(horn sounds)

- [Julie] This week on Jerusalem Dateline,

Israel heads to early elections.

Will Netanyahu win the race?

And how is President Trumpimpacted the Middle East?

Plus, from Israel's 70th birthday

to the US Embassy move to Jerusalem,

we'll take a look at someof the highlights of 2018.

All this and more thisweek on Jerusalem Dateline.

(upbeat music)

Hello and welcome to thisedition of Jerusalem Dateline.

I'm Julie Stahl fillingin for Chris Mitchell.

2018 has been full of highs and lows.

We wanna take a look atsome of those stories.

One of the most recent isthat Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu'sgovernment decided to hold

early national elections.

They'll take place in April,

six months before they were scheduled.

Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu said

the time is right for early elections.

- Since weeks ago when the possibility

of bringing down thegovernment was before us,

I said that we have urgentsecurity matters to deal with.

I couldn't reveal then what wedid a couple of weeks later,

which was to start thisbig operation to neutralize

the dirt tunnels of Gisbon.

- [Julie] Six weeks ago,Israel's Defense Minister

Avigdor Lieberman resignedover the security situation

in Gaza, and since then,the government has ruled

with a shaky majority.

- The current government inIsrael is a very thin majority

of 61 out of 120.

It other words, it has adifficult time functioning,

and it has already been inpower for almost four years,

which means elections were inevitable.

- [Julie] The governmentdecided to go to early elections

after it came up short ina vote for a contentious

piece of legislation.

- And I think it's perfectlysensible to go elections now

with a complete agreement, by the way,

of all the partners, complete unanimity,

and a great partnership for Israel.

- [Julie] Oppositionleader Tzipdi Livni said

it was time for Netanyahu to step aside.

(speaks in foreign language)

- [Translator] Netanyahu needs to leave,

and better an hour earlybecause he on his way out,

Netanyahu will try to destroy what is left

of the Israeli democracy.

- [Julie] But latest pollsshow Netanyahu achieving

a solid victory in upcoming elections.

- The next elections in Israelare basically going to be

a battle within the right wing in Israel.

In other words, how far aheadthe Netanyahu's Leecoot party

will come out and howmuch power he will have

in the next multi-partycoalition government.

- [Julie] Hebrew Universityprofessor Reuvan Hazan said

Israel's left has lost popularity.

- The number one issue inIsraeli politics is security,

and the left over the lastdecade or two has hitched

its platform much more to aland for peace security formula,

which today with Hamasand Hezbollah and so forth

is not a platform that canwin a lot of votes in Israel.

- Throughout 2018, Israelallegedly carried out

numerous airstrikes inSyria to stop the transfer

of weapons to Hezbollah and prevent Iran

from entrenching itselfnear the Israeli border.

Israel hasn't confirmed itsinvolvement in those strikes,

but recently, Prime MinisterNetanyahu strongly hinted

that Israel had been involved.

And then, there's theHezbollah tunneled dug

under the Israeli border.

Here's more on that story.

Speaking at an Israeli airforce graduation ceremony,

Netanyahu said Israel is alreadyfighting Iran inside Syria.

(speaks in foreign language)

- [Translator] We'renot prepared to accept

the Iranian militaryentrenchment in Syria,

which is directed against us.

We'll act against itvigorously and continuously,

including during the current period.

I said that we will not be deterred

from doing what is necessary.

- [Julie] Reports fromLebanon said Israeli planes

targeted three positionsthat are arms depots

for Hezbollah and Iranianforces based in Syria.

Netanyahu said there wouldn'tbe a shift in Israel's actions

because of the US troopwithdrawal from Syria.

(speaks in foreign language)

- [Translator] PresidentTrump's decision to withdraw

the American soldiers from Syriawill not change our policy.

We're standing steadfaston our red lines in Syria

and everywhere else.

- [Julie] In a surprise visitto American troops in Iraq,

President Trump saiddespite the US pullout,

Israel could take care of itself.

- And I spoke with Bibi.

I told Bibi, and we gaveIsrael $4,500,000 a year.

And they're doing very wellin defending themselves

if you take a look, butwe'll be there for Israel.

We'll always be there for Israel.

