ISRAEL’S RIGHT TO EXIST SPELLED OUT LOUD AND CLEAR

A brilliant and succinct dossier articulating the legal and historical background that is essential to understanding Jewish rights in the land. It is extremely important to save and share this material, as it provides data critical for properly defending Israel.

With the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Second Jewish Commonwealth came to an end.  From then until modern times, what had been Judah, and was renamed Palestina by the Romans, was only an appendage to one empire or another, never an independent country.

San Remo:

Jewish legal rights in the land in modern times began with the San Remo Conference and resultant San Remo resolution, which has been called the Jewish Magna Carta.

For centuries, Palestine had been part of the (Turkish, Muslim) Ottoman Empire. With the end of WWI, the land of that Empire was taken by the Allies. Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan, with the US as observer, met in San Remo, Italy, to decide how it would be divided: Palestine was put under British Mandatory rule.

Below is an excellent 15 minute film about the discovery of the formerly classified minutes from the San Remo peace conference of April, 1920. This long hidden document explains the legal rights of the Jews as well as the Palestinians. By returning to the negotiating table and respecting historical facts and international law the film believes there can be real peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Balfour Declaration:

At San Remo it was decided to incorporate the Balfour Declaration into Britain’s mandate.  The Declaration, in the form of a letter, was an endorsement by the British government of the establishment of a Jewish home in Palestine.  Written in 1917 by the British Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour, and sent to Lord Rothschild, it stated:

“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, , and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object.”

By “Right”:

In June 1922, Winston Churchill, who was then British Secretary of State for the Colonies, wrote in a policy paper that:

“…in order that this community should have the best prospect of free development and provide a full opportunity for the Jewish people to display its capacities, it is essential that it should know that it is in Palestine as of right and not on sufferance.”

League of Nations Formalizes Mandate:

In July 1922, the League of Nations, predecessor to the UN, formally adopted the British Mandate for Palestine — a legally binding document that was approved by all 51 members of the League of Nations.

It agreed that:

“the Mandatory [Britain] should be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2nd, 1917 [Balfour Declaration], by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favor of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people…”

And it gave recognition to:

“the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country.”

The term “reconstituting” gave acknowledgement to the fact that there had been a Jewish nation in Palestine at an earlier time.

“Mandate” Explained

The mandatory system of the League of Nations was based on the principle of Allied administration of Mandate territories until such time as they were able to stand alone.  That is, it was understood at the beginning that the British would ultimately withdraw, leaving an established Jewish homeland.

Area of Mandate Palestine

The original area of Palestine, for which the British Mandate was assigned, included Transjordan (what is today Jordan, on the eastern side of the Jordan River).

Credit: Hebroots

In September 1922, very soon after the League of Nations had adopted the Mandate resolution, Britain assigned TransJordan to Hashemite Arabs from Saudi Arabia.  The Jewish part of the Mandate was thus reduced by over 70%.

Jews then had the right to settle anywhere in a 10,000 sq.mi. area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Mandate Transfer to UN:

With the formal demise of the League of Nations in 1946, the United Nations was established to succeed it.  The UN assumed obligations of the League: Territories under Mandate were to have a “trusteeship system” applied — this was a continuation of the Mandate system of the League.

Article 80 of the UN declared that “nothing in the [UN] Charter shall be construed…to alter in any manner the rights whatsoever of any states or peoples or the terms of existing international instruments.”  This preserved the Jewish right to settle in Palestine.

Violence in Palestine:

From the time of the establishment of the Mandate for Palestine, Arab challenges to it were considerable,  and were often expressed violently.  This was in spite of the fact at that the same that the Mandate for Palestine was established for the Jewish homeland, Mandates for Syria, Lebanon and Iraq were established, all for Arab populations.  Arabs were, and still are, offended by the presence of a Jewish state.

Perhaps most grievous of all was the Hebron massacre of 1929: for three days Arabs went on a murderous rampage in the city, killing 67 Jews and destroying property. In the aftermath, the second holiest city of the Jews was left bereft of Jews for the first time in hundreds of years.  (Ultimately the British prevented Jews from living in the city because they said they couldn’t protect them.)

