Growing up, I remember my grandfather often saying to us, his grandchildren, “May it be that when you grow up, you won’t have to go to the army because we won’t need to fight anymore”. My grandfather fought in several wars and knew first-hand the impact of war. If he were alive today and saw this war, it would break his heart.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a history teacher. Some of the material I teach is about the War of Independence. Teaching this during a time of war, is rather surreal. The more I teach about it, the more parallels I see between this war now and the War of Independence. So please bear with me as I give a short, but important, history overview.

Today, November 29th, marks 76 years since the Resolution 181, known as The Partition Plan was accepted and passed by the UN General Assembly. The land, according to this plan, would be divided into three parts – a Jewish state, an Arab state, and Jerusalem as an international city under the supervision of the UN. Many Jewish settlements in the Negev area were to be included in the territory of the Arab state.  The Jewish state would receive most of the coastal and valley areas, including the Sea of Galilee and some access to the Dead Sea. However, there were security threats to the proposed borders. Despite all that, the Jewish leadership agreed to the plan, recognizing that this was a one-time opportunity. Celebrations broke out throughout Israel. Jews rejoiced, sang and danced in the streets at the prospect of establishing a Jewish country. The Arab leadership, however, responded very differently. They rejected the Resolution and declared that they would never accept a Jewish state. The Syrian representative at the UN declared that many years of war would pass on the holy places and there would be no peace there for generations. The then existing, Arab League declared that the partition line would be one of fire and blood. So much for peaceful intentions on their part.

The following day, on November 30th, Arabs fired at an Israeli bus on its way to Jerusalem, killing 5 and wounding 7. That signaled the opening of a war. that became known as the War of Independence, a war of existence, during which the State of Israel was established, on May 14, 1948. During the first few months, the war was between Arab forces led by volunteers from Syria and Egypt and composed of Arabs living in Israel, fighting and attacking Jewish settlements and vehicles. The IDF, as such, didn’t exist at the time. But the underground military organizations, that helped defend the Jews during the time of the British Mandate, fought to defend them again during the war.

When the British left, officially ending the Mandate over what was then still called “Palestine” = a name given by the Romans two thousand years earlier that “stuck” throughout the millenia, the State of Israel was born. The underground organizations were all joined into one army and the Israel Defense Forces was established in one day. Why defense? Well, that was always the attitude of the Jewish settlements, they sought then, and still seek, to defend and protect. Four Arab nations, along with military units from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Sudan, all attacked the young, fledgling country which now fought for its survival.

At the beginning of the war, David Ben Gurion, who later became the first Prime Minister of Israel, told the leaders of the Hagana (the largest underground para-military organization): “We cannot win merely by military force. In our days, war is not done by the military alone and our war is not easier than all other wars. On the contrary, it is the hardest, because this war is not against the Jewish military force, but against the entire Jewish settlement in Israel and one cannot distinguish between the front lines and the home front. Each of us, great or small, man and woman, elderly and infant, whether they want to or not, are in the front lines…”.

Sounds very familiar, doesn’t it? A nine-month old baby did not choose to be on the front line. An elderly woman in her 80’s did not choose to be on the front line. Teenagers, men, women, children – did not choose to be in the front line, to be taken captive, to be starved, to be brutally beaten and to be afraid of speaking or even crying lest they be shot.

I won’t get into all the parallels of these two wars, or how the home front became the front lines as Arabs attacked Jewish civilians in their cities, how 60,000 Jews were forced to vacate their homes because of the fighting, how it was a war of live or die. Thousands of volunteers, Jews and non-Jews, came to Israel during the War of Independence to help with the fighting and establish the air force, navy, artillery corps, medical corps and more. They came out of identifying with the Jewish people and desiring to help them build a country – in Israel. Just as in this war, many chose to come at this time especially, to help with agriculture and supplying military equipment, even while many foreigners chose to leave Israel. There are too many parallels to list. The countries of the world had to decide which narrative to believe then and how to relate to the new State of Israel. Lies, tales (that we would call today “fake news”) and a false narrative abounded then, as they do now. Some of the countries who supported the Partition Plan at the outset, chose to withdraw their support when the war broke out. Some, however, continued to support and remained “friends in need”, such as Czechoslovakia (now known as the Czech Republic), and sent weapons and fuel to support Israel, just like during this current war.

