ARTICLES

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Last Friday, twenty freed hostages sat down with families and friends for their first weekly Shabbat since terrorists kidnapped them and forced them into the tunnels of Gaza. Amid joy, tears, and shock, familiar customs and rituals gradually returned. Candle lighting, the reciting of ancient Hebrew prayers, and favorite dishes served with fresh ingredients filled the evening. Surreal conversations began to replace memories of darkness and deprivation as survivors struggled to recount their harrowing captivity.

Mainstream media would do well to pay close attention, as if they were sitting at those Shabbat tables or in a courtroom listening to witnesses whose testimony of evil is undeniable. For the past two years, mainstream outlets have launched a dangerous kind of journalism across cyberspace and its allied social media platforms.

I have named this phenomenon rogue reporting. The word “rogue” can have many meanings, but here it describes those who misuse their position or authority with destructive results. Rogue reporters chose to promote lies from Hamas, the aggressor, over facts from Israel, the victim. Their decisions helped spread a violent cancer of Jew hatred that has now metastasized across the world.

As more truths emerge from freed hostages and their families, will the media listen? Will they choose reliable sources such as the survivors themselves, Israeli leaders, and the IDF? Or will they continue to echo terrorist propaganda? Will they repair their platforms by returning to facts and integrity? Will they consult Christian media outlets that have long recognized the difference between good and evil?

This article touches on only a few stories among many. Will mainstream media share them widely and acknowledge the damage caused by giving credibility to terrorist lies?

Survivor stories are difficult to hear, but facts must rise above falsehoods. Each survivor endured unique cruelties, and nothing can erase their suffering and inhumane treatment, whether they were freed earlier or among the most recent group of twenty living hostages.

Rom Braslavski, a religious Jew, is piecing together two lost years. When he first saw his little brother, he did not recognize him, remembering him still as a boy. Among his many sorrows, Rom was devastated to have missed his brother’s bar mitzvah.

Like Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s cruelty defied comprehension. Rom survived in almost total isolation, sustained by the psalms he had memorized long before. At times, he was confined near the bodies of those who had perished. Chained inside a small cage for months, he endured agonizing pain in his hands and feet. When terrorists demanded that he convert to Islam in exchange for more food, Rom summoned the strength to refuse.

Upon arriving at the hospital after his release, he put on tefillin, small black leather boxes containing Scriptures, bound to his head and arm as a symbol of devotion to God. His family shared that he now prefers to be outside, looking at the sky. Supporters from around the world are sending him photographs of their own sky views as tokens of solidarity and hope.

Rom’s reliance on the psalms in such torment reminds us that Judaism formed the cradle of Christianity. The Old and New Testaments are one sacred book. God spoke through Jewish scribes who wrote and preserved the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament, and Jewish believers added twenty-seven books that became the New Testament. Rom’s faith amid suffering stands as a message for all believers. Without Judaism as God’s chosen foundation, Christianity would not exist. God’s unconditional love is a gift to both Christians and Jews who seek Him with repentant hearts through the Messiah, despite our human failures and flaws.

Another story that shocked Israel and its supporters involved Evyatar David. Hamas forced him to dig his own grave for a propaganda video after starving him nearly to death. So emaciated that his ribs and shoulders protruded, Evyatar’s image was used to pressure Israel. When the filming ended, the terrorists finally gave him food. A few days after his release, a photo showed Evyatar playing his guitar with friends as the sun set over the Mediterranean Sea. The twenty-four-year-old Israeli was once again surrounded by freedom, beauty, and music.

Many other accounts reveal both cruelty and courage. Elkana Bohbot was shackled in darkness for most of his captivity and lost all sense of time. His mother said that at one point, he asked his captors for a needle, thread, and scrap of fabric so he could sew a teddy bear for his young son Re’em. When Elkana arrived at Sheba Medical Center, he carried the handmade toy into a tearful family reunion.

