Israel Warns Passover Travelers of Iranian Plots to Harm Them Abroad

Fri., March 24 — No Israeli Should Live in Fear | VFI News

Religious Freedom Under Attack: What you need to know

Iranian Regime TV Airs Antisemitic Tirade Against IAEA Head

‘I Felt the Hate’: German Tourist Mobbed by Palestinians Says He Feared for His Life

Hezbollah Terrorists Who Killed Israelis in Bulgaria Bus Blast Get Life in Prison

WATCH: Bringing Hope from Israel to Turkey | Vision for Israel

Bringing Hope from Israel to Turkey | Vision for Israel

Two Knesset Members Propose Legislation to Outlaw Sharing the Gospel in Israel and Send Violators to Prison

Biden Lectures Netanyahu on Judicial Reform — After Launching His Own Court-Packing Commission

Israel's Pain-related Opioid Consumption Has Overtaken the US

Israel Is the Fourth Happiest Country in the World, New Ranking Shows

Subscribe to GET UPDATED on key events from around the world, LEARN how they relate to Biblical prophecies, and PRAY for grace and provision where needed most.

VFI News Final | VFI News | Vision for Israel

In this episode of VFI News, we examine the proposed legislation by Israeli lawmakers to ban the preaching of the gospel and proselytizing. We delve into the implications of this controversial move for religious freedom in Israel. 

Additionally, we bring you the latest developments in Israel's foreign relations, including the country's strengthening ties with Poland, as well as the growing diplomatic strain with strategic regional powers such as the UAE and Jordan.

Tune in to stay up-to-date on these critical issues.

Iran will continue its attempts to harm Israelis around the world, especially in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean, the National Security Council (NSC) warned on Monday, March 20. 

In its guidance for Israeli travelers ahead of the Passover holiday, the NSC emphasized that Iran and its proxies present a particular threat in countries neighboring Iran, including the United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Bahrain. 

Cyprus and Greece, popular holiday destinations for Israelis, are also countries where Iran is likely to target Jews and Israelis, according to the assessment. 

The NSC did not warn against travel to these destinations, but instead called on Israelis “to be aware, to act responsibly in accordance with the level of danger in the country being visited.” 

The NSC lists Muslim partners Turkey, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt as Level 3 threats, meaning that all non-essential travel should be avoided. 

Iranian plots have been foiled in several of these countries over the past year. In November last year, Georgian security officials foiled an attempt by a Pakistani citizen to murder an Israeli in Georgia on orders from an Iranian operative. In July, Turkish forces foiled an attempt by Iranian agents to kill Israelis in Istanbul, arresting three men. (TOI / VFI News)

“God, we ask that Israeli people will be able to celebrate the Passover in peace and without living in fear of violent attacks. We pray that we will all be safe regardless of the place that we choose to spend these days and that others’ malevolent plans will not come to fruition.”

The articles included in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Vision for Israel. We try to provide accurate reporting on news pertinent to Israel, the Middle East, the diaspora, and Jewish issues around the world—and we hope that you find it both informative and useful for intercessory prayer.

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ofogh TV station broadcast antisemitic remarks by foreign affairs expert Mohammad Ghaderi on March 5, that targeted International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi. 

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) first reported on the antisemitic comments in a translation on its website. 

Accusations made against IAEA head Ghaderi told Ofogh, “Grossi is an Argentinian diplomat. He is also a Jew. When he arrived at the scene and was elected as head of the IAEA, he had the full support of the US government – which was the Trump administration – and the personal support of Mike Pompeo himself.”

“He had the backing of the Zionist lobby.” Ghaderi added, “Even though his rival had more votes before the election took place, he was eventually elected due to the heavy lobbying on his behalf.” 

Pompeo was the former US secretary of state during the Trump administration and he has said that Iran’s regime was the worst state sponsor of antisemitism. 

Alireza Nader, the engagement director for the US-based National Union for a Democratic Iran, told Israeli media, “It’s not surprising to see regime officials resort to antisemitic tropes in order to justify their own failed foreign and nuclear policies. The Islamic Republic in Iran is the most antisemitic government on earth and the leading propagator of antisemitism in the world.” (JPost / VFI News)

“God, we pray for the end of antisemitism, so that Jewish people can live safely without being continually mocked or harassed by malicious parties that seek to insidiously harm them.”

