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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Israel is one of the few countries in the world that requires women to serve in the military, as defined in its mandatory draft law. After Israel’s independence was declared on May 14, 1948, a Women’s Corps was quickly initiated. And today, the IDF reflects the stature of women who proudly serve their country. Within Israel’s culture of equality and its need for absolute security, decades of hard-fought acceptance have expanded IDF positions for women.

Women in the IDF are using their highly developed skills to fight against Hamas and other terror groups in multiple roles. On the front lines, for instance, an all-female tank crew drove over terrorists to protect Israeli kibbutzim. They are operating as medical professionals in Gaza and in a battalion searching for weapons in buildings. Women serve in drone units like Israel’s Sky Riders and on the ground commanding an Iron Dome unit. 

The IDF reported in January 2025 that women are driving a recruitment boom, with Israeli combat units surging by over 20 percent. They are also setting records for combat intelligence and for search and rescue missions. Brigadier General (ret.) Meir Elran at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv gave examples of their remarkable progress in the Israeli military. “In the ongoing war,” Elran noted, “female pilots played a significant role in a major airstrike operation against Iran.”

The surge of female enlistments shows incredible courage considering full awareness of the Hamas savages who targeted, raped, murdered, and kidnapped women—both civilians and female IDF soldiers—on October 7 and beyond.

After months of discussions in Israel, investigations will continue about the weeks leading up to October 7, 2023. On January 25, Hamas released five female IDF soldiers: survivors Naama Levy, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Liri Albag, and Daniella Gilboa. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi met with four of them on February 14. Daniella Gilboa was not present.

Here is the back story for why IDF Chief Halevi met with them to offer his apologies for failing them on and before October 7. Before their 15 months of captivity, the five survivors served as surveillance soldiers (tatzpitaniyot) in the Combat Intelligence Collection Array (part of the Border Defense Corps) and were assigned along Israel’s borders and the West Bank.

Years before the atrocities of October 7, 2023, on one of my Israel trips I visited one of their surveillance units in northern Israel. These soldiers kept watch via computers on assigned sections of the border to track Hezbollah movements. Often called “the eyes of the army,” these trained observers report real-time intelligence information to soldiers in the field, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In a briefing where they were deployed, I learned that the IDF women are deemed better able to endure long hours at the computers, noticing every movement of the enemy they’re watching. If only the IDF high command had remembered that distinction.

Because for months prior to the horrific October 7 invasion, Naama Levy, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Liri Albag and Daniella Gilboa—all surveillance soldiers—saw signs of disturbing increases in suspicious activity from the Nahal Oz base only a mile from Gaza. The women reported Hamas militants holding multiple training sessions daily, as well as digging holes along the border where they planted explosives. Astonishingly, the lookouts’ warnings were not heeded as strongly by the more senior officers and intelligence officials, who had received the reports.

The five hostages were among seven females kidnapped from the Nahal Oz army post during the Hamas-led massacre. Levy, Ariev, Albag and Gilboa were released on January 25, 2025, and Berger was released five days later. In the meeting, Chief Halevi said, “From me personally and in the name of the commanders in the IDF, I am very sorry for everything you have been through. It’s our responsibility, and we can’t go back and change.” According to leaked remarks, he added, “It was wrong to have not taken you seriously; you were amazing soldiers. I apologize for what you experienced in captivity.”

In continuing investigations, Halevi said the women should be “partners in the investigation” by giving their testimony so that the IDF can learn more about the failures. Halevi will resign from the military on March 5 over the military’s failure to prevent Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught.

Although Liri Albag’s mother said that her daughter “has anger toward the army,” all five of the female soldiers have expressed a desire to return to the IDF.

I have added several more details with an IDF resource link that offers a wealth of information. Every Israeli citizen over the age of 18—man, woman, Jewish, Druze or Circassian—must serve. Israeli Arabs and religious women are not mandatory. Enlisted men are expected to serve for a minimum of 32 months and women for at least 24 months.

In 2022, the IDF expanded its protocol to include Christians in voluntary enlistment as they are not obligated to serve by law. At the time, about 100 Christians served as volunteers. Israel’s Christian population is only 2 percent of the total; however, CBN Israel is helping to sponsor a new training prep course for Aramean Christian enlistment. Aramean Christians were recently recognized as an official minority in Israel.

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for remaining hostages amid the torture, starvation, and psychological warfare.
• Pray for wise decisions by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his security cabinet.
• Pray for effective mental health solutions to address the widespread trauma in Israel.
• Pray with thanks to the Lord for preserving the Jewish nation and people.

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 February 19, 2025, Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) will reintroduce the Master Sergeant “Roddie” Edmonds Congressional Gold Medal Act on Capitol Hill. They first proclaimed their Gold Medal bill on January 27, 2025—International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Let’s take a look at why this honor is long overdue, the remarkable story behind it all, and how you can help make it happen.

This year is the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, marking the end of the Holocaust (Shoah) and World War II.

It is a fitting year to posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal—the highest civilian honor in the United States—to Master Sergeant Edmonds. After the regiment that he commanded in the Battle of the Bulge was captured, Nazis marched the men into Europe’s biggest POW camp. Days later, MSgt. Roddie Edmonds saved the lives of the 200 Jewish men under his command. Epic heroism—and quite a legacy.

Since the end of the Second World War, the children and grandchildren born to the Jews spared by Edmonds’ courage number around 2,000 men, women, and children. They are a legacy born from the bravery and integrity of a hardworking, humble family man who saved the lives of his Jewish soldiers with five words.

A Christian from the hills of Tennessee, Edmonds stepped into history in 1944 with the 106th Infantry Division, 422nd Infantry Regiment—a regiment known as the “Golden Lions” for their insignia: a golden lion on a red background to symbolize courage and strength under fire. On a freezing morning in Stalag IXA, Nazis forced the prisoners into a lineup where Nazi Major Siegmann repeatedly demanded that Edmonds identify all Jewish soldiers. Every man knew that responding would mean death for the American Jewish soldiers. The night before, Edmonds had ordered his men not to surrender any of their regiment. Although Major Siegmann shouted and held a luger pressed to the Master Sergeant’s forehead, Edmonds, with calm, extraordinary courage firmly replied, “We are all Jews here.” He told Seigmann that he’d have to shoot everyone if he wanted to kill the Jews—and reminded him that the German would be hunted down, tried, and convicted for war crimes. The enraged Nazi walked away. A miracle of five words.

In those moments, Roddie Edmonds mirrored Psalm 106:3. “Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.”

How did Roddie Edmonds’ heroism finally reach the halls of the U.S. Congress? The amazing family story is written by Roddie’s son, Pastor Chris Edmonds, in his book No Surrender. After reading the summary below, you will want to be a part of assuring Congress’s decision to award the Master Sergeant’s posthumous Gold Medal.

It all began in 2005, when Chris’s daughter Lauren was assigned a college history project about World War II and her grandfather Roddie. Chris’s mom remembered his frayed WWII diary that he had hidden in a cigar box in his closet. Roddie had died in 1985 without ever mentioning his wartime heroism to his loved ones or friends. And when the family found and read his diary, it contained no hint of his bravery. 

