From a Jewish perspective comes this very important article that we want to share with our readers.

PEACE IN ISRAEL IS POSSIBLE, BUT ULTIMATELY NOT THROUGH THE FORCE OF ARMS! by Rabbi Noson Weisz

The State of Israel may be 58 years old, but we are still fighting for our existence. We do not need the experts to tell us that this ceasefire is merely a respite; experience has taught us that lasting peace in the Middle East is a chimera.

The Declaration of Independence in 1948 defines the State of Israel as a Jewish country. No other country on earth is defined in terms of its religion. There are many countries where the majority of the population is Moslem or Christian, but a Christian has no right of return to England or France or the United States, nor will Egypt or Iran accept every Moslem. Every Jew, however, has the right of return and can become an Israeli citizen on demand. Why? Because Israel is the Jewish homeland and a place of refuge for world Jewry.

This is an inspiring concept, but it presents the Jewish people with an extremely challenging issue; how to define a Jew. It is absurd to call yourself a Jewish country if you have no clear idea of what being Jewish means, and yet that is precisely our situation.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

To appreciate the problem from a Torah standpoint, we need some historical perspective.

At the time of the Exodus over 3,000 years ago, the world Jewish population stood at well over a million. All things being equal, the Jewish population today should be roughly equivalent to the Chinese; yet there are only 14 million Jews worldwide.

No doubt this enormous discrepancy is partially attributable to our blood drenched history, but most of the attrition in our numbers is the result of fallout. It took a lot of self-sacrifice to be Jewish throughout most of recorded history, and many Jews elected to drop out under compulsion or when the opportunity presented itself.

For example, in 1492 when the Jews of Spain were faced with the choice of conversion or expulsion, two thirds elected to convert rather than face exile. As the creation of the Inquisition attests, this conversion was no more than lip service, but over the course of generations these Jews disappeared entirely. Five hundred years down the road it is impossible to distinguish between the descendants of these conversos and ordinary Spaniards.

We owe the survival of the Jewish people to the Jews who chose to pay the cost of being Jewish in a hostile world.

We owe the survival of the Jewish people and therefore by extension, the existence of the modern Jewish state, to the Jews who elected to remain in the fold throughout the ages and pay the cost of being Jewish in a hostile world. The most recent evidence of the enormous cost of being Jewish is the Holocaust, an unprecedented phenomenon in human history. Not that genocide is rare, but systematic genocide on such an enormous scale when there is no territorial dispute between the contending racial groups to trigger the violence has no historic parallel.

The Holocaust in particular has a special connection with the establishment of the modern State of Israel. The collective guilt and horror of the nations of the world at the immensity of the atrocity perpetrated against the Jewish people was the major factor behind the recognition granted by the international community to the nascent Jewish state. For a brief moment, the peoples of the world recognized the necessity of a Jewish refuge. The State of Israel was paid for with Jewish blood — the blood of the six million victims of the Holocaust as well as all the Jewish blood spilled over the last 2,000 years.

MODERN ISRAEL

The majority of Israelis are secular and perceive themselves as members of the developed world; the aspirations of the modern Israeli are more or less the same as the aspirations of Western Europeans or Americans. Walking around Haifa or Tel Aviv feels little different than walking around Manhattan, Los Angeles or Toronto. The cars and buildings are not as big, but the people look and feel the same except that the language is Hebrew instead of English.

We have a long, long way to go before reaching end of Jewish history.

Is this what all the bloodshed, suffering and self-sacrifice of the past 2,000 years were about? Is this an appropriate culmination of the mighty heritage of the Jewish people? Did the heroic Jews of history surrender their lives to preserve their faith and stubbornly cling to their unique Sinaic covenant so that their descendants could enjoy the “good life” in the Holy Land and recreate a Hebrew speaking version of New York?

Modern Israel is not the culmination of Jewish history. It may be a step toward the fulfillment of our destiny, but given the fact that there is nothing particularly Jewish about happily pursuing the “good life” sheltered and protected by the might of the Israeli army, it is clear that we have a long, long way to go before reaching end of Jewish history.

THE DIVINE RESPONSE

The Almighty has made a covenant and He will not allow Jewish destiny to slip into oblivion. If the present situation in Israel fails to justify the existence of a Jewish state, Divine Providence will by necessity react with a tailor-made response designed to deliver the clear message that the Jewish nation requires. Israel will not be allowed to simply live peacefully here in the Holy Land when a wake up call is in order.