Partition of Palestine:

In 1947, the British, who no longer wished to contend with the situation, declared intention to pull out by mid-1948, and turned the Mandate back to the United Nations. A UN Commission considered the matter and recommended a partition of Palestine into one state for the Jews and one for the Arabs, with Jerusalem to be internationalized at first.

Credit: Wikipedia

This recommendation was placed before the General Assembly as Resolution 181, which was adopted on November 29, 1947 by a vote of 33 to 12, with 10 abstentions. The Arab nations voted as a bloc against.

It is imperative to note that General Assembly Resolutions carry no weight in international law.  This resolution was only a recommendation — it was not binding and it did not supersede the Mandate for Palestine in international law.

Legally, this plan would have had binding force only as an agreement between the two parties, i.e., the Jews of Palestine and the Arabs of Palestine.
However, while the Jewish population of Palestinian accepted the proposal, the Arab population did not: they rejected the entire resolution.  Thus the partition plan was aborted.

There is no way for Arabs today to re-instate this resolution or to claim that Jews have a right to only what was defined as a Jewish state by this aborted resolution.

Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel:

On May 14, 1948 (Hebrew date: 5th of Iyar 5708), the Jewish People’s Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum, and approved a proclamation, declaring the establishment of the State of Israel.

It asserted the natural right of the Jewish people to be like all other peoples, exercising self-determination in its sovereign state and proclaimed the establishment of a Jewish state named “the State of Israel.”

It is important to note that Israel’s legal legitimacy did not derive from the aborted partition plan — even though the state was founded on that portion of Palestine that Resolution 181 had allocated for a Jewish state.

It was established according to international norms: based on a declaration of independence by its people and on the establishment of an orderly government within territory under its stable control.

The portion of Palestine on which Israel was not established became unclaimed Mandate land.  Nothing in international law had superseded the status of this land as Mandate land.

War of Independence

Within a day of the establishment of the State of Israel, it was attacked by the states of the Arab League, with clear, openly stated, intention of destroying the new state.

When the war ended in 1949, Israel controlled more territory than it had when independence was declared.  Egypt controlled Gaza, and Jordan controlled Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).  Western Jerusalem was in Israel’s hands, and eastern Jerusalem in Jordan’s hands.

Credit: buildersofzion

Armistice agreements were signed between Israel and the Arab states with which it had been at war.  Armistice lines — temporary ceasefire lines — were defined by these agreements.  They are often referred to as the Green Line.

These armistice demarcation lines did not define a permanent border for Israel. The agreement between Israel and Jordan includes this phrase:

“The Armistice Demarcation Lines defined…in this Agreement are agreed upon by the Parties without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines…”
This is exceedingly important because the PLO/PA claims that this line is Israel’s “real” border and the line to which it must withdraw.  This is simply not the case.

Six Day War

From June 5 to June 10, 1967, Israel fought a defensive war against Arab forces from Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

When it was over, Israel had control of all of Jerusalem, which was united under Israeli sovereignty; the Golan Heights, to which Israeli civil law was applied; the Sinai, which was surrendered as part of the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt; Gaza, which was surrendered in the 2005 disengagement; and Judea and Samaria.

242

In November 1967, the Security Council adopted Resolution 242, which addressed the situation.

This resolution did not require Israel to withdraw to the Green Line.  Instead it acknowledged the right of every state in the area “to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.”

Implicit here was the understanding that the Green Line did not represent a secure boundary.  Israel suffered from a lack of strategic depth within the Green Line — at its narrowest only nine miles wide — which invited attack and made defense in war time difficult. (This is why Israeli statesman Abba Eban referred to the Green Line as the “Auschwitz borders.”)

Thus this resolution called for Israel to withdraw from “territories occupied in the recent conflict.”  “Territories,” not “the territories” or “all territories,” meaning, withdrawal from some but not all of the area of Judea and Samaria.  There is a legal history of long debate over this wording, because of its significance.  Not full withdrawal because that would not leave Israel with a secure boundary.