Years later, Chris felt compelled to research his father’s World War II service. In a miraculous set of events, he found, met, and heard the stories about his father from four men under his command who were still living. The stories they shared are recounted in No Surrender and in a film: www.roddieedmonds.com.

Learning the stories from the soldiers his father saved, Chris declared, “I know that my father was willing to die to save Jewish men under his command because he believed a Jewish man, Jesus Christ, had died to save him.”

The February 19, 2025, mobilization on Capitol Hill is a big step for Chris. He had begun reaching out to Congress in 2016 with former Representative John Duncan, who introduced the original bill. Since then, members of Congress have reintroduced the bill six times in the House: the 114th, 115th, 116th, 117th, and 118th. Now before the 119th Congress, the bill is led by Senators Blackburn and Schatz and Representatives Tim Burchett (R-TN) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).

Ezra Friedlander, the founder of Project Legacy, has added his collaboration. Friedlander is concerned “that many young people lack awareness of the Holocaust.” He cites the significance of awarding Roddie Edmonds’ Gold Medal to “commemorate the 80th anniversary of this pivotal moment in history.”

Presently, neither the Senate nor the House bills have passed. The Senate bill, introduced on January 27, was followed by a House measure on February 4. A Congressional Gold Medal requires two-thirds approval by both chambers of Congress before it goes to the floor for a final vote.

Christian citizens, we must participate in getting this important bill passed. Beginning on February 19, contact your members of Congress in the Senate and House. Simply call the United States Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. An operator will connect you directly with your Senators’ and House member’s offices. Their staff will take your call and add your requests to support the Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds Congressional Gold Medal Act. If you do not know the names of your members of Congress, click this helpful link.

If you wish, read The Congressional Record for Senate bill S.262 and House bill H.R.921 then pray and act!

Chris’s meetings with the men under his father’s command grew into deep friendships. He shared their stories about his father’s heroism for the first time at the invitation of Rabbi Avi Perets of Temple El Emanuel in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Active in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Rabbi Perets asked Chris to speak on April 27, 2014.

When Chris repeated his father’s lifesaving words, “We are all Jews here,” tears were plentiful on the faces of men, women, and a few of their Christian visitors. After speaking in Myrtle Beach, Chris has received invitations for more than 400 inspiring and educational speaking engagements in both Jewish and Christian venues.

One of his most prominent speeches occurred on March 16, 2016, at AIPAC’s annual Policy Conference. That year, it was held at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. In an election year, following AIPAC’s bipartisan policy, the top-tier presidential candidates from both parties were invited to speak. That particular day, former Vice President Joe Biden spoke after Chris, and later Donald Trump who won as the 45th (now 47th) president. Two survivors from his dad’s Golden Lions, Sonny Fox and Lester Tanner, sat with Chris’s wife, Regina, in the audience with 18,000 others. I was still on AIPAC staff and watched as the entire arena was transfixed and often tearful as Chris spoke about his father’s valor.

Chris’s persistent journey to honor his beloved father grew into another purpose: to motivate Jews and Christians to work together to educate and inspire others on behalf of Israel. Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, commanding the 106th Infantry Division, 422nd Infantry Regiment, was recognized on February 10, 2015, by Israel’s Yad Vashem as “Righteous Among the Nations.” A tree is planted on the Avenue of the Righteous in his remembrance as the only American soldier so honored.

Chris offers a timely reminder for Israel and the Jewish people worldwide. “With antisemitism and hatred rising, there’s no better time to honor my father than this year, the 80th anniversary of his heroic actions, the liberation of Auschwitz, and the end of World War II.” Chris highlights his father’s moral courage as “timeless and transformative.”

Now, 80 years later, let us commit to shining a light on the Gold Medal to every member of Congress, asking them to join in as cosponsors. I pray that “We are all Jews here” is on our lips and in our actions to confront the world’s oldest hatred as one way to speak out and oppose 16 months of cruelty since October 7, 2023.

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

• Pray for Democrats and Republicans to effectively cosponsor this bill.
• Pray that Christians will call every member of Congress to make the request.
• Pray for the media to report facts about this inspiring World War II story.
• Pray that Israelis will find encouragement in knowing about a future successful vote.

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

As if the tortures that began on October 7, 2023, were not enough, Hamas has been staging more versions of traumatizing evil. In the “ceasefire agreement,” the terror group is producing, directing, and filming hostage releases in a chaotic rampage of hate from thousands of Gazan “extras” seemingly overjoyed to be part of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad propaganda.

For 16 months now, the Jewish nation and people have undergone repeated traumas—including the brutal Hamas invasion and massacre on October 7, family members and loved ones taken hostage into Gaza, and the existential multifront war with Iran and its evil terror proxies. And if that were not enough, Jew hatred and hostility against the world’s only Jewish nation have been at an all-time high across the globe with toxic expressions everywhere—on public streets, college campuses, and social media newsfeeds.

The Red Cross vehicles dispatched to drive hostages out of Gaza inch their way to the location where the precious hostage passengers will disembark into safety at last. Unbelievably, the cars are considered objects of potential attacks from terrorists, both uniformed and civilian, who jump on the roofs enthusiastically waving their weapons.

Hostages are pushed, shoved, and taunted by waves of jubilant Palestinians holding their mobile phones high to record the event. Every Palestinian acting out such dangerous theatrics looks well fed and happy. There are no signs of mourning for the so-called genocide that Hamas claims and that much of the world believes. The crowds do not look starved, since Hamas has been hijacking tons of donated food and reselling it to their own people at exorbitant prices.

Despite the massive destruction of buildings that Hamas brought on its brainwashed population, the Palestinians seem addicted to whatever “high” they get from holding such hatred against their Israeli neighbors. When each hostage steps out of the cars, one can only wonder why the Red Cross is allowing the hostages to disembark into the seething, shouting crowds. Isn’t there another way to release them at the edge of Gaza into Israel?

In one instance, on February 1, 2025, Hamas released Gadi Mozes (80) and Arbel Yehoud (29). In photos taken by the Hamas Media Office/AFP, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) cars are well marked with the logo and the words “Comite International Geneve” (i.e., International Committee Geneve), with the well-known red cross in the center. But more about the Red Cross in a moment.

For 16 months, with hostages both alive and dead in Gaza, Hamas’s depravity and brutality roams in the darkness of Gaza’s underground city and is spilling out into the open again, with terrorists released from Israeli prisons as part of the ceasefire “deal.” The terror group seems to know no bounds in their toxic hatred for the Jewish nation and people.

Under God’s inspiration, the famous prophet wrote in Isaiah 5:20, 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.

The Hamas terror group never allowed the Red Cross to check on kidnapped hostages’ conditions and health or provide much-needed medicines. The Red Cross claims it tried. Nevertheless, Israelis dismissively call this international humanitarian organization agency a “glorified taxi service,” while the ICRC comments that it “has little power beyond what belligerent parties afford it.”

Years ago, in a statement about their neutrality policy, the ICRC acknowledged their silence in World War II. They said they failed to speak out on behalf of the millions of people who suffered and perished in the death camps, especially the Jewish people targeted, persecuted and murdered under the Nazi regime. A former ICRC president said that it was their “greatest failure” since their founding in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1863. Now, their organizational silence has failed them once again.

