VFI News September 9, 2022

On September 5th, 1972 eight terrorists from the group called Black September took 11 Israelis hostage and as a result, were killed. 50 years later, Germany revisited this strategy by extending a formal apology to Israel. Join Barry Segal for this week's VFI News.

#visionforisrael #history #blackseptember #terorism #israel #germany #apology #news #breakingnews #newsupdate

SUBSCRIBE TO GET NOTIFIED! https://www.youtube.com/c/VisionforIsrael

Prime Minister Yair Lapid said Tuesday, September 6, it was too soon to know if Israel had succeeded in thwarting the emerging nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran, which it sees as harmful. Lapid, who was on a visit to the Nevatim airbase in southern Israel, which houses the Israeli Air Force’s fleet of advanced F-35 fighter jets, also issued a warning to Iran.

“It is still too early to know if we have indeed succeeded in stopping the nuclear agreement, but Israel is prepared for every threat and every scenario,” Lapid said in a brief statement in front of an F-35.

“If Iran continues to test us, it will discover Israel’s long arm and capabilities. We will continue to act on all fronts against terrorism and against those who seek to harm us,” he said.

“As [US] President [Joe] Biden and I agreed, Israel has full freedom to act as we see fit to prevent the possibility of Iran becoming a nuclear threat,” Lapid added. (TOI / VFI News)

“Lord, we thank you that You are our fortress and shield in times of trouble. We ask that you protect us from Iran’s nuclear threat and give us strength to defend our land and our families, in case of hostilities and nuclear attacks.”

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 United States military flew a pair of nuclear-capable B-52 long-distance bombers over the Middle East in a show of force, as tensions in the region remain high between Washington and Tehran.

The bombers took off from the Royal Air Force base at Fairford in England and flew over the eastern Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Red Sea on Sunday, September 4, in training missions together with Kuwaiti and Saudi warplanes, before departing the region.

Lt Gen Alexus Grynkewich, the top US air force officer in the Middle East, said in a statement: 'Threats to the US and our partners will not go unanswered. Missions like this... showcase our ability to combine forces to deter and, if necessary, defeat our adversaries.'

It comes as US and Iranian negotiators have been attempting to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. But the tensions between the countries have reached a fever pitch after Washington said that Iran's latest negotiating position was 'not constructive'.

Although the US military's Central Command did not mention Iran in its statement, Washington has frequently dispatched B-52 bombers to the region as hostilities simmered between the US and Iran. The last such flyover was in June. (DM / VFI News)

“God, we thank you that you give us allies that strive to protect us and our rights, in sight of imminent danger.”

President Isaac Herzog visited the site of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp on Tuesday, September 6, accompanied by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the Minister-President of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer.

At the start of their visit, President Herzog and President Steinmeier laid a wreath at the memorial, after which the presidents walked to the Jewish memorial, originally erected by the camp’s survivors after the war. President Herzog recited the Kaddish prayer in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, like his father, the Sixth President of Israel, Chaim Herzog, who visited Bergen-Belsen during his state visit to Germany in 1987, as the first Israeli head of state to visit there.

On 15 April 1945, near the end of the Second World War, British forces liberated the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp from the Nazis. Chaim Herzog, then a British Army officer, participated in the liberation efforts.

President Isaac Herzog said: “When the camp was liberated, a military convoy rolled into the site headed by an officer, who stood on a wooden crate and shouted in Yiddish, in front of hundreds of people, hundreds of human skeletons: ‘Yidden! Yidden! Es leben noch Yidden!’ In English: ‘Jews! There are still living Jews!’ There are still Jews in the world! That Jewish officer was my father, Chaim Herzog, of blessed memory, later President of Israel.” (INN/ VFI News)

“Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.” - Deuteronomy 16:20

The United Kingdom’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss is a friend of Israel, Prime Minister Yair Lapid said after her victory was announced on Monday, September 5.

“I congratulate my new friend, a true friend of Israel Liz Truss, who was elected prime minister of Great Britain,” Lapid said.

The UK and Israel are united by a shared “commitment to freedom and a joint vision for a better future,” the prime minister said. “I expect to continue working together for our countries and for our security.”

Lapid and Truss have built a good working relationship since they overlapped as their countries’ foreign ministers, signing a strategic plan involving cybersecurity and other technological cooperation, as well as trade and defense.

