ISRAAID LAUNCHING NEW AID INITIATIVE TO TRAIN MEDICAL, MENTAL-HEALTH PROFESSIONALS: The disaster-relief nongovernmental organization IsraAID has embarked on a new, international initiative to train doctors, dentists, nurses, engineers and mental-health professionals to respond to disasters. The IsraAID Humanitarian Professionals Network (IPHN) was launched mid-January 2019 in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area. “IsraAID draws on Israeli social innovation and expertise to benefit people in need around the world,” said Seth Davis, executive director of organization’s branch in the United States. “We are now leveraging our organization’s unique capabilities to train professionals in the United States interested in developing life-saving skills and joining humanitarian relief missions globally, hand in hand with professionals from Israel. The network will equip skilled individuals in hands-on disaster relief experience and provide enhanced capacity if local disaster were to strike,” added Davis. Current IsraAID missions have provided assistance in multiple disasters including the November 2018 wildfires in California; violence in Uganda; cyclones in Vanuatu; and refugee crises in Greece, Kenya and Bangladesh. “IsraAID will make Los Angeles more secure by leveraging their unique expertise in disaster response to train professionals in our community,” said Los Angeles council member Paul Koretz. “I look forward to partnering with IsraAID to help them roll out their IHPN program in California.” (Jewish News Syndicate)

PM TO IRAN: ‘GET OUT OF SYRIA FAST, WE WON'T STOP OUR ATTACKING POLICY’: Israel’s PM Netanyahu sent a warning to Iran on Tue. Morning, 15 Jan. 2019.  Referring to Iran's entrenchment in Syria, Netanyahu said: "I'm telling you, get out of there fast. We won’t stop attacking." Netanyahu mocked an Iranian official who denied the presence of Iranian troops in Syria and said that Iran only served in an advisory position. "They always lie. They are lying with that and they are lying when they say their attempt to launch a satellite into space failed," Netanyahu said. The Premier accused Iran of using the issue to cover up their real intentions of developing intercontinental ballistic missiles.  On Wed. 16 Jan. 2019 Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander announced Iran will leave all its forces in Syria despite Israel's threats. "Netanyahu, don't play with the lion's tail - because he'll attack," warned the Iranian general. "You have to know and fear that one day the precision missiles will work, and all our facilities and military personnel and advisers will remain in Syria and will not exit. Even if Israel continues to attack Syria - they will only continue to grow." (J.Post/INN) 

     Intercede that the Islamic Republic’s regime will crack and fall. Iran’s oppressive Islamist leaders have repeatedly threatened the Jewish state and are steadily preparing for war against Israel on its northern borders with militias and terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Syria, Lebanon, and the Revolutionary Guards. Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.

IDF STRIKES IRANIAN, HEZBOLLAH TARGETS NEAR DAMASCUS: Syrian air defense units fired on enemy targets above Damascus, Syria's state news agency SANA said late Friday 11 Jan. 2019. Video footage showed explosions above the city. Sources in the Syrian opposition reported that the Israeli Air Force attacked the bases of Iranian militias and Assad's regime forces southwest of Damascus.  Israeli naval vessels were reportedly off the southern Lebanese coast during the attack. Syrian military reports said that the assault began from the skies of Lebanon around 11:30 pm. Israel has mounted attacks in Syria as part of its effort to counter the influence carved out there by Iran, which has supported President Bashar al-Assad in the war that erupted in 2011. A senior Israeli official recently said Israel had carried out more than 200 attacks against Iranian targets in Syria in the last two years. (J.Post)

USA AMBASSADOR: NO PEACE PLAN IN NEAR FUTURE: USA Ambassador to Israel David Friedman indicated that his country would not likely be releasing its Middle East peace plan in the immediate future. Speaking in Jerusalem this week, Friedman assessed that Trump’s peace plan would be released within the next several months. "We want to release it in a way that gives it the best chance of getting a good reception," he said, adding that Israeli elections "are a factor, but not the only factor," alluding to the ongoing Palestinian Authority refusal to accept the plan. Friedman said the contents are "pretty much completed," but there is additional "wordsmithing and smoothing" that needs to be done. "The challenge to a peace plan is making the case for a much more sober assessment of the realities in this region," Friedman asserted. "The last time there was a meaningful agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians was 1993. A lot has happened since 1993.” (Arutz-7) 