The ICRC has made sure to condemn Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s hospitals, yet no mention at all is made about Hamas terrorists—disguised as doctors—purposely occupying hospitals and using those facilities as a terror base. Or how ongoing hostilities have obliterated the healthcare system in northern Gaza. Nor does the ICRC mention that Israel safely evacuates Palestinian patients to other facilities, even outside Gaza, before going after the occupiers. The Hamas-run media office has skillfully used the hospitals as propaganda. Those who are easily fooled cannot distinguish between good and evil.

In a recently released report, Israel’s Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children has created a new word, “kinocide”—the targeting of families. Experts from the Civil Commission, which was formed immediately after October 7, explained that Nazi genocide was directed against a group of people—“national, ethnical, racial or religious”—according to the UN’s 1948 Genocide Convention.

However, kinocide, another crime against humanity, is a specific assault against a group, “using the relationship between family members and their emotional, identity, cultural, symbolic, material and other bonds, as a way to maximize the intended harm of the attack.” Thus, the traumas on October 7, 2023—with the deaths of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 250 men, women, children, infants, the elderly, and disabled people—were triumphantly filmed by Hamas. The terror group has deepened their ongoing cruelty by not releasing the list of deceased loved ones. Uncertainty surely deepens trauma.

In reality, a series of events began in secret after September 22, 2005, when Israel evacuated its 9,000 Jewish residents from Gaza and donated it lock, stock, and barrel to Palestinians. They set about destroying everything Jews left behind to help them. Destruction is terror’s middle name. That is why Arab countries do not want to resettle Gazan Palestinians.

From 2005 until today, Palestinians have abandoned the dream of self-determination and creating a beautiful, productive Palestinian state for its children and grandchildren. Instead, they built a dark underground city filled with every weapon the Islamic Regime patron could smuggle into its terrorist operations. Nothing has changed. Hatred and destruction are still idolized.

The 79-page Israel Civil Commission’s report on October 7 is now in the hands of 300 very influential leaders at the Halifax International Security Forum, an annual summit for international government and military officials, academic experts, authors, and entrepreneurs, held in Nova Scotia, Canada. Will leaders affirm the findings recorded by Hamas villains beginning on October 7, 2023? Or will the world’s Jew haters once again ignore or vilify Israel and Jews worldwide?

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

• Pray for remaining hostages and their families while the horror movie is repeated.
• Pray for leaders and institutions to receive the Israeli 10/7 Commission report as truth.
• Pray for worldwide media to report the facts in the 10/7 Commission report.
• Pray that those seeking news will refer to trustworthy Christian media and other factual outlets.

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

Most of the world calls Judea and Samaria the West Bank. The name is a modern fabrication, one that wrongly describes Israel west of the Jordan River. The name West Bank has no ancient history. Within Judea and Samaria, the Holy Land’s biblical heartland for more than 3,000 years, Israel is a now waging an eight-front war.

Together Hamas, its patron Iran, and Jew-haters globally are spewing out their poison. These nations have no respect for secular, religious, or geographic history, nor do they acknowledge the sacred deed God bestowed on the Jews, His people, and His land.

Since October 7, 2023, the Islamic Regime has steadily increased its covert smuggling operation of powerful factory-made weapons. Their route goes through Jordan into Palestinian cities in Judea and Samaria. In 2024 and including the first month of 2025, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have intervened in more than 1,000 terror attacks in Judea, which includes Jerusalem. Reliable information from Israel’s Defense Security Forum (IDSF) reports this figure on what they call the Judea, Samaria, and Israel Front: that Palestinian terrorists have attacked Israelis 8,800 times since October 7, 2023.

As an example of such activity—in addition to huge weapons stashes with rockets, IEDs, and guns—the IDF has found three mosques that terrorists used in the “West Bank” Palestinian towns of Jenin and Tulkarm recently. Terrorists threw explosives from one mosque’s rooftop and had a firing range on the bottom floor of another. In its statement about the discovery, the IDF said, “These are blatant violations of international law, all aimed at harming Israeli civilians and security forces while also endangering and exploiting the Palestinian people.” Hamas operates everywhere in the same way: no regard for anyone and only idolizing their hatred.

The most troubling weapon now in use to attack the biblical heartland is an explosive drone with four engines. A second such drone has now fallen in the settlement of Yitzhar. Situated in the Samaria Mountains, Yitzhar is a mostly Orthodox Jewish community of 2,093 residents. Israeli security personnel must now factor in an eighth front to the war, where terrorists in Judea and Samaria might use swarms of lethal drones to attack civilian or military locations.

IDSF also reported a surprising, albeit one-time anomaly: that in December, the Palestinian Authority (PA) arrested 247 Palestinian terrorists in Jenin, a long-standing Palestinian hotbed of terror in the heartland. The arrests included eight men linked to international terror financing. The PA confiscated 245 explosives, 17 car bombs, and even a rocket-propelled grenade missile.

Operation Iron Wall is the name Israel has chosen for its latest defensive measures against terror assaults in the biblical heartland. The Hebrew word for wall is kotel, used primarily to refer to the Western Wall. A designated holy place for Jews—and revered by millions of Christians—the Kotel in Jerusalem remains both a reality and a symbol for the outer wall of the Temple Mount that has survived since the second century B.C.

Today, as we see increased pressure on Israel Defense Forces to protect their biblical heartland, I invite you to join me virtually by placing a note in a Kotel crevice, the Western Wall. It is a free service from AISH across the plaza from the Kotel. Let us mount a flood of prayers for Operation Iron Wall: [submit your prayer here].

The biblical heartland’s 3,000-year history, its geography, and the centuries-old existence of indigenous Jewish people are solid historical facts. Preeminent are the Old and New Testaments, along with Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus, not to mention thousands of archaeological structures and plentiful discoveries that corroborate these facts. Home to Israel’s 12 tribes, the kingdoms of Judah and Samaria are familiar, as are cities still called Hebron, Shiloh, and Shechem. Abraham bought the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, and King David first ruled from Hebron before he declared Jerusalem to be the capital of his kingdom.

The Bible refers to Judea 816 times from Genesis to Hebrews. Samaria is mentioned 125 times, mostly in the Old Testament. In Hebrew, Samaria means “watchtower.” In ancient history, Samaria represented the Northern Kingdom and Judea the Southern Kingdom. Despite conquests and exiles, Jewish life in Judea and Samaria has endured with deep-rooted bonds to the land.

Despite every proven fact from history, Wikipedia, known for its broad biases, shamelessly promotes its concept of a “fact” by creating a Palestinian state out of thin air: “The West Bank is the larger of the two Palestinian territories that comprise the State of Palestine.” Propagandists have not, cannot, and will not erase the Jews, the indigenous people of the Holy Land.

Despite massive, millennial evidence that the Jews are the indigenous owners of Judea and Samaria, the term “occupied” is used by the uneducated world as an incorrect description—as if Israel were occupying “Palestine.” However in 1967, when Israel was victorious in the Six-Day War, Israel defended and regained its biblical homeland that Jordan had occupied for 20 years. So that now, Israel again possesses its God-deeded biblical heartland!

Jesus’ own words in Acts 1:8 illustrate the supreme importance of the Holy Land as He walked on earth. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Then you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team in prayer:

• Pray for IDF safety as they clear out terrorists from Palestinian towns.
• Pray for released hostages as they face the traumas of their 15-month imprisonment.
• Pray for wisdom for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his security cabinet.
• Pray that Christians will act by sharing facts about Israel.