Once again, then, we see that the claim of the PLO/PA that Israel “must” withdraw to the Green Line is not supported by the facts.

Lastly, the resolution called for “a peaceful and accepted settlement in accordance with the provisions and principles in this resolution.”  That is, it called for negotiations to determine the final border of Israel.

There was no requirement that Israel withdraw prior to negotiations. And those negotiations have never been held.  At the time of this resolution, it was assumed that negotiations would be with Jordan.  Today the situation has changed.

“Occupation”

There is nothing in Resolution 242 that forbids construction of settlements in Judea and Samaria by Israel.  As this issue is a critical one now, we need to look at this a bit closer:

Israel is not an “occupier” in Judea and Samaria.

The word “occupation” is bandied about regularly.  The PA/PLO have adopted the idea of Israel as “occupier” as a mantra and much of the world has accepted it.  But the facts tell us something else.

• Judea and Samaria were (and still are) unclaimed Mandate land, to which Israel has the strongest claim.
• Legally, occupation only occurs when one nation moves into the land of another. But there was no nation legally sovereign in Judea and Samaria before 1967 — Jordan’s presence there was not legal
• There are strong legal precedents for the claim that a war fought defensively permits retention of the land secured in that war.Wrote Steven Schwiebel, former judge of the International Court of Justice:

“…the Israeli conquest of Arab and Arab-held territory was defensive rather than aggressive conquest.

“…it follows that modifications of the 1949 armistice lines.. are lawful…whether those modifications are, in Secretary Rogers’s words, ‘insubstantial alterations required for mutual security’ or more substantial alterations – such as recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the whole of Jerusalem.”



• With all of the above, it should not be forgotten that areas over the Green Line, in eastern Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, represent the very heart of Jewish heritage:  From the Temple Mount; to Hevron and the Cave of Machpelah, where the matriarch and patriarchs are buried; to Shilo, where the Tabernacle was brought.  How can Jews be “occupiers” in their own ancient land?

International Law

People have the impression that “international law” is a firmly defined body of law.  In point of fact, while some international law is established in formal documents, others aspects are very fluid.  Just as is the case with “occupation,” there is a tendency to politicize this term, so that Israel is forever accused of “violating international law.”  Be most cautious when hearing this.

There are, as well, instances in which “international law” is interpreted to mean one thing for Israel and another for other countries.

One fascinating example has to do with the Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49(6), which says “the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”  You may have heard accusations that Israel is in defiance of this Article because of the “settlers.”

There are two obvious retorts to this: First, that Israel is not an occupier, and second, that Israel is not deporting or transferring parts of its own civilian population — the people go of their own volition.

Eugene Kontorovich, however, is currently doing research for a paper and has discovered something else:  There are many instances of movement of civilian population into occupied territory.  However, while international lawyers claim that Israel must actively oppose civilian migration, refuse to provide services to settlers, etc., in these other instances the reaction is much more tempered.  That is, the presumed requirements of “international law” are applied selectively to Israel.

UN Report shows Israel is one of the happiest countries in the world

The World Happiness Report 2016 Update, which ranks 156 countries by their happiness levels, was released in Rome in advance of UN World Happiness Day, 20 March. The report showed that Israel was ranked the 11th happiest country in the world, beating countries like the USA, France and Britain.

The top 10 this year were:

1. Denmark
2. Switzerland
3. Iceland
4. Norway
5. Finland
6. Canada
7. Netherlands
8. New Zealand
9. Australia
10. Sweden

Israel was just outside the top ten, coming in at number 11 and was listed as happier than the United Kingdom which came in at number 23. The United States was at 13, France at 32, and Italy at 50.

According to the World Happiness Report, “the widespread interest in the World Happiness Reports, of which this is the fourth, reflects growing global interest in using happiness and subjective well-being as primary indicators of the quality of human development.”

“Because of this growing interest, many governments, communities and organizations are using happiness data, and the results of subjective well-being research, to enable policies that support better lives.”

They also went on to say that this year, for the first time, they gave a special role to “the measurement and consequences of inequality”, stating that “the inequality of well-being provides a broader measure of inequality” and finds that people “are happier living in societies where there is less inequality of happiness”.

