USA EMBASSY TRANSFER TO JERUSALEM IN MAY 2018: USA President Donald Trump announced on 23 Feb. 2018 that he'd be accelerating the transfer of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The USA mission is slated to being moved in phases to its consular facility in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Arnona starting in May 2018. The first stages of the move are expected to see Ambassador David Friedman, and a small personal staff, take up offices at the Arnona facility, officially granting it the status of "embassy." Later, a full embassy annex will be added to the complex, with a new embassy facility to be built elsewhere in the city during the years to come. Israeli government ministers called Trump's announcement an "Independence Day gift," given that the May transfer coincides with Israel's 70th anniversary celebrations. (Israel Today) 

     “Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed; for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before His elders, gloriously. Isaiah 24:23

HEBREW U. RESEARCHERS SHOW WHICH FOODS PREVENT, PROMOTE DEMENTIA: Foods can determine whether someone will suffer from dementia in later years, according to researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment in Rehovot. A large-scale international study that included the university recently examined how food affects brain health for people aged 50 and older. The researchers were able to show that diet affects the risk of dementia. Among the foods proven to prevent dementia are: blueberries (not just the juice), healthful fats (as in olive oil), nuts (in small amounts to avoid excess calories), and fish. Other beneficial foods include: beans and legumes, fruits, low-calorie dairy products like yogurt, chicken and whole-grain cereals. Among the foods that have been shown to promote dementia are: fried foods, sugary foods, processed foods, red meat, fat, cheese and salt. (J.Post) 

"Worship the Lord your God, and His blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you.” Ex. 23:25

UN ENVOY: GAZA ON VERGE OF ‘TOTAL SYSTEMS COLLAPSE’: Gaza is beyond a “humanitarian crisis” and “on the verge of a total systems failure,” UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov said last week. Mladenov defined a total systems failure as the “full collapse of the economy and social services,” with all the “political, humanitarian and security implications stemming from that. The situation in Gaza needs to be high on the agenda for the Palestinian Authority’s donor countries Mladenov said. Returning Gaza under legitimate Palestinian control and ending all the terrorist activity there is critical,” he said. “It is critical to Israel’s security, Egypt’s security, to the people of Gaza and the Palestinians in general.” The envoy said “we need to work with the Palestinian Authority, and help them develop a plan about how they are going to return to Gaza.” Without that, he said, Gaza risks “exploding in our faces again, this time in a far more violent and deadly manner than in the past”. (J.Post) 

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan.” Proverbs 29:2

AVOIDING NEXT IRANIAN ATTACK ON ISRAEL: A senior official in Israel’s defense establishment warned on Sunday 11 Feb. 2018 that Iran is determined to entrench themselves in Syria and will continue to try to attack Israel. Israel's responses to these further violations, he added, will be even more forceful. “As far as we are concerned, the weekend event is over, but the next incident is only a matter of time,” he said, warning that Israel does not rule out that the Islamic Republic will continue to try to strike Israel. On Saturday, 10 Feb. 2018 an Iranian drone was intercepted by an Israel Air Force Apache helicopter near the town of Beit She’an. In response, Israeli aircraft targeted the drone’s launch site deep inside Syria. Two Israeli pilots were wounded after ejecting from their F-16 which crashed down in Israeli territory. “We do not know what the mission of the Iranian drone was, it is their most advanced drone and they did not expect our radar to detect its penetration into our territory,” the senior official stated. “Our aerial freedom will not be harmed. We will continue to destroy targets.” (J.Post)

USA SUPPORTS ISRAEL’S RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF AGAINST SYRIAN, IRANIAN PROVOCATIONS: The White House issued a statement on Sunday 11 Feb. 2018 declaring USA support for Israeli military reprisals against Syria over the weekend, and calling on Iran to “cease provocative actions” against the Jewish state. “Israel is a staunch ally of the United States, and we support its right to defend itself from the Iranian-backed Syrian and militia forces in southern Syria,” the White House said. The USA Defense Department issued a similar statement, calling Israel “our closest security partner in the region,” and supporting “Israel’s inherent right to defend itself against threats to its territory and its people.” At approximately 4:25 a.m. on Saturday 10 Feb. 2018, an Israeli Apache attack helicopter shot down an Iranian drone controlled from Syria. Israel called the infiltration a “severe and irregular violation of Israeli sovereignty” and launched an airstrike on Syrian anti-aircraft missile targets, including the drone launch site. (Algemeiner)

    “Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you.’” Isa. 41:12-13

USA TROOPS ARRIVE IN ISRAEL:...

With tensions high on Israel’s northern and southern fronts, USA troops are in Israel and have deployed anti-missile defense systems across the country ahead of the Juniper Cobra military exercise. The large-scale, five-day drill will simulate a massive missile attack on Israel from both fronts and will be led by the Israel Air Force, the IDF confirmed on 4 Feb. 2018. The joint exercise with the USA Army is aimed at strengthening military cooperation against regional threats and promoting long-term security for Israel. While the IDF said the drill, which has occurred every two years since 2001, is part of the training to maintain the readiness of troops, it comes amid a war of words with Hezbollah, which is thought to have an arsenal of between 100,000 and 150,000 missiles. Washington and Israel have signed an agreement which would see the USA come to assist Israel with missile defense in times of war. (J.Post)

HAMAS FOUNDER DIES AFTER ‘ACCIDENTALLY’ SHOOTING HIMSELF: A senior member of the Hamas terrorist organization has died, a Hamas spokesman said on 30 Jan. 2018, three weeks after he suffered what the terror organization claimed was an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound in the head. Hamas sources said that on 9 Jan. 2018, Imad al-Alami, one of the movement’s most senior officials, was critically wounded when his personal firearm accidentally discharged. Al-Alami, 61, was "inspecting his personal weapon in his home and is in critical condition,” said the spokesman. The Hamas leader was rushed to a Gaza City hospital, where he later succumbed to his wounds. Outlawed by the USA in 2003 for his position in Hamas, al-Alami was considered one of the Gaza terror group’s most important assets, due to his extensive ties with the Iranian government – a major sponsor of Hamas – and his personal relationship with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, himself a client of the Tehran regime. In November, 2016, al-Alami was selected as Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh’s designated successor. The shooting incident fueled a variety of conspiracy theories within the Palestinian Authority, ranging from claims al-Alami was assassinated, to suggestions he may have committed suicide following years of health problems. (INN)

WHINERS AND WINNERS: Although much is heard about the plight of the Palestinian refugees from the aftermath of the 1948 Israeli War of Independence and the 1967 Six Day War, little is said about the hundreds of thousands of Jews who were forced to flee from Arab states before and after the creation of Israel. In fact, these refugees were largely forgotten because they were assimilated into their new homes, most in Israel, and neither the United Nations nor any other international agency took up their cause or demanded restitution for the property and money taken from them.

From the onset of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War until the early 1970s, 800,000–1,000,000 Jews left, fled, or were expelled from their homes in Arab countries; 260,000 of them reached Israel between 1948 and 1951 and accounted for 56% of the total immigration to the newly founded State of Israel. 600,000 Jews from Arab and Muslim countries had reached Israel by 1972. By the Yom Kippur War of 1973, most of the Jewish communities throughout the Arab World, as well as Pakistan and Afghanistan, were practically non-existent. The reasons for the exodus included push factors, such as persecution, anti-Semitism, political instability and expulsion; together with pull factors, such as the desire to fulfill Zionist yearnings. Look at Israel today and see what can be accomplished by hard-working, courageous men and women with a vision to build a country and to maintain peace. (JNN) 

“We went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.” Ps 66:12