(horn sounds)

- [Chris] This week on Jerusalem Dateline,

Israel's attorneygeneral decides to indict

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

What does this mean forNetanyahu's political fate

in Israel's future?

Plus CBN's Scott Ross visits Hebron

and the Tomb of the Patriarchs,

one of the holiest places in Judaism,

a fact denied by the UN.

And this family flees ISISand finds hope and a future.

All this and more thisweek on Jerusalem Dateline.

Hello and welcome to thisedition of Jerusalem Dateline.

I'm Chris Mitchell.

Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu fought back

after Israel's attorney general announced

the plan to indict Netanyahuon charges of bribery

and breach of trust.

The charges put Netanyahu,the second-longest serving

prime minister in Israel'shistory in the fight

of his political life.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

went on national TV to defend himself.

(speaks in foreign language)

- [Translator] The left is doing this

because they know they can'tbecause us at the ballot box.

They simply can't beatus at the ballot box.

For three years, theyhave been carrying out

a political pursuit against us,

an unprecedented huntingexpedition with one goal,

to topple the right-winggovernment lead by me,

and to bring to power theleftest part Apeid and Gantz.

- [Chris] Netanyahu said theleft put enormous pressure

on Israel's attorney generalto influence the elections,

and felt confident, they'd be vindicated.

(speaks in foreign language)

- [Translator] I tell you,the citizens of Israel,

that this house of cards will collapse.

I am absolutely certain of that.

I am certain of it 4,000%.

I plan on serving you and the state

as prime minister for many years.

- [Chris] Netanyahu main challenger,

retired general Benny Gantz,said, Netanyahu had to go.

(speaks in foreign language)

- [Translator] People of Israel, tonight,

by the publication of the recommendation

of the attorney general,and in these circumstances,

this has happened, sittingwith Benjamin Netanyahu

in this same government is off the table.

I call on you, BenjaminNetanyahu, from here tonight,

to come to your sense,show responsibility,

and resign from your post.

- [Chris] Israel's AttorneyGeneral Avichai Mandelblit

announced he would indicted Netanyahu

in three ongoing investigations.

In the most serious case,Netanyahu is suspected

of firing Israel'scommunications ministry director

in exchange for favorable coverage

in one of Israel's top news cycles.

- We are entering uncharted waters.

An incumbent primeminister was never indicted

in Israel's history ashe was still serving

as prime minister.

From a legal perspective,nothing will change

in the immediate term before the decision

on the indictment is final.

Once the decision is final,there's legal ambiguity

on whether the prime ministercan remain in office or not.

- The indictments also threaten

Netanyahu's political future.

The current polls areso close that even if

Netanyahu's Likud partylost just a few seats

because of these accusations,it could turn the tide

of the upcoming election.

The elections will be held on April 9th.

Well, during President Trump'spress conference in Hanoi,

after his meeting with NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Un,

he answered a questionabout the legal charges

and political challenges facing Netanyahu.

- Well I just think he'sbeen a great prime minister.

I don't know about his difficulty,

but you're telling mesomething that people have been

hearing about, but Idon't know about that.

I can say this.

That he's done a greatjob as prime minister,

he's tough, he's smart, he's strong.

- President Trump also addressedthe upcoming US peace plan

expected to be revealedafter Israel's elections.

- There is a chance forpeace between Israel

and the Palestinians,and it's interesting.

All my life, I've heard thatthe toughest of all deals,

when they talk about tough deals.

We all like deals.

But the toughest of alldeals would be peace

between Israel and the Palestinians.

They say it's like the impossible deal.

I'd love to be able to produce it.

We'll see what happens.

We were paying thePalestinians a lot of money.

And I ended that about two years ago,

because they weren'tsaying the right things,

and I said why would we pay somebody

that's not saying nice things about us

and not really wantingto go to the peace table?

And they've been much betterand we'll see what happens.

(reporter interjecting)

But I think we really,

I think we have actually a good shot

at peace between Israeland the Palestinians.

