SARKOZY WINS FRANCE ELECTIONS

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Strong undersea quake shakes Greek island of Zakynthos. 3-Quakes hits Fiji. 4-Ruins await residents' return in Kansas. 5-The Nation's Weather. 6-France's Sarkozy seeks parliament allies. 7-France's Sarkozy seeks parliament allies. 8-U.N. beefs up security after Gaza attack. 9-Israel, Egypt and Jordan to discuss Arab peace plan. 10-Chief Rabbinate Nixes Christian-Jewish Conference.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

Update time = Mon May 7 10:00 AM EDT

MAY 07,07
MAP 4.6 OFFSHORE GUATEMALA
MAP 5.6 EASTERN XIZANG
MAP 5.5 OFF THE COAST OF AISEN, CHILE
MAP 2.6 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.4 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 WESTERN MONTANA
MAP 5.1 MYANMAR
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.4 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
MAP 3.0 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 4.6 SOUTHERN GREECE
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.7 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.1 KYUSHU, JAPAN
MAP 5.4 FIJI REGION

MAY 06,07
MAP 5.0 SAMOA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 6.2 FIJI REGION
MAP 6.4 FIJI REGION
MAP 5.4 LUZON, PHILIPPINES
MAP 2.9 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.7 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.4 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.6 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 4.3 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.7 SOUTHWESTERN PAKISTAN
MAP 4.8 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
MAP 5.5 NORTHERN COLOMBIA
MAP 4.7 SOUTHWESTERN PAKISTAN
MAP 4.6 SOUTHWESTERN RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 WESTERN XIZANG
MAP 4.7 SULAWESI, INDONESIA

Strong undersea quake shakes Greek island of Zakynthos Mon May 7, 4:57 AM ET

ATHENS (AFP) - A strong undersea quake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale shook the Greek Ionian Sea island of Zakynthos on Monday but there were no reports of casualties or major damage. The quake hit at 4:34 am (0134 GMT) with the epicentre south of the island, some 240 kilometres (150 miles) west of Athens, the Athens Observatory's Geodynamic Institute said.It was an isolated tremor, there was no particular seismic activity either before or after, institute seismologist Maria
Ziazia told AFP.

The Ionian Sea is one of the most seismically-active areas in Greece, which is itself the European country most at risk from earthquakes, suffering about half of all the quakes registered on the continent.The island of Zakynthos was at the centre of significant quake activity this time last year, with 10 tremors between 5.0 and 5.8 Richter recorded between March and May, the semi-state Athens News Agency (ANA) said.

Quakes hits Fiji Sun May 6, 7:22 PM ET

SUVA (AFP) - Two earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 6.0 struck off the coast of Fiji on Monday, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warnings were issued and there were no early reports of damage. The first quake, with a magnitude of 6.4, was centred 265 kilometres (165 miles) southeast of the capital Suva and 165 kilometres northwest of the southern island of Ndoi, the USGS said.It struck at 9:11 am local time (2111 GMT Sunday) at a depth of 687.6 kilometres.

Another 6.2 magnitude quake struck nearby less than an hour later.The quakes occurred near fault lines in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where continental plates in the earth's crust meet and earthquakes and volcanic activity are common.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Ruins await residents' return in Kansas By ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press Writer MAY 07,07

GREENSBURG, Kan. - Rescue crews have twice searched the debris-strewn yards and splintered homes that once held Greensburg's 1,500 residents. They began a third sweep Monday to secure the area before families who lost almost everything were to be allowed back in.

Not much remained in Greenburg to go back to.

The F5 tornado, the most powerful to hit the U.S. in eight years, demolished every business on the main street. Churches lost their steeples, trees were stripped of their branches, and neighborhoods were left unrecognizable. Officials estimate as much as 95 percent of the town was destroyed. At least 10 people died in the storms.We've been over the town twice now — all of our partners around the state, the experts from cities with technical search-and-rescue, Maj. Gen. Todd Bunting, the state's adjutant general, told CNN Monday morning. We've done everything we can.Some of this rubble is 20, 30 feet deep. That's where we've spent all our efforts, and we'll do it again today.Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was in Greensburg on Monday, and Federal Emergency Management Agency director R. David Paulison planned to tour the devastation for the first time since the tornado hit Friday night.

