(horn blaring)

- This week on "Jerusalem Dateline,"

Lebanon on the brink.

Will Israel's Northern neighbor

fall into the hands

of the Iranian backed proxy Hezbollah?

Plus, Israel showswhat's your next delivery

from a local restaurant might look like.

And a relic from the middle ages,

surfaces from the Mediterranean.

All this and more this weekon "Jerusalem Dateline."

(effects whooshing)

Hello and welcome to thisedition of "Jerusalem Dateline,"

I'm Chris Mitchell.

As we have reported

Israel's neighbor to the North, Lebanon,

continues its spiral into a failed state.

Corruption, political paralysis,

and lack of basic necessitieslike food and fuel,

plague the country that was once called

the Switzerland of the Middle East.

CBN's Gary Lane examinesthe latest developments

and the danger Lebanon's plight now poses

to Israel and the Middle East.

(effects whooshing)

- Is civil war coming to the Middle East?

Tempers are raging and violence is rising

in the tiny Biblical Nation of Lebanon.

Seven people were killed whengunfire erupted in Beirut.

It came after Hezbollahand Amal militia members

rallied against a Christian judge,

who was leading an investigation

into the August, 2020Beirut Port explosion.

Well, joining us to explainwhat this may mean for Israel,

the United States and theMiddle East is Gregg Roman.

He's director of the Middle East Forum.

Gregg, it's good to talk with you again.

So please give ourviewers some context here.

Why this recent violence

and is it the start ofanother Lebanese civil war?

- I think the most honestand reliable person

in Lebanon today is judged Tarek Bitar,

is the individual who hasbeen leading an inquiry

into the devastatingBeirut Port explosion,

which took place a little over a year ago,

when one third of the city ofBeirut was almost the level,

not due to an intentional actby any surreptitious forces

where they would might have blamed Israel

or they might've blamed the United States,

but because of the sheer incompetence

of the previous Lebanese government

that had decided to stockpile,

tons of ammonium nitrate,next to a fireworks factory,

and eventually a chain ofreactions set that blast off,

which when he looked at it,you could have not mistaken,

perhaps mistaken it fora small nuclear device.

Now a year and a half later,

after the query has reallystarted moving forward,

and judge Bitar is moving forward

with trying to indict,investigate, prosecute,

and eventually bring to justice,

those officials who are being investigated

for acts of gross negligence,

all of a sudden,

because the fact that the main minister

who would have been implicated in this act

came from a Hezbollahrelated political party,

we now see members of theHezbollah terror organization

marching again on the streets of Beirut,

threatening other Lebaneseminority communities.

The main target of their ire

is the judge who's investigatingtheir political allies.

Now this has not stopped JudgeBitar from going forward,

and a coalition crisis

under Interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati,

has now led to the point

where Hezbollah is calling for blood,

for those who were onlydefending themselves

on the street Beirut,

in those attacks, whichtook place last week.

So right now we're on the precipice of,

I wanna say it's going to be a civil war,

but definitely that theaction that may take place,

well then the religiousaction that may take place,

is Hezbollah is looking for revenge.

- And it seems like Sunniand Druze and Christians

are United in this againstAmal and Hezbollah.

This week Hezbollahleader Hassan Nasrallah,

threatened Samir Geagea'sLebanese Forces saying,

Hezbollah has 100,000 fightersready to take up arms.

Is Nasrallah miscalculating,

or is this just political theater?

- I think at the end of the day,

Nasrallah is speaking froma position of strength.

It's not just that he has ahundred thousand fighters,

he also has the support of Syria and Iran.

So before anything happens

with trying to find a way inwhich to get out of this mess,

that Hezbollah hascurrently found itself in

after having lost seven of its supporters

of the terror organization

on the streets of Beirut last week,

you have to take intocontext that Nasrallah

does have the backing ofmuch greater powers than him.

When he makes threats, they are not empty.

- And he still has tensof thousands of missiles

on the Southern border targeting Israel

and communities across the border.

If extensive fighting begins,

how likely is Hezbollahto attempt to draw the IDF

into the fray by attacking Israel.

- Well, this has happenedtwice in the past.

Once in the 1976, beginningof the Lebanese Civil War

and also in the 1982 first Lebanon War

between Israel and Lebanon,

it was really between the Palestinians

and Lebanon and Israel,

but that was where theHezbollah movement was born,

out of that first round of fighting.

I think that you have to take into context

that if Nasrallah has to face,

Sunni, Druze and Christianopponents locally,

and he tries to deflect by letting off

the Lebanese rocket valve

or the Hezbollah rocket assault,

which can act as a pressure valve for him,

by watching attacks against Israel,

Israel has threatenedto turn Southern Lebanon

into a parking lot.