Matan Angrest suffered psychological torment as his captors lied about his family and “treated” his severe hand injuries without anesthesia. Terrorists also deliberately starved hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, boasting about turning their captives into “poster children of skin and bones.”

Israeli digital creator Yael Levontin described Hamas’s inhumanity as “the horror that defied humanity.” She wrote, “Because the terrorists burned bodies, tore people apart, and left behind only ashes and bone, Israel had to do something it had never done before: summon archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority, experts in ancient civilizations, to help identify the murdered.” One archaeologist explained, “We can recognize bones that are thousands of years old by texture and shape. But this was different. Bone fused with metal, plastic, teeth, and ash. This is not science. It is agony.”

Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and their allies have descended into a hatred that thrives on crimes against humanity.

After reading many hostage stories, I am compelled to suggest this: rogue reporting should be recognized as a modern form of complicity, an accessory to crimes against truth and humanity. Will mainstream media turn away from their Nazi-like adherence to Hamas propaganda that has endangered Jews worldwide?

On October 7, 2023, the terrorists gleefully recorded their atrocities on body cameras. Now, we have the testimonies of survivors who lived through the horror. Their stories are not joyful, but they are essential. They must be heard.

As Christians, we must commit ourselves to truth. We are called to pass on verified facts, not propaganda. We have our own trustworthy Christian media sources such as CBN News, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, AllIsrael.com, The 700 Club Israel, The Watchman with Erick Stakelbeck and Yair Pinto, Boots on the Ground at TBN, and Amir Tsarfati at Behold Israel.

Proverbs 12:22 reminds us, “The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy.” May we be those truth-tellers who honor God by speaking facts, not falsehoods.

Our CBN Israel team invites you to join us in prayer and to share this message widely.

Prayer Points:

• Pray for the recovery and healing of all freed hostages.
• Pray for families still waiting to receive the bodies of their loved ones.
• Pray for wisdom for Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump.
• Pray for Christians to stand boldly for truth in every arena of life.

Arlene Bridges Samuels is the weekly feature columnist for CBN Israel since 2020. Working on the staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as their SE Regional Outreach Director for nine years, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as the Leadership Outreach Director part-time for their project American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel, is published at AllIsrael.com and The Jerusalem Connection, and has traveled to Israel since 1990. By invitation, she attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits as part of Christian media worldwide. In 2024, Arlene and her husband Paul co-authored Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. www.TheMentalHealthMeltdown.com.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

I confess, I am a woman who rarely cries. But October 13, 2025, was different for me. It was a historic day with modern Israel in their ancient land and every living hostage freed after two long years in Israel’s longest war. It was a moment to release my pent-up tears of joy as a Christian Zionist, an American, a columnist, author, and advocate for our irreplaceable ally Israel for 25 years. October 13, 2025, will endure in world history, engraved in the hearts of every Israeli and in those of us who recognize God’s sovereign hand in world affairs.

Although I was not on the ground in Israel, I was there in spirit and with rapt attention. Watch parties took place throughout the country, and 400,000 Israelis stood all night in and around Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square, anxious that Hamas might cruelly change its mind at the last moment. Through media coverage, I witnessed the truth, beauty, and reality of prayers answered from millions of Christians standing united with the Jewish community around the world.

As vehicles carrying the freed hostages passed out of Gaza, members of the Israel Defense Forces lined the roads holding high the familiar blue and white flags of their nation. They stood both in celebration and in solemn remembrance of 915 fallen soldiers and thousands more who were injured while defending their homeland. Seven hundred twenty-eight days of captivity had come to an end through close collaboration between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, whose strategies advanced the President’s peace plan to its next stage.

After traveling by vehicle and then by helicopter, the freed hostages, viewed as precious cargo by the entire nation, were received at three hospitals specially prepared for their arrival. Crowds gathered, sang, and cheered as the hostages walked into freedom. At the same time, President Trump landed in Israel for a four-hour official visit before continuing to Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, to sign the peace declaration. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to attend, but he declined because it was Simchat Torah, “the joy of the Torah.” It was on Simchat Torah in 2023 that Hamas had viciously attacked Israel along the Gaza border.

