July 27, 2009
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Shalom!
The summer sun continues to heat up the atmosphere here in Jerusalem, where American Defense Secretary Robert Gates is meeting today with Israeli leaders to discuss the threatening Iranian nuclear program and the stalled peace process with the Palestinians.
The discussions come amid continuing tensions between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government over Israeli home building in the disputed territories, which I examine in detail below. My monthly Israel news and analysis report also takes a look at recent and unprecedented Israeli naval moves which security analysts say might indicate that Israeli leaders are seriously contemplating a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
As mentioned before, I have been invited by Christian Friends of Israel in the United Kingdom for a speaking tour set to begin in mid October at the CFI annual celebration on the beautiful south coast of England. I have also been asked by Bridges For Peace to speak at their annual UK conference, just outside of Liverpool, and will do other meetings with them in England and Wales as well. I will end my time in the verdant UK sharing at a special dinner in support of Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek hospital, to be held in the Manchester area. Several other meetings are still pending, so I will update next month. The schedule is at the bottom of this update.
I recently met here in Jerusalem with Shalom Almog, the head of the Coral travel agency based in Israel and the United States (New Jersey). He is a well known former Israeli military commander who now brings groups of Christians and Jews to visit the Lord’s special land. I have been asked by them to host a tour to Israel, scheduled for the first half of June. It is a lovely time of year to come here since the sun—not at its hottest usually until July and August—shines from about 6:00 AM until around 7:30 PM, giving extra daylight hours to tour (and maybe a later departure in the mornings, if I can arrange that J). I am including the full details just below this month’s news update if any of you are interested in possibly participating in the tour. We will probably also make a few unmentioned stops at places of particular importance to me. Please do not contact me about joining the tour, since I am just the host! Details of how to contact the travel agency are included below.
We intend to keep the tour relatively small so that we can move around more easily and I can better interact with all on board. I will share some of my personal experiences and observations as a journalist living in Israel since 1980, and Shalom Almog will hopefully be able to come along and share some of his interesting military experiences serving in the army from before the Six Day war. We hope to have a special worship leader with us as well, a professional musician now based in Florida who I met while we both were singing in an opera here in Israel over ten years ago.
There is a price included for those of you living outside of North America who might want to come along—all are welcome—as to how to go about arranging that (also via Coral Travel) The North American portion (at a good price I think!) will set off from Atlanta. Of course, all this could change if the situation blows up with Iran, but I still say it’s generally safer to travel in Israel than in many cities around the globe! Blessings to one and all!
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SETTLEMENT DISPUTE SHIFTS TO JERUSALEM
By David Dolan
The argument between the Israeli and American governments over Jewish settlement building in the disputed territories continued unabated during July, with the focus shifting to construction inside the holy city of Jerusalem. Ironically, the particular area in the center of the vortex, located just northeast of the sacred Temple Mount, was once the headquarters of Haj Amin Husseini, the Muslim “Grand Mufti” of Jerusalem who partnered with Adolph Hitler in his partially successful attempt to annihilate all Jews living in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East during World War II.
Comments by US President Barack Obama, apparently designed to ease Jewish anxieties over what many perceive as his administration’s growing anti-Israel policy tilt, had the opposite effect in Israeli government circles. Some commentators said officials felt the American leader displayed subtle contempt toward America’s longtime ally in his mid-July meeting with several top American Jewish dignitaries.
Meanwhile tensions remained high with strife-torn Iran during the month, and with its main regional puppet force, Lebanon’s Hizbullah militia. Arab and international media reports that Israeli warships—one possibly equipped with nuclear weapons—were allowed by Egypt to move through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea in June and early July, and so able to easily head toward the adjacent Persian Gulf, raised alarm bells in Tehran. A senior American official said later in the month that the United States remains committed to Israel’s security, and has a plan to thwart bellicose Iran’s apparent ambition to intimidate US allies in the turbulent region via its nuclear program.
In the north, Israel’s armed forces remained on high alert to counter any possible Hizbullah or Syrian military activity directed at the Jewish State. Army leaders were said to be concerned that the extremist Iranian regime might order Hizbullah rocket strikes to tie up IDF forces and thus help deflect any Israeli action against their ongoing nuclear program.
