The U.S. and Israel are on a roll that could take them right off planet Earth, according to a high-level Iranian official.

After #JCPOA, #NAFTA, #TPP, Climate Convention & ..., the Trump regime—along with the Israeli regime—today officially withdrew from #UNESCO. Is anything left for the Trump Administration and its client regime to withdraw from? Perhaps from planet Earth altogether?

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 1, 2019

Zari was additionally referring to U.S. withdrawals from the Iran nuclear deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Climate Accord.

UNESCO: Anti-Israel and Burdensome

As the U.S. quit each of these agreements, Trump administration officials repeatedly cited either anti-Israel bias and/or an unfair burden on the U.S. The former was the case when the U.S. announced last October its decision to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Israel quickly followed the lead of the U.S., with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the U.S. withdrawal “brave” and “moral.” He also said, “UNESCO has become a theater of the absurd because, instead of preserving history, it distorts it.” On another occasion, Netanyahu tweeted, “Since 2009, UNESCO has passed 71 resolutions condemning Israel and only two resolutions condemning all other nations combined. This is simply outrageous.”

When the two nations’ withdrawals became official at the stroke of midnight on December 31, 2018, former U.S. Ambassador the United Nations Nikki Haley tweeted, “UNESCO is among the most corrupt and politically biased UN agencies. Today the U.S. withdrawal from this cesspool became official.”

In response to Zarif’s tweet, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon tweeted, “Remember how @JZarif said in an interview with @LePoint on Dec. 19 that no one in Iran wants to annihilate Israel? Well, calling for #Israel (and the #UnitedStates) to withdraw ‘from planet Earth altogether’ sure sounds like calling for the demise of our countries.”

No Longer Fostering Peace

The U.S. helped form UNESCO in 1945 after World War II to foster peace; Israel became a member state in 1949. President Ronald Reagan was first to withdraw in 1984 over structural issues and bias toward the former Soviet Union.

Satisfied with UNESCO reforms, President George W. Bush returned in 2003. But the relationship again became rocky in recent years because of increased anti-Israel bias.

“The last straw was when UNESCO this summer designated the old city of Hebron in the West Bank – with its Tomb of the Patriarchs – a Palestinian World Heritage site,” The Washington Post quoted Haley as saying. When the two nations announced their withdrawals this time, she called UNESCO’s politicization a “chronic embarrassment.”

Similarly, The Times of Israel wrote, “Many saw the vote to include Palestine as evidence of long-running, ingrained anti-Israel bias within the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.”

The U.S. State Department said it will engage with UNESCO as a non-member “observer state” on “non-politicized” issues to protect World Heritage sites and press freedoms and to promote scientific collaboration and education.

But what does it mean to Israel?

On a pragmatic level, the millions of dollars Israel and the U.S. owe in dues are now canceled. This lifts a financial burden of both countries, but UNESCO already felt the budget cut in 2011.

On a symbolic level, the withdrawal “sends a strong message that we need to see fundamental reform in the organization, and it raises everyone’s awareness about continued anti-Israel bias,” according to an unnamed U.S. State Department official quoted in The Post this week.

Please pray with us that the world will heed the message that anti-Israel bias in the U.N. is growing and unacceptable. Also pray for:

• Protection of Jewish people worldwide as anti-Semitism has grown to its highest level since UNESCO was formed after WWII
• Protection of Israeli citizens and young people in the military who face the consequences of the unbalanced Arab influence in the U.N. and the growing tide of terrorism on Israel’s borders.

Your gift to Jewish Voice today will help fight these issues including the devastating impact of growing anti-Semitism worldwide. Your gift also directly supports Arab-Israeli peace efforts through JVMI partner ministries at work inside Israel.

And, as always, your partnership with JVMI reaches Jewish people worldwide with the Good News that Yeshua (Jesus) is their long-awaited Jewish Messiah.

The plans I’m about to share with you are certainly ambitious.

But if you believe, as I do, that God wants to bless and transform the lives of Jewish people, then you’ll want to be a part of this.

Today I want to invite you to do that through your generous gift of support as the new year begins.

Yes, you can participate in a growing Messianic movement that is bringing healing and hope to Jewish people all over the world, but especially in Israel. God IS truly at work there! And He wants to use YOU – through Jewish Voice – as His ambassador of compassion, peace and redemption.

