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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Psychological traumas remain ever-present among Israel’s 7.4 million-plus Jewish population. That’s why, month after month, mental health professionals in Israel are busy developing new research and programs to meet the needs of the small, traumatized nation.

After October 7, 2023, Israel’s citizens experienced a new kind of trauma when Hamas broke through Israel’s complex border security systems, murdered 1,200 Israelis, and kidnapped around 250 hostages. It was a day when Israelis suffered the most egregious losses in one 24-hour period since the Holocaust, this time on their own soil.

Based on ancient Jewish history in the hymnbook of Israel, King David describes his own mental health in Psalm 120:6-7: “Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.” In Psalm 31:9-24 David asks God for mercy, saying in verses 10 and 13, “I am consumed by anguish. … I hear many whispering ‘terror on every side.’” And herein some of David’s long-ago assessments of his life could easily apply to Israelis living next to Hamas and Hezbollah—who “hate peace.”

During an enlightening panel at Israel’s Ono Academic College, PhD psychologist and author Pamela Paresky described the October 7 trauma as “unique” and wondered if another term might be more fitting than “trauma.” For example, “shattering” conveys a stronger meaning than the word “trauma,” she stated. Paresky observed that Israelis are also not allowing terrorists to rob them of their joy, but instead are filled with “a firm determination to cherish life and live life to its fullest.” Adding that “Jews are strongest” after their enemies try to break them, she addressed the lack of critical thinking among those currently protesting Israel’s response to Hamas—especially on university campuses where they rely on “logical inversions” that create oppressors and victims, naming Jews as the oppressors.

As an aside to Israel’s increasing mental health initiatives, I discovered a phrase coined by the late actor Mark Venturini. While it had nothing to do with anti-Semitism, it is descriptive of worldwide Jew hatred: “The eyes are useless when the mind is blind.” Despite terrorists’ body cams recording hours of horrors—and 4,000 journalists viewing these—millions of minds are blind despite the evidence so many have witnessed with their own eyes. Clearly, mainstream media has aided and abetted the whipped-up emotional responses by locking into, for example, the Hamas Health Ministry’s inflated statistics about Palestinian deaths and instantly accusing Israel of inhumane acts rather than Hamas, a world-designated terror organization backed by the Islamic regime.   

Despite those lies and accusations, the classic Israeli response to tragedy and crisis—and their persistent search for solutions—often results in creative new ways not only to address the Jewish nation’s unique challenges but also in discoveries that bless the world. One solution undertaken by Hebrew University is its Institute for Traumatic Stress and Recovery. Their pioneering research to address trauma among Israeli children held hostage in Gaza could someday benefit children around the world—children who have been scarred by traumatic events of violence or natural disasters.

Professor Asher Ben-Arieh, one of Israel’s highly regarded experts in childhood trauma, remarked about the hostage children, “These experiences are beyond anything we have seen.” Part of the National Task Force to care for children who were abducted, Ben-Arieh mentions that the Hebrew University program urgently needs complete funding “for a stable center to think out of the box,” he said. “And we need it urgently. We’re not even post trauma. We are not past this. It’s still happening!”

It is disturbing to read the National Task Force’s descriptions of six groups of vulnerable children: child hostages; those who witnessed severe violence and murders; newly orphaned children; children who lost a parent, sibling, or other relatives; children whose friends or peers were killed or kidnapped; and children displaced from their homes. (About 200,000 Israelis and many thousands of children are internal refugees displaced for security reasons due to Hamas and Hezbollah’s aggression.)

Ben-Arieh noted than many parents on October 7 could not save their children. He pointed out, “We have new forms of trauma that we don’t understand.” Updated training for mental health professionals is also part of Israel’s efforts to provide help and comfort. Amid reports that hundreds of thousands of Israelis are in acute psychological distress, an outpouring of those in counseling-related professions have volunteered to become involved. Metiv-Israel Psychotrauma Center in Jerusalem calls such training “mental health first-aid,” where PTSD specialists are instructing other psychologists who want to help but don’t know how. An accredited course is now in place to train psychologists who hold at least a master’s degree.

After reading about Israel’s traumas, if you are compelled to act, The Israel Forever Foundation offers letter writing, a small action that carries big results of encouragement. To participate in their Letters of Friendship program, click here. Choose whom to write to—a lone soldier, a terror victim, Holocaust survivor, or someone with special needs. Simply submit on their website—and your solidarity blessing is on its way.