This is positive news for a nation like Israel. While many people try to label Israel as “apartheid”, these lies about Israel never hold much weight and reports like the World Happiness Report (which, believe it or not, comes from the UN) is further proof that Israel, while not perfect, is far from apartheid.

It also shows that many nations that are home to growing movements against Israel may, in fact, have greater levels of inequality themselves.

Israel-Land of Innovation

One side of Israel you never hear about is the innovation that has given Israel the nickname of “start up nation.” Israel is one of the most inventive nations in areas of high-tech, clean energy, medicine and biotechnology, with many countries looking to tiny Israel for the latest advice or technologies in these fields. This is actually amazing when considering how short a time Israel has even been an independent nation. Israel gained independence only a short 64 years ago! In such a short amount of time, Israel has become a thriving, modern state unlike any other recently independent nations.

Even the world’s powers have pointed out Israel’s miraculous rise. For instance, the Council on Foreign Relations stated, “How is it that Israel-a country of 7.1 million people, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies, in a constant state of war since its founding, with no natural resources-produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable countries, like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the United Kingdom?” (Excerpt from the book “Start-Up Nation” by Senor, Dan & Singer, Saul; 2009) In addition, the Economist reported in 2010 that Israel now has more high-tech start-ups and more venture capital industry than any other nation in the world, despite its many challenges and socialist leanings (“Beyond the Start-Up Nation”-Dec. 29, 2010).

So what is the source of such success? Many Israelis choose to take credit for being a particularly ingenious people who tend to succeed wherever they are put. Hence, they say, the reason for so many Jewish Nobel laureates and why so many of the world’s entrepreneurs are Jewish. However, such credit actually is taking away from the real source of Israel and the Jewish people’s success, which is a God who keeps His promise to a people who He chose to bear His name long ago.

Isaiah 66:8 refers to Israel’s miraculous birth, saying “Who has ever heard of such things; Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country 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?” In addition to this passage about the birth of Israel, God also predicted Israel’s incredible success in Isaiah 27:6: “In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit.”

The interesting thing about Israel’s success is that many of the factors that would point to physical reasons for achievement are lacking. Israelis are not particularly disciplined people. Many Chinese and South Korean business people are exasperated when visiting with successful Israeli businesses because there is no sense of discipline or professionalism and yet these businesses are successful. It seems to blow their paradigms and assumptions out of the water, considering they are taught from childhood to focus on something and work hours on end each day towards a goal to even think of being successful! Furthermore, Israel is only semi-capitalist, with many socialist leanings, which seems to baffle many Americans as to how such innovation thrives in an environment with much governmental interference in the private sphere and very few financial benefits given to new private ventures. Furthermore, the security situation in Israel is always tenuous, with many enemies from all sides, which one would think would discourage investment. Yet, in spite of all of this, Israel is one of the most innovative of all countries!

As believers, we know that this is because God is fulfilling His promise and causing Israel and the Jewish people to thrive, in spite of their being no physically better off than any other nation and, actually, worse off than most other successful countries. When many believers come to visit Israel, this is one of the first things they notice. Despite Israel being behind the US in many comforts, Israel surprises tourists in how technologically astute and advanced it is. Many expect a more rustic place invoking ancient images or they expect a country mired in turmoil as the media often portrays Israel. Upon arrival, such people are shocked at the multi-cultural, mostly peaceful and extremely advanced nation that they step foot into. Israel has a way of challenging anyone’s preconceptions!

So, as the world continues to feature Israel as a backwards nation beset by violence and as many tourists arrive expecting to struggle to find any internet and are surprised to find greater accessibility than their own hometowns, we can praise God that He is doing exactly as He said and making Israel an advanced nation that spreads her innovations around the world. When you use your cell phone, look at your USB flash drive, use ICQ instant messaging or Babylon systems, eat tomaccio tomatoes, or hear of hydrogen powered cars and solar roof panels for heating water, realize that these are just a few of many Israeli inventions that are now commonly used or spoken about. These inventions, among others, came into existence despite all of the odds being against them and due to God’s incredible goodness!

