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ONTARIO — This past weekend Sar Shalom Center hosted a “Stand with Israel” assembly sponsored by the Richland Community Prayer Network and the Israeli Leadership Institute (ILI). One of five scheduled events in the state, the gathering celebrated the seventieth anniversary of the rebirth of Israel and raised funds to support the ILI based in Sderot, Israel.
ILI Founder & President Mr. Eeki Elner told the two hundred attendees: “I travel extensively throughout the States and I have never seen anyone like Ohio, more specifically, North Central Ohio, who loves Israel more.”
Keynote speaker for the event was the Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Mr. Hilik Bar.
According to the Deputy Speaker, “Ohio is truly the greatest friend to Israel in the United States, no doubt about it. Ohio is an emerging force in support of Israel’s future.”
Recent examples of the strong friendship between the area and the Jewish state include a clergy letter sent by leading clergymen from over one hundred congregations supporting Israel’s sovereignty over its land, and the county acquisition of Israeli bonds by the County Treasurer at the request of the clergy.
“I travel extensively throughout the States and I have never seen anyone like Ohio, more specifically, North Central Ohio, who loves Israel more.”
Eeki Elner, Founder of Israel Leadership Institute.
Besides area religious leaders publicly showing strong support for the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, the Ohio Legislature is considering a resolution making Ohio the first state to recognize Jerusalem as capital of Israel.
Mr. Bar credits the Bible for giving the nation of Israel the spark of hope it needed to pursue its rebirth after two thousand years of being in exile. When Israel announced the establishment of the new Jewish state in 1948, it was attacked by seven neighboring Arab nations but defeated the coalition despite a small military where only half of the troops had guns.
As second in charge of the one hundred-twenty member Israeli parliament, MK Bar meets with many diplomats across the Middle East and says he asks Israel’s enemies one question: “Do you want to live in the Middle East next to us or instead of us? Because if you want to live in the Middle East next to us, the Nation of Israel has an obligation to find a route to have peace with you. But if you want to live in the Middle East instead of us, Israel will take every measure to protect its people.”
The day before arriving in Ohio, the Deputy Speaker was in Guatemala speaking to five hundred clergy.
Nine clergy along with County Commissioners Darrell Banks and Marilyn John, Judge Ron Spon, Magistrate Andrea Clark, School Board Member Martin Gottschling, retired Judge James DeWeese, and retired State Senator Dick Schafrath attended the commemoration.
Deputy Speaker Bar invited those in attendance to visit Israel saying they had an open door to the Knesset. “On behalf of the Knesset, I want to thank you for having this celebration to support Israel and thank you for demonstrating your love and your commitment to the Nation of Israel,” said Bar. “I am honored to call you my friends. Just come on in. ”
In 2015, MK Bar visited the Ohio Statehouse to support legislation opposing boycotts of Israel. After addressing a joint session of the Legislature, he received the “Key to the State of Ohio,” an honor that has previously been bestowed upon former President George W. Bush, former Israeli President Shimon Peres, and U.S. Senator John McCain.
Ohio became the fourteenth state in the nation to pass an Anti-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Act.
The Bottom Line:
The Bible says in Isaiah 66, “Who has ever seen things like this? Can a land be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children.”
View the slideshow from the Stand for Israel event hosting Israeli Knesset Deputy Speaker on October 6th, 2018. Photos courtesy of Frontlines Ohio.
View the video below produced by Sar Shalom Center of the “Stand for Israel” event on October 6th, 2018. (Duration 71 min.)
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