President Bush declared parts of Kansas a disaster area, freeing up federal money to aid the recovery.There's a certain spirit in the Midwest of our country, a pioneer spirit that still exists, and I'm confident this community will be rebuilt, the president said.The storm system that swept south-central Kansas also spawned tornadoes in Illinois, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Nebraska, and the heavy rain created flooding dangers across the region Monday.In western Oklahoma, at least eight homes were destroyed, several more were damaged and one person was injured. A woman was briefly trapped when her mobile home was blown off its foundation in Seminole, said sheriff's dispatcher Terry Thomason.In Greensburg, only the residents were being allowed back into town on Monday, and they had to leave by 6 p.m. Law enforcement officials planned to check identification and compile a list of people whose whereabouts were still unknown.

Since the tornado hit, emergency responders have had little indication of how many people may be safe with friends or relatives elsewhere.Bunting said he believed everyone had been found, but fresh search dogs were still being brought in from Missouri to continue the hunt for possible survivors and victims amid the debris.Paramedic Annette Gasten and her German shepherd, Greta, spent a grim weekend searching the wreckage.Even though I have been to other disasters, this one was a lot worse — the amount of damage, Gasten said. It is such a large area that was destroyed that it made it difficult.The tornado's wind was estimated to have reached 205 mph as it carved a track 1.7 miles wide and 22 miles long.

The National Weather Service classified it an F-5, the highest category and the first since the weather service revised its scale this year in an effort to more comprehensively gauge tornadoes' damage potential, with less emphasis on wind speed. The last tornado classified as an F-5 hit the Oklahoma City area on May 3, 1999, killing 36 people.In Kansas, the governor said the state's response was limited by the shifting of emergency equipment, such as tents, trucks and semitrailers, to the war in Iraq. Not having the National Guard equipment, which used to be positioned in various parts of the state, to bring in immediately is really going to handicap this effort to rebuild, she said. Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for the adjutant general's office, which manages state resources during emergencies, said the state has a shortage of heavy equipment transport trailers, pallet-sized loading systems, Humvees, dump trucks and other large equipment that would be help move massive amount of debris.

We are never at 100 percent because we are allocated a certain amount from the National Guard Bureau. With the war, we are much shorter than we would be. We have about 40 percent of what is allocated, Watson said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was bringing in travel trailers to house some of the town's residents. There was no indication when people would be able to move into those trailers, though, because the area was choked with debris and the town had no clean water.

School superintendent Darin Headrick said classes will be canceled for the rest of the academic year in Greensburg, and graduation would be held elsewhere. City Administrator Steve Hewitt said his job Monday would be to get city government working again. He said he needed to find employees, get purchase orders out, pay employees and bills — in short, create commerce again in Greensburg.
Get government going — that is our No. 1 priority, Hewitt said.

The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Mon May 7, 6:12 AM ET

Thunderstorms marched eastward through the Plains early Monday, while a storm swirled off the Carolina coast and high pressure kept the West toasty. The highest risk area for extreme weather on Monday was forecast from southwestern Texas through the Plains and into the western Great Lakes region.In the East, a coastal storm was sitting off the Carolinas, bringing large surf and some gusty winds to the coast, especially the Outer Banks of North Carolina.This storm was forecast to remain out to sea on Monday, but slowly take a turn to the southwest Tuesday and eventually slam into the coast late in the week.The rest of the East was predicted to experience beautiful weather as high pressure builds over the central Appalachians. Temperatures should rise back to seasonal levels, or a little above.Temperatures should also be warm in the West as high pressure continues to build over the region. Highs along the coast will be especially warm and possibly record breaking. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Sunday ranged from a low of 12 degrees at La Veta Pass, Colo., to a high of 97 degrees at McAllen, Texas.

