Free Republic

[](/sites/default/files/uploads/2015/04/biden-joe.jpg)While the Obama Administration continues their pressure on Israel, for at least Joe Biden, it is not the first time that there has been animosity with an Israeli leader. The reality is that while some of the names change, this conflict is about Israel’s refusal to surrender to a Palestinian Arab enemy who seeks to destroy the Jewish nation. The United States is wrong to pressure Israel – yet, this too shall pass. History often repeats itself. On June 22 1982, Joe Biden was a Senator from Delaware and confronted then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during his Senate Foreign...

Israel is now engaged in the fourth war it has had to fight for its survival. The three others were fought in 1948, 1967, and 1973. In addition, there have been a half-dozen other campaigns the Israelis have had to fight against the terrorists of the PLO, Hamas, and Hezbollah. The IDF soldiers, their ranks increased with the addition of 360,000 reservists, have been fighting up and down the Gaza Strip, a hellishly difficult theatre of war — that is, urban warfare in one of the most densely-populated places on earth. Israel’s mortal enemy, the terror group Hamas, has built...

"The Jewish people have a historic and legal right to live in the land of Israel including in Judea and Samaria—the biblical heartland," said Mike Johnson. (February 25, 2024 / JNS) U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Saturday slammed as an “absolute disgrace” the Biden administration’s decision to reverse the “Pompeo doctrine,” which held that Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria were not necessarily illegal. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that Israel’s approval of 3,000 new housing units in Judea—announced after one Israeli was killed and six wounded in a Palestinian terrorist attack near Jerusalem—was...

The lobby against delegitimization, led by MK Ariel Kallner (Likud), sent a letter Saturday to US President Joe Biden, asking the basis for his statements regarding "settler violence." The MKs noted that incidents of violence by Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria are relatively few when compared to acts of violence by Palestinian Authority Arabs against them. They also noted that the scale of incidents perpetrated by residents of Judea and Samaria is relatively minor when compared to other societies. A total of 23 MKs signed the letter, representing several parties. "As members of the Knesset, we, like you, condemn...

(Courtesy) The small illegal West Bank outpost of Sde Yonatan was evacuated and demolished Tuesday morning by Border Police and Civil Administration forces, the second such demolition of an illegal outpost in the territory in less than 48 hours. Sde Yonatan, which lies close to the settlement of Michmash northeast of Jerusalem, has been built and demolished several times in the last two years and was most recently reestablished shortly after the beginning of the current war with Hamas. According to the Civil Administration, the outpost is built on private Palestinian land. At least 22 Border Police officers and Civil...

No normalization with Saudi Arabia if the cost is to shelve judicial reforms and surrender Jerusalem, Area C. The Knesset should set up a deadline for sovereignty. The Palestinians are building facts on the ground. Wait until when? Surrendering Judea and Samaria will be suicidal for Israel. Hamas will attack Israel from Judea and Samaria as they do from Gaza making normal life in Israel impossible By Ezequiel Doiny On August 18, 2023 Arutz 7 reported "Rabbi of Beit El explains: 'PA trying to choke out Jewish communities'...the Palestinian Authority had a clear plan to strangle the settlements and take...

Propagation of myths has consequences. Let us examine a couple and see where they have led. Myth 1. The State of PalestineThis so-called state is like Brigadoon, with two exceptions: a. It never appeared. b. It refuses to go away. Neither a country nor a state of Palestine has ever existed. The Kingdom of Judah is named after Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah. The Kingdom of Judah was formed after the death of King Solomon, when the ten northern tribes of Israel rebelled against Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. The two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, remained loyal to...

I really did try today to stay away from many things about the conflict going on in the Middle East. Since the heinous attack of Hamas crossing into Israel two weeks ago, I have been reading up and listening to foreign news sources to try to get away from the filter of the US press. As many of us here at RedState have written recently, the US press reporting might be a bit off on their coverage and point of view of what is happening there right now. So when I came across a headline that basically had as its...

The weak, vacillating and ultimately cruel and cowardly figure of Pontius Pilate is one of the most enigmatic figures in Sacred Scripture. From the Gospel accounts, he seems to be a man who almost wants to be a hero, to defend the innocent victim, Jesus, against the murderous lynch mob besetting Him. Indeed, Pilate is urged by his wife to "have nothing to do with that just man." In the end, however, he lacks the courage to act virtuously. He condemns Christ to a horrible death, despite knowing with certainty that He is innocent. But who was Pontius Pilate? Did...

A modern verification of an ancient event and tangible evidence of an ancient person. And once again, biblical history is verified.Our team of thinkers and writers at the Colson Center are archaeology nerds. Seriously, we get giddy whenever another archaeological discovery sheds light on biblical narratives or confirms their historical accuracy. And even more fun, it seems to happen all the time these days.Keep in mind that biblical faith is grounded in historical events, events to which the Bible testifies. This is one of the factors that sets the Bible apart from other religious texts. Recently, two announcements made illustrate...

