A Coptic Christian priest was killed in "a hail of bullets” outside The Church of the Martyr of St George in Sinai, Egypt on Sunday 3 July 2016. Raphael Moussa, 46, was shot dead by an unidentified gunman next to his car, having left the church in Arish where he attended a mass, according to Boulos Halim, a church spokesperson. Security officials said there was more than one gunman involved in the shooting. They said the priest had been followed and shot at when he emerged from his car. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but extremists in the Sinai have targeted Christians before, accusing them of working with the government. A branch of ISIS has been active in the Sinai region and reportedly killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in the region. "The whole situation in El-Arish and North Sinai is under threat,” said Halim. "Many Christians have left.” (Christianity Today) Pray for the protection and faithful witness of the courageous Coptic Christians who often choose death and persecution from Islamists rather than deny their faith. [Comment]

Speaking on al-Quds Day, 1 July 2016, Iran's annual commemoration of the country’s solidarity with the Palestinian people, the Deputy Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said that Lebanon has 100,000 missiles ready to annihilate Israel. Senior Iranian official, Hossein Salami, said: "The opportunity to destroy Israel is now better than ever, because tens of thousands of long-range missiles all over the Islamic world are ready to hit Israel immediately upon receiving the order." In addition, Salami accused Israel of serving as a proxy for American espionage in the Islamic world, stating that "the Palestinian revolution of stones is now turning into a revolution of missiles that will leave Israelis no time to breathe. Tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets in Tehran and in 850 other cities in the Islamic Republic on Friday 1 July 2016 to mark the annual Quds Day, raising banners with anti-Israel slogans. (J.Post) [Comment]

Just what will it take to cut off USA funding for Palestinian terror? That question has taken center stage amid the wave of murderous "lone wolf” attacks against Israeli civilians, egged on by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Since September, the terror spree has left 40 dead and 430 injured. And every one of the terrorists - or their families - gets a hefty reward from Abbas’ PA. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions flow to the PA from the West, including America. This means USA tax dollars are, in effect, going to pay for terrorist acts. Congress may be finally moving to end the outrage. Both houses are considering legislation to cut USA aid to the PA by the amount given to Palestinian terrorists and their families. The key will be to make the bill loophole-proof, as the PA has skirted earlier attempts to curb its terror subsidies. Sending USA tax dollars to the PA, only to see them go to reward terror, is a moral obscenity. Congress should do all it can to curb the practice - pronto. (NY Post) Intercede that the outrageous use of USA tax dollars for the salaries and stipends of jailed terrorists and their families will be utterly cut off! [Comment]

 Israel intends to reduce monthly transfers of tax collected on behalf of the Palestinians in what aides to PM Netanyahu described as a response to the killing of two Israelis in Palestinian terrorist attacks last week. The amount deducted from about $130 million sent to the Palestinian Authority each month will be equal to stipends it pays terrorists in Israeli prisons and the families of jailed or slain terrorists. "Incitement and payouts to terrorists and their relatives constitute an incentive to murder," government sources said. Terrorists killed an Israeli and wounded three others in an attack on a family car on 1 July 2016. The previous day a Palestinian stabbed a 13-year-old girl to death while she was sleeping. (J.Post) [Comment]

Israel's Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan has launched a scathing attack on social media giant Facebook, saying the company and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg have blood on their hands and bear some responsibility for last week’s shocking murder of a 13-year-old Israeli girl. Hallel-Yaffa Ariel was stabbed to death as she slept in her bed in Kiryat Arba by a 17-year-old Palestinian terrorist, who had repeatedly incited violence and told of his desire to die killing Israelis on Facebook. A video of his mother praising his actions and calling for more attacks circulated on Facebook soon after and, shockingly, still has not been taken down. Erdan said that "part of the blood of those murdered are on the hands of Facebook," lamenting Facebook's notoriously liberal approach to deleting anti-Israel incitement. "The young generation's entire discourse is happening on the social media networks, all the incitement and lies occur on that platform," he added, and suggested Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg should engage in "some introspection." (Arutz-7) [Comment]

