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By Arlene Bridges Samuels 

A tsunami of accusations against Israel, the Jewish ancestral homeland, is crashing ashore across the globe. Misleading headlines are flooding in, saying Israel is “Accused of the gravest war crimes in Gaza” (the BBC) and charge Israel with ethnic cleansing. Evil is valued and goodness is devalued. The brilliant prophet Isaiah, who today could be awarded the Nobel prize for literature, eloquently described this reversal in Chapter 5, verse 20: Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. We live in an upside-down world. It is frightening for our Jewish friends in Israel, the United States, and beyond.

Furthermore, strengthening our own faith is indispensable right now. Most evangelicals I know befriend Israel and the Jewish community because we value the entire Bible. Its clarity informs us that our Christian faith was born in the ancient cradle of Judaism. God, in His sovereign plans, created and chose Jews to write 65 books of the Bible—except for Luke, who was considered in ancient traditions to be a Gentile. The Jewish apostle Paul, a murderer-turned-believer in Messiah Jesus (Yeshua) on the Damascus Road, carried the Good News about our Jewish Savior to non-Jews.

Up until the time of Paul’s Damascus Road encounter with Yeshua, the early church for about eight to ten years was populated by Jewish believers, as well as some Gentiles. When the disciples traveled to the known world with the Gospel news after Jesus’ ascension, His Great Commission reached Jews and began seeping into the Gentile community. However, it was the brilliant Apostle Paul, commissioned by God, who would spotlight the Good News to the Gentiles. 

The Old and New Testaments were written by Jews, for Jews, and to Jews. Evangelicals do not support the Jewish people in America, Israel, or any other nation because Jews are perfect. They are not perfect; we are not perfect. We are all imperfect. But God has codified His words in a legacy written through the hands and minds of the Jews. The legacy remains today and for eternity with its world-changing redemption story. Guinness World Records documents the Jewish-written Bible as the bestselling nonfiction book of all time. In its research, the non-denominational British and Foreign Bible Society estimates that since the invention of the printing press in the mid-1400s, between 5 and 7 billion copies were printed.

I took a few moments to highlight the Bible as our foundation in our personal lives and in reference to our support for Jews. Because too much of the world is undergoing unwitting disregard for biblical facts about God’s love for His people, the Jews. Daily reading of our guidebook, the Bible, is a spiritual survival habit, lets us learn more about our relationship with the God who made us.

Take a small tour with me to connect with examples globally where anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiments are fomenting. Israeli American Hillel Fuld, a respected Orthodox Jewish Zionist and tech advisor, was scheduled to speak in Australia at fundraising events for Magen David Adom (Israel’s Red Cross). Fuld’s visa was canceled when false accusations labeled him a “merchant of Zionist hate.” Fewer than 120,000 Jewish people live in Australia—out of an estimated 27.5 million. Yet Jew hatred manifested in more than 2,000 anti-Jewish incidents between October 2023 and September 2024—an astonishing number given the small size of its Jewish population.

Moving on to France, their Ministry of National Education reported 1,670 antisemitic acts in schools for the school year 2023–2024. Jewish children, as young as 9 and 10 years old, are badgered at school and do not talk about the Jewish holidays they celebrate at home. Even in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, which views itself as a neutral nation, anti-Jewish social media is rapidly escalating. There were 1,789 incidents in 2024—an increase of 89.5 percent over 2023. Forty-two physical attacks include some schools—all too accurately described as the “new hotbeds of hatred.”

In Germany last November, an under-17 youth soccer team in Berlin from TuS Makkabi, a Jewish sports club, was chased by a crowd from the opposing team wielding sticks and knives. They yelled “Free Palestine” and spat on the Jewish team.

The United States, in the last few weeks, has felt the shock of two Israeli Embassy staff being shot dead by a terrorist, and then reeled from another horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, when members of a peaceful Jewish group were set on fire. One-third of American Jews report that they have experienced antisemitism, in person or virtually, at least once in the past year. Fifty-six percent mention they have changed their behavior—men choosing not wearing their kippahs and women not wearing their Star of David necklaces. Only 6.3 million Jews live in the U.S.—not even 2 percent of the total population.

This week, the 2025 Israel Summit scheduled for June 9–11 in Dallas, Texas, was canceled due to the threat of violence. Commented former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman: “This is America in 2025. A pro-Israel conference,” he said, “was forced to cancel because of threats from violent jihadists. Law enforcement was completely cooperative, but the threats were of a nature that required cancellation.”

