(shofar blaring)

- This week on "Jerusalem Dateline,"

after Israel's fourth election,

still no clear path toa stable government.

The anti-Netanyahu camp still trying

to topple the prime minister,

but unlikely partners could be the key.

We'll have analysis on whatcould lie ahead for Israel.

Plus, Jewish hero, Natan Sharansky

on God's deliverance of the Jewish people,

on Purim and Passover, and its connection

to Soviet Jewry today

All this and more this weekon "Jerusalem Dateline."

(driving music)

Hello, and welcome to thisedition of "Jerusalem Dateline."

I'm Chris Mitchell.

The final votes have beencounted, and once again,

Israel does not have a clearpath to a stable government.

But the parties committed

to topple Prime Minister Netanyahu

are still trying to oust

Israel's longest runningprime minister in history.

The results of Israel's fourthelection within two years

look like the last three,with no clear winner.

The parties aligned withPrime Minister Netanyahu

total 52 seats.

The parties committed againstNetanyahu total 57 seats.

Two parties are uncommitted.

The right-wing party,Yamina, holds seven seats.

Ra'am, or the United Arab List,

an Islamist party, has four seats.

With those four seats,Ra'am may hold the key

to who gets the 61 seatsneeded to form a coalition.

Its leader, Mansour Abbas,wants any government in power

to provide more support to Israeli Arabs.

Making the path towardforming a new government

even more complicated, some parties refuse

to sit in a coalition with other parties.

Once again, it puts Israel'spolitics in disarray.

- Israel is experiencing

its worst political crisis in decades.

It's apparent that our political system

finds it very difficult toproduce a decisive outcome.

This is a result of inherent weaknesses

in our electoral system,

but it's also becauseof the Netanyahu factor,

a very popular prime minister

and that wants to remain in power,

although he was indicted and there's the,

Israelis are split right downthe middle on this question.

- Now, parties are scrambling for support

and defectors from other parties.

Israel will begin the celebration

of the Passover on Saturday evening.

Some say Israel will need another miracle

to deliver it from its political plight.

(logo whooshing)

Joining me now to discuss what lies ahead

for Israel's government areCBN's Senior Editor John Waage

and Middle East Correspondent Julie Stahl.

John, first to you, you know,some people have described

what's going on right now in Israel

like a political Rubik's cube.

Tell me, what do you think is next?

- I think next is a lotta horse trading

and a lotta confusion, allset against the backdrop

of a Passover celebration that I think

Israelis have been waitingfor for a long time.

I think this is just the opening kickoff

and it's happening right before

a week of Passover celebrations.

So, it's a lot going on behind the scenes,

probably some quiet in the media,

which will be beneficial toIsraelis, but it's going to be

a fast and furious tradingfrenzy behind the scenes.

- Yeah, Julie, tell me,

what have Israelis been facing lately,

and do you see the possibilityof a fifth election?

- Well, you know, Chris, like John said,

Israelis are heading into Passover.

So right in the middle of this week,

we had this massive dust storm

just as everybody's cleaningtheir houses before Passover

and we had a time changeand we had elections.

So we had, like, plenty ofthings going on this week.

And on Election Day, I hadmore than one person tell me,

right after they had voted,

"Yeah, we're going to fifth elections."

So I think, and kind of laughing about it.

But, you know, I think Israelis are,

it's kind of their natureto just keep going forward.

But I think people arepretty weary of this.

They're a bit disturbed.

We had lower voter turnout.

Maybe that was because of the coronavirus.

You know, people, I thinkthey're a little bit discouraged

and don't really seewhat the way forward is.

- Yeah, Julie, I talkedto some Israelis too,

and they're saying the samething about fifth election.

John, go a little deeperinto the machinations

between many of these parties,

like who would serve withwho or who will with who.

Talk to us about that.

- Right, well, first of all,

you could have a right-wingbloc formed next week

if people would justreconsider their pledges

that they went during the campaign.

Remember, Gideon Sa'ar, whoseparty I believe ended up

with six seats signed acontract on Israeli television,

saying he would not serve with Netanyahu.

If he hadn't done that, ifyou remember, a year ago,

Sa'ar was one of the firstpeople into the building

at Likud headquarters on election night.

We were all there and we were marveling

that there's Gideon Sa'ar.

So there is a possibilityfor a combination

of Sa'ar's party and Yamina and Likud,

and they could do it without the Arab bloc

and form a solid right-wing bloc.