This is just something that was said

by a top IDF general,

where he estimated thatan excess of 2000 rockets

could be expected perday to land on Israel

in the future Lebanon-Israel conflict.

That it won't be a warbetween Hezbollah and Israel,

it'll be a war between theState of Lebanon and Israel

since Hezbollah effectivelycontrols Lebanon.

So thus Nasrallah is playing with fire,

if he thinks that he has theability to threaten Israel,

even attack Israel and get away with it.

I'm not sure how the other ethnic groups

and religious groups factor into this,

but if they see anopportunity to fell Hezbollah,

they may sit this conflict out,

if it ever happens with Israel

and let Israel do the hard work.

(upbeat music)

- [Chris] Coming up, innovation Israel.

Using drones in ways wenever could have imagined.

(upbeat music)

- But Marvel, when Pat tells the stories

of the early beginnings, I think,

"I don't think I would've had the chutzpah

"to do some of those things that he did."

- [Pat] When you're walking by faith

and it isn't necessarily easy.

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(upbeat music)

- Military drones havebeen filling the skys

over troubled regions for years,

and the race is underway worldwide

to make them morerelevant in everyday life.

One pioneering effort is here in Israel.

And is CBN Middle Eastcorrespondent, Julie Stahl reports,

it's being called part of afourth industrial revolution.

(effects whooshing)

- [Julie] These drones arecompleting a special mission

as they land in Tel Aviv,

delivering sushi from Japanika Restaurant,

some seven miles away in Herzliya.

- You can see multi drones taking off,

doing delivery, coming back, land,

finished the delivery process,everything autonomously.

- This drone could be thedelivery truck of the future.

One just like this delivered ice cream

from Jaffa to the beach in Tel Aviv.

Alon Abelson is CEO andco-founder of Highlander,

a drone and unmannedtraffic management solution

that helps keep skies safefor this growing technology.

- There is no pilot involved.

No one is flying the drone

and you still need someone tomake sure the drone flying,

avoid collide between themselves

landing safely in the right location.

- [Julie] These are among

the first commercial dronedeliveries in central Israel

and the City of Tel Aviv.

It's the third of eight stagesexpected to reach new Heights

over the next two years.

It's being managed from theAyalon Highways Control Center,

that's usually managingtraffic on the ground.

- We started from zeroflights two years ago,

700 flights in the first year,

and now we're close to 9,000 flights.

So we're definitelyprogressing even faster,

than we predicted.

- [Julie] As part of Israel'sInnovation Authority,

Daniella Partem leads

the center for the fourthindustrial revolution.

- Our aim is to acknowledge the ecosystem.

So add more cities, more urban areas.

In order for this to be aneconomically viable system,

we would have to enable larger drones

flying longer distances,

in order to deliver heaviergoods to more areas.

- [Julie] Joined by theCivil Aviation Authority

and Ayalon Highways,

the project is a collaborationbetween the government

and 16 local and international companies.

- Each company has his own business case,

but our goal is to create the regulatory

and technological infrastructure

for them to be able to do that

in an economically viable ecosystem.

- [Julie] The variouscompanies work together

towards solutions in key areas,

ranging from air trafficcontrol and flying the drones

to deliveries and security.

Libby Bahat from the CivilAviation Authority says,

he sees opportunities and challenges.

- We're a crowded country,in terms of aerospace,

we have high security needs.

These are challenges,

but I think we know how to approach them.

- [Julie] Despite thechallenges Eyal Bilia

from Ayalon Highways,

explains why drones area good and timely idea.

- The lower airspace is unused today,

so we're trying to open the lower airspace

in order to deliver all kinds of goods

and the deliveries fromone place to another,

and by that, we're gonnareduced traffic on the highways.

- [Julie] According toformer general Yoeli Or,

and current CEO of Cando Drones,

the Israeli military hasbeen using this technology

for 10 years.

- We take it from the military side

and adapt it for our needsin the civilian side.

- [Julie] Working along with security

and air traffic control,

Cando can manage up to250 drones at a time.

- We connect different onesfrom different company,

from different mission to our system,

and we control thosedrones from one laptop.

First of all, you savetime, you save money.

The police have drones now,

the fire control they have drones,

so the drones have tospeak with each other.

- [Julie] The founding members of Airwayz

came from the Israeli Air Force.

CEO Eyal Zor, explains how these experts

in airspace management, make it all work.

- We are using advanced AI algorithms

in order to manage adynamic airspace of drones.

We try to mimic the traditional aviation,

air traffic controllersand pilots with our system,

in order to show that we can operate

maximum number of dronesin a dynamic urban city.