In closing, our short tour now leads to one more terror tunnel discovered below yet another hospital in Gaza—this time, the European Hospital. It offers more proof that Hamas leaders weren’t just hiding underground; they were running their terror network from beneath a hospital. IDF spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin describes the weapons, cash, and ammunition stored in the tunnels under the hospital’s emergency room. Standing in the tunnel, Defrin says, “We found here in this infrastructure a lot of funds, a lot of money, cash used by Hamas—of course, not for the people but for terror activities, weapons.” Here is the link if you wish to watch or share it: [view here].

Given the mindset of those described in Isaiah 5:20 who call “evil good, and good evil,” they would likely refuse to believe facts about this under-the-hospital-terror-post or the massive amount of visual evidence that has been available since October 7, 2023. 

Let us be among those who dwell on biblical hope and then commit to honoring God by supporting His chosen people.

Our CBN Israel team invites you to join us in prayer this week recalling Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” 

Prayer Points: 

• Pray for Jewish communities worldwide to discover shalom to calm their fears. 
• Pray for the safety of Jewish schoolchildren living outside of Israel.
• Pray for members of the IDF in their highly dangerous search for hostages in terror tunnels.
• Pray for Israeli families whose adult children in the IDF bravely sacrificed their lives. 

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 

The shocking May 21 murders of a soon-to-be-engaged Jewish couple is still reverberating among Jews, Christians, and people of good will. Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky—who had been on staff at the Israeli Embassy in D.C.—have been laid to rest: Sarah in Overland Park, Kansas, and Yaron in Jerusalem. On June 1, another terrorist, this time an illegal alien, threw homemade Molotov cocktails into the Jewish crowd at a peaceful pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado—setting some on fire. Twelve innocent people suffered injury, some critically. 

The national Run for Their Lives rallies—peaceful run/walk events—spotlight the freeing of hostages from Hamas. However, the attacker shouted his cold-blooded message: “Palestine is free” and “End Zionists.” The violence took place on the eve of the Jewish festival Shavuot, which Christians call Pentecost. 

Our unity with the Jewish community is more essential than ever amid today’s outbreaks of evil. Wherever possible, we must choose to oppose lies with truth. Gaining more education about the nature of radicalized minds is essential, especially if we have not directly encountered embedded evil. Yet, the rampant, outsized propaganda too easily reported by mainstream media is often overwhelming, making it easy to say, “What’s the use? I am only one person!”

The first step is choosing to obey God’s unbreakable biblical mandates about Jews, Israel’s indigenous people. The next is to realize that each of us is no longer just one person. We are uniting with millions of Christians and Jews—growing into a force to be reckoned with. 

Although Nazi propaganda focused mostly on Europe, now—with the aggressive power of social media—the entire globe is infected with lies aimed at Jews and Christians. Now, lies travel at warp speed. And the vastness of such propaganda pounds lies into minds, thereby erasing facts.

In John 8:44, Jesus clearly described the origin of lies when confronting the Pharisees: “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning not holding to the truth, for there there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” 

Last week, I listened to Chuck Holton’s expert explanation of lies based on Jesus’ words about the origin of lies. At this time in world history, we face the dangerous byproducts of around-the-clock indoctrination. Chuck has been a war correspondent with CBN News since 2003. He hosts The Hot Zone, offering authoritative analysis and perspective.

Chuck explored minds radicalized by intolerance—the intolerance of opposing views, embracing violence, and rejecting the existing social order. These are not mental illnesses. Those with mental illnesses do not choose to have a mental illness. Rather, they want to learn how to navigate their brain disease, choosing to live full lives and making a helpful difference for others.

He describes the perpetrators in the Middle East, Europe, and now in America as operating out of ideological possession. The word “ideological” or its root word, ideology, is defined as a set of beliefs/ideas, especially about politics, economics, or society. It is a blueprint for how to think and act. Extreme identification with a belief system can lead to fanaticism and a propensity to engage in acts of cruelty toward others.

Chuck Holton’s insights reveal a terror blueprint:

• Ideological possession. 
• A cause becomes a god. 
• Reprograming the conscience. 
• Erasing empathy. 
• Mainstream media funneling lies.
• Internet algorithms shaping identities.

Ideological possession displays a sprawling pattern of how societies have been drifting into lawlessness since October 7, 2023. This often leads to a sense of entitlement or an obligation to commit violence against innocent Jews and the Christians who stand with them.

“Violent ideology can happen,” notes Chuck, “when a cause becomes a god.” 