I'm the one that movedthe embassy to Jerusalem.

- [Julie] Netanyahu also saidas part of Israel's effort

to preempt attacks, itwould continue to destroy

Hezbollah tunnels.

The IDF announced it had discovered

a fifth cross-border tunnel.

It provided this footageinside of the tunnel,

and IDF work on the outside of it.

The IDF also warned residentsin Arabic by loudspeaker

to leave the area and notified UN troops

before blowing up the tunnel.

(speaks in foreign language)

The UN has said the Hezbollahtunnels are a violation

of US resolution 1701.

(upbeat music)

Coming up, Trump's impacton the Middle East.

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(intense music)

- Hello, I'm Terry Meeuwsen.

Did you know there are morethan 148,000,000 orphans

in the world today?

148,000,000.

But it was three littlegirls that taught me

about the plight of orphans.

My husband and I spentnearly a month immersed

in the daily activitiesof a Ukrainian orphanage,

as we waited to adopt three sisters.

I saw firsthand the utterloneliness, the pain of rejection,

and the overwhelming desire to be loved.

That experience changed me forever.

And out of it grew aministry from my heart

called Orphan's Promise.

Today, we're helping orphansand vulnerable children

in more tan 50 countries worldwide.

Thousands of childrenare now in safe homes.

They're being educated.

And they're learning life skills.

I'm asking you to join with me

and become family to these children.

Will you call the numberon your screen right now?

Because every child deservesa chance to be happy.

(upbeat music)

- One of the biggest stories of 2018

was the US embassy move to Jerusalem.

That's just one of the actionsPresident Trump has taken

in his two years in office,and as CBN's Middle East

Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell reports,

some observers say Trumphas made dramatic progress

toward changing the Middle East.

- [Chris] From Iran toSaudi Arabia and beyond,

President Donald Trump hasput his stamp on the region.

- What a glorious day.

Remember this moment.

(audience applauds)

President Trump, by recognizing history,

you have made history.

- [Chris] Perhaps themost dramatic decision,

acting where other presidents has not

by moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.

- The decades of talkabout that, and then,

frankly sort of empty talkabout suddenly happens.

That's a very bold movethat I think is, again,

really changed the whole basictopography in a certain way

of the Israeli-Palestinian situation.

- [Chris] It strengtheneda US-Israel realtionship

that had suffered underthe Obama administration.

- Many of us grew up in aworld of a Pax Americana.

And we felt safe underthose great eagle wings

of the United States of America.

And those wings have beenfluttering away, how should I say?

In recent years.

And we feel now that they'reback, and it gives us strength.

It gives us strength sometimesto even be conciliatory.

Israel needs that behind it.

- [Chris] The next step,isolate Iran by pulling out

of the questionable nuclear deal.

- [Jonathan] The exit from theJCPOA, from the nuclear deal

with Iran, very majorwatershed moment which I think

announced what we've been discussing.

It announced the beginningsof a much broader process

to roll back Iran that'sbeen allowed to roll

across the region unopposedover the last decade.

- [Chris] The decision to confront Iran

also began to reverse a trend.

- [Caroline] I think alot of what they're doing

is trying to repair thedamage to America's position

in the Middle East afterthe Obama administration

wrecked America's reputationas an ally by embracing

America's chief enemy inthe Middle East, Iran,

at the expensive of America'sallies, whether it's Israel

or the Sunni Arab nationsthat were betrayed

by the Obama administration.

- [Yaakov] The region is going through

a complete realignmentin the last two years

that President Trump has been in office.

What's happened is you've started to see,

is that all the othercountries in this region

are beginning to recognizethat for the last few years.

Saudi Arabia and Israelare in close contact

in the shadows, behind closed doors.

The United Arab Emiratesand Israel are talking

to one another.

There are business relationships,intelligence relationships

military relationshipsbetween the Israelis

and the Gulf states.

- [Chris] Trump also brought changes

to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

- I believe President Trumphas broken the paradigm

for diplomacy here in theMiddle East that got encrusted

for about 50 years now.

It's broken that old formulafor peace-making here,

and really strengthened Israel's cause,

so we have to thank Trump for that.

