WHO WANTS IT MORE?

By now, everybody reading this Robservation is aware of the war that is raging in Israel. The Hamas attacks have been ruthless and bloody. Israel has responded and will continue to respond as necessary. Just to set the record straight, I believe Israel has EVERY right to defend itself. Period.

I was reading my Bible the other day and came across Proverbs 12:24. It says, “The hand of the diligent will rule, but the slack will be put to forced labor.” It is interesting that it doesn’t say something like the “righteous will rule” but it clearly claims the diligent will rule. Good or bad, righteous or evil. Who wants it more? Regarding today’s Israeli conflict, I must ask, “who wants it more?” Does Israel want their safety and security more than Hamas and the surrounding countries crave their destruction? It is really a very simple question.

Let’s not kid ourselves, folks. This war is merely another attempt at the destruction of Israel. Does anybody out there truly believe that Israel is a threat to its neighbors? Does anybody honestly believe Israel’s neighbors fear an unprovoked attack from them? Everybody knows Israel has nuclear weapons but does anybody fear an Israeli first strike using these weapons? Nobody fears this. Nobody. The only people losing any sleep over Israel’s limited nuclear arsenal are those who plot the destruction of the Jewish state and wonder how they can achieve this without Israel being able to strike first.

LET’S LOOK AT SOME NUMBERS

In the entire world, there are approximately 15 million Jews. They represent approximately .2% of the world population. By comparison, there are roughly 2 billion Muslims or 25% of the world population. In the Jewish state’s immediate neighborhood, these are the Muslim populations in millions of each country. Syria – 15; Lebanon - 3.56; Jordan - 10.1; Iraq - 39.6; Iran - 82.5; Egypt - 85.5; and Saudi Arabia - 31.5. Just in these countries alone, there are some 269 million Muslims as opposed to 7.18 million Jews. And get this, there are approximately1.5 million Muslims living in Israel representing approximately 18% of the total population. Please tell me which Muslim country would allow a Jewish population of close to 20%.

So, the argument that I continually hear is that Israel’s neighbors fear them and the Israeli state. This is patently absurd. There is no way almost 270 million people fear a miniscule 7 million. Oh they may fear Israeli knowledge, sophistication and military prowess but I do not believe they “fear” them coming across their borders unprovoked and waging war. If they would leave Israel alone, Israel would not be compelled to spank them into reality. What we see here, rather than fear is nothing more than pure hate. Hatred for the Jews, the Jewish state and everything the Jews stand for. And guess what? No amount of appeasement and compromise is ever going to change that. Love? Yes. Appeasement? No! There are those all around the world who will hate every Jew on the planet for the simple reason that they are Jews. Israel could concede every demand presented to them and yet many will continue to try and kill them all. This is not the first time in world history.

Therefore, when I look at the conflict as it is beginning to play itself out, the Israelis have no reason to appease anybody. Winston Churchill once said that appeasement is like feeding an alligator hoping that he will eat you last. Israel has business to attend to. And unfortunately for the innocent Palestinians, of which there are likely millions, thousands are going to die in this war. Civilians always die in war. That is a sad reality and we cannot escape it. But the truth is that history shows us that bad men (and women) often get good people killed. Military commanders and civilian leaders too often must face the inevitable question that too many in peacetime do not want to confront. How many of your people am I willing to kill if it means my people survive? Different wars have clearly witnessed different answers to this question.

ANTI-SEMITISM

One thing this conflict has shown me is the disgusting and vile anti-Semitism that is running rampant around the world. This is even seen in American “elite universities” and even some despicable members of our government who stand behind Hamas and their actions while publicly sharing known propaganda lies. Perfect example, the bombing of the Al-Ahli Baptist hospital. It is known that it was an Islamic Jihad missile that went astray and hit the hospital parking lot killing about 50 people. It was not an Israeli missile attack that killed close to 500.

I for one have no time for anti-Semitism. Growing up I had way too many Jewish friends and am still friends with many of them today. There are so many inane reasons I hear people state why they hate the Jews so much. Each is more ridiculous than the next. But since the attacks, I have read several comments on blogs by so-called Christians (sadly) who hate the Jews because, “They killed Jesus.” What? Yeah, technically this is true but is this all these people get out of the Gospels? Do they know nothing of prophecy or why Jesus came to us? Why He had to die? That He willingly gave his life to save us? For starters, maybe these people should go read Mt 26:53, Jn 18:11, Mk 14:49, Mt 26:39, Mk 14:36, Lk 22:42, Heb 12:2, Jn 12:27 and Lk 24:34. Just start there. This virulent anti-Semitism is gaining traction but what do you expect when .2% of the world population must stand seemingly alone at times against the forces of evil dominating this world?

I believe things have to possibility to get ugly fast. If you believe the Bible, and I do, we should not be surprised. But Israel still has the right to defend itself against all odds. The insane calls for a ceasefire ring meaningless to me. Hamas attacks Israel and kills over a thousand of its people, Hamas continues to launch rockets and when Israel punches them square in the face and starts kicking their teeth in, they get uncomfortable and call for a ceasefire. No, I do not think so. Sometimes, bullies must be taught a lesson and Israel has its teaching clothes on.

All things being equal, I would love to see this war end tomorrow. But it is not going to. There are already too many wheels in motion and there is way too much hate involved. With each justified but bloody air attack, hatred against the Israeli state will continue to mount. The UN (United Nothings) is going to slobber and pontificate over their bloated self-importance, more people are going to call for an Israeli ceasefire while not securing guarantees by any other of the actors involved and condemning fingers are going to continually point at Israel. We have seen all of this before. There is nothing new under the sun here. But Israel, regardless of any international condemnation must stay its course. Not targeting civilians like their enemy continually does, but locating Hamas militants everywhere they find them and then doing the right thing. One of my primary prayers is for innocent Palestinians. I pray for them because there are certainly millions of good people there. However, many of them, like civilians throughout history, will unfortunately have to pay the ultimate price for the actions of the evil men they voted into office. But first and foremost, I pray for the state of Israel and its people. The world is a better place with them in it. Lord, let cooler heads prevail.