His observation helps explain degrees of terrorism—from murderers to masked demonstrators on college campuses using violent words, slogans, and memes to dehumanize Jews. An ideology becomes more than a belief system; it becomes someone’s identity, not just an influence on their behavior. The words reprogram the person’s conscience to where anything, absolutely anything, can be rationalized. Perceived enemies are not people. They are obstacles, “faceless others.”

Bowing down to a dangerous ideology is what happened via the American murderer’s ideological possession when he shot two peace-loving strangers to death. “Free Palestine” took over as the killer’s god. As Chuck noted, Sarah and Yaron were “only symbols of his hatred toward Zionism. His concept made murder noble.” 

Holton describes ideological possession as seductive, giving the radicalized mind a purpose and a sense of belonging. The process finally results in erasing empathy. As Chuck points out, “With no empathy, brutality becomes thinkable. Before pulling the trigger or raising the knife, a murderer must have convinced himself that the targets are not fully human.”

Dehumanization begins with words. Someone is not a person; they are a problem. Debating Jews is resisting Zionists. Israelis are occupiers and baby killers. Jesus was a Palestinian.

Memes, slogans, and hashtags aid and abet the disappearance of moral guardrails to the point where murder, assaults, and slander are not wrong. History is full of this phenomenon. In the Rwandan genocide, the Hutus called the Tutsis “cockroaches.” Nazis called Jews “rats.” Otherwise-normal people become capable of antisemitic acts.

Internet algorithms shape identities and start to bleed into real life. No longer anonymous, terrorists are soldiers for the cause and the world they believe will notice them. They consider themselves heroic. Holton adds “that media should not say the name of murderers.” Relentless propaganda enabled by mainstream media overtakes minds that have abandoned biblical truths.

A glaring example from most mainstream media is an MSN article published about the Boulder attacks. In its last few lines it reads, “Israel’s subsequent military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians … said Gaza health officials.” Gaza health officials? It is actually Hamas that mainstream media have consistently used as their source—and Hamas promotes nothing but lies and propaganda.

Mainstream media then becomes an accessory to ideological possession and every Jew-hating act.

Mike Huckabee, our U.S. Ambassador to Israel, released this statement: “We are demanding an immediate retraction of the lies and are appealing to all media sources to act with objective professionalism to cover actual events instead of being a partner of terrorism by blindly following Hamas news releases.” The Ambassador highlighted the “reckless and irresponsible reporting by major U.S. news outlets … contributing to the anti-Semitic climate that has resulted in the murder of two young people at an Israeli embassy in Washington last month and the attempted murder and terror attack on a group of pro-Israel demonstrators in Colorado on Sunday.” 

Slogans like “From the River to the Sea,” “End Zionists,” and “Free Palestine” are genocidal shouts. Since October 7, 2023, radicalized minds have left Jewish children orphaned, entire families wiped out, and demonstrators assaulting Jewish students. Chuck observes, “In a culture which abandons a biblical worldview, anything can be justified. By choosing an individual truth, feelings outweigh facts.”

As evangelicals acknowledge Jesus’ words about the origin of lies and become more educated, it is is crucial that we accept Chuck Holton’s admonitions to “carry light into the darkest places, not just mourn the victims. Let us honor them by standing for truth and refusing to let the world go numb.”

John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States, was a great anti-slavery president and later a member of congress. He repeatedly pushed resolutions and legislation against slavery to a unresponsive Congress. Let us adopt his quote as we stand with the Jewish community: “Duty is ours; results are God’s.”

Our CBN Israel team welcomes you to pray with us this week with an admonition from the Apostle John: If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth (1 John 1:6).

Prayer Points:

• Pray that Christians increase their courage in troubling times.
• Pray that Christians remain spiritually vigilant gaining strength in the Bible. 
• Pray that the Jewish community receives encouragement from Christians. 
• Pray for American Jews growing more fearful with antisemitic acts.

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

On May 21—a pleasant evening in Washington, D.C.—guests exited an event at the Capital Jewish Museum hosted by the American Jewish Committee. Young staffers of Jewish organizations were chatting about the gathering and discussing plans for the next day, when shots suddenly rang out. Instantly Sarah Milgrim, an American Jew, and Yaron Lischinsky, a German-born Israeli citizen, collapsed to the pavement. Both were on the staff of the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Yaron had purchased Sarah’s engagement ring with plans to ask her to marry him on their trip to Jerusalem later that week. Their unhinged killer shot them both in the back, shouting “Free Palestine!” The young couple, beloved by all who knew them, would never celebrate their wedding day with family and friends.

