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By Arlene Bridges Samuels

Last year, Israelis celebrated their new year (Rosh Hashanah, “head of the year”) on September 15–17. Happy holiday (chag sameach) greetings rang out while Jewish families dipped delicious apples into fresh honey, a symbol for a sweet new year. Yet just 22 days later, on October 7, the bitter fruit of terror buried itself into Jewish minds and hearts when Hamas terrorists launched a shocking invasion into the Jewish ancestral homeland.

This year, a series of Jewish observances in October begins with Rosh Hashanah on October 3–4, based on Israel’s lunar calendar for the year 5,785. Three days later, on October 7, the nation’s anguish will be amplified as Israel marks the unspeakable on its one-year anniversary. As of today, 101 hostages are still imprisoned, upwards of 100,000 Israelis are refugees in their own land, Israeli casualties stand at 1,660—all while the world’s biblically illiterate label Israel as the aggressor, not the victim.

Israelis will exert themselves as much as they possibly can to greet the new year while seated at Rosh Hashanah tables. Chairs that had once been filled with family and friends laughing, joking, cooking, and eating will be unoccupied. Other chairs will remain empty, representing Israelis murdered by terrorists who ingest the poison of hatred as IDF soldiers defend their nation in an eight-front war. The dreaded day—October 7, 2024—then arrives, where Israelis relive their trauma. The Israeli version of PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, should have a new name: perpetual traumatic stress disorder. Because it never ends. That fact remains a harsh reality, a mental health issue shared by almost everyone.

On October 12, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, follows. On this, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Israel shuts down amid prayer and fasting. Israelis cannot help but wonder if an act of terror will happen again on this holy day. After all, it was on October 6, 1973, that Egyptian and Syrian forces surprised Israel with an attack—also on Yom Kippur. Miraculously, the IDF repelled them.

Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, is next in line, celebrated from October 17 to 23. For this fall harvest festival, Israelis build temporary shelters, some in grassy yards or perched on their apartment balconies, and gaily decorate them for meals and sleepovers. Sukkot is a remembrance of Israel’s 40-year desert journey, when the Israelites lived in temporary shelters after escaping Egypt.

Famous British Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks left a legacy of brilliant quotes. Here’s one I particularly like about Sukkot: “Sitting in the [shelter] under its canopy of leaves, I often think of my ancestors and their wanderings across Europe in search of safety, and I begin to understand how faith was their only home,” he wrote. “It was fragile, chillingly exposed to the storms of prejudice and hate. But it proved stronger than superpowers and outlived them all.”

God’s sovereign promises assure us that Israel “will outlive them all” in Jeremiah 31:35-36. “This is what the LORD says, He who appoints the sun to shine by day, Who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD Almighty is His name. Only if these decrees vanish from My sight, declares the LORD, will Israel ever cease being a nation before me.”

The eighth day of Sukkot is called Shemini Atzeret, with Simchat Torah (“Rejoicing of the Torah”) taking place immediately afterward on October 24. The elegantly encased Torah scrolls are gently carried throughout synagogues and reverently touched with the joy of receiving God’s law.

However, for Israelis looking toward Simchat Torah on October 24 this year, the invasion on October 7 last year will be a terrible reminder that the horror took place on Simchat Torah—traditionally a day devoted to reading the Torah. Last year’s Rejoicing of the Torah simply did not take place. In one sense, though, the many stories of heroism on and after October 7, now continuously shared almost a year later, follow closely the Jewish value of “tikkun olam”—repairing the world—with lifesaving rescues of those attacked, wounded, or in need of help emerging from citizens for citizens. 

Throughout the millennia, those who harbor hatred toward Jews and Israel sometimes seem to favor destruction on important Jewish calendar days. The 1973 Yom Kippur war is an example. In making his multi-part documentary titled October 7th, 2023, filmmaker Dan Gordon researched and made a lesser-known discovery about October 7. He learned that “October 7 was a direct descendant of the massacres in the ancient Jewish communities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Tzfat, Tiberius and others in the 1920s and ’30s … long before there was even a state of Israel.”

Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, is viewed as the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. On it, Jews mourn tragedies in their history, especially the destruction of the First and Second Temples and the city of Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago. In the last 100 years, Tisha B’Av has included a day of mourning for Jewish communities massacred in the Middle East, North Africa, the pogroms of Eastern Europe, and the Holocaust. On Tisha B’Av 2024, August 12–13, the link between Tisha B’Av and October 7 shaped up as a major theme where thousands of synagogues across all Jewish denominations incorporated texts about October 7. Many predict that the October 7 onslaught will be canonized into Jewish liturgy.

