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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

When the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) hired me as its first Southeast Regional Christian Outreach Director in 2007, an exceptional privilege awaited me. AIPAC’s foresight as a historically Jewish institution to welcome Christians, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians into pro-Israel advocacy was not only an act of unity but has turned out to be a necessity now more than ever since the October 7 massacres and kidnappings. Glancing into the rearview mirror after retiring nine years later in 2016, I remain indebted to AIPAC for being a pro-Israel advocate before and after my position as its first outreach director.

AIPAC’s leadership and training have embodied a rare coalition of diverse people with only one shared goal: strengthening the U.S./Israel relationship in Congress among both Democrats and Republicans. AIPAC is (and since 1954 has been) an American organization laser-focused on one purpose: to work with the administration and members of Congress to benefit both Israel and the United States of America.

Education, facts, and relationships have powered AIPAC’s influence taking hold more prominently from the 1990s onward. AIPAC was often described by many as a political action committee focusing on the last three letters of its acronym. It is still Public Affairs Committee.

However, in a timely decision in 2022 amid the doses of poison polluting American politics, AIPAC expanded by adding two political action committees: the AIPAC PAC and a super PAC called United Democracy Project. In this election cycle, both Republican and Democratic donors are contributing to AIPAC’s PACs for current Democratic and Republican members of Congress and candidates running for office.

About each of these candidates, AIPAC donors are interested in one simple fact: Is the legislator or candidate a demonstrated supporter of the U.S./Israel relationship? Recently two House members, outspoken against Israel’s right to defend its existential attacks supported by the Islamic Regime, have lost their primaries: Cori Bush (D-MO) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY). A great outcome for AIPAC and pro-Israel advocates.

In my staff position with AIPAC, I informed and engaged pastors, churches, and Christian leaders in businesses, ministries, and national organizations throughout the Southeast and beyond. For nine years I communicated one foundational message to Christians: We must follow in the footsteps of famous biblical trailblazers whose stories we love. Moses was an ancient lobbyist when he approached Pharaoh to “let my people go.” Esther prayerfully took a political stance while hosting a dinner to honor King Ahasuerus. There she revealed Haman’s genocidal plot to murder her people, the Jews.

Because Moses and Queen Esther acted on God’s directions and strategies to lobby two powerful leaders, the Jewish people miraculously survive to this very day. This is politics at its finest, appealing to a leader with a life-altering request on behalf of Jews. After October 7, Christians living today find ourselves at a turning point in world history with Israel and the Jewish community as the centerpiece globally.

Given that politics and the U.S. Congress are so unpopular today, is there any sense in following ancient Moses and Esther in their dangerous times into controversy and chaos today? The horrors of October 7 provide our answer.

Whether or not you are an advocate for Israel though AIPAC or another effective organization, it is essential to understand the benefits for the United States in supporting our greatest ally, Israel. The small nation of Israel is an island of democracy and freedom in a sea of dictatorial regimes. To estimate the benefits Israel offers the U.S. is impossible. However, it is decidedly an enormous return on investment.

One of the key benefits to Americans is Israeli intelligence, which helps us with our own security and counterterrorism strategies. As drug and human trafficking cartels, violent gangs, and known terrorists flood our open southern border, Israel’s intelligence capabilities are a vital benefit.

The strong friendship between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the U.S. military produces shared technologies and techniques that benefit both nations. By pioneering innovative technologies that include cyber defense, sensors, electronic warfare systems, and battlefield medical support, Israel helps save American soldiers. Both militaries share know-how to improve equipment and tactics.

The U.S. also benefits economically, since more than 75 percent of security assistance to Israel is spent in the United States at weapons factories— which helps create thousands of excellent American jobs. Israel is a crucial location for the War Reserves Stock Allies-Israel program. The United States owns and manages weapons worth $3.4 billion—stored in Israel for U.S. military use. With the Middle East teetering on a more expansive level of war—and American military assets in the region—a stockpile is invaluable.

As our only democratic ally in the Middle East, Israel defends itself by itself and does not ask for American boots on the ground. This diminutive nation is forced to spend more on defense as a percentage of its GDP than any other nation in the industrialized world. Nonetheless they are indeed grateful for the U.S. Congress, Christian supporters, and our military presence in the air and on their ships.

One of AIPAC’s staff and volunteer activists’ most important roles annually is to interact with Congress to make sure Israel receives its annual security aid. As Israel now fights a multi-front war, security aid primarily funds Israel’s purchase of weapons needed to defend itself. For those of us who consistently pray for Israel, we can thank God that our Congress performs the vital function of keeping the Jewish people safer in their homeland.

