The Jewish roots of Christianity

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Bible teaching with an emphasis on Israel, prophecy and the Jewish roots of Christianity

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Episode: “Avital Leibovich”
The director of the American Jewish Congress, Avital Leibovich provided us her political and military expertise on the geopolitical strategy and activities affecting Israel and the entire Middle East.

Caption transcript for “Avital Leibovich”

  • 00:11 ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪
  • 00:15 David Hart: We are so glad you've joined us today.
  • 00:17 Kirsten Hart: Things look a little different.
  • 00:18 We're not on our regular set.
  • 00:20 The brothers are in Dallas, we're here at our home in
  • 00:23 Orlando, but we wanted to get to you, our viewer, a very
  • 00:28 timely interview.
  • 00:29 Guys, tell us a little bit more.
  • 00:32 Caleb Colson: Well, the world is telling you lies, and Satan is
  • 00:35 the master PR spokesman.
  • 00:37 And when you hear everybody up in arms, they're getting on
  • 00:40 their phones, they're making these chants, they're picketing,
  • 00:42 it's always against the nation state of Israel 'cause they're
  • 00:45 God's chosen people.
  • 00:46 And we want to bring you the truth of what's going on.
  • 00:48 It doesn't make any sense that Israel is under this amazing
  • 00:52 microscope when horrible crimes are being committed around the
  • 00:55 world and they're just trying to protect themselves.
  • 00:57 Joshua Colson: That's why we love going to Israel, so that we
  • 00:59 can see the truth, hear the real stories, and bring that
  • 01:02 information to you.
  • 01:04 Kirsten: Let's bring that real story to you right now.
  • 01:11 Joshua: One of the most unique things about being in Israel
  • 01:13 during any time of conflict is that the country is so small
  • 01:16 you're going to hear, feel, or see some evidence of the
  • 01:19 conflict that's going on.
  • 01:21 From our hotel room, we can hear explosions.
  • 01:24 We can feel them.
  • 01:25 We can see the lights in the sky at night as we learn of the
  • 01:29 conflicts that are going on not far from us, and last night was
  • 01:32 no exception with Rafah.
  • 01:34 Joshua: With the war fresh in our minds, we journey
  • 01:37 to Modi'in.
  • 01:38 Trips to Israel do have their perks.
  • 01:40 We get to meet and interview these amazing
  • 01:42 influential people.
  • 01:44 Today, we're actually invited to the home of Avital Leibovich.
  • 01:47 And what a warm welcome she gave.
  • 01:50 Avital is a lieutenant colonel in the IDF reserves and also the
  • 01:54 director of the American Jewish Committee Jerusalem since 2014.
  • 01:57 Being an expert in diplomacy and geopolitical strategy has
  • 02:01 allowed her to work closely with diplomats and ambassadors in
  • 02:04 Israel and abroad.
  • 02:07 During her service with the IDF, she was the head of the foreign
  • 02:10 branch press.
  • 02:11 This affords her the unique experience to speak effectively
  • 02:14 concerning the current conflict of the Israel-Hamas war.
  • 02:19 Off camera, she even shared her personal experience of how her
  • 02:23 own children lost close friends due to the massacre on
  • 02:26 October 7th.
  • 02:28 God even supernaturally spared her daughter from being in the
  • 02:30 wrong place at the wrong time.
  • 02:33 Here's Avital.
  • 02:36 Avital Leibovich: So I joined the IDF when I was 21 after
  • 02:39 completing my academic studies.
  • 02:41 I never really thought I would be so many years in the IDF, but
  • 02:45 one thing led into another and I found myself falling in love,
  • 02:49 you can say, with the Israeli Defense Forces, with the system,
  • 02:52 with, I think, mainly the fact that I could contribute to
  • 02:56 the country.
  • 02:57 And I had different roles usually in the IDF spokesperson
  • 03:02 unit where I had to defend Israel across the world.
  • 03:05 I served for 23 years.
  • 03:07 I retired 10 years ago and I've been doing my reserve duty ever
  • 03:11 since in the northern borders of Israel.