The past few days have been full of news of hostages being returned as part of a cease-fire deal. One little girl returned alone, without parents to greet her, as both her parents were murdered on October 7th. Her siblings were able to hide and survive. As her grandfather was asked how they were, he said the children have “sadness in their eyes”. Many of these children return after having seen horrific sights, including parents or siblings murdered before their eyes and atrocities that are too difficult to express here. Pray for them, for their physical, as well as emotional, healing. Not just the children, but all the hostages, those who were returned and those still being held by Hamas and other terrorists.

The nation of Israel is still fighting for its survival. Yet, as we look to what was accomplished 76 years ago, we rejoice that we do have a country and in one way or another, the people express gratitude for all God has done and will continue to do in and for the “apple of His eye”. The fact that four well-trained, heavily-equipped, armies invaded Israel 76 years ago with the goal of removing all Jews from this land and to divide the land between them…and lost…is nothing short of a miracle. Many miracles happened during the War of Independence, and there are reports of many miracles that are taking place in the current war. May the nation of Israel turn to God for help and strength, as He is the one who brought forth the victory 76 years ago, the miracle that is Israel. We look forward to seeing His victory in this war as well.

Exactly one month ago today, on the 7th of October, 2023, the nation of Israel woke up to to news of another war. But, this war is different.

Numerous times throughout our history, the Jewish people have said, “Never Again”. We said it after the fall of Gamla in the Golan, after the fall of Masada in the Desert, and after the Holocaust in Europe. And now, we are saying it again.

As much as there was hope for this expression to be true, Black Saturday, as October 7, 2023 has come to be called, proved it was wrong. The brutal massacre of men, women, children and babies, young and old, civilian and military, that was carried out by the Hamas terrorist organization, revealed once again that antisemitism and hatred for Jews is very much alive. With the abundance of evidence and testimonies of the Holocaust and the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany, it was hard to imagine, at least until October 6,  how the fact of the Holocaust can still be denied. Yet, this latest war proved that another Holocaust is possible even in our time, as many around the world dare to claim Israel created fake news and that none of those atrocities ever happened. When one is blinded by hatred for Jews, or, relating to Jews as non-humans or as a group that it is okay to kill – we are reminded of the dark days preceding World War 2 and the Holocaust. I’ve seen photos of people around the world holding signs accusing Israel of the war; signs wishing to “clean the world”, while showing a star of David in a trash bin; signs accusing Israel of committing genocide – all while these people comfortably ignore the pictures of people burned, severed, decapitated, dismembered and shot multiple times, among other things. These photographic forms of antisemitism present a sad reality there is no real safe place for Jews in the world, except in Israel. For the first time ever, the Israeli government issued a travel warning to the entire world. Not just for specific countries, but everywhere. This is surreal and unimaginable. Where does all this hatred stem from? This is undoubtedly, a spiritual war as well.

Many try to encourage others to “consider ” both sides, in an effort to show that both sides are to blame. This is fundamentally and conceptually wrong. In line with this, there are those who criticize Israel and who say that praying for Israel’s victory is wrong, since Israel is not perfect and makes mistakes. Those who make such claims reveal a total misunderstanding of the situation. It is true that modern Israel is largely secular and far from God. It is also true that Israel has made mistakes since the beginning of this war. Nevertheless, pointing a finger at Israel to say Israel is to blame as well, is wrong. Some simple, but basic, facts are worth noting: (1) The Arabs in the Gaza strip voted for Hamas, a terror organization. (2) While there are those who seek to live their lives peacefully and yes, there are genuine born-again believers there, the majority hold to the same ideology as Hamas. (3) Before Israel attacks in a civilian-populated area, it warns the Arabs to evacuate to a designated area where food, water and medicine awaits them. It gives a warning in an attempt to avoid and to minimize, to the extent possible, the killing of innocent civilians. (4) Hamas on the other hand, kills many of those civilians who try to escape and even places women and babies before the IDF soldiers, to serve as a human shield. (5) These sides are not moral equals, and any attempt to present them as such, is misguided, misinformed and does more harm than good.

