(horn blowing)

- This week on "Jerusalem Dateline."

To annex or not to annex?

The question still facing Israel

and what it should do withits biblical heartland.

Plus, Israel's firstChristian-Arab ambassador

tells Scott Ross why hestands for the Jewish state.

And digging the Bible at Shiloh,Israel's ancient capital.

All this and more,

this week on Jerusalem Dateline.

- Hello and welcome to thisedition of Jerusalem Dateline.

I'm Chris Mitchell.

After days of high-level meetings,

The White House is still undecided

over whether or not toback Israel's annexation

of parts of biblical Judea and Samaria,

known as the West Bank.

As CBN Middle East correspondentJulie Stahl reports,

the stakes for Israel andthe Middle East are high.

- [Julie] After his White House meetings,

US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman,

will continue discussions back in Israel.

He will work on the maps

to define the area for annexation

as laid out in PresidentTrump's peace plan.

But many Israelis say theword annexation is a misnomer.

- It's not annexation,

it's applying the Israellaw over this area.

- [Julie] Meir Deutsch of theIsraeli settler organization,

Regavim, says they need toknow what declaring sovereignty

over 30% of Judea and Samaria means

for a future Palestinian state

that could be located onthe other 70% of the area.

- If the only way ofIsrael applying sovereignty

over this area is a creationof a terrorist state

in the land of Israel,

we are against applyingthe law over this area.

However, if this is not part of a creation

of a terrorist state,

so we're definitely for it.

- One of the most contestedareas is called E-1,

which is behind me.

For Palestinians, it linksBethlehem in the South

to Ramallah in the North.

For Israel, it links Jerusalem

to the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley.

On the other side of E-1,

less than five miles from Jerusalem,

is Ma'ale Adumim,

an Israeli city ofnearly 40,000 residents,

that would likely be annexed.

- In the city (foreign language)

people are very interested.

They want the annexation.

- [Julie] But Yossi Dugan,

head of the Shomron Regional Council says,

"While Trump is the bestpresident ever for Israel,

"the Jewish state can't goagainst the command of God."

- [Yossi] (Foreign Language)

- [Translator] The landof Israel is a gift

from the Holy One.

It's not just a promise ofprophecy and the prophets,

it's also a command.

We have no right torelinquish one centimeter

of the land of Israel.

- [Julie] Around 200 HouseDemocrats sent a letter

to President Trumpopposing the annexation.

The UN secretary general warned

against Israel extending itssovereignty over the area,

which Israel could putto a vote in the Knesset

as early as July 1st.

- If implemented,annexation would constitute

the most serious violationof international law,

grievously harm the prospectof a two-state solution

and undercut the possibilitiesof a renewal of negotiations.

- [Julie] But many Christiansupporters of Israel

also believe the plan should go forward,

with one saying it's not annexation,

it's Israel's land.

- I don't know anything

about an annexation plan being drawn up.

I know about a sovereignty plan.

This is the Bible land

and that the Bible is not illegal.

- [Julie] Julie Stahl,CBN news, Ma'ale Adumim.

- One voice in the debate

over sovereignty here inIsrael is Caroline Glick,

the author of "The Israeli Solution,"

a one-state plan forpeace in the Middle East.

I talk with Glick about

why she believes thisis the time for Israel

to assert its historicaland biblical claim

to Judea and Samaria.

Caroline, thanks forjoining us on CBN news

about this very important topic.

First of all, you're infavor of sovereignty,

declaring sovereignty over30% of the Judea and Samaria.

Why are you in support of this?

- Well, just to be clear,

I'm for applying Israel's sovereign rights

over all of your Judea and Samaria.

But I'll take 3%.

I think it's very, very importantfor a number of reasons,

the most important of whichis that it makes clear

that we're not going to bemaking ourselves vulnerable

to national destruction

by surrendering our controlover our eastern frontier

with Jordan and really withthe entire Islamic world

in the Jordan Valley,

and that our Israeli communities

in Judea and Samaria arepermanent communities.

A half a million Israelis todaylive in these communities.

They've been delegitimized and slandered

as some sort of parallel to terrorism,

as some sort of moral equivalentto terrorism and murder,

which is a ridiculous andmorally inexcusable comment

or castigation of the homes and cities

and towns of Israeli Jews.

So I think that the plan thatPresident Trump proposes,

at least writes that wrong.

And we need to do it inconjunction with the United States

because these communities

and because Israel's national rights

and legal rights to Judea and Samaria,

which are incontrovertibleunder international law,

the sovereign rights to theseareas was given to Israel

to develop a Jewish national home

by the League of Nations in 1922.

- There are leaders in Judea and Samaria

that are concerned thatthe Trump administration,

this Peace to Prosperity plan,

also leads to a possiblePalestinian state.