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

BRING THEM HOME came true last Sunday for three Israeli hostages. Red Cross vehicles drove out of Gaza carrying long-awaited female passengers back home to Israel. Doron, Emily, and Romi walked into the arms of their mothers, who greeted them with jubilant hugs and tears. These daughters instantly became the daughters of every Jewish parent and sisters of the entire nation.

The next day, at noon January 20th as defined by the U.S. Constitution, the 45th president of the United States took his second oath of office, making Donald John Trump the 47th president of the United States. Americans are celebrating our soon-to-be rescued freedoms and our Judeo-Christian values. Even before Chief Justice Roberts swore him in, with Melania holding his mother’s 1955 Bible, President Trump had made a significant mark in the hostage release deal.

Two long-standing allies are marking two historic events. Drawing deep breaths of gratefulness interwoven with hope, both nations also recognize the difficult days ahead.

First, celebrations broke out everywhere. Excited supporters flew into a frigid Washington, D.C., and one flight warmed up when a traveler video recorded passengers, who began singing “YMCA.”

In a Sunday night rally at Capitol One Arena, 20,000 supporters packed into the arena cheering as Trump walked onto the stage with Lee Greenwood singing his beloved song, “Proud to be an American.” Trump greeted Greenwood, stepped to the podium, and declared, “We won!” Two of Trump’s young grandchildren in the arms of Eric and Lara Trump led the Pledge of Allegiance and recited it perfectly.

Angela Halili and Arielle Reitsma, popular podcasters of “Girls Gone Bible,” offered a compelling prayer. “President Trump, we set the name of the Lord upon you, and we declare that no weapon formed against you will prosper and that every tongue that rises up against you in judgment will be condemned.”

The Trump family, along with an eclectic slate of speakers and music, filled out the exhilarating program.

After President Trump’s remarks concerning the executive orders he would be signing the following day, the Village People took the stage with the iconic 1970s YMCA song. Trump remained on stage and showed some of his dance moves. The entire arena pulsated with happiness.

Some of YMCA’s lyrics are especially appropriate for Trump’s American supporters. Four years of increasing alarm enveloped us as we watched our country’s slide into lawlessness, the broken borders, and ungodly choices. We prayed and went to work and changed history with a massive number of votes tallied on November 5, 2024. More Christians finally decided to vote this time around and it made a big difference. Like the YMCA lyrics say, “There’s no need to feel down … pick yourself off the ground.” And that is what Americans did.

Earlier in the day, prior to his inauguration, President-elect Trump, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, their wives, and key members of Trump’s team visited Arlington National Cemetery for the solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Trump had invited two Gold Star family members to pay their respects. A wounded warrior on crutches, who appeared to have lost his right arm and left leg, placed the final wreath as he stood beneath the cold, light rain.

Meanwhile, when the release of Doron, Emily, and Romi was official, Israel’s national airline El AL announced the good news on every flight. It is easy to guess the reaction of passengers.

Israelis anticipate a wide range of excellent policy decisions emerging from Trump’s administration. The good relationship between Trump and Netanyahu also signals unwavering American support for Israel if Hamas violates its agreements during the 42-day ceasefire.

International Bible teacher Amir Tsarfati is calling for 42 days of prayer. The Israeli explained, “The next 42 days will be unlike anything our nation has ever experienced so far. While fighting on seven fronts, we are being mentally and psychologically tortured by a demon-possessed terror group that won’t even tell us which of the 33 hostages to be released are still alive.”

Here is the agreed-upon schedule, although Hamas has not relented in its murderous goals. Four hostages will be returned to Israel on the seventh day. Thereafter, Hamas would release three hostages every seven days, starting with the living, and then moving on to return the bodies of those who have died. Finally, 14 hostages would be returned in the sixth and final week of Phase One.

If Hamas backs out of the deal it would be no surprise, although many hundreds of terrorist murderers are being released. This is a nightmarish Gordian Knot, a metaphor for an intractable problem eventually solved by the ability to “think outside the box.” Let us add our prayers here on earth for Trump and Netanyahu to untie the knot. The reality is that God Himself will untie the knot. Psalm 94:14-15 tells us, For the LORD will not abandon His people; nor will He abandon His inheritance. For judgment will again be righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

In an interview, Yoav Engel offers a stark description of what Israelis are facing. His son Ofir, now 18 years old, was visiting a friend at Kibbutz Be’eri where terrorists murdered 101 residents, burned homes, and committed other atrocities. Ofir was captured that day on October 7, 2023, and released after 54 days. However, Yoav says that everything reminds him of the fear, anguish and anxiety of those two months. When he and his wife discuss the two anguish-filled months of not knowing whether Ofir was dead or alive, he says the family is still held captive by trauma.

Regarding the remaining hostages and their families, Yoav tries to understand. “I can’t even describe how I am. There are no words in Hebrew that describe this. The words don’t exist in our language.”

Our CBN Israel team welcomes you to pray with us this week following Psalm 146:1-3: Praise the LORD, my soul. I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.

Prayer Points:

• Pray with praises for Doron, Emily, and Romi’s release and for remaining hostages and their families.
• Pray that Hamas will keep its part of the deal.
• Pray for President Trump’s safety at all times.
• Pray for successes for members of Trump’s cabinet.

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

For over a week, the intense blazes leveling California neighborhoods have been headline news. After months of near-zero rainfall, the area was vulnerable to the flames and fiery embers propelled by fierce Santa Ana winds. What perhaps hasn’t made the headlines is how Israel quickly came to their aid.

Two leading Israeli humanitarian relief organizations, IsraAID and SmartAID, sprang into action as the disastrous fires spread in and around Los Angeles, driven by severe and intense winds. SmartAID is already on the ground providing solar-telecommunication trailers, with 150 portable battery units supplied to U.S. medical charities and individuals that rely on refrigeration for insulin, food, CPAP machines, and oxygen.

IsraAID is making its plans now. Once the fires are contained, their Emergency Team of Israeli volunteers and humanitarian professionals will partner with California communities, providing ongoing help to rebuild their lives. Grievously afflicted Californians, and for that matter deeply concerned families and friends across America, can draw a measure of comfort from Israeli experts on the ground.

Israeli help is often the first to arrive and the last to be recognized. Although that lack of recognition isn’t surprising to these organizations, it does not stop them from carrying out their compassionate service to others.

IsraAID’s CEO, Yotam Polizer, remarks: “We are devastated to see the destruction … and our hearts go out to all those who have lost their homes or been displaced.” He adds, “We have long-standing ties to communities in Los Angeles and across California and have deeply felt the impact of this emergency.” In addition to their own work inside Israel during their defensive war, IsraAID’s commitment remains to “support communities experiencing crisis, no matter where they are.”

As of January 2025, IsraAID, established in 2001, has responded to more than 100 disaster emergencies in over 65 countries. IsraAID has a history of offering its competent help regardless of any country’s different politics, religion, or ethnicity.