Please pray that:

• Israelis will begin to realize that their miraculous success has come from God rather than their own strength

• Israelis will not be puffed up in pride but rather see that their rise is miraculous and not humanly possible

• Israel’s success can eventually be a testimony to the rest of the world of a God who does not forget His promises

• For the salvation of all Israel!

Water in the Desert

“For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants.” 

Isaiah 44:3

In Biblical times, Moses struck a rock for water to flow in the desert. Today, Israeli ingenuity is turning the ‘curse’ into a ‘blessing’, and is sharing that blessing with the world.

Israel is a desert nation and has very little in natural resources. With only three fresh water sources, the Sea of Galilee and two underground freshwater reservoirs, Israelis needed to look elsewhere to find a solution to their water shortages. So, they looked to the largest body of water they have access to, the Mediterranean Sea, and made it their greatest natural resource.

Using a desalination process called “seawater reverse osmosis” they are able to take water from the ocean and turn it into fresh, drinkable water for human consumption.

Today, over 40% of Israel’s drinking water comes from the ocean, a higher percentage than any nation on earth, and the Israeli system is so efficient the water can go from ocean to faucet in under 90 minutes.

Israel does not keep this technology to itself. Israeli desalination technology is now being used in over 40 countries around the world. It is estimated that 300 million people drink desalinated water around the world each day, many of whom have benefited directly from Israeli tech. And, in the hope of trying to combat its water shortage, California is currently building the largest desalination plant in the world and they are doing so using Israeli technology.

Below the Negev Desert is a massive underground reservoir nicknamed the ‘desert ocean’. However, this water is too salty to drink or even to be desalinized. Using some clever filtration, however, Israeli engineers are able to make the water the perfect environment for salt water fish, such as sea bream. Israeli fishermen have left their boats in the Mediterranean and instead now fish in the desert. The fisheries use hundreds of large round tanks to grow tens of thousands of fish miles away from the sea. They are also recycling the water meaning they use far less water per fish than previous farming methods and the fish waste is also put to good use as fertilizer for flourishing olive groves.

Speaking of waste, Israel also happens to be a world leader when it comes to recycling waste water. Israeli waste water is treated to a high degree, making it suitable for human consumption. However, as you can imagine, not many people want to drink sewage water; no matter how clean it is. Because of this the water is not used as drinking water, but is  instead used in agriculture and for land improvement purposes.

Israel is so good at this that it recycles over 80% of its waste water, with the metropolitan area of Tel Aviv recycling 100% of its waste water.

Spain boasts the second largest waste reclamation programme in the world, recycling just 12% of its total waste water, far short of Israel’s truly staggering figures.

Now lets look at one of the most important inventions in recent agricultural history. In the early 1930s, Simcha Blass, an Israeli farmer had his attention drawn to a big tree growing in his backyard “without water”. After digging below the apparently dry surface, Simcha discovered the reason; water was dripping from a leaking pipe causing a small wet area in the soil and enabling water to seep underground to reach the roots of this particular tree but not the others. This sight of tiny drops penetrating the soil causing the growth of a giant tree provided the catalyst for Blass’s invention – drip irrigation.

Blass worked at a farming kibbutz and after years of development he implemented his new system to great success, seeing a crop yield 50% higher than the previous year, and they achieved this using 40% LESS water.

This amazing system has caused Israel’s desert land to flourish. The Arava desert, for example, is called ‘HaAravah’ in Hebrew, which translates to “desolate and dry area”. One of the amazing aspects of the Arava, Israel’s long, eastern valley between the Dead Sea and Eilat, is that although it is mainly desert, 90% of its residents are successful farmers!

It has become known as Israel’s vegetable basket, with more than 65% of Israel’s food exports being grown out of the desert.

In fact, Israel is doing so well with water usage that it has now achieved the unthinkable. A desert nation with a water surplus! And in 2013 it started to export water to Jordan to help Syrian refugees.

