Prime Minister Bennett to Speak at United Nations General Assembly
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (Source: Government Press Office (Israel)/Avi Ohayon)
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will address the countries participating in the seventy-sixth United Nations General Assembly that begins this week. Eighty-three world leaders will attend the two-week event in person. Due to the pandemic, most leaders opted to deliver their speeches remotely last year. Prime Minister Bennett will speak on September 27, focusing on Iran’s nuclear program and their support for armed proxy groups like Hezbollah. His speech will also highlight national security and regional issues.
Some of Israel’s neighbors, including Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, also plan to participate in this year’s General Assembly. In addition, the twentieth anniversary of the Durban World Conference on Racism is scheduled to take place on September 22. Israel and several other countries will be boycotting that meeting due to the open antisemitism at previous Durban conference. The United States is standing with Israel on this matter and will not attend the meeting.
Please pray for peace and security in New York City and the United Nations as the world’s leaders meet to discuss and plan peaceful initiatives.
Court Orders Hamas to Pay Families of Three Murdered Israeli Teenagers
In June 2014, terrorists kidnapped and killed three Israeli teenagers as they were hitchhiking in the West Bank near their Israeli settlement. Authorities searched for the teenagers for two and a half weeks. The tensions this tragedy caused contributed to the war with Hamas in Gaza, who launched many rockets into Israel during that time. The families of the three teenagers initiated a court battle against Hamas, a terrorist organization with a billion-dollar budget.
Recently, the Jerusalem District Court ruled that Hamas must pay NIS 38 million ($11.8 million) to the families of the teenagers. The families had originally sought NIS 520 million ($162 million) in the hopes of hurting Hamas’s budget and preventing further plans of terror. The families plan to appeal the decision. One of the boys’ fathers said, “This is a sum that won’t deter Hamas and similar groups who continue their activities at all times. Our goal is to undermine the economic and legal tools of the terrorist organizations, to teach them a lesson and, God willing, to prevent the next incidence.”
Please pray that God will comfort the families who are mourning the horrible deaths of their children.
Sukkot in Israel
Sukkot (Source: © Simon Mannweiler / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0)
The people of Israel are beginning to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), which runs from this Tuesday to next Monday. The streets are quiet, and kids are home from school. In the evenings, you can hear the tinker of plates and voices coming from within people’s sukkah booths. Wherever there is a little space of land outside apartment buildings or on balconies, people have built a sukkah. Families and groups eat their meals in the sukkah and thank God for His provision and blessing as the times of repentance and forgiveness are over and a time of joy is at hand.
Our staff will continue in the mighty work before us. With social distancing, they can meet their neighbors and share a laugh across family tents. We can share with those around us that He will provide and already knows our needs and worries, both spoken and unspoken.
Please pray with and for us as we continue to share the joy we have in Jesus and how He will continue to provide for and bless us!
