PERSECUTION OF JEWISH BELIEVERS IN ISRAEL: Persecution of Jewish believers in Israel is increasing in both frequency and intensity. The Messianic community in Israel numbers about 15,000, spread out in roughly 120 congregations across the nation. The community members, who believe there is no contradiction between being Jewish and believing Jesus to have been the Savior and the Son of God, has been steadily growing. About half of the community's membership was born Jewish. Please pray for the comfort and healing of Ortiz family and their beloved son, Ami. Their tragic story is reported below.  Pray those guilty of this heinous crime will be apprehended and for the protection of believers in Israel.

SON OF MESSIANIC JEWISH LEADERS WOUNDED BY PURIM BASKET BOMB: Members of Israel's Messianic movement, both Jewish and Gentile believers in Yeshua, remain stunned and grieved by last week's terrorist attack on the family of Messianic leaders in Ariel. A traditional gift-basket filled with sweets and baked goods, exchanged between neighbors and loved ones during the Purim holiday, was delivered to David and Leah Ortiz's home last Thursday afternoon. Their 15 yr. old son Ami who was alone in the house opened it and it exploded, severely injuring the boy's neck and head and causing the family's apartment to be engulfed in flames. The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital in serious condition. It is a miracle he is alive in view of the magnitude of the explosion. Ami's life is no longer in danger, but he is still suffering from serious injuries all over his body. His father reports: "His neck had an eight-inch gash like someone slit his throat. He has a ruptured lung. Doctors had to operate on his tongue. He has second-degree burns to his chest and arms, and there is no flesh on the thighs. He added doctors were forced to amputate two toes. "They're trying to make sure he won't lose his arms and legs. His whole body is full of fragments of shrapnel." Judia and Samaria Police admit radical Jews may have targeted the family. Ortiz described a long history of tensions with Yad Le'achim and other Orthodox activists in Ariel: "My neighbor said he had been told by religious Jews that if we were the only ones living in this building, they would have bombed it. They put posters all over town warning residents to keep away from us and calling for us to be excommunicated, and there was a demonstration in front of our house," said Ortiz.  "I have served in the reserves for 15 years. All of my children went to school here, they are normal children, we are normal people. Ami is the captain of his school basketball team."  All too often when Ultra Orthodox Jewish groups are behind such events they are never brought to justice.  The news fades away and further investigations along with it. (JNN editors/Israel media sources) 

YAD LE'ACHIM RABBI SAYS MESSIANIC JEWS ARE THE ENEMY: Rabbi Shalom Lipshitz, head of Yad Le'achim, the largest anti-missionary organization in Israel, said following the bomb attack on the Ortiz family child, he saw the Messianic community as an enemy to the Jewish people. "There is no one who hates Jews more than they do," said Lipshitz. "They are trying to uproot Jewish faith, just like the Spanish did in the Inquisition. They prey on Jews who do not know anything about Jewish heritage. We try to explain the 'truth.' We try to tell people that you cannot be Jewish and believe in Jesus at the same time. It just doesn't go together. " Our job at Yad Le'achim is to make sure the Jewish people gets bigger, and fight people who are trying to make it smaller," said Rabbi Lipshitz. (J.Post)

ATTACK ON BOY ONE OF MANY: Members of the Messianic community in Israel said Monday that while the near-fatal attack last week on 15-year-old Ami Ortiz of Ariel marks a major escalation, it comes after years of anti-missionary violence directed at the community by both Jews and Muslims. "We get the feeling that nobody in Israel is willing to take a strong stand against violent anti-missionary activity," said Jewish-born, Beersheba pastor, Howard Bass. "We have experienced numerous attacks on the Messianic communities by Ultra Orthodox Jews over the years. Just this week  two surveillance cameras that monitor our house of prayer were stolen." Last Saturday, during prayers at the 100-strong congregation, a group of Ultra Orthodox Jews stood outside and shouted insults, temporarily stopping the prayers.  In December 2005, Bass's congregation was attacked by hundreds of haredi demonstrators who received the backing of the local rabbinic leadership. Police did not press charges against the assailants who forced their way into the church and forcibly stopped the baptism of two Israelis. The intruders threw chairs around and pushed Bass into the baptismal pool. (J.Post)

PERSECUTION OF MESSIANIC BELIEVERS IN ARAD: In Arad, another flashpoint for tension between the Messianic community and Orthodox Jews, the Chasdei Yeshua Congregation has been harassed repeatedly by the local Hassidic community. "They've verbally attacked us on a regular basis and they even tried to burn down our chess club last February," reported one member of the congregation. (J.Post)

CENTRAL JERUSALEM CHURCH TARGET FOR ARSON: In late Nov. 2007, a church in central Jerusalem was set afire before dawn and suffered extensive damage.  Arsonists, suspected to be extremist Jews, forced their way into the church and set fires in three different places. The sanctuary had been burned down in 1982 by an ultra Orthodox Jewish group and later rebuilt. In both cases the arsonists were never brought to justice. (Israel Press)

"Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israel is that they may be saved." Romans 10:1

SAVE THE DATE AND PLAN AHEAD:

Succot Tour & Celebration: October 12-24, 2008 – for USA participants there will be a direct flight with Delta from Atlanta leaving on October 11th. The package price, including tips, is $3,099. Call JDI Tours in the USA at 248.340.9191.  There are only 30 places left for this exciting tour group from the USA.  Register now: www.succotcelebration.com .

VFI & JSH Conference in the USA in Charlotte, NC – April 10-12, 2008. Speakers include: Michael Brown, Jay Sekulow, Howard Morgan, Bob Weiner, Barry Segal and Claren McQueen.  Conference theme is:  The Restoration of Israel and the Nations.  Register now: www.visionforisrael.com

VFI & JSH Conference in The Netherlands – June 6-8, 2008. Register now: www.visionforisrael.com

VFI & JSH Conference in Bromsgrove, England – June 28, 2008. Join us for a day of praise and thanksgiving for 10 years of The Joseph Storehouse at Bromsgrove. Celebrations will include a dedication of the UK Storehouse which is presently being reorganized and expanded.  Register now: www.visionforisrael.com

Blessings from Jerusalem,
Barry Segal with the Editorial Staff