- Deliveries are currently limited

to between businesses,

given the need for a drone landing pad.

The order is placed through an app,

then prepared, loaded on the drone,

flown to the delivery site,

collected and taken to the customer.

Daniel Rahamim heads up Mishlocha,

one of the most popular

and fastest growingfood delivery apps here.

Until now, Mishlocha hasdelivered mostly food

and relied on conventionaldelivery methods like scooters.

As a technology company though,

Rahamim says he's alwayslooking to the future.

- We don't have anydoubt that the next stage

will be the drones,

because this is thebest way, the fast way,

the safe way to move things

from one side to each other.

- [Julie] FlyTech is the aerial operator

and company Vice President Yahav Preiss,

says the drones can transport a delivery

weighing about four and a half pounds.

- This is first time in Israel,

you can see this kind of project,

which means the first time we fly drones,

with no eye contact, througha computer, like another UAV.

- [Julie] Though, thedemonstration focused

on getting ice cream towaiting journalists Preiss says

the vision reaches much furtherthan just food delivery.

- [Yahav] This is a platform

to show that technology is there

and safe is there.

We want to provide muchmore important things

to our civilians, like bigorders, machines, and medicines.

- We are doing a great progress,

and today we are writing the cookbook

for economic airspace of deliveries.

- [Julie] Hospitals and medical facilities

could be big winnerswith these deliveries,

receiving life-saving materials quickly,

with no traffic jams,

and consumers in thefuture will likely benefit

in ways we haven't even imagined,

Julie Stahl, CBN News, Tel-Aviv.

(upbeat music)

- [Chris] Up next.

What the Spanish Inquisitionmore than 500 years ago

has to do with Jewishimmigration to Israel today.

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- When people need us, wevolunteer and we come and help.

- [Announcer] Explore the world

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- [Announcer] And understand

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(upbeat music)

- Immigration to Israelseems to be bouncing back

to pre COVID 19 pandemic levels.

According to figuresfrom earlier this month,

more than 20,000 Jews havealready arrived this year.

And if they keep coming,

that puts the number of Jews returning

to pre COVID levels from 2010 to 2018.

But there are some Jewsthat would like to come,

but aren't able to yet

because of an historicallink that goes back

more than 500 years,

that link is the Spanish Inquisition,

an ugly chapter in thehistory of the church.

It lasted more than 300years, span continents

and became one of themost extreme examples

of antisemitism ever seen.

But why is the SpanishInquisition still important today?

CBN News, Middle Eastcorrespondent Julie Stahl,

traveled to Portugal justbefore COVID, to find out.

(effects whooshing)

- [Julie] They're called Bnei Anusim

or sons of the forced ones,

that's because they face the choice

of converting to Catholicism or death.

- It something in the Jewish world,

that I don't think apartfrom what is happening here,

I've ever heard aboutit, or not 10 years ago

about the plight of the Jewish people,

from the time of the inquisition.

And it isn't easy to understand that

because it was of course, 500 years ago.

- [Julie] Jimmy McClintock

joined Christians and Jews in Portugal

to pray for the Bnei Anusim.

The hope is to restoretheir Jewish heritage

so they can immigrate to Israel.

- For the Jewish people in America,

you're either Jewish or you're not Jewish.

The Bnei Anusim is different from that.

The Bnei Anusim today, beingconfronted with the realization

that they are Jewish andyet their family life

took a huge turn, 500 years ago.

- [Julie] King Ferdinandand Queen Isabella,

initiated the Spanish Inquisition,

to expose Jews whoconverted to Catholicism,

but secretly kept their religion.

- Either, you convert or you die.

So they never gave Jewish people,

these descendants the option.

But these descendants,

they chose to keeptheir Judaism in secret,

and it was a risk, and manyof them died because of that.

And they paid a high price

for keeping to theirorigins and to the Faith.

- Castelo De Vide isacquaint Portuguese town

of about 5,000 people.

It's about 10 milesfrom the Spanish border.

Hundreds of years ago when theSpanish Inquisition started,

Spain's Jews fled across theborder here for protection.

Over about four years,King Manuel I of Portugal,

welcomed some 120,000 Jews to his country.

In 1496 however,

the Catholic Church demanded King Manuel,

deal with his Jews

before he could marry the daughter

of King Ferdinand in Spain.

- First, he thought hewould ship them out,

like the Jews were kickedout of Spain in 1492.

And then he realized that if he does,

he's got nobody to administer his country

and to run the country,

so he forced to convert them in one day.

- [Julie] One of the places that happened

was this town square.

The Jews were rounded up and brought here

from the Jewish neighborhood,

sprinkled with water and given new names.

Afterwards, they were sent to new homes

in Christian neighborhoods.