How do you address those concerns?

- Well, we've been living in a reality

where the Americanssupport the establishment

of a Palestinian state since George Bush,

really Bill Clinton,

but George Bush made it officialAmerican policy in 2002,

and the state that they were talking about

was far more dangerous to Israel

than the state that Trump is envisioning.

The conditions throughout theplaces on the Palestinians,

even just to open negotiations,

they have to stop funding terrorism,

something they refused to do, ever.

And then they have to destroy Hamas

and dismantle terroristorganizations, demilitarize,

and of course accept Israel's right

to exist as a Jewish state,

accept Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem.

So I think that given the conditions

that the Trump administrationhas placed on it,

this is not somethingthat should be blocking us

from doing what we need todo as a nation going forward,

which is to apply our sovereign rights

to areas of Judea and Samaria.

- Also, the focus rightnow over this debate

over sovereignty hasshifted to Washington DC

and to The White House.

Are there any concerns you have

about what's happeningthere in Washington?

- We have a lot of concerns

because we've seen that the enthusiasm

in the Trump administration

for its own peace plan has waned

over the past several months.

I mean Trump presentedthis plan in January

when he had another hungerelection essentially

in early March and in the meantime,

everything got overtaken bythe Coronavirus, by COVID-19,

that cast everything by the wayside

for two months.

And then after that,

it started with the riotingin the United States.

So we understand

that the Trumpadministration is distracted,

but we also think it's very important,

especially with therioting in the streets,

they're trying to overturneverything that America means,

the Judeo-Christianfoundations of America,

and we truly believe thatthis is actually good

for the United States as well.

I truly believe it,

because if you wanna restore faith

in the foundational valuesof the United States

that really are predicated on the Bible,

it's important to bring Judeainto Judeo-Christian values

and by applying Israeli,

lot of parts of Judea andSamaria with American support,

I think you do just that.

I think it's really a shot of adrenaline

for a lot of people in the United States

that are feeling demoralized

by what they're seeing on the streets.

So I think it's important,

both domestically in the United States,

and obviously it's vital forIsrael to go forward with this,

to ensure our survival over time

and to assert, finally,

our sovereign rights to thecradle of Jewish civilization,

Judea and Samaria.

That's where the land of the Bible.

- [Chris] Up next, the remarkable story

of the first Christian-Arabambassador for the Jewish state

(bell rings)

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- [Narrator] In timesof trial and affliction,

you need to know the truth.

- One of the fastest growingChristian populations

in the world.

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- [Interviewee] Young peopleare the ones who are open

to the gospel.

- [Narrator] Horrorfulstories of suffering and hope

that affect all Christians.

Watch "Christian World News,"

Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

- [Reporter] Nigerian Christians

are being slaughtered everyday.

- [Reporter] Christians inIran are routinely arrested.

- [Reporter] (mumbles)Christians continue to suffer.

- [Narrator] In timesof trial and affliction,

you need to know the truth.

- One of the fastest growingChristian populations

in the world.

- [Narrator] Join WendyGriffith and George Thomas

for "Christian World News."

- [Interviewee] Young peopleare the ones who are open

to the gospel.

- [Narrator] Horrorfulstories of suffering and hope

that affect all Christians.

Watch "Christian World News,"

Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

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- With antisemitism on the rise,

imagine a Christian-Arab diplomat,

serving the Jewish state,

posted in a Shia Muslim country

that has an open border with Iran.

That's the remarkable story

of Israel's first everChristian-Arab ambassador.

CBN's Scott Ross spoke with him

before the coronavirus outbreak,

ahead of his first posting.

- [Scott] Meet George Deek.

Born in Jaffa,

or in Hebrew, Yafo,

Deek is Israel's firstChristian-Arab ambassador.

- You can actually see bothJaffa and Tel Aviv here.

Jaffa is the oldest port city in the world

that still exists.

- [Scott] Really?

- It is at least 8,000 years old,

and the funny thing is Tel Aviv is

less than a hundred years old,

and we're called a suburbof Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv Jaffa.

Well, I think it should be Jaffa Tel Aviv.

I mean, they're big in size,

but we're big in history.

- [Scott] A lawyer by profession,

Deek grew up in the OrthodoxChristian community in Jaffa.

- So I love this contrast of all the new,

of modern and ancientconservative small town,

to this hyper-innovative new city

that is revolutionizingthe world in many ways.

- [Scott] I spoke with Deek

ahead of his first posting in Azerbaijan,

a Shia Muslim majority nation.

- Why would a Christian-Arabchoose to be an ambassador

for the Jewish state?

- I've dedicated more than a decade now

for advocating for the caseof the state of Israel.

And I'm very passionate about this,

it is an important causethat I truly believe in.

- How did you arrive at that, as an Arab,

to embrace Jewish values,

the Jewish state, Jewish people?