- [Reporter] President?

- Jared Kushner is one of the architects

of what President Trump callsthe deal of the century,

a peace plan betweenIsraelis and Palestinians.

He's been visitingcapitals in the Middle East

to gather support for the proposal.

Well Gary Lane discussed theplan with Middle East expert,

Jonathan Schanzer on the Global Lane.

(intense sound effect)

- Why is Jared Kushnergoing to the Middle East?

We've seen some diplomacy herebetween the Saudi Arabians,

also Gulf States, UAE, right?

Bahrain, Qatar, what's going on?

- Well it's interestingthat really the common foe

that the Arabs and theIsraelis have is Iran.

And the fear of Iran, theanger at Iranian terrorism

and destabilizationacross the Middle East,

this has brought theArabs and Israel together.

And so we're at a place rightnow where Jared Kushner,

Jason Greenblat, theDonald Trump administration

may be able to utilize theArab states for the first time

in trying to bring the Palestinians

to the negotiation table.

They may have a more positive role to play

because of this sharedantipathy to the Iranians.

- Well they're being tightlippedabout this peace plan.

I don't think it's allcompletely formulated yet.

They're still adding to it, I'm sure.

What do you thinks in it?

- You know, it's funny.

I've had the opportunity totalk with some of the folks

at the White House about this.

It is an incredibly well-guarded secret.

They don't share any of the specifics,

not privately, not publicly,it's really remarkable.

There are a lot of people who say

that this is like a Seinfeld episode.

It's a show about nothing.

And then there are other people who say,

well it's gonna be terrific,we just need to wait

for this thing to be trotted out.

My understanding is that it is going to be

probably more generous to the Israelis

than previous peaceplans that have offered

the Palestinians 90 or95% of the West Bank.

It'll probably be much lessthan that this time around.

I think there's gonna be alot of economic inducements

for the Palestinians.

They're gonna try to bringthe Palestinians along

economically beforegiving them a lot of those

political benefits thatthey've been looking for.

- Little carrot and stick approach here.

- I think that's right.- I think.

Now some people have said that the Saudis,

part of this proposalis to allow the Saudis,

who have control overparts of the Temple Mount

and the Allask Amask and so forth.

And you know as I do.

I've been covering thisfor many years now.

Jerusalem is a sticking point.

- It absolutely will be.

I think that it's probably a nonstarter

for the Saudis to have control.

You have to rememberthe Jordanians have long

laid claim to Jerusalem.

That even after theIsraelis reclaimed Jerusalem

after the 1967 war, they still allowed

the religious authoritiesin Jordan to continue

to administer the Allask Amask.

I expect that to continue given the fact

that there's already a peace agreement

between the Jordanians and the Israelis.

I think the Israelis wouldbe loathe to disrupt that

in any way.

- Now Mahmoud Abbas is saying, look,

we really need aninternational conference here.

Forget what Trump is doing.

Almost seems like he's trying to sabotage

whatever Jared Kushnerand Trump are trying

to pull off here.

- [Jonathan] He absolutely is.

This is a guy, you have to remember,

he's now, I think it's 14years into a four year term.

He's getting up there in age.

He won't name a vice president.

He wants to control the entire process

and his people are veryangry at the White House.

Of course, a lot of thathas to do with the fact

that we moved the embassy from Tel Aviv

to Jerusalem last year.

We've been defunding the Palestinians

because of their support for terrorism.

So there is antipathy betweenthis Palestinian authority

and the White House.

I don't expect these guys to cooperate,

and I expect them to bethe folks that say no

no matter what is trottedout by the White House,

and I think the Israelis areprobably banking on that.

- Not to mention Hamas.

What do you do about them and Gaza?

- [Jonathan] Well that'sactually an interesting thing.

That's come up a number oftimes with my conversations

with folks in the White House about this.

They continue to be vexed by this problem.