At the time, many of Portugal's Jews,

fled to newly discovered Brazil,

where an estimated 60million of their descendants

still live today.

- And they want to know more about

how to reconnect to the Jewish people

and to the Jewish faith.

- They include Matheus Guimaraesand his father Marcello,

who started the first of its kind museum

about the persecutionof the Jewish people,

during the infamous inquisition.

- What is happening is that today

we have thousands, if notmillions of Brazilians

that know that they aredescendants from Jews,

from Portugal and Spain.

And I believe the Lordis doing an awakening

and this people want to knowmore about their heritage.

- [Julie] But they face a situation

similar to their ancestors.

- The Orthodox establishment in Israel,

they want to convertthem to Jewish Orthodoxy,

which is exactly whatthe Catholic church did,

they forced them to dosomething they don't want to do.

- [Julie] Israeli Joe Shulam,

who started the NetivyahCongregation in Jerusalem,

is leading the immigrationcampaign for the Bnei Anusim.

- These people say, "We are Jews,

"we never stopped being Jewish.

"We were Jews, even when we knew

"that if the church catches us

"and tries us in the Orthodox faith,

"we could be burned alive."

They converted on the outsideand at home in secret,

they kept Jewish customs.

- [Julie] The smallestthings could give them away,

like preparing on Friday forthe Sabbath or Jewish holidays.

According to Shulam,

the challenge is convincing Israel

to change its law of return.

It currently states,

"A Jew who converts to another religion

"is automatically disqualifiedfrom immigrating to Israel."

- They have kept theirJewish customs for 500 years,

on their own freewill at thepain of death and torture.

So why now force them to convert.

- [Julie] Shulam and othersbelieve this return to Israel

would fulfill biblical prophecy.

- God says through Obadiah the prophet,

that the Jews from Sepharad...

I am a Sephradic Jew.

the Jews from Sepharadwill come back to the land,

with God's blessing and settle the Negev.

Israel has been trying tosettle the Negev for 70 years,

is still empty.

The Negev is waiting for these Jews.

- [Julie] Isaac Hertzogchairman of the Jewish Agency

tells CBN News

discussions are underway onhow to handle immigration

of the Bnei Anusim.

- This is a major issue,

because it also has to do with

legal issues, historical issues.

But yes, I am very much looking forward

to an enhanced policy

together with the governmentin Israel on this.

- [Julie] The vision is big.

Shulam says, they hope to eventually bring

2 million of these Jews back to Israel.

Julie Stahl, CBN News,Castelo De Vide, Portugal.

(upbeat music)

- Still ahead,

an Israeli scuba diver discoversa 900 year old treasure

in the Mediterranean Sea.

Adding a puzzle piece to thehistory of the Holy Land.

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- Israeli archeologists say a scuba diver,

salvaged an ancient sword,

off the country's Mediterranean coast.

And as CBN Middle Eastcorrespondent, Julie Stahl reports,

experts say it dates back tothe time of the Crusaders.

- [Julie] Israeli Shlomi Katzin

was scuba diving in the Mediterranean Sea,

off the Northern coast of Israel,

when he discovered the 900 year old sword.

- The most interesting thing is that,

this is one of the first or as I know

complete sword that ever found in Israel,

and in a very good preservation.

We know that usually under the water,

the materials, the archeological materials

survive better than on land.

- Katzin also found stone anchors

and pottery fragments on the seabed.

The finds were apparentlyuncovered by the waves

and undercurrents that shifted the sand.

Fearing the sword could be stolen

or swept away by the currents.

Katzin took it a shore and turned it over

to the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Katzin received acertificate of appreciation

for good citizenship.

- Because of the areawhere the sword was found,

not so far form theCrusader Castle of Atlit

with a Templar castle duringthe early 13th century,

we are assuming that it'sbelonged to the Crusader period

because of the size,

because of the other artefactsthat belong to the site.

- [Julie] The Crusaderscaptured Jerusalem in 1099 AD,

and set up their kingdom here.

They ruled the area of theHoly Land for nearly 200 years.

- Following the weight of the sword,

we assume that the knightthat hold this sword

was very strong,

because to fight with thisweight and this size of a sword,

it wasn't so easy,

even today to hold it it's heavy.

- [Julie] The sword has been sent

to the IAA laboratories in Jerusalem.

Researchers will x-rayit and begin to clean off

the encrusted shells and ocean debris.

Then they'll decide howbest to preserve it.

The IAA says every artifact that's found

helps to piece togetherthe historical puzzle

of the land of Israel.

Julie Stahl, CBN News, Jerusalem.

- Well, that's one morestory piecing together

the history of Israel.

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"

(upbeat music)