The seriously wounded victim of Friday's 1 July 2016, deadly drive-by shooting attack near Hebron regained consciousness early Sunday afternoon. Chava Mark was left in critical condition in the shooting, which killed her husband Michael and injured two of their children who were traveling with them. She had been in a medically-induced coma ever since, as doctors fought first to save her life, and then to stabilize her condition. She underwent a serious of major operations for multiple gunshot wounds to her upper body. Her 15-year-old daughter, who also sustained gunshot wounds in the attack, is hospitalized with her in moderate condition. Chava awoke from her coma as the funeral procession for her husband made its way from their hometown Otniel to Jerusalem's Har Hamenuchot cemetery. She is not yet aware of her husband's death. The attack occurred as the family was driving in the Hebron Hills region. The Arab terrorists who carried out the attack overtook them, raking their car with gunfire and causing it to flip, killing Michael and wounding all three passengers. Some 20 bullets were fired at the innocent family in the attack. (Arutz-7) Pray for Chava Mark and her tragedy-stricken children. Intercede for the injured members of the family to know complete physical recovery and emotional courage and comforting for the days ahead. "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.” Isa 66:13 [Comment]

Chairman of the Lobby for Holocaust Survivors, MK Eliezer Stern, mourned the passing of Elie Wiesel: "I had the merit of knowing him personally. The conversations between us always focused on the connection between the Holocaust and recovery there from, as well as the challenges we face inside Israel and among Diaspora Jewry. Elie was the true mouthpiece for human values, combining Judaism with the Jewish people over history, especially the Holocaust. He was the Doomsday weapon against all Holocaust deniers, and a faithful ambassador of "Never Again" for the Jewish nation among generations of world leaders." (INN) [Comment]

Israel is seeking sped up production of Iron Dome batteries, Moshe Patel, Director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization, revealed this week. The statement comes as Hamas continues to produce thousands of rockets in Gaza, Hezbollah imports rockets and missiles from Iran and Syria, and as ISIS joins the list of threats to the Israeli home front. Patel said Israel is in talks with Iron Dome’s maker, Rafael, and co-producer, the USA defense company Raytheon, to see which company could increase production of Iron Dome batteries. "Our main activity is to add more Iron Dome batteries,” Patel said, "either in Rafael, or Raytheon, or both.” Iron Dome shot down some 1500 Gazan rockets fired at Israel since becoming operational. Recently, it held a trial in which interceptors shot down drones, Patel stated. The low cost of its interceptors make Iron Dome the air defense system of choice, he added. (J.Post) [Comment]

The New Jersey Legislature passed legislation that prohibits the state from investing pension and annuity funds in companies that boycott Israel or Israeli businesses. The bipartisan bill in response to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, movement against Israel passed the state’s General Assembly this week by a vote of 69-3 with 2 abstentions. Gov. Chris Christie is expected to sign the bill into law. The state’s $71 billion pension fund provides coverage for about 800,000 current and retired public employees. Israel and New Jersey annually trade more than $1.3 billion in goods, according to the legislation. "It is important to the economic well-being of New Jersey that persons or entities conducting commercial trade and doing business in the State do not engage in boycotts of a legitimate and viable partner with whom New Jersey can enjoy open trade contracting,” according to the legislation. "Therefore, it is in the best interest of this State that a statutory prohibition be enacted to prohibit the investment of public employee retirement funds in companies boycotting Israel.” In total, 21 states have taken up anti-BDS legislation. (J. Post) This is yet another encouraging answer to prayer in the battle against the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. Please intercede for a complete victory over these parasitic attempts to drain the economy of the Jewish state, wherever they lift their ugly heads. [Comment]

In any future war, Israel will be hit with the largest rocket salvos seen in its history – that was the stark warning issued by Brig.-Gen. Zvika Haimovich, commander of air defenses in the Israel Air Force on 27 June 2016. Speaking at the Israel Air Missile Defense Conference, he said that Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas were carrying out joint research and development of rockets, adding, "We can see a lot of live tests in Gaza with Hamas, and with Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. They have put in a lot of effort into increasing and improving their skills. In the future, we will meet and engage much bigger salvos,” he said. They will come from multiple directions, and a "regional war” is a more realistic scenario than a single-front escalation. Hezbollah can cover more than 75% of Israeli territory with its rockets and missiles. "If we are talking about the multi-directional threat, this is much more complicated than what we faced five to 10 years ago. Additionally, enemies will fire cruise missiles at Israel in the next war, he warned. "It’s not a nightmare. It’s a very realistic scenario."

In response to the mounting threats, the IAF’s air defense units are focused on creating flexibility, and updating their battle doctrine, to ensure they are dealing with future, rather than the past. The commander admitted that Israel has a lack of resources, and not enough interceptors to defend against the full range of aerial threat. He called for the acquisition of more air defense batteries and interceptors, but added, "This isn’t enough.” Integrating the various air defense systems, creating cross-branch IDF cooperation, and working with the USA are all needed. I really don’t know when next war will occur. Our challenge is to always be in front, and to be one step ahead of our enemies,” Haimovich said.(J.Post)