World Jewry and in particular Israeli Jews will be forced to confront the issue of their Jewishness and to reflect on the significance of living in a Jewish country. We are compelled to face these issues existentially when we are forced to pay a price for being Jewish in a Jewish country.

Jews are an extraordinary people. When I encounter non-Jews, I always attempt to enquire if they have any idea how many Jews there are in the world. The general response is hundreds of millions. This makes sense to me. Who could really believe that a people who are less than one percent of the world population could accomplish so much? Jews have won 30 percent of the Nobel prizes in science since they were awarded. Much of the intellectual progress made in the 20th century was fueled by the ideas of three Jewish thinkers: Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx.

Jews are an appreciable percentage of the intelligentsia of the developed world; they are doctors, lawyers, professors, writers etc. out of all proportion to their numbers. In prestigious universities they are a large percentage of the student body. Jews are at the forefront of all movements for social justice, and despite their relatively tiny numbers are responsible for a lot of the philanthropy in the Western world. They have managed to rebuild the Jewish state after a 2,000 year hiatus and to revive a dead language, both unprecedented accomplishments in the annals of human history.

Jews themselves are the only people in the world who do not realize how special they are. The desire to fit in and be like everyone else prevents them from focusing on the significance of their Jewishness and reaching clarity about what being a Jew means. There is little urgency in defining a Jew if Jews are identical to other people anyway. They need to be reminded that they have a unique historic mission which sets them apart, and it is essential to their security and well being to understand this mission and define it clearly. Divine Providence will present them with thought-provoking stimuli whenever they show signs of ignoring their Jewishness and abandoning their mission.

CONFRONTAION

There is no question that a terrorist is fully accountable for his evil acts. It goes without saying that anyone who commits indiscriminate horrors in God’s name will ultimately suffer due retribution. In addition to this fact, let us touch on the behind-the-scenes workings of Divine Providence that transcend the willing agents of destruction.

God will not let us ignore the question.

The suicide bomber who blows up a bus and the Hezbollah terrorist who aims his Katyusha rockets at innocent people with the declared intent of killing as many Jews as possible are powerful spiritual stimuli. They force Israelis to confront the existential issue of their Judaism. Why us? Why is it our fate to suffer bloodshed no matter how reasonable we try to be and no matter how many withdrawals we make? Why is it necessary in today’s world, where civil rights have finally become entrenched in all developed countries, to maintain a Jewish enclave in the Middle East at such great cost? If we are really no different than other people, why is it worth sacrificing our children’s lives to maintain a Jewish State? Perhaps we would be better off in the U.S. or Europe?

God will not let us ignore the question. The Jewish people signed a solemn agreement with God to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation”. This undertaking is our social contract; it defines our place in the world as God’s representatives. And this is especially true about the Land of Israel. The Almighty’s promise to Abraham to deliver the land to his children is clearly conditional on their observance of their covenant with God. For I have loved him, because he commands his children and his household after him that they keep the way of God, doing charity and justice, in order that God might then bring upon Abraham that which he had spoken about (Genesis 18,19).

Peace in Israel is possible, but ultimately not through the force of arms. Our forefathers who were driven out of Israel twice knew this well, and Divine Providence treated them with greater severity than it treats us. Instead of sending them a wake-up call, Divine Providence banished them altogether.

In contrast, the typical modern Israeli is ignorant of the need to hold on to the Covenant of Abraham in order to hold on to his country. Providence will not banish him; it will provide him with stimuli to prompt a series of soul-searching questions that if taken to heart, could provoke genuine change.

This is no doubt painful, but the thrust is entirely benevolent. In Jewish thought ignorance is never bliss and the acquisition of knowledge is always painful. But through the workings of Providence, the Jewish people are learning. When the lesson is fully internalized there will be lasting peace.

EDITOR’S NOTE:
While studying at the famed yeshivas of Chaim Berlin, Lakewood and the Mir in Jerusalem, Rabbi Noson Weisz also received a degree in Microbiology from the University of Toronto, MA in Political Science at the New School for Social Research and his LLB from the University of Toronto. Rabbi Weisz is currently a senior lecturer at Yeshiva Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem.

A senior Iranian nuclear official in Tehran: Iran is ready to enter into “serious negotiations” on a “new formula” submitted Tuesday

August 22, 2006, 5:46 PM (GMT+02:00)

The contents have not been released of the formula just submitted in response to the six-power incentives package offered in exchange for Iran halting enrichment.