Politics on behalf of the U.S.-Israel relationship can then become a holy act in a secular context.

For pro-Israel Christians who either disdain politics and the U.S. Congress—or who are discouraged with perceived congressional inaction—read this next paragraph closely. Jewish, Christian, Black, Hispanic, and Asian members of AIPAC are following Moses and Esther as role models. In 2024, AIPAC worked in Washington to pass the largest security funding in Israel’s history: $4 billion for the Iron Dome and David’s Sling, $4.4 billion to replenish U.S. stockpiles, $3.5 billion to acquire more weapons for its multi-front war, and $1.2 billion for Iron Beam, Israel’s emerging laser system that will intercept rockets and drones at a fraction of the cost. Click here for more details.

AIPAC and its activists have educated Congress with many facts that have produced excellent legislation. Highlights include bans on funding UNRWA and the anti-Israel UN Commission of Inquiry; the No Technology for Terror Act restricting American technology to Iran; sanctions on groups like Hamas that use humans as shields; and the Mahsa Amini Human Rights and Security Accountability Act, which holds the Islamic Regime accountable for the brutal repression of its citizens. These are but a sampling of what Congress is enacting legislatively despite the far-left members of Congress led by the terror-supporting Squad.

AIPAC has grown into an organization of more than 4 million pro-Israel Americans living in 435 congressional districts who are working to strengthen bipartisan support for the U.S.-Israel relationship.

While America is more secure when Israel is strong, history repeatedly proves that the God of Abraham, Isacc, and Jacob has preserved His chosen people for thousands of years. While God’s promises remain nevertheless, believers must position ourselves in prayer and action for our spiritual homeland, where our Jewish Jesus walked on earth and fulfilled Scriptures in the Old and New Testaments.

Our CBN Israel team welcomes you to pray with us this week from Psalm 122:6—Jerusalem, we pray that you will have peace, and that all will go well for those who love you.

Prayer Points:

• Pray for the majority of the U.S. Congress to remain committed to Israel.
• Pray that any anti-Semitism in Congress will no longer be a reality.
• Pray for AIPAC, its staff, and activists, for enduring strength.
• Pray for more Christians to follow Moses and Esther in politics.

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

The October 7 invasion and massacre signaled a resurgence of lies even as the world’s only Jewish state fought for its modern existence—in a war it did not begin, yet was forced to fight. Aided by the mainstream media and Jew-hating people and nations, Cyberspace Jihad is nothing less than a social media tsunami sweeping blame and shame upon Israelis.

Backed by the Islamic Regime, the world’s biggest terror-sponsoring country, the October 7 war is shocking in its intensity. One of God’s titles, Commander of Angel Armies, assures us that He will exert His plan in His time. However, those who trust God and His eternal covenants with Jews have a part to play so that our silence does not transform into apathy. 

“The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.” This simple definition of propaganda may sound bland, but an unscrupulous, destructive use of propaganda can result in world-changing events. In fact, the slander against Israel after 10 months of unasked-for war has turned the world against a nation that has benefited thousands if not millions of people with its innovations, humanitarian aid, and medical discoveries.

We the people must BE the mainstream media, both individually and as groups. Rewinding back to the pre-Nazi era will help equip us with purpose and vigilance. Our citizenry must choose facts and reliable sources to expose the web of propaganda (both foreign and domestic) that is encircling Israel, our country, and the entire globe.

We Gentiles who are not in Israel must recognize another kind of war. It is time to dig trenches of truth and shovel facts out into the open to oppose the Cyberspace Jihad. Pay attention to the words of Winston Churchill, who in 1948 warned the House of Commons in a speech paraphrased from philosopher George Santayana: “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” Our advocacy toolbox at this most dangerous time for Israel—and for Americans, with Iran actively involved in domestic propaganda in the United States—must include knowledge about Hitler’s infamous formula that is now repeating itself.

The origins of dangerous culture-altering propaganda reside in one book and two men: the 1925 book Mein Kampf by Adolph Hitler and Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels was Germany’s minister of propaganda. Hitler hired this mastermind and gave him his official propaganda title. Goebbels is infamous for carrying out the Nazi deception. It should not be surprising that today, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are finding copies of Mein Kampf in Arabic—in Gazan apartments. Goebbels, who stood 5 feet 5 inches tall and was nicknamed the “Poison Dwarf,” implemented Hitler’s demonic strategies with the “big lie.”