Of course, there are effectivelytwo Palestinians entities

right now, one in the GazaStrip controlled by Hamas,

the other one in the West Bankcontrolled by Mahmoud Abbas.

These two sides are at war.

They have been at war withone another since 2007.

And so any deal that is gonna be struck

will only encompass the West Bank.

It's not like Hamas isgonna come to the table

and end all of its claims.

That's really not in the cards.

So we're not going to havea final status negotiation

no matter what happens.

(intense music)

- [Chris] Up next, Russiaand Syria want the US

out of northeast Syria.

The people there arebegging America to stay.

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(intense music)

- Another major foreign policy challenge

facing President Trump is whatto do about northeast Syria.

In December, he announcedthe pullout of all US troops

from the area.

Since then, he's revised his decision

to allow 400 USpeacekeepers in the region.

But recently, Russia andSyria demanded the US leave

northeast Syria altogether.

Here's a story we did fromthe region several weeks ago.

We heard from many Christians who warned

of a possible genocideif the US pulls out.

Just a few years ago, ISISleft a scar on the land

in the form of an historic genocide.

Now Christians fear anotherpotential apocalypse

with enemies all around them.

Turkey is the main concern.

(speaks in foreign language)

- [Translator] After thethe threats of Erdoğan

to this region, that hewants to take the place

of the great force ofAmerica, we felt danger

because of this void.

If it was filled by thecountries of this region

or another power, therewould be danger in general

for the people and especiallythe Christian people.

- The reason many peoplein northeast Syria

are afraid of Turkey is becauseof what happened last year

in northwest Syria, theTurkish Invasion of Efrin.

(gunshots)

In January 2018, its army,along with Islamic militias

called the Free Syria Armybegan a military campaign

to capture the city of Efrin.

Charmaine Hedding of the ShaiFund lays out the Turks goals.

- We know it from what thestatements that they've made.

That they want to get ridof the people in this area,

and bring in other people from Syria,

so it's a population displacement.

- [Chris] To find out moreabout the Efrin campaign,

we traveled here to the city of Cobani,

in this Evangelical church.

Last year, Christians fled Efrin

during the Turkish operationto take over the city.

Some came here to Cobanito find refuge, security,

and a place to worship.

(singing in foreign language)

Zani pastors this church.

He and his wife, Chinar, fled Efrin.

(speaks in foreign language)

- [Translator] Everything inthe church has been stolen.

It's the terrorists'very nature of behavior.

And they burned the church.

- [Chris] Islamic soldiersallied with Turkey

killed her cousin's child.

(speaks in foreign language)

- [Translator] They were agroup of people with weapons

that entered our neighborhoodand they were stealing,

so my cousin went on and askedthem, what are you doing?

So the man with weaponsattacked by cousin's house

and shot and killed his son.

- [Chris] Turkish presidentErdoğan has threatened

a similar campaign into northeast Syria.

When Chinar heard aboutPresident Trump's decision,

she prayed.

- [Translator] Everyday, wecried and prayed to the lord

that we would not end up like Efrin.

- [Chris] President Trump'sdecision surprised them.

- [Translator] We love theAmerican president a lot.

I have said that he is abeliever and that he prays.

And so I was surprised, whydid President Trump do this?

That he immediately wants towithdraw the forces from here?

Is it possible that he wasnot considering the church,

or that he doesn't know thatthere are believers here?

- [Chris] In all, there'sabout 100,000 Christians

in northeast Syria, mostfearful of genocide.

President Trump slowed down his timetable

to pull out US troops,but for Christians here,

they're hoping and prayingfor much more than that.

Because of the threat ofgenocide against Christians

and the people of northeast Syria,

a number of prayer groups around the world

are participating ina three day ester fast

to pray for the protectionof the peoples of this region

and for a godly resolutionto this geopolitical dilemma.

If you'd like more information on this,

you can log onto CBNNews.com.

(intense music)

Coming up, CBN's Scott Ross visits

one of Judaism's holiest sites,

the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron,

a place at the center of a UN controversy.

