(shofar blowing)

- This week on Jerusalem Dateline,

Jerusalem Holy sites shrouded in snow

from the rare Mideast storm.

And Israel grapples withits vaccination campaign.

Plus, what impact did the Abraham Accords

have on the BDS Movement?

And President Biden finallycalls Prime Minister Netanyahu.

All this and more, thisweek on Jerusalem Dateline.

(upbeat music)

Hello and welcome to thisedition of Jerusalem Dateline.

I'm Chris Mitchell.

Jerusalemites woke upto a blanket of snow,

after a rare Mideast stormdropped snow on Jerusalem,

Northern Israel, and otherparts of the Middle East.

The snowfall began in the evening.

Even at midnight, Israelis wereout in the city's main park,

enjoying the rare chanceto play in the snow.

Jerusalem's iconic siteswere shrouded in snow,

including the Old City.

- Nothing is normal in the Middle East,

why should the weather be any different?

This is amazing.

It's fantastic to look aroundand see all this white stuff

covering these ancient stones.

- Up to six inches of snow accumulated,

causing collateraldamage, including the car

of one of CBN's videographers.

But for the most part,Israelis just enjoyed a break

from news on the pandemicand the upcoming elections.

Central Israel gets snowabout every five years,

but the last big snow was in 2013,

when more than a foot fell overnight.

Well, Israel is a worldleader in vaccinations,

although the pace ofIsraelis getting their shots

has slowed down.

While government leaders workto vaccinate greater numbers,

they face obstacles in theform of misinformation,

public health and personal privacy.

Israel recently celebratedtheir four millionth Israeli

to get their first vaccination shot.

Out of that four million,

nearly three million have had both shots.

That's quite anaccomplishment for a country

of just over nine million citizens.

Israel has seen morethan 700,000 COVID cases

and 5,400 deaths.

Israeli Prime Minister,Benjamin Netanyahu,

worries misinformationis keeping many Israelis

from lining up for the shot.

- [Translator] The onlything that currently prevents

the completion of thisvaccination process is fake news

and the superstitious, andsometimes malicious beliefs,

that are planted among thepublic and on the internet

and other places.

Don't believe them.

- [Chris] In an effortto increase numbers,

Netanyahu wants legislationthat would provide the names

of those not vaccinatedto local governments.

Health minister, Yuli Edelstein,

advocates allowing employers to prevent

the unvaccinated citizensfrom coming to work.

They face major pushback,as so-called anti-vaxxers

use posters and the webto spread messages like,

"You're experimented on like lab rats."

"The vaccine is a death shot."

The government counterswith posters like this,

which reads, "False informationand lies endanger us."

- People in the emergency fake news room,

they are monitoring social media.

The moment they see a fake news,

they transfer the informationto the Cyber Department

in the Ministry of Justice.

- [Chris] While thegovernment is monitoring

and censoring socialmedia, a number of Israelis

remain convinced thevaccinations are not safe.

- [Translator] This whole thing,

it's research and experiment,with unknown side effects.

It's not like taking todaya measles or a flu vaccine.

This is a totally newdrug, new technology.

- [Chris] On Sunday, thegovernment will enforce

new regulations, stopping theunvaccinated from using gyms,

attending sporting events,or going to a hotel.

Israelis completing thetwo-step vaccination process

will be issued a new green passport

that will permit themaccess to those same venues.

(yelling)

About 2000 rallied in Tel Aviv this week,

not to protest the vaccine,but for the freedom to choose

whether or not to take it.

- This has raised a bit of a dilemma,

which is, how should society,how should the government

relate to people whohave not been inoculated

or vaccinated, or who refuse to do so?

- [Chris] Commentator andcolumnist, Michael Freund,

says the growing fightover public health versus

individual privacy andfreedom could soon boil over.

- One that I think every Western democracy

at some point or another has to confront.

- Israel becomes one of theworld's first democracies

to reach this stage in the pandemic fight.

What's more important?

Protecting public safety withstrict vaccination measures,

or preserving the beliefs,rights, and freedoms

of its citizens?

Could the recent AbrahamAccords lead to a significant

setback for the BDSMovement against Israel?

For years, BDS supporters haveargued that economic weapons,

like boycotts and sanctions,

would be the key route to peace.

CBN Middle EastCorrespondent, Julie Stahl,

looks at how the peace for peace formula

is proving them wrong.

- [Julie] The roots of theBoycott Divestment and Sanctions

Movement against Israelgo back hundreds of years.

