Day 418 Swords of Iron – “What is going on?”
Chaim starts the video by saying that the cease-fire agreement with Hezbollah is pretty shaky but at least it’s giving him an opportunity to go home and see his family. He’s on standby to return to his IDF unit whenever they need him, but he’s also seeing lots of Hezbollah rockets hitting the Galilee even though there’s supposed to be a cease-fire.
Chaim says that the Lebanese National Army is deploying into southern Lebanon, taking over some of the positions that the IDF set up there to demolish the Hezbollah infrastructure. The idea is for them to prevent Hezbollah from returning but Chaim doesn’t think that’s very likely to go according to plan.
At the same time, Chaim mentions a massive stockpile of weapons and ammunition that were captured by the IDF in Judea and Samaria, meant to be used in terrorist attacks against the Israeli communities there.
But getting back to the ceasefire agreement, Chaim goes through the clauses, which broadly coincide with the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. The bottom line is that Hezbollah is not allowed to deploy south of the Litani River, which is around 40 kilometers north of the Israeli border. That means no combat forces but it also means no weapons production facilities, etc.
Israel has a written guarantee from the US that if it observes Iran and/or Hezbollah violating the terms of this agreement, Israel is authorized to hit Hezbollah hard and sort out whatever violation is taking place.
But Chaim is not optimistic that this new agreement will be enough to protect Israel. He says that we have to remember that God is our protector. He says this while standing next to a bomb shelter in Tiberius that’s been decorated by a Believer artist named Justin from Australia. He meets Justin at the shelter and together they talk about the significance of shelters and the verse that’s on this one, Psalms 16:1; protect me oh God for I have taken shelter in you.
The rest of the video is Justin telling his story of why he came to Israel to decorate the bomb shelters, in order to give comfort to the people of Israel in their time of trial. He has been coming to Israel for many years for different things and has many friends there, and he felt like at this time of war and hardship, his place was here.
He tells of how he got help from Chaim to get permission to start painting the shelters, and he implores the viewers of the video, wherever they are, to support Israel in whatever way they can.
In this context, Chaim quotes Matthew 4:15-17; “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned. From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Justin tells the story of how lifting people’s spirits in Israel has been a blessing to his own life.
Chaim concludes the video by giving his endorsement to Justin’s work and asking his viewers to support it.