  • 03:14 I have three kids.
  • 03:16 I'm married.
  • 03:17 My husband also was an officer in the air force, and this is
  • 03:20 how we met.
  • 03:22 Joshua: It's incredible this perspective we keep hearing.
  • 03:23 We interviewed some people from the IDF yesterday who were
  • 03:27 starting at 20 and 21 and hearing the perspective being,
  • 03:30 "I'm doing this because it's my responsibility.
  • 03:32 If I don't, no one else will."
  • 03:34 And we were correlating how in America, 20-year-olds are like,
  • 03:36 "Dad, can I have some more money because I want to go hang out
  • 03:38 and buy clothes and do things?"
  • 03:40 That--sense of responsibility seems to be
  • 03:42 something that's common in Israel.
  • 03:44 And I know that one of the messages you're trying to preach
  • 03:47 is: here's the information and here's how you're responsible to
  • 03:50 take that information and do something with it.
  • 03:52 We've been talking about anti-Semitism and how October
  • 03:54 7 has exploded that on the world's stage yet again, if
  • 03:58 anybody thought it was dead.
  • 03:59 What are you seeing now globally, I know that's a big
  • 04:02 question to start off with, but--since October 7
  • 04:04 with anti-Semitism?
  • 04:06 Avital: Although we are here in Israel, we do see all the harsh
  • 04:10 images, the protests, the chants, the holding sign the
  • 04:14 Jews are not welcomed or from the river to the sea or a
  • 04:18 million other versions of anti-Semitism.
  • 04:21 We're also hearing slogans like Israel--Jews are controlling the
  • 04:25 world media or Jews are the richest people in the world.
  • 04:29 These are all anti-Semite slogans, and we are aware
  • 04:33 of that.
  • 04:35 Now, part of it derives from ignorance.
  • 04:36 Another part of it has to do with a lot of falsehoods.
  • 04:40 We are in the age of internet and social media.
  • 04:43 We are living in an age that everybody that has a cell phone
  • 04:46 is actually a journalist in a way, and therefore nobody really
  • 04:50 checks, you know, the authenticity of the footage that
  • 04:53 he or she saw.
  • 04:55 Immediately it's easier to base your opinion based on emotions.
  • 04:58 Joshua: Each generation seems to get a little more focused on
  • 05:01 themselves and separated from history.
  • 05:04 About 15 years ago, we were in Germany with a pastor who said
  • 05:08 that they were a generation away from the Holocaust never
  • 05:10 existing because they didn't speak about it to the
  • 05:12 generation below.
  • 05:13 And now, like you're saying, today, if it isn't on TikTok,
  • 05:16 then it must not have happened.
  • 05:17 That's a terrifying position to be in.
  • 05:19 Avital: It is.
  • 05:21 I have to say that I'm a daughter of a
  • 05:22 Holocaust survivor.
  • 05:23 My father was born in Poland in 1940; and they came to Israel in
  • 05:29 1949, just 1 year after it was founded, and he couldn't be more
  • 05:35 proud than to see my service in the army and our kids' service
  • 05:41 in the army as well.
  • 05:50 Avital: October 7, 6:29, I wake up to the sound of explosives,
  • 05:56 and I don't live next to Gaza.
  • 05:58 Gaza is 100 kilometers from here.
  • 06:01 But it was Saturday morning.
  • 06:02 It was a holiday.
  • 06:04 We were all sleeping. It was early.
  • 06:06 Within seconds, I understood something was going on because
  • 06:09 my alert on my alert app on the phone went berserk.
  • 06:14 The next thing I did was to call my father.
  • 06:16 My father is a religious man, and every Saturday he goes
  • 06:19 to synagogue.
  • 06:20 Now, he does--he observes Shabbat, observes the Saturday,
  • 06:24 the Sabbath; and he doesn't have any means to--doesn't open the
  • 06:27 TV or the radio.
  • 06:29 He doesn't know that there's something going on, and I was
  • 06:31 concerned that he would go.
  • 06:32 And rockets began flying here.
  • 06:35 So the first thing I called him up and I told him, "Stay
  • 06:37 at home.