- The BDS Movement is nothing new here.

I mean, economic boycotts have been

a key hallmark manifestationof anti-Semitism

from time immemorial.

- [Julie] Elan Carr, aTrump Administration Envoy

to combat anti-Semitism,says from the Middle Ages

to Nazi Germany, economicboycotts have been a weapon

against Jewish communities.

- That's what BDS is.

BDS says, "Don't buy from the Jews."

In this case, the JewishState, the Jewish collective.

So there's really nothingnew about this malicious evil

manifestation of Jew hatred.

- And what we foundwere dozens of examples

of where you have senior leadership of BDS

propagating anti-Semitic ethos,

motifs, libels, conspiracy theories.

- [Julie] Now some seethe economic agreement

in the recent AbrahamAccords between Israel

and four Muslim countriesas a strike against BDS.

- I saw one headline thatsaid the Abraham Accords

mark the death of the BDS Movement.

Now I think that's a little premature,

but we certainly can saythat the Abraham Accords

are the beginning of theend of the BDS Movement.

- [Ben] They've suffered a major blow-back

to their narrative, saying that boycotts

are the answer to peace.

The Abraham Accordshave clearly shown that

that is not the case.

- [Julie] Ben Moore, of Israel's Ministry

of Strategic Affairssays, while BDS is reeling

from this defeat, it won't stop them.

- Their end goal is to harmIsrael in any way possible.

So it's very likely they'll just find

a new avenue of attack.

- [Julie] One recentexample shows that BDS

can draw support froma more recent movement.

In this virtual discussion group,

Temple UniversityProfessor, Marc Lamont Hill,

claims Israel is part ofwhite supremacist imperialism.

- And so Black LivesMatter very explicitly

is talking about the dismantling

of a Zionist project,

dismantling of a settler colonial project,

and very explicitly embracingBDS on those grounds.

- [Julie] According to Moore,BDS has been trying to hijack

the progressive value systemfor more than a decade.

He sees the Abraham Accordsas the best way to fight BDS

and the anti-Semitism behind it.

He also emphasizes theimportance of listening

to the ultimate message ofthis dangerous movement.

- One just needs to look at their mantra,

"From the river to the sea,Palestine will be free."

That doesn't leave much room in the middle

for Israel to exist.

- [Julie] Carr hopes andbelieves the Biden Administration

will keep up the fightagainst anti-Semitism.

- Secretary Blinken praisedthe Abraham Accords and said

this is the path for the future.

The Administrationexpressed it's deep concern

over the ICC decision, thatthe thought of prosecuting

the heroes of the Israel Defense Forces

or the heroes of the U.S. Armed Forces.

- [Julie] Even so, bothCarr and Moore maintain

that it's important toremember that neither

BDS nor anti-Semitismwill simply fade away.

They encourage supportersof Israel to keep an eye

on the movement, its leaders and allies.

Julie Stahl, CBN News, Jerusalem.

(upbeat music)

- [Chris] Coming up...

How did the first call gobetween President Biden

and Prime Minister Netanyahu?

(upbeat music)

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- [Gordon] Israel's most famous king.

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(upbeat music)

- The U.S. announcedit will be re-entering

the Iranian Nuclear Deal.

In a statement, Israeli PrimeMinister Netanyahu said,

"Going back to the oldagreement will pave Iran's path

"to a nuclear arsenal."

Before the announcement, PresidentBiden made his first call

to Netanyahu, a month after taking office.

Biden's delay in callingNetanyahu led to concerns

that ties between the twoallies would not be as warm

as during the Trump era.

To understand more aboutthe Israel-U.S. relations

after that call, I interviewedformer Israeli Ambassador

to the United Nations, Danny Danon.

Ambassador Danon, thanksfor joining us here

on Jerusalem Dateline.

Last night it seems like,finally, there was a phone call

between Israeli PrimeMinister, Benjamin Netanyahu,

and President Biden.

You had famously put on thePrime Minister's phone number

to encourage the President to call.

What do you see next after they finally

made this phone call?

- Indeed, Chris, it wasan important phone call.

And now it's time to move onto deal with the main issues.

And the first issue is Iran.

Only a few days from now,Iran will have to decide

what they are doingregarding the inspections,

what will be their policy.

And the U.S. will have to react to that.

So now is the time to worktogether, and I believe that

Israel and the U.S. will continueto cooperate against Iran.

And I hope that the newadministration will not try

to appease the Iranians,but would actually

apply more pressure against them.