WELL I WAS WRONG ABOUT THE FRENCH ELECTIONS SARKOZY WON, I THOUGHT ROYAL WOULD, SO MUCH FOR MY PREDICTIONS. ONLY GOD KNOWS THE BEGGINING FROM THE END HIS WORDS WE CAN COUNT ON FOR PREDICTIONS.

France's Sarkozy seeks parliament allies By ANGELA DOLAND, Associated Press Writer
MAY 07,07

PARIS - French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy plans to waste no time making France a friendlier place for business — and a less inviting place for criminals and would-be immigrants — but first he must win control of parliament in new elections next month. Sarkozy, a U.S.-friendly conservative and an immigrant's son, defeated Socialist Segolene Royal by 53 percent to 47 percent with about 85 percent voter turnout Sunday.

The win gave Sarkozy a strong mandate for his vision of France's future: He wants to free up labor markets, calls France's 35-hour work week absurd and plans tougher measures on crime and immigration.The people of France have chosen change, Sarkozy told cheering supporters in a victory speech that sketched out a stronger global role for France and renewed partnership with the United States.

Exit polls offered some surprises. Some 46 percent of blue-collar workers — traditionally leftist voters — chose Sarkozy, according to an Ipsos/Dell poll. Forty-four percent of people of modest means voted for him, as did 32 percent of people who usually vote for the Greens and 14 percent who normally support the far-left. The poll surveyed 3,609 voters and has a margin of error of about 2 percent.A headline Monday in Les Echos newspaper, a financial daily, read: President Sarkozy: a wide majority for reforming the country in depth. In Le Figaro newspaper, Jean d'Ormesson wrote: Fasten your seatbelts. This will be quite a ride.Sarkozy's is certain to face resistance from powerful unions to his plans to make the French work more and make it easier for companies to hire and fire.

Over the next few days, Sarkozy will retire to somewhere in France to unwind a little ... and to start organizing and preparing his teams, said Francois Fillon, an adviser often cited as the leading candidate for prime minister.With his family, Sarkozy left his Paris hotel Monday — dressed casually in jeans — en route to his retreat. The location was not revealed.The new president, 52, plans to take over power from outgoing 74-year-old leader Jacques Chirac on May 16. Fillon said Sarkozy's new government would be installed May 19 or 20.

The election left little time for celebrating: Legislative elections are slated for June 10 and 17, and Sarkozy's conservative UMP party needs a majority to keep his mandate for reforms. A win by the left would bring an awkward power-sharing with a leftist prime minister, which would put a stop to his plans.Sarkozy has drawn up a whirlwind agenda for his first 100 days in office and plans to put big reforms before parliament at an extraordinary session in July. One would make overtime pay tax-free to encourage people to work more. Another would put in place tougher sentencing for repeat offenders, and a third would toughen the criteria for immigrants trying to bring their families to France.

On election night, scattered violence was reported across France. Police reported that 270 people were taken in for questioning and that 367 parked vehicles had been torched. On a typical night in France, about 100 cars are burned.There had been fears that the impoverished suburban housing projects, home to Arab and African immigrants and their French-born children, would erupt again at the victory of a man who once labeled young delinquents scum.

That blunt comment, and Sarkozy's tough anti-crime tactics as interior minister, helped fuel riots that raged for three weeks in housing projects in 2005.Late Sunday, small bands of youths hurled stones and other objects at police at the Place de la Bastille in Paris, across town from a giant street party celebrating Sarkozy's win. Some youths bared their backsides at riot officers, and police fired volleys of tear gas. Other fights with the police broke out in Toulouse, Lyon, Rennes and Nantes, police said. Two police unions said firebombs targeted schools and recreation centers in the Essonne region just south of Paris.