In one of their best-known outreaches, 200 IsraAID medical teams were the first on the scene in Haiti’s horrific 2010 earthquake. They saved thousands of Haitian lives in their quickly set up tents with medical operating rooms. Some Haitian mothers named their babies “Israel” to honor the Jewish doctors who had safely delivered their babies. With half of its funding coming from non-Jewish sources, the award-winning organization has managed to continue working overseas during the 15 months since Israel suffered its now-ongoing disaster on October 7, 2023.

SmartAID’s founder, Shachar Zahavi, also emphasized the bond between Israel and the United States, recognizing that both are “empowered and strengthened by our shared commitment to global humanitarian aid and technological innovation.” Zahavi adds that “technology plays a crucial role in enhancing our collaborative efforts … especially in times of disasters.” In the first 40 days of the Hamas-launched war against Israel, SmartAID quickly proceeded to facilitate aid to Gazans, including smart classrooms for evacuated children and technology in civilian shelters.

Last year, SmartAID deployed its technology teams to Florida and North Carolina after Hurricane Helene wrought devastation there on an unprecedented scale. In Israel, they have opened a Safe Space Trauma Centre. Read here about their extensive outreaches.

As you can see, IsraAID and SmartAID are not strangers to global or American disasters. Although Israel is surrounded by an exaggerated culture of death threats against its homeland, the enshrined Jewish culture of life is expressed in multiple humane actions. Modern Israel, with a backdrop of centuries-long Jewish survival, has purposefully fashioned itself into providing innovative, humanitarian aid both within and without the world’s only Jewish state.

As 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 proclaims, “Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

Swayed by hatred, too many groups and institutions will likely not believe what I am exposing. That is why I often say that it is up to those of us who know the truth to pass it on in person and via social media. Why not begin by reading the links about IsraAID and SmartAID and choosing a fact to oppose anti-Israel lies?

I recently rediscovered a quote that encapsulates the need for prayers matched with actions on behalf of Israel, our spiritual homeland. “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” Reverend Edward Everett Hale’s career included vigorous opposition to slavery, his benevolent “Lend A Hand” clubs (that lasted 100 years), and serving as Chaplain of the U.S. Senate from 1903 until his death in 1909. Let us revive his quote with the neon lights of advocacy for Israel!

In closing, anti-Israel lies and accusations are circulating like a social media storm despite Israel’s critical help amid the catastrophic fires. Use wisdom when you read or watch these posts. For example, many posts on X declare that the Iranian Red Crescent Society is offering its help and sympathy. Really? All the while, the Islamic Regime, its proxies, and even American antisemitic cheerleaders are pushing another opportunity to hate Israel and the United States.

Palestinian Media Watch reports, “Palestinian Authority says that California fires are Allah’s punishment of Trump.” A Muslim social media “journalist” accuses Israel with this twisted claim: “You burn hospitals and refugees on a live stream.” Although U.S. aid to Israel ($12.5 billion) is less than 0.00001% of U.S. federal spending (75 percent is spent in U.S. weapons manufacturing), our foreign aid to Israel is essential for U.S. security. Nevertheless, organizations such as Code Pink, Jewish Voices for Peace, and other hate-motivated groups here in the U.S. are contacting Congress with this boorish message: “When U.S. taxes go to burning people alive in Gaza, we can’t be surprised when those fires come home.”

As usual, no reference is made to Hamas as the warmongers who, on October 7, 2023, incited the ongoing conflict. Hamas and its backer, the Islamic Regime, are responsible for the situation in Gaza today. Recall that in 2005, Israel turned Gaza over to Palestinian Arabs—a move intended to “grant Israeli citizens the maximum level of security,” according to Ariel Sharon. Others hoped the move would create a prosperous “Singapore by the sea.” No Jews have lived there for the past 20 years! Unfortunately, the Palestinians voted for Hamas in 2007—putting Hamas totally in charge.

CBN Israel welcomes you to join our prayers this week based on Psalm 147:3—He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Prayer Points:

• Pray with thanks for Israel’s aid, along with firefighting assets from Canada and Mexico.
• Pray for the safety of firefighters, first responders, and forensic recovery dogs.
• Pray that some 150,000 displaced people might have adequate food, shelter, and comfort.
• Pray for CBN’s Operation Blessing and other Christian organizations that are offering relief and hope during this terrible disaster.

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 world’s failure to speak up for the only Jewish state and Jews everywhere has not diminished Israel’s thousands of years of endurance—living under hate of every kind. In fact, although January 2, 2025, marked the end of Israel’s second Hanukkah while fighting its defensive war, they sang, they danced, they feasted, and lit their Feast of Dedication candles. They sang on the Temple Mount, they sang at the Western Wall (Kotel), they sang in the streets, and they sang in their homes. Their overcoming endurance remains eternal, even as they suffer nationwide trauma, loss, and lies from every corner of the globe.

True, during Israel’s Hanukkah celebrations, Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, over a thousand miles to the south, fired ballistic missiles toward Israel every night of Hanukkah, forcing millions of Israelis to run for bomb shelters. However, the Jewish ability to drive out darkness with light began before Hanukkah, when a menorah was built in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv made from missile and rocket pieces. In another location, Israelis built a menorah using fragments from an Iranian ballistic missile fired at Israel a few months ago.

This amazing capacity to drive out darkness takes us back over centuries. The main reason for Hanukkah celebrations, of course, is the victory of the ancient Maccabees over the Seleucid Syrian King Antiochus in 164 B.C. History is replete with facts that the small nation of Israel and its people have overcome the worst circumstances—from Roman rule and the Babylonian captivity to the Holocaust—and, I believe, will do the same in their present-day war against the world’s biggest terror network. This will be the outcome, despite the Islamic Regime’s leaders and proxies in the Middle East having spread their wicked tentacles across the globe, reaching into universities, praising Hamas in the streets, and yes, many pastors and churches remaining silent and fearful. 

However, Israel’s obvious warring enemies—or those who are apathetic, or mentally scarred by propaganda—easily forget that Israel is eternal. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob created and designed Jews to bless the world with redemption and rescue for those who believe in Jesus, our Jewish Messiah. In Isaiah 62, verses 1-4, God makes Himself clear: For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate.

Forgetfulness also extends to the fact that God invested His own words to the world through His chosen people. The Bible, written through Jews, for Jews, and to Jews was extended to us as non-Jews grafted into the olive tree roots of Judaism. In the New Testament, God transformed Saul on the road to Damascus, struck him blind, healed him, then renamed him Paul. This brilliant Jewish scholar, intent on murdering Jewish believers in Jesus, was transformed and commissioned by God to take the Good News to the Gentiles.

Today, lawlessness and the wars on the ground are manifestations of spiritual warfare in the heavens, good against evil. It is easy to fall into depression or despair hearing the news, which is filled with a Hitler-like propaganda against Israel that leads to inaction. We believers in Jesus, our Jewish Messiah, would do well to renounce these emotions. Instead, we should focus on God’s thousands of years preserving His Jewish people, and, for that matter, rescuing us from our own personal challenges. Israeli stamina is a role model for the world—if the world would only grasp that truth.

Like the ancient Maccabees, Israel is victorious on fronts far beyond what was thought possible in their seven-front war for the last 15 months. As an aside, in John 10:22-23, the apostle reported the only passage in the Bible about Jesus attending the Feast of Dedication in the Second Temple. The Maccabees had reclaimed and cleansed it hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth. I daresay our Savior, the King of Kings, rejoiced in the Maccabees’ victory.

