On THE ROSENBERG REPORT: What brought the son of a German Evangelical Christian family to sacrifice his life for Israel?

The story of IDF Sgt.-Major Urija Bayer’s death in battle in Gaza has made national headlines in Israel and touched many hearts. Urija was the son of a German-Israeli Evangelical Christian family. His grandparents came to Israel in 1972 to “atone” for what Germany did to Jews in the Holocaust. They established a rehabilitation center for Holocaust survivors. 

On this week’s episode of THE ROSENBERG REPORT on TBN, ALL ISRAEL NEWS Editor-in-Chief Joel Rosenberg heard from Urija’s father, Gideon, about what led his son to sacrifice his life for Israel. 

Gideon has two sons and two daughters. All of them volunteered to serve in the IDF and were called up for duty early on Oct. 7. 

Urija served in a special IDF commando unit called Maglan. They first operated in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, then moved to fight the terrorists in the south. That is where Urija “was badly hurt,” his father said. “He was wounded and shot in the head.”

What did Roesnberg tell Gideon after hearing his extraordinary family story? 

In another emotional conversation, Rosenberg heard from family members of Israeli hostages about how they struggle every day to keep the plight of their loved ones at the top of the world’s agenda. 

“Every minute is critical,” they told him. 

Israel believes that out of 136 hostages, at least 100 are still alive. They have been held in Gaza for more than four months now.

Sigalit (“Siggy”) Cohen is the mother of Eliya Cohen, who was abducted on Oct. 7 from the Nova Music Festival, where more than 360 Israelis were killed. 

“I ask you to be ambassadors all over your world,” Sigalit told Rosenberg and foreign media teams that arrived in Israel to cover the war.

“Speak and tell our stories in your countries, so that the whole world will know what the hostages have been through.”

The latest attempt by the Israeli negotiators to come to terms with Hamas through international mediation reached an impasse on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Hamas’ proposal “delusional.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the conditions presented were “non-starters,” yet expressed a cautiously optimistic tone that an agreement can still be reached. 

Yoni Asher received his wife, Doron, and two young daughters Raz (3) and Aviv (5) back in November, after going through 49 days of hell. Yoni’s father-in-law, Gadi Moses, is still in Gaza. His mother-in-law was killed. 

“Every day for us is October 7. For each one of us, me and my wife, it's different. But we remember it all the time. I have flashbacks all the time… and my wife as well. Coping is not simple,” he told Rosenberg. 

How will Yoni and other hostage families push the Israeli government to conclude a deal with Hamas? 

What is Rosenberg's conclusion from his moving conversations with the families? And how does it relate to one overlooked success story from the Bible? 

Don’t miss tonight’s episode. It includes a sneak preview of Rosenberg's extraordinary visit inside the Hamas terror tunnels in the Gaza Strip with Israel Defense Forces. 

THE ROSENBERG REPORT airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. EST and Saturday nights at 9:30 p.m. EST – on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the most-watched Christian television network in the United States.

The shows can also be viewed at https://rosenbergreport.tv/.