Of special note, a pastor at Washington’s Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes where Sharon and Yaron were regular attendees wrote about the couple. “Drawn to Christ, their spiritual journeys of faith led them to our parish, where they had been faithfully participating for several months, beautiful lights in our midst. In their hunger to know and to belong, they even attended our Newcomers Series.”

Sarah was active at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah—her hometown synagogue in Overland Park, Kansas. A letter released by the synagogue read in part, “We mourn the loss of Sarah Milgrim, a proud member of our congregation, a devoted Zionist, and a radiant presence in every space she entered. She stood for something larger than herself, and she paid the ultimate price for it.” Her father, Robert Milgrim, described Sarah as a “wonderful girl who was as close to perfect as any human could be.” She graduated from the University of Kansas and earned her master’s degree in international affairs from American University.

In Israel, Yaron’s family attended Jerusalem’s King of Kings congregation where the family was described as “precious friends and believers, strong in the Lord, and lovers of Israel.” Yaron identified as a Jewish believer and attended Hebrew University. He and his four siblings all served in the Israel Defense Forces. The rector of Christ Church in Jerusalem’s Old City noted that Yaron “frequently visited his church and enjoyed the Anglican liturgy.” 

Amid the shock of losing this beautiful couple, let us pray from Psalm 34:18 for their families and friends, for Israel, and for their embassies worldwide. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 

A closer look at the radicalized murderer reveals a well-educated killer who graduated from University of Illinois Chicago and held professional jobs. However, his angry posts on X (formerly known as Twitter) showed the depth of his Jew hatred. With no criminal record, he is now charged with two counts of first-degree murder. This 31-year-old Chicagoan, Elias Rodriguez, flew into Washington from O’Hare International Airport, where he declared his gun in his checked baggage. He was armed to kill, not caring whom he murdered as long as they were Jews.

Rodriguez was clearly determined to see these shocking premeditated murders through. When Sarah began crawling away, he reloaded his gun. She managed to sit up, whereupon the domestic terrorist fired multiple volleys into the 26-year-old’s body. Yaron lay close by, dead at age 31. Yaron was a researcher in the embassy’s political department and Sarah organized U.S. missions to Israel.

The Islamic Regime’s Supreme Leader Khamenei quickly praised the killer’s attack on Sarah and Yaron, who had both been highly regarded for their dedication to Israel and peace as Israeli Embassy staff. Khamenei gave the domestic terrorist a new name: founder of the “Washington Basij.” (Basij is the title of Iran’s brutal militia.) Now a vile replica of terrorist cruelty, the American Hamas is an official member of the Islamist Regime.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rightly explained, “There is an undeniable link between inflammatory words and murderous actions.” That the attacker eliminated two formal representatives of Israel adds up to “a significant assault on Israel’s diplomatic standing.” The multiple federal charges include the murder of foreign officials.

Witness Katie Kalisher noted that just before his arrest, Rodriguez pulled out a keffiyeh headdress confessing, “I did it. I did this for Gaza. Free Palestine!”

In the intro to Ariel Kahan’s powerful article in Israel Hayom on how anti-Israel propaganda can kill, we read: “Elias Rodriguez’s transformation from content writer to terrorist represents the tragic endpoint of a global disinformation campaign that has radicalized minds and normalized violence against Jewish targets, occurring in America’s capital while President Donald Trump wages an unprecedented fight against rising antisemitism.”

Mainstream media organizations worldwide are adopting Nazi media strategies that used their power to radicalize Germans with hatred. Indeed, toxic rhetoric produces violence in radicalized minds. Knowing Islam’s term about deception is key. Terrorist regimes use the word taqiyya, which means using lies to “gain the upper hand over an enemy.” When media interact with terrorist governments, be aware. Lies are a huge asset for their propaganda as well as any “agreements.” Mainstream media would do well to apply the term taqiyya to its Gazan news sources. The heartbreaking murders of innocents like Sarah, Yaron, and so many other Jews is enabled by sources that stir up violence using gullible media.

Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda mastermind said: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic, and/or military consequences of the lie.” He goes on to say: “Truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” His conclusion? That it “becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent.” Does this sound familiar today?

The New Nazis—Gazan and others—represent the Goebbels of today, lapping up mainstream media propaganda that are potent sources for radicalizing smart, educated people with hatred against Jews worldwide. 

Here is the evil of Hitler himself: “Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way round, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.” His chilling description of propaganda explains what is happening in the United States and in worldwide demonstrations glorifying Hamas.