We welcome you this week to join with our CBN Israel team to pray with King David these closing verses from Psalm 31:14-16. “But as for me, I trust in You, LORD, I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me. Make Your face shine upon Your servant; save me for Your mercies’ sake.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for Israel’s efforts to help those suffering from trauma and PTSD.
• Pray for the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza and comfort for their families.
• Pray for the safety and success of IDF soldiers as they defend their nation and people.
• Pray for the IDF to be vigilant and cautious in detecting Hamas-planted IEDs.
• Pray for the thousands of wounded soldiers and their families.
• Pray for families who are grieving the deaths of their soldiers, now numbering 319.

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

Like a ship gradually coming loose from its moorings, the U.S.-Israel relationship is heading into rough waters. It’s facing enormous controversy between the President of the United States and Israel’s Prime Minister. The waves of conflict are out in the open, with Biden telegraphing unmistakable signals to Israel—first about pulling back from Rafah in southern Gaza, and now about Israelis backing off from defending themselves against Hezbollah in the north.

In May, Biden threatened the Middle East’s only democracy about moving into Rafah, saying he would halt some shipments of American weapons into Israel. Netanyahu responded, “I hope we can see eye to eye with the United States. We’re talking to them, but ultimately we do what we have to do to protect the life of our nation.” Netanyahu has also made it clear that Israel will not leave Gaza “until we return all 120 of our hostages, both the living and dead.”

Amid the contention on the global stage, the U.S., EU, Qatar, and other countries are demanding that Israel secure the safety of Gazan civilians. However, mostly overlooked, Israel has repeatedly set up safe zones up and down Gaza, and successfully moved about 1 million Gazans from Rafah into well-defined safe zone boundaries with tents, food, and water. To infer that Israel is lax in its determination to protect civilians undermines the long-held humanitarian policies of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). In fact, Israel’s own policies of warning Gazans in advance has increased deaths and injuries among Israel’s military. No other country on earth lets its enemies know when they are coming.

Meanwhile, Israel is “doing what it must do to protect the life” of Israel by moving ahead with important inroads to rid Rafah of the Hamas terrorists. This, despite Prime Minister Netanyahu’s observation in a June 23 interview that “there has been a dramatic decline in the supply of munitions from the United States.”

However, the IDF’s biggest shock was yet to come. In Rafah, they discovered some 50 sophisticated tunnels—likely Egyptian engineered—some of which are large enough to drive trucks through from Egypt into Gaza. This means that Egypt, which has had a peace treaty with Israel since 1980, has raked in millions of dollars from large-sized weapons flowing into Gaza.

During the hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israel’s Deputy Attorney General Gilad Noam attempted to persuade that assembly with those facts. “Nearly 700 tunnel shafts have been identified in Rafah,” he stated. “These tunnels are used by Hamas to supply itself with weapons and ammunition.” Further, he warned, they could “potentially be used to smuggle out of Gaza hostages or Hamas senior operators.” Unfortunately, these unbelievable findings made no difference to the UN court, which ordered Israel not to go into Rafah.

It’s been nothing short of a miracle—the IDF first moving a million Gazans out of harm’s way, then going in with their decision as a sovereign nation, and then making these major discoveries. And the combined pushback that Israel now knows about may be just the tip of the iceberg about which leaders are complicit, in additional disturbing ways.

For an in-depth explanation of Rafah’s importance, the perspective of Brigadier General Amir Avivi is quite revealing. Rafah—the last Hamas stronghold—is located on the Egyptian border. The combined Egypt/Rafah/Hamas role serves as the economic engine for Hamas’s terrorists and weapons shipments. Hamas has four battalions of thousands of hate-motivated men in Rafah. The IDF is also discovering more evidence of the Hamas terror mindset and practices: weapons stored under baby cribs and terrorists operating tunnels under the UNRWA headquarters.

Despite the intensely complex challenges in Rafah, last Sunday IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. General Halevi, in his briefing to the IDF in Rafah reported good news: that “they’re about to finish off Rafah’s brigade of four battalions.” It is one of the biggest, most important achievements in the war against terror that the Philadelphi Corridor is now controlled by IDF Division 162. The corridor runs the full length of the Egypt-Gaza border. Halevi said the hard-fought victory will “prevent Hamas from its smuggling operations.”

