FOOD FOR THOUGHT: "Messiah full of grace, redeemed by You we plead, the promise made to Abraham's race, to souls for ages dead. Their bones through quite dried up, throughout the world appear, cut off and lost is their faint hope, to see Your Kingdom here. Open their graves and bring the remnant forth - to own You as their Lord, their God and King, their true Anointed One. To save the race forlorn, Your Glorious Arm display, and show the world a nation born, a nation in a day.” (Hymn by Charles Wesley based on Ezek 37 and Isa 66) It is interesting that along with that move of God in his nation Charles Wesley and others of that time understood God's plan for the Jews and Israel. May we not lose faith today but rather continue to join the generations of the godly who prayed and believed in the full restoration of Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people.

ISRAEL SAID TO BE PREPARING CHRISTMAS SURPRISE FOR IRAN: With an International Atomic Energy Agency report issued last week that stated Iran is clearly working towards developing a nuclear weapons program, speculation has turned to possible military actions by Israel or other western countries to prevent Tehran from getting “the bomb.” The British Daily Mail newspaper said an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities could come as soon as December 25. The paper quoted a senior Foreign Office official as saying, “We’re expecting something as early as Christmas, or very early in the new year.” Israel, the source said, would not wait for Western approval for a military strike in the event Jerusalem decided it was necessary. The spokesman said the US would most likely support the Jewish state, given that President Barack Obama is desperate not to lose Jewish support in next year's presidential election. (INN)  Pray the Lord’s strategy will come into play to permanently cut short Iran’s nuclear ambitions, avoiding the catastrophe of all out war with the Islamic Republic.

UNESCO SUSPENDS NEW PROGRAMS DUE TO BUDGET HOLE: UNESCO’s recent acceptance of the Palestinian Authority as a full-member state has cost it $65 million, the Reuters news agency reported on Thursday. The large hole in the agency’s budget was created by the loss of US funds. The US cut its funding to UNESCO immediately after the UN’s cultural agency approved the PA’s request for membership. As a result, UNESCO Director General, Irina Bokova, said, the agency has temporarily suspended new programs. Canada has also cut off some of its funding to UNESCO as a result of the acceptance of the PA. Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird recently said his country would not give any more money to the agency to make up for the shortfall caused by the US cut, saying that UNESCO will “have to go to the countries that supported this resolution that caused this budget loophole.” (Arutz-7)

PA THREATENS VIOLENCE AND ANARCHY: Palestinian Authority officials warned Thursday the region would descend into "violence and anarchy" because of the failure of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas' statehood bid at the UN. Officials in Ramallah refused to say what they were planning to do now that they have conceded the measure does not have sufficient support in the UN Security Council to be passed on to the General Assembly for a vote. According to a Security Council subcommittee PA officials will not be able to muster the necessary nine votes for approval. It also noted opposition from the US - who promised to veto the measure if the Security Council approved it - was insurmountable. Amid the threats of "violence and anarchy" from Ramallah, the Quartet - the US, EU, UN, and Russia - plans to hold separate meetings with Israel and the PA on Monday. However, PLO chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, maintains the PA will not return to negotiations with Israel unless it accepts the pre-1967 borders as a basis for a future Palestinian State and halts all construction in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem. Israel has said it will sit down to talks without preconditions, noting a previous 10-month building freeze by Israel aimed at meeting PA demands and restarting talks was rebuffed by Ramallah. Not only were more preconditions added, officials in Jerusalem say, but the PA chose instead to violate the Oslo Accords and pursue its unilateral track at the UN. (INN)  “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” Isa 57:21

US SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL RISING: Americans' support for Israel is up, with a 10% increase in support among Democrats in the past six months, an Israel Project poll released on Thursday revealed. The poll demonstrated the majority of Americans believe PM Netanyahu is more committed to peace than his Palestinian counterpart. (J.Post)

ISRAEL TO EQUIP AIRLINERS WITH ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM AS LIBYAN ARMS REACH GAZA: Israel has accelerated the installation of anti-missile defenses on its airliners, a security official said Friday, seeing an enhanced risk of attack by terrorists using looted Libyan arms. The security official's comment came after Ha’aretz reported last month that improved quality of anti-aircraft missiles held by the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza is increasingly worrying the Israeli defense establishment. Hamas, the report indicated, recently managed to smuggle relatively advanced Russian missiles, which were looted from Libyan military warehouses, into the Gaza Strip. On Friday, officials said Jets flown by El Al and two other Israeli carriers are being equipped with a locally made system that uses a laser to "blind" heat-seeking missiles. He gave a 2013 target for fitting most of the fleet. "We have long been aware of the threat and were ahead of the rest of the world in preparing for it. Libya has meant government orders to step things up even further," the official said, citing intelligence assessments that chaos during the North African nation's uprising against Muammar Gaddafi allowed trafficking of Libyan shoulder-fired missiles to Palestinians and al Qaeda-linked groups in the Egyptian Sinai. Israel's main international gateway, Ben-Gurion Airport, is six miles from the West Bank. (Ha’aretz)