- I grew up a block away fromwhere we're sitting right now.

And in our building, therewere four apartments.

So on the first floor,

it was us, an Arab-Christian family,

across from us was an Arab-Muslim family,

above them lived a religious Jewish couple

and on the other side aboveus lived a Catholic priest

who was originally born Jewish,

saved by a monastery duringthe Holocaust in Poland,

became a priest on the one condition

that he would be sent to serve as a priest

in the land of his forefathers in Israel.

That environment, for me,

symbolizes the essence of the diversity

that makes this country what it is.

It is where Jews andChristians and Muslims

can live their faith without fear.

Where Arab doctors treat Jewish patients

in hospitals in Tel Aviv

and Jewish doctors treat Arabpatients from Syria up north.

- [Scott] Deek saidsupporting a democratic Israel

also helps ensure a Christianfuture in the Middle East.

- Israel is just asimportant to me as an Arab,

as a Christian,

than it is for any Jewishcitizen of the country.

Because I believe that a Middle East

with no room for a Jewish state

is a Middle East thathas no room for anyone

who is different.

- [Scott] But your view isin the minority, isn't it?

- It's not so much a minority view

because people might feel it,

but they don't always havethe way to articulate it.

But at the same time, what I do,

representing the state of Israel,

is not always warmly received by everyone.

Some people like it andsome people don't like it.

- [Student] Free, free Palestine!

- Free, free Palestine!

- Several years ago,

as Deek was speaking at theUniversity of California,

students calling themselves

Students for Justice in Palestine,

interrupted his talk

and tried to prevent him from continuing.

How do you view

the Boycott, Divestment,Sanctions movement against Israel?

- You know, Israel hasfaced many adversaries

since its existence.

And today we see a new wayof trying to put Israel

in a crisis.

And they're trying toput Israel, this time,

in a moral crisis,

by trying to bring goodand well-meaning people

into questioning theright of Israel to exist.

The reasons change,

but the hate stays the same.

- There's a commandmentfrom the New Testament,

love your enemies.

How do you do that?

- It's not an easy commandment.

It's probably the toughest one to handle

for me as a Christian.

But I'll tell you one thing.

In the middle East andin Israel in particular,

we don't have the luxuryof being a pessimist,

because only by keeping hope alive,

then we can aspire thathope will keep us alive.

A lot of people think that our stories,

the Jewish story and the Arabstory, are irreconcilable.

That one comes on theexpense of the other.

That we cannot live together.

I completely disagree.

(bomb blasts)

- [Scott] Deek's grandparentsfled the fighting

in Israel's War of Independence in 1948.

Yet, against the odds, they returned.

- And what is it thatbinds the Jewish story

and my family and mycommunity story together?

It is the fact that we bothendured a great suffering.

And yet we choseresponsibility, not victimhood.

We both went through terrible tragedies

and we chose self-help, not self-pity.

Life, not death.

It is the story of hope.

And if they could do it back then,

there's no reason we cannot do it today.

- Are you assured

that what you believe isgoing to secure the future

for your children?

- It is basically a fact

that Israel is the onlyplace in the Middle East

where people of all faithscan live without fear.

It is the only place that shows a model,

how a country can allowyou the possibility

to be true to who you are,

and at the same time bea blessing to others,

regardless of who they are.

But it is a fact that here,

it is the only place that still,

we have that light,

we have the truth,

we have that wisdom.

Hopefully when I will have children,

they will grow up in this country,

to be proud of who they are

and to help others

and to be a blessing to their country

and to their fellow citizens,

regardless of who those people are.

- [Scott] Scott Ross for CBN,

Tel Aviv, Yafo, Israel.

- [Chris] Coming up.

Digging the Bible at Shiloh,

Israel's ancient capital.

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- More and more archeological excavations

here in Israel validate the Bible.

That's true in Shiloh,

where the Bible says thetabernacle of the Lord stood

for more than 300 years.

Here's a look at our storyfrom a few years ago.

It's also part of ourvirtual tour of Israel.

You can see on our Facebook, Instagram,

Twitter and YouTube platforms.

You're looking at theheart of biblical Israel,

along the route known asthe Way of the Patriarchs.

This is ancient Shiloh,

the place where the Bible says,

"Joshua divided the promisedland between the 12 tribes."

And where the tabernacle of the Lord stood

for more than 300 years.

- Welcome to ancient Shiloh.

This is the first capitalof ancient Israel,

and it's a sacred spotbecause the Mishkan was here,

the tabernacle where peoplecame to connect with God.

- [Chris] Scott Striplingdirects the excavation here

and along with dozens of volunteers,

they're digging into history.

- We're dealing with real people,

real places, real events.

This is not mythology.