In response to the murders of Sarah and Yaron, The Jewish Federations of North America and 42 other Jewish organizations sent an appeal to the U.S. government for heightened security measures. Their statement reads in part, “The tragic murders of these two innocent young Israeli embassy employees …  are the direct consequence of rising antisemitic incitement in places such as college campuses, city council meetings, and social media that has normalized hate and emboldened those who wish to do harm.” 

Uniting organizations is important, but grassroots efforts are equally important from Christians, Jews, and everyone of goodwill. We must take a stand even if our sphere of influence is small. One call to a senator. One comment to a radio talk show. One email fact to a group of friends. A request to your church to pray for Israel. It adds up. We must buckle up with God’s belt of truth against demonic forces invading minds worldwide.

We cannot bring Sarah and Yaron back. However, let us advocate for Israel and the Jewish people in honor of their lives.

Our CBN Israel team welcomes your prayers with us and for so many in the Jewish community who are traumatized again.

Prayer Points: 

• Pray that Christians will wake up to wisely oppose lies against Israel.
• Pray for the Milgrim and Lischinsky families in the U.S. and Israel
• Pray for the demonic voices of Jew haters to cease and desist.
• Pray for mainstem media to abandon their dangerous “news” sources.  

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

If you are a fan of American Idol, you may also be a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest that’s been held for the last 69 years throughout Europe. Last Saturday—in a venue in Basel, Switzerland—Israelis at home and in the Israeli delegation joyously celebrated Yuval Raphael’s second-place win. The 24-year-old’s voice electrified listeners with her enthralling song “New Day Will Rise,” written by Israeli songwriter Keren Peles.  

Yuval speaks three languages, and the lyrics, mostly in English, also include Hebrew and French. She observes, “The song represents the healing that we all need and the optimism for the days ahead.”

The chorus reflects the enduring hopes amid tragedy and trauma that Israel continues to display, especially since October 7, 2023:

“New day will rise

Life will go on

Everyone cries

Don’t cry alone

Darkness will fade

All the pain will go by

But we will stay.”

Yuval had the backing of her nation after she won Israel’s “The Next Star for Eurovision” in January 2025. But the respect and admiration she enjoyed from Israelis was far deeper than fame. She is a survivor of the October 7 Hamas massacre at the Nova Festival near Re’im on the Gaza border.

When Yuval stepped onto the dazzling stage at the Eurovision Finale on May 17, she sang not as someone who had stepped out of a bullet-ridden deathtrap. She sang as a survivor—and for Israel, her beloved homeland.

In the months after October 7, the singer faced post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt. In an Israel Hayom interview, she nevertheless made her future clear. “I decided I wasn’t going to live my life with PTSD. I wanted to turn my pain into something meaningful.” That is what Yuval did by advocating for survivors of the Nova massacre. She traveled to the United States and Europe with a weighty goal. “People need to know what happened. They need to hear it from someone who was there.” 

Representing Israel in the Eurovision competition gave Yuval a worldwide stage—with “New Day Will Rise,” her interviews, and the merciless outrage from protesters, both before and during the weeks of rehearsal and the May 17 finale.

Reading part of her story below, you will understand that the anti-Israel, anti-Jew protestors are not done with their diabolic behavior, even at a famous music competition. Thousands screamed their hatred for Israel outside the venue. During Yuval’s performance, three British pro-Palestinian activists tried to storm the stage before being arrested by alert Swiss police. Despite plentiful applause, some booing broke out. Far worse, the event organizers had to evacuate the Israeli delegation to keep them safe.

Yuval knew she would face ongoing hostilities after the October 7 massacres. “But that’s exactly why I have to go,” she said. “I want to stand on that stage, wrapped in the Israeli flag, and make sure the world hears our story.”

Here is that story. When Hamas invaded the Nova festival and turned unbridled joy into waves of terror, Yuval’s harrowing experience was amplified by gunfire, screams, and death. She and her friends found refuge in a small roadside bomb shelter, where more than 40 had run for their lives.

But Hamas terrorists discovered the frightened group inside the shelter. As they began firing, Yuval called her father, Zvika Raphael, to tell him “I am alive.” Their conversation became part of a defining recording of the massacre.

Yuval whispered, “Dad, there are dead people on top of me. Please, send the police.” Zvika wisely replied, “Play dead. Do not move. If they think you’re dead, they’ll leave you alone.”

