Richard Melson

April 2006

ICEJ Jerusalem

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem

 

of

News &

dwebsite@icej.orgwide

The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem

was founded in 1980 as an evangelical Christian response to the need to comfort Zion according to the command of scripture found in Isaiah 40:1-2

"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, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins."

WHY WE SUPPORT ISRAEL
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem was founded in 1980 as an evangelical Christian response to the need to comfort Zion according to the scriptural mandate:

"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, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins." Isaiah 40:1-2

This passage of scripture contains two exhortations:

  1. To comfort the Jewish people

  2. To declare the purpose of God to the Jewish people.

The ICEJ supports the nation of Israel because we love her, are indebted to her and seek to obey God's word. We are not trying to fulfill an end time agenda, but are standing on biblical principles. We proclaim a message to Zion that her modern day restoration is not a historical accident, but the fulfillment of God's word (Ezekiel 36:24-26; Luke 21:24). A time of great glory awaits Israel even though dark times may precede the break of day. Vision will not fail and from a Jewish Jerusalem, the Lord's law will go out and the "nations shall not learn war anymore" (Isaiah 2:1-4).

Jesus said that "Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22) and Paul affirms that everything we hold dear as Christians has come from the Jewish people (Romans 3:1; Romans 9:1-5 and Romans 15:27). We are indeed their debtors and now more than ever Israel needs our support, prayers and ministry of comfort.

We invite you to be partners with us in this great work and as you visit our Web site we ask you to consider praying daily for God's precious people and for Jerusalem. This too is the command of scripture! (Psalm 122:6; Isaiah 62:6-7). Those who obey it will be blessed.

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem
PO Box 1192
Jerusalem 91010
Israel
Telephone: +972-2-539-9700
Fax: +972-2-566-9970
email: icej@icej.org

For overseas info, contact our International Branches directly.

ICEJ CONTACT LIST:

Directors

Malcolm Hedding
malcolm.hedding@icej.org

Jürgen Bühler
juergen.bueler@icej.org

Tim King
tim.king@icej.org

Administration

Arthur Ivey
Telephone: +972-2-539-9700
Fax: +972-2-539-9701
arthur.ivey@icej.org

News and Public Relations

David Parsons
Telephone: +972-2-539-9700
Fax: +972-2-566-9970
media@icej.org

Feast of Tabernacles: Registration

Charmaine Hedding
Telephone: +972-2-539-9700
Fax: +972-2-566-9612
feastreg@icej.org

Feast of Tabernacles: Volunteer

Monica Tamagnini
Telephone: +972-2-539-9700
Fax: +972-2-539-9701
feast@icej.org

Feast of Tabernacles: Singer/ Dancer/ Musician

Sharon Bowater
Telephone: +972-2-539-9700
Fax: +972-2-566-9612
music@icej.org

Finance Department

Tim King
Telephone: +972-2-539-9700
Fax: +972-2-566-9612
finance@icej.org

Music

Chuck King
Telephone: +972-2-539-9700
Fax: +972-2-566-9612
music@icej.org

Social Assistance

Jacqueline DeLongchamp
Telephone: +972-2-539-9700
Fax: +972-2-566-9970
sapdept@icej.org.il

Jerusalem Ministry Center

Gina Utterback
Telephone: +972-2-623-3924
Fax: +972-2-567-0624
gina.utterback@icej.org

Personnel

David Fulford
Telephone: +972-2-539-9700
Fax: +972-2-539-9701
personnel@icej.org

Web Page

website@icej.org

ICEJ News –

is a free email service providing news and comment on Middle East affairs compiled by journalists at the

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem

and is supported by donations from subscribers.

Feel free to publish/broadcast text with attribution.

News Sources: AFP, AP, BBC, CNN, Ha'aretz, IMRA, International Herald Tribune, Israel Defense Force, JCPA, Jerusalem Post, Ma'ariv, Memri, MENL, New York Times, Reuters, Yediot Ahronot.

