As I flew out of Ben Gurion Airport last night, I couldn’t help but reflect on the contrast between the country I had just visited and the picture painted of it by the news media and politicians.

The most striking thing about Israel is its connection to the Bible. This is the place where its miracles and trials, victories and defeats, struggles and triumphs all took place.

But even setting that aside, it’s an impressive place. Surrounded by unhinged hate, the Israelis have built a modern, high-tech, impressive civilization.

As I was leaving, I was bombarded with news of politicians attacking the Jews. Last week, Andy Burnham, Britain’s prime minister-in-waiting, posted on X:

The terrible suffering in Gaza is a scar on our collective conscience. It’s completely unacceptable that innocent Palestinians including children continue to be killed. That there’s still a humanitarian crisis with too little aid getting in, and that the Israeli military continues to expand the area it controls in Gaza. We’ve got to do more to put pressure on the Israeli government.

He said that Britain had been too soft on Israel so far, and he promised “to make sure that no British bombs or bullets can be used by the IDF in Gaza or in the West Bank.” He said that “there’s increasing evidence that war crimes appear to have been committed” and that he would be “holding the Netanyahu government to account.”

Yesterday, the European Union tried to impose sanctions on Israel because of Jews building houses in their ancestral homeland. The demonization of settlers began before the Hamas massacre of Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, and the resulting demonization of the IDF, but it’s part of the same unhinged hatred.

These settlers read their Torahs. They believe God gave them the land of Israel, and they’re willing to sacrifice and fight for that gift. I think that’s admirable, yet so much of this world attacks them.

Canada has also led the world in trying to sanction Israel. Now it’s trying to brainwash its people against Israel. A new exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is essentially pro-Hamas propaganda. “Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present” presents Israel’s very founding in 1948 as a tragedy, giving visitors the impression that the Jews went out and attacked innocent Arabs to establish a nation for themselves—the exact opposite of the truth.

These lies have an impact. I’ve been told by friends that Jews spit on Christians in Jerusalem. Instead, I’ve probably experienced more consistent kindness from strangers in Jerusalem than just about anywhere else.

Britain now hosts protests and music festivals where ordinary people chant “Death to the idf.” I think many of them are not radically anti-Semitic. Many of those chanting genuinely believe the idf behaves like Nazis.

That could not be further from the truth. Look at the facts and statistics from Gaza, and the IDF is the most moral army to have ever fought a modern, high-intensity, urban conflict. The rates of civilian casualties are lower than those caused by U.S. forces in Iraq. And Israel is fighting an enemy that is actively trying to get its own civilians killed.

It’s easy to underestimate how much a chant of “death to the idf” is an attack on everyone in Israel. All Israelis have relatives serving in the idf. Many are still reservists, doing their part for a few weeks before returning to their regular jobs.

The country Andy Burnham describes is completely different from the one I just visited.

When writing on anti-Semitism, we often point to the unseen spiritual reality behind it. Why such an illogical, interminable attack against the Jewish people? It’s because there is a devil, and he hates the people who have preserved so much of God’s truth and whom God chose to be blood relatives of His Son when He came in the flesh. God says that Jesus Christ will rule the universe forever from the throne of David, a Jew, from new Jerusalem. Satan hates that future.

The contrast between the broadcast and the reality also drives home how powerful Satan’s deception is. He has persuaded most of the Western world to accept a picture that is the exact opposite of the reality.

What other perceptions has he changed? Are there areas where my vision is 100 percent off? My trip to Israel was a powerful lesson about the power of Satan to create an entire perception of reality that is fake.

Trump Threatens to Toll Ships in Hormuz

The U.S. struck Iran’s coastal military infrastructure last night, the fourth major round of strikes since the U.S. ended its ceasefire on July 7. Several statements by President Trump yesterday suggest he now has grand ambitions that exceed even the bold goals he announced during the first phase of the war.

• Trump told Fox News he would be “taking over” the Strait of Hormuz and reimposing a blockade on Iranian ships.
• He also claimed in a Truth Social post that the U.S. will now charge a 20 percent toll on all ships that U.S. forces permit to cross.
• He also told the Hugh Hewitt Show that the U.S. has plans to “take out Pickaxe Mountain,” a nuclear site thus far untouched by significant American bombardment.

Are these goals realistic? Thus far, on about 10 occasions since March 1, U.S. forces have failed to protect ships from Iranian attacks.

• That the U.S. would even consider charging a toll on the Strait of Hormuz is also remarkable. The U.S. said Iran’s charging tolls would violate freedom of navigation. Now President Trump is proposing to do so, more than 5,000 miles away from U.S. sovereign territory.

This is worse than making America look hypocritical. Ensuring freedom of navigation worldwide has been a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy since World War II. It has been a key reason why American power, not to mention comparative global security, has increased so rapidly over the past 80 years. If America itself will compromise with this principle, then the postwar order is over and nations will grab whatever they can get.

Can Reforms Stop the Rise of Germany’s Far Right?

The German government has agreed on a series of reforms in pension, tax and health insurance schemes that promise to cut costs for employees and help the country become more economically competitive.

But the more immediate challenge is the current German government’s political survival.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday:

Time and again, I hear the accusation that the political center isn’t delivering, that it only obstructs and blocks its own progress. Let me respond in no uncertain terms: The center does deliver.

The answers offered by radical parties—whether from the left or the right—may sound tempting, but they do not build: They destroy. They divide our country and, should they assume political responsibility in Germany, would lead it into the abyss.

Germany’s former economics minister and prominent political commentator Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said in a podcast posted today:

It has certainly been noted that some reforms were pushed through the parliamentary process at a speed that is inconceivable by German standards.

The crucial question, Guttenberg added, is “whether these reforms actually address what our country needs most urgently right now—namely, a return to economic growth. And that is precisely what many doubt.”

He sees some signs for hope:

• The reduction of bureaucracy is finally being tackled.
• The Federal Constitutional Court rejected complaints that would have added additional obstacles to passing the reforms.

“Patience will be needed,” he added, “Patience, however, is not exactly a trait that prevails at a time when political fringe groups are trying to capitalize on precisely this impatience.”

Political and economic pressures are forcing Germany to transform. The Trumpet expects these pressures to grow until the German people cry out for another führer who will radically transform the nation. In his December 1991 article “The Rise of the Far Right,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry warned:

If a real crisis develops, will the Germans call for a new führer? Your Bible says that is going to happen! That crisis will probably be triggered by an economic collapse in the U.S.

To learn more, read “Coming Soon: A German Explosion.”

IN OTHER NEWS

Europe buys record amount of lng from Russia: The Financial Times reported yesterday that the European Union purchased 9.9 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas from Russia in the first six months of this year, 18 percent more than in the same period last year. Four years after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European countries are still funding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war efforts.

Broadcasting brutality: Russia released footage yesterday of its military forces dropping a three-ton glide bomb on residential buildings in the Ukrainian town of Orikhiv and obliterating several city blocks in an instant, highlighting the savagery of Russia’s ongoing invasion and potential for further escalation.

Hungarian president deposed: Hungary’s parliament passed a law yesterday to remove President Tamás Sulyok from office. This was a campaign pledge of new Prime Minister Péter Magyar. Sulyok, Hungary’s ceremonial head of state, was appointed by Magyar’s predecessor, Viktor Orbán. Magyar claims he is cleaning up Orbán-era authoritarianism and corruption, but even liberal group Amnesty International warns that Magyar is showing signs of becoming an authoritarian himself.