JUSTIFIABLE RESPONSE

President Obama is right in stating: "What I have said in the past and I continue to believe is that the Israelis justifiably have to guard against the transfer of advanced weaponry to terrorist organizations like Hezbollah. We coordinate closely with the Israelis recognizing they are very close to Syria, they are very close to Lebanon."

While I applaud the president's firm response in this situation, the word "close" is a massive understatement. Let me explain. You can actually see Damascus, the capital of Syria from the Golan Heights (in Israeli territory). Then there is Hezbollah, the avowed enemy of Israel who have repeatedly attacked Israel with countless rocket attacks from Lebanon is just over the northern mountains. In fact, from Jerusalem the distance to its surrounding nations' capitals is as follows: Amman, Jordan - 44 miles, Beirut, Lebanon - 146 miles and Damascus, Syria - 135 miles. These are capital-to-capital mileages! Israel cannot leave the possibility of chemical weapons falling into the hands of Hezbollah or any other terrorist groups.

Israel was not taking sides in a civil war in Syria by making airstrikes in Syria over the last two days. They simply had to respond to the possibility of Syrian rebels seizing control of the Syrian armory of weapons.  There is little doubt that some factions of the rebels would use them against the Jewish state. Russia is no friend of Israel, but at least while supporting the Syrian government, they to help constrain them from using their arsenal of chemical weapons against the State of Israel.

However, let me be clear, the more significant restraint for Syria is the fact that the Israeli Defense Forces are far superior to their borderline neighbors. Israel cannot trust any nation, the United States included, to protect it from the threats it faces.

Frankly, I hate killing. Even war as necessary as it may sometimes be is an evil scar upon all humanity. But in the world environment in which we live, where the hatred of anything Jewish is so prevalent, Israel must fight for its very existence. It must, it will.

Like most people around the world, I wish the conflicts of the Middle East would just go away, but that is a childish hope. These issues that literally threaten world peace will not simply disappear, we must all play a part.

So I pray and act. Peace can only come from changed hearts. Join the solution, act and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.