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On Wednesday Hamas official, Izzat al-Rishq, criticized the previous day's meeting in Amman between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators as a waste of time, saying talks between negotiators were, ‘selling illusions to the Palestinian people.’ The official also condemned the Palestinian Authority's participation, saying that the ‘absurd’ meeting did not receive support from the Palestinian people. The negotiators met in Amman on Tuesday for the first direct talks in 16 months. They agreed to continue talking, with another round scheduled in Jordan next week. The Jordanian Foreign Minister said at a press conference after the meeting that the Palestinian delegation submitted proposals on border and security issues to Israel, and that the Israeli team took the proposals and said it would respond and present its ideas in a future meeting. One principle that Israel is expected to put forward is the need for an Israeli security presence along the Jordan river in any agreement.
Pray: for good faith to be throughout these negotiations, bringing the two sides closer and Israel less internationally isolated. (Ps.3:8)
More: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=252147
Peace efforts restarted after three years when Israel began to release 26 Palestinian prisoners. However diplomacy was overshadowed by Israeli proposals to buils 3,000+ new settler units, 900 in East Jerusalem. A senior PLO official said the proposed Jewish settler homes could ‘collapse’ the talks. A spokeswoman for Israel’s interior ministry said more approvals were needed and it could be years before building began. Israel's ‘Peace Now’ organisation disputed this, believing that construction could begin within weeks. A spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu said Palestinians shouldn’t be surprised - Israel had rejected Mr Abbas's demand for a freeze on settlement building as a precondition for talks. Abdullah Abdullah, a member of the legislative council and a supporter of Mr Abbas said Palestinians would not stay in the talks if Israel continued with the settlement surge. ‘We have other options.’ he said. US Secretary of State John Kerry hopes to achieve a peace deal within nine months.
Pray: for positive perseverance and cooperative clarifications by all involved in these negotiations. (Jer.30:10)
In a Tehran meeting between senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar and Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Mr Salehi said, ‘The wave of Islamic Awakening in the Muslim world, especially in regional countries, is a great opportunity and valuable potential for Palestine. This comment followed a conference last month entitled ‘Resistance - Islamic Awakening and Liberation of Palestine.' The Iranian Foreign Minister noted that with the establishment of popular governments in Muslim countries the regional nations and countries will strongly continue their efforts to defend Palestine until the liberation of al-Quds (Jerusalem). Salehi said, ‘Iran did its best to make the summit adopt powerful stances on Palestine and the final result of those efforts were quite favourable.’ Al-Zahar expressed hope that during the presidency of the Islamic Republic, the rights of the Palestinian nation would be defended stronger than before, emphasizing that the Palestinian people will continue their resistance against the Zionist regime of Israel and will not withdraw from their rights and principles.
Pray: for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps.122:6,7)
More: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/260498.html
The Lebanese national news Agency said the Israeli rockets caused material damage when they exploded in the southern Lebanese town of Ayta Shaab on Tuesday. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. ‘We know that a rocket was fired from the region of Rmeish and we are investigating,’ said a Lebanese army spokesman. The attack followed the Israeli army report that at least two Lebanese rockets landed on Israeli soil. Major-General Alberto Cuevas, commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon said the attack was clearly aimed at undermining stability in the area. Israel and Lebanon live under an uneasy UN-brokered truce after the 2006 war between the Israeli army and Iranian-backed Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah.
Pray: that the exchange of fire will not lead to a wider conflict. (Ps.147:14)
Messianic Jews in Mevasseret Zion, west Jerusalem, continue to be harassed for their faith by hostile flyers containing their names, addresses and phone numbers (and in some cases their photographs) being placed in public areas singling them out as members of Messianic congregations. The leader of the Ahavat Yeshua Congregation said the flyers are ‘an effort to drive us out of the neighbourhood’ by inciting others to harass or harm Messianic Jews. ‘Why else would you put the addresses on the flyers?’ he said. This is the second time recently a group has singled out Messianic Jews in Mevasseret Zion for ridicule. (see PA 27-2011) It is unclear who posts the flyers but they match a well-established pattern in Israel. According to Wikileaks, ‘Outing’ Messianic Jews and Evangelical Christians through the publication of names, photos and addresses alongside hysterical allegations about ‘soul stealing’ and ‘brainwashing’ is a favourite tactic of Yad L’Achim branches throughout the country.’
