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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

The United States and five Arab countries are uniting in an unasked-for effort to push Israel into a worn-out and ineffectual two-state solution. The “reasoning” emerging from the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates borders on the delusional. That’s because for decades, Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza have proven their aversion—their outright refusal—to negotiate with Israel.

Any blueprint for a Palestinian state side by side with Israel is also doomed, because Israel has already “been there and done that”—as witnessed by the disastrous, ongoing results of October 7. A look at the Hamas charter reveals that peace will never be an option for these terrorists, only violence. That is the only solution they will consider for Israel.

Let’s examine the implausibility of this six-nation “peace plan” in light of events during the last two decades. In 2005, Israel unilaterally—without negotiations or advice from any country—handed Palestinians a state in Gaza. At the time, Israel believed its departure would permit the rise of a well-functioning government, a “Singapore by the Sea.”

In making this magnanimous move, Israel forfeited years of hard work by its Jewish community living in Gaza. Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (1928-2014) ordered Israel’s own soldiers to remove more than 8,000 Jewish citizens from the enclave. Thus, on August 15, 2005, the Israel Defense Forces began removing the Jewish community from Gaza. Jewish soldiers who were forced to evacuate the Jewish families and the families themselves shared the heartbreak as these Israelis left behind their homes, businesses, synagogues, and schools. By September 22, 2005, the last IDF soldier locked the gate to Gaza behind him.

Instead of putting this windfall to good use, the Palestinians immediately trashed everything left behind that could have provided them with jobs and food—and in 2007 they voted to put Hamas in power. Eventually, Hamas proved to be a destabilizing presence, unleashing a bloodthirsty culture of terror that roped most of the Gazan population into Jew-hatred, misery, and war.

Not one Jewish person has lived in Gaza for almost two decades.

It is imperative to recall the patience Israel has exhibited while living close to those who want to murder them. The intricately planned October 7 invasion, combined with almost two decades of life under constant threat, shows why Israelis do not now support a Palestinian state. The six nations’ leaders are morally wrong to compel Israel to a cease-fire instead of holding accountable the perpetrators—Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, Hezbollah, and Iran—and requiring Hamas to lay down its arms, destroy the tunnels, and release the hostages. Following the unspeakable evil and brutality of October 7, proposing any two-state solution or ceasefire is insulting, untenable, and unworkable.     

Evacuating its citizens in Gaza in 2005, Israel’s one-of-a-kind sacrifice for peace turned into a 19-year nightmare of rocket barrages. I have traveled to the kibbutzim many times and heard their stories of trauma. However, my admiration for their bravery and zest for life grew each time. Unbelievably, the world blamed Israel every time terrorists forced the IDF into protecting its civilians living along the Gaza Envelope.

Sderot kindergartners became accustomed to indoor play areas with reinforced concrete and steel doors. And try to imagine parenting in the context of falling rockets. Moms who are alone during the day with young children chose not to take showers for fear that the Red Alert would sound, where they could not quickly grab their children and run to their safe room. A dad driving in Sderot with his children in the backseat was forced to stop the car, jump out, open the back door, and throw himself over his children to protect them.

Palestinians devised all kinds of attacks. They destroyed Israel’s beautiful crops by launching what I call a balloon intifada, arming these innocent-looking toys with explosives that floated over to Israel and burned up crops. Parents were forced to warn their children against balloons, a formerly joyful sight, if they fell into their yards.

The class schedule for Shaar Hanegev High School in Sderot was constantly disrupted with Red Alert alarms and frantic sprints to bomb shelters. In 2012, Israel spent $27.5 million on concrete walls, reinforced windows, and architectural designs to absorb and deflect rocket fire. The necessary safety features meant students could stay put. One principal commented, “You can finally teach without constantly worrying about what to do when there is a rocket attack.” 

On October 7, Hamas murdered 50 of Sderot’s citizens. Most of the over 30,000 residents are now living in temporary shelters and lodging. Including Israelis on the Lebanon and Gaza borders, 125,000 people from kibbutzim, towns and villages are displaced. Yet the six nations are pressuring Israel, which was the target of evil, instead of the terrorists who perpetuated that evil.