Had Prime Minister Netanyahu and his military leaders backed down from entering Rafah, where the IDF destroyed tunnels and took control of the Philadelphi Corridor, Hamas would have continued to transport Iran-financed weapons into Gaza with Egypt as an accomplice. Hamas’s evil intent to murder every Jew has not changed. More weapons mean more attacks and assaults launched against the Jewish nation.

Looking up to the north on Israel’s tense border with Lebanon, Hezbollah is endangering the Christian Lebanese population speaking out against it. In eight months, the terrorist organization has already fired 5,000 projectiles into Israel, killing 25 Israelis (both civilian and soldiers). More than 80,000 Israelis were forced to evacuate from their homes shortly after the Hamas war began. Twenty thousand acres are burned and nearly 1,000 homes and large parts of the towns have been destroyed.

The Hezbollah all-out war is a reality. President Biden has already told Israel not to engage with Hezbollah because it might “risk drawing Iran in.” Truth be told, last fall Biden unfroze Iran’s billions and sent the cash to the Islamic Regime. Add Biden’s unwise effort to resuscitate the ineffectual 2015 Iran deal, and now the Middle East is heading toward a potential World War III footing.     

Biden doubled down through his Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Charles Brown commented, “The U.S. will NOT be able to assist Israel in the war against Hezbollah as it assisted it in intercepting the missile and drone attack from Iran in April.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu needs no advice or lessons from President Biden. Again, Netanyahu responded as the strong leader of his endangered, yet eternal nation in a speech to Knesset on Sunday: “At any cost and in any way, we will thwart Iran’s intentions to destroy us.” As he spoke to the leaders and press in the room, he reminded the world that Israel is currently “in an existential war of seven fronts.”

Our CBN Israel team invites you to pray with us amid Israel’s dark days, knowing that God keeps His word in His time. Exodus 23:31 promises, “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for the IDF during their preparations for an expanded defensive war against Lebanon-based Hezbollah.
• Pray for Israeli families that have lost sons recently fighting for their country.
• Pray for American Jews who have been attacked by pro-Hamas activists in their synagogues, homes, and streets.
• Pray for Christians across the globe to express their commitment in words and deed toward Jewish friends near and far.

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

Last week, Dr. Tricia Miller returned to the United States from Israel, part of a seven-member solidarity trip sponsored by National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), the largest Christian media organization in the world. NRB’s significant role cannot be underestimated as an influential organization that views support for the world’s only Jewish state a top priority. Since the Hamas War, NRB’s combined worldwide media influence provides an indispensable ballast against the anti-Jew, anti-Zionist, anti-Israel propaganda flooding the airwaves 24/7.

In the NRB membership of more than 1,100 Christian media communicators, Dr. Miller, PhD and author, is the director of the Partnership of Christians and Jews for CAMERA—the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis. Since 1982, CAMERA staff and volunteers have monitored and researched media output—and motivated laypeople to be part of advancing accurate, balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East. 

Dr. Miller and I have networked on various pro-Israel projects for more than 15 years. She is a respected friend. After reading her first-person experiences and conversations with Israelis, you will discover simple, quick, yet powerful ways to volunteer as a “sleuth for truth” with CAMERA. The seven solidarity trip leaders interacted with wide-ranging segments of Israeli society. These included members of Knesset, Israel Defense Forces, President Herzog, hostage survivors, hostage family members, and rescuers.

As a small nation, with currently hundreds of thousands serving in Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as either active-duty members or reservists, Israel embraces soldiers as sons and daughters. Their funerals are attended by hundreds—sometimes thousands—of Israelis. Tricia spent much of her time listening—a valuable, compassionate trait for interacting with a nation that has been suffering a daily national trauma since October 7.

“I felt the pain in the souls of the people. I saw it in their eyes.” She explained that no one is exempt from suffering because “literally everyone is related to, or knows someone who is related to, someone killed, wounded, who escaped, or taken hostage.” Tricia reiterates that Israel is dealing with an existential battle for its survival against terrorists funded by the Islamic Regime, with its goal to destroy the Jewish State. “Every Israeli lives with this reality every day of their lives.”

Although Israel’s Government Press Office hosted and briefed more than 4,000 journalists in the weeks following the fatal assaults, more pain is heaped on Israelis now—since most of the world is turning against them, even blaming them! Tricia goes on to note that “Israelis feel like the world has forgotten what happened, as Israel is demonized for defending itself—and the media ignores or denies the numerous precautions IDF takes to protect Gaza’s civilians.” Where are the 4,000 “journalists” now?