When reading some of Hitler/Goebbels’ quotes, think about the current non-stop slander against Israel and against Jewish communities worldwide. The Islamic Regime and its proxies—Hamas, Hezbollah, the Palestinian Authority, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad—have infected the world with hatred, the underpinning of propaganda. Jew hatred has the unfortunate designation as the world’s oldest hatred, yet now it is visible to anyone among the 8 billion world population with a mobile phone.

Some wily propagandists accuse Israel of committing the October 7 atrocities themselves—upon their own citizens. Others say Hamas’s viciousness never happened. Hitler himself proudly claimed that his propaganda technique was “so colossal” that no one would believe it would even be attempted. He called it “impudence to distort the truth so infamously.” Too many Germans fully based their loyalty to Hitler on colossal lies.

Hitler’s book listed many strategies; however, understanding even a few of them will be helpful.

• Hitler: “The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly—it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.” Goebbels: “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.” Many in mainstream media seem to believe the lies themselves—after repeating them day after day.
• Another perspective appears in a book, The Mind of Adolph Hitler, written in 1943 by psychoanalyst Walter C. Langer. He described Hitler’s strategy this way. “His primary rules: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong.” Langer was respected by the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which was established in 1942 as the first independent intelligence agency in the United States. It has long been considered the precursor to the CIA.

In Germany, first it was book burnings, then Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass, which involved the destruction of over 7,000 Jewish businesses), mandated yellow stars on clothing, and finally trains filled with Jewish families destined for death. All the while, Goebbels, German elites, and German citizens found fascination in elegant parties, massive rallies, parades, and cultural events glorifying Hitler. I am reminded of two Palestinian leaders: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (now eliminated), who lived in luxury in Qatar collecting big bucks, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who lives in a multimillion-dollar mansion in Ramallah, who adds money to his Swiss bank account.

Too many Christians have needlessly given up on current news and have lagged in learning facts about Israel. We must press on. Here are Christian and Jewish media that will restore your outlook. Explore, then share truth to oppose Cyberspace Jihad:

• CBN News
• All Israel News
• The Jerusalem Connection Report
• CAMERA
• Palestinian Media Watch
• Foundation for Defense of Democracies

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team this week, determining to move forward in prayers and actions by reflecting on Isaiah 40:31—“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray fervently for safety for the IDF as they fight a multi-front war.
• Pray for all Israelis for safety and strength at this most dangerous time.
• Pray for Christians to oppose Cyberspace Jihad by sharing facts.
• Pray for American soldiers who are in harm’s way in Iraq, lest they be attacked again by Iran.

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

On July 27—just days ago—a Hezbollah missile crashed into a soccer field in Majdal Shams, a peaceful Druze village in northern Israel. Yet, soon after murdering 12 Druze children and teens, with injuries to many more, Hezbollah terrorists claimed that they were not the culprits.

The next morning, 10 of the children’s caskets, carried on the shoulders of shocked pallbearers at the mass funeral, began the procession in a long line toward their burial places. Forensic evidence has proven that the 110-pound missile was indeed an Iranian-made Falaq-1 weapon, launched from southern Lebanon onto innocent children at soccer practice. The community of Majdal Shams is a scant four miles from the Lebanese border in the Golan Heights.

Hezbollah has occupied southern Lebanon since the 1980s, developing into Iran’s most powerful proxy. It is now a state within a state, the Islamic Regime on the ground—and right next to Israel. Hezbollah stores tons of its weapons in Lebanon, including at Beirut’s international airport and in nearby warehouses. Make no mistake: The Islamic Regime is the savage sponsor for its surrogates in the Middle East.

The Regime once again exhibited its evil toward innocent children as it did on October 7, 2023—this time through Hezbollah. The anguished Druze community is asking a question that must be answered, “Why is Beirut still standing?” Without doubt, this query applies to Hezbollah’s massive weapons depot, since the IDF does not target innocent civilians.

The Druze are a minority in Israel, composed of around 150,000 people, and many choose to become Israeli citizens. They valiantly serve in the Israel Defense Forces, often in senior positions. Ten Druze officers have perished thus far fighting the war against Hamas. Israeli Druze are a close-knit community and loyal to Israel. Approximately 1 million other Druze live in Syria and Lebanon.

As a unique religious and ethnic group, Druze mostly broke away from Islam a thousand years ago and created their mysterious, monotheistic religion combining elements of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Greek philosophy. They revere Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, as their prophet, and every April they honor Jethro with a three-day Druze festival in Tiberius. Ninety-nine percent of Israeli Druze said they believe in God. Druze do not allow converts or demand their own state, and they speak both Arabic and Hebrew. Israeli Druze citizens in the IDF refer to the Jewish-Druze partnership as “a covenant of blood” in recognition of the military yoke carried by both groups for the security of Israel. Many Druze serve in elite IDF units.

