The Miraculous Nation and Her Enemies

The miraculous nation has always had her enemies. She always will. The civilized people of the world stand with Israel in her fight to maintain her security.

Captain Avraham Adan raising the Ink Flag, marking the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. CC Image uploaded from Wikimedia Commons.

On May 14, 1948, the state of Israel was born. In the aftermath of World War Two and the horrors of the Holocaust, hundreds of thousands of Jews from Europe and around the world flocked to their ancient homeland, determined to never again be subject to the whims of a diaspora that had tormented them for thousands of years. After the United Nations carved the states of Israel and Palestine out of the British Palestinian Mandate, the Jews who flocked to the territory were guaranteed their right to self-determination. 

On May 15, 1948, a coalition of five Arab states, apoplectic at the idea of the Jewish people reclaiming their birthright, invaded the fledgling state. Their goals were simple: they wanted to finish what the Nazis had started and wipe out as many Jews as possible to force them out of Israel. Over the next year, Israel fought tooth and nail against their regional enemies. Despite being assaulted on all sides, the new nation emerged victorious. It would not be going too far to view this miracle as being biblically inspired. 

While this was the first miracle of the new Jewish state, it would not be the last. In 1973, while on holiday, Israel found herself ambushed once again by a coalition of neighbor nations. Once again, they were caught flat-footed, and once again, the war ended in a miraculous nature for the Jewish people. Across the entirety of her existence, Israel has been under constant threat from threats across the region. 

Today, she finds herself under assault once more. The events of the past weekend are just the latest in a longstanding dynamic in the Middle East. The desire from Israel’s neighbors, this time Hamas, to eradicate the Jewish people from the face of Israel is nothing new. The horrors that Hamas unleashed on the people of Israel aren’t unique. Israel has been here before, and she will be here again. And she deserves our unwavering support. 

There are those who attempt to make a moral equivalency between Israel and Hamas. There are those who urge the Israeli people to show restraint in the face of these attacks. These people are, in a word, wrong. For too long has Israel granted her enemies undue mercy, and the results have been a continued assault on Israel’s right to self-determination. No more. Hamas is not a civilized actor. They do not abide by the laws of civilized nations. They are savages, and Israel should do what she must to ensure these savages never again threaten the Jewish people. 

The miraculous nation has always had her enemies. She always will. The civilized people of the world stand with Israel in her fight to maintain her security. 

Scott Howard is an undergraduate student at the University of Florida. An alumnus intern of National Review, he is currently an Editor at Lone Conservative and volunteers as an Associate Editor for the Freemen News-Letter. @ConservaMuse