Are these wrong-headed purveyors of peace pressing or arresting the top Hamas leaders who fly in private jets and appear for media interviews? No Arab countries are willing to resettle the Gazans. Yet, they expect Israel to live next to them again after years of dealing with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. Further, what Palestinian can govern a state peacefully?

Amir Tsarfati, the Israeli founder of Behold Israel, succinctly describes the Palestinian mindset via his Telegram channel: “They don’t want to live next to us—they want to live instead of us.” Tsarfati does not envision either the Palestinian Authority or Hamas signing on to any new deal that recognizes Israel’s sovereignty, despite the settled biblical facts of both ancient and modern history.

I agree, since any two-state solution is akin to the Nazis’ “final solution,” which resulted in the Holocaust. Appeasing evil does not produce peace. In human terms, any such plan is a roadmap to disaster. In the past, present, and future the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob kept—or will keep—His promises to His Chosen people.

In the meantime, I support the clear, unanimous decisions on February 18 rendered by Prime Minister Netanyahu and his war cabinet: “Israel utterly rejects international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians. A settlement, if it is to be reached, will come about solely through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions.” On February 21, the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, strengthened Prime Minister Netanyahu and his security cabinet’s unanimous decision by resolving to formally oppose any imposition of a Palestinian state. The vote: ninety-nine lawmakers in favor and only 9 against. Their unity is absolutely remarkable.

Before finalizing their latest foolish plan, the six leaders should not only take note of Israel’s unity but revisit the outcome of former President Clinton’s Camp David summit in 2000 with Yassar Arafat, founder of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and Ehud Barak, former Israeli Prime Minister. Barak agreed to withdraw from 97 percent of the West Bank (the biblical heartland) and 100 percent of the Gaza Strip. Further, Barak approved a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. Arafat, however, refused all offers, unwilling to accept any Israeli sovereignty anywhere.

Are the six leaders aware that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has yet to condemn the 10/7 massacres? The question of who would govern a Palestinian state remains unanswered. The question eludes the misguided two-state proponents and the polluted airways filled with Palestinian lies and evil.

Former Prime Minister Golda Meir said it best: “You cannot negotiate peace with someone who has come to kill you.” As Prime Minister Netanyahu said last weekend, “There is no alternative to total victory. And there is no way to achieve total victory without destroying those battalions in Rafah, and we will do so.”

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team this week to pray with understanding that God’s covenants with the Jewish people are eternal. Deuteronomy 14:2 reminds us, “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be His treasured possession.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray that other nations will stop meddling in Israel’s rightful decisions to defend its homeland.
• Pray for unity to remain within Netanyahu’s war cabinet and Israel’s citizens.
• Pray that Jew-hating voices will grow silent.
• Pray for Hamas to free all hostages or for IDF to miraculously rescue the remaining hostages.
• Pray for IDF preparing for a widened war to oppose Hezbollah’s attacks from Lebanon.

Arlene Bridges Samuels pioneered Christian outreach for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). After she served nine years on AIPAC’s staff, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as Outreach Director part-time for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel since 1990. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited and is on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. By invitation, Arlene attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits. She also hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Following the inhumane infiltration of the Jewish homeland on October 7, an octogenarian Christian acted on a bright idea which is now shining lights into the lives of  thousands of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers.

Last weekend I interviewed the 81-year-old on the phone. As I had agreed in advance to her request for complete anonymity, I nicknamed her “Lady Bright” for this article. She has refused other media interviews, so I deeply appreciated her exclusive story. In journalism, we call it a scoop to report news of importance, surprise, excitement, originality, or—like Lady Bright’s story—secrecy.

I first found out about Lady Bright last fall when a friend called asking for a Zoom briefing, aware that I was offering updates in person or online to groups both large and small. Soon, a small group joined the Zoom meeting, where I updated them about Israel’s defensive war, an existential necessity against Hamas’s public and prideful statements about murdering every Jew. A few weeks after that Zoom update, my friend called again, this time to tell me about an exceptional mission initiated by one of the participants.