Meanwhile a large Hizbullah rocket stockpile blew up in a warehouse in south Lebanon, where the rogue Shiite militia is not supposed to be operating at all according to the 2006 UN ceasefire accord that ended the Second Lebanon war, let alone restocking its rocket supplies. The Lebanese government later said it thwarted a plan by radical Muslims to kidnap United Nations soldiers stationed in the area.
More international and local reports were issued during the month condemning Israel’s conduct of the military operation against Hamas militia forces in the Gaza Strip early this year. Israeli officials countered that the context of the short conflict—in other words, the unprovoked Hamas rocket attacks upon Jewish civilian communities stretching back several years—was not even mentioned in some of the reports.
ISRAEL ENDURES FRESH AMERICAN REBUKE
Many Israeli political analysts averred during July that it is becoming clearer every day that their small country is now dealing with the most unsympathetic American government administration since George Bush senior served as president from early 1989 until January 1993. They said this was confirmed when State Department officials summoned Israel’s new ambassador to Washington, Dr. Michael Oren, to receive a dressing down the third weekend of the month.
The burning issue American diplomats wished to immediately discuss was a surprising one to senior Israeli officials—small-scale Jewish residential building near Judaism’s holiest site on earth, Jerusalem’s ancient Temple Mount. Specifically, the topic was a private plan, recently approved by municipal officials, to convert a former Arab hotel less than one mile north of Jerusalem’s walled Old City into some 20 apartment units designed to house Orthodox Jewish families.
Palestinian leaders have strongly opposed the building project in what is known as the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood, even though the sprawling historic structure, which once served as Haj Husseini’s local headquarters, was originally owned by Jews and was purchased from absentee Arab owners in 1985 by American Jewish millionaire Irwin Moscowitz. The grand structure had sat empty since Israeli military forces captured the area, just south of the modern French Hill neighborhood at the foot of Mount Scopus, during the 1967 Six Day war.
State Department officials later confirmed Israeli media reports that Ambassador Oren was told in no uncertain terms that the world’s reigning superpower considers any Jewish building in the eastern half of Israel’s capital city to be a serious violation of previous Israeli government commitments. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters on July 20 that “our views are not new, that this kind of construction is the type that should be subject to permanent-status negotiations.” He added dryly that “We are concerned that unilateral actions taken by the Israelis or the Palestinians cannot prejudge the outcome of these negotiations.”
Apparently fearing further breeches in Israel’s strategically vital relationship with the United States, Ambassador Oren later tried to downplay the dispute, telling reporters that “There is no crisis in Israel-U.S. relations. Here we are talking about disagreements over certain subjects, very, very specific ones.” But Israeli commentators said the State Department action was highly unusual, and should be read as at least a mild rebuke of current Israeli government policy concerning the peace process, if not much more than that. However later in the month, Israeli government officials confirmed media reports that they are now close to agreeing to implement a temporary construction freeze as part of new understandings being negotiated in Washington.
FACTS ON THE GROUND
Although the latest chapter in the settlement building dispute is focused in an area considered “occupied Arab territory” by the United States and most other governments and the international media, Israeli commentators pointed out that the prestigious Hebrew University is located further east of the contested site, and its umbilical connection to the world’s only Jewish-ruled state is largely universally recognized. Along with that, Israel’s national police headquarters is located very close to the site, along with one of the city’s premier five star hotels, the former Hyatt Regency. The idea that Israel will somehow evacuate all Jews from the area, which would include thousands of residents being uprooted from the burgeoning French Hill neighborhood, is quite absurd, they opined.
Indeed, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told his cabinet ministers on July 19—just one day after Ambassador Oren was summoned to the State Department—that “I would like to reemphasize united Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and of the State of Israel. Our sovereignty over it cannot be challenged. This means that residents of Jerusalem may purchase apartments in all parts of the city.” He then went on to strongly hint that the new Obama administration’s complete building ban demand is actually racist and discriminatory in nature: “In recent years, hundreds of apartments in Jewish neighborhoods have been purchased by or rented to Arab residents, and we did not interfere.”
Israeli press reports said Netanyahu later privately castigated President Obama’s total building halt campaign during a closed meeting with his inner security cabinet, which was focused on the Iranian nuclear threat among other pressing issues. He reportedly told his top security ministers that the charismatic US leader was in essence aiding Israel’s enemies, and therefore actually putting back the peace process, by publicly demanding an immediate and total construction freeze, especially inside Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries.