One of two German tourists attacked Saturday, March 18, by a Palestinian mob while driving through Nablus, told Hebrew media Sunday that he had genuinely feared for his life during the attack, saying the crowd was “full of hate.” 

The two tourists drove on Saturday through central Nablus, a city in the north of the West Bank, in a rented car with Israeli license plates when they came under attack. 

“I’ve never encountered a situation like this. It was a very very dangerous situation, and we really thought they wanted to kill us,” Gerald Hetzel said. “Young men came from taxis around us … and started to knock on our windows, to scream at us in Arabic.” 

“They were bringing stones and a traffic sign and throwing everything against the car. After one or two minutes they pulled out a knife and stabbed the wheels of the car, and also threatened my friend.”

“I didn’t understand what they wanted. We tried to tell them in English that we are tourists, and we are not Jewish Israelis, that we are there to visit and see the town, but they seemed to not understand it,” Hetzel said.

“I really felt the hate from their eyes, and from the way they were acting. And they were throwing rocks, maybe double the size of my head,” Hetzel recalled.  (TOI / VFI News)

“They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.” - Proverbs 4:17

The Supreme Court of Bulgaria has confirmed the life prison sentences in absentia for two Hezbollah terrorists for their role in blowing up an Israeli tour bus in the seaside resort town of Burgas, killing five Israelis and their Bulgarian Muslim bus driver in 2012. 

The Hezbollah operatives murdered Yitzhak Kolangi, 28, of Petah Tikva; Maor Harush, 26, of Acre; Amir Menashe, 27, of Petah Tikva; Elior Preis, 26, of Acre; and Kochava Shriki, 44, of Rishon Lezion. The bus driver was Mustafa Kyosov, 36, a Muslim from the village of Yurukovo in southwestern Bulgaria, who died in the hospital two hours after the bombing.

The two convicted Hezbollah terrorists – Meliad Farah, a Lebanese-Australian citizen, and Hassan El Hajj Hassan, a Lebanese-Canadian citizen – fled to Lebanon after the bombing. 

Israeli media previously reported that Bulgaria urged Lebanon to extradite the terrorists, but Lebanon’s government, where Hezbollah plays a dominant role, rebuffed the Bulgarian authorities. 

Toby Dershowitz, senior vice president for government relations and strategy at the non-partisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said, “The initial findings of Hezbollah’s role in the bombing led Europe to designate Hezbollah’s so-called military wing [as a terrorist entity]. It’s time for both the EU and Bulgaria itself to designate Hezbollah in its entirety, joining the 20 or so countries that have already done so.” (JPost / VFI News)

Watch as Barry Segal gives a firsthand account of the devastation in Adiyaman, and how Vision for Israel is making a difference by providing crucial humanitarian aid. From food and medicine to emotional support, see how this organization is bringing hope and healing to those in need. Join us as we witness the power of compassion and the impact it can have on communities in crisis.

Is it possible that the Israeli government this year could pass legislation making it illegal for people to share the Gospel message in the very land where Yeshua (Jesus) was born, raised, preached, died, buried, and rose from the dead? 

Unfortunately, yes. As Palm Sunday and Easter approach – the two most sacred days on the calendar for those who follow Yeshua as both God and Messiah – two members of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) introduced a bill last week that would ban any and all efforts to tell people about Yeshua. 

The bill would send violators to prison. Should it begin to gain traction inside the Knesset and begin moving towards passage, the bill could create a major new headache for Netanyahu's government by sparking a serious clash with Evangelical Christians in the United States and around the world who are among the biggest supporters of the State of Israel. 

The bill could also draw sharp criticism from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, in the executive branch, among U.S. governors, and others who love Israel and have always stood with the Jewish state, but would fiercely oppose efforts to silence followers of Yeshua in the Holy Land. 

