Believers who came to the Shabbat Service at the Messianic Congregation at Beer Sheva to worship, were confronted by a throng of about 500 men, women, and children who had come to prevent the congregation from baptizing two believers. Apparently these people have heard the news of people coming to know Christ from Arad, a neighboruing town in the South of Israel, from which the two belong to the congregation there, and the plan was for a number of them in the congregation to come over to Beer Sheva and participate in the holy-day celebration, and the immersions would take place in the baptismal on the congregational property. The religious opposers of the good news forced their way into the grounds of the "Old House", creating a disturbance and claiming that they were going to rid Beer Sheva and Israel of Messianic Jews.

Special For "Come and See", Dec 25, 2005

If you travel around the Arab villages and towns in Galilee these days, you will be surprised to see billboards with the sign ?Jesus Christ is the Feast? (Jesus is the Reason of the Season) - This is the name of the campaign that the Life agape Ministry is leading with the cooperation of around 50 churches (Baptists, Nazarenes, Assemblies of God and Brethren). This campaign has been launched everywhere in the newspapers, billboards and the Internet.

Special for "Come and See", Dec 23, 2005

Law states life of terminally ill person who does not wish to continue living will not be extended artificially; health minister: ?This is one of most important laws passed by Knesset. It represents major moral value for terminally ill and their families?

Ilan Marciano, Ynetnews, Dec 6, 2005

Senior officials in the U.S. Catholic Church are "following with interest" the meeting that took place between President Moshe Katsav and Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Thursday.

The officials knew Katsav would raise the issue of the unfinished negotiations between Israel and the Holy See on the status of Church assets in the Holy Land. The American Church officials wish to learn whether they will be required to once more intervene in the negotiations in order to get the desired results.

This long and involved story can be summarized very briefly: Since establishing diplomatic ties some 12 years ago, Israel and the Vatican have been unable to tie up the few loose ends in their agreements, which have lasted so long primarily because of foot-dragging by successive Israeli governments.

Shmuel Rosner, Chief U.S. Correspondent, Haaretz, Nov 17, 2005

The Israeli media is busy trying to understand the weird relation between certain Israeli Parliament Members and some Evangelical leaders. Here is another report by Lili Galili from Haaretz.

"Contrary to the contention that "Bibi is good for the Jews," which has yet to be definitively proven, it is already clear that the Christians are good for Bibi − Benjamin Netanyahu. Last Monday, at the height of the drama over the appointment of new Likud ministers, Netanyahu found a few minutes to go to the lecture hall at the Knesset to meet with the evangelical preacher John Hagee at an event organized by "the parliamentary lobby for relations with Christians."

By Lily Galili, Haaretz, Nov 11, 2005

A mosaic and the remains of a building uncovered recently in excavations on the Megiddo prison grounds may belong to the earliest church in the world, according to a preliminary examination by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

One of the most dramatic finds suggests that, instead of an altar, a simple table stood in the center of the church, at which a sacred meal was held to commemorate the Last Supper.

Photographs of three Greek inscriptions in the mosaic were sent to Hebrew University expert Professor Leah Di Segni, who told Haaretz on Sunday that the use of the term "table" in one of them instead of the word "altar" might lead to a breakthrough in the study of ancient Christianity. It is commonly believed that church rituals based on the Last Supper took place around an altar.

By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz, Nov 6, 2005

After more than 30 years of organising testimonial dinners for right-wing Israeli politicians, handing out checks to Israeli charities, and forming alliances with conservative Jewish leaders and groups, evangelical Christians may finally be getting a chunk of the "Promised Land".

In a move geared toward solving northern Israel's unemployment crisis, increasing tourism to the country, and solidifying relations with U.S. evangelical Christians, the Israeli government has offered 35 acres of land on the shore of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) for development by Christian evangelicals.

Bill Berkowitz, IPS News, Oct 3, 2005

The uneasy alliance between the Zionist state and America?s fundamentalist right has found a common goal. Starting early next year, Israel?s oldest English-language paper, the Jerusalem Post, will launch a Christian edition.

The Post, a widely respected paper until it was bought and the contents were changed from objective to right-wing subjective by its former owner Conrad Black, is now seeking to bolster its North American circulation by building on the tight relationship between the Israeli right and Christian evangelicals.

Barbara Ferguson, Arab News, Oct 23, 2005

The newly elected Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, submitted a petition to the High Court on Wednesday in which he and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchy accused the government of Israel of making its recognition of the patriarch conditional on his signing of "questionable" real estate deals.

The petition claims that the Israeli government is applying pressure on Theophilos to approve deals that the Patriarchy had signed, by means of its former financial manager Nikolaus Papadimas, who had received power of attorney from the previous patriarch Ireneos I, to sell assets to foreign companies representing the right-wing settler organization Ateret Kohanim.

The petition demands that the government unconditionally recognize Theophilos, who was elected last August, as Ireneos was simultaneously ousted from his position.

By Arnon Regular, Haaretz, Oct 27, 2005

Dwight and Emma Baker, emeritus missionaries of the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board (IMB), have donated 100,000 USD toward the purchase of property in Nazareth, Israel, owned by the IMB.

Dr and Mrs. Baker, from Duncanville, Texas, originally purchased the land on behalf of the IMB in the 1950's and built the house and used it for their residence. Dr. Baker served as pastor of the Nazareth Baptist Church, director of village evangelism (church planting) and a Bible teacher in Nazareth and the Galilee.

Special For "Come and See", Sep 27, 2005