But it doesn't look like it's gonna happen

because Sa'ar's gonetoo far out on a limb.

But what about his party members?

What if the New Hope partywere to kind of split up?

What if Benny Gantz, asdefense minister, again,

would join Likud?

What if the Joint Arab List,

which would have beenunheard of years ago,

what if a couple membersof the Joint Arab List,

which we understand, Likudmembers have reached out to them,

said, "We'll split awayfrom Joint Arab List

and take part in a Netanyahu government."?

So you have lots ofNetanyahu possibilities.

And then the center-left coalition

is asking people likeNaftali Bennett to join them.

And so, you know, it's gonnabe, like I said before,

fast and furious tradingduring the Passover

and the days beyond that.

- Well, it is the time of Passover

and many Jews around the worldare gonna be thanking God

for the deliverance from Egypt.

And right now, they're praying, I'm sure,

for deliverance fromthis political plight.

Julie and John, firstof all to you, Julie,

how can people be praying about

what's going on in Israel right now?

- Well, I think really,

it's important to praythat God will make a way

where there doesn't seem to be a way.

You know, even if Israeliswent to a fifth election,

like, there's no, it'slike there's no way out.

It's just like, there's no,

doesn't seem to be a way forward.

I would also say pray for humility.

I know, you know, in the beginning,

they said Netanyahushould just humble himself

and ask Gideon Sa'ar to come back,

and Gideon Sa'ar tweetedtoday that he should,

you know, Netanyahu should humble himself

and, for the good ofthe country, step down.

So, but, like, peopleneed to humble themselves,

not the other person.

So, I think that's also a big thing.

And really that, you know,Israelis won't be discouraged

that we won't have any kindof rebellion on our hands,

and like, this strife,this constant strife

would really be put to rest.

- Yeah, John, what do you think?

- I would echo everything Julie has said,

and I would just say, ifthe leaders could look up,

if they could look toward the God

that gave them Israel in the first place,

that said He would be with them.

And in doing that, it's anotherthing that Julie mentioned,

doing things for the good of the nation.

There's been such a fight overthe current prime minister,

over Netanyahu, and if theycould just look to other issues,

the threats from Iran, thethings that unite Israelis

more than the political in-fighting.

I know that's a tall order,

but it's something we canall be praying for anyway.

(driving music)

- [Chris] Coming up,

just like God delivered the Jewish people

on Passover and Purim,He's doing the same today.

(upbeat music)

(dramatic music)

- [Patrick] It was not my grace, but God,

that I might come to the Irish nations

to preach the gospel.

- [Announcer] Now availablefrom CBN Films, "I Am Patrick."

Get your DVD for a gift of $15 or more.

- What brings you back, Roman?

- People thought thatthis mission was crazy,

that his efforts to Christianize Ireland

were doomed to failure.

- [Announcer] From slave to missionary.

- Who among you heeds the call?

- Why would this man put himself in danger

among enemies who do not know God?

- [Announcer] From sinner to saint.

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

that is quite remarkablein the impact that it had.

- I am Patrick.

- Those are the words thatbegin the history of Ireland.

- [Announcer] "I Am Patrick."

Get your DVD of thisinspiring documentary today.

Call 1-800-700-7000 or go to CBN.com.

- [Efrem] I'm Efrem Grahamand this is "Studio 5."

Cruise with me as I discoverthe good things happening

in the world of music, sports,television, and movies.

- The fact that Ryan Coogler

was gonna be directing the film,

I knew that somethingspecial was gonna happen.

- [Efrem] We'll chat withartists at the forefront

of entertainment andexplore the connection

between popular culture and faith.

- I asked my pastor, I said,

"Well does that mean I'msupposed to be a preacher?"

He says, "Well no, youalready have a pulpit."

- [Announcer] Wednesday night at 8:30

on the CBN News Channel.

- [Announcer] This Easter,spend time reflecting

on Jesus's final week.

In CBN's free devotional,"The Hope for Redemption,"

you'll follow His path to Jerusalem,

observe His last Passover meal,

gain insight to his agony at Gethsemane,

witness His crucifixion,

and encounter the empty tomb.

This Easter, realizeafresh that He is risen.

Get your free copy today.

Call 1-800-700-7000 or goto CBN.com/EasterDevotional.