Yuval quickly passed her father’s advice on to the huddled group. “Every single time that we hear them coming, we have to play dead.” The terrorists came back many times, shooting anyone who moved and throwing grenades inside. Even after she was hit by shrapnel herself, she remained still and quiet.

Seven hours passed before security forces finally reached the roadside shelter. Yuval later described that she was “pinned under corpses and soaked in blood. I kept saying to myself, ‘Don’t breathe. Don’t move. Stay dead.’” Only 11 of the people in that shelter survived. After the rescue, Yuval kept “looking at the sky and could not believe I was alive.” 

Some may wonder why Yuval and Israelis were thrilled with her second place win at Eurovision. Many factors were at play. For example, in the powerful ballad “New Day Will Rise,” the public voted the song into first place with 297 points, but in the jury vote she received only 14th place. The lyrics and meaning of the song permeated the public response. Hopefully, enemies will finally see the light.

In recent interviews, she emphasized that the “real victory’” will be won when the hostages are home. Yuval hopes that she gave Israelis a “moment of peace amid the madness of war and to make them proud,” adding that she will “be grateful for our nation every day of my life.” 

Austria’s singer JJ won first place at Eurovision, and Yuval noted his “incredible vocals.” She said, “I’m very proud of him. He deserves it.” 

Yuval Raphael may have been Eurovision’s second-place winner, but she won first place in the hearts of Israelis and the voting public for her passionate, flawless rendition of “New Day Will Rise.”

The singer’s inspiring outlook is indicative of a winner who has suffered trauma, then turned it into a testimony to bring hope to others. She feels she has “won at life!”

At the end of her performance, Yuval shouted, “Thank you Europe! Am Yisrael Chai.” We echo the same for our Israeli and Jewish friends worldwide:

Am Yisrael Chai, the People of Israel Live!

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team to pray for Israel. In 1 Chronicles 13:8, we’re reminded that David and all Israel were celebrating in God’s presence with all their might, with songs, with lyres, harps, tambourines, symbols and trumpets.

Prayer Points: 

• Pray that creative displays of music, art, and film will inspire more support for Israel.
• Pray that “New Day Will Rise” will top music charts worldwide.
• Pray for IDF members as they conduct Operation Gideon’s Chariot in Gaza.
• Pray that the hostages—whether alive or dead—will be found and brought back home.

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

Israel celebrated its 77th Independence Day yesterday, May 14. Despite being engaged in a seven-front war, Israel continues to endure as a modern miracle—with its tall buildings, ancient structures, and archaeological finds—which continually prove that for 3,500 years Jews have been the indigenous people of this land: the rightful occupants, not occupiers.

Many of their achievements past and present are singular ones. I selected only a few facts from the many thousands of accomplishments. For instance, Israel is the only nation to revive its ancient language. On May 14, 1948, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion announced Hebrew as Israel’s primary national language. At that time, only 806,000 people lived in Israel. In 2024, the population had risen to more than 10 million, with 74 percent of them Jewish, 21 percent Muslim, 5 percent Christian, and the rest foreign citizens.

Israel is a treasure trove of innovations and initiatives. It is a world leader in wastewater reuse—recycling 90 percent of its wastewater to beat their water crisis. The start-up FireDome deploys capsules containing fire retardant to combat wildfire devastation—combining proven defense tactics with cutting-edge AI technology. (The U.S. is using that technology this year to fight wildfires.) IceCure Medical developed a minimally invasive ProSense system that destroys benign and cancerous tumors by freezing them with liquid nitrogen. Israel also airlifted a record number of passengers on a commercial plane in May 1991, when it evacuated 1,086 Ethiopian Jews on an El Al Boeing 747.

In the aerospace industry, a critical sensing technology addresses the need for making flights safer amid increasing airline accidents. Odysight.AI (“odyssey,” “sight” and “artificial intelligence”) offers a system of computerized sensors that alerts pilots of any detected anomaly and also predicts potential failures.

Offering a rare opportunity, Israel is home to the only theater company in the world for deaf and blind actors, called Nalaga’at—or “please touch.” And here is an amazing quote from Astronaut Neil Armstrong when he visited Jerusalem: “I am more excited stepping on these stones than I was stepping on the moon.” Click here for more amazing facts about Israel.

Biblically, we know that a strong, healthy awareness of Jesus’ reality thrived through His Jewish disciples. The early church was populated for around eight years by Jewish believers. The brilliant Jewish apostle Paul, radically commissioned by God, engaged the known Gentile world with the Good News.