Kindnesses from Christians toward any Jewish friends, synagogues, or Jewish organizations in your community are timely leading into and during the month of October. Send a letter, card, or email with a compassionate message. Attend an October 7 event that may be taking place near where you live. Include prayers for Jews, who are a population of only 15 million people globally, including around 245,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors in more than 90 countries. 

Amid the anguish embedded in Jewish citizenry, God repeatedly emphasizes His assurances in Scripture. Presently, the dangers Israel itself is facing are complex and appear beyond any solution. That is, until we fasten our hopes for ourselves within God’s promises and for the worldwide Jewish community.

Most importantly, in Isaiah 46:4 the God of the universe assures humankind about Israel, the apple of His eye. “I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” And that, God has done for thousands of years!

We welcome you to join our CBN Israel team to pray for Israel this week in the lead-up to October, always aware that Israel is our spiritual homeland through Jesus our Savior.

Prayer Points:

• Pray for shalom and strength for Israeli Jews in October.
• Pray about how you can reach out to Jews with kindnesses.
• Pray for IDF members who are increasing their defenses against Hezbollah.
• Pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu for his protection and wisdom.

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

Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, regularly encounters walls of opposition that seem to tower far above Israel’s Western Wall, a remaining treasure of Israel’s Second Temple retaining wall (Kotel).

Alongside Jewish prayers, the Kotel’s crevices are filled with the prayers of Christians from all over the globe. The crevices of our hearts are also filled with prayers for Israel’s strength and safety as the earthly homeland of our Savior Jesus. No matter where we live, special prayers for Bibi must now rise to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The book of Psalms, a Jewish hymnbook, is replete with prayers and songs from King David under siege that are most apt for this time.

The weight on the prime minister’s shoulders—and the nation—grew heavier when Hamas monsters murdered six hostages, knowing the IDF was close to rescuing these six innocent souls. In a speech on September 7, 2024, Netanyahu spoke as a younger brother whose older brother had died in a heroic IDF rescue operation 48 years before.

On July 3, 1976, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan (Yoni) Netanyahu headed Israel’s elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit. They famously rescued Jewish civilian hostages after the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—which also included two German members of the notorious Baader-Meinhof Gang—skyjacked an Air France flight out of Tel Aviv. The Jewish passengers had already been singled out by the Palestinian and German terrorists, who confiscated their passports. The non-Jewish hostages were released. The plane landed in Entebbe, Uganda, where the hijackers were welcomed by Idi Amin, the vicious Ugandan dictator. In a shootout with the skyjackers, Lt. Col. Netanyahu and three hostages were killed.

Bibi’s remarks last weekend reveal a brother who knows firsthand the emotions of a family member murdered by terrorists: [watch here]. Netanyahu observes that the Entebbe rescue and his brother’s death “changed the course” of his life.

Israelis have elected Bibi’s Likud party, where he served as its leader six separate times: in 1996, 2009, and was reelected in 2013, 2015, 2020 and 2022. He is consistently articulate in his assessment of the Islamic Regime and its proxies in what is currently an eight-front war: Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Jordanian border, West Bank, and cyberwarfare. Already, a network of 19 websites has been identified as Iranian propaganda against the Jewish state aimed at the United States, Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and South America. Lies against Netanyahu are prevalent.

However, after the news of the six hostage murders, upwards of 500,000 protesters filled streets in Israel last weekend. One sign vilified the prime minister: “Executed by Hamas, Abandoned by Netanyahu.” Don’t the murders of these six Jewish souls, so close to rescue, confirm that Hamas does not want peace? All they must do is release all hostages and lay down their weapons of war.

It is easy to agree that the Israeli level of PTSD—estimated to cost the Israeli economy more than $50 billion over the next five years—transitions into frustration, tears, and outrage in 11 months of war. Israel’s vibrant democracy is at work amid their stress, yet not all Israelis are demanding the same solution. The divided population pleads on one hand for a ceasefire now to free the remaining hostages. The other side does not want the IDF to stop its many successes—defeating its enemies to eliminate future threats that are sure to come.

Pivotal in the national divide right now is the Philadelphi Corridor, a nine-mile-long, 100-yard-wide strip on the Israel-Egypt border. Hamas demands that Israel exit totally before they will agree to any truce. Israel and the U.S. say NO.

In a September 2 news conference Netanyahu rightly pointed out, “The axis of evil needs the Philadelphi Corridor, and for that reason we must control the Philadelphi Corridor” [emphasis mine]. His decades-long threat comprehension is based on the IDF discovering and blowing up dozens of tunnels running from Egypt into Gaza, a business bonanza for terror. Large trucks, intact weaponry, and personnel have used the tunnels for years to further their goal of killing every Jewish man, woman, and child. The proof is overwhelming. Netanyahu wisely does not trust one Hamas word amid their psychological games about the hostages’ possible release if Israel agrees to the terrorists’ outrageous demands.