Not only is it exporting its water, it is also exporting its ingenuity with drip irrigation technology from Israel being used in over 110 countries worldwide. It helps farmers grow sugar cane in the Philippines, and tea plantations in Tanzania, with India being the largest user of Israel’s drip irrigation systems. That’s right, even our Great British cup of tea has benefited from Israeli water technology.

Water is the most important resource on earth and Israel, by finding solutions to its personal water crisis, has placed itself at the forefront of solving the global water crisis.

We know that Israeli ingenuity is coupled with God’s blessing; “The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35:1).

Praise the Lord for His blessings. Let us pray that the world will see the huge benefits Israel has to offer.

The Mystery of the Lost Jubilee: Part II – The Six-Day War.

In part one of our series we invited you to join us as we work together like detectives in a mystery novel to solve the Mystery of the Lost Jubilee. Solving the mystery means finding a treasure, not hidden in the earth, but hidden in time, finding when this mysterious year might have occurred in the past, present and the future.

We said we hoped that we might be able to solve this mystery together sometime in 2016 or at least by the end of 2017, and we asked you to write the comment “Count me in” if you wanted to jump into the detective story with us, no prior Jubilee experience required!

Why are people getting excited about the years 2016 and 2017 in connection with the Jubilee?

The answer has to do with certain events of the past.

Let us go back to spring of 1967 in Israel. Fear was mounting within the nation as enemy forces gathered against the tiny country. Jordan, Egypt and Syria were preparing to attack. Jordan controlled the West Bank, the Old City of Jerusalem and everything up to the green line drawn in thick magic marker in the armistice agreements of 1949; Egypt controlled the Sinai Peninsula; and Syria held the Golan Heights. Then, between June 5 and June 10, Israel waged the famous and miraculous Six-Day War, taking these territories from these belligerent Arab states.

The victory was unexpected by everyone, not only in territory gained but by the relatively light casualties incurred by Israel versus the Arabs they fought. Twenty Arab soldiers died for every Israeli, uncommon especially because the IDF was the army gaining territory, not the other way around.

And besides the massive land gains in the Golan Heights, Judea and Samaria, and Sinai, the most important result was the reunification of the entire city of Jerusalem into Israel’s hands, which would soon be declared its “Eternal Capital.” This war changed so many things, and set so many wheels in motion which still spin today — not only the rise of a more stable and defendable Israel with the reclamation of critically important lands for its own defense and the restoration of the Western Wall as a place of prayer, but the rise of opposition to Israel and the seed of the narrative of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the popularization of the term “Palestinian” to replace “Arab”, the beginning of opposition to international recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the beginning of the withdrawal of each and every national embassy previously present in Jerusalem, and many more.

Jerusalem: The Eternal Capital of Israel. (Photo: Bob O’Dell)

Of course we, Gidon and Bob, see all this as the having the fingerprints of God/Hashem. God sought to make good on His covenant to bring the Jews back into the Land of Israel. And this leads to an extremely important assumption we make: this detective series assumes that God is in control and is an active participant in world affairs, and that we, together are trying to search out and discover God’s intentions, to understand His future actions. While we will try to keep an open mind about many things in this series, that is one major assumption that must we expose for your comment right away!

Although the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel occurred on May 14, 1948, as the world witnessed a “nation born in a day” literally fulfilling Isaiah 66:8, the Six-Day War in 1967 marked the beginning of a new era for the nation of Israel. Those events in 1967 were and still are so significant, that this first historical clue of our series, even without any additional supporting facts (of which there are many), is enough to compel us all to watch carefully the events that might happen 49 or 50 years later to see if God will “do it again!”

Even without explaining the significance of the Hebrew Calendar and the Shemitah cycles (which we will examine in future series articles), a simple calculation follows. Knowing that there is a debate regarding whether Jubilee years might occur every 49 years or every 50 years, and given the importance of the events of the Six-Day War when the nation of Israel doubled in size in a week, it behooves us to add 49 and 50 to 1967.

And the answers are: 1967+49 = 2016 and 1967+50 = 2017.

So there you have it! This simple observation of the monumental importance of the Six-Day War in Israel’s history