The US and Israel were set to kick of the Juniper Falco 2019 joint training exercises next week, with thousands of soldiers from both countries participating. Military observers from dozens of allied nations will also be on hand to benefit from the exercise, which will include tests of equipment, tactics and training. Although the IDF spokesperson’s office stressed that the exercise was merely the latest in a series of long-planned and routine drills not aimed at any specific threat, observers noted the timing of the wars games following several weeks of escalating tensions on Israel’s northern border.

Reports emerged in the Israeli media Thursday evening that Iran is sponsoring the construction of a factory for producing precision missiles in Syria, near the town of Safita. The missiles are meant to augment the already massive arsenal of missiles possessed by the Lebanese Shi’ite terror militia Hezbollah. In related news, Iranian officials announced on Thursday that they have deployed a new surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of 1,000 km (621 miles) in defiance of international demands that it cease its development of such missiles.

A report by the United States Government Accountability Office detailing the hateful and anti-Israel curriculum being taught to Palestinian children by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)  in PA administered cities in the West Bank was declassified this week. “It is unacceptable that the textbooks that are used delegitimize Israel and demonize the Jewish people, it is unacceptable that this program attempts to engrain this hatred in the hearts of children,” declared Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY). “American’s hard earned money went towards its funding and it is unacceptable that the State Department lied to Congress about these very realities.”

Israel Air Force veteran and El Al pilot Yochanan Shemer is leading an aviation academy named CAA in Israel’s Red Sea resort city of Eilat to address the looming shortage of pilots, mechanics and technicians in Israel’s small but growing aviation industry. “In Israel, the aviation world is particularly limited, with three main companies operational here,” he told the Jerusalem Post. “There is currently a very severe shortage of pilots in the world, and that shortage will also increase in Israel. The number of pilots that come from the air force to Israeli airlines is decreasing every year, and the number of pilots arriving from civilian studies is increasing.”

In the latest indication that factions within the Palestinian Authority are preparing for civil war following the demise of ailing President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli security forces recently intercepted a shipment of assault rifles, pistols and other weapons from a Jordanian smuggling group meant for sale to senior Fatah officials. In related news, a Palestinian resident of eastern Jerusalem was arrested Thursday by Israeli police following a raid on his home which turned up weapons and explosives.

The EU purports to deliver aid to needy communities on the basis of neutral, impartial, and independent judgments. The grossly disproportionate aid given to the Palestinians, at the direct expense of much more beleaguered populations in Yemen and sub-Saharan Africa, exposes this claim as a self-righteous lie.

Ongoing Israeli airstrikes in Syria have also caused tensions in the Iran-Russia relationship. There is also evident scurrying along the Tehran-Damascus-Moscow axis with regard to a possible political arrangement and preparations for the day after the crisis is resolved. However, tension has also surfaced from the increased squeaking coming from the axis and the mutual recriminations heard from both sides more often in recent weeks.

Over the decades of our ministry here in the land, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem has been privileged to touch and change the lives of thousands of Israeli children who otherwise would have had little hope of success. Many of these children in need of help in their education are from poorer Jewish immigrant families, including Latin America and Ethiopia.