Most of the world, its leaders, and part of Israel’s citizens think that Hamas will somehow compromise. Nadav Argaman, former head of Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency, accuses Netanyahu of simply being power hungry. In a September 7 Israeli TV interview, he alleged that Netanyahu “knows very well that no smuggling takes place over the Philadelphi Corridor. So, we are now relegated to living with this imaginary figment.” 

Argaman’s shocking “imaginary figment” idea is the opposite of IDF reports. Additionally, more than 35,000 reserve officers in Israel Defense and Security Forum (IDSF) from all branches of the Israeli security forces disagree. The IDSF founder is Chairman Brigadier General (ret.) Amir Avivi.

The IDSF describes its mission as “a Zionist, security-based movement, whose aim is to position Israel’s security as the top national priority … which ensures the sovereignty of the Jewish people in their homeland for generations to come.” They correctly add, “Part of Israel’s security must be anchored in its ability to protect itself, by itself.” In a letter to the prime minister, one of their extraordinarily experienced military assessments is worth reading. (Note: Prime Minister Netanyahu was also a member of the elite Sayeret Matkal unit during his IDF service.)

A quote in the IDSF letter: “Over the standing of the Philadelphi Corridor in the hostage deal, our professional opinion is that to claim that the hostage deal may include a temporary withdrawal of several weeks from the Philadelphi Corridor is to deceive the public, materially endanger the hostages’ lives, and possibly reverse many of the IDF’s achievements in the war. It may even mean needless shedding of our soldiers’ blood in areas that were already captured and cleared, or at the hands of a Hamas immeasurably more dangerous once it returns to battle.” In reality, the Islamic Regime and its proxies, enslaved by demonic hatred, will not compromise.

With 25 years in the pro-Israel movement, I have heard and seen the Prime Minister up close in the U.S., on many trips to Israel including the GPO Christian Media Summits, and online with his repeated comment about the Christian community, “We have no better friends on earth than you.” Let us pledge our friendship in prayer and action for Israel’s security-wise yet beleaguered Prime Minister.

Our CBN Israel team invites you to join us in prayers for Bibi. Prime Minister Netanyahu understands the vast divide between good and evil and so do we. Isaiah 5:20 reminds us: “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.”

Prayer Points:

• Pray for Bibi’s physical and mental health to remain stable with supernatural shalom. 
• Pray that toxic disagreements with the prime minister will dissolve into a united front for Israeli victory. 
• Pray for Netanyahu and his family’s safety and for his vigilant security detail.
• Pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu as he is scheduled to speak on September 26, 2024, at the UN General Assembly.

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 September 1, Israel celebrated in a wave of joy. The Israel Defense Forces had found the Bedouin-Muslim Israeli hostage Farhan al-Qadi alive in a tunnel. Yet after his rescue, countrywide joy was quickly extinguished by another unspeakable horror that swept through Israel with the force of a lightning bolt. The IDF found the bodies of six murdered hostages in a tunnel below Rafah—less than a mile away from the tunnel where they had rescued al-Qadi. In an act of unimaginable cruelty, terrorists had executed the hostages shortly before soldiers reached them.

The world must understand the beastly nature of these murderers. In the words of Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida: “The instructions issued to the guards are clear on what to do if the occupying army comes close to a site of detention.” Let this demonic Hamas policy sink in: They murdered six hostages because the IDF troops came too close to where they were keeping them imprisoned.

Can you imagine the devastation the brave soldiers must have experienced when they found the bodies of these six souls and reverently carried their bodies into their homeland? The act of releasing the six hostages—and all hostages—could have been an eloquent Hamas statement to the world for a ceasefire and true peace. But such a thing is not in their DNA. Murdering Jews, all Jews, non-Jewish citizens, and Palestinians is Hamas’s agenda.

It gets worse. Hamas executed these six people by shooting them multiple times at close range. After examining the hostages’ bullet-ridden bodies, forensic experts reported that they were murdered likely on August 29 or 30 after surviving 11 months in captivity. As you read their names, pray for their families and the entire nation since every citizen considers them as sons and daughters: Israeli-American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, and Israeli citizens Carmel Gat, 40, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Alexander Lubnov, 32, Almog Sarusi, 27, and Ori Danino, 25.

The New York Times described the six slain as “killed.” CNN said Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin “died.” Mainstream media, take note! Murdered and executed are the correct verbs here!

The victims’ grief-stricken families are holding funerals all over Israel. Hundreds of people line the streets and thousands attend funerals. Israeli flags draped over caskets are wet with tears. The wailing of many mothers fills the air. A Rabbi declares, “The whole of Israel is crying today.” A funeral attendee commented at Eden Yerushalmi’s funeral, “I never met her, but she’s family.”

Another phrase is often heard, “At least they are home now.” Profound words. They have been true for thousands of years. The Jewish hostages are now home in their ancestral homeland.