(driving music)

- Ahead of the Passoverholiday, CBN News sat down

with famous Sovietrefusenik Natan Sharansky.

His emigration from theformer Soviet Union to Israel

in 1986 paved the way for the exodus

of two million Soviet Jews.

He told CBN News about how God

miraculously delivered the Jewish people

in and from the former Soviet Union

just like on Purim and Passover.

- Natan Sharansky, welcometo "Jerusalem Dateline."

We're now between twoimportant Jewish holidays,

when the Jewish people weresaved, Purim and Passover.

What's the significance of that

in this too.- Well, you know,

in Haggadah, it is saidthat, in every generation,

there are people who rise against us.

Or the idea of Seder Pesach celebration

is to remind that thechallenges are the same

and to remind ourselvesabout the power of people

when we are guided by God.

So I think we are luckyto be in the generation

which went through the miracle of Purim

and through powerful liberationof Exodus from Egypt.

I was five years old when Stalin died

and my father explained to me

that it's great day for us for Jews.

I should remember all mylife that miracles happened.

We are saved.

He didn't tell me thatthat was the day of Purim.

Even if he told me, I wasabsolutely assimilated.

We grew disconnected from anything Jewish.

But that was the day of Purim,

and Stalin died whileplanning the biggest massacre

of Jewish people of the Holocaust.

The leading Jewish Sovietdoctors were already arrested.

They were tortured.

They were accused in poisoning

the leaders of the Soviet Union.

Their trial and publicexecution was planned on Pesach,

which means a month after Purim.

It had to bring to thelot of anger and pogroms.

There was already prepared the letter

of Russian Jewish leaders to Stalin,

asking him to save Jewish people

from the justifiedanger of Russian people.

And then, hundreds of thousands of Jews

had to be taken fromMoscow, Leningrad, Kiev,

and other places and sent to Siberia.

And it was planned that atleast 1/3 of them will die

already on their way there.

Then, Purim came and Stalin died.

So, everybody who knows the story of Purim

can understand the powerof this comparison.

And I go to kindergarten

and I do what father toldme, what everybody does.

Everybody's crying aboutStalin and I'm crying.

We are singing songs aboutthe son of all the people,

Stalin, and I'm also singing.

And I have no idea how manychildren are really crying

or how many of themare crying exactly as I

because we know that it'svery good that Stalin died.

So that was the beginning of my life

of loyal Soviet citizen, of double think,

when you know that all thelife around is all lies,

but the truth can be only kept

for your family, for your people.

And you're not fighting for anything

because there are no values

except the value of survival.

- [Julie] That wasn't the endof the story for Sharansky,

Soviet Jewry, or Jews around the world.

There were other miracles in the works.

- And then, later, after 1967,

when Israel entered our lives,

and you understand thatall the world looks at you

and says, "How you guys did it?"

The world connects me to Israel.

You don't understand this connection.

And in the underground,we start reading the books

that were brought byJewish tourists from abroad

about Exodus from Egypt,and suddenly, you realize

that your history doesn't begin

from Bolshevik Revolution from 1917,

but your history, if you decidethat that is your history,

starts from Exodus from Egypt

and it continues throughthousands of years,

and there are these peoplewho say we are family,

Jews all over the world, andthere is state of Israel,

which is ready to send airplanesto the ends of the world

to bring you to freedom.

That's when you find strength

to start fighting for your rights,

for rights of other Jews,and for the freedom.

That's how I becameactivist of Zionist movement

and the human rightsmovement in the Soviet Union.

- [Julie] Sharansky becameknown as a refusenik,

a Jew who was refused permission

to leave the Soviet Unionand immigrate to Israel.

Sentenced to 14 years, he served nine,

largely for spreading truthabout human rights abuses

in the Soviet Union.

- I came 10 years after Iwas released from prison

to Soviet Union as a minister of Israel,

and I insisted that I will visit

not only officialmeetings of the ministers,

but also KGB prison whereI spent year and a half

of interrogation, andI took my wife there.

And when asked by the journalists,"Why are you doing it?

Isn't it painful?" Isaid, "To the contrary."

Only think that was the mostpowerful empire of our time.

It controlled 1/3 of the world.

KGB was the most sinister,

most dangerous secret police in the world.

And the leaders of KGB are explaining me

that everything's finished.

All the Jewish activists are arrested.

The world is afraid to mention our names.