  • 06:39 Prepare your shelter."
  • 06:40 Of course, I prepared our--my shelter as well.
  • 06:41 The next thing I did was wake up my three kids and my husband,
  • 06:44 which of course, can sleep even when the tank goes around him.
  • 06:49 In 2 o'clock I received a phone call from my commander in the
  • 06:52 reserve duty--my reserve duty in the--it's 2 miles from the
  • 06:55 Lebanese border.
  • 06:56 I packed a bag.
  • 06:58 I had no idea for how long I'm traveling to and how long I will
  • 07:01 stay there, but I packed a bag and I went there.
  • 07:03 I was there for 52 days.
  • 07:06 I came home for two, three weekends, but that's it.
  • 07:09 I was there next to the border and that was a deserted place,
  • 07:13 of course.
  • 07:14 At the same time my husband went to reserve duty in the air
  • 07:17 force, at the same time my oldest daughter went to reserve
  • 07:21 duty in the South Command for 60 days, and at the same time I
  • 07:26 have--a son who is in a special combat unit in a
  • 07:30 regular service.
  • 07:31 So he was not there as well.
  • 07:33 So four out of five of us on October 7 found ourselves as
  • 07:38 part of protecting this country.
  • 07:41 And my story is not unique because there are 300,000
  • 07:44 reservists just like me, and I think it's an indication of the
  • 07:49 huge amount of patriotism that the people of Israel have
  • 07:53 living here.
  • 07:54 Joshua: Definitely.
  • 07:56 Avital: One of the, I don't know even to call it disgusting or
  • 07:59 horrific, things we found upon the bodies of those who
  • 08:04 infiltrated on October 7, those Hamas terrorists who
  • 08:07 infiltrated on October 7, we found receipts, that it was an
  • 08:13 indication to money--sums of money they were paid for to
  • 08:17 kill Jews.
  • 08:19 Now, when I tell you something like this, what kind of numbers
  • 08:22 do you have in your head?
  • 08:25 Joshua: Big numbers, thousands.
  • 08:26 Avital: So since the currency is in shekels, I can help you
  • 08:29 translate into dollars.
  • 08:30 Between 20 and 100 shekels, which is $5 to $25 per person.
  • 08:37 This was the incentive that Hamas gave many of the
  • 08:42 terrorists just to cross the border and kill as many Jews
  • 08:45 as possible.
  • 08:46 Joshua: Well, here's a question to me because that's insane
  • 08:48 first of all, $5 to $25 at the value of a life.
  • 08:51 I've worked in different countries where sex trafficking
  • 08:53 was rampant, talking to parents who were selling their kids
  • 08:55 for $300.
  • 08:57 So this number is insanely small.
  • 08:58 But what happened to the idea that they were doing it strictly
  • 09:01 for their belief system and religion?
  • 09:02 All of a sudden, that seems to poke holes in the idea that it's
  • 09:04 just about their faith if they're wanting to pick up $5.
  • 09:07 Avital: It's not only that.
  • 09:09 Many of them were drugged.
  • 09:10 They were drugged and therefore they were operating in a
  • 09:13 very--almost an automatic kind of mood.
  • 09:16 So you're thinking to yourself, "Wait, if they are so--you know,
  • 09:19 believe ideologically on Hamas' or Muslim Brotherhood agenda,
  • 09:23 why do they need drugs?
  • 09:24 Why do they need payments unless it's a part of that ideology?"
  • 09:29 And we know because we found so many millions of dollars and
  • 09:33 shekels hidden in Hamas safes, in the tunnels we found
  • 09:39 tens of millions of dollars--I'm sorry.
  • 09:42 Hundreds of millions of dollars and shekels in the
  • 09:45 tunnels hidden.
  • 09:46 So the money was a part of the system.
  • 09:51 Caleb: Just recently, I believe it was back April 14 or
  • 09:53 15, it was an attack from Iran.
  • 09:57 This was historical.
  • 09:59 Never in history has Iran directly attacked Israel.
  • 10:02 It's always been through proxies; through Hezbollah,
  • 10:05 through Syria.