Whether it's moving theembassy, closing the PLO mission

in Washington, cuttingoff funding to UNRA,

challenging the way UNRAhas a different definition

for Palestinian refugeesthan any other refugees

all across the board.

Trump is hitting my bucket list of things

that should have been done long ago.

- [Chris] Another major development,

standing up for persecutedChristians in the Middle East.

- They made human rights and particularly,

the religious persecutionto be a priority.

- [Christ] The most dramatic example?

Trump put US-Turkish relations on the line

for imprisoned pastor, Andrew Brunsen.

- They're ready to almostdamage to the trade

and the economy with Turkey over a pastor.

And all of the secular mediawithout exception are saying,

a pastor, who cares about a pastor?

The trade with Turkeyis much more important.

The money and the value of theLira is much more important.

But the Trump administration said no,

a pastor who's falselyaccused and is in prison

is important to us, andwe're willing to really put

our money where our mouths are,

and they're taking a strong stand.

- [Chris] He also statedhis support for Iranians

who protested their own leadership,

a call the Obama administration ignored.

- Do people on the streetsknow the difference?

Do they know Trump is standing with?

- Oh, trust me, they do.

(laughs)

I talk with the person in the street

because I have relatives there,

and they all were people in the street.

And they do appreciate this more

than I can expression in words.

- [Chris] All thesebold decisions resonate

in the Middle East where strength matters.

- I think the brunt of the Middle East,

it's someone who will stand on his word.

It's someone who is notafraid to get involved.

It's someone who will stand up.

- When America's strong, Israel is strong.

When America's involved in this region,

that sends a messageto Israel's detractors

and Israel's potential enemiesthat if you mess with Israel,

you're messing with theUnited States, and vice versa.

And that is a message that sadlywe didn't hear for a while.

And it's again being heardthroughout the region.

- [Chris] The world hopesthat Trump administration's

next message is the unveiling

of its long-awaited peace plan.

Chris Mitchell, CBN News, Jerusalem.

(upbeat music)

- [Julie] Up next, fromIsrael's 70th birthday

to the US embassy move to Jerusalem,

a snapshot view of 2018.

(upbeat music)

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- [Man] We had four jobsthat didn't go right,

but we didn't waver in our faith.

- That's when God put on my heart

that we needed to the well.

(moving music)

- [Man] Within a couple ofdays, we got an insurance

refund check that wehad no idea was coming.

- And here we are.

This year, it's just, boom. (laughs)

- You go out and help other people,

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- [Announcer] Get PatRobertson's latest teaching,

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(upbeat music)

- 2018 was a full year.

We've put together asnapshot of the stories

that were unusual and important.

(upbeat music)

- [Chris] Israel's nationalcelebration wove a theme

of technological progress and survival

in seven decades of its modern history.

They told the story of the Jewish people,

from Moses to the earlypioneers, through the Holocaust,

to the planting of the landand the growth of technology.

They said the rebirth of their nation

was where prophecy became their reality,

and the answer to their prayers.

(intense noise)

Treasury Secretary StevenMinuchen unveiled the seal,

and Ivanka Trumpintroduced the new embassy.

- On behalf of the 45thpresident of the United States

on America, we welcome youofficially and for the first time

to the embassy of the UnitedStates here in Jerusalem,

the capital of Israel.

- [Chris] In a video, herfather, President Trump,

said his decision acknowledged reality.

- Israel is a sovereignnation with the right

like every other sovereignnation to determine

its own capital.

(intense noise)

- [Chris] Much of thecoverage of Monday's riots

seemed to show one side of the story,

an uprising to protest the opening

of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

Mahmoud Zahra, senior Hamas officially,

said this on the Al-Jazeera network.

- [Translator] This is a clearterminological deception.

So when we talk about peaceful resistance,

we are deceiving the public.

This is a peaceful resistancebolstered by military force

and by security agencies.

- [Chris] The videos show tire burning

and wire cutting units, sayingtheir highest aspiration

is to die for the sake of Allah,

and to cut the Zionist enemy'smain barbed wire fence,

or to take down the border fence

with the fingernails of their children.

Israeli ambassador Danny Denon called this

a Palestinian cycle of death.

- First they incite people to violence.