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(intense music)

- Hebron was one of the largestcities in biblical times

and today is considered oneof Israel's four holy cities.

While it's a dividedcity under Israeli rule,

you might be surprisedto know Jews and Muslims

peacefully share a holy site there.

CBN's Scott Ross has that story.

- [Scott] This isHebron, the place Abraham

buried his wife, Sarah.

Later, according to theBible, he, his son Isaac,

and grandson Jacob, and theirlives were all buried here

in the place now known asthe Cave of the Patriarchs.

How old is this building,what is this building?

- This building stand here 2,000 years.

Abraham had purchasedthe whole field around

and the cave some 4,000 years ago.

Actually, we have discovered the cave.

The cave is here.

- [Scott] Herod the Great,who constructed Jerusalem's

second temple, also builta structure over the cave.

- In the time of the second temple period,

this structure was built here by the Jews

to memorize and to build aplace of coming and praying

and being a part of this very very long

and special history.

- [Scott] 1,200 yearslater, Muslim conquerors

modified the structure by adding minarets.

They now consider it Ibrahimi Mosque.

- The shrine actually is two stories.

- [Scott] Uh huh.

- The upper one is theplace where people come

and pray and enter.

Under Muslim controlfrom the 13th century,

Jews and Christians were not allowed in.

They were denied access.

They had to stand outside.

Anyhow today, thank God, it's open again.

- [Scott] Jews lived in thecity until they were driven out

in the 1929 riots.

They returned after Israelregained control in 1967

during the six-day war.

About 800 Jews now live in Hebron,

surrounded by some 200,000 Arabs.

Noam Arnon, a JewishIsraeli, has lived here

more than 45 years.

- The lower level contains the cave.

Now this level is closed.

- [Scott] Why?

- The Muslim watch whichcontrols the place,

do not permit any archeological research.

- [Scott] Revered by Jews,Christians, and Muslims

as a holy city, Hebron was thefirst capital of King David.

But recently, the United Nations deemed it

a Muslim holy site in danger.

With the archeological digs,

would that prove the existence of Israel

going back these thousands of years?

If that was unearthed?

- In Hebron, everything that you find

fits all the biblical sources.

When you read in Genesis 23 about Abraham,

how he purchased the wholefield around and the trees,

the cave is there.

It's located right beneath the rocks there

which are the end of the field,

and the cave itself was datedto the middle Bronze age,

which is equal to the forefathers' era.

In the cave, we discoveredvessels and pottery

from the first temple period.

The name Hebron in Hebrew is connection.

- Connection?

- Yes.

Hebron, (speaks in foreignlanguage), is to connect.

So in Hebron, everything connects.

The sources, thearcheology, the tradition,

the holiness, everythingconnects together.

- [Scott] Arnon took meinto the massive structure

and showed me what theycall the Gate of Heaven.

- What is written here, in Hebrew,

(speaks in foreign language),

the cave of the land, accordingto ancient Jewish sources,

is the Gate of Heaven.

So now let's go.

Let's go and see.

- [Scott] Let's go to heaven.

Now we're into heaven.

- Yes.

Now, actually, part of the building today

is closed for Jews, a part is open.

We are in this part.

Many people come to prayhere from all the world,

from all the religions.

Today, speak about Abrahamic religions,

well Abraham is right here.

This is the memorial of Abraham.

Actually, the cave is locatedright beneath this memorial.

And we have here threecouples, Abraham and Sarah,

Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah.

- So the actually bones are down

underneath here?- Yes, yes, underneath.

- How did you discover it?

- Well it was in the middle of the night,

one of the last nightsof the Jewish calendar,

and there are specialprayers and people come here

and blow the (speaks in foreign language)

and sing many songs sothere was a lot of noise.

And we covered by that noise,

we got the tools to openthe gates of heaven,

like hammers, like chisels.