I learned enough about her remarkable acquaintance to seek a telephone interview, and my friend obliged. Kurt Kaiser’s 1969 song, “Pass It On,” expresses the heart of Bright’s mission: “It only takes a spark to get a fire going. And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing. That’s how it is with God’s love once you’ve experienced it. You spread His love to everyone; You want to pass it on.” 

In our interview, I learned that Lady Bright felt inspired to write letters to IDF soldiers. “I figured if Jesus asked me to do this,” she explained, “He’s got a way of making it happen to bless the soldiers.” And she certainly found a way. Considered the matriarch of a group of lifelong childhood friends for 70-75 years, Lady Bright reached out to them about a letter-writing campaign. Five of her friends caught the spark to pass on love—and got to work as members of Lady Bright’s private group with “just the girls that are committed to help me.”

They composed a short letter assuring the IDF of prayers to God for their safety, and that they were simply sending love and encouragement from “people in the United States who support them”—a team of women in their 70s and 80s.

Lady Bright suffers from arthritis, so handwriting is difficult. She uses her home printer, places three letters to a page, then cuts them apart. Each letter is signed with handwritten initials to make it more personal. The team spends time and energy to sign their initials and stuff envelopes—and also helps defray costs for postage, envelopes, and outside printing. 

After one team member included her two weekly Bible study groups in this enterprise, she passed on 2,500 letters to Lady Bright. They had stuffed envelopes while studying the Bible!

In her small church in small-town America, Lady Bright is a choir member and mentioned a hymn they recently sang, “Til The Storm Passes By.” She is deeply engaged in the latest information about Israel through CBN News and prays for Israel “until the storm passes by.”

Lady Bright reached out to the Jewish Federation of North America and Friends of the IDF, asking how to send letters to the IDF. Both responded with help—and now the New York Jewish Federation has been inundated with thousands of letters to Israel’s soldiers. The federation also sends letters when staff and friends are traveling to Israel.

When the Jewish Federation asked Lady Bright why Christians are writing letters to IDF soldiers, she replied, “You are God’s chosen people. We’re just ‘step kids’ and the only way we get to God’s family is through Jesus Christ, who grafted us into your land. So, we’re honored to try and help in some way. And that’s how we feel.” Prayers are also added for the letters’ safe travel to New York’s Jewish Federation and beyond to IDF units on the ground.

Lady Bright’s mission reached the Jewish community in the United States, too. On November 7, 2023, a Jewish family in metro Atlanta was devastated by the news that Sgt. Rose Ida Lubin, a 20-year-old native of Dunwoody, Georgia, had been murdered by a terrorist while on duty as an Israeli Border Police officer in Jerusalem. Grappling with grief that hit so close to home, Sgt. Lubin’s family and Jewish community were touched when they received sympathy cards from Bright and her Christian team.

It is no surprise that Jewish organizations want to interview Lady Bright, with thousands of letters already in Israel. This amazing woman’s goal is to send 360,000 letters in all! When I asked how she arrived at that number she remarked, “Because that’s how many they called up from IDF reserves.”

However, Bright’s determination for anonymity remains firm, and it’s based on her most important goal: “We want God to get all the glory. I don’t want anything to come to me. I’m not doing it for attention or anything except these boys and girls,” says the 81-year-old.

Lady Bright revealed another way publicity could interfere with the team’s task. She shrouds her identity and the letters in secrecy because “I want to get by with as many letters as we can before anybody tries to stop us. If the wrong people find out, somebody will try to shut us down.” She mentions that the people who would be opposed to the mission outnumber her team, and she wants to keep the letters just between the soldiers and her small group who are “praying for them and asking God to keep them safe and bless them.”

Lady Bright is very aware of and attuned to the Jew hatred breaking out worldwide and here in the United States. She and her team understand that covert operations might enable the small group to better reach their goals.

President Ronald Reagan once phrased it well: “They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong.” Fighting a war simultaneously above and below ground in Gaza is the most complex terrain ever encountered by any army. However, each simple letter of prayer sent to IDF soldiers is sure to light sparks of encouragement when it is opened.