Then they place as manycivilians as possible,

including women andchildren, in the line of fire

to maximize civilian casualties.

Then they blame Israel,and then they come here

to complain to the UN.

(intense noise)

- [Chris] It can't get muchmore low tech than this,

yet the flying fire kitesor balloons have caused

extensive damage to southern Israeli crops

and nature reserves.

Olfrey Liberman is the agriculturemanager at Kitbuz Niram,

less than a mile from the Gaza border.

In the last six weeks, Kitbuzhas lost 250 acres of wheat,

500 acres of cow pasture,and 25 acres of trees

that were older than the state of Israel.

(intense noise)

- Well tonight, I'm hereto tell you one thing.

Iran lied.

- [Chris] In a well-plannedprimetime expose,

Netanyahu unveiled thousandsof files and documents

taken straight from Iran'ssecret atomic archive.

- We've known for years that Iran had

a secret nuclear weaponsprogram called Project Ahmad.

We can now prove that ProjectAhmad was a comprehensive

program to design, build,and test nuclear weapons.

(intense noise)

- [Chris] Israel's ministerof culture and sports,

Miri Regev listened to history being made

as Hatikvah, hercountry's national anthem,

played during the medals ceremonies

following this internationalJudo competition.

That followed Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu's short visit to Iman,

the first by an Israeli prime minister.

Another first came when a delegation

of American evangelicalleaders came here to Abu Dhabi,

the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

- What we found here is in our meetings

with the Crown Prince andwith many senior leaders here

is an extraordinary storythat's almost a hidden treasure

of moderation, of resistanceto radical Islamism,

to wanting a closerelationship with Nihates,

and freedom of worship.

(intense noise)

- [Chris] Gaza terrorists launched some

400 rockets at Israel.

The iodine anti-rocketsystem struck down about 100.

Some fell inside populated areas.

The IDF responded byattacking some 150 Hamas

and Palestinian Islamic Jihadmilitary targets in Gaza,

including a Hamas television station

and governmental structures.

(intense noise)

As this more than 100 foot vessel sailed

into Hertsalia harbor,dozens of other ships, boats,

and even windsurferscame out to greet her.

- We want to showsolidarity with two groups.

First of all is the Christianminorities in the Middle East

that are about to go extinct,

and so we're trying withthis sail to raise our voice

to say listen to them,and to those who are left,

this is the creedo of Christianity itself.

And Christians are almost going extinct

because they're killed for their faith.

Then where can we sail with this message?

And the only answer is inIsrael, because first of all,

it says Jesus, sailingfor Jesus on the side.

There's no other countryin the Middle East

that would open up their ports for us.

And it's the only countryin the Middle East

where the Christiansare growing in numbers.

We want to support Israel in this.

(upbeat music)

- [Julie] Still ahead, IsraeliJews helping Christians

to help Muslims.

(moving music)

- [Announcer] When yougive, smiles grow bigger.

When you care, homes are heavier.

When you comfort,

the hurt goes away.

When we all come together to love,

miracles happen.

- Hello, I'm Terry Meeuwsen.

Did you know there are morethan 148,000,000 orphans

in the world today?

148,000,000.

But it was three littlegirls that taught me

about the plight of orphans.

My husband and I spentnearly a month immersed

in the daily activitiesof a Ukrainian orphanage,

as we waited to adopt three sisters.

I saw firsthand the utterloneliness, the pain of rejection,

and the overwhelming desire to be loved.

That experience changed me forever.

And out of it grew aministry from my heart

called Orphan's Promise.

Today, we're helping orphansand vulnerable children

in more tan 50 countries worldwide.

Thousands of childrenare now in safe homes.

They're being educated.

And they're learning life skills.

I'm asking you to join with me

and become family to these children.

Will you call the numberon your screen right now?

Because every child deservesa chance to be happy.

- Hello?

Is this thing on?

Hey kids, do you love games?

(cheering)

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- [Kid] Yeah.

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(intense noise)

- One of my favorite stories this year

is that of Operation GoodNeighbor, because to me,

it shows the heart of Israeland the Jewish people.

The idea of providingmedical aid, food, fuel,

and other goods to theSyrians in need during

their civil war, even thoughSyria and Israel are not

friendly nations.