Exasperated over what he sees as an unnecessary dispute, Netanyahu was said to have rhetorically asked his top ministers if Obama really expected that the leader of Israel’s nationalist political camp—who oversaw the controversial construction of the Har Homa neighborhood in southeast Jerusalem when he was last Premier in the late 1990s—would now block the building of a mere 20 new Jewish apartments next to Judaism’s most sacred ground on earth after allowing some 20,000 apartment units to go up in Har Homa ten years ago. “If I didn’t cave in to Bill Clinton then, I certainly won’t to his wife or Barack Obama now,” one news report claimed he stated.
OBAMA ACCEPTS RACIST ARAB DEMAND?
Demonstrating that the Prime Minister’s position is vigorously supported by everyone in his ruling party, the most liberal Likud cabinet member, Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Dan Meridor, who also serves as a deputy premier, forcefully endorsed Netanyahu’s public statements. Going even further by turning the tables on Obama, he insisted that it was the new Democratic party administration in Washington that was going back on previous agreements made with government leaders in Jerusalem.
Meridor noted that America’s last president, George W. Bush, had orally accepted Ariel Sharon’s 2004 request to continue “natural growth” construction within existing contested communities, while halting any brand new full scale community development in lands claimed by the Palestinians, as Israel has complied with (apart from a few small outposts that have arisen without government permission and are in the process of being dismantled).
This request was then incorporated into Bush’s Road Map peace plan, subsequently endorsed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. It called for a total Israeli building freeze, but only when the Palestinian leadership blocked all organized Arab terror attacks upon Jews. The verbal accord came after Sharon agreed to the painful White House request to evacuate all Israeli residents and soldiers from the Gaza Strip, which occurred one year later. “It is of great importance to us that what the (Bush) administration agreed to is not overlooked," Meridor stated at a news conference in Jerusalem.
That the first ever African American president is apparently endorsing what is widely perceived in Israel as the Palestinian’s extremely racist demand for an independent state containing few if any Jews inside its borders—an idea from another, much darker era—is highly disappointing to many Israelis, and not just to conservative religious Jews.
In fact, some commentators said it was progressive secularist Jews, who generally viewed Obama’s electoral victory as a triumph for civil rights and equality in America and a beacon of light for the world, who are the most disappointed that the US leader has seemingly adopted the PLO’s traditional “Judenrein” (the Nazi term for “clean of Jews”) statehood demand as his own, instead of challenging the same as his Republican predecessor did, at least to some extent.
Many pundits noted that Israel contains over one million Arab citizens with full voting rights and elected representatives in the Knesset, while the envisioned Palestinian state will apparently be “Jew-less” as one radio commentator succinctly put it in English, despite the fact that it is proposed to arise along the spine of the Jewish people’s ancient ancestral biblical heartland.
CONCERN OR CONTEMPT?
With voices of concern rising in America over the Obama administration’s policies regarding Israel—even among many of his staunchest Jewish supporters—the President summoned 15 of the country’s top Jewish leaders to meet with him at the While House on July 13. The meeting had mixed results, according to Israeli media accounts, with many participants said to be shocked over what was seen as an attitude bordering on contempt for America’s main Middle East ally. This was reportedly demonstrated most glaringly in Obama’s insistence that if Israelis want his valuable assistance in arriving at a final peace accord with the Palestinians, they must first “engage in serious self reflection” before this lofty goal will be achievable.
Commentators pointed out that the American leader seemed to be averring that Israel is mainly responsible for the current peace process impasse, instead of the divided Palestinians, ruled by the Palestinian Authority in Jordan’s former West Bank and the radical Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. In other works, only if and when the Israeli people and their leaders stop and think—and apparently alter their intransigent ways—will a final peace accord be reachable.
The American editor of the prestigious Commentary magazine, Jonathan Tobin, reacted to the meeting in a Jerusalem Post editorial, saying the popular President’s reported remark reflected his “breathtaking condescension toward the Jewish state,” with its seeming “implicit dismissal of the last 16 years of Middle East history.” This evaluation was echoed by other commentators in Israel, and was said to reflect the reaction of many senior Israeli government officials.