I knew that it's a lie, butI was absolutely isolated.

Now, Soviet Union doesn't exist.

KGB doesn't exist.

Two million Jews left Soviet Union,

more than one million lives in Israel,

and all the world is a different place.

And that all comes when wego back to our identity,

to our values, when wehear the voice of God,

and when we're united in this struggle.

So, miracles of Purim anddefinitely the miracles

of Exodus from Egypthappened in our generation.

(driving music)

- [Chris] Up next, CBN News discusses

the humanitarian crisis in Yemen

and what's being done tohelp the Yemeni people.

- [Announcer] His storyhas inspired the world

for thousands of years.

- [Gordon] Israel's most famous king.

- [Announcer] While some scholars doubted

his very existence.

- You cannot claim that KingDavid is a mythological figure.

- [Announcer] Journey deep beneath

the ancient city of Jerusalem

and see proof of Israel's celebrated hero.

Get "Written in Stone: House of David."

Join host GordonRobertson on an expedition

through the evidencesupporting the Old Testament.

- Extraordinary discoveriesmade headlines around the world.

- [Announcer] See where the shepherd boy

slewed the mighty giant.

- We are shedding some light

on the story of David and Goliath.

- [Announcer] Explore therelics of the Davidic Age.

- There was a significantstructure standing here.

- [Announcer] And discoverproof of King David's legacy.

- This is a royal house.

- [Announcer] "Writtenin Stone: House of David"

can be yours for any dollar amount.

Call 1-800-700-7000 or go to CBN.com.

Available now.

(dramatic music)

♪ I got the joy ♪

♪ I dance around because I know it ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ I move around because I got it ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ Joy's in the heart ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ I dance around because I know it ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ I move around because I got it ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ Joy's in the heart ♪

(inspirational music)

- Here, we're committed to a heritage

of rigorous scholarshipdating back over 1,000 years.

- [Man] And to a faith traditiondating back 1,000 more.

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

where no topic is off limits.

- [Woman] And a culture of hope.

- [Students] 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.

(driving music)

- In Yemen, a humanitariancrisis is getting worse

as regional players discussways to end the conflict.

The fighting on the tipof the Saudi peninsula

continues to escalate.

This as Riyadh offers an incentive

to try to end the fighting,

which would include a nationwide ceasefire

between Iranian-backed rebel Houthis

and the Yemeni government.

The fighting is forcinghundreds of thousands

of people from their homes.

Many of the displaced arecut off from food, water,

and other daily needs by the fighting.

CBN's Senior InternationalCorrespondent George Thomas

spoke with the head ofthe World Food Programme,

who told him thatmillions could be at risk

in the coming months.

(driving music)

- You have describedwhat's happening today

in Yemen as catastrophic.

You just got back from the country.

Tell us the situation there.

- George, it really is catastrophic.

I mean, six years of war

just destroying the innocentvictims of this conflict.

It was just atrocious.

It's hard to believe that that's happening

in the modern world today.

- What do you mean whenyou say the situation

is totally man-made?

- [David] It's not a natural disaster.

It's nothing but conflictin the worst way possible.

And so after six years of war,

this is a nation of 29, 30 million people,

16 million people

don't know where thenext meal's coming from.

We feed about 13 million, and out of that,

5 million of them are knockingon the door of famine,

literally don't know ifthey're gonna survive.

We need about $160 million permonth just to avoid famine,

and we're running out of funds

and we're running out of fuel.

- The UN Secretary-General recently said

that if you don't feedpeople, you feed conflict.

Talk about the correlationbetween the two.

- We can end hunger around the world.

There's no doubt about it in my mind.

So when you begin tolook at what's happened

in the last few years,

we had 80 million people four years ago

marching to the brink of starvation.

Pre-COVID, that numberhad gone from 80 to 135.

Post-COVID, that number's now 270 million.

But the jump was basedupon man-made conflict,

and now compounded with COVID,

you really have a hunger pandemic,

famines of potential biblical proportions

as we're facing rightnow in places like Yemen.

And if we don't do something about it,

you're gonna have atleast one of three things.

You'll have, one, you'llhave famine, starvation;

two, you'll havedestabilization of nations;

three, you'll have mass migration.

And we have a simplesolution for starvation.

It's called food.

