, such as the book having the structure of a treaty prevalent well before the time of the kings, to show it was written well before those events. Regardless, it is seen as remarkable that the Jewish people would have such a story line, as in ancient times, defeated nations were mixed in with their captors after exile and their distinctions were lost, such as the Philistines being swallowed into the Babylonian captivity. Returning intact and reestablishing one’s kingdom was very unusual. The meaning of the covenant is also explored, especially as related to the idea of chosenness, which is depicted as having greater responsibilities to be an example to other nations, not because of any inherent superiority. In the film, Israel is referenced as “the embodiment of God’s hope for all people.” Among those interviewed in the film are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Rabbi Manis Friedman and Rabbi David Hartman of the Shalom Hartman Institute, along with many Biblical and archaeological academics around the world. Friedman said Mahoney “has found archaeological and historical evidence for the entire story: going down to Egypt, coming out of Egypt, the Ten Plagues, the splitting of the sea, the giving of the Torah, the Hebrew language, and
Tim Mahoney in “The Israel Dilemma.”
more… bringing heaven and earth together. It’s amazing.” This film is Part 1 and goes through the destruction of the First Temple and the return to the land under the rule of Persian King Cyrus, leading to the construction of the Second Temple. The second part will deal with the Second Temple and talk about the five stages as a cycle that will be repeated. After all, Amos notes that after the return, “they shall never again be uprooted,” and there would be the end of persecution. But that did not happen, as evidenced by the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, and persecution that continues even after the modern-day return with the establishment of Israel. According to Judaism, the Second Temple was destroyed by unwarranted hatred and internal division, while for centuries the church held that it was due to Jewish rejection of Jesus. In the first film, while it comes from a Christian perspective, there isn’t much of anything that Jewish viewers would find questionable. Early on, there is one passing reference to a “fallen world,” and toward the end, there is a timeline of covenants labeled “God’s redemptive plan” that concludes with a “new covenant,” though the term is never spoken. Taken from Jeremiah, Jews understand that to mean that at the end of days, the existing covenant with Israel will be
Photo courtesy Patterns of Evidence.
refreshed and renewed, to be faithfully followed eternally. In Christian circles, the idea of “new covenant” has meant a whole new relationship with God based on acceptance of Jesus. In recent decades, especially with the rebirth of Israel making prophecy come alive, more Christians have concluded that God’s original covenant with the Jewish people still endures and truly is eternal. The film endeavors to show that ancient Israel has been in the Promised Land from the days of the Hebrew Bible and God’s promise to them continues today, and to combat the lies that the Jewish people have no right to be there. Mahoney started an advertising and marketing firm in 1989, and in 2002 started exploring the Biblical story of the Exodus and the implications of questions about the Bible. He started interviewing some of the world’s leading Bible scholars, archaeologists and historians, establishing Patterns of Evidence. In 2014, he founded Thinking Man Films, which has produced several Patterns of Evidence films, on the Exodus, Moses, the Red Sea miracle and Mount Sinai. In 2025, his new Heroic Pictures will launch its first major motion picture, “The American Miracle: Our Nation is No Accident,” based on the bestselling book by Jewish talk show host Michael Medved. Ticket information at patternsofevidence.com/israel. Israel InSight • November 2024
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