The contents of the Iranian response have not been released. US Ambassador John Bolton told reporters: “We will study the Iranian response and if it is not satisfactory are prepared to move on elements of a UN resolution very quickly.”

Twenty-four hours earlier, Iran announced its Arak heavy water plant would soon be operational. The announcement came from Dep Dir of Iran’s nuclear program Mohammad Saidi hours before Tehran’s response was handed in. Iran’s supreme ruler Ali Khamenei said nothing will turn his country from its course. According to an unnamed source in Vienna talking to AKI, new centrifuges have been installed at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility over the past week.

The Arak plant could produce plutonium for nuclear bombs by an alternative method to the uranium enrichment process.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The United Nations is now facing a serious confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program and its intentions toward Israel. Remember that Iran (ancient Persia) is mentioned first in the confederacy of nations who attack Israel (Ezekiel 38-39). Bible scholars and teachers disagree over when this attack (which has NOT ever happened in history!) will occur. Some say BEFORE the Day of the Lord or the Tribulation begins. Others says DURING the Tribulation, and others say that this battle is the same as The Battle of Armageddon and CONCLUDES the Tribulation. God knows – we do not! As our Lord Yeshua taught us – keep your eyes on the return of our blessed Messiah – He is our HOPE but now and forever!

DEBKAfile report – link is on our list of “links” on the front page of our web site!

While the damage caused Israel’s military reputation has dominated Western assessments of the Lebanon war, DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report an entirely different perception taking hold in ruling circles in Tehran.

After UN Security Council resolution 1701 calling for a truce was carried Friday, Aug. 11, the heads of the regime received two separate evaluations of the situation in Lebanon – one from Iran’s foreign ministry and one from its supreme national security council. Both were bleak: their compilers were concerned that Iran had been manipulatively robbed of its primary deterrent asset ahead of a probable nuclear confrontation with the United States and Israel.

While the foreign ministry report highlighted the negative aspects of the UN resolution, the council’s document complained that Hizballah squandered thousands of rockets – either by firing them into Israel or having them destroyed by the Israeli air force.

The writer of this report is furious over the waste of Iran’s most important military investment in Lebanon merely for the sake of a conflict with Israeli over two kidnapped soldiers. It took Iran two decades to build up Hizballah’s rocket inventory.

DEBKAfile’s sources estimate that Hizballah’s adventure wiped out most of the vast sum of $4-6 billion the Iranian treasury sunk into building its military strength. The organization was meant to be strong and effective enough to provide Iran with a formidable deterrent to Israel embarking on a military operation to destroy the Islamic regime’s nuclear infrastructure.

To this end, Tehran bought the Israeli military doctrine of preferring to fight its wars on enemy soil. In the mid-1980s, Iran decided to act on this doctrine by coupling its nuclear development program with Israel’s encirclement and the weakening its deterrence strength. The Jewish state was identified at the time as the only country likely to take vigorous action to spike Iran’s nuclear aspirations.

The Ayatollahs accordingly promoted Hizballah’s rise as a socio-political force in Lebanon, at the same time building up its military might and capabilities for inflicting damage of strategic dimensions to Israel’s infrastructure.

That effort was accelerated after Israeli forces withdrew from the Lebanese security zone in May 2000. A bunker network and chain of fortified positions were constructed, containing war rooms equipped with the finest western hi-tech gadgetry, including night vision gear, computers and electronics, as well as protective devices against bacteriological and chemical warfare. This fortified network was designed for assault and defense alike.

Short- medium- and long-range rockets gave the hard edge to Hizballah’s ablity to conduct a destructive war against Israel and its civilians – when the time was right for Tehran.

Therefore, Iran’s rulers are hopping mad and deeply anxious over news of the huge damage sustained by Hizballah’s rocket inventory, which was proudly touted before the war as numbering 13,000 pieces.

Hizballah fighters, they are informed, managed to fire only a small number of Khaibar-1 rockets, most of which hit Haifa and Afula, while nearly 100 were destroyed or disabled by Israeli air strikes.

The long-range Zelzal-1 and Zelzal-2, designed for hitting Tel Aviv and the nuclear reactor at Dimona have been degraded even more. Iran sent over to Lebanon 50 of those missiles. The keys to the Zelzal stores stayed in the hands of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers who were in command of Hizballah. Nasrallah and his officers had no access to these stores.

But Tehran has learned that Israel was able to destroy most of the 22 Zelzal launchers provided.

That is not the end of the catalogue of misfortunes for the Islamic rulers of Iran.