Over and over, within the pain and “tangible sense of isolation” she mentions, the message Tricia heard about the Hamas invasion and massacre is the same from everyone in Israel—including President Herzog. All are unified and agree on one thing: the absolute necessity for the Jewish state to survive.

Dr. Miller highlighted their meeting with Jerusalem’s former Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum. “What’s going on is a civilizational battle between the forces of good represented by democratic, peace-loving Judeo-Christian countries and very dangerous Islamic jihadi fundamentalism that wants to take the world back 500 years when nobody had any rights,” Fleur commented. “They really dream that the whole world will become one huge caliphate and they are represented by the heads of Iran and Hamas who attacked Israel brutally on the 7th of October.”

Fleur went on to say, “The Jewish people are a peace-loving people, we are trying to survive. This is an existential war, we didn’t want to fight it, we didn’t want to go to war.” She concluded, “This is not just Israel’s problem; it will come everywhere. … The free world really needs us to win this war and should do everything in their power to help us get rid of this terrible cancer we have right on our border.” Remember: the IDF is a DEFENSE Force.

However, no matter what events transpire globally, God will keep His enduring promises in Deuteronomy 33:29 NIV: “Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will tread on their heights.”

To help others make sure our enemies will “cower” before us, Tricia is pioneering a new effort that’s uniting Jews and Christians in tangible ways. Launched in southwest Florida, it is called Naples Partnership of Christians and Jews under the umbrella of CAMERA’s Partnership of Christians and Jews. She welcomes your interest in organizing a similar effort where you live. Tricia will provide information and guidance to form these much-needed alliances amid the outbreak of lawless antisemitism here in the U.S. and worldwide. She will integrate the superb, proven work and techniques CAMERA is known for.

To volunteer for CAMERA is what I call being a “sleuth for truth.” You do not need to be a professional. If you care about opposing the lies regarding Israel, your heart is equipped to motivate you—with tools you already use to send emails or talk/text on your mobile phone. CAMERA does the research, and with your extra set of eyes, voices, and hands-on activism it becomes a winning combination: [learn more here].

CAMERA’s varied opportunities are quick and easy if we remain alert each time we read or look at the media. Yes, we are often upset, but emotions are not a strategy when we encounter biased reporting. Instead, act! Join CAMERA’s international team of activists who call and write the media with facts. You will receive talking points, analyses of news articles, and contact information for reporters, editors, producers, or executives.

Jonah Cohen, CAMERA’s Director of Communications, revealed that with added volunteers since October 7, record-breaking milestones have “prompted 303 on-the-record admissions of error about Israel from some of the world’s most influential news outlets.” In May 2024, “a record 75 corrections from major media outlets” not only correct inaccuracies “but also deter recurrence of misrepresentations.”

These successes prove that supporters of Israel are changing the media environment, yet we face a David-and-Goliath challenge. After you read my next paragraph, remember that David defeated the enemy with just five smooth stones. Joining with CAMERA means providing well-aimed smooth stones.

In a YouTube video from June 14, 2024, Alex Traiman, CEO at the Jewish News Syndicate, interviewed tech entrepreneur and philanthropist Yossie Hollander. Hollander gave statistics about the infection of lies and bias against Israel. The Chinese Communist TikTok algorithm ratio against Israel is 200 to one. Iran’s algorithms are mostly based not on real people but on fake bots. Yossie adds, “Social media companies do not necessarily want to shut down fake news, because traffic is money.”

No matter what, as truth sleuths let each of us pick up our stones of truth against the Goliath of lies against Israel—and together help CAMERA.

Tricia’s resounding words give us courage and hope. “The Israelis understand the existential danger, they know who the enemy is, and they will have the victory! Am Yisrael Chai” (“the people of Israel live”). That saying is a declaration of Jewish survival and resilience echoed in Jewish prayers, songs, and ceremonies as a reminder of the enduring nature of the Jewish people and their faith.

We welcome you this week to pray with our CBN Israel team, recalling Zechariah 4:10 that points to an important concept for our activism. “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for more sleuths for truth volunteers to join with CAMERA.
• Pray for God’s redemptive hope in a world invaded with lawlessness.
• Pray for Israelis who remain in deep mourning after more IDF deaths.
• Pray for PM Netanyahu amid the heavy burdens he carries.
• Pray for God’s angel armies to defeat His enemies in the battles between good and evil.

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.