As corporations and governments around the world reeled under the weight of a massive cyber attack Wednesday, a conference dedicated to cyber-security continued at Tel Aviv University with a keynote address Tuesday evening in which Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman warned of “real world surprises” for those who carry out crime and terrorism in the virtual domain. Also speaking at the evening were officials from the Trump Administration in the US who pledged to tighten cooperation with Israel in all areas of internet use.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the US of creating a “dangerous escalation” in the Syrian conflict on Tuesday by warning the Assad regime not to use chemical weapons again, adding that the main beneficiary from the US statement would be the Islamic State (IS) terror militia. This echoed similar statements about the situation recently made by Russia. Meanwhile, reports indicate that as many as 1,000 US troops are on the ground in Syria, engaged in a campaign against IS along with local allies, although also coming into increasingly common hostile contact with regime and Iranian forces.

Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and doctors at Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheeba recently launched a database including behavioral patterns and other information about hundreds of Israeli children diagnosed with autism. The information, gleaned from several different sources, has already led to new methods and procedures for treating different sub-groups of autism which will be shared with medical practitioners around the world.

Amidst an ongoing and escalating crisis between Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox (haredi) political factions and Diaspora communities over recent decisions by the government regarding the Western Wall and authority over conversions, Bayit Yehudi leader and Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett has been holding meetings with representatives from all concerned parties to try and find a solution. The two decisions have raised a multitude of overlapping and intersecting issues with a wide variety of factions, many of whom are at odds with each other on some aspects and allied on others.

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, a former Prisoner of Zion, gave an address before Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, on Wednesday. “Thirty-three years ago, I was a prisoner, here in Moscow, by the authorities of the Soviet Union for the crime of teaching the Hebrew language,” Edelstein said in Hebrew. “I was imprisoned because I taught the language that told the world of the rejection of tyranny and the rise of just rule, love of humanity and the hope for freedom.”

Among Israelis and Palestinians, there’s little optimism about renewed American efforts to negotiate a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. The Trump administration is operating under the assumption that there is no harm in trying, but that conclusion is wrong, as round after round of terrorism should attest.

Pastor Chad Holland teaches about what Paul wrote to Timothy concerning becoming entangled in the affairs of this world.