In particular, Tobin complained that President Obama was downplaying or ignoring the extremely costly and difficult actions that several Israeli governments had undertaken to try to implement previous peace accords with the Palestinians, despite ongoing terror attacks and threats of annihilation from Shiite Muslim Iran and its local agents Hizbullah and Hamas. Such actions included withdrawing all IDF soldiers from six major Arab urban centers and many villages during the mid 1990s, transferring weapons and governmental power to Palestinian Authority officials and security forces (with the weapons sometimes later turned against Jews), and evacuating 23 civilian communities and army outposts in the Gaza Strip and parts of northern Samaria in 2005.
Tobin reflected the thinking of not a few Israeli commentators by pointing to what he termed Obama’s “penchant for quarreling with Israel,” adding that the US leader was apparently “proud of it.” The conservative commentator added that “a majority of American Jews who voted for Obama last year did not back him because they anticipated that he would pick pointless fights with Israel to advance a peace process that Palestinians scorn.”
CRUISING THE SUEZ CANAL
PM Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials have consistently stated that the most pressing issue they face is not how to achieve a final peace accord with Palestinian Authority leaders—whose rule is severely challenged by the popular Muslim fundamentalist Hamas movement. The Iranian nuclear program poses an imminent mortal threat to Israel’s very existence, they aver, and therefore that issue obviously has a much higher priority at present than restarting the stalemated peace process. Israeli leaders hope the recent unrest inside Iran will help convince the Obama administration that this is indeed the case.
Seemingly proving once again just how serious the issue is to Israel’s current political and military leadership, three IDF naval vessels were ordered to pass through the strategic Suez Canal during late June and early July, according to Arab and international media reports that were neither officially confirmed nor denied by Israeli officials (although several media outlets quoted anonymous Israeli military sources as confirming that the crossings occurred). Of particular importance, one of the three vessels was a German-built submarine widely thought to carry nuclear-tipped Israeli cruise missiles.
Small IDF boats have been allowed in the past to traverse the Egyptian run canal on their way to the southern Israeli Red Sea port of Eilat. However never before has one of Israel’s three Dolphin-class subs been allowed to pass through the channel which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. Missile boats like the two Sa’ar-5 class warships that reportedly crossed into the Red Sea—which connects with the Persian Gulf that straddles Iran’s western coast—have also never before received permission from Cairo to utilize the mostly commercial waterway, despite a treaty between Cairo and Jerusalem that supposedly allows such crossings as long as the vessels have no hostile intentions toward Egypt
Ironically one of the warships, the Eilat, was named after an Israeli destroyer that was sunk by Soviet-backed Egyptian naval forces shortly after the Six Day war, at the cost of 47 Israeli lives.
SENDING STERN SIGNALS
In a transparent sign that the Mubarak government wanted the Israeli naval crossings to receive widespread publicity—as an evident warning to hostile Shiite political and clerical leaders in Iran that Cairo will at least quietly side with Israel in any military showdown over the rogue regime’s nuclear program—Egyptian surface warships actually accompanied the submarine as it traversed the 119 mile long French-built waterway, which began operating in 1869.
International military analysts agreed that the unprecedented Israeli naval crossings were indeed designed to send an unequivocal public warning to Tehran that many regional countries, and not just Israel, will not sit still as Iran develops nuclear weapons. This perception was later buttressed by American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Speaking during a July 21 visit to Thailand, she revealed that the US government has “contingency plans” in place to extend a nuclear defense umbrella over allied Arab countries in the region if Iran builds such weapons of mass destruction, which many experts say is only one or two years away at most. Some Israeli commentators said the statement seemed to suggest that the Obama administration may be resigned to Iran acquiring such weapons, which Israel clearly is not.
America’s top diplomat stated that Iran would be no safer from foreign attack, nor a more powerful force in the Middle East, if it produces nuclear weapons. “We want Iran to calculate what I think is a fair assessment: that if the United States extends a defense umbrella over the region, if we do even more to develop the military capacity of those allies in the Gulf, it is unlikely that Iran will be any stronger or safer.” Israeli defense officials were said to have been basically pleased with the comment, saying it seemed to signal a more realistic American policy concerning Iran that probably resulted from the recent violent Iranian government crackdown on civilian demonstrators protesting the apparently rigged June 12 presidential election.
