Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke out over the weekend on the threat from Iran, mentioning an interview Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif gave to CBS News last week in which he said that he didn’t believe war between Israel and Iran was imminent. Netanyahu said “there is a huge gap between the words (of Zarif in the interview) and the actions of the Revolutionary Guards, who are advancing an army against Israel with the declared goal of destroying the State of Israel.”

Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman took to Instagram over the weekend to defend herself from a ferocious backlash over her decision to boycott the Genesis Prize ceremony scheduled to take place in Jerusalem June. “I chose not to attend because I did not want to appear as endorsing [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu, who was to be giving a speech at the ceremony,” Portman said, insisting that “I am not part of the BDS movement and do not endorse it.”

The International Bible Quiz, held at the Jerusalem Theater on Thursday morning, was once again a highlight of Independence Day celebrations this year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the event, saying “The verses of the Bible cause a great spirit to flow into our national existence in the homeland… From there we received our strength. And this strength returned and beat within us when we returned to our land. Not to a foreign land did we come. We returned to our homeland, to the inheritance of our forefathers. Here lie our roots, God willing, forever.”

Speculation was swirling Monday after a Hamas operative was shot dead in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Saturday. Family members of Fadi al-Batsh accused Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency of assassinating him, while Hamas admitted he was one of their operatives and an expert on manufacturing rockets. Malaysian police said two men drove past al-Batsh on a motorcycle and fired 14 bullets at him, hitting him several times and killing him instantly. Israeli officials have dismissed the accusations that Mossad was involved.

On Sunday, Major General Eli Sharvit, commander of the Israeli Navy, announced that four Sa’ar 6 class frigates being manufactured in Germany and scheduled to arrive in Israel in the coming years would be named Magen, Oz, Atzma’ut and Nitzachon. “The navy will employ tools with new capabilities that we do not possess today with excellent and precise defense and attack capabilities for their mission, headed by the defense of the strategic assets of the State of Israel at sea,” he said. The new ships are scheduled to be operational by the end of 2021.

In 2017, the share of Jewish births in Israel was 76.5%. The rise of Israel’s Jewish fertility rate is due to the secular Jewish sector, including the yuppies of Tel Aviv – a derivative of the high level of optimism and patriotism, the attachment to national roots, and a sense of collective-communal responsibility. In 2018, notwithstanding official Palestinian numbers which are regurgitated without due diligence, there are 6.6 million Jews in Israel, next to 1.85 million Israeli Arabs and 1.85 million Arabs in the West Bank.

Two Eastern Mediterranean countries—Syria and Turkey—present some of the most vexing problems for U.S. foreign policy today. The Syrian civil war has become a magnet for both terrorists and U.S. adversaries. Turkey, a NATO ally, is facing terrorism and a refugee crisis. Domestically, it is increasingly turning away from democratic principles and making choices that are at odds with the US.

Some still expect the Jewish state to go through one last dark period of divine judgment and annihilation during the ‘Great Tribulation’ before they are finally reconciled to God. However, the Bible assures us that Israel has already been through the worst of God’s dealings with them during their times of uprooting and exile, while their future back in the land is now bright and full of hope (Isaiah 60).