Netanyahu – Naija Gospel Radio

Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem Re-opens

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City, seen by many as the holiest site in Christianity, reopened on Wednesday after a three-day closure to protest against Israeli tax measures and a proposed law, Times of Israel rports.

The two men who act as keepers of the key of the church opened its large wooden doors at around 4:00 a.m., ending the protest that began on Sunday at noon.

Wajeeh Nusseibeh, who is charge of locking and unlocking the church, climbed a stepladder and turned the key to open its main wooden door.

Shortly afterwards, a group of pilgrims arrived to visit the sacred site.

The church is built where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. Custody of it is shared by the Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Roman Catholic denominations.

According to Reuters, the rare decision on Sunday by church leaders to close the ancient holy site, a favorite among tourists and pilgrims, with the busy Easter holiday approaching put extra pressure on Israel to re-evaluate and suspend the moves.

“It’s one of the holiest sites for our religion and we prayed very hard these last three days that things would change and it would be open for us to be able to go in,” American pilgrim, who gave her name only as Laurie told Reuters.

The closure — which seemed to be the longest since at least 1990 — had left thousands of pilgrims and tourists seeking to visit locked outside.

Tuesday’s decision to call off the protest came after the Prime Minister’s office announced earlier in the day that it was suspending the tax collection and freezing the legislation until a newly formed committee — to be headed by Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi — could work out the issues with the churches.

“After the constructive intervention of the Prime Minister, The Churches look forward to engage with Minister Hanegbi, and with all those who love Jerusalem, to ensure that Our Holy City, where our Christian presence continues to face challenges, remains a place where the three Monotheistic faiths may live and thrive together,” the church leaders said in a statement.

In addition to the Jerusalem Municipality suspending the tax collection actions it has taken in recent weeks, the government will also suspend all pending legislation regarding church land until the committee examines the issue, the Prime Minister’s Office announced, saying that the committee would work “with the participation of all relevant parties, to formulate a solution for the issue of municipal taxes on properties owned by churches that are not houses of worship.”

While the review of the tax plan is under way, work on legislation that would allow Israel to expropriate land in Jerusalem that churches have sold to private real estate firms in recent years will also be suspended, Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu said.

The bill’s declared aim is to protect homeowners against the possibility private companies will not extend their leases of land on which their residences stand.

Churches are major landowners in Jerusalem. They say such a law would make it harder for them to find buyers for their land- sales that help to cover operating costs of their religious institutions.

Trump Recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that “it is time to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”

Defying dire and worldwide warnings, the US President broke with decades of US and international policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Despite urgent appeals from Arab and European leaders and the risk of anti-American protests and violence, Trump declared that he was ending an approach that for decades has failed to advance the prospects for peace. He also for the first time personally endorsed the concept of a “two-state solution” for Israel and the Palestinians, provided both sides agree to it.

Calling the move “overdue” and in the best interest of the United States, he said, “This is nothing more or less than the recognition of reality.”

Trump also directed that the State Department begin the process of moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as required by US law. Officials said, however, that the move will take years to complete.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump, saying Israel was “profoundly grateful.”

In a video message, Netanyahu called it a “historic day.”

“We’re profoundly grateful for the president for his courageous and just decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to prepare for the opening of the US embassy here,” he said.

Netanyahu said the move reflects Trump’s “commitment to an ancient but enduring truth, to fulfilling his promises and to advancing peace.

According to Joel Rosenberg of Alliance for the Peace of Jerusalem,the news of President Trump recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is an answer to the prayers of many Christians.

“Never has there been a more urgent moment for the church to be praying for the peace of Jerusalem than right now. I say this as an evangelical. I say this as now an Israeli citizen and a Jerusalem resident,” Rosenberg told CBN News.

“These issues are explosive. So how the church handles it, how we speak about it, how we act toward people we disagree with and how we pray: these things matter,” he continued.

Rosenberg’s organization is working to educate the next generation of Christians about the biblical importance of Israel as the Holy Land.

Netanyahu Condemns Iran for Persecuting Christians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on a group of Christian journalists to put a spotlight on the persecution of Christians under Iran’s Islamic regime.

Speaking at the first Christian Media Summit in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said it’s time to speak out for suffering Christians in Iran.

