Iranian officials lashed out at the US this week, blaming sanctions meant to deter the Islamic Republic from pursuing its renegade nuclear program for the country’s inability to deal with massive flooding which has killed at least 47 people and caused wide-spread devastation to cities and infrastructure in 25 of the Islamic Republic’s 31 provinces. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo retorted in a statement Tuesday that “The regime blames outside entities when, in fact, it is their mismanagement that has led to this disaster.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for a trip to the Israeli innovation exhibition at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem on Tuesday. The two leaders were shown several recently developed pieces of technology promising improvements in various fields, with Netanyahu telling his guest that Israel is eager to partner with Brazil to produce and market such devices. Later in the day, Netanyahu gave a speech to political supporters in which he urged them to work on increasing voter turnout in the upcoming elections.

Professor Shulamit Levenberg, Dean of the Biomedical Engineering department at the Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa recently announced the launch of a 3-D Bio-Printing Center for Cell and Biomaterials Printing at the university. The new procedures being developed at the Center offer hope for more effective and cheaper medical treatments for a wide variety of illnesses. “The goal is to make tissue to repair or replace muscle, bone, heart tissue and ears,” Levenberg explained. “Unlike organ donations which can be rejected by the patient, the 3-D printer uses the patient’s own cells.”

Israeli resident Reuven Rivlin returned early from his trip to Canada on Wednesday to tend to his wife Nechama, who is being treated at Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva following complications from a lung transplant surgery she underwent on 11 March. A statement from the President’s office late Wednesday morning said that she was in stable condition.

Hamas is mired in a war for survival it can’t truly win. Its fight is to keep its head above water, nothing more.   Israel’s battle with Hamas won’t end in a magic knock-out punch. It is an ongoing struggle where the side that is most steadfast will emerge victorious.

Coming out of its decline in the 20th century, Russia – under President Vladimir Putin – has asserted its position in the Middle East in particular, and the World at large. Moscow’s efforts encompass the entire region, from the Persian Gulf to the Western Mediterranean. Does Russia’s record match its rhetoric in fulfilling its ambitions?

Since the early 1980s, the ICEJ has helped more than 117,000  Jews immigrate (make “Aliyah”) to Israel. The ICEJ continues to play a key role in the Jewish people’s return home and we invite you to be part of this prophetic effort.