While the UK’s policy is to support negotiations with Iran toward a nuclear deal, sources close to Lapid have said that Truss, as foreign secretary, has shown an understanding of the threat that Tehran poses to the Jewish state and is closer to Israel’s view on Iran’s prevarications in the talks. (JPost / VFI News)

“God, we thank you that you help people in critical positions all over the world understand, validate and defend Israel’s stance on national security”

Holocaust survivors in Israel live off very small stipends, and the cost of living in Israel can be a heavy burden on them. In special events that we organized for the survivors, they were able to choose from thousands of clothing items and received money vouchers to help them with their needs.

The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday, September 4, appointed a female officer to command a Home Front Command search and rescue unit for the first time.

Lt. Col. Yarden Shukron Yifrah, a mother of three, will command the 498th Shahar (Dawn) Battalion, tasked with rescuing civilians in events such as rocket attacks, earthquakes, and other serious incidents and disasters.

According to the IDF, the battalion had foiled at least five terror attacks against civilians in recent months. During the round of fighting against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group in the Gaza Strip last month, the battalion was stationed in the southern city of Sderot to assist the local population amid rocket attacks.

Recent years have seen a growing number of women enter combat units and other roles previously held exclusively by men. In June 2022, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi nominated the military’s first female combat brigade commander, Col. Reut Rettig-Weiss.

In May, the military said women would be allowed to serve in elite helicopter-borne search and rescue outfit Unit 669 for the first time. The IDF also recently nominated a female officer to head one of the military’s light infantry battalions, and another to command a battalion in the air defense array, both for the first time. (TOI / VFI News)

A Turkish warship anchored in Haifa Port on Saturday, September 3, for the first time in more than a decade, as part of a NATO patrol in the region.

The TCG Kemalreis (F-247), a Barbaros-class frigate, docked in the northern port along with the USS Forrest Sherman, an American guided-missile destroyer. “The docking is part of Israel’s cooperation with and support of NATO,” the IDF said.

The Kemalreis, one of the most advanced ships in the Turkish Navy, is the first warship to dock in Israel since 2010, after Ankara broke off relations with the Jewish state following the Mavi Marmara incident, causing an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between the then-allies.

Ankara and Jerusalem for years had close ties in the defense industry, including in security cooperation, intelligence sharing, and military training. The relationship began in the 1960s and peaked in the 1990s with the 1994 Defense Cooperation Agreement and the 1996 Military Training Cooperation Agreement. (JPost/VFI News)

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity. - Proverbs 17:17

Israel’s Transportation Ministry inaugurated a new entrance to Jerusalem, Highway 16, which is supposed to help serve 40% of the commuters entering the city every day. The new road, named after the late prime minister Ariel Sharon, cost nearly one billion shekels (nearly $300 million), and opened last week, one year ahead of schedule.

“The new road is great news for Jerusalem,” said Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli. “But we need to face the truth: The real solution to transportation is more complicated, and includes investments in public transportation.”

A new bus line between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv will start running soon using the new highway, a response to some of the criticism about the lack of investment in public transportation in the area.

“The new road is a brilliant solution. Sure, I have some criticism regarding delays in building the intersections connecting it to the city center, but it’s still an unusually efficient solution to entering Jerusalem,” Nissim Peretz, CEO of Israel’s National Transport Infrastructure Company, told media.

“It definitely should be supported by public transportation, but in the suitable places. Light rail, bike lanes, public transportation lanes are all necessary – but inside the city,” he added. (JPost / VFI News)

Elephant-tusk ivory plaques from the First Temple period (7th-8th BCE) were discovered in Jerusalem for the first time in an unlikely location: a parking lot. Archaeologists think the plaques were found in a building devastated by a fire that occurred during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.

The dig, jointly conducted by the Antiquities Authority (IAA) and Tel Aviv University, involved excavations in the Givati parking lot in the Jerusalem Walls National Park. The excavation was funded by the City of David Foundation.

The decorations on some of the ivories consist of frames incised with rosettes, in the center of which is a stylized tree, both of which were popular symbols in Mesopotamia, according to Dr. Ido Koch and Reli Avisar from Tel Aviv University. Others were adorned with lotus flowers and a geometric pattern.

The plaques found in Jerusalem are rarely found anywhere in the world. Ivory was one of the most costly raw materials in the ancient world, believed by scholars to have been used in residential buildings.

The archaeologists believe that the inlaid ivories were used by the residents of the building with the wooden furnishings. The residents are believed to have been people of influence and power, which means that they may have been government officials or priests. This assumption is based on various biblical references, in which ivory is consistently associated with royalty or wealth. (JPost/ VFI News)

“Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.” - Psalm 112:3

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! Our official Facebook name is Vision for Israel. Follow us there and please hit “like” if you like us.