Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the U.S. seems to be stalling on plans to allow Israel to annex areas in the West Bank.

“It was clear from the start that the application of sovereignty would be done only with agreement from the United States. Otherwise, I would have already done it a while ago,” Netanyahu said during an interview with Israel’s Channel 20.

“I worked with (President Donald) Trump’s team on this plan for three years,” he said. “In my opinion, it is the only one that preserves Israel’s essential interests.”

Netanyahu had said the deadline to begin annexing parts of the West Bank was July 1. The date stems from President Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, which says Israel may annex up to 30 percent of the West Bank.

But Netanyahu says the U.S. may not see the annexation as a priority as American deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, protests over policing tactics and an upcoming presidential election, CBN News reports.

“Trump is now busy with other things, and this [sovereignty] is not on the top of his mind,” Netanyahu said.

“I hope that in the near future we will be able to advance recognition of the application of sovereignty as well as other diplomatic issues of importance to Israel.”

The Palestinian government, however, has said it does not agree with Trump’s proposed plan for annexation.

Meanwhile, Israel has…

President Trump on Monday doubled down on comments he made about Joe Biden’s faith, saying the presumptive Democratic nominee can’t agree with Bernie Sanders on a range of issues and still be a man of “deep religion.”

Trump defends saying Joe Biden is “against God,” says he does not think he’s a man of “deep religion” pic.twitter.com/sJbrr4thdb

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 10, 2020

Trump referenced the Biden-Sanders “Unity Task Force Recommendations,” a 110-page document released in July that shows areas of agreement between the former Democratic rivals. It was written by allies of Biden and Sanders.

Some have called it the “Biden-Sanders manifesto.” It is available on Biden’s website.

“If you look at the manifesto that they’ve come up with and if you look at their stance on religion and things having to do very importantly with aspects of religion and faith, I don’t think a man of deep religion would be agreeing to the Bernie Sanders plan,” Trump said at a news conference. “You take a look at what they have in [it] and … you can’t put that into the realm of a religious group of people, I will say that.”

Among other things, the 110-page document calls for taxpayer funding of abortion and restoration of “federal funding for Planned Parenthood.” 

“Democrats oppose and will fight to overturn federal and state laws that create…

After the birth of his daughter on Monday, actor Chris Pratt posted on Instagram that he and wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, “couldn’t be happier” and were “extremely blessed.”

Pratt also shared Psalm 126:3, which reads, “The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.”

Additionally, he posted Psalm 127:3-4, which reads, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”

The baby girl’s name is Lyla Maria Schwarzenegger Pratt.

“So happy for you both!” singer Lauren Daigle wrote.

 “LOOOOOVVVVEEEEEEEEE,” wrote pastor Judah Smith.

Schwarzenegger and Pratt were married in June 2019 in California and announced their pregnancy in April.

“She has changed my life for the better in so many ways,” Pratt told E! earlier this year.

“She’s, God willing, going to be a great mom one day,” he said at the time. “She’s got great parents, great siblings. She fills in all my many deficits.”

Schwarzenegger is the eldest child of actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his ex-wife Maria Shriver. Shriver’s mother was the sister of John F., Robert, and Ted Kennedy.

“The…

A federal appeals court issued a landmark decision Friday for transgender students, declaring unconstitutional a Florida school district’s policy of requiring individuals to use the restroom that corresponds to their biological sex.

It was the first ruling of its kind by a federal appeals court and involved a student, Drew Adams, who was born female but identifies as male.

Nease High School in Florida gave Adams the option of using a single-stall gender-neutral bathroom or a multi-stall girls’ restroom. Adams, though, wanted to use the boys’ restroom, and sued in 2017, alleging violations of Title IX (1972) and the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment.

A district judge previously sided with Adams. On Friday, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court.

“A public school may not punish its students for gender nonconformity. Neither may a public school harm transgender students by establishing arbitrary, separate rules for their restroom use,” Judge Beverly Martin wrote for the majority.

Adams said he felt “alienated and humiliated” when he walked past the boys’ restroom to use the gender-neutral restroom.

Martin referenced this year’s Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, in which the high court ruled employers cannot fire someone for being gay or transgender under federal law. That…

District Attorney Dan Dow has declared San Luis Obispo County in central California a “sanctuary county” for churches holding worship services or singing.

According to The Christian Post, Dow will not prosecute churches in his county who have defied a recent order from California Gov. Gavin Newsom outlawing singing in churches.

“Inherent with my responsibility to enforce the law is the discretion that I have … to pursue only those charges that are warranted and are in the interest of justice,” Dow said in a video on Twitter.

Dow believes banning churches not only from meeting, but singing as well, will not help the county move forward.

“Now more than ever in 2020, we need more people attending their houses of worship and seeking help from the Almighty for an answer to the coronavirus,” he said. “In that spirit, I’m calling on people of faith in our county and across our state, across our country and across the world, to pray for peace [and] healing.”

According to the Los Angeles Virus Tracker, San Luis Obispo County has only 2,254 cases as of Monday with 16 deaths, though the county remains on the governor’s watchlist for a “failure to meet state benchmarks.”

Churches in counties on the Governor’s watchlist are restricted from meeting in person, as well as meeting in households.

The Attorney General also acknowledged the incongruity between arresting church…

Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church is continuing to lead Sunday church services despite lockdown restrictions and threats of legal action.

Prior to delivering his sermon this past Sunday, MacArthur welcomed congregants “to the Grace Community Church peaceful protest” which was met with laughter, cheers, and a standing ovation.

“Are you glad to be here?” MacArthur asked the congregation. “Everything for us is based on the word of God, right? And that means we are pro-life, pro-family, pro-law and order, and pro-church of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

According to The Christian Post, the 81-year-old pastor then invited Chaplain Martin Morehouse from the Los Angeles Police Department to deliver a prayer to open the service.

As part of Chaplain Morehouse’s prayer, he asked the Lord to provide MacArthur and Grace Community Church with the “wisdom and faith to weather all of the things going on in church and outside church.”

MacArthur then went on to preach a message from 1 Corinthians 1, which partly reads, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

“We are here in obedience to our Lord, we are here because He has given us commands, not in a personal esoteric way, not through some vision or dream, not because I hear voices from Heaven, I don’t, but because I have a…