Israel’s Tourism Ministry launched a new initiative this week calling on Christians around the world to help Israel by holding special events in their churches to showcase Israel’s unique role as the Land of the Bible. The Tourism Ministry hopes to boost the image of Israel as a safe and attractive destination for Christian visitors and is being coordinated with other efforts, including plans to speed up construction of new hotels and parks.

In another sign of the growing acceptance of Messianic Jews in Israeli society, the Art Market Gallery in Tel Aviv’s Port recently held an exhibition of paintings by Messianic artist Steffi Geiser Rubin. The acrylic on canvas paintings, featuring scenes from the Gospel of Matthew, was entitled “Multitudes” after the centerpiece painting of Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish. Organizers reported that the exhibition was highly successful and well attended.

Reports have surfaced that leaflets denying the Nazi Holocaust in WWII have been distributed at university campuses in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra Australia. The leaflets have been condemned by the universities and are being investigated. Meanwhile, the Education Ministry in Czech Republic has decided to rescind a recent decision to require school textbooks to list Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel instead of Jerusalem.

Israel’s Channel 1 News program reported Wednesday night that evidence has surfaced linking Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the Soviet Union’s infamous KGB intelligence agency. Former KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin brought a large volume of documents to the West when he defected in 1991, including a recently reviewed and publicized report from 1983 which listed Abbas as a KGB asset in Damascus.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry disclosed on Wednesday that the Jewish State has been assisting the South American country of Paraguay in its battle against the Lebanese Shi’ite terror militia Hezbollah, which has extensive operations in Latin America in cooperation with narcotics traffickers and other criminal enterprises. Israel’s assistance, which mostly takes the form of intelligence cooperation, is part of what is assessed to be one of Israel’s closest alliances in the region.