SURROUNDED

The military threat zone for Israel is from every side. The Jewish State is literally surrounded by those who wish to destroy it. Let me reiterate a bit of what has happened lately:

·      On October 6, 2012, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) shot down an unmanned drone in Israeli territory. It had entered Israeli airspace from Gaza, having been first tracked by the IDF over the Mediterranean. Iranian supplied and supported “Hezbollah” in Southern Lebanon later confirmed they had sent the drone into Israeli airspace.

·      On November 11, 2012, a mortar was fired into Israel’s Golan Territory by the Syrian Army (Iranian allies). On the 12^th, another mortar was fired by the Syrian Army and Israel responded by destroying the mortar battery. On that same day an IDF soldier was shot from the Syrian side. He was not seriously injured.

·      On Sunday, November 25, 2012, the Associated Press (AP) reported that Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah stated Hezbollah (Iranian allies) “would fire thousands of rockets into Israel in any future war and target cities in the country’s heartland.”

·      Over 2,300 rockets have been launched at Israel from Gaza by Hamas militants (Iranian allies) since January 2012. While most of the rockets have been fired from Gaza, some have been fired from Egyptian Territory. Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were targeted in specific defiance of what Binyamin Netanyahu had previously referred to as a “red line.”

There is more but let’s consider something very troubling in these cited examples: these attacks and threats are what is known in military language as a “Perimeter Test.” Gaza, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and the Mediterranean surround over half of the State of Israel. Now, growing unrest of the same type that has collapsed several Mideast governments and empowered avowed enemies of Israel is breaking out in Jordan. The fall of friendly Jordan into the hands of extremists would close the circle of hatred around Israel. Just yesterday Shihab-Eddim, one of the top aides to Egypt’s president Mohammad Morsi stated: “The myth of the Holocaust is an industry that America invented. U.S. intelligence agencies in cooperation with their counterparts in allied nations during World War II created it [the Holocaust] to destroy the image of their opponents in Germany, and to justify war and massive destruction against military and civilian facilities of the Axis powers, and especially to hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the atomic bomb.” “These outlandish claims were made as the world marked Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27.

Is it any wonder that Israel feels threatened? Should America also feel threatened by this kind of radical perversion of reality by a so-called ally? We must pay attention to what is happening.

Today it is being broadcast in the worldwide media that Israel attacked a convoy in Syria. It is reported in the Jerusalem Post: “Israel strikes Syrian weapons en route to Hezbollah. Target was truckload of weapons, going from Syria to Lebanon,” says diplomat, adding that cache likely not chemical weapons; source says load probably included high-tech anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles.”

Syria, of course has a different version of what happened, but in any case, Israel will not hesitate to act when it feels legitimately threatened.

I returned from Israel yesterday. Last Saturday, Sharon, my wife and I sat in park in Jerusalem and watched families picnic together; a dog chased every soccer ball he could get near, children played on slides, runners circled the park. Just mere weeks ago sirens warned of incoming rockets. Life must go on in the Holy Land.

You and I can help protect lives in Jerusalem: Arab, Jewish, resident foreigners and religious pilgrims’ lives from around the world. How?

First, pay attention. Second, be informed. Third, communicate your concerns to your spiritual and political leaders, Fourth and most importantly…pray. Pray for those trapped in these conflicts. Pray for Middle Eastern Leaders. Pray for those engaged in working to bring comfort and security to the land God proclaimed sacred.

And as we are commanded by Scripture, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.