Thursday, July 19, 2007

The Middle East in Focus

This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:

"Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him." (Ps.33:8)

1. IDF: Israel more prepared than ever for war - ICEJ News

A day before the State Comptroller is due to release his report on Israel's handling of the home front ahead of and during the Second Lebanon War last summer, senior commanders said yesterday that the nation is prepared, "more than ever" for another war.

2. Supreme Court postpones Katsav ruling - ICEJ News

Israel's Supreme Court decided yesterday to postpone its ruling on the plea bargain reached between disgraced former president Moshe Katzav's attorneys and the State Prosecution. Outside the courtroom yesterday, dozens of demonstrators protested the plea bargain, holding signs that read "Sex offenders must be removed from power" and "Annul the Katsav-Mazuz deal".

3. Quarter of Israeli youth do not serve in IDF - ICEJ News

25% of Israeli youth manage to avoid their mandatory military service, IDF Human Resources officers revealed yesterday. 11% receive exemptions on religious grounds, up one percentage point from last year; 7% do not enlist due to medical reasons, including physical and mental conditions; 4% do not enlist due to criminal records; and 3% live abroad.

4. Israeli high schoolers to watch Gore's Truth in class - ICEJ News

The Education Ministry decided today to screen former US Vice President Al Gore's environmentalist movie, An Inconvenient Truth, to all high school students during the next school year. According to Education Minister Yuli Tamir, the students will be expected to view the film and to hold group discussions on the issues of environmentalism and global warming.