The governments of Iran and Russia issued a joint statement on Tuesday condemning the US military deployment meant to guard oil production facilities in northeastern Syria, ignoring US statements that the deployment was meant to prevent the facilities from being captured by the Islamic State (IS) terror militia and instead framing it as a simple theft of Syria’s natural resources by the US. “Any illegal exploitation of natural resources of a sovereign state without its consent is illegal and that is the view that we share,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced the resignation of his government in a televised statement Tuesday afternoon, acceding to the demands of protesters who have brought the countries economy to a near standstill in the last two weeks. The resignation also came despite violent attacks on protesters by supporters of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi’ite terror militia Hezbollah. Meanwhile, two of the main supporters of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi announced on Tuesday that they supported his removal from office, possibly laying the groundwork for a new governing regime in Baghdad.

Democratic US Senator and Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders speech at the JStreet conference Tuesday drew sharp rebukes from Israel’s defenders, including former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who tweeted that “Just when you thought Bernie Sanders couldn’t get any more radical, he outdid himself. He wants to take money we give to Israel to defend itself from terrorists, and give it to Gaza, which is run by terrorists?? Unreal. Why isn’t every other Dem pres candidate saying he’s wrong?”

The possibility of a third Knesset election in Israel appeared to grow this week as reports surfaced of sharp divisions within the Blue and White Party over the possibility of forming a minority government with support but not participation from the Joint (Arab) List. Blue and White leader Benny Gantz said earlier in the week that “The best option moving forward is a unity government led by Blue and White together with Likud… However, we will not disregard any option or arrangement that will allow us to form a government.” At press time, negotiations between representatives from various factions was ongoing.

The movement to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel suffered more defeats this week as European carmaker Porsche, as well as Union Tech Ventures and others announced another $9 million in funding for Israeli automotive technology startup Tactile Mobility. In a related development, Jerusalem is preparing to host a leg of the FIDE World Chess Grand Prix Series 2019, which begins on 11 December and will include competitions between 16 of the world’s top chess grandmasters.

Some Israeli leaders have proactively sought to defuse tensions and build warmer ties with Christians holding a wide variety of theological positions. Remarkably, however, Israel does not have a single senior-level emissary assigned to handle the Christian portfolio. It’s time to change that.

Strategically situated at the intersection of Europe, Asia, and Africa, the Middle East has long been an important focus of United States foreign policy. There is no shortage of security challenges for the U.S. and its allies in this region. America’s most important bilateral relationship in the Middle East is with Israel. Both countries are democracies, value free-market economies, and believe in human rights at a time when many Middle Eastern countries reject those values.

Originating from more than a dozen different nations and speaking as many languages, ICEJ staff members represent a varied cross-section of educational, family and cultural backgrounds. All are united, however, with a single purpose to see the Kingdom of God manifest in the world in these days, and to follow the biblical injunction of Isaiah 40 to comfort God’s people Israel.