When President Trump arrived at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, Prime Minister Netanyahu welcomed him warmly. President Trump first met with families of the kidnapped, the wounded, and those bereaved by the October 7 attacks. He listened with compassion in the Chagall State Hall, whose walls display Marc Chagall’s magnificent tapestries depicting the story of Israel, ancient and modern. The meeting reflected deep empathy in a setting that has rarely hosted such personal and emotional moments.

Later, President Trump stepped to the podium in the Knesset to a long and enthusiastic standing ovation. I found myself applauding along with the crowd as a trumpet fanfare sounded and cheers filled the chamber. He waved toward the balcony where his daughter Ivanka sat beside her husband Jared Kushner, one of the peace agreement’s key architects. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and other U.S. officials sat nearby.

Amir Ohana, Speaker of the Knesset, presided over the gathering, which was filled with applause and repeated standing ovations. In his remarks, Ohana described President Trump as “a giant of Jewish history, that Cyrus the Great would be the only parallel.” He added, “We do not need appeasers; we need more leaders who are brave. We need more Trumps.”

Introducing Prime Minister Netanyahu, Ohana praised him for “making the hard decisions.” Netanyahu responded by calling Trump “the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House. There is no match for Trump.” In his address, President Trump declared, “This is the historic dawn of a golden age in the Middle East. We are giving thanks to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

When the reunions of freed hostages with their families began circulating in the media, I cried again as I watched their embraces, shouts, and prayers of thanksgiving. Yet I also grieved for the families who lost loved ones in the Israel Defense Forces, for those who were severely injured, and for civilians murdered on October 7 or who died during captivity. Psalm 34:18 offers a profound way to pray for them and for all of Israel: “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Each of the twenty reunions, and all those that came before, stand as a testament to the endurance of Israel and the steadfast friendship of the United States under Donald J. Trump. Before Bar Kupershtein was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, his father, Tal, suffered a stroke that left him in a wheelchair. He held on to one goal: to stand and embrace his son when Bar came home. On October 13, 2025, Tal rose from his wheelchair and fulfilled that dream. The family of Segev Kalfon did not know he had survived until February, when another released hostage told them. Even then, they could not be certain until October 13. Their reunion erupted in tears, joy, and gratitude.

Amid the joy sweeping through Israel, a shadow remains. Hamas delayed the release of twenty-eight bodies of hostages who had died in captivity. Their claims that they cannot locate all the bodies may be another cruel manipulation meant to prolong the pain. Only God knows the truth. May He show mercy in the months ahead. And may we as Christians fulfill our calling as true friends of Israel, our spiritual homeland, trusting in the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus.

Our CBN Israel team invites you to join us in prayer for Israel amid both joy and sorrow.

Prayer Points:

• Pray with thanksgiving for the twenty freed hostages.
• Pray for families still grieving and waiting for the return of their loved ones’ remains.
• Pray for supernatural wisdom for President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu in Phase II of the peace plan.
• Pray for the families of the 915 IDF soldiers who gave their lives for their nation.
• Pray for the physical and emotional healing of injured IDF members.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

The acronym BDS, meaning Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, has become a symbol of destruction for Israel and the global Jewish community. While the movement claims to advocate for Palestinian rights through economic, academic, and cultural boycotts, it is in reality a modern form of antisemitism. Its ideological roots are connected to the same hatred that once drove Nazi and Muslim Brotherhood extremists, and its influence continues to grow.

The BDS movement will not dissolve on its own. Hatred of this kind tends to intensify and spread. After decades of anti-Israel slander, BDS has succeeded in orchestrating a vast international disinformation campaign that mirrors the propaganda strategies of the Nazi era. Scripture, both Old and New Testament, reaffirms God’s enduring love and purpose for His Jewish people. Yet in these deeply troubling times, believers must be vigilant, responding with prayer, truth, and action for the land that gave us both our Scriptures and our Savior.

