In Defense of Israel

You pick your times to fight.

That’s a maxim I was taught growing up. Not every slight, insult or threat is worth going to the mat for. However, there are certainly times in life when you need to say, “Enough!”

Israel once again finds itself beset by enemies that want their small eastern Mediterranean seacoast nation eliminated. The enemies of Israel will settle for nothing less than the extermination of the Jewish race. If you question this, then you have no knowledge of history. Just in the past few weeks alone, we’ve been subjected to rantings by the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. This “Head of State” publicly stated that the Holocaust never occurred. He avows that six million Jews were never eliminated in the Nazi death camps of Auschwitz, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen, and Treblinka. Then, as if this foolishness was not enough, he declared that it was his intention to eliminate the Jewish State. Do you see the inconsistency in this statement? He denies the Holocaust, yet he wants all Jews dead.

It should be noted that there are fifty-seven Holocaust Memorials around the world, twenty-three of which are in the United States. Add to that the personal experience of no less a worthy than General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War II. He recorded his own reactions after visiting the death camps. “I have never felt able to describe my emotional reaction when I first came face to face with indisputable evidence of Nazi brutality and ruthless disregard of every shred of decency...I visited every nook and cranny of the camp because I felt it my duty to be in a position from then on to testify at first hand about these things in case there ever grew up at home the belief or assumption that the stories of Nazi brutality were just propaganda.”

So it should come as no surprise that Iran, along with Syria, is fomenting this conflict. Six years ago Israel was encouraged to leave southern Lebanon alone, assured by the United Nations that the Lebanese government would see to it that the radical Islamic group, Hezbollah, would be disarmed, and therefore no longer a threat to Israel. Because the Lebanese government never dealt with Hezbollah, this terror group has been free to harass Israel with impunity.

Take a look at your world map and count the number of countries that border Israel: Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, with Saudi Arabia a stones throw across the Gulf of Aqaba. Now, name one country in that group that is not committed to the destruction and ultimate annihilation of the Jewish State. Can’t name one, can you?

As a nation formed under UN mandate in 1948, Israel has had to fight for its existence ever since. There was the “Six-Day War” in 1967; followed by the “Yom Kippur War” in 1973. What this current war will be called in the annals of history is yet to be determined.

Israel is the 6th strongest military power in the world. Thus, it is laughable, if it were not so tragic, to hear other heads of state from the G8 Conference call for Israel to not use excessive force in responding to the attacks by Hezbollah and Hamas. Excuse me, but these world leaders calling for calm should be grateful that Israel has not unleashed the full fury of their military might. And they may yet – and could you blame them? Suppose you had to wake up every day with someone pointing a gun at your head, I guarantee you’d be fed up pretty quickly, especially if you had the means to take care of this nemesis. You can only be provoked so long before you take action. Israel has picked her time to fight. They also know they will get little sympathy and virtually no support from the world community, apart from the United States. They will do what they need to do in order to protect their people and survive. If you want to experience peace with an enemy, you hit them so hard and fast that it will be a long time before they ever consider trying to hurt you again.

Where will this all end? Are we looking at World War III? Is the Battle of Armageddon just around the corner? Time will tell.

Israel is facing her enemies in a way reminiscent of David facing Goliath – only this time David is muscular and robust, carrying a whole lot more than a slingshot. I would not be surprised if Israel effectively wipes out the Hezbollah and Hamas, and even goes after Iran’s strategic sites. At the very least it would certainly be a welcome help in the ongoing war on terrorism.

In the midst of this war I am reminded in the Bible to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

I invite you to join me.