When Jesus said, "When you didn't do it

to the least of these,you didn't do it to me,"

I never really appreciated the breadth

of what that meant in termsof loving your neighbor

until I traveled fromcountry to country to country

and seeing the children, the image of God.

It's heartbreaking to see this happening

when it's primarily man-madeand we have a solution.

And so, with the wealth that we have

with all the successes of businesses

and men and women around the world,

you know, we gotta love our neighbor,

and this is the timenow to show that faith.

No matter where you are,

you can make a differencein the world today.

(driving music)

- [Chris] Up next, it'scalled the bread of affliction

and Jewish people eat it for a week

as a reminder of God'sdeliverance from Egypt.

Thank you for watching"Jerusalem Dateline."

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- [Announcer] Discoverhow Israeli volunteers

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God gives us dreams, and that'sreally the roots, I think,

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Call now or go online to getyour Israel DVD bundle today.

- [Announcer] ThisEaster, from "Superbook."

- It's a challenge to talk about Jesus

to people you don't know.

- [Announcer] Chris and Joydiscover there are those

who need to see to believe.

- I want to tell you about Jesus.

(body thumps)(kids laugh)

Forget it.

I'm not gonna waste my time

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(driving music)

- Every year, Jewishpeople around the world

celebrate the Exodus from Egypt

with the Passover Seder.

One of the key elements isunleavened bread, or matzo.

And if a whole countryeats matzo for a week,

that's a lot of matzo.

Take a look at how theymake matzo in Israel.

The Bible calls it thebread of affliction,

unleavened bread, or matzo.

Every year, the Jewishpeople are commanded

to retell the story oftheir Exodus from Egypt

and to eat unleavenedbread for seven days.

- Because the Lord madethem leave very fast,

they had to make bread thatdidn't have time to rise,

and they ate this flatbread, which is matzo.

- Most Israelis take the commandment

to eat unleavened bread very seriously,

and many actually like it.

Grocery stores like this onedevote whole sections to it,

and besides regular matzo,you can get egg, whole wheat,

and even choco matzo.

- The regular matzo must bemade of flour and water only.

The flour would look toyou like regular flour,

but it's not regular flour.

- [Chris] Roy Wolf is vicepresident of Matzot Aviv.

He told CBN News the whole process,

from mixing to rollingto shaping to baking,

must be finished in 18 minutes

because the momentwater touches the flour,

it starts rising.

- In reality, our processis much, much faster.

We want to be as efficient as possible.

And the whole process

takes no longer than three, four minutes.

But every 15 minutes, you know, to avoid

to have any leftovers of leavened dough,

we have to clean the mixer system.

- [Chris] Wolf is the sixth generation

to work in his family's business,

which started in 1887.

They've been in thecurrent factory since 1946.

- In the basement here, wherewe have the flour silos today,

the Haganah, the first defense forces,

used to hide weaponsfrom the British mandate.

Since 1946, we've been here making matzo.

Of course, the factory wasrefurbished several times.

- [Chris] At Matzot Aviv,

they make about 20 tons of matzo per day.

They start in Octoberand work around the clock

for the last month, except on the Sabbath,

to provide matzo to Jewishcommunities in Israel

and around the world.

- We are exporting it to over 35 countries

to all Jewish communitiesaround the world,

from the large communitiesin North America

to even the smallest community.

There's one personthat's in Wallis Island.

He's the doctor of the island

and we are sending him matzo every year

so he will be able to have a Seder

with matzo from Israel.

But we also have Christiancommunities buying matzo

in countries like Korea and Singapore.

I've been told that, in some churches,

it's been used as the holy bread.

- [Chris] The Last Supper wouldhave been a Passover Seder

with unleavened bread.

Because of that,

many Christians like totake communion with matzo.

Some even say that thedesign of the matzo,

striped and pierced, issymbolic of the Messiah Himself.

You might think, withall this matzo-making,

that the Wolf family wouldget tired of Passover,

but not so.

- We're waiting for the Seder.

We usually come very tired to the Seder

because I'm working until thesame day in the afternoon,

but it means a lot.

This holiday, of course,means a lot to us.

- One Israeli comparedmatzo to a data drive,

passing along informationfrom generation to generation.

The Passover has been celebratednow for thousands of years.

And to all our Jewish friends,

(speaking Hebrew), Happy Passover.

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

Thanks for joining us.

Remember, you can followus on Facebook, Twitter,

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I'm Chris Mitchell.

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

(driving music)