Because so many Jewish people in Israel still need the physical care and spiritual blessings you can provide in the name of Yeshua (Jesus).

That’s why we must reach as many as we can before He returns in power and glory to fulfill His plans for the Jewish State AND all Jewish people worldwide.

Much To Celebrate – Much To Accomplish

While the past year has been one of historic change in Israel, it has also been a season of threat and even danger for Israel and her people. But there’s encouraging news…

• Those who love Israel and her people celebrated the 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding as an independent Jewish State

• We witnessed the United States’ renewed support for Israel. Most important, the U.S. Embassy was moved to Jerusalem in recognition of that key city as the rightful capital of Israel

But this is troubling…

• Israel again faced the nonstop anti-Semitic bias of the United Nations, an influential international organization that is supposed to work for fairness, understanding and peace among all countries
   
• Israel’s enemies – including Syria, Iran and the terrorist organizations ISIS, Hezbollah and Hamas – continued their deadly attacks on the Jewish State, keeping the world focused on the age-old question, Is peace possible in the Middle East?
   
• During one November barrage, Hamas terrorists launched more than 460 rockets into southern Israel over a 24-hour period, killing one, wounding 30, and sending hundreds into shelters 

The New Year is upon us, and we want to take a moment to let you know how much you’ve meant to us this past year. Your partnership with Jewish Voice Ministries International in 2018 had a powerful impact on the physical and spiritual lives of people all around the world.

Along with sharing the love and Good News of Yeshua (Jesus), your gifts restored eyesight, brought healing and gave clean drinking water to hurting Jewish people and their neighbors in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. Through your support of Jewish Voice, you gave them hope. You transformed and saved lives. And we are so grateful for you.

Here are a few highlights of what you made possible in 2018:

In Chitsungo, Zimbabwe, people are forced to share their only water source with hippos. But your gifts helped us distribute 5,370 personal LifeStraw® filters to provide a year of clean, safe drinking water. Through your generosity, a baby boy was saved when doctors removed a growth from his mouth that was preventing him from receiving the nourishment he needed to live.

In Debre Birhan, Ethiopia, your gifts enabled us to treat the most patients we’ve ever seen in a five-day Clinic ‒ 15,919! We distributed more than 12,000 personal LifeStraws® to individuals and 540 family-sized units to schools, families and a convalescent center.

In Enfranz, Ethiopia, you helped us introduce the Zehra Kids Program where children enjoyed a fun-filled time of learning about their Jewish heritage and how much God loves them. Your prayers sustained us through opposition as our spiritual care ministry was shut down mid-week by local leaders. Even so, God continued to use the prayer team to minister throughout the Clinic and city. The medical team provided quality care to 3,000 patients in a single day and then repeated that astounding feat the very next day. In all, you helped provide 13,225 people with medical, dental or eye care in Enfranz.

In Mudanda, Zimbabwe, your support made it possible to serve every last patient who came to us without having to turn anyone away when the Clinic ended. God used both medicine and miracles to provide healing to the people of Mudanda. In the prayer tent, a woman named Violet entered blind and left seeing – and rejoicing. Both she and her daughter accepted Yeshua as the Messiah.

In Alamata, Ethiopia, your partnership made it possible for us to be in this new location when a 16-year-old came with many questions. He said he believed in science rather than God but was clearly searching for more. Prayer Partners provided biblical answers, and after a time, he volunteered, “I am ready to receive Yeshua.” The next day, he returned with someone he had led to the Lord since leaving us 24 hours earlier.

In Jijiga, Ethiopia, your gifts provided an introductory two-day Clinic to serve a predominantly Muslim area in which a small Jewish community lives. One Muslim man beckoned a Jewish Voice staff member toward him. Grasping his arm, the man said, “I love the Jewish people. I just want you to know that.” Through your support of Jewish Voice, you are bringing the light and hope of Yeshua to this region.

Because of your generosity, 63,953 people received much-needed medical care in 2018 during Jewish Voice’s six Medical Outreaches. And1,178 people came to faith in Yeshua. As a result, 12 new congregations formed where the ripples of your gifts will continue ministering in Yeshua’s name.

Throughout the year, your support also helped us share God’s heart for Israel and the Jewish people, combat anti-Semitism and encourage the faith of millions through the Jewish Voice with Jonathan Bernis television program.