  • 10:06 But they sent 300+ drones and ballistic missiles,
  • 10:11 cruise missiles.
  • 10:12 Thankfully, no one was severely harmed, and America helped and
  • 10:18 you all guys--the Iron Dome, all these amazing methods of
  • 10:20 technology defeated their weaponry.
  • 10:24 But we heard afterwards that this was foreknown by the
  • 10:28 American government.
  • 10:30 We heard through Turkey that this was a plan, and we sourced
  • 10:34 that limit, "It's okay if you don't go beyond this.
  • 10:36 You can do this."
  • 10:37 To me that sounds like an allowance of terrorism, that
  • 10:44 even our country would allow such things as some kind of
  • 10:47 pacification for us.
  • 10:48 How can we actually deal with the situation of Iran?
  • 10:52 They are a bully.
  • 10:54 How do you deal with this kind of bully?
  • 10:55 Avital: First of all, we need to know that Iran is the main
  • 10:58 orchestrator, the chief orchestrator of what is
  • 11:00 going on.
  • 11:02 Iran is responsible for October 7 at the end of the day.
  • 11:05 Iran is responsible for the failed situation of Lebanon.
  • 11:08 It's responsible of the atrocities that were going on
  • 11:12 in Syria.
  • 11:13 It's responsible for the amount of ammunition which is going in
  • 11:16 to Judea and Samaria on a daily basis.
  • 11:19 So this is the chief orchestrator.
  • 11:21 But the world needs to understand that Iran is not a
  • 11:25 sole Israeli issue.
  • 11:28 It has an impact all over the world.
  • 11:30 The fact that the Houthis, a remote Yemenite tribe--now,
  • 11:35 Yemen is the weakest, poorest country in the region.
  • 11:38 How come they have the money to fire a missile 2,000 kilometers
  • 11:43 which costs $2 million, $3 million, one missile,
  • 11:46 and they fire dozens?
  • 11:48 Because Iran is behind it.
  • 11:49 Now, the world needs to come together, sanction Iran, whether
  • 11:54 it's business, whether it's educational.
  • 11:57 I mean, 2 weeks ago I couldn't believe when I saw that the
  • 12:01 Iranian foreign minister was a guest in the UN in New York.
  • 12:05 I'm thinking to myself, "What do I see here?"
  • 12:07 So as long as they will be embraced and welcomed by the
  • 12:10 Western world, they will continue.
  • 12:13 Now, Israel is standing in a way as a shield for the
  • 12:16 Western world.
  • 12:18 There was no other country ever in history that had to defend
  • 12:22 itself from 200 drones flying here simultaneously.
  • 12:27 Never, ever.
  • 12:28 But it showed us two good things.
  • 12:30 Number one, the defense systems we have here are magnificent.
  • 12:34 With more than 12 years of experience in Iron Dome and
  • 12:37 Arrow system, almost 95 to 97 success rates of interception.
  • 12:43 And, number two, there was a coalition that worked together
  • 12:45 with Israel: the US, the primary actor; but there was the UK, and
  • 12:49 there was France, there was Jordan.
  • 12:50 I think it also speaks about the joint interest and the need to
  • 12:54 work in a mutual way, to coordinate and to work in order
  • 12:58 to defend not only Israel.
  • 13:00 It's not only for Israel, it's for the entire region, also for
  • 13:02 the world.
  • 13:04 Kirsten: Her story is incredible.
  • 13:07 She is an incredible woman.
  • 13:09 What I as a wife and mom can't even fathom is the fact that in
  • 13:16 one day, her whole life changed.
  • 13:19 She had to go fight.
  • 13:21 Her husband had to fight.
  • 13:23 Two of her children in her home were on the front lines.
  • 13:27 It's unimaginable, but yet that is life in Israel.
  • 13:32 That's what so many of the Israelis had to go through on
  • 13:35 the 7th.
  • 13:36 It's a tough story.
  • 13:38 Wow.
  • 13:39 Caleb: That is the reality of what they are dealing with, and
  • 13:42 the world is telling them, "You don't have a right to
  • 13:44 defend yourselves."