In Sarkozy's victory speech, he reached out to all those he has alienated in the past, promising to be president of all the French, without exception.I want to tell them that tonight, this is not the victory of one France over another, said Sarkozy, who is often portrayed as the enemy of youths in the housing projects.Among the electoral surprises was that Sarkozy took 43 percent in the Seine-Saint-Denis region north of Paris, an area with a large immigrant population and high unemployment that was the epicenter of the 2005 rioting. Associated Press writer Angela Charlton and Jean-Pierre Verges in Paris contributed to this report.

U.N. beefs up security after Gaza attack By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Writer MAY 07,07

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Security was beefed up at the main U.N. compound in Gaza City Monday, with workers reinforcing the entrance gate and personnel inspecting the roof after a shadowy group of Muslim extremists attacked a U.N.-run school. Sunday's incident, which killed one and wounded seven, is part of Gaza's out-of-control lawlessness that is increasingly aimed at foreigners. Most foreigners have left Gaza, and the latest attack on the U.N. was seen as a major escalation.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack in the southern Gaza refugee camp of Rafah, but security officials said they believe salafiyeen, or Muslim fundamentalists, were involved. The group is believed to be behind a string of attacks on Internet cafes and music shops in recent weeks. It is not clear whether they are connected to any political party.The latest incident underscored the inability of the new Palestinian unity government, a coalition of the Islamic militant Hamas and the Fatah movement of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to end the chaos.

Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas met late Sunday in another attempt to put together a security plan. The meeting ended without agreement, and another was set for Monday. Interior Minister Hani Kawasmeh, the author of the plan, has threatened to resign because security commanders refuse to cooperate, mainly because of rivalries between coalition partners Hamas and Fatah.New statistics illustrated the sharp increase in internal violence in Gaza.In the first three months of this year, 147 Gazans, including 10 children, were killed by fellow Palestinians, according to the Palestinian human rights group Al-Mezan. By comparison, 57 people died in factional fighting in all of 2004, followed by 101 in 2005 and 252 last year.If the upward spiral is not stopped, Gaza could become ungovernable, warned Ibrahim Ibrach, a political scientist at Gaza's al-Azhar University. The collapse of the Palestinian Authority ... is at stake, he said.Sunday's attack on the U.N. school in the southern Gaza refugee camp of Rafah began with a protest by Muslim extremists in long robes, who said a sports festival the school was hosting was un-Islamic. The U.N. is turning schools into nightclubs, read one sign held up by the protesters.

At one point, the group tried to enter the school. Palestinian security fired in the air to keep them away. In the ensuing chaos, at least one bomb was thrown into the school, and a gun battle followed.

A senior Fatah official, Majed Abu Shamaleh, was leaving the school when his bodyguard was killed. Seven people were wounded, most by bomb fragments. Some children hid under their chairs during the fighting.Police arrested two of the gunmen and were interrogating them. Later, the extremists tried to approach the police station where the two suspects were being held, to release the men. Police and gunmen from militant factions surrounded the station to prevent the extremists from entering, witnesses said.So-called salafiyeen are known through the Muslim world as fundamentalists who try to imitate their pious ancestors and recreate the lifestyle of Islam's founder, the Prophet Muhammad.

Most are peaceful, but some engage in violence.A Palestinian intelligence official said the Gaza group appeared determined to attack all those who don't agree with its strict ideology. Other fundamentalist groups have existed in the same area of southern Gaza for years, but live in their own communities and peacefully preach their beliefs, he said.What's new is that this group, which seems to have developed a few years ago, believes in violence if they see things they believe is wrong, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.He said the group has no more than dozens of members, but could easily grow as disaffected youths abandon the two largest political groups, Hamas and Fatah.