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY TV: RAIN CLEANSES JERUSALEM OF JEWS’ IMPURITY SO MUSLIMS CAN PRAY: A Palestinian Authority TV program stated that rain falls on Jerusalem to wash away the impurity of the footsteps of Jews on behalf of Muslims who come to pray in the city. The following is the text as broadcast on official PA TV:  "The golden dome of the mosque shines with colors of the sky, with the white of clouds, while the joyous holiday Eid Al-Adha is good to the residents. The light rain cleanses the steps of the foreigners [Jews] so that the feet of Muslims in prayer will not step on impurity." Palestinian Media Watch reported a few months ago that the same PA TV program, Sights of Jerusalem, portrayed Jews praying at the Western wall as "sin and filth."  It also stated that the PA plans to build an Arab residential area in place of the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem "when the Israelis disappear from the picture, like a forgotten chapter in the pages of our city's history." The programs then claimed, "We are drawing our new maps. The Mughrabi Quarter will be built here on the Western Wall Plaza." The Palestinian Authority denies that Jews have any historical rights to Jerusalem and even to the Western Wall, a remnant of the Temple Mount, which is Judaism's holiest and most important prayer site. (PMW) “The Lord will reign forever. He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations. Praise the Lord.” Ps 146:10

CAIR WARNS DETROIT MOSQUES TO TIGHTEN SECURITY BECAUSE OF CHRISTIAN PRAYER EVENT: The Council on American-Islamic Relations warned Detroit mosques to tighten up security ahead of a Christian prayer event this weekend. “TheCall” is a 24-hour prayer and fasting event that began Nov. 11 in Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions. Thousands of Christians were expected to attend, which prompted Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR’s Michigan chapter, to email local Muslim organizations telling them to be on the alert. “Given the theology of the participants and that they view Muslims as demonic, we should be prepared that some participants may come to the mosques to harass or provoke worshipers especially around the time of Friday prayers.” Walid advised area mosques and schools to make sure all are secure during the time of the event, and said they should call police if they see “suspicious persons congregate on mosque property.” (The Blaze) A paraphrase of one blogger's response is that CAIR is a Muslim terrorist support-group, which is linked to the father of all terrorist organizations, the Muslim Brotherhood. This is the faction warning Muslims - so many of whom hate the West and Israel and support Jihad murders of non-Muslims - that harmless evangelical Christians are gathering to pray to Yeshua for their country. They fear Christians may harass or harm them in their mosques who gather every Friday to pray for death to Jews, Christians and Americans. Most likely it will be the other way around.  It’s the Christians who should worry about a religion that advocates terrorism.

WILL ISRAELI FLAG BE THE THIRD ON THE MOON? An Israeli nonprofit team of young scientists is participating in the competition for the Google Lunar X Prize – a $30 million contest for landing an unmanned vehicle on the moon and transmitting still images and videos back to earth. The team wants the Israeli flag to be the third national flag to land on the moon – after the USSR and the USA.  The first team to land a vehicle on the moon, drive it a distance of 500 meters and transmit the images back to earth will win $20 million. If it carries out certain additional assignments, it could receive another $5 million. The SpaceIl team founded by Yariv Bash, Kfir Dimri and Yehonatan Weintraub is the only Israeli team in the competition. It faces about 20 teams from other countries. (INN)

Save the Date for the next Succot Celebration in Israel, October 2-4, 2012

Save the Dates for the next Roots & Reflections Tour in 2012: “Journey to the Four Seas,” June 8-17 (European dates) or June 7-17 (N. American dates). The UK tour price is £1,699. The USA tour package price is $3,630.

NEW schedule for R&R viewers in the USA: http://jnnnews.com/media/R&R%201-11-%202011C.pdf

THE NEED IS URGENT FOR YOUR DONATIONS: Few of us in the West experience being without food, clothing, or a roof over our heads. Many Israelis do. According to recent studies, poverty ranks as the number one concern for people in Israel. An estimated 1.7 million people, 850,000 of them children, live below the poverty line, barely receiving one meal a day. As more than a quarter of a million protesters in Israel took to the streets during the summer and continue to do so this autumn, much of the world has learned of the high cost of living that has proved so crushing to Israel's poor and middle class. It includes mounting healthcare expenses, a failing educational system, lack of affordable housing, and other injustices. None of this comes as a surprise to us. Every week Vision for Israel's vans personally visit families, single mothers and others greatly in need. We bring them food, clothing, household items - all the necessities to make it through the hardship they are experiencing. With your help, Vision for Israel has been assisting for many years those who have fallen through the cracks of Israeli society. Please continue to help us to be a comfort to God’s hurting people. Your donations are needed and welcomed at www.visionforisrael.com. Make your online donations today. For residents in the UK and outside North America visit our website at www.josephstorehouse.co.uk.

Blessings from Jerusalem,
Barry Segal with the Editorial Staff

Keep informed on breaking Israel-related and Middle East news. To subscribe, at no cost, to twice weekly mailings of JNN News go to: www.jnnnews.com