However, over the next centuries, the land lay forlorn and forgotten. But the Jews, the indigenous people to whom God deeded His Holy Land, never forgot their ancestral homeland. In dispersion, Jews lived in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, South and North America, and beyond. Ever faithful, they stubbornly upheld the festivals and the five books of Moses (Torah), maintained their prayers facing toward Jerusalem, and with hope repeated “Next Year in Jerusalem” wherever they lived.

God makes it clear in Jeremiah 30:3: “’The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the LORD.’” That day began in one day: May 14, 1948!

Looking at Jerusalem’s storied history, we can extrapolate remarkable facts about the entire Holy Land. Consider that Jerusalem, Israel’s ancient and modern capital, was conquered more than 40 times—by the Persians, Romans, Ottoman Turks, British Empire, and others. The word Jerusalem is found over 900 times in the Bible. Jews have been the largest ethnic group in Jerusalem from 1840 to the present day. Jerusalem has more than 2,000 active archaeological sites, 50 Christian churches, 33 Muslim mosques, and 300 Jewish synagogues.

The question still arises: How did Christianity drift away from its Jewish roots? That’s a complex question, so please regard the following as a short list of answers. Constantine, Rome’s first Christian Emperor, recognized Christianity as the official state religion in A.D. 381. The Gentile church blossomed. Although Paul’s 30 years and 10,000 miles of travel lit Christianity’s fire for Gentiles roughly 350 years before Constantine, a precursor of already embedded omissions had crept in. It began with the church fathers around A.D. 150 neglecting Jews and Judaism as the midwife of Christianity.

In 1523 Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation, wrote an informative pamphlet, “That Christ Was Born a Jew.” Yet, he steadily grew enraged that Jews refused to convert to Christianity. Two decades later, in 1543, he marred his otherwise profound legacy by writing a slanderous tract, “On the Jews and Their Lies,” where he called them “vermin” and incited horrific violence against them—such as burning synagogues and schools and destroying Jewish homes.

Then, in a dreadful manipulation of Christianity, Hitler drew his deadly Holocaust rationalizations from Luther’s 1543 pamphlet. In his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) Hitler wrote, “Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.”

Today, to us as believers in our Jewish Messiah and grateful for the Jewish men God engaged as scribes, the world is upside down. Israel is accused; terror is excused. Poison spills over from far and near into Israel and the Jewish community worldwide.

Is it too late for today’s Christians to help stem the tide of hatred? No! God has given us a second chance to show our goodwill toward the Jewish people as evidenced by friendships growing between our two communities in the last four decades. We compose one of Israel’s greatest allies against Jew hatred. We are, after all, grafted as branches on an ancient Jewish olive tree with the promises given to Jews by the grace of God.

We have seen Jew-haters marching through the centuries with boots, bombs, tanks, and terror. Now, social media concocts its own poison readily accepted by those who do not discern the lies or take time to find reliable sources.

Let us commit to sharing facts as one antidote for the anti-Israel, anti-Jewish poison. Reposting at least one fact a week on social media is helpful. CBN Israel and CBN News provide extensive resources and reports that you can share on social media and with your family and friends.

Our CBN Israel team welcomes you to pray with us this week:

• Pray with gratitude that God has preserved His chosen people and land.
• Pray for Christians to speak up and advocate on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people.
• Pray for Israel’s leaders and government amid all the problems and challenges they face.
• Pray for the safe return of all remaining hostages being held captive by Hamas in Gaza.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Christians often enjoy tuning in to KBrite Radio and listening to co-hosts Ari Bussel and Norma Zager as they reach their listeners with fresh, relatable news and commentary. Their compelling combination of journalistic expertise and insightful commentary about Israel offer two important Jewish voices for Christians. Norma is an award-winning journalist, Ari is a foreign correspondent, and together they bring you their Eye to Eye broadcast each Saturday morning from southern California, home base for the long-standing Christian station.  

We reached out to Ari and Norma for an interview to explore how Norma, as an American Jew, and Ari, as an Israeli American, are processing the October 7, 2023, massacre. Its painful aftermath creates deeper implications and anxieties for our American Jewish friends, too. Many have family and friends who are Israeli citizens, serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), race to their bomb shelters at all hours, and wonder what the next day will bring.

Given the strong ethnic and generational ties between American Jews and Israeli Jews, I am indeed fortunate to know Ari and Norma as dear friends. We first met in 2018 at the Israel Government Press Office’s (GPO) Christian Media Summit for those the GPO considers part of worldwide Christian media. The GPO includes Ari and Norma in the Summit, inviting them as part of Christian media for their broadcasts featured on a Christian radio network.