Israel, Egypt and Jordan to discuss Arab peace plan By Adam Entous MAY,07,07

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Monday ahead of talks on an Arab peace initiative that turning it into a take it or leave it proposition would only lead to further stagnation in the peace process. Livni is scheduled to meet the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan in Cairo on Thursday for what a senior Israeli official described as the first formal session of talks on the revived land-for-peace proposal.The Arab League named Egypt and Jordan to a working group which would contact Israel over the initiative, but the political turmoil that threatens Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government delayed the process.Western diplomats played down the chances of progress in initial talks over the plan, which offers Israel normal relations with the Arab world in return for a Palestinian state and full withdrawal from land seized in a 1967 war.

These are good signs, Livni told reporters in Jerusalem. But she added: Just to market a plan to Israel, saying that these are the parameters for final status agreement, this is wrong. I think that this can lead to stagnation.Rather than having the Arab League as the central negotiating partner, Livni said, the idea is that Israel and the Palestinians will negotiate on a bilateral track on final-status issues.The Arab League would support the Palestinians in times of concessions, she told a news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

FINAL-STATUS

Olmert has so far refused to discuss final status issues -- the future of Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the borders of a Palestinian state -- in his regular bilateral meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.It's about time that the Arab League will support the moderates on the Palestinian Authority and give them the possibility to compromise on certain issues which relate to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and not to put this position as take it or leave it, Livni said.Steinmeier said the Arab League would send a delegation to Brussels next Monday to brief European Union foreign ministers on the initiative. He said Livni was invited to brief EU ministers at the following meeting.First launched in 2002, the Arab initiative also calls on Israel to reach an agreed, just solution for Palestinian refugees and to accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.

In return, Arab states would establish normal relations with the Jewish state.

Olmert has said he sees positive points in the Arab plan, although Israel opposes the return of Palestinian refugees to their former homes in what is now the Jewish state and wants to retain some of the major settlement blocs in the West Bank.Israeli officials said the Arab League could help promote compromise, particularly on the refugee issue. Hamas Islamists, who leads a unity government that includes Abbas's secular Fatah faction, has vowed never to back down on the right of return.Livni joined public calls last week for Olmert to step down following the release of an official report sharply criticizing his handling of last year's war in Lebanon. The row has cast doubt on her influence within the government.Washington has been trying to promote the Arab League peace initiative in the hope it might bring states like Saudi Arabia, which do not recognize Israel, more openly into the process. (Additional reporting by Jeffrey Heller and Alastair Macdonald)

Chief Rabbinate Nixes Christian-Jewish Conference
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 07,07

The Chief Rabbinate has banned participation in the Bridges for Peace women's conference scheduled for next week in Jerusalem. Participation in the Woman to Woman Conference in Jerusalem next week, sponsored by the Christian Bridges for Peace organization, has been banned by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. The event is set to coincide with the celebrations commemorating the 40th anniversary of Jerusalem's er-unification in the Six Day War. A special Rabbinate committee, headed by Rabbi Simcha Kook of Rechovot, ruled on Thursday that concentration on Judeo-Christian values and the study of the Jewish foundations of Christianity are forbidden. The rabbis ruled that these efforts are actually part of a long-running campaign to bring Israeli-Jews to believe in Jesus.

Promotional literature for the Woman to Woman conference, to take place in Jerusalem from May 16-19, describes it as Jewish and Christian women together, studying the Word [italics added] and working together to build bonds of friendship and bring comfort to the people of Israel. Each Conference day will begin with praise and worship... in preparation for an exciting series of visits and speakers, focusing on the roles, experiences, and opportunities for Women in Israel.

Bridges for Peace is a Jerusalem-based, Bible-believing Christian organization that supports Israel and is engaged, according to its website, in building relationships between Christians and Jews worldwide through education and practical deeds expressing God's love and mercy. It is our desire to see Christians and Jews working side by side for better understanding and a more secure Israel.The Conference will be followed by the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus Womens Summit, entitled, Empowering Women through Judeo-Christian Values.