In another possible indication of an evolving US government policy, Vice President Joe Biden said on July 5 that “Israel can determine for itself—it’s a sovereign nation—what’s in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else.” However he also added that this was the case "whether we agree or not” with Israel’s decisions. The outspoken politician had earlier bluntly warned the Netanyahu government that it would not receive American backing if it chose a military option to halt Iran’s nuclear program.
REPROACH ON GAZA
Egyptian mediators attempted once again during July to put an end to the bitter rift between the Palestinian Authority and the radical Hamas movement. However the talks in Cairo ended once again in failure
Meanwhile the Israeli government and military establishment came under fresh international condemnation during the month as several additional reports were issued alleging widespread Israeli army abuses during last winter’s “Cast Lead” operation against Hamas militia forces in the Gaza Strip. One report received special attention in Israel since it was issued by a left-wing domestic group called “Breaking the Silence,” which it later emerged is partially funded by the British and Dutch embassies in Tel Aviv, along with grants from the European Union.
The report quoted 26 anonymous reserve and regular IDF soldiers who claimed they saw such abuses as the use of Gaza civilians as human shields against Hamas fire and the unlawful deployment of phosphorous shells in civilian areas. The army replied that there was no “silence” to break since all attributed abuse complaints are investigated, whereas the report’s vague allegations were difficult if not impossible to check since the claimants refused to be identified.
In these times of continuing regional strife and peril, it is comforting to remember and proclaim that “You oh Lord abide forever, and Your Name to all generations. You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to be gracious to her, for the appointed time has come” (Psalm 102:12-13).
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Tour of Israel
With Jerusalem-based Author & Journalist
David Dolan
June 1 - 12, 2010
$2,695 air & land per person/dbl occupancy (From North America)
$1,870 land only per person/dbl occupancy (For those coming from outside N. America)
$ 695 single room supplement
Day 1 – June 1 – Tuesday:
USA – Tel Aviv
Overnight flight to Tel Aviv. (or flights from other countries, to be arranged by yourself in coordination with Coral Travel.
Flights from Europe or Africa may be better early on June 2, unless you wish to arrange your own hotel for Tuesday night).
Day 2 – June 2 – Wednesday:
Tel Aviv
Upon arrival at the airport, meeting and assistance by Coral Travel & Tours representative inside the terminal.
Transfer to your hotel in Tel Aviv for dinner and overnight. (Those outside North America must make their own flight arrangements,
but Coral Travel can pick you up at the airport and transport you to the group hotel in Tel Aviv for a small fee).
Day 3 – June 3 – Thursday:
Jaffa – Caesarea – Megiddo –
Sea of Galilee
After an Israeli breakfast we start our day with a walking tour in the old city of Jaffa. Jaffa has been known in the
bible as Joppa. Jaffa is considered the world’s oldest port and the place where the prophet Jonah set sail for Tarshish.
Jaffa is associated with the deeds of Peter. Here Tabitha was resurrected by St. Peter (Acts 9: 35-43). The
house of Simon the Tanner was in Jaffa and Peter went from Jaffa to Caesarea to convert Cornelius after the vision at
the house of Simon the Tanner (Acts 10: 1-23). After short drive through Tel Aviv, travel via the Sharon plain to
Caesarea. Caesarea was the seat of the Roman Procurator of the Judea in the time of Christ and was the place
St. Peter converted the centurion Cornelius (Acts 10:24). Explore the Roman Theater and the aqueduct and
view the ruins of Roman, Byzantine and Crusader times. Continue to Mt. Carmel, to the “Mukhraka” the site
where Elijah challenged and defeated the 450 prophets of Baal (King 18:20). If time permits, drive via the ancient
“Way of the Sea” to Megiddo, the fortress city of King Solomon, later built upon by King Ahab. The books of Daniel
and Revelation will come alive as we study about the final Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16: 14-19). View the Plains of
Jezreel. Drive to Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee passing Nazareth and Cana. Dinner and overnight: Kibbutz Guest House on
the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Day 4 – June 4 – Friday:
Caesarea Philippi – Sea of Galilee –Golan Heights
The day starts with a drive to the Mt. of Beatitudes, site of the Sermon on the Mount. Drive along the Hula Valley to Tel
Dan and visit the remains of the city. Continue on to Caesarea Philippi, where Peter made his confession of faith to
Jesus. Via a ride through the Golan Heights we will stop at Kfar Haruv and return to the northern shore of the Sea
of Galilee, the area where Jesus spent his years of ministry. See the ruins of Capernaum, the town where Jesus made
his home after leaving Nazareth. View the remains of the ancient synagogue in which He may have preached and the
house of Peter. After a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, continue to Tabgha where the miracle of the multiplication of the
loaves and fish took place. Drive to Kibbutz Ginossar and visit “Jesus Boat”. Dinner and overnight: Kibbutz Guest
House on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Day 5 – June 5 – Saturday:
Galilee
After breakfast we’ll drive to Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle: turning jars of water into wine.