The coins that we excavated today,

we're talking aboutcoins of Herod the Great,

Pontius Pilate, Festus, Felix,

Agrippa I, Agrippa II.

The Bible talks about these people.

We've got the image right there.

- [Chris] That imageincludes a fortified wall

built by the Canaanites.

They're finding a treasuretrove of artifacts,

including coins and 2,000pieces of pottery a day.

- These are those handlesfrom the stone vessels.

Remember Jesus's first miracle at Cana?

There were stone jars.

- [Chris] An archeologistlooks at these shards

as a fine time piece.

- Just like your great-grandmother'spottery is different

from your pottery that you're using today,

and once we learn the pottery,

then we can use it as ourprimary means of dating.

- [Chris] Stripling says,

"Literally digging into theBible can change your life."

- You can read the Bible,you can walk the Bible,

but the ultimate is to dig the Bible.

When we actually get into the soil,

like these students from Lee University,

it's under their fingernails

and in their nose andtheir mouth and their ears.

And they're exposing this ancient culture.

It becomes one with you.

And sort of like,

we came out of the soil

and as we dig into the soil,

we connect with God andwith each other, I think,

in a very important way.

- [Chris] People fromall ages man the dig,

with the main drivers beingstudents like Abigail.

- It's tiring and exhausting,

but it's really rewarding.

It's exciting to find ancient things,

things that have been layingin the dirt just waiting for us

for thousands of years,

- [Chris] She says the Biblecomes alive in the dirt.

- I read the Bible totally differently

than I did before I came here.

And when I read the Bible,

I know the places.

I know what's going on.

I understand it more deeply.

Especially where previousarcheologists have claimed

that the archeology disproves the Bible.

But when we dig here,

we find that everything matches.

You read it in the Bible,you dig in the dirt,

and there it is.

- Archeology doesn't set outto prove or disprove the Bible.

What we wanna do is toilluminate the biblical text,

the background of the text.

So to set it in a real word culture,

to what we call verisimilitude.

So we get an ancient literary description,

now we have a materialculture that matches that.

Chris, you're sitting where Samuel,

and Eli and Hannah.

These people that we have read about,

they came just like us, needing answers,

needing to connect withGod, needing forgiveness.

Faith lessons for us isthat God is the potter

and we're the clay.

And even if our lives are broken,

like these vessels are,

God told Jeremiah,

after he told him to go toShiloh and see what He had done,

He told him to go to the potter's house

and look at a flawed vessel

and see how the potterputs it back on the wheel

and works out the imperfection.

So my faith lesson is this,

that yes we're imperfect,

but if we'll allow God,

He wants to put us on his potter's wheel

and He wants to make us a vessel of honor.

- [Chris] Stripling oftencites Psalms 102 that says,

"Oh Zion, your servantstake delight in its stones

"and favor it's dust."

- For me, this is sacred soil.

This is where the Mishkan was,

which answers that mostbasic of all human questions,

how do I connect with God?

And I think everyone watching today,

that's their most basic question.

I know I messed up andI know that God is holy,

how do I bridge that gap whenI sin against other people,

when I sin against God?

And ultimately Chris,if the Bible is true,

then the God of the Bible hasa moral claim on our lives.

And as we establish theveracity of the biblical text,

I hope that everyone watchingwill just think about that.

That God loves us and he hasa moral claim on our lives.

- [Chris] Chris Mitchell, CBN news,

Shiloh, biblical Samaria.

Up next, follow us in and around Jerusalem

on our Facebook Lives.

- [Narrator] CBN Israel.

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- Since COVID-19 hit

and visitors cannot come here to Israel,

we often take our iPhone

and walk in it around Jerusalem and Israel

to show you the biblical sitesas well as daily life here.

Here's a look at a recent Facebook Live

from the Jewish quarterin Jerusalem's old city.

- [Narrator] We're intoprobably the center

of the Jewish quarter.

This square, it's right outside,

it's called the Hurva synagogue.

This was rebuilt several years ago

and it was destroyed duringthe war in 1948, but rebuilt.

And so you see lots of families here,

a lot of children singing

or playing jump rope over here,

just like the scripture's coming alive.

I believe it's Zechariah 8:5,

if I'm not mistaken,

but you see these littlegirls playing jump rope,

having a pretty good time.

And you also see,

what's right here tomy left is the menorah

that has been built byThe Temple Institute

to go back into the third temple.

And I'll read you the description here.

It says, "Was recreated for the first time

"since the destructionof the second temple,

"according to the research conducted

"by The Temple Institute."

- If you'd like to followthese Facebook Lives,

go to our Facebook page,

at Jerusalem Dateline.

Well, that's all for this edition.

Thanks for joining us.

Remember, you can follow us on Facebook,

Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

I'm Chris Mitchell.

We'll see you next timeon "Jerusalem Dateline."

(upbeat music)