​Vol. H-0005January 2000 No. H-0001​

TUG OF WAR

​Imagine, if you will, a narrow plateau with a cliff on each side. It is only wide enough to accommodate two teams playing a game of tug-of-war. Whichever team succeeds in pulling the other team over the winning line actually has to back off the cliff and fall to its death in order to do so. Now imagine that the losing team has figured this out, and, instead of pulling against the other team, they are actually pushing them. The "winners" don't realize that they have become the losers until it's too late. The "losing" team knew all along that they would be the true winners. All they had to do was go along with the game while their opponents willingly chose to be the losers.

This may sound silly to you, but to me it is an illustration of the "peace process" being played out in the Middle East, with Israel as the real loser. The following article by Gary Cooperberg, a resident of Hebron, Israel, gives us a view from the perspective of one who lives in the middle of this process.

During my recent speaking tour of the United States, one of the key issues I discussed was the alleged "peace  process". During a particularly lively and responsive exchange at a synagogue in Houston my audience proved itself to be very serious in analyzing my presentation. If the process in which we are now engaged is, as I state, a process of surrender which will not result in peace, rather in a war which we are making easier for our enemies to win, then what is the alternative? I assured my audience that I am not a proponent of war. Living in Israel with my family I have a more urgent desire for peace there than they do. What I refuse to do, however, is lie to myself and pretend that we are making peace when all we are doing is digging our own graves. We do not have a choice between war or peace. Our choice is to risk war now by not surrendering to our enemies, or to delude ourselves by engaging in pre-emptive surrender and calling it a "peace process".

The fact is that the Arab war to destroy the Jewish State has never ended. All of the Arab states, including Egypt, and Jordan, continue to plot our destruction. All that has changed is the method. This is no secret and anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear knows this fact.  In spite of this the leaders of the Jewish State continue to negotiate  the terms of our self destruction with those of our enemies who are prepared to sit with us. The PLO Trojan Horse has been pulled inside our borders. The only reason that illegitimate entity even agrees to continue to talk with us is the fact that such talk results in clear and measurable military advantages for it. Once these advantages come to a halt, so will the "peace" talks. There is not a shred of hope that our having given recognition to the PLO as having autonomous rights, or even recognizing a PLO state, will result in as much as mitigating its plans to destroy Israel. Yet our leadership still talks of "final status", limiting our own rights to build homes in our country, and giving away more of our homeland to Arafat. These are all reckless and desperate gestures to convince ourselves that we are making peace with our enemies, even as they mock us. And now, the latest "news" is that Assad is prepared to continue discussing peace with Israel without demanding all of the Golan Heights as a precondition.  He will permit us to give it to him after he graciously sits at the table with us. And Israel is delighted at this new expression of willingness to compromise.

One fellow in Houston, after clearly being disturbed by my assertion, asked me if my wife and I are prepared to defend ourselves. After all, he reasoned, if there will be an all out war in Israel, the army will be busy defending the borders and we will have no choice but to defend ourselves against the PLO. Quite frankly I found the question a cynical one and I told him so.  The implication was that to stand up to our enemies is a reckless idea which will place us in danger. Yet by surrendering in advance of war we are not making ourselves safer, rather making the war to come that much more difficult to win. Another problem with his question was the implication that I am courting danger merely by living in Kiryat Arba. I could have told this fellow that my apartment doesn't have a fancy electronic alarm system, nor do we lock or bar our doors at night as is common practice in Houston. What is more, I could easily have turned his question back to him. Are he and his wife prepared to defend their lives and property when the local anti-semites go on a rampage in reaction to some unpredictable calamity which they may choose to blame on Jews, as has been done to our people throughout the ages in nearly every country in the world?
 
