A rocket was fired into Israeli territory from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Thursday morning before being intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system and prompting retaliatory strikes by IDF aircraft. The incident came a day after large numbers of incendiary devices attached to kites and balloons were sent into Israeli territory from the Strip, igniting several large fires which burned crops and forests inside Israel.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in Teheran on Wednesday for meetings with President Hassan Rouhani, telling journalists assembled for a joint press conference that “It is essential that Iran plays a constructive role in building solid peace and stability in the Middle East…so that the region will not destabilise any further and that no accidental clash will occur in the midst of recent rising tensions.” Rouhani declared during his own remarks that any tensions that exist are all the fault of America, adding “We will not initiate a conflict in the region, even against the US, but if a war starts against us we will then give a crushing response.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suffered a legal setback on Wednesday evening when the Tel Aviv Economic Crimes Division rejected his lawyers assertion that he deserves a delay in his pre-indictment hearing on several charges of fraud and bribery because they have not provided all the necessary documentation in the cases. The hearing, scheduled for 2-3 October, will make it more difficult for Netanyahu to proceed with his plans to push legislation through the Knesset granting immunity from prosecution for sitting elected officials.

Outgoing Labor Party chairman Avi Gabbay, who announced on Tuesday that he will not run for another term as factional leader in upcoming primaries, took it a step further on Wednesday and announced he’s terminating his own political career entirely. He explained that he was taking the step to avoid an appearance of undermining whoever becomes the next chairman, adding that the four former chairmen who had positions in the party while technically being subordinate to him were part of the reason his tenure was so difficult and unproductive.

This month, Jerusalem will host a meeting between U.S. national security advisor John Bolton, Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, and Israeli national security advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat. Analysts expect the talks to focus on Syria and Iran.

Iran is engaged in a soft war with the US. Iran uses formal and informal means to influence populations across the globe and has expanded its information campaign utilizing the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, cultural centers, universities, and charitable foundations. But Iran’s authoritarian political system and attempts to control access to information make it vulnerable to a U.S. and Western information campaign. Iran’s weaknesses suggest that a major component of U.S. competition with Tehran should be ideological.

The Prophet Ezekiel Calls it an “Ancient Hatred” (Ezekiel 35:5). This hatred takes pleasure in the shedding of blood and is driven by demonic forces that want to annihilate the Jewish people. It is directed against the purposes of God. This hatred manifests itself in every form of violence against the Jewish people. It is in times like these our practical work is also even more important than in times of peace.