Over the centuries, the Jewish community has existed in joy and in horror. When troops found Farhan al-Qadi in a Rafah tunnel on August 27, the jubilation had no boundary. Israel, regularly accused of apartheid against its non-Jewish population, celebrated in every community—the Jewish majority as well as minority communities of Christians, Arabs, and Druze. The 52-year-old security guard kidnapped from a business near Gaza spent more than 10 months in Hamas tunnels. This father of 11 is a citizen, a Bedouin-Muslim Israeli.

Weak, malnourished, and united with his family in the hospital, Farhan al-Qadi talked about living in almost total darkness. One hostage was captive for two months and died next to him. Farhan was shot in the leg when kidnapped, but Hamas operated on him without anesthesia. He commented, “We must remember that there are other people inside [the tunnels].” He also explained that being a native Arabic speaker did not help him. Al-Qadi was one of six Bedouins kidnapped on October 7, according to the Prime Minister’s office. Bedouins hold Israeli citizenship and have extensive familial ties that stretch into Gaza.

The IDF is making tremendous progress in Gaza, especially by securing the Philadelphi Corridor between Israel and Egypt. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes it clear that if the IDF were to leave Philadelphi, Hamas would be able to rearm, revive, and repeat October 7. Netanyahu is right. He knows that the death cult of crazed Hamas cowardice continues.

However, with Yahya Sinwar—the Gaza-based architect of evil—in charge no hostage or ceasefire deal is possible. Of the terror trio of Hamas “leaders,” he is the only one left after the IDF eliminated Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif in July. Now, Sinwar is Israel’s most wanted terrorist. An IDF spokesman says he is “a dead man walking.” The IDF’s latest assessments show that 6,000 of Sinwar’s murderous thugs breached the Holy Land on October 7, 2023—nearly double the number initially reported—and that many of these were elite forces.

Sinwar now hides out in tunnels—some 15 stories deep. For protection, he encircles himself with hostages handcuffed together. Taking hostages as human shields is a war crime under international law. Yet it is Hamas’s habitual, cowardly custom to frequently hide behind Palestinian civilians and hostages. Unfortunately, much of the world does not care about Hamas’s war crimes and has adopted an unthinkable terror mindset by wondering why Israel must defeat unconcealed aggression.

Sinwar has fulfilled the meaning of his last name. Sin and War—a thoroughly appropriate name for murderous sin and the immoral war that has shockingly circled the globe with Jew hatred, lawlessness, and anti-Israel propaganda.

The IDF has collected intelligence indicating tunnels where they could eliminate the notoriously elusive Sinwar, yet attacks were never authorized due to the hostages’ dangerous proximity to him. When he ventures outside, he is dressed as a woman.

A glance into Sinwar’s mindset is revealing. In 1989, when he was 27 years old, Israel imprisoned Sinwar for kidnapping and murdering two IDF soldiers and four Palestinians he deemed to be collaborators with Israel. He got four life sentences plus 25 years. Then, in the controversial 2011 prisoner exchange negotiation, the “Shalit deal,” Hamas freed Gilad Shalit, an IDF soldier. Israel agreed to release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Sinwar—who had served just 22 years and was never again supposed to see the light of day—was among them.

His humane treatment in an Israeli prison is a picture of Israel’s humanity: During Sinwar’s 23-year imprisonment, he was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumor. A Jewish doctor successfully operated on him, saving his life. However, the Jewish doctor’s mercy only turned into more hatred inside Sinwar’s brain. Mercy mattered not.

Meanwhile the IDF continues its policy to protect Palestinian Gazan civilians as best as possible, although it means much higher risk for soldiers. Pray for IDF soldiers who are operating in tunnels rigged with Hamas explosives. They press in amid one of the most complex wars in history, both above ground and in the underground city dubbed “Gaza Metro”—a product of Sinwar’s upgraded tunnel system that’s big enough for trucks, cars, and weapons smuggling. The IDF reports that Hamas is still holding 101 hostages captive—97 abducted on October 7 and four hostages who had been abducted previously.

As we read about Sinwar, righteous anger can arise, and depression can deepen. In the meantime, we stand with Israel and the Jewish community worldwide in prayer and help. Pray that the world will understand the biblical contrast between good and evil.

Our CBN Israel team invites you to join with us reading Psalm 37:1-2, a reminder from the God of the Universe: Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.

Prayer points:

• Pray for the Israeli families who have lost their innocent sons and daughters.
• Pray for the soldiers who with broken hearts carried their bodies home.
• Pray for the entire nation during another intense season of mourning.
• Pray with thankfulness for Farhan al-Qadi’s rescue.
• Pray for IDF members involved in complex hostage rescue efforts.
• Pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu leading under internal and external pressures. 

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.