Continue to Nazareth, the home of Mary & Joseph, pass Mary’s Well and visit the Church of Annunciation. Visit the
synagogue. Drive through the Galilee hills to explore Zippori (Sepphores), capital of Galilee in Herod’s time, and home of
Joachim and Anna. Drive through Jezreel Valley to Mt. Tabor, the traditional place of the Transfiguration. Drive to
Yardenit, the Baptismal Center site on the Jordan River (optional baptism available). Dinner and overnight: Kibbutz Guest
House on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Day 6 – June 6 – Sunday:
Beit She’an – Jericho – Dead Sea
After breakfast visit Beit She’an and it’s archeological sites. Drive to Bet Alpha and see the ancient synagogue. On to Ein
Harod - Gideon Springs – Gan Hashlosha (Sachne). After lunch, drive through the Jordan Valley to Jericho, believed to be
the world’s oldest walled city. This was the first city taken by Joshua when the Hebrews returned from Egypt – “and the
walls fell down” - and was also the site of the Mount of Temptation. Dinner and overnight: Hotel on the Dead Sea.
Day 7 – June 7 – Monday:
Massada
After breakfast visit Massada. Ascend Massada by cable car. Massada is the site of the most dramatic act in Jewish
history. Explore the ancient excavation of Herod’s Palaces, the bathhouse, the storerooms, the ramp and the oldest
synagogue in the world. Afternoon at leisure. Dinner and overnight: Hotel on the beautiful Dead Sea.
Day 8 – June 8 – Tuesday:
Dead Sea – Jerusalem
After breakfast drive to Ein Gedi, an Oasis on the Dead Sea shore. Near the 200 meter high waterfall is a cave where
David had his famous meeting with King Saul (First Samuel 24: 1-23). A walk around the reservation confirms that Ein
Gedi is one of the most beautiful reservations in the world. Visit Qumran, where the 2000 year old Dead Sea
Scrolls were found. Continue to Jerusalem and pass the traditional site of the Inn of the Good Samaritan.
Dinner and overnight: Hotel in Jerusalem, overlooking the Mount of Olives and the Old City.
Day 9 – June 9 – Wednesday:
Jerusalem
After breakfast we’ll ascend the Mt. of Olives for a breathtaking panoramic view of the old city of Jerusalem. Walk along
the Palm Sunday way. Descend to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus spent the last night before he was
arrested. Visit the Church of All Nations. Walk along the “Last Way” to Mt. Zion. Cross the Kidron Valley and
see the Tombs of Absalom, Zachary and James. Drive to Mt. Zion and visit the House of the High Priest Caiphas.
Visit the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu. This is the Place where St. Peter denied his Lord 3 times. On to
The Last Supper Room and King David’s Tomb. Dinner and overnight: Hotel inJerusalem.
Day 10 – June 10 – Thursday:
Jerusalem
After breakfast visit the Israel Museum where the Dead Sea Scrolls are kept and the Holy Land walkaround
model of the City of Jerusalem as it was in the Second Temple period (the time of Jesus). On to Yad
Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. Afternoon at leisure. Dinner and overnight: Hotel in Jerusalem.
Day 11 – June 11 – Friday:
Jerusalem – Tel Aviv
The day starts with a visit to Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem. Continue to the Rabbinical Tunnel, The Temple Institute, the
Davidson Center and the Western Wall. On to Ecco Homo, St. Anne’s Basilica and the Pools of Bethesda.
End the day at the Garden Tomb. Farewell dinner. Late checkout from hotel and transfer to the airport for
your flight back to the USA. (or other locations, as you arrange).