Any Christian who has visited a Druze community has memories of their warm hospitality, and I am among them. The massacre in Majdal Shams hit me hard. In 2019, I attended Israel’s Christian Media Summit, organized by that nation’s Government Press Office. A Jewish friend organized a day trip to Majdal Shams for a group of us Christian media prior to the summit. The Druze community treated us like royalty. Their hospitality overflowed, providing a meal of delicious food and holding a soccer game in our honor. The same soccer field where the children were murdered and injured, a green field now red with the blood of children in view of Israel’s lush Golan Heights.

Our hosts presented us with a special bronze medallion. Embossed on the front and back in English and Arabic, it pictured Druze, American, and Israeli flags tied with a blue-and-white ribboned lanyard symbolizing Israel’s flag colors. One of our hosts was Mendi Safadi, head of the Safadi Center for International Diplomacy, Research, Human Rights and Public Relations, who greeted us warmly. I have stayed in touch with Mendi, and he sent me his first-hand perspective on the massacre. Mendi was born and grew up in Majdal Shams and is raising his family there. He commented with relief that his children were spared because they were late to soccer practice on that fateful day, and while they “are OK,” Mendi “hurts with his community every moment.”

He describes the scene of the massacre as “still bloody, and the remains of body parts are still being collected, but the facts do not prevent the series of lies from flooding the Arab media.” He goes on to say that the Iranian Falaq-1 missile contained “over 50 kilos of explosives.” We cannot comprehend the pain of collecting the body parts of our children. He calls October 7 and July 27 the Jewish and Druze “Black Sabbaths,” stating that “We cry out, ‘NO MORE!’” Mendi advises, “Israel must wisely ignore the external pressures that have no compassion for the blood that is spilled.” He remarks, “Today more than ever my thesis proves its correctness that it is impossible to fight terrorism with democratic tools.”

About the terrorist organizations, Mendi has no complaints against them because he doesn’t “expect anything [different] from them.” Rather, he says, “I have complaints against the enlightened and democratic world that has been running around for more than nine months to tie Israel’s hands and prevent it from protecting its citizens. I have complaints against the president of the United States who thwarts our efforts to destroy terrorism for electoral reasons. If the West has not yet realized that they are next in line if Israel falls, there is nothing left to expect.”

In addition, he observes, “As the pressure on Israel increases, the possibility of freeing the captives recedes; as the West adds humanitarian aid, more children are killed; as more surrender to terrorism, negotiate with it and meet its demands, October 7 may return.”

While Mendi mentions the Arab media, look at some of the other headlines that degrade the murders of Israeli Druze children: A BBC headline read, “Ten Dead in Rocket Attack on Israeli-Occupied Golan.” The Washington Post emphasized this headline: “Israel Hits Targets in Lebanon.” No emphasis on the Islamic Regime or its proxy Hezbollah as the murderers they are. Israel does not “occupy the western two-thirds of the Golan Heights” as some have falsely claimed. This region rightfully belongs to Israel.

After his immediate notification about the massacre, Benjamin Netanyahu returned early from his trip to the United States, flying back on Wing of Zion, Israel’s version of Air Force One. When he landed, he went directly to meet with his security cabinet where they finalized their military decisions, and then he visited Majdal Shams.

Speaking with the deeply devastated community, Israel’s Prime Minister declared, “Our response will come, and it will be harsh.” He observed, “We are brothers. We have an alliance in life, and unfortunately also an alliance in times of bereavement and agony. … Israel will continue to stand with you.”

Mendi Safadi’s conclusion rings true: “Israel has no way of regaining its military superiority that would deter its enemies, without proving it in a powerful and overwhelming war against Iran’s central arm [Hezbollah] in the region.”

With war on every front, plus the mainstream media’s propaganda war against Israel, we continue to pray for Israel and her citizens. We rely upon God as described in Psalm 46:7—“Here He comes! The Commander! The mighty LORD of Angel Armies is on our side! The God of Jacob fights for us!”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for Druze in Israel as they face the horrors of terror that has befallen their youth—and especially for the families of the 16 Druze children who remain hospitalized.
• Pray for Israel’s leaders to make the hard decisions needed to defeat the new Hitlers.
• Pray for an increase in humanitarian aid and trauma teams already in motion to help.
• Pray for people of good will to stand up and speak out the facts about our greatest ally, Israel.
  

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.