Bright and her team anticipate their final, eternal destination as they conduct their covert operation here on earth. However, Matthew 25:23 heralds a glorious truth when Jesus exclaims, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” The Bright team is now in charge of hundreds of thousands of letters! And her mission is still expanding, still growing.

How many of you reading the story of Lady Bright and her team of active senior citizens will ask the Lord what you can add to your prayers for Israel? Many options await you to send practical lights of help to the IDF, to 100,000 Israeli citizens displaced from their homes, or to help organizations aiding Israel’s elderly Holocaust survivors.

In our phone interview, Lady Bright referenced Genesis 12:3, “If you bless my people, I will bless you. If you curse my people, I will curse you.” She adds, “As Christians, we have absolutely no choice but to bless God’s people, and that’s the Jews.”

We welcome you this week to join our CBN Israel team to pray and meditate on this truth in Psalms 18:28—You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

Prayer Points:

• Pray with thanks for small beginnings that grow into big blessings for others.
• Pray for God’s Holy Spirit and protection for IDF members as they fight evil in dark places.
• Pray for IDF spouses and children for shalom and strength during these deployments.
• Pray that Hamas will release all hostages into freedom.
• Pray that intel coming from captured terrorists will help IDF in the complex war. 

Arlene Bridges Samuels pioneered Christian outreach for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). After she served nine years on AIPAC’s staff, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as Outreach Director part-time for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel since 1990. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited and is on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. By invitation, Arlene attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits. She also hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Israeli Jonathan Feldstein felt compelled with an idea in late October 2022 that may surprise you. This modern orthodox Jew living in Efrat, Israel, decided to create a book highlighting present day pro-Israel Christian leaders as one way to celebrate Israel’s upcoming 75th anniversary in 2023. He began fully exploring the idea in late November 2022.

He mentioned it to a friend—a bestselling author—who exclaimed, “Jonathan, this is an impossible timeline to have a book of this scope printed for Israel’s 75th anniversary year!” Jonathan knew his friend was more knowledgeable yet had no idea if he was right or wrong. Unable to abandon the idea, he easily admits that he had “no understanding of what was involved” at the time and described himself as “too naive and just ran with the project because I didn’t know any better.” However, he moved forward, perceiving it as based on his faith in God.

Although Jonathan is the founder of Genesis 123, a foundation that builds meaningful relationships between Jews and Christians working together on projects to bless Israel, Jonathan had never thought of book publishing. Yet, based on his already successful track record of envisioning unique, successful projects, the new idea proved to be another good fit for his compassionate and practical ideas for drawing Jews and Christians together.

Jonathan swept into action, settling on the number of Christians that would most fittingly define Israel’s modern anniversary. He asked 75 pro-Israel Christian leaders to each write a personal essay for this special book project. He set about contacting those he knew to be committed to the Jewish state. Their essays arrived between January and March, and then the process of editing, getting photos, art, and layouts began with his excellent publisher in the United States.

The proof copy arrived in May 2023, just in time for Jonathan to attend the National Religious Broadcasters convention in the United States. As Jonathan walked the halls of the world’s biggest gathering of Christian authors, speakers, and media, he described the immediate response to his book as “incredible.” June and July passed by, packed with a myriad of details. Plans were falling into place, along with unforeseen challenges as Jonathan worked and waited.

Then it happened, a miracle within the miracle of Israel! By August 2023, Jonathan and his publishing team were able to send the files to the printer. The book’s birth, a miracle “baby,” took place nine months from conception to delivery. A father of six, Jonathan now knows that the nine-month timeline is unheard of in the publishing industry. God proved Himself once again to be the ultimate Publisher. Jonathan’s exquisite coffee table book—one to share with family, friends, synagogues, churches, and children—came off the press in September amid the autumn biblical festivals and Jewish holidays.

However, following the Hamas invasion and massacre on October 7, like every Israeli, Jonathan quickly turned his attention totally toward his Jewish homeland. The joy of Israel The Miracle book transitioned into another focused project, a divine surprise! Originally, Jonathan had directed the book’s proceeds to the Genesis 123 Foundation’s 12 supported projects. Among them were emergency medical care for Israelis from all backgrounds, feeding the hungry, embracing Holocaust survivors, and protecting unborn babies.