Day 12 – June 12 – Saturday:
Tel Aviv – USA
The flight to the USA departs around midnight. Arrive the same day. * Subject to Change *
FEATURES INCLUDED:
• Round trip airfare (from N America)
Atlanta/Tel Aviv/Atlanta
• 9 nights hotel accommodations
(+ 1 late checkout)
1 – Tel Aviv, Marina Hotel*
3 – Kibbutz Ein Gev Guest House*
2 – Dead Sea, Moriah Classic Hotel*
3 – Jerusalem, Regency Hotel*
(+ 1 late checkout)
• Breakfast & Dinner daily
• Meeting & assistance at the airport in
Israel upon arrival & departure
• Transfer airport/hotel/airport in Israel**
• Touring in a deluxe air-conditioned
motor-coach per itinerary
• Licensed English speaking guide
• Entrance fees to sites as per itinerary
• Baggage handling, hotel taxes & service
charges
• Tips to guide, driver & hotel staff
• Farewell dinner
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO SIGN UP FOR THE TOUR, CONTACT:
Coral Travel & Tours
215 Millburn Ave., Millburn, NJ 07041
866-267-2511 • xxxxxxxxx
Fax: 973-376-9598
WEB SITE www.coraltours.org
BY E MAIL: info@coraltours.org
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UNITED KINGDOM SPEAKING TOUR: OCT-NOV 2009
CFI-UK Annual Celebration: 16th–17th October
Guest Speaker: David Dolan
Venue: Elim Family Centre, Hartfield Road, Eastbourne, BN21 1EU
The conference will include a showing of an excerpt from Alan Dershowitz's
new DVD-based documentary film: “The Case For Israel - Democracy’s Outpost”
David Dolan CFI-UK Speaking Tour: 18th –31st October
Sunday 18th October: Morning Service (10.30am) - Welcome Baptist Church, Alexandra Rd, Heathfield, TN21 8EQ
Contact: Doug Prentice - Tel: xxxxxxxxx
Sunday 18th October: possible meeting with the Jewish community in London – To be announced
Monday 19th October: Evening Meeting (8.00pm) - Shenfield High School, Alexander Lane, Shenfield, CM15 8RY
Contact Moira Dare-Edwards - Tel: xxxxxxxx
Tuesday 20th October: Evening Meeting (7.30pm) - Family Life Church, Heartsease Lane, Norwich, NR7 9NT
Contact John Lind - Tel: 01603 270079 or Rosemary English - Tel: 01603 451751
Wednesday 21st October: Evening Meeting (7.30pm) - Hephzibah Fellowship, Belstead Village Hall, Suffolk
Contact: Valerie Evans - Tel: xxxxxxxxx
Thursday 22nd October: Evening Meeting (7.30pm) - Longton Elim Church, Carlisle Street, Dresden, Stoke-on-Trent
Contact: Carol Edwards - Tel: 01782 315726
Tuesday 27th October: Evening Meeting (7.30pm) - Emmanuel Christian Centre, Lloyd Street, Llandudno, LL30 2YA
Contact: Roy Thurley - Tel: xxxxxxxxx
Wednesday 28th October: Meeting details including venue and time - tbc
Contact: tbc
Thursday 29th October: Evening Meeting (7.30pm) - Dewsbury Gospel Hall, Halifax Road, Dewsbury
Contact: Brian Taylor - Tel: xxxxxxxxxxxx
Saturday 31st October: Gateshead Day Conference (9.00am to 6.00pm) - Beit Yeshua, Emmanuel College, Gateshead
Contact: David Soakell - Tel: xxxxxxxxxxxxx or Laurence Levine - Tel: 0191 534 3786
David Dolan will also be speaking at the following meetings organized by Bridges For Peace:
Saturday 24th October: Bridges For Peace Annual Conference (10.00am – 6.00pm)
Venue: The Wirral Christian Centre, Woodchurch Road, Birkenhead, Wirral, CH41 2UF
Contact: Mrs. Jill Walker - Tel: xxxxxxxxxxxxx or Bridges For Peace - UK Office Tel: 01656 739494 or Email: bfpuk@btconnect.com
Sunday 25th October: Morning Service (11.00am) - Kingsway Christian Fellowship, Church Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, L22 5NA
Contact: Mrs. Jill Walker - Tel: 0151 200 5656 or Bridges For Peace - UK Office Tel: 01656 739494 or Email: bfpuk@btconnect.com
Monday 2nd November: Evening Meeting (7.30pm) - Monmouth Methodist Church, St. James Street, Monmouth
Contact: Pam Smith - Tel: 01600 714951 or Bridges For Peace - UK Office - Tel: 01656 739494 or Email: bfpuk@btconnect.com