More good news for 2025 emerged in the U.S. Congress. You may be surprised to know that our 119th Congress is deemed the most pro-Israel in history. On January 2, 2025, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) reported that 348 pro-Israel Democrats and Republicans—plus the leadership teams of both parties—were sworn in as members of Congress. Included in the success are Mike Johnson’s reelection as Speaker of the House and that two members of the notoriously antisemitic “Squad” no longer serve as members of Congress. These successes rest in large part on Americans who are dedicated to consistently interacting with members of Congress—to educate others and urge them to support Israel—which provides mutual security benefits to both countries.

Please do not mistake the good news here as downplaying the reality of war and the many challenges that lie ahead. Boosting our prayers, matched with our actions, is a necessity. Once again, I am sending out a plea for every reader to include in-person and social media advocacy for Israel in your New Year’s resolutions.

Israel advocacy is part of honoring God in His eternal plans for Israel, yet we have an important role to play in the here and now.

Social media advocacy is simple. It is not time-consuming. Here are several of my favorites: CBNIsrael.com, AlIisrael.com, Israel21c.org, ICEJ.org, CAMERA.org, and IDSF.org. Explore one, then forward one fact/article to correct lies about the Holy Land with truth. If every reader decides to pass on a fact a week, a bigger cadre of truth tellers will emerge.

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team this week to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem using Psalm 122:6.

Prayer Points:

• Pray for Israel to continually carry the lights of her patriarchs.
• Pray for wisdom and health for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• Pray for more mental health providers for Israelis.
• Pray for Christians to join an army of media truth-tellers.

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

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

I recently interviewed two remarkable friends whom I greatly admire, who are inaugurating an inspiring new project in Israel aptly named Root & Branch. Between November 17-27, 2024, they brought 18 Christian volunteers to Israel to help with the olive harvest—a trip with new dimensions and unexpected inspirations.

First, let me introduce Iranian-American Marziyeh Amirizadeh and Israeli-American Jonathan Feldstein, before outlining the surprises—both planned and sacred—with their newly formed Root & Branch project. The two connected on Marziyeh’s first trip to Israel in March 2023. Their friendship has since propagated Root & Branch, a collaboration that is expanding the profound truth and symbolism of Israel’s ancient olive tree.

The olive tree reflects the ancient Jewish faith described by the Jewish Apostle Paul in Romans 11, where he expressed that Christians are grafted into the covenant that God made with the Jewish people, that the root supports the branch.

Jonathan, a modern Orthodox Jew who is a father and grandfather, made Aliyah to Israel in 2004. He launched a non-profit U.S. foundation in 2017, Genesis 123, with the goal of building bridges between Jews and Christians to benefit Israel through cooperative projects and to build friendships. He is known for his podcast Inspiration from Zion—broadcast in 100 nations—along with almost too many cooperative projects to name. These include Run for Zion, raising money to help persecuted Pakistani Christians, warm jackets for Israel Defense Forces, and outreach to displaced Israeli families during the ongoing war. In 2023, he published Israel the Miracle to celebrate Israel’s 75th modern anniversary, which featured prominent pro-Israel Christian leaders. Jonathan is a gifted, energetic organizer and a prolific, sought-after media personality.

Marziyeh, who was born and grew up in Iran, encountered the Lord Jesus in a vivid dream. Her passion to share her faith with the Iranian people later manifested in her visionary idea: a covert distribution of 20,000 Bibles under the cover of darkness into mailboxes and other locations mostly in Tehran, Iran’s capital. Although sharing her faith was, and is, a capital crime instituted by the oppressive Islamic Regime, Marziyeh gave out the Bibles for three years.

Marziyeh was finally arrested and condemned to Iran’s notorious Evin prison, one of the world’s worst places to be incarcerated. Although suffering the traumas of food deprivation, abuse, and threats to execute her by hanging, amid the unimaginable horrors as a persecuted Christian, Marziyeh voiced her love and unwavering faith with the other imprisoned women.

Within these dark, dank, and putrid prison cells, God cultivated a church and new believers. Some were executed and some survived. After nine months, in 2009 Marziyeh was miraculously released following worldwide prayers and intervention from the U.S., U.N., and Vatican. In 2011, she immigrated to the United States and in 2016 became a citizen. Marziyeh has been interviewed in the media countless times in prominent outlets such as Fox & Friends, Mike Huckabee’s show, The Times of London, CBN News, Israeli TV, and more. You may read more in her books, Captive in Iran and A Love Journey with God, via her U.S. non-profit, NewPersia.org.

Marziyeh had longed to go to Israel since she met the Jewish Savior in the Islamic Republic years ago. Walking in Jesus’ footsteps gave her new dreams and plans. When Jonathan interviewed her, their friendship began, resulting in the cooperative project between Genesis 123 and NewPersia.org. Marziyeh founded NewPersia.org to advocate on behalf of persecuted Christians, empowering oppressed women, and dedicated to restoring relationships between Persians, Jews, and Christians. 

As an Israeli, Jonathan admits that he “knew nothing about harvesting olives or making oil,” and Marziyeh knew she “could not do the project alone living in America.” With her big-picture vision for the trip and Jonathan’s expertise to make it happen on the ground, their cooperation began what I call “The Olive Tree Dream Team.”

The Root & Branch harvesting took place in Ashkelon National Park, southwest of Ashkelon on the Mediterranean and north of Gaza. Jonathan explained, “Imagine harvesting olives from trees hundreds of years old and near a 3,500-year-old Canaanite gate in the national park.” Often hearing the artillery of war in the background, Marziyeh observed that none of the team became afraid and she herself firmly trusted Jesus for safety as in her past. Jonathan noted that an 18-member group was “considered big during the war” and drew the attention of many inquisitive and appreciative Jews.

On November 18, the first morning of harvesting, a rainbow appeared in the Israeli skies. Marziyeh viewed it as an affirmation from God for Root & Branch. A second rainbow then appeared at the end of their day. For Marziyeh, the two rainbows held enormous meaning. The rainbows appeared exactly 15 years after her release from Evin Prison on November 18, 2009! When Jonathan shared the meaning of the number 18, life, Marziyeh was filled with gratitude once again—for her salvation and for God sparing her physical life.

After harvesting, the team shared meals with Israelis. The group met with one family whose loved one is still held captive in Gaza. Marziyeh grasped their hands and prayed for them with a deeply personal understanding as a former prisoner of the Islamic Regime. Another evening, the team hosted a meal for an elite IDF unit assigned in Gaza. Afterwards Marziyeh shared with the soldiers explaining, “I grew up in Iran under the Islamic Regime. I became a Christian and I was imprisoned. I want to apologize to you for having to leave your families to fight the Regime.” The IDF commander, who identified himself as a Christian, thanked her: “What you said and prayed as an Iranian, my soldiers will remember as long as they live.” 

The Root & Branch team experienced amazing and varied moments. One rainy harvesting day, an Israeli official, Avi Dichter, came to greet them. A member of the Knesset, the agriculture minister gave them an excellent security briefing. Dichter is also the former head of Shabak, Israel’s General Security Service.