Overnight, Jonathan created the Genesis 123 Israel Emergency Campaign. All those proceeds have helped fund projects including civilian security, soldiers’ welfare, trauma sufferers, Israelis’ destroyed homes, and emergency medical needs.

Jonathan had originally scheduled a U.S. book tour for November 2023. Nevertheless, he quickly abandoned his schedule—not only to oversee the Israel Emergency Campaign, but because several family members were called into Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reserve units. However, even without the formal book launch and media tour last fall, the pre-sales and recent spike in orders show that Israel The Miracle is flying off the shelves. On Amazon, it became an immediate “top new release” in its first week. Jonathan is ordering an additional printing.

Yet, the redirection of funds from the upcoming book sales traveled to another divine destination. Jonathan made a targeted decision to expand the book’s significance beyond its September 2023 birth date as a beautiful coffee table book. Now, Israel The Miracle holds an important dual purpose. Although the book brims with gorgeous photos of the land and its people and inspires us with 75 essays as a symbol of Christian support for Israel, it has expanded far beyond a wonderful personal purchase.

Jonathan explains the other half of the book’s updated purpose: Through an incredible printing connection, the book also serves as an instrument of blessing “for humanitarian aid to one of the hardest-hit kibbutzim on October 7.” The book is being printed in conjunction with Kibbutz Be’eri, which ran a successful, prominent printing company, Dfus Be’eri. (Dfus means print; be’eri means belonging to a fountain or expounder.)

Kibbutz Be’eri was among the hardest hit on October 7, with 120 homes destroyed and dozens of its 1,200 residents murdered, many kidnapped, and some still imprisoned in a dark concentration camp tunnel. The survivors’ determination to retain the purposeful meanings of its name and somehow continue its printing business is a true example of Israeli resilience.

Worldwide, each individual or group purchase of Israel The Miracle book transitions profits into a direct donation through the Genesis 123 Foundation for the restoration of Kibbutz Be’eri. Here is how to be part of this humanitarian kind of miracle: www.IsraeltheMiracle.com.

Jonathan made another decision, one that paid respect to Pat Robertson before his homegoing at age 93 on June 8, 2023. Robertson, a Christian media pioneer and founder of The Christian Broadcasting Network in 1960, symbolized an unmatched commitment, influence, and support of Israel. Jonathan honored Dr. Robertson by placing his essay first in what is called his “final testament” on Israel.

I am honored that my endorsement is included in Israel The Miracle: “Essays from seventy-five devoted advocates share gleaming insights about our spiritual homeland during its 75th Sapphire anniversary year.” God reveals His design for Jerusalem in Isaiah 54:11 to use blue sapphires for its foundation. Israel is the only place on earth where rare, deep-blue Mount Carmel sapphires are found. Israel itself, shining as a rarity, is the only nation where God declares in Leviticus, “the land is mine.”

I welcome you to our CBN Israel team this week to personally consider Psalm 45:1 (NASB): “My heart is moved with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” This verse not only reflects the 75 beautiful essays within Israel The Miracle. It is also an invitation to you from me to honor our King Jesus by sharing truth and facts in person or on social media about Israel from trusted sources such as CBN News.

Prayer Points:

• Pray with expectation that profits from Israel The Miracle will grow into a financial miracle for Kibbutz Be’eri.
• Pray for 136 hostages trapped and abused in Hamas’s underground concentration camp.
• Pray for family and friends of hostages, those already released, and especially for those deeply traumatized.
• Pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu, IDF leadership, and Israeli citizens to remain united.
• Pray for Israel’s Government Press Office, which interacts with all international media personnel.

Arlene Bridges Samuels pioneered Christian outreach for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). After she served nine years on AIPAC’s staff, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as Outreach Director part-time for their project, American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel and has traveled to Israel since 1990. She co-edited The Auschwitz Album Revisited and is on the board of Violins of Hope South Carolina. By invitation, Arlene attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits. She also hosts her devotionals, The Eclectic Evangelical, on her website at ArleneBridgesSamuels.com.