  • 13:45 They say, "Stop moving around.
  • 13:47 You're a moving target.
  • 13:48 Stay still while the enemy fires at you."
  • 13:49 What kind of mentality is this, of a sovereign nation to not be
  • 13:53 allowed to defend themselves?
  • 13:54 If the things that happened to Israel happened to America, we
  • 13:57 would retaliate in a second.
  • 13:59 Entire nations would be toppled.
  • 14:01 But they're asked to show incredible restraint and, trust
  • 14:04 me, they do so because they have compassion even for
  • 14:06 their enemies.
  • 14:08 Joshua: She said that whenever October 7 happened, they didn't
  • 14:10 see each other for 60 days before they got to have a break.
  • 14:13 Once the war started, their family--and these times are so
  • 14:17 horrible, and they are getting worse in so many ways because
  • 14:20 of deception.
  • 14:21 This ministry that God has placed right here for such a
  • 14:23 time as this has been speaking the truth for 45 years.
  • 14:27 We ask you to pray, to give of your finances, of your prayers,
  • 14:31 to share this ministry's truth that it is declaring from the
  • 14:34 front line to your friends and those around you so that we can
  • 14:37 be an effective tool to fight that deception.
  • 14:40 Kirsten: Amen.
  • 14:41 David: There's more of this incredible interview.
  • 14:43 Let's go back to it now.
  • 14:50 Caleb: Well, you spoke about there's disinformation, there's
  • 14:52 lack of education with people not knowing this.
  • 14:55 What about when it comes to the world media and
  • 14:58 world journalism?
  • 14:59 They have an anti-Israel bias clearly.
  • 15:02 You can't deny it.
  • 15:03 Why is everybody in the world stage, even including the United
  • 15:07 Nations, seemingly against Israel?
  • 15:09 Avital: So today in the media world, I think there is a lot of
  • 15:15 competition on who brings the story first, and in order to
  • 15:19 bring the story first, the--some of your ethical journalistic
  • 15:23 values are not being followed.
  • 15:25 For example, credibility.
  • 15:27 Is the story credible or not?
  • 15:29 And I'll give you an example from the war in Gaza.
  • 15:31 A few weeks after the war began, there was some sort of an
  • 15:35 allegation that Israel targeted deliberately a hospital, and the
  • 15:40 media--most of the world media immediately went out with
  • 15:44 headlines describing--quoting Hamas sources, which obviously
  • 15:50 are not objective sources in any way and they have their own goal
  • 15:54 to bash Israel globally.
  • 15:56 And the story was a fake one because, first of all, the
  • 16:00 hospital was standing as it was.
  • 16:03 The Islamic Jihad, which is another terror movement in Gaza,
  • 16:06 actually misfired and hit the parking lot of the hospital.
  • 16:10 But, you know, there's only one little question a decent
  • 16:13 journalist needed to ask that evening and that is, "How many
  • 16:17 beds are in the hospital?"
  • 16:18 Because the answer is 80.
  • 16:20 So if the answer is 80, how can you possibly buy the Hamas
  • 16:24 allegation which says 600 people were killed?
  • 16:26 How?
  • 16:28 Caleb: Just logic. Pure logic.
  • 16:29 Well, you work for the American Jewish Committee and you were
  • 16:32 telling me a little bit earlier that you all have efforts
  • 16:35 working with organizations, groups, and governments around
  • 16:38 the world, including the United States.
  • 16:40 What have you been doing with the United States to help stop
  • 16:42 the spread of anti-Semitism?
  • 16:44 Avital: So AJC has been one of the oldest Jewish organizations.
  • 16:47 It was founded in 1906.
  • 16:49 We have 25 offices in the United States and 15
  • 16:53 international offices.
  • 16:54 Now, anti-Semitism has been, of course, a focal interest for us
  • 16:59 because we do care about the well-being of the Jewish
  • 17:02 communities around the world.
  • 17:03 Since October 7, very unfortunately we see a surge in
  • 17:08 the number of incidents in anti-Semitism.