And the story gets better.

In many cases, the Israeliarmy worked together

with Christian organizationsto help the Muslims.

- [Chris] Marco Moreno servedin the Israeli military

intelligence for 25 years.

After the Syrian Civil War began,

the army assigned Morenoto come up with a response

to the carnage.

- [Michael] It lead meto a very unique path.

The path was to offer humanitarianaid to the Syrian side.

Meaning food, medicine, medical treatment,

and help them in their tough hour.

- But asking nothing in return.

- Yeah, asking nothing in return.

It's thinking outside the box.

It's not something thatyou can find usually

as a state of mind in the Israeli army.

- [Chris] This outside the box plan became

the Good Neighbor Project.

After several years, it'sprovided tons of food, fuel,

and supplies to Syrians onthe other side of the border.

The military alsobrought thousands in need

of medical treatment into Israel,

despite the warlike relationshipwith the Syrian government.

The goal is simple.

- To gain the hearts and minds.

Listen, Syria, we areyour neighbors, okay?

We don't want to hurt you.

We want only to love you and help you.

We want you to leave in peace.

As neighbors, good neighbors.

- And as you say that it's a game changer?

- It is a game changer.

- What struck me as one ofthe most profound dimensions

of the whole story, wasthat these were man to man,

eyeball to eyeball,relational equities and trust,

and that struck me.

And I wanted to get involved in that.

- [Chris] Moreno enlisted Dalton Thomas,

the founder of FrontierAlliance International,

to send Christian medicalteams inside Syria.

- And the thing is, they don'thave anything over there.

But they want and needeverything on a medical level.

The hospitals have all been bombed,

the doctors have beenassassinated or displaced.

There isn't anyone over there.

- [Chris] But who wouldgo into what's become

the most dangerous place on earth?

- One story that compelled me is the story

of the good Samaritan.

- [Chris] Emmanuel lead the first team in,

and found his neighborsbleeding and dying.

- You have everythingfrom chronic disease,

which is diabetes, blood pressure,

and you have somebodywho had his leg blown up

or his guts spilling outor every kind of trauma

that you can imagine.

- [Chris] The conditions are abysmal.

- First thing at ahospital, I remember walking

down the stairs and I remember smelling,

'cause they had a lot of traumas that day,

and I remember smelling the blood,

and then just walking in and being like,

oh my goodness, whatdid I get myself into?

- [Chris] Brittany also foundherself in the war zone.

She came with Tanya, a surgeon,and Melanie, a translator.

They all went into Syriato help those caught

in the crossfire.

As chief surgeon, Dr.Tanya faced procedures

she never saw in civilian life.

(speaks in foreign language)

- [Translator] At themoment, I began the surgery,

I felt like God wasshowing me how to proceed,

whether it was a C-section, a hemorrhage,

amputations or traumaslike skull or vertebrae,

or any type of trauma.

- [Chris] But why go intosuch a dangerous place?

- If anything, when I read the Bible,

what I see is a God whois mighty in battle,

a God who intervenes in atime of dire distress or need.

So when I read that, it'seasy for me to trust God

that God would protect me,that God would shelter me.

And if he calls, I believehe will protect as well.

- We are warriors, warriors, how?

We have to two kind of warriors.

One is carrying a gun,protecting his nation,

fighting, whatever,like I was for 25 years.

The other kind of warrioris a warrior with the Bible.

The true believing is hard.

And to serve the lord, he needsto do what he needs to do.

(gun shots)

Syria is the dangerous place on earth.

Everything can happenin Syria, everything.

And they live in badhouses without hot water,

bad food, you don't have any toilet,

sleeping sometimes on the ground.

But they are believers.

They're doing it becomes they love Israel,

because they love Jesus.

- [Chris] Christ Mitchell, CBN News,

the Syrian-Israeli border.

- That's all for this edition,and that's all for 2018.

Thanks for joining us.

Remember you can followus on Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram, and YouTube.

I'm Julie Stahl.

From all of here at Jerusalem Dateline,

we wish a blessed, healthy,happy, and God-filled new year.

We'll see you next time andnext year on Jerusalem Dateline.

(upbeat music)