Photos: Channel 1; Bankhapoalim.com; intelligence.org.il; knesset.gov.il; Sherwood Burton/ICEJ

Today's bulletin was written and compiled by Jake King Editor: Michael Hines

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." Ephesians 1:7


Broad coalition taking form

Olmert offers Peretz Defense portfolio
In an effort to form a broad coalition including as many parties as possible, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will make no mention of his West Bank withdrawal plan in the coalition guidelines. In meetings on Monday and Tuesday with party leaders from Yisrael Beiteinu, Meretz, the National Union-National Religious Party, and Likud, Olmert outlined the terms of partnership in his coalition.

EU: Israel could 'lease' settlements from PA
France denies contact with Hamas leadership
If Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert consults the international community before implementing his "convergence" plan, one suggestion he is likely to hear is that Israel should lease the settlement blocs from the Palestinian Authority rather than annex them outright, a senior European diplomat said Monday.

In BrIranian spies working Lebanon-Israel border

Iran has set up a sophisticated intelligence gathering operation in southern Lebanon to identify targets in northern Israel in the event of a military confrontation over its nuclear program, the daily (London)Â Telegraph reports. Senior Israeli military commanders say Iran has spent tens of millions of dollars helping its close ally Hizb'Allah to set up a network of control towers and monitoring stations along the entire length of Israel's border with southern Lebanon. "This is now Iran's front line with Israel," a senior Israeli military commander said. "The Iranians are using Hizb'Allah to spy on us so that they can collect information for future attacks." Teams of Iran's Revolutionary Guards travel regularly to the area to help train local Hizb'Allah fighters in terrorist tactics.

Leading Israeli financiers Bank Hapoalim have cut off all connections with the Palestinian financial and banking systems in the wake of the swearing-in of a Hamas-led government that has transformed the Palestinian Authority into a terrorist body. The bank will cease to honor PA banks' checks and suspended the transfer of funds to the Palestinian banking system, the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported Tuesday. Bank Hapoalim has been the main, and recently almost the only, banking institution through which Israel and the PA conducted routine financial transactions. The move in effect brings an end to any remaining banking ties between Israel and the PA. International legislation prohibits banks from doing business with organizations and institutions suspected of sponsoring terror activity.

Hamas maintains policy of violence
Four green flags of the extremist Palestinian party Hamas were flying last week at the gate of a military training camp built on the ruins of Morag, an evacuated Jewish settlement. Inside the camp, recruits to the Izzedine al-Kassam Brigades, Hamas's terrorist operatives, ran mock attacks and launched rocket-propelled grenades. Israelis contemplating the evacuation of West Bank settlements may think twice knowing that Hamas jihadists now live and train on the ruins of a place that was home to 37 Jewish families until August of last year. A senior al-Kassam member explained that their mission to fight Israel had not changed, even though Hamas had become the official Palestinian Authority government.

Likud's Shalom to call for early primaries
Likud MK Silvan Shalom is planning to call for a leadership showdown to replace Binyamin Netanyahu as Likud chairman. Shalom, who has made no public statement since the Likud's election defeat, says that to rehabilitate the party and to prevent its collapse, primaries for a new leadership must be held. Since election night when it became clear that Netanyahu did not intend to resign as chairman despite vote results, Shalom has been holding meetings with political colleagues and forming a plan to restore Likud to power. Shalom, who has not been in touch with Netanyahu since the elections, is expected to try and set a date with the party chairman for holding early primaries. Meanwhile, Netanyahu is preparing for the possibility that some of his MKs may be quitting his right-wing party to join the pro-disengagement Kadima party headed by Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

PA begins legislation with 'beard law'
Palestinian Authority policemen wanting to express their devoutness to the Islamic faith by growing a beard may now do so without the threat of fine or imprisonment. A law banning PA policemen from having facial hair has been formally ended with the inauguration of a Hamas government last week, said Hamas spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal. One officer, who declined to be identified, told Reuters that although no policemen had been fined or imprisoned recently for growing beards, some had received demands from superiors that they shave. Abu Hilal explained that Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Sayed Sayam "ordered that mistreatment be stopped immediately and that [policemen] be allowed to grow their beards." Hamas, an Islamic terrorist group, crushed the long-dominant Fatah faction in parliamentary elections in January.

ICEJ News media@icej.org

Tuesday, 4 April 2006