Tuesday 3rd November: Evening Meeting (7.30pm) - House of Destiny Christian Outreach Centre, 25a Elliott Rd, West Howe, Bournemouth
Contact: Mr. B. Vaughan - Tel: xxxxxxxxxxxx or Bridges For Peace - UK Office - Tel: 01656 739494 or Email: bfpuk@btconnect.com
Wednesday 4th November: “Nancy’s Farm”, Croesheolydd Farm, Bassaleg, Newport, NP10 8RW
Contact: Tel: xxxxxxx or Bridges For Peace - UK Office - Tel: xxxxxxxxx or Email: bfpuk@btconnect.com
Thursday 5th November: Carmarthen - Contact: Mrs. Elaine Price - Tel: 01267 281237 or Bridges For Peace - UK Office - Tel: 01656 739494
Friday 6th November: Evening Meeting (7.30pm) - Blackley Baptist Church, Prospect View, Blackley, Halifax, HX5 0TD
Contact: Mr. & Mrs. C. Horsman - Tel: xxxxxxxxxx or Bridges For Peace - UK Office - Tel: 01656 739494
SHAARE ZEDEK CHARITY DINNER
Saturday 7th November: Gala Charity Evening in support of the Christian Supporters of Shaare Zedek Hospital
Entry by TICKET ONLY (£12.50 per person - available from August)
Contact: Beryl Hunter - Tel: xxxxxxxxx
DAVID DOLAN is a Jerusalem-based author and journalist who has lived and worked in Israel since 1980.
HOLY WAR FOR THE PROMISED LAND (Broadman & Holman), his latest book, is an overview of the history of the Israel and of the bitter Arab-Israeli conflict that rages there, plus some autobiographical details about the author’s experiences living in the land since 1980. It especially examines the important role that militant Islam plays in the conflict.
ISRAEL IN CRISIS: WHAT LIES AHEAD? (Baker/Revell), which examines the political and biblical prospects for a regional attack upon Israel, settlement in the disputed territories, and related topics, is also available for purchase, along with an updated edition of his popular end-time novel, THE END OF DAYS (21st Century Press).
You may order these books at a special discount price by visiting his web site at www.ddolan.com, or by phoning toll free 888-890-6938 in North America, or by e mail at: resources@yourisraelconnection.org
DOLAN'S DVD, "FOR ZION'S SAKE" is available for purchase. Click the title under "BOOKSTORE" for more details.
TO RECEIVE THESE FREE ISRAEL UPDATES DIRECTLY, FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS BELOW. YOU WILL ONLY RECEIVE DAVID DOLAN'S UPDATE AND ANALYSIS INFORMATION FROM THIS ADDRESS. THE LIST WILL NOT BE TRADED OR SOLD.
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For a general listing of books, visit the WindowView Book Page for: Science and Scripture.
How does one really see the deeper informational side to Scripture? We recommend “footsteps” as the source for seeing the the truly functional details in Scripture.
G. Fruchtenbaum, Th.M., Ph.D.1982. Footsteps of Messiah - A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events. (Second ed. 2003)
THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE MESSIAH
A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events
Dr. Fruchtenbaum gathers the many pieces of the prophetic puzzle and places them in sequential order with the result summed up by Dr. Charles Ryrie in his foreword: "Those who read this book cannot help but be instructed and stimulated by his work." Footsteps is detailed, thorough and scholarly, yet written in a style that the average reader can easily understand. With a wealth of wisdom drawn from his Jewish background and extensive research, the author even tackles the "problem passages" to provide a comprehensive overview of the entire range of prophetic truth.
Over thirty years of teaching Eschatology since the original writing of this book has given Dr. Fruchtenbaum further reflections on some passages. He has added five new appendices to the book.
Obtain this book via Amazon.com (click on book icon above), or order direct from
publisher.
Hardcover (880 pp.) ... $35.00
ISBN: 0-914863-09-6
