ISRAEL AND THE WEST SHARE THE SAME DESTINY

The Shared Destiny of Israel and the West

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein - Jun 07, 2007

International Fellowship of Christians and Jews

Dear Friend of The Fellowship,

Tuesday, June 5 marked the 40th anniversary of the beginning of one of the most extraordinary chapters in the history of the modern state of Israel the Six Day War.

In May, 1967, Egypt’s President Gamal Nasser sent troops into the Sinai, and kicked out the U.N. troops that had been stationed there since the end of the 1956 Sinai war. Nasser also violated international law by blockading the Straits of Tiran, cutting off a critical supply route to the southern Israel port city of Eilat. This was accompanied by a huge buildup of armies on Israel’s borders, not just by Egypt, but by other states including Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

These provocative, aggressive acts were accompanied by equally provocative, aggressive rhetoric. From Cairo, Egyptian state radio thundered, “This is our chance Arabs, to deal Israel a mortal blow of annihilation, to blot out its entire presence in our holy land.” Egyptian President Nasser stated flatly, “Our basic objective will be the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight.” President Aref of Iraq joined in, saying, “The existence of Israel is an error which must be rectified.” The Syrian Defense Minister rallied his Arab allies by saying that “the time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation” with Israel. The chairman of the then three-year-old Palestinian Liberation Organization told his followers, “We shall destroy Israel and its inhabitants and as for the survivors if there are any the boats are ready to deport them.” (It should be noted that these calls for Israel’s destruction came before Israel took possession of Gaza and the West Bank meaning that calls for Israel to end its “occupation” of those areas in exchange for peace are little more than excuses to force concessions from Israel).

Surrounded by hundreds of thousands of hostile troops, with the threats of destruction repeated daily by the leaders of neighboring nations, Israel was faced with a stark choice. The intentions of her enemies were clear. She could sit and wait for her enemies to attack a move that would almost certainly amount to suicide. Or, she could send her armies in self-defense against the hostile forces surrounding her. She chose the latter course.

In the early morning of June 5, 1967, the entire Israeli air force scrambled to attack Egyptian airfields while Egyptian pilots were still eating breakfast. It was a brilliant move within hours, nearly 300 Egyptian planes were destroyed. Hoping to limit the conflict, Israel pleaded with Jordan and Syria not to get involved, but these requests were ignored. Jordan attacked West Jerusalem. Syria began shelling northern Israel. So Israel launched attacks against Jordanian and Syrian air power, crippling them just as it had the Egyptian forces. With Arab air forces inactive, Israel concentrated on fighting on the ground, winning numerous victories in fierce fighting. Six days later, Israel accepted an offer of cease-fire from her enemies.

The war was a stunning victory overall for Israel. Israeli forces gained control of Gaza and Sinai from Egypt, Judea and Samaria (comprising the West Bank territories) from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. The Holy City of Jerusalem, divided since the founding of the modern state of Israel in 1948, was at last united under Israeli rule. Yet, even after sustaining these losses, the vanquished Arab nations refused to sit down and negotiate a lasting peace or establish mutually acceptable boundaries with Israel. They would not even accept Israel’s right to exist in their midst.

Very little has changed in the last 40 years. The rhetoric that flows from Israel’s Arab and Muslim neighbors is as hateful and threatening as ever. Just this week, Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has made so many vicious threats against the Jewish State, said, “the countdown button for the destruction of the Zionist regime has been pushed … By God's will, we will witness the destruction of this regime in the near future.” Hamas, the terrorist group that rules the Palestinian Authority, recently declared that “Recognition of Israel is out of the question.” Every day, in print and electronic media, venomous anti-Israel, anti-Jewish attacks are distributed to millions in the Arab world.

This can only lead to one conclusion: Israel’s Arab neighbors are no more willing to compromise or reconcile with Israel than they were in 1967. We see evidence for this nearly every day not just in words, but in action in the incessant firing of rockets at the central Israel city of Sderot, the continued buildup of Syrian military forces at Israel’s northern border, and by the rearming of Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon that has continued unabated since the end of last summer’s Israel-Hezbollah war.

In 1968, one year after the Six Day war ended, author Eric Hoffer wrote a memorable article about Israel’s plight and how Israel’s plight was tied in with the destiny of the West as a whole. “I have a premonition that will not leave me,” he concluded. “As it goes with Israel, so will it go with all of us.”

Today, more than ever, we see that he was right. Radical Islam has declared war not just on Israel, but on the West. The evidence is there in the carnage caused in New York by the attacks of 9/11, the Madrid train bombings, the London subway attacks, and in countless other acts of terror directed against the West and Western interests worldwide. With the rise of this hateful ideology, the battle lines have been drawn, and those of us who love freedom must stand for Israel. Israel’s survival and the survival of all freedom-loving societies depends upon it.

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President