The two-day event (May 20-21) will, according to the official invitation, bring together hundreds of Jewish and Christian women from all over the globe to address the difficult issues and tragic circumstances millions of women face daily. Every component of this remarkable experience is designed to encourage and equip women to be all that God has called them to be. Together, we will come to know Him better, and we will go back to our home countries, an army of His women, empowered to change the world.Another promotional website explains, The Knesset Christian Allies Caucus Womens Council Conference will focus on hardships facing women worldwide, to which solutions can be found through Judeo-Christian values.

Women representatives from every country in the world will join together in this monumental forum to be trained as ambassadors who will mobilize their respective governments to promote the status of women in their home country. Through this conference in the holy city of Jerusalem, women leaders will promote Judeo-Christian values globally. Christian women leaders and members of the Israeli Knesset Christian Allies Caucus Womens Council will chair the conference and teach in special post-conference guided tours following the footsteps of the Bible throughout the Holy Land.

The two other members of the Rabbinate committee are Rabbi Yitzchak Peretz, Chief Rabbi of Raanana, and Be'er Sheva Chief Rabbi Yehuda Deri. The committee, together with Chief Rabbis Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar, ruled that the Woman to Woman Conference is in opposition to Torah thought and law, and that the events organized by the Knesset Christian Caucus, Bridges for Peace and the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem strive to create a partnership between famous Christian preachers and leaders of organizations that have worldwide missionary programs to missionize as many Jews as possible... Events of this nature have been banned in the past by Torah giants throughout the generations, and they are forbidden.Rabbi Deri explained to Arutz-7, We note of late the terrible phenomenon of Messianic Jews wreaking havoc and destruction in Israel by trying to bring Jesus as Messiah into Israel. With pleasantness and kindness, they bring Torah, fear of G-d and even Torah commandments - but all with one underlying theme: that Jesus is Messiah. This joins with the phenomenon of millions of Evangelical Christians; Bibi Netanyahu said about them, They are not just friends of Israel, they are Israel! They want to help and support us, but they have the same goals as the Messianics. They make tremendous efforts and support us all over, and are even more right-wing than we are in some ways, and they help us with Bush, etc. - this is all true, but in the end, they have one goal, and that is Jesus. We are not on the level of early great Rabbis who were able to take the good and spit out the bad...

MK Rabbi Benny Elon (National Union) responded with sorrow to the decision. He said that he and others like him make sure to work only with Christians who do not have missionary intentions. We work closely with the Yad L'Achim anti-missionary organization, MK Elon told Arutz-7, though now a competing organization - Lev L'Achim - has arisen and seems to have 'stricter' standards... It's hard for me to understand: What can be wrong about forging friendships with those who want to help us and care about us? Jerusalem Councilwoman Mina Fenton of the National Religious Party says that Elon's approach is very naive.

They try to do outreach in any way possible, she told Arutz-7, but all they actually want is to infiltrate into the Jewish public in any way possible, and to blur the differences between Judaism and Christianity. That's why they have all these missions and study groups and women's groups and seminars on Christianity's Jewish roots and the like - because they want Jews to think that they can remain Jewish while still accepting Jesus.The Knesset Christian Allies Caucus has made no secret of its opposition to missionary efforts. In fact, high-profile evangelical radio talk-show host Janet Parshall, known for her strong support of Israel, has refused to speak for the Caucus for this reason. She said she made the decision after learning that the Caucus condemns and does not associate with missionary groups. Parshall said she fears Israel would soon essentially say, We'll take your aid, your support and your tourist dollars, but we won't take your Jesus.

On the other hand, Precept Ministries founder Kay Arthur - who has said, The Jews need conversion is still active in the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus Women's Council. Rabbi Deri admitted that the decision was not an easy one: It's true that in the short run, it's advantageous to work with them - but what about the harm caused 50 years from now?... This is a hard issue, and I very much admire Benny Elon and his family - but we have to rely on the majority of rabbis, such as Rabbi Avraham Shapira and Rabbi Lior and many others.