Week of May 21, 2024

Hospital head administrator Dr. Lena Koren Feldman, while speaking to his family, said, “Dor Zimmel, your son, was a hero. He was a hero in his life as an IDF soldier who saved the lives of Israeli civilians, and he was a hero in his death, as the organs he donated saved the lives of Israeli civilians.”

Please pray for the Zimmel family as they mourn their loss. Please pray for the health and recovery of all who received his organs. 

Egyptian ties with Israel are slightly strained during the current war with Hamas. Israel has had a peace treaty with Egypt since 1979, when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed it together. There have been ups and downs, and while the relationship is on a downward trend, Egypt has not recalled its ambassador as it has during other conflicts.

Egypt has shown anger and frustration at Israel by joining Turkey’s support of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague and stopping shipments of humanitarian aid to Gaza through the Rafah crossing. As Israel has taken over the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border with Gaza, it has sent Gazans to other humanitarian enclaves, dissuading the people from fleeing across the Egyptian border to the Sinai. Even though the Egyptian people side with and show sympathy to Gazans, they have not opened the border, and they do not want Palestinians to leave Gaza and settle in the Sinai. Additionally, if Egypt had controlled the Rafah border crossing more effectively, it would have destroyed Hamas’ smuggling tunnels, which the IDF is now finding en masse. Egypt also was “blind” to Hamas arms bribery at the border, enabling it to drastically increase its military arsenal, which Israel is seeking to remove in Rafah during its current mission. All these issues create an unstable tension on the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.

Please pray for Israel’s peace treaty with Egypt to hold strong; they are a valuable ally.

The Israeli government is making 10 million shekels available for young people who were directly affected by the horrendous events of October 7. Some were at music parties, like Nova, and some are from the kibbutzim (small settlement communities) Hamas targeted in this unprecedented attack. The government expects there are 10,000 people directly affected and around 3,000 people will seek treatment. The vast scale of those who need treatment and are dealing with trauma will require non-profits and organizations to submit requests for funding for projects and services offering aid and trauma care. Treating this scale and type of emotional wounds is not represented in professional literature, so the government is hoping the organizations will create new services, therapies, and treatments for the survivors.

Please pray for the health and welfare of young people dealing with the traumas and horrors of their experience on October 7.

One of our staff hosted a Sabbath dinner for young adults on a recent Friday night. The group represented five countries, though most live in Israel, and they all had a lot of fun and food. After dinner, they had a very meaningful conversation about life in Israel since October 7 and the rising global antisemitism. It was therapeutic, as each expressed how they were coping and how the Lord was helping them through the situation. As the group spent time in conversation and prayer to encourage each other, the evening finished with a time of prayer for the release of the hostages. One guest who does not yet know Jesus (Yeshua) stayed late, sitting with a smaller group and asking spiritual questions. These days, many of our Sabbath dinners dive deep into spiritual conversations and prayer.

Please pray for these young people striving to grow closer to the Lord and those who do not yet know the Prince of Peace!