The proposed legislation would outlaw all efforts by people of one faith who, in any way, want to discuss or try to persuade people of other faiths to consider changing their current religious beliefs. The punishment for doing so would be “one-year imprisonment.” If the conversation is with a minor – someone under the age of 18 – the punishment would be “two years imprisonment.” (AI / VFI News)

“But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” - Matthew 10:33

President Joe Biden has warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against pursuing judicial reform — after his own administration considered a radical proposal to pack the Supreme Court with liberal justices. 

Israeli media reports that Biden “raised his concerns with the judicial overhaul being advanced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government during a ‘candid and constructive’ phone call” on Sunday, March 19. 

The article fails to note that Biden entertained his own, far more radical, proposals to change the U.S. judiciary after Democrats grew irate at the increasingly conservative composition of the Supreme Court after 2018. 

For months, Democratic Party presidential candidates pushed proposals to “pack” the Supreme Court by adding four extra seats, then having the president nominate left-wing justices whom the Senate would confirm. 

Biden dropped his former objections to such ideas and promised to consider them. He appointed a commission to consider the idea of court-packing, among other reforms, and it delivered its draft final report in 2021. 

Biden has not yet extended an invitation to the newly-elected prime minister to visit the White House — a common courtesy extended to foreign leaders, especially to democratically-elected leaders of close U.S. allies. (BB / VFI News)

Israel overtook the US in 2020 in the consumption of pain-relieving narcotics, including fentanyl, which is 50 times stronger than heroin, a new, 13-page, in-depth study at Jerusalem’s Taub Center for Social Policy Studies has reported, indicating a worrying trend. 

Written by Prof. Nadav Davidovitch, Dr. Yannai Kranzler, and Oren Miron, the report presents the hard facts of pain narcotic consumption and its destructive effects. 

The researchers suggest immediate actions be taken to cut consumption and the use of more medicine than clinically necessary, including safer alternatives for managing pain, improved accessibility to medical treatment, mental health, and social services, and reducing the stigma connected to the use and abuse of drugs. 

International studies have shown that opioid consumption by outpatients is usually seen in younger patients who do not have serious conditions or illnesses. 

The studies also found that since 2014, most of the increase in opioid consumption occurred among patients with a low socioeconomic status; meaning that young, healthy, and poor Israelis are among those contributing to the increased consumption of opioids. (JPost / VFI News)

“I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners.” - Isaiah 57:18

Israel is the fourth happiest country in the world, according to the 2023 World Happiness Report (WHR), which was released on Monday, March 20. 

Topping the list is Finland, which leads by a significant margin. Finland is followed by Denmark and Iceland.

The publication ranks happiness on a national level each year. This year, Israel earned the fourth spot out of 109 ranked countries, an improvement over last year’s ranking of ninth. The survey measures subjective well-being through how people report the quality of their lives to be. 

Main tools the report uses are called “positive affect” and “negative affect,” which essentially refer to positive and negative emotions, respectively. “Positive affect is given by the average of individual yes or no answers about three emotions: laughter, enjoyment, and interest,” the report explains. 

“Negative affect is given by the average of individual yes or no answers about three emotions: worry, sadness and anger.” 

Israeli society is diverse, and more than 20% of the Jewish state’s population is Arab. Additionally, numerous religious groups such as Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Druze are all represented. Nevertheless, the gap in happiness between the top and bottom halves of the country is remarkably small, despite the tensions between various social groups. 

Strikingly, every nation that precedes Israel in happiness equality is far more homogeneous by nearly every demographic metric available in the CIA World Factbook. (JPost / VFI News)

“God, we thank You for making your people happy, and bestowing upon us numerous blessings that lift our spirits. We are extremely grateful for our prosperity, and we trust that Israel and its people will keep flourishing.”

The suggestions, opinions, and scripture references made by VFI News writers and editors are based on the best information received.

Want to see more from VFI? Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/visionforisrael and hit “like” if you like us!



Great Job! You’re now updated with the latest key events and prayer points.

Don’t miss the next edition of the VFI Newsletter! Subscribe to get our latest edition to your inbox.

Did you enjoy reading this edition of the VFI Newsletter? Donate now to bless people who live in poverty today in Israel and to help spread love, compassion, and truth!