Pray: for God to strengthen feeble hands, steady weak knees and remove fear from communities of believers in Israel. (Is.35:10)
More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/israel/article_120307.html
The Shin Bet’s 2012 report on terror found terrorists switching focus to less heavily-guarded Israelis abroad; noting the bus bombing in Bulgaria killing five Israelis and one Bulgarian, a bombing in New Delhi in which a diplomat’s wife was wounded, and an attempted bombing targeting a Georgian embassy employee. 2012 also saw attacks on non-Israeli Jewish communities with the death of three children and a rabbi at the Otzar Hatorah School in France. The murderer said he targeted the school due to his hatred of Israel. The report noted an unprecedented number of arrests of Hizbullah terrorists and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, many arrested abroad while planning attacks against Israelis. Notably a Hizbullah terrorist in Bangkok plotting a mass attack on Israeli tourists in Thailand; a Hizbullah terrorist arrested in Cyprus while gathering information on tourist sites, ships and airplanes used by Israelis; and Revolutionary Guards' terrorists were arrested in Kenya for planning attacks on Israelis in the country.
Pray: for continued vigilance and wisdom by Israeli and international authorities as they work towards protecting Israelis at home and abroad. (Gen.28:15)
More: http://forzion.com/2013/01/25/terrorists-new-tactic-hit-israelis-jews-overseas/
A Christian of Jewish origin who has been attacked on the streets here four times because of his faith in Christ and is seeking police protection. Jerusalem resident Yossi Yomtov said police have been slow to investigate hate crimes against him by youths wearing kippahs, cloth skullcaps typically worn by observant Jews. In two of the attacks a youth plied him with pepper spray and stun gun shocks, he said. 'This young man cursed me for my belief in Christ,' Yomtov told Compass. ‘He used ugly curses and spoke in highly abusive language.’ Yomtov, who founded the social activist group Lemallah (‘Upward’) after moving to Israel from the United States in 1999, said he was last attacked on Dec. 19. On that occasion his group was holding a demonstration in downtown Jerusalem, he said, when a man chanting anti-Christian slogans and using foul language approached him and began striking him. Police never showed up in spite of many calls to the police station, he said. Pray: that Jewish believers would be given protection against persecution by non-believers. (Ps.5:11) More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/israel/13055/
Security in Jerusalem was tightened on Thursday following large riots on Tuesday that erupted when Samar Sarchan a Palestinian from east Jerusalem was killed by an Israeli security guard. Jerusalem District Police Commander gave his backing to the guard. Whilst Succot holiday events were scheduled to proceed as planned, a large police presence was in place in the Old City and surrounding area due to fears of further clashes. Also riots broke out in east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan before dawn on Thursday morning, ending a two-month period of calm. The disturbances broke out after members of a Jewish family that owns a pathway in the area sought to take down an illegally built gate placed on the path by Palestinian residents. The gate leads to a mosque in the neighbourhood. (See: http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=186026 In Silwan, three Molotov cocktails were thrown at police and four Molotov cocktails were hurled at the Beit Orot Yeshiva near the a-Tur neighborhood in Jerusalem. Pray: for police to have prudence and discretion as they calm the situations and for residents to refrain from further reprisals. (Pr.8:12-14)
Israeli bulldozers demolished a Bedouin village in southern Israel for the 53rd time on Tuesday. Families in Araqib managed to re-build five of the sheds and Palestinian and Israeli activists are due to visit the village to help rebuild the rest of the structures. On Monday thousands demonstrated across Israel and Palestine against a plan to displace 40,000 Bedouins from land they had always lived in but for which they have no proof of ownership. The Israeli government plan addresses the matter of unrecognized Bedouin villages in southern Israel. The plan allows the Bedouin to own 45,000 acres of land that is registered in the name of the State of Israel and they will be eligible for 62.5% of land that they own. Last month the Knesset approved the first reading of the bill to legalise Bedouin settlement in the Negev, but not before a heated debate during which the Arab MKs tore up the bill. See: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169921#.UeZ2lW1lhGM
Pray: for the 90,000 Bedouins at risk to be able to retain their communal and social fabric peacefully and for the state to give communities access to basic services and infrastructure, such as electricity and running water.(Ex.22:21 & Lev.19:33)
More: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=614293
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman said Iran was moving at a ‘crazy pace’ toward obtaining a nuclear weapon and he hoped Israel would be able to make the correct decisions. He also said there was no doubt Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons and the international community had done nothing while 90,000 people were massacred. He noted Hezbollah has missiles that can reach anywhere in Israel and expressed concern about a situation in which any terrorist group could strike Israel. The Strategic Affairs Minister said Israel was not ruling out any scenario in the Syrian civil war, including a victory by the Assad regime and warned that the S-300 anti-aircraft system that Russia plans to sell to Syria could potentially be used to shoot down civilian aircraft over Tel Aviv. Israel has not publicly taken sides in the Syrian conflict but it has launched air strikes inside Syria to destroy weapons it believed were destined for Hezbollah, which is allied with Assad.
Pray: for those in authority to be God fearing and recognize that they are accountable to Him for each decision and action. (Pr.9:10)
More: http://www.worthynews.com/top/israelhayom-com-site-newsletter_article-php-id-9579/