VFI News June 23, 2020

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 4:6-7

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sarah Netanyahu, hosted a dinner Tuesday for Greek Prime Minister Kiriakos Mitsotakis, his wife Marva, and their son Constantine at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem.

"We had excellent discussions today and I would say that we are promoting three pipelines: first, the gas pipeline; second, the electricity pipeline—it connects Israel, Cyprus, and Greece; and third, the tourism pipeline," Netanyahu noted.

"We hope we can reopen flights between our two countries. We have set our deadline for August 1st. It depends on the corona. Currently, the number of cases is rising. We hope to control it and bring the number down again. We very much want to see Israelis flying to Greece and Greeks flying to Israel," Netanyahu added. (INN / VFI News)

“God, we ask that you watch over Israel and her people, that your blessings return in even greater bounty than before.”

In his first foreign trip since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Mitsotakis condemned Turkey's “aggressive behavior in the eastern Mediterranean."

Along with Cyprus, Israel and Greece signed an agreement in January on building an undersea pipeline to carry gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe. Turkey stands opposed to the deal and has conducted an air and naval exercise in the eastern Mediterranean.

The European Union (EU) is currently weighing retaliatory measures as Israel plans to annex parts of Judea and Samaria, a step included in a US peace initiative. The Greek delegation will not meet with Palestinian Authority (PA) officials, who have categorically rejected Washington's plan.

But in an interview published by Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, Mitsotakis said he would speak to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas "once I return to Athens."

"We want to see the Israelis and the Palestinians living alongside one another in peace and security," he said.

More than 450,000 Israelis and 2.7 million PA Arabs live in Judea and Samaria. (INN / VFI News)

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. —John 16:33

At an industrial park in Sderot, a city abutting the Gaza Strip, factory staff this week started producing the first of millions of high-spec N95 masks. Sion Medical Company usually produces dressings, gauzes, and other medical products, only turning its attention to masks when the Israeli government ordered millions of them.

Israel has requested 40 million regular sanitary masks, plus 11 million N95 models which offer a higher level of protection.

"We have risen to the challenge that the state of Israel put forward, to make enough masks as quickly as possible so that Israel doesn't need to import anymore," said Lev, barely heard above the whirl of machines.

He said the firm can produce four million regular masks and two million N95 ones a month, the latter with machines imported from China by the defense ministry. Mask-wearing is mandatory in public and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has urged Israelis to stick to the rule to keep infection rates down. (INN / VFI News)

Israeli scientists have developed a self-disinfecting, reusable face mask as the demand for protective masks has risen dramatically since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The mask was developed at the Haifa-based Technion-Israel Institute of Technology’s Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering by a team of scientists led by Professor Yair Ein-Eli.

A patent application has been submitted in the United States, the Technion said in a statement. The research team is talking to industrial companies about mass producing the masks, according to the statement. In some countries, demand has far outstripped the supply of face masks amid the pandemic.

Here’s how the mask works: A layer of carbon fibers is heated using a USB port with a low current source, such as a phone charger, in a process that destroys viruses that may have accumulated on the mask.

In Israel, wearing a mask in public is mandatory, and those not in compliance can be fined. (INN / VFI News)

Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. —Jeremiah 33:6

“God, we ask that you continue to bless all those working diligently to cure diseases and to keep us safe.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency has begun to realize that Iran is lying about its nuclear ambitions, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the opening of Sunday’s cabinet meeting.

“Iran continues to lie to the international community in order to attain nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu warned. “Today, the IAEA understands…what we have said for years.”

Netanyahu referred to the UN nuclear watchdog’s resolution adopted over the weekend, which he said “speaks for itself,” calling on Iran to cooperate with the agency and grant it access to suspected former nuclear sites.

Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz said, “Iran is, first of all, a problem for the world, then a regional problem, undermining the stability of the whole Middle East, and it is also a challenge for Israel.”

Gantz said, “the security matters that stand out less in light of the challenges of coronavirus have not disappeared and they will return.” (JPost / VFI News)

And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. —James 3:18

“God, we ask that you breathe your peace into the international community. That you would incline them to listen to your wisdom above their own.”

Russia did not support a UN Security Council Resolution that the Obama administration considered pushing in order to force parameters for a peace agreement on Israel and the Palestinians, as indicated by recently declassified phone conversations between US President Donald Trump's former adviser Michael Flynn and Russia's ambassador to the US at the time, Sergey Kislyak.

The resolution included a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, and was “more like what the Palestinians want and very far from the Trump plan,” according to a source close to the matter.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enlisted then-president-elect Donald Trump and his staff to try to block the Resolution, and ultimately convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin to threaten a veto. The resolution was never actually submitted to the UNSC because it had no chance of passing. (JPost / VFI News)

The head of Lebanon's Kataeb Party, Sami Gemayel, spoke out against the Hezbollah terrorist movement after the movement's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah gave an address on Tuesday concerning the country's financial and political crisis.

"No one has the right to drag us into the place they want, and no one has the right to impose on us a lifestyle that we don’t want," said Gemayel concerning Hezbollah, adding that Hezbollah was preventing the Lebanese Army from closing illegal smuggling crossings along Lebanon's borders, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.

Hezbollah has been accused of smuggling goods and dollars from Lebanon into Syria and harming the Lebanese economy, as well as smuggling weapons from Syria into Lebanon. During his speech on Tuesday, Nasrallah denied smuggling dollars out of Lebanon.

The Kataeb Party leader stressed that Lebanon doesn't "want to live in isolation and be cut off from the West, Arabs and the entire world." (JPost / VFI News)

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. —Isaiah 12:2

“God, we ask that you help all those who want to work toward lasting friendship and understanding with the rest of humanity.”

Israel wished Beatles legend, Sir Paul McCartney, a happy birthday on Thursday, the rocker's birthday.

McCartney's last performance in Israel was in 2008 and was a massive success. Rumors began to spark in late 2019 that McCartney was planning a return sometime in the near future.

McCartney is reportedly “in talks” with officials and promoters and the chance for another Tel Aviv show by the man once dubbed “the cute Beatle” is “extremely high.”

McCartney is currently married to a Jewish transportation mogul named Nancy Shevell and was previously married to the late photographer and animal rights activist Linda Eastman, who was also Jewish. (JPost / VFI News)