1. The UN Security Council embodied in resolution 1701 a chapter requiring Hizballah to disarm – in the face of a stern warning issued by supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in person in the early days of the war. Revolutionary Guards commanders went so far as to boast: “No one alive is capable of disarming Hizballah.”

The disarming of Hizballah would therefore be a bad knock to the supreme ruler’s authority and prestige as well as a disastrous blow for the deterrent force so painstakingly and expensively fashioned as a second front line to protect the Islamic republic from a safe distance.

2. Hizballah’s ejection from South Lebanon, if accomplished in the aftermath of the ceasefire, would moreover deprive Tehran of the sword hanging over Israel’s head of instantaneous attack.

For the sake of partial damage control, Tehran handed Nasrallah a set of new instructions Sunday, Aug. 13:

First, to find a way of evading the ceasefire and keeping up war operations against Israeli forces.

Second, to reject the proposal to disarm before the Lebanese government meets on this Monday afternoon. In fact, that meeting was called off after Hassan Nasrallah sent a message to the Lebanese ministers flatly refusing to have Hizballah give up its weapons in the south. He also turned down a compromise proposal handed him later, whereby the Lebanese army’s first mission after deploying in the south would be to help Hizballah evacuate its fighters with their arms to positions north of the Litani River.

The strategy evolving in Tehran since the ceasefire went into effect Monday morning requires Hizballah to employ a range of stratagems – not only to prevent the truce from stabilizing but to stop the Lebanese army from deploying n the south and, above all, the entry of an effective international force.

Furthermore, Hizballah is instructed to stretch the military crisis into the next three or four months, synchronously with the timetable for a UN Security Council sanctions-wielding session on Iran.

According to exclusive reports reaching DEBKAfile’s sources, the Iranian government believes that Israel and the United States are preparing a military operation for this coming October and November to strike Iran’s nuclear installations. It is therefore vital to keep the two armies fully occupied with other pursuits.

Iranian leaders’ conviction that the Lebanon war was staged to bamboozle them rests on certain perceptions:

As seen from Tehran, Israel looked as though it was carrying out a warming-up exercise in preparation for its main action against Iran’s nuclear program. The Israeli army was able to explore, discover and correct its weak points, understand what was lacking and apply the necessary remedial measures. They therefore expect the IDF to emerge from the war having produced novel methods of warfare.

They also have no doubt that the United States will replenish Israel’s war chest with a substantial aid program of new and improved weaponry.

From the Iranian viewpoint, Israel succeeded in seriously degrading Hizballah’s capabilities. It was also able to throw the Lebanese Shiite militia to the wolves; the West is now in a position to force Nasrallah and his men to quit southern Lebanon and disarm. The West shut its eyes when he flouted the Resolution 1559 order for the disarmament of all Lebanese militias. But that game is over. The Americans will use Resolution 1701 as an effective weapon to squeeze Iran, denied of its second-front deterrence, on its nuclear program.

Tehran hopes to pre-empt the American move by torpedoing the Lebanon ceasefire and preventing the termination of hostilities at all costs.

In the light of what is currently going on in Israel (much disagreement and anger over events surrounding the “cease-fire” proposed by the United Nations), it is interesting to review what Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on July 31st (just a couple of weeks ago!):

“The Israel Defense Forces will continue to attack targets from which missiles and Katyusha rockets are fired at hospitals, old age homes and kindergartens in Israel. I have instructed the security forces and the IDF to continue to hunt for the Katyusha stockpiles and launch sites from which these savages are bombarding the State of Israel. We will not hesitate, we will not apologize, and we will not back off. If they continue to launch missiles into Israel…we will continue to bomb…today, romorrow, and the day after tomorrow!

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time you understood: the Jewish State will no longer be trampled upon. We will no longer allow anyone to exploit population centers in order to bomb our citizens. No one will be able to hide anymore behind women and children in order to kill our woman and children. This anarchy is over. You can condemn us, you can boycott us, you can stop visiting us and, if necessary, we will stop visiting you.

“A voice for six million citizens – today I am serving as the voice of six million bombarded Israeli citizens who serve as the voice of six million murdered Jews who were melted down to dust and ashes by savages in Europe. In both cases, those responsible for these evil acts were, and are, barbarians devoid of all humanity, who set themselves one simple goal: to wipe the Jewish race off the face of the earth, as Adolph Hitler said, or to wipe the State of Israel off the map, as Mahmoud Ahmedinjad proclaims. And you – just as you did not take those words seriously then, you are ignoring them again now! And that, ladies and gentlemen, leaders of the world, will NOT happen again – NEVER AGAIN will we wait for bombs that never came to hit the gas chambers. NEVER AGAIN will we wait for salvation that never arrives!