When Jonathan was researching a place to have the 1,000 kilos (2,204 pounds) of harvested olives pressed into oil, an earlier contact told him about a small olive press business in Latrun, about 15 miles west of Jerusalem.

Another sacred surprise occurred when they met the owner, an Arab Christian! He was excited to meet Marziyeh, Jonathan, and the Christian volunteers. He revealed that he too was a Christian. The olive presses were quite noisy but fascinated the group, who watched the entire process until the flavorful oil was ready. Jonathan took a video you may watch here.

The added dimension of an Arab Christian, with an Iranian Christian and a modern Orthodox Jew, can only be described as the hands of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob shaping the Root & Branch outreaches into an endeavor far beyond what was earlier envisioned.

Marziyeh’s vision extends to “not only building friendships between Jews and Christians but also restoring the friendship between Persians and Israelis. The combination is powerful.” She is quick to educate others, telling them that the “Iranian people themselves love Israel.”

When our lunch and interview concluded, Jonathan pulled out a bottle of their freshly harvested olive oil. I took a small piece of bread for a taste. Yes, it was truly more dynamic than any I have ever tasted. Plans will take place for anointing oil and other products to bless Israeli families who are rebuilding their lives. The Root & Branch collaboration promises to ripen into a powerful crop of friendships that will have a world-changing impact.

Jonathan and Marziyeh are already planning their next Root & Branch trip for 2025, during the October/November olive harvest time. Jonathan has received more than 100 inquiries so far and anticipates that busloads of volunteers will participate, including pastors and their tours—even if just for a day.

For more information, please email Root & Branch at rootandbranchisrael@gmail.com or visit their website: www.rootandbranchisrael.com.

Please join our CBN Israel team in prayer for Root & Branch, recalling Zechariah 4:10 (NLT): “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for the new seeds scattered by Root & Branch.
• Pray for Marziyeh and Jonathan as they plan the next mission.
• Pray for the Arab Christian businessman and his community.
• Pray for Jonathan, his family, and Israel—now under fire for almost 15 months.

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

Last night at sundown, Jewish families lit the first candle for their eight-day Hanukkah celebrations. Joining on Christmas Day this year, both Jews and Christians are celebrating light. As Anne Frank once observed, “Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” During the last 14 months, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have bravely defied their enemies in a seven-front war and “define[d] the darkness” every day with lights of victory.

Hundreds of thousands of Israeli reservists and active-duty soldiers have served in the IDF since October 7, 2023. According to the state of Israel’s requirement, any Israeli citizen over the age of 18 who is Jewish, Druze, or Circassian must serve in the Israel Defense Forces. In Gaza alone, during the Swords of Iron war, as of mid-December 386 soldiers have fallen in combat and 5,493 have been wounded. As we light a Hanukkah candle each night during Hanukkah, also called the Feast of Dedication or the Festival of Lights, such loss of life is heartbreaking. 

For upwards of 7 million Jewish citizens, nearly everyone knows someone who has died, been wounded, or is missing. Prayers are lifted up for the remaining 100 hostages living in the darkness of evil. Isaiah 40:1-2 is an inspiring Scripture to pray for our Jewish friends in Israel and globally during their Hannukah Festival of Lights. “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for.”

During a time of sorrow and trauma, Israelis will light their candles each evening, signifying the single cruse of oil that miraculously lasted eight days in the Second Temple candelabrums while the priests made more of the specialized oil needed. Jewish families will eat latkes—the fried potatoes that celebrate the oil—and will dance, sing, and give gifts. 

Amid the precious traditions, however, the Festival of Dedication is more significant today than candles, latkes, and gifts. It is a time where the victories already won by the IDF are miracles. Parents and grandparents will retell their children about the ancient victories won by the Maccabees who amazingly defeated King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. 

The Greek (Hellenistic) king ruled the Seleucid Syrian Empire from 175 B.C. until his death in 164 B.C. He had desecrated the Temple, plundered its sacred vessels, outlawed circumcision, and burned sacred Scriptures. He adopted the name Epiphanes, which means “God manifest, illustrious,” and demanded that the Jews renounce their faith and worship him and his pagan gods. On the front side of a coin minted for Antiochus he is shown wearing a diadem, a crown. 

The IDF, defending the world’s only Jewish state, is a modern replica of the brave Maccabees who rose up against Antiochus. The Islamic Regime and its proxies are the new versions of Antiochus and his pagan empire. The present-day ayatollahs worship a Mahdi, thinking of him as their Islamic savior. Their so-called “savior” allegedly forces the entire world into an oppressive caliphate, not the freedom already won by our Jewish Savior 2,000 years ago. If he were real, the so-called Mahdi would wear a diadem, a crown—as if he had the sovereign power to erase the world’s Jews, Christians, and anyone who was in opposition. 

The modern Islamic Regime has already made its goals as clear as the brightest day on earth. That hateful, murderous regime targets its own population and is emblematic of Antiochus. Also, like Antiochus, the Islamic Regime will eventually suffer defeat based on what the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has voiced throughout Scripture. 

Jewish children really enjoy hearing grown-ups retell the story of the Jewish “hammers,” the colloquial term for Maccabees. Everything came to a head when a Seleucid official tried to force Mattathias, a priest, to make a sacrifice to a pagan god. The Maccabees’ history unfolded from that moment in the already-desecrated Temple when Mattathias killed the enemy. Jews united under him and his five sons and led the liberation, becoming known as the Maccabees (Hebrew for “hammer”)—described as striking hammer blows against their enemies. Jews refer to them as Maccabees, but the family is more commonly known as part of the Hasmoneans. 

Underestimating the Maccabees’ determination, both Antiochus and today’s Islamic Regime (and proxies) have underestimated Jewish resolve. Such resolve—matched with strategic brilliance—to defend their sovereignty and their citizens has been apparent since October 7, 2023. Antiochus first deployed a small force against the Maccabees, and when that force was defeated, the tyrant king sent in much larger, more powerful forces. But the persistent determination of his Jewish adversaries led to Jerusalem being recaptured by the Maccabees and the purification of the Temple—a massive victory that gave birth to the holiday of Hanukkah. 

During the years when Maccabee defenders fought the Seleucids, Antiochus died and his successor agreed to Israel’s independence in 142 B.C., and after more than 500 years of occupation, Jews were free again. When Mattathias died, his son Judas, also known as Judah Maccabee, led the revolt. At the war’s end, only Simon, one of the five sons, survived. He ushered in an 80-year period of Jewish independence in Judea, Israel. The Kingdom regained boundaries, most of Solomon’s realm, and Jewish life flourished. The Hasmoneans claimed the throne of Judah. 

Now, despite the small nation of Israel fighting a seven-front war, the successes of the “modern Maccabees” are beyond imagination too! The highly respected native Israeli, Amir Tsarfati, president of Behold Israel and international Bible teacher, highlights some of the near-miraculous IDF successes. He mentions that Israel now has a buffer zone in both the north and the south where terrorists cannot simply pour over the border. Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran in Syria have been decimated, both their leadership, manpower, and weaponry (ground and aerial). 

Syrian President Assad, a dictator whose regime killed hundreds of thousands of Syrian citizens, has fled to Russia. Israel has made sure that the massive store of weapons that he and his welcomed Iranians left behind is not usable by any rebel or terror groups who take over. Go to Behold Israel on Telegram and other social media for Amir’s commentary and news. 