Should we pray for the people living in Gaza? Definitley. Should we pray for the salvation of our enemies? Absolutely. If you notice, I haven’t used the word “Palestinians”. While some may argue they are a nationality, or a nation or that there exists a place as Palestine, the use of such terminology is wrong. One of the slogans repeated by many antisemites these days is “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. What that actually means is, that from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean sea, the land shall be free of Jews. Where will the Jews go then? Well, according to “Palestinian” ideology, they should be driven into the sea. In other words, All the Jews should be killed. The term “Palestine” was first used in 135 AD by the Romans, during the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian. It was intended to add insult to injury to the Jews by re-naming the land “Palestina Capitolina” after Israel’s arch enemy, the Philistines. The name “Palestina” went through various changes, but essentially it remained “Palestine” for most of the next almost 2,000 years. At the end of WWI, the Jews and Arabs living here were both called “Palestinians”. The concept of a “Palestinian” nation never existed until Yasser Arafat of the Fatah terror organisation (which by the way, is a reverse of the initials Hataf, which means quick death, but that didn’t sound good to international ears), capitalized on the myth that the Arabs were actually Palestinians and that the Jews stole their land, a myth pushed to the hilt today. When one uses the term “Palestinian”, they are implying, knowingly or not knowingly, that there is a nation and land of Palestine. I have heard people use the term “Palestine” in regards to the areas under the control of the “Palestinian” Authority. This is in error as well. The areas of Gaza, as well as the area known as “the West Bank” (actually Judea and Samaria) were all given to the nation of Israel by God. As previously mentioned, terminology matters. If one refers to “Palestine”, it needs to be understood that from an Islamic perspective, that means there is no Israel because the “Palestinians” and other Arabs in this region, claim that this ENTIRE land known as Israel is theirs. Not just Gaza, not just the “West Bank” or the other villages, but ALL of the land that God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (who later became “Israel”). Israel never stole this land from the “Palestinians”, first because one can’t steal what belongs to him and second, because there was never any people group known as “Palestinians”. If one wants to refer to “Palestinians” as an ethnic group, go ahead. The term itself does not denote the desire for a land by this group, just that they have common characteristics. But note they are not a nation, because that implies they have a  specific land over which they have sovereignty, as well as a history and a separate language.

Lest anyone make a mistake, I am not against Arabs or Gazans, nor am I urging anyone to relate to them as enemies. The enemies are Hamas and those who align themselves with it. I know many Arabs who would never, ever refer to themselves as “Palestinians”, who love Israel and pray for it. My heart aches over those innocent Gazans who truly desire peace and are suffering because of the evil Hamas regime that is using their lives as chips in a deadly game. So, in light of all that has been said, we have to ask ourselves: Whose side are we on? And I do not mean Israel or Gazans. We need to have a Biblical perspective, one that views this war as God sees it – a war against His people Israel, a people chosen by Him, yet who are failing to call upon Him for help. This is a war initiated by the enemy of our souls to turn people against God and against His promise of a seed which came through the nation of Israel, through which the Messiah did come, and to whom He will come again when Israel calls upon Him in repentance. The hatred towards the Jewish people is not new. The way it is being expressed may be new, but no matter how it is expressed, it emanates from the father of lies. It is a spiritual war fought in the flesh. God promised Abraham in Genesis 12:3 “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed”. So, I ask you again. Who’s side are You on?

How can you pray? Pray for safety for the nation of Israel, for the IDF soldiers, for the return of ALL the hostages, for the believers in Gaza and the civilians who genuinely want peace, but who are put in harm’s way by their Hamas leadership and pray that the leaders of this nation will turn their eyes heavenward and call upon Him, Who longs to be gracious to us. And please pray for God to grant us a spirit of unity as a nation, and as a Body that will reflect His light in a dark world.