During our interview, Ari and Norma exposed demonstrators and social media messages that are hiding behind literal—and figurative—masks here in the U.S. as protestors chant, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.” The true meaning of that chant, of course, is wiping Israel and the Jewish people off the map.

Ari began his remarks by explaining that “Today’s antisemitism is different than what my parents experienced in Poland and Lithuania almost 90 years ago.” He went on to say that antisemitism was “formerly disguised as criticism of Israel, not the people of Israel, just the government of Israel. Now all pretense is gone. It is popular to be open about the conviction that “Jews Must Die.”

Norma adds, “At one time people were ashamed of being an antisemite, a racist. In today’s world, it seems like it’s something to be proud of.” She laments, “One thing that makes me the saddest is that it shows such a flaw in human nature, that is spreading throughout the world.”   

Both Ari and Norma observe that Jew-hatred is not considered a bad thing among many in our society. In fact, it is now glorified among demonstrators, on college campuses, and in propaganda on social media. Hating Jews is out in the open, as Norma articulated—“the right thing to do and the right thing to be.” 

Ari shared a story about taking a simple morning walk in his neighborhood. “A homeless person shouted at me, ‘We have to kill all the Jews! You rape our children!’ I look Middle Eastern, but not necessarily as a Jew.” He observed that in Israel, others “would be hard pressed to separate Muslims from Jews, Druze from Yazidis, Coptic Egyptians from Syrians or Iraqis.” As you can imagine, Ari left the street as quickly as possible.

In one incident, a group of Palestinians entered a restaurant nearby and demanded that all Jews stand up and identify themselves so the troublemakers could beat them up. Ari lives in an area populated with Jews and he relates that these extreme “hunts for Jews” are, at present, infrequent. However, anti-Jewish signs and notes in the streets are distributed, and name-calling at Jews is prevalent. For example, Orthodox parents walking with their children back from synagogue encounter such behavior all too often.

Jews are loved by God, not because they are perfect, just as we are not perfect. Yet, in Deuteronomy 7:6-8 God promises, “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure. … The  LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

Here, Ari quotes the satanic, opposite viewpoint of terrorists: “Do as you desire; Jews are not human beings. They were not created in the image of God. They are pigs and apes! Do not hide them, slaughter them!” He defines antisemitism as the essence of pure hatred, currently directed toward Jews, holding them to a different standard to eliminate and isolate them. He notes the importance of fighting against evil together: “Because this virus is not much different than any other, like the Ebola virus. It is highly contagious; there is no real, full cure for it; and as it spreads, it does not differentiate between a Jew and Gentile [non-Jew].” Sadly, people from all places, cultures, and religions can be susceptible to such blind and ignorant hatred. 

Ari declares that now, after October 7, 2023, Jews “will not go like sheep to the slaughter; in fact, they refuse to go away. We are not a death cult. We stubbornly remain as a light to the nations with utter determination and devotion while empires fall and disappear.”  

I know from personal experience that both Norma and Ari treasure their friendships and their advocacy together with Christians. Many non-Jews may ask why we should care about antisemitism. After all, we are not Jewish. Thus, antisemitism will not and cannot affect us—we are immune!  

Ari’s response: “Antisemitism is a disease via which evil is spread; a messenger. Those who succumb to it are guilty, as are those who stand and say not a word. Western civilization witnessed how ‘first they burned books, then they proceeded to burn people.’ When good people do not act, evil spreads merrily.” 

Norma rightly opines that “antisemitism is no longer forbidden.”  

Today, more than ever, sincere Christians—those who take the Bible seriously—compose one of Israel’s greatest allies against antisemitism. And here is inclusion at its finest: Christians are, after all, grafted into an ancient Jewish olive tree by the grace of God. We benefit from the eternal promises God bestowed thousands of years ago through Abraham!

We encourage you to write a kind note to any Jewish friend. If you live near a synagogue, visit a service, shake the rabbi’s hand and identify as a Christian with a supportive comment. Remain informed. Read and listen to trustworthy news such as CBN News, Jerusalem Dateline with Chris Mitchell, or The Watchman with Erick Stakelbeck.  

Our CBN Israel team invites you to join us in prayer for our American Jewish community this week: 

• Pray for the American Jewish community’s shalom (i.e., peace and wellbeing).
• Pray for those deciding about a move to Israel, their homeland.
• Pray for Jewish students still threatened on U.S. campuses.
• Pray for bravery to speak up for our Jewish community.

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.