The fact is that, despite the stupidity and stupendous blunders of my foolish leadership, Israel is still, and will always be, the safest place in the world for Jews to live. The troubles we have here are of our own making. We do not have to tolerate terror. Rather than rewarding our enemies by giving them land, army bases, weapons and money, we should have vanquished them. It is we who are responsible for creating new havens for terror and for encouraging its continuation by having rewarded those evil deeds. It is also in the power of Jewish leaders in Israel to correct their mistakes and make our homeland safe for Jews to live. Perhaps if more sensible and  activist Jews would come home and participate in shaping our destiny here we could affect a change in how we deal with our enemies. But such is not the case in the United States. In that country we are a tiny minority. We are a highly visible minority which, as has always been the case, is very convenient as a scapegoat upon which to blame problems which have no obvious address. I remember reading bumper stickers years ago during the oil crisis in the United States, when gasoline was rationed for a while. The sticker read, "Burn Jews not oil". And that was nearly thirty years ago. Today there are many potential crises which can explode overnight and ignite a huge wave of anti-semitic violence. A Jew who sits and worries about an unsafe Israel while being oblivious to the time bomb upon which he is sitting in his seemingly safe home in the United States is only deceiving himself and recklessly endangering himself and his loved ones. Baruch HaShem, I live in Israel. Yes, my wife and I both have licensed handguns to protect ourselves, although we almost never feel the need to carry them. It is dangerous to live in a country where our government grants rights to terrorists. But it is a Jewish country. Even our most extreme leftists are still our brothers. We have tremendous problems to overcome among our own people.  But all of us, left and right, religious and secular, are all in the same boat. The Arab terrorist doesn't care about our political affiliation or whether or not we put on tfillin in the morning. He will murder us simply because we are Jewish, as did Hitler and Haman. When the war breaks out, as always, our common threat will unite us. And we are in our homeland.

But what of the Jew living in Exile? He too has problems among his own people. He too will discover that common threats will unite him with his brothers in Exile. But outside of Israel, where he is a tiny minority, even his unity is of little value. It is only in his homeland where it can save him. As one who was born and raised in the United States I certainly do not seek to condemn that country. It has been a place of refuge for many people and afforded incredible opportunities to my people. It's founding principles were even based upon Biblical concepts. It is not to criticize America that I say these things. What I am addressing is the reality of Jewish history and Jewish destiny. There is only one destiny for the Jewish people and that is the Land of Israel. Redemption is a concept whose time has come. G-d has given a special gift to each and every Jew. It is the ability for us to express our faith in Him in very real terms. Right now, by making plans to come home while it is strictly our choice to do so, we can demonstrate to Him our faith and love. Soon this gift will be taken from us in that we will be taken out of the exile by force, or perish therein and lose that ability to express our faith. No one knows exactly when this will happen. But it is clear that redemption is progressing. Our rabbis ask the question, "Who is wise?" and they answer, "He who sees the future."  Certainly our rabbis were not referring to fortune tellers. They were referring to people with common sense who can recognize the consequences of their actions. To pretend that our future outside of the Land of Israel is limitless is to lie to ourselves and put our families in unnecessary danger. To be wise is to realize that redemption is rapidly unfolding before our eyes, and that the future of the Jewish People is only in the Land of Israel.  (American Jews are sitting on a Time Bomb, December 9, 1999)

CURRENT EVENTS

While Prime Minister Barak is busy negotiating with the Syrians to give away the Golan Heights, he pauses to reassure Arafat that he hasn't forgotten him and all the promises he has made to give the Palestinians their part of Israel. It's like watching a performance of the Theater of the Absurd!

FROM THE BRIDEGROOM

"The flame is increasing around Jerusalem." (April 7, 1998)

"The wicked have drawn the sword and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to slay those who are of upright conduct.  Their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken." (Psalm 37:14-15) 

BOTTOM  LINE

All of us, whether Gentile or Jew, will one day have to answer for what we have or have not done.  It will not be a matter of whether we have been good or bad, but rather a matter of obedience or disobedience. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice." (1 Sam. 15:22)

We are now watching as world leaders choose to obey their worldly gods. The consequences of their choices will extend well into the next century. However, the eternal consequences of these (and our) choices are the most important. Whether we are world leaders or average, every-day people, we will answer for our choices made during our earthly life. Choose to know Yahweh, and His Son Yeshua, for in Them is Eternal Life.... "The free gift of Yahweh is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord". (Rom. 6:23)