  • 17:11 As a matter of fact, we reached a point today where Jews are
  • 17:15 afraid to carry Jewish symbols such as the Star of David or
  • 17:20 maybe a yarmulke or any dressing item which is perceived to
  • 17:24 be Jewish.
  • 17:26 In order to combat anti-Semitism, you also need to
  • 17:29 educate and you need to enforce law, and to educate we have a
  • 17:34 lot of workshops which we train different factories, different
  • 17:41 working places, whether it's firms of law or whether it's
  • 17:46 high-tech companies and others because we have to fight
  • 17:49 the ignorance.
  • 17:50 If someone says, "Well, you're a Jew.
  • 17:52 You control the media.
  • 17:53 You figure it out," and they don't even realize it's an
  • 17:55 anti-Semite saying, we have to teach them and explain to them
  • 17:59 why it's an anti-Semite saying.
  • 18:01 So we do those.
  • 18:02 And with regard to enforcement we are working with--on the
  • 18:06 federal level, national level to create laws that would enforce
  • 18:10 and make sure that those anti-Semites are sitting
  • 18:14 behind bars.
  • 18:16 Caleb: What about on a level of religion, Christians?
  • 18:20 We know at this time right now, at least in America, the
  • 18:24 Evangelical community is supportive of the Jewish people
  • 18:26 in Israel, but there's a lot of other religious groups that are
  • 18:30 against Israel.
  • 18:31 We know Islam--not all of Islam is against Israel, but certain
  • 18:36 teachings in the Quran is what Hamas holds to is why they are
  • 18:39 persecuting the Jewish people.
  • 18:41 What can we do across religions, and especially for Christians in
  • 18:45 America, to stop this--?
  • 18:47 Avital: Look, I think that we are in favor of trying to
  • 18:50 partner with as many groups in society that care for Israel.
  • 18:55 Of course, the Christians are critical mass of these groups.
  • 18:59 And as someone who served in the army so many years and is still
  • 19:02 serving in reserve duty, I can tell you that you can see
  • 19:05 Christians serving in the army in numbers which are growing.
  • 19:09 As a matter of fact, Israel and the US share many values.
  • 19:15 Now, one of the values is respecting the religion--the
  • 19:19 freedom of religion, and that's the reason why Israel is the
  • 19:24 only country in this entire Middle East region which you can
  • 19:27 see a constant growth in the number of the Christian
  • 19:30 population here, and they are integrated in all walks of life,
  • 19:34 whether they are doctors or in the high-tech sector, in the
  • 19:36 military, in the government sector, wherever they are.
  • 19:40 And I think this is one of the basic indications to what Israel
  • 19:45 stands for and how it respects the Christian community.
  • 19:50 Joshua: So if somebody is just learning about these issues, if
  • 19:54 somebody wants to play a part, one of the reasons why we're
  • 19:56 here is to try to bring, again, more awareness to
  • 19:58 what can you do when you want to help?
  • 20:00 And they want to get involved in y'all's organization, where are
  • 20:03 the materials, what can they do on a personal level to become
  • 20:05 involved in fighting anti-Semitism?
  • 20:07 Avital: So it's a great question.
  • 20:09 I think that knowledge is a very powerful asset.
  • 20:13 And the question is, in the world of global media and
  • 20:16 pop-ups and notifications 24 hours a day, how do you really
  • 20:20 get the correct information which is not false or fake?
  • 20:25 You can find on our website, ajc.org, a daily update on
  • 20:29 what's going on in Israel.
  • 20:30 It's just one pager, but it's very accurate.
  • 20:32 It's not fake.
  • 20:34 You can be sure that you're getting the
  • 20:35 accurate information.
  • 20:36 Now, Israel also has official sources.
  • 20:39 For example, COGAT.
  • 20:40 COGAT, C-O-G-A-T, is the body which facilitates humanitarian
  • 20:45 aid into Gaza.
  • 20:46 Now, there are more than 20 NGOs which are donating aid to Gaza
  • 20:52 on a daily basis, and I'm not even counting the countries.
  • 20:55 There are more than 20 bakeries which are operating every day
  • 20:59 producing, baking pita breads.