“Every place from which a Katyusha is fired into the State of Israel will be a legitimate target for us to attack. This must be stated clearly and publicly, once and for all. You are welcome to judge us, to ostracize us, to boycott us, and to vilify us. But to kill us? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

“In a loud clear voice, looking you straight in the eye, I stand before you openly and I will not apologize. I will not capitulate. I will not whine. This is a battle for our freedom. for our humanity. For the right to lead normal lives within our reconized, legitimate borders. It is also your battle. I pray and I believe that now you will understand that. Because if you don’t you may regret it later, when it’s too late.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: The above quotations from PM Olmert’s speech are strong, but Israel’s desire for the approval of world leadership is undermining what he said. There is only One to Whom the Nation of Israel must answer – it is the LORD GOD of ISRAEL – and it is time to repent and to turn to the only One Who can truly help them in this hour of great need and difficulty! May our prayers for the lasting peace of the Messiah become a reality soon!

The reports of the Media concerning this war between Israel and Hizb’allah continue to be distorted from the real truth. We are glad for the proposal of the UN Security Council (the vote was 15-0) that is calling for a “ceasefire” but we are not convinced that the terms are right, nor are we convinced that the attacks upon Israel are going to stop.

The Media has been promoting a continual scenario for Lebanon that has all groups (including Christians) supporting Hizb’allah. That simply is NOT true! Consider this report carefully:

SPECIAL REPORT: Christians in Lebanon Used as Human Shields by Hezbollah
Friday, August 11, 2006
By: Christian Solidarity International

Hizb’allah is using Christian villages to shield its military operations in violation of International Law!

Hizb’allah is using Christian villages to shield its military operations against Israel. Southern Lebanese Christian villages, such as Ain Ebel, Rmeish, Alma Alshaab, and others are being used by Hizb’allah terrorists for launching missile attacks.

“Hizb’allah is repeating the same pattern that it practiced against Israel in 1996,” says former South Lebanese Army commander, Col. Charbel Barkat. “Hizb’allah is hiding among civilian populations and launching attacks behind human shields.”

A Christian from the village of Ain Ebel, who is nameless because he fears retribution by Hizb’allah, discovered Hizb’allah guerillas were setting up a launcher to fire Katyusha rockets from the rooftop of his home. Ignoring his pleas to stop, they fired the missiles. He immediately gathered his family and fled his home, which indeed was bombed and destroyed 15 minutes later by an Israeli air strike.

In addition to having their homes commandeered for launching Hizb’allah’s attacks, there have been attempts to obstruct Christians from fleeing their villages.

Recently, Hizb’allah fighters fired upon several Christians fleeing Rmeish with their families, wounding two according to Christian sources in south Lebanon. Hizb’allah has been the ruling power in the south since Israel withdrew from Lebanon six years ago. Christian villages suffer from extensive neglect of infrastructure under Hizb’allah rule. Even though Christians pay the taxes for basic government services, such as road repair and other utilities, these services are rarely provided. On the other hand, Shiite villages supportive of
Hizb’allah do not pay taxes and benefit from infrastructure development and new residential and business construction. Once the majority, the Christian population in Lebanon since the civil war has declined to under 40% due to pressures by Islamic militias supported by Iran and Syria.

“Hizb’allah is the issue,” warns Dr. Keith Roderick, Washington Representative of Christian Solidarity International and Secretary General of the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights. “A misrepresentation of the position of most Lebanese Christians is underway.” Roderick recently traveled to Lebanon to meet with the leaders of the Cedar Revolution and Lebanese activists. Sami El-Khoury, President of the World Maronite Union, says that reports on Christian support for Hizb’allah are misleading. Contrary to Western press
reports, indicating high percentages of Christian support for Hizb’allah, 90% of Christians, 80% of Sunni and 40% of Shiites in Lebanon oppose Hizb’allah,”
says El-Khoury.

“The Lebanese government should focus their rage against Hizb’allah, not Israel!”

EDITOR’S NOTE: It is extremely important for true Bible believers not only to support Israel in this conflict but also to care about (and pray earnestly for) the Christian believers in Lebanon. Do not be deceived by misrepresentation of the facts and the distortions of public media over the support for Hizb’allah. That is simply NOT true!