The weak, vacillating and ultimately cruel and cowardly figure of Pontius Pilate is one of the most enigmatic figures in Sacred Scripture. From the Gospel accounts, he seems to be a man who almost wants to be a hero, to defend the innocent victim, Jesus, against the murderous lynch mob besetting Him. Indeed, Pilate is urged by his wife to "have nothing to do with that just man." In the end, however, he lacks the courage to act virtuously. He condemns Christ to a horrible death, despite knowing with certainty that He is innocent. But who was Pontius Pilate? Did...

I'm not exactly a Biblical scholar, so be a little gentle with the flames. I was watching Passion of the Christ yesterday for Easter (my third time seeing it), and a thought occurred to me. Both the movie and the Gospels note that Pilate tried, repeatedly, to not sentence Jesus to death. His wife lobbied for Jesus, he declared "this man has done nothing", he sent him to Herod declaring him not guilty, and he even tried the once-a-year prisoner release gambit. At every turn, the high priests and the crowd pushed for his death. Even after finding him guilty...

In the Gospels, it mentions that the wife of Pontius Pilate has a dream that Jesus is innocent and she tells Pilate that he should not condemn Jesus. What she is saying, is indeed true, and if Pilate listened to her, he may have avoided falling into sin. Yet, if Pilate listened to her, this would not have been according to God's will. Thus, I am curious to hear your thoughts if this dream came from God, Satan, or other source.

The Ethiopian and Coptic Orthodox Churches hold that Pontius Pilate, the governor who condemned Jesus Christ to death, later converted to Christianity himself. So they revere Pilate as a saint. Pontius Pilate is a curious character in the New Testament. He is the symbol of Rome’s authority in Judaea, and yet he declines to punish Jesus for insurrection against that authority. When the Sanhedrin present their prisoner to him, Pilate cross-examines him and then famously declares to the crowd: Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. John 19:4 Pilate...

In the Gospel of John, Pontius Pilate poses a question to Jesus of Nazareth: “What is truth?” It’s a question that could also be asked about Pilate’s own history. From the perspective of the New Testament of the Christian Bible, the Roman governor of Judea was a wavering judge who initially exonerated Jesus before bending to the will of the crowd and condemning him to death. By contrast, non-Biblical sources portray him as a barbarous leader who willfully defied the traditions of the Jewish people he oversaw. Which was the truth?

Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, the misnamed occupied territories, are not the obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. They are the acid test of peace. To argue that peace is conceivable unless the bulk of the settlements remain in place constitutes stupidity or hypocrisy. Leave aside the issue of whether Jews have the right to live in the historic homeland of the Jewish people. Ignore the fact that the settlers live overwhelmingly on what was waste land and turned into gardens, vineyards, and industries which have uplifted the lives of Palestinian Arabs more than all the aid that has...

(Israel Antiquities Authority/YouTube) Israeli researchers made a rare find during a survey of a Dead Sea cave: Four perfectly preserved Roman swords thought to have been used in battle 1,900 years ago. The swords were likely "booty" hidden by rebels from an opposing faction, who would have been in danger if they were caught carrying the Roman weapons, Eitan Klein, one of the directors of the Judean Desert Survey Project who worked on the dig, said in a statement. Four Roman-era swords, their wooden and leather hilts and scabbards and steel blades exquisitely preserved after 1,900 years in a desert...

Since there is no democracy in Israel there should be a referendum to restore the Jewish Kingdom of Judea By Ezequiel Doiny On August 6, 2023 Carolin Glick wrote in Arutz 7 " On Sept. 15, just two weeks before she heads for the exit, Hayut will take the unprecedented step of convening the entire court—all 15 justices—to adjudicate an even more outrageous petition regarding a Basic Law. That day, Hayut and her associate justices will hear arguments regarding a petition asking them to overturn the Knesset’s amendment to the Basic Law: Judiciary from last month. That amendment bars the...

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) slammed the Biden Administration on Sunday for its decision to prohibit US agencies from funding scientific research and development projects in the West Bank. “Joe Biden and Biden administration officials are pathologically obsessed with undermining Israel,” Cruz said in a statement. “Since day one of their administration they have launched campaigns against our Israeli allies that are granular, whole of government, and done in secret. This new boycott of Israeli Jews is yet another example. The State Department is telling the entire U.S. government not to cooperate with Jews in Judea and Samaria. And of course...

As The New York Times itself noted in a commendable June 20, 2008 correction, the Romans named Judea and the Galilee, where Jesus was born and then lived, “Palestina” more than a century after he was crucified. The Times correction 15 years ago accurately stated: The Malula Journal article on April 22, about efforts in the village of Malula, Syria, and two neighboring villages to preserve Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus, referred incorrectly to the name of the region where Jesus spent most of his time. It was Galilee — not Palestine, which derives from the word Palestina, the...