On December 17, it was an extraordinary moment when Prime Minister Netanyahu stood in Syria on the peak of Mount Hermon with his military leaders making Israeli security assessments for the future. In a video, he commented that it was “nostalgic” to be in Syria once again after 53 years when he was “with his soldiers in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit.” He announced that the IDF would remain in Syrian buffer zones until “other arrangements were made.” An ancient and modern connection in Syria where the Maccabees won each time! 

Israel’s defensive war goes on, yet their achievements bring fresh light into Hanukkah 2024. If you wish to discover additional fascinating details and facts about the Maccabees, read 1 and 2 Maccabees. They were included in Catholic Bibles, omitted from Protestant Bibles, and I am glad that Amazon has not omitted them! 

Prayer Points:

• Pray for Israelis to have a calm Hanukkah inside their borders where they may safely walk, drive, and celebrate. 
• Pray for families and friends of imprisoned hostages, that comfort will pierce their unrelenting grief. 
• Pray with thanks that Lebanese Christians are openly expressing their love for Israel. 
• Pray and praise God that the cruel Assad is no longer in Syria. 
• Pray that world leaders will have wisdom in evaluating any new leaders in Syria. 

By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Beloved by Christians for generations, Corrie ten Boom has sustained and inspired millions with her wisdom. One of those sayings is: “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”

Her book The Hiding Place, published in 1971, tells the story of her family, watchmakers in Haarlem, the Netherlands, during the Holocaust. She was a heroine in the Dutch resistance and survived imprisonment in a concentration camp after Nazis arrested her and her sister for hiding and saving Jewish families.

Both Christians and Jews esteem Corrie. Israel’s Yad Vashem Remembrance Authority honored Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983) as “Righteous Among the Nations.” Strolling along the Avenue of the Righteous at Yad Vashem, Christian visitors make sure to stop at Corrie’s tree, which was dedicated on December 12, 1967. I have walked the avenue many times. Her tree has grown tall.

My interest in Israel began when I married my Jewish husband, Paul. When we heard Corrie speak at a church, her testimony motivated our advocacy for Israel. Reading The Hiding Place, seeing the movie, and visiting the Ten Boom House Museum in the Netherlands has remained with both of us, a Gentile and Jewish couple.

Following the horrors of October 7, 2023, I have written every week about Israeli traumas in the aftermath. Israel had instituted trauma treatments in the past, such as the Israel Trauma Coalition and its 12 resilience centers that provide multidisciplinary intervention before, during, and after emergencies. However, with an entire nation traumatized the need is massive.

Avida Bachar, a farmer from Kibbutz Be’eri, watched Hamas terrorists murder his wife and son on October 7. He also lost his leg and makes an observation that the United States and every other country need to understand: “Palestinians must be moved from Gaza … transfer them to other sovereign states.” Since no other nation is willing to relocate them, it leaves Israel under intense pressure to solve the problem amid terrorists threatening them every day and well into the future.

After October 7, Israel quickly began expanding every trauma treatment avenue in its government and in private institutions—joined by Jewish institutions globally and Christian charities, as well. For example, CBN Israel, Regent University, and the Israel Trauma Coalition developed a unique approach to train Russian-speaking Israeli counselors to help Russian-speaking Israelis, who comprise 15 to 20 percent of the Israeli population. The trauma therapy techniques they implemented were learned by counselors during Ukraine’s war with Russia.

Jewish Israelis are attempting to embrace their histories of resilience, yet their process is compounded by antisemitic demonstrations invading the world with shouts of “kill the Jews.” It is shocking that protestors refuse to understand why Israel is forced to defend its nation in the seven-front war it’s currently engaged in.

Jewish traumas are historically deep-seated and brutal amid echoes of expulsions, pogroms, and the Holocaust. My husband Paul’s parents, like millions of Jewish refugees to America (1880-1924), fled Russian pogroms as children with their parents. They stepped into freedom through Ellis Island, later met and married in Bronx, New York, worked hard, and raised five children. His “pops” served in World War II, drove a taxi, and ran a newspaper stand in Manhattan. They rarely if ever spoke about that period, but Paul vividly remembers his mom describing her childhood traumas “hiding in haystacks” to escape the Russian czar’s pogroms against Jews. Paul is a proud first-generation American, a Navy veteran, and has adopted Fiddler on the Roof as his family’s story.

In addition to Israel’s national trauma, it seems that mental health struggles are hovering like a cloud over our world. Here in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control reported that we are facing a “mental health catastrophe.”

Our response to this catastrophe is three-fold. Paul and I coauthored the recently published book, Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. We wrote it to help others hold on to hope, as we had amid our own personal dark clouds and blue skies. We have been married for 48 years, and Paul’s lifelong bipolar condition was finally diagnosed 25 years ago. Second, Paul began volunteering in 2022 as a weekly co-facilitator with the national Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA). Finally, and most significantly, as believers we felt compelled to share our own pain to comfort others with the comfort God has repeatedly given to us in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5.

Corrie ten Boom’s testimony grew even more foundational from years ago, capturing our hearts for Israel, and now when we began writing and formulating messages of hope and help. Her quote, which I mentioned above, is included in our prologue. The train theme became descriptive for our book! Mental Health Meltdown is a reader-friendly book, a traveling companion that pierces the darkness with light—through first-person stories of 35 others who share their sorrows and successes with depression, bipolar, PTSD, and other mental health issues.

We invite readers to ride what we call the hope train through their individual tunnels and to sit with us and our storytellers to gather practical tools and look ahead for Light and trust the Engineer. In voicing wide-ranging life experiences—ours and others’—we want the stories to help readers grasp insights about differently wired brains from a variety of people.

Public perceptions are changing and hopefully erasing stigmas. No one chooses a physical disability or illness, and no one chooses a mental illness. When the public views mental illnesses with the same kindnesses offered to those with physical illnesses, it will serve to reduce the reality that “no one takes my status seriously because no one can see the disability.”

We have discovered that pastors are often at a loss about how to approach mental health support within their congregations. We included a chapter with one inspiring and insightful pastor’s sermon where he kindly and honestly spoke about mental illnesses. He clearly emphasizes that “God works through miracles and medicines,” and adds, “If you are in Christ and suffer with mental health issues, it does not mean you are less of a Christian nor is it a sin to have a mental illness.” He illustrates King David’s depression in Psalm 139:7-12. His chapter is incredibly helpful!

Personally, knowing others with mental illnesses—and knowing Israelis are determined to survive amid profound grief and traumas—let us recall the prophet Elijah falling asleep under a juniper tree due to emotional, spiritual, and physical exhaustion. In 1 Kings 19:3-4. Elijah asked God to take his life, yet God responded with comfort, encouraging him to rest and providing food and water for him. When it comes to Israel and anyone you know grappling with mental struggles, following God’s example of focusing on prayer, with help and comfort as your watchwords.

You may order our words in Mental Health Meltdown on Amazon.

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

• Pray for an outpouring of help for Israelis in their daily national trauma.
• Pray for the hostages imprisoned by Hamas amid traumas we cannot even imagine.
• Pray for families of hostages suffering emotional pain and grief.
• Pray for Americans and their families who are facing mental health crises.