- Do you have concerns aboutsome of the appointments now

by the Biden Administration?

Actually, some of the samepeople that negotiated

the 2015 JCOPA,

the Iranian Nuclear Deal.

- Well, I'm not looking at the people,

I'm looking at the policy.

And it's important tounderstand that today,

the Iran of 2021 is not the Iran of 2015.

A lot of things changed since then.

Re-entering the agreementtoday would be a mistake.

I would advise the U.S. firstto stick with their allies,

maybe even to call them toWashington, D.C. to have a summit

with Prime Minister Netanyahu,leaders from the Gulf

that are strong alliesof the U.S. in the region

and together with themto think about the policy

in the region.

Re-entering the agreement and then trying

to negotiate would not be helpful.

- It does seem that Iran is getting bolder

in terms of their nuclearprogram, enriching uranium to 20%,

researching uranium metal,and actually increasing

the amount of uranium.

Are you concerned about theway Iran is acting right now,

after President Bidenhas been inaugurated?

- Absolutely we are worried,because the Iranians

breached the agreement from the beginning.

When we revealed the archive from Tehran,

we actually proved to theworld that they were lying

from the beginning and theyare continuing to do it.

So my advice is not to believe them,

look at what they'reactually doing on the ground.

And as you mentioned, theycontinue to enrich uranium,

they continue to testtheir ballistic missiles,

they continue to support their proxies.

And I think the rightapproach is to apply sanctions

and to demand them to changethe course they are taking.

- There were some otherconcerns people have

about the administration.

For example, just a little while ago,

a reporter asked a spokeswoman,

"Is Israel and SaudiArabia allies of the U.S.?"

And it basically was a non-answer.

Are you concerned aboutsome of the answers

that are coming out ofthe White House right now?

- That's a fact.

You cannot change the fact that Israel

is the closest ally of the U.S.

It's based on a mutual valueand nothing can change it.

But I'm not concerned about the statement.

I'm worried about action, policy.

And I think in the nextfew days, we will actually

be able to see where the newadministration is heading,

regarding the Iranian regime.

Whether they are trying to appease them

or they actually promise theywill be tough on the issue

and they will not allow them to continue

with their nuclear ambitions.

But I think within aweek we will know more

where they are heading.

- There was a larger full-scale exercise

up on the Northern border.

Are you also concernedabout the growing threat

of Hezbollah, its number of missiles,

and their ambitions againstthe State of Israel?

- It is a problem.

You know, I served as theDeputy Minister of Defense

and what we see today thatthe Iranians are funding

Hezbollah, they have hundredsof thousands of rockets

and missiles and I'm tellingto the Lebanese government

and to the Lebanese people, ifyou don't take your act now,

if you will not prevent Hezbollah

from massing their missilesnext to our border,

you will pay the price.

The consequences will be painful.

And I would advise the Lebanese government

to take action today,before it's too late.

- The final question, Ambassador,in the next four years,

how do you see Israel dealingwith new administration?

- So, you know, we believethat we can work together.

We want to work together.

We have a lot in common andI'm optimistic by nature,

but I can tell you one thing for sure.

We cannot compromise on our security,

and the main threat to oursecurity today is nuclear Iran.

So, hopefully, the U.S.will lead the efforts

against nuclear Iran, but we are ready

to do whatever is necessaryto protect ourselves.

- Ambassador Danon, I appreciate your time

being here with us.

- Thank you very much.

(upbeat music)

- [Chris] Up next, CBN'slatest documentary,

"Written in Stone, The House of David."

When we come back.

(upbeat music)

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(upbeat music)

- Here we're committed to aheritage of rigorous scholarship

dating back over a thousand years.

- [Boy] And to a faith tradition

dating back a thousand more.

- [Girl] This is how wecreate a culture of inquiry,

where no topic is off limits.

- [Girl] And a culture of hope.

- Where anything's possible!

- It's Christian leadership.

- And it's changing theworld for the better.

- It's higher learning.

- It's greater knowing.

- It's what makes us whole.

- It's what makes us Regent.

(upbeat music)

- For those who believe the Bible,

King David was theruler of ancient Israel.

But for a long time, skeptics said

there was no proof he existed.

Now CBN's new documentary,

"Written in Stone, House of David"

examines how archeologists are finding

more and more evidenceof that Biblical kingdom.

Take a look at how modernBiblical archeology

in the Holy Land began, inthis preview of CBN's new film.

(suspenseful music)

- In the summer of 1864,

one of the wealthiest women in England

decided to take a trip.

Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts belonged

to one of the world'soldest banking families.

She was a philanthropistto whom Charles Dickens

dedicated one of his novels.

A London socialite, whose circleincluded the royal family.

And without realizing it,she was about to introduce

the world to the archeology of the Bible.

When the Baroness went on apilgrimage to the Holy Land,

she was appalled by the widespread disease

and lack of good drinkingwater in Jerusalem.

So she donated 500 pounds

to survey the city for clean water.

The Water Relief Fundbecame a popular cause

with the British people.

So its patrons expanded their survey

to study the archeology of the Holy Land.

And the PalestineExploration Fund was born.

Holy Land fever swept through Britain,

and the Baroness evenconvinced her friend, Vicki,

to sponsor the new organization.

Vicki was none other than Queen Victoria.

And in 1867, the Queensent a team to Jerusalem

to excavate the Churchof the Holy Sepulchre

and the Temple Mount.

Leading the team was an ArmyEngineer named Charles Warren,

who would later becomefamous as the London

Police Commissioner, who ledthe hunt for the notorious

serial killer, Jack the Ripper.

Warren stayed in Palestine for three years

and his extraordinarydiscoveries made headlines

around the world.

After being buried for nearly 1800 years,

the Jerusalem of the Biblewas about to be rediscovered.

- Charles Warren discoveredthe City of David,

or the ancient Jerusalem, in 1867.

It was exactly 100 years beforeher reunification in 1967.

Up until 150 years ago, nobody saw her.

Nobody even knew where she was,

until Charles Warren madethe first rediscovery.

And suddenly, Isaiah, thatprophesied (foreign language)

"Shake off your dust, arise,

"take your rightful place, Oh Jerusalem."

Suddenly this is happening.

(haunting music)

The first time when weread about Jerusalem,

it's in Genesis.

When Abraham meets with Melchizedek,

right here in the Valley of Kidron.

And Melchizedek is the King of Salem,

or as we say in Hebrew, Shalem.

And they meet here andthey break bread together

and they drink wine.

And also it's the first time that we read

that a type is being givento Jerusalem by Abraham.

Abraham, the man in whom allthe nations will be blessed.

- [Gordon] In Jerusalem,little is left from the time

of the patriarchs, butless than 20 miles away,

in the West Bank city ofHebron, these bronze age remains

show glimpses of the city whereAbraham pitched his tents.

Nearby is the cave of the patriarchs,

the site of Biblical Machpelah.

As far back as 1000 B.C.,this location was recognized

as the place whereAbraham purchased a cave

to bury his wife, Sarah.

The monument, built by KingHerod, is said to house

the tombs of thepatriarchs and their wives.

And although Abraham is thefather of the nation of Israel,

the archeology of the Bible truly begins

nearly 800 years later,with one of his descendants,

Israel's most famous King.

- To get your copy of "Writtenin Stone, House of David,"

you can log on to CBN.com.

(upbeat music)

Still ahead, more of Jerusalemas a winter wonderland.

(upbeat music)

- [Patrick] It was not my grace,but God, that I might come

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- [Announcer] From slave to missionary.

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- Why would this man put himself in danger

among enemies who do not know God?

- [Announcer] From sinner to saint.

- [Narrator] Patrick's storybegan a chain of events

that is quite remarkablein the impact that it had.

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- Those are the words thatbegin the history of Ireland.

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Get your DVD of thisinspiring documentary today.

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- [Narrator] From SuperBook.

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(upbeat music)

- Since we don't see snowtoo often here in Jerusalem,

we wanted to leave youwith a few more images

of the Holy City in white.

(people talking)

(bright upbeat music)

(clapping)

- We love it.

We love the snow.

We wish it will be here like every year.

- There's no age to enjoy the snow.

We don't need more than this.

(bright upbeat music)

(scraping)

- This is amazing.

It's fantastic to look aroundand see all this white stuff

covering these ancient stones.

(bright upbeat music)

(child yelling)

- Well, it was a joy to seethe snow here in Jerusalem

and to see so many aroundthe city enjoying it.

Well, that's all for thisedition of Jerusalem Dateline.

Thanks for joining us.

Remember, you can followus on Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram and YouTube.

And you can also access CBNcontent through our CBN News

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And don't forget to signup for our email blasts,

so you can continue to receive

all of our exciting CBN content.

I'm Chris Mitchell.

We'll see you next timeon Jerusalem Dateline.

(upbeat music)