- [Scott] That was decades ago,

and no one is allowed in the cave anymore.

- There was stairs leadingto a dark and long tunnel.

We have crawled through this tunnel.

We took some tones from the floor,

and then we discovered the cave.

Actually it's two caves.

I found myself crawlingamongst human bones,

so it's really to touch thehistory, to touch the Bible.

- [Scott] Nearby is the mainsynagogue where Jews can pray.

Today, the building is dividedbetween synagogue and mosque.

The Muslim religious authorities control

the religious aspects of the entire place,

while Israel maintains the security.

A unique arrangement helps keep the peace.

- As you can see, Muslims canvisit through the Big Hall,

Jews can visit the blue part,

which is about one quarterof the whole complex.

Christians are allowed to both sides.

This is the situationhere, 344 days a year.

10 days a year, Jews areallowed to the Big Hall,

and other 10 days a year,the Muslims are allowed

to this side, and thenthe Jews stand outside.

- [Scott] Arnon says thearrangements aren't ideal.

He'd rather everyone havecomplete access all the time.

- We ask the government to open it.

They say, it's standing, don't touch it,

and it's working, don't touch it.

So this is how it's working.

- [Scott] Scott Ross for CBNat the Cave of the Patriarchs

in Hebron.

(intense music)

- [Chris] Up next, seehow this Christian family

faced severe hardship after fleeing ISIS,

then found a helping hand.

- [Announcer] Prophecythousands of years old.

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(intense music)

- Thousands of Christianfamilies had to flee

the Islamic state for their lives.

Here's the story of onefamily that escaped,

but then faced economichardships, lack of food

and adequate shelter.

But that's when OperationBlessing stepped in.

- [Man] Miriam is a Christian refugee

whose family had to fleetheir home in Mosel, Iraq

to escape ISIS.

(speaks in foreign language)

- [Translator] We heardover the loudspeakers

of the mosque that ISIS was going to kill

every Christian in the city.

In the past, I worked withthe US military as a driver.

If ISIS found that out, my whole family

will be slaughtered immediately.

- [Man] The family had towalk through the desert

for two days until someoneoffered them a ride.

They eventually came to Iman, Jordan.

- [Translator] We arenot allowed to have jobs,

and it's very expensivepaying for food and rent.

I don't care about myself,

I just want my wife anddaughter to have food to eat.

- [Female Translator] Wecan't afford to register

Miriam in school, and thisis the time in her life

when she needs an education.

It makes me very sad, but through it all,

we have kept our faith.

Jesus will provide.

- [Man] When OperationBlessing met Miriam's family,

we took them shopping forfood and hygiene products.

- [Female Translator] Fromour first days in Jordan

until now, I have not metanyone as nice as you.

You have brought us joyand we are so grateful

for your help.

- [Man] Miriam is now enrolledin our Operation Blessing

funded Christian school.

Each student is given ahandmade uniform, books,

snacks, and bus rides to and from school.

We even have a staff nurseand clinic we keep stocked

with medicines available to allthe refugees free of charge.

- [Translator] I really love this school,

and all of the teachersthere treat us very well.

I get to eat, play, andstudy with all of my friends.

It's the best.

- [Female Translator]It makes me very happy

that this is a school thatteaches Christian values,

focused on Jesus.

- [Male Translator] I'mvery grateful to you

for supporting us and theother Christian refugees

from Iraq.

You are helping us as Jesus would,

and he will bless you abundantly.

- [Female Translator] Before, we felt

like we had been forgotten.

But I'm so happy nowbecause you thought of us.

- [Translator] Thank youso much for praying for us

and taking care of us.

- I love you.

- After meeting some ofthese Christian families

who fled ISIS, it'sheartwarming to see some of them

get the help and the love they need.

Well that's all for this edition.

Thanks for joining us.

Remember, you can followus on Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram, and YouTube.

I'm Chris Mitchell.

We'll see you next timeon Jerusalem Dateline.

(intense music)