He cited pastors who are jailed for no other reason than being a Christian leader and Believers who have been brutally tortured just for practicing their faith.

“Christians have been lashed, do you hear this, lashed for sipping wine during prayer services,” he said.

Netanyahu has been warning the world about Iran’s terrorist activities and nuclear ambitions, but he said on this night that he wanted to turn his attention to the persecuted.

“Some world leaders are willing to ignore this repression and seek to appease Iran, but I am not one of them. I think that how a country treats religious minorities is a very good indicator of how it will treat its fellow citizens and its neighbors.”

He then encouraged the Christian journalists to highlight Iran’s suffering Believers.

“Dedicate this week to outlining the plight of the countless Christians suffering under Iran. Profile the brave Christian leaders jailed for practicing their faith. Sit with the families, the schoolteachers jailed for years merely for converting to Christianity … Call out the lies of President Rouhani, who promised in 2013 that all religions would, quote, “feel justice” in Iran while so many Christians live there in constant terror,” he said.

Sponsored by the Government Press Office, the Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office, the summit has brought more than 100 Christian journalists and speakers from around the world to learn about Israel’s Biblical and modern history, and its security challenges. Netanyahu’s address at the Israel Museum kicked off the summit.

The Israeli leader praised President Trump for his action this week seeking to impose changes to tighten the nuclear deal with Iran signed by the Obama administration.

“It made a big impression on America’s allies here. And it made a big impression on Iran. They should be worried, justly so,” he said.

He noted that the Iranian threat is two-fold: the possibility of gaining a “vast arsenal” of nuclear weapons and its aim to create a “Shiite Arc” of influence in the Middle East.

“It wants to build the Shiite Arc—Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon—and it’s working. They want a Shiite arc to colonize and control. It is an act of unadulterated aggression,” he said.

At the end of his speech, the prime minister took questions from some members of the press.

CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell cited Israel’s relief efforts to victims of natural disasters around world and asked Netanyahu why, with all the dangers and struggles the tiny Jewish state faces, it rushes to help others.

“Because we’re a light unto the nations, that’s the fulfillment of that great prophecy. That’s what Israel is doing,” he said.

In recent months, Israel has sent relief goods and rescue teams to victims of the hurricanes in the Caribbean and the U.S. and the Mexican earthquakes.

“People say, ‘Well what are you doing? What is it that you get out of it?’ And the answer is we’re not getting out of it anything. We’re fulfilling our deepest values. Israel is a light unto the nations.”

Netanyahu: Evangelical Christians are Israel’s Best Friends

Netanyahu also emphasised the protection of worshipping rights in Israel, including for Christians.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told the annual conference of Christians United for Israel (CUFI) that Christian evangelicals were Israel’s best friends in the world.

According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu told the cheering crowd, “When I say we have no greater friends than Christian supporters of Israel, I know you’ve always stood with us.

“You stand with us because you stand with yourselves because we represent that common heritage of freedom that goes back thousands of years.”

Netanyahu also spoke of Israel and the US being engaged in a major ‘struggle’ against ‘militant Islam’.

According to him, “It’s a struggle of civilizations. It’s a struggle of free societies against the forces of militant Islam. They want to conquer the Middle East, they want to destroy the State of Israel, and then they want to conquer the world.

“People often make a mistake in conventional discussions when they used to say that militant Islamists hate the west because of Israel. Its actually the other way around,” he continued. “They hate Israel because of the west – because we represent a free society built on the foundation of Judeo-Christian heritage. This is the society they despise so much.”

He also emphasised the protection of worshipping rights in Israel, including for Christians.

“Since Israel liberated Jerusalem we have ensured the freedom of access to all faiths.

“It is only under Israeli sovereignty that we ensure that what has happened at other holy sites in the Middle East will not happen to the holy sites under the sovereignty and control of the State of Israel.

“The only place where you have religious freedom guaranteed is Israel. The only place where Christian communities in the Middle East thrive, they grow, not only survive but they have a future. That place is Israel, because Israel guarantees religious freedom. Israel represents the freedom that we all cherish.”

According to the Synergia Foundation Netanyahu has positioned Israel as a defender of Western values in the Middle East which includes the freedom of worship.