  • 21:01 So this is not a remote area in Africa, this is 2 million people
  • 21:07 who do enjoy at least the human--the best humanitarian
  • 21:10 aid possible.
  • 21:12 And just another thought, you know, we had here a deadly
  • 21:17 civilian war in Syria between 2011 and 2018.
  • 21:21 It was horrible for them.
  • 21:23 Two hundred and fifty people were butchered every week.
  • 21:27 Syria wasn't held to any standards.
  • 21:30 How many times did the National Security Council convene in
  • 21:34 7 years?
  • 21:35 Once, twice.
  • 21:37 How many times did it convene here in 7 months of fighting
  • 21:41 where we had no choice but to protect ourselves?
  • 21:44 We didn't ask to be dragged into atrocities on October 7.
  • 21:47 More than 50 times.
  • 21:50 So please keep that in mind when you hear, read, receive
  • 21:54 information about Israel and go to the best sources, the
  • 21:58 accurate sources, and this will be very helpful to everyone,
  • 22:01 I believe.
  • 22:02 Caleb: You are definitely held to a different standard than
  • 22:04 anyone in the world even according to the rules of war,
  • 22:10 the boundaries that y'all received in 1948.
  • 22:12 Then you lost and regained, and then suddenly this is not
  • 22:16 your land.
  • 22:17 You're occupiers.
  • 22:18 You told me earlier that here's the border to Samaria right
  • 22:20 here, right over that hill.
  • 22:22 And that territory is disputed territory, but it is
  • 22:28 ancestrally, biblically, and of course, by 1948 real law
  • 22:34 standards, your land, your country.
  • 22:35 What do you say to people who claim that you are the
  • 22:38 occupiers, that you are the instigators of war?
  • 22:40 Avital: First of all, if I have the opportunity, I would bring
  • 22:42 them here to Israel.
  • 22:44 You know, we are bringing 25 delegations every year of
  • 22:48 decision makers, politicians from all over the world to show
  • 22:52 them Israel, not through the media, not through a TV screen
  • 22:55 but on the ground.
  • 22:57 And I think this is the critical thing.
  • 22:58 But I am aware that we can't bring everyone.
  • 23:02 Therefore I do suggest sticking to the facts.
  • 23:05 And we are here.
  • 23:07 The Samaria mountains are behind us.
  • 23:09 Tel Aviv is just half an hour from here.
  • 23:11 So let's begin the lesson by learning about the map of Israel
  • 23:17 and how big it is: the size of New Jersey, for example, for
  • 23:20 your American audience.
  • 23:21 But also the challenges.
  • 23:22 Our neighbors are not Luxembourg and Sweden; our neighbors is a
  • 23:28 failed state, Lebanon; a failed state, Syria; Jordan, and Gaza,
  • 23:33 and Egypt.
  • 23:35 These are our neighbors.
  • 23:36 So this is not a kind of pastoral area where you go into
  • 23:39 your car with your trailer and you take a weekend stroll.
  • 23:44 Unfortunately, that's the area where we live.
  • 23:46 And by the way, the name of the army that Israel has is not for
  • 23:51 no reason, the Israeli Defense Forces because that's what we've
  • 23:55 been doing since day one that Israel was founded.
  • 24:00 Caleb: Well, Avital, you gave us so much information and so many
  • 24:03 practical ways for our viewers at home to get involved.
  • 24:07 I just want to thank you for the time you've taken and all the
  • 24:11 work and service that you've done for Israel over all
  • 24:14 these decades.
  • 24:15 Avital: Thank you for the opportunity.
  • 24:17 And I want to tell you that you're always welcome, you're
  • 24:19 always invited.
  • 24:20 And I hope we'll continue our friendship forever.
  • 24:24 Caleb: Thank you, Avital. Avital: Thank you.
  • 24:25 Joshua: Thank you. Avital: Thank you.
  • 24:32 Kirsten: Avital gave us so much information, so much to digest.
