Because I am a Christian, many people assume it is my religious faith that is the primary motivation for my advocacy for Israel. But that is not the case. Like all true Zionists, my strongest motives are more visceral, more mysterious than any creed or pledge.

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This is scandalous. Instead of preventing evil, God has chosen to use it against its will. He has chosen it to instruct us. His use of evil, and his method for defeating it, are shocking. And yet they are his means for bringing joy from sorrow, gain from loss, life from death. Why? It is all about the power he has given us to choose.

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Israel today is facing four menacing and imminent threats. In order to address them and protect its people, it must focus on the present, not the past. And it must determine to eliminate the threats, not contain them.

In a direct challenge to US President Donald J. Trump, Iran yesterday launched a major naval war game near the Strait of Hormuz, the same place where Trump has deployed the US Navy's massive Fifth Fleet. With surface ships and submarines, special forces and an array of high-tech systems, Iran says it is a "message of peace and friendship" to regional countries in the Middle East and "poses no threat to other countries."

Apparently, the head of Saudi Arabia's General Intelligence Directorate has been in Israel this week, visiting Israeli and PA officials. What motivated his visit? And what were his objectives?