BDS was cofounded in 2005 by Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti, who united 146 Palestinian organizations under a shared resistance banner. Born in Qatar in 1964 to Palestinian parents, Barghouti grew up in Egypt, studied at Columbia University, married an Arab-Israeli citizen, and later attended Tel Aviv University. Highly educated and articulate, he has been embraced by many in academic and political circles, including some Christians and Jews who fail to recognize the movement’s underlying hostility toward Israel’s existence.

Following Hamas’s massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, BDS experienced a surge in global support. Millions joined or endorsed its rhetoric, echoing chants such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” This seemingly poetic slogan is, in fact, a call for Israel’s annihilation, since the river is the Jordan and the sea is the Mediterranean, encompassing all of Israel’s land.

New forms of BDS activism appear constantly, spreading like toxic weeds through social media, academia, and the arts. One of the latest examples is the “No Music for Genocide” campaign, a boycott movement among musicians protesting Israel’s actions in Gaza. Hundreds of artists have signed on, amplifying a message that isolates Israel culturally and psychologically.

Attorney Lana Melman, CEO of Liberate Art and author of Artists Under Fire: The BDS War Against Celebrities, Jews, and Israel, has described the “No Music for Genocide” initiative as a deliberate psychological weapon designed to make Israelis feel isolated and abandoned. She points out that such efforts are largely symbolic. “It doesn’t cost the signatories much since tiny Israel makes up only 0.12 percent of the world’s population.”

Melman also referenced the Trump administration’s peace plan, welcomed by Israel and several Arab nations, observing that true concern for Palestinians would involve urging Hamas to embrace peace rather than perpetuating violence. “I’m not holding my breath,” she adds.

The world saw BDS’s moral bankruptcy clearly after October 7, when Palestinian terrorists recorded their own barbaric acts against Israeli civilians. Despite overwhelming evidence of these atrocities, nations such as France, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom have rushed to recognize a Palestinian state, ignoring both the motives of the murderers and the chaos their actions are fueling at home.

During Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, a terrorist attack in Manchester, England, left two Jewish worshippers dead and four injured. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the act as “vile” and expressed solidarity with Britain’s Jewish community. The attacker, a 35-year-old Syrian named Jihad al-Shamie, had been granted British citizenship as a child yet turned that gift into a weapon of hate.

As darkness gathers on the horizon, it can be tempting to despair. But believers are called to stand firm, guided by the eternal truth of Scripture. Zechariah 12:3 warns us of a day when “all the nations of the earth are gathered against” Jerusalem, yet God promises that those who try to move His immovable rock “will injure themselves.”

Corrie ten Boom, the Dutch Christian who sheltered Jews from the Nazis and endured concentration camps herself, offered a profound reminder: “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.” We too must remain steadfast, trusting that God’s light is ahead and His purposes unshakable.

Our CBN Israel team invites you to stand with us in prayer and to share this message as a voice for truth and faith in support of Israel, our spiritual homeland.

Prayer Points:

• Pray for President Trump’s wisdom as he advances his 20-point peace proposal.
• Pray for the total release, alive and deceased, of all hostages.
• Pray for evangelicals worldwide to boldly share truth whenever possible.
• Pray for discernment to recognize truth and resist media deception.

Arlene Bridges Samuels is the weekly feature columnist for CBN Israel since 2020. Working on the staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as their SE Regional Outreach Director for nine years, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as the Leadership Outreach Director part-time for their project American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel, is published at AllIsrael.com and The Jerusalem Connection, and has traveled to Israel since 1990. By invitation, she attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits as part of Christian media worldwide. In 2024, Arlene and her husband Paul co-authored Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. www.TheMentalHealthMeltdown.com.