  • 24:39 And I think it's rather sad, should I say, that--what stuck
  • 24:43 in my mind honestly is that the terrorists were paid $5 to $25
  • 24:52 per Israeli killed, that that was the cost to them of
  • 24:57 a life.
  • 24:59 And, again, she brought so much out, but that's what stuck
  • 25:02 to me.
  • 25:03 And it's so, so sad and sick what the terrorists are thinking
  • 25:08 about Israelis.
  • 25:10 Caleb: Yes.
  • 25:11 It is a culture of death.
  • 25:12 They celebrate death, and the Israelis celebrate
  • 25:15 life, l'chaim.
  • 25:16 And this is the problem that they're dealing with today, but
  • 25:20 they don't know it's a spiritual battle.
  • 25:22 I think we all know it's a spiritual battle.
  • 25:24 And some people think it may be a complex situation, but here
  • 25:27 sums it all up.
  • 25:29 There's a fallen angel, the enemy of our souls, the enemy of
  • 25:32 God, and he hates God's chosen people because their mere
  • 25:35 existence spells his doom and coming judgments.
  • 25:39 So he's going to do everything he can to wipe them off the face
  • 25:42 of the earth.
  • 25:43 But we have a job, a duty, and an ability given to us by Yeshua
  • 25:48 to step forward in the spirit world and to stand against the
  • 25:52 forces of darkness.
  • 25:53 You know, Matthew 18:18 through 19, it says, "Truly, I tell you
  • 25:56 whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever
  • 25:59 you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
  • 26:01 Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about
  • 26:05 anything they ask for it will be done for them by my Father
  • 26:08 in heaven."
  • 26:10 Yeshua said that he had all power in heaven and earth and he
  • 26:12 gave that power to us, and we're not utilizing enough.
  • 26:15 All it takes is two of us, but we can get together a massive
  • 26:19 army, all of you viewers watching, to stand on behalf of
  • 26:21 the Jewish people, to stand on behalf of life to push back
  • 26:24 against the forces of darkness.
  • 26:26 Joshua: That unity that Caleb is speaking of, it was so amazing
  • 26:28 to see in Israel amongst different denominations, amongst
  • 26:31 different faiths.
  • 26:32 Everyone there was unified together in the cause of
  • 26:34 defending their nation, their people, and their existence.
  • 26:38 We see in America so often that we fight within the body of
  • 26:41 Christ so much for things that are preferential or our ideas on
  • 26:45 theology instead of banding together like this
  • 26:48 scripture says.
  • 26:49 Two or more coming together and standing up like a spiritual IDF
  • 26:54 against the devil, that's our job.
  • 26:57 That's what this ministry does.
  • 26:58 The whole purpose of this ministry for 45 years is to
  • 27:01 stand against the lies and deception, to bring you the
  • 27:04 truth of what is really happening, what the Bible really
  • 27:07 says, what Jesus intended for you to understand from his Word,
  • 27:11 and we have to continue delivering that message.
  • 27:14 But it's your job as well.
  • 27:15 We're completely supported by you guys and girls at home.
  • 27:18 It is y'all's responsibility to pray and ask what the Holy
  • 27:20 Spirit would have you do, would he have you financially give,
  • 27:23 whether he has you pray, whether he has you begin to record your
  • 27:26 own messages about Israel.
  • 27:29 Don't let another day go by without asking what your
  • 27:31 responsibility is.
  • 27:32 Kirsten: We have more next week, interviews coming from Israel.
  • 27:36 Everything is so incredibly timely.
  • 27:39 And yes, we are so thankful that you make these programs possible
  • 27:44 by donating.
  • 27:45 Here we go.
  • 27:46 More things to come, but we have to end today's program.
  • 27:49 Caleb: And as you go, sha'alu shalom Yerushalayim.
  • 27:53 David: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
  • 27:57 David: "Our Jewish Roots" is a presentation of Zola
  • 27:59 Levitt Ministries.
  • 28:01 Partner with us.
  • 28:02 Please remember we depend on tax-deductible donations from
  • 28:06 viewers like you.
  • 28:07 ♪♪♪
  • 28:17 ♪♪♪
  • 28:23 ♪♪♪

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