NETANYAHU MEETS WITH CHRISTIAN FRIENDS OF ISRAEL IN BRAZIL: PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Sara Netanyahu met with Christian Friends of Israel in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday 30 Dec. 2018. During the event the post office of the Brazilian state of Amazonas launched a stamp that had been prepared by Christian Friends of Israel in honor of 70 years of Israel's independence. Netanyahu and his wife were on the third day of a six-day visit to Brazil to attend the inauguration of Brazilian president-elect Jair Bolsonaro. Netanyahu spoke at the event, "We have no better friends in the world than the Evangelical community, and the Evangelical community has no better friend in the world than the State of Israel. In other countries in the Middle East, Christians must either be very careful or leave the country, but not in Israel. You are our brothers and sisters, and we defend Christian rights just like we defend the rights of all religions. It is not solely a matter of justice or values, it is a matter of deep recognition of our common ancient customs and our common heritage.

"Our histories, our beliefs and our values are intertwined. Every time we dig in our land we uncover ancient synagogues or ancient churches. When you come to Israel today, you see a country that accepts you as brothers and sisters, you see a country that values freedom of religion, you see a country that is proud of our past and carries our values into the future. We now have the opportunity to create the future in Brazil together. President Bolsonaro said we were brothers. We are brothers and we will grasp the future together. I invite all of you to come to Israel in 2019. We will welcome you with all the love and warmth reserved for family members. I look forward to seeing you in Jerusalem”. (J.Post/Arutz-7)

TRUMP DECIDED ON SYRIA PULLOUT DURING PHONE CALL WITH ERDOGAN: USA President Trump made the shocking decision to withdraw troops from Syria during a phone call with his Turkish counterpart who said Turkey could clear the remaining jihadists from the country. Trump’s move came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch an operation against a Kurdish militia that is fighting against ISIS with American military assistance. Erdogan and Trump spoke on the phone as the American President made his decision. During the conversation Trump told his national security adviser John Bolton to “start the work” to prepare withdrawing troops from Syria. A Turkish daily said that Trump’s order to Bolton came after he asked Erdogan if Turkey would “clean up the remaining Daesh (ISIS) elements if we withdrew from Syria.” Erdogan reportedly told Trump that Turkey had cleared ISIS during its first military operation in northern Syria between 2016 and 2017 and could do so again. Trump replied by telling him to go ahead and do it. (Times of Israel)

    Pray against regional responsibilities being put into the hands of national leaders who are dangerous - or potentially dangerous - to the security of Israel. In this case it is Turkey, which shares outstanding trade agreements with the Jewish state, but whose relationship with Israel is often toxic. Turkey is 99.8% Muslim with Islamic leaders eager for power. Under Erdogan, Turkey's relations with Israel has turned sharply negative.

PALESTINIANS SIGNAL THEY WANT ALL OF JERUSALEM: Australia's decision on Saturday 15 Dec. 2018 to officially recognize the western half of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel prompted a number of outbursts, some of them very, very revealing. The government of PM Benjamin Netanyahu expressed disappointment that, unlike USA President Donald Trump, Australian PM Scott Morrison only acknowledged Israeli sovereignty over half of the Holy City, and did not commit to moving his nation's embassy there. The Palestinian Authority also protested Australia's announcement. Many in Israel assumed that the Palestinians would celebrate Australia recognizing only West Jerusalem as Israel's seat of government as yet another repudiation of the Jews' claim to the entire city as their eternal capital. But then PA negotiator Saeb Erekat explained the outrage, and Israelis were again reminded of just how distant a genuine peace based on historical accuracy remains.

"All of Jerusalem remains a final status issue for negotiations, while East Jerusalem, under international law, is an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territory," insisted Erekat. That came as a surprise to nearly all Israelis, including those to the far left of the political spectrum, who have never considered control of the western half of Jerusalem to be up for negotiation. Did Erekat merely misspeak, or did he reveal that even at the highest levels of the supposedly "moderate" Palestinian government, the long-term goal remains wresting all this land from Israel? At the very least, Erekat's statement should make it clear to the international community that there won't be any kind of peace agreement in the near future, as no Israeli government, regardless of which party is in charge, will ever consider, or be allowed by the public to put West Jerusalem on the table. (Israel Today)