"Israel Act III,"
by Richard Wolff,
An Excerpt
"Return to the pre-1967 war borders!" Israel is told she must do to buy peace with land (Israeli land, won fairly and squarely in a defensive war, the war of 1967). "But to do so is to render our country indefensible, by nearly cutting it in half!" Israel rightly protests.
So the debate with all its demands for Israel to concede this and concede that for "peace" with its enemies goes on and on. Having won that war, Israel is now facing the world's demand that she lose it, by giving all she gained by it--territorial integrity and safety, Covenanted lands guaranteed her in perpetuity by the Almighty God of Israel, and natural resources needed to maintain a viable economy.
In question, really, is the continued existence of the Israeli state. Giving up what she gained by winning the war of 1967 against Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and other attacking Arab forces, she will not be able to defend herself militarily, and that is the sole objective of those who wish to cut Israel to pieces "for the sake of peace."
Just what happened in that turning-point war anyway? We should know this in detail, or we will be duped by the rivers of propaganda that is spewed forth even from our own media in the USA to delude people about Israel and turn us against her. A state of Palestine is being demanded by the PLO, when one already exists, in the state of Jordan! A second such "Palestine" will divide Israel and make it indefensible, and the Arabs know this full well, which is their reason for pressing this demand through the United Nations. But on what grounds do they demand this? They lost the war against Israel in 1967. But they seem to be close now to win the diplomatic war and regain their losses to their cause and their territories--which they know will destroy Israel in the process.--Ed.]
"I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild their ruined cities, and live in them again; and they shall plant vineyards and gardens and eat their crops and drink their wine.
I will firmly plant them there upon the land that I have given them; they shall nto be pulled up again, says the Lord your God."--Amos 9:24-15 (Living Prophecies)
ISRAEL, ACT III
PROLOGUE
On Monday, June 5, 1967, in stunning predawn air strikes, the tiny nation of Israel all but annihilated the massed air forces of hostile Arab countries. Within hours the 25 most vital air bases in the Arab world had been wrecked. In four hours the air war against Nasser was won. In 60 hours the Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi air forces were shattered. In six days the war was over. Some called it a mini-war.
Israel's Mystere and Mirage jets, made in France, neatly avoided Egypt's Soviet-built radar defense network. Egyptian radar was aimed toward Israel but the Israeli planes came across the Mediterranean. Flying at 500 feet, they slammed new secret 12-foot directional bombs into 200 front-line fighter planes, mostly MIG-21's. Bombs swere not even wasted on dummy MIGs placed ont he air strips as decoys. This selectivity was possible because of a new Israeli device for homing bombs onto live targets only. Literally hundreds of planes were destroyed on the ground.
The basic reason for the Israeli-Arab third conflict in 20 years is simple: the Arab nations have not recognized the right of Israel to exist. "For twenty years, hatred of Israel has been the whiskey of the Arabs--and the Middle East will not be stable or safe until they are off the stuff," says a LIFE magazine writer. This hatred has inspired increasing terrorism, especially on the Syrian border. On May 18, 1967, the U.N. peace force [what a misnomer that is! The Mafia deserves it just as much!--Ed.] stopped patrolling the Gaza Strip border with Israel at the request of Egypt's President Nasser. The U.N. Expeditionary Force had been stationed on the Egyptian side of the border ever since the hostilities of 1956. Nasser had talked a great deal about the coming liberation struggle, but he U.N. "pane of glass" [more like tissue paper than glass--Ed.] prevented Egypt from decisive action. To demonstrate that he meant to match words with deeds, Nasser asked the U.N.E.F. to withdraw. Egypt was now in a position to deter Israel from action against Syria.
On May 22 Nasser blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba [which gave Israel vital access to oil imports--Ed.] and declared: "We are ready for war." Before the Suez Campaign of 1956 Egypt had refused passage through the Gulf to Israeli vessels seeking to reach the port of Elath. After the 1956 campaign the U.N. placed a garrison at Sharm el Sheikh. The dismissal of U.N. forces cleared the weay for a new blockade. This was critical because the port of Elath handled almost 90 percent of Israel's vital oil supplies arriving from Iran, as well as the large Israeli trade with East Africa, India and the East.
On May 30 the noose tightened. President Nasser patched up his feud with King Hussein of Jordan and signed a military pact. Israel, encircled as the stage was set, had the odds heavily against her. Egypt moved 80,000 troops into the Gaza Strip. Russian-built missilies and giant rockets and 900 tanks were pointing at Israel. On the northern border 40,000 Syrians, reinforced by 5,000 Iraqi soldiers were ready to strike. On the east side 40,000 Jordanians were prepared to resume hostilities. Saudi Arabia had ordered 20,000 men into Jordan. Israel faced the hostility of 14 Arab nations representing 110 million people. Israel's regular army totalled only 70,000, but a splendid system enabled them to organize 230,000 reserves, about half the total of the male population of military age.
The presence of Russian warships in the Mediterranean caused considerable concern. It was known that Russian missilies with a twenty-four mile range had been installed in the Sinai within range of the Israeli Nuclear Center near Beersheba. Later nine were captured intact, with carriers cocked for action. It was also known that German scientists had been working in Egypt for years to build liquid fuel rockets. Egypt was in possession of ground-to-ground "al Kahir" and "al Zafir" rockets. Worse, 350 Israel warplanes had developed a special guided bomb and the air force was in superb condition. The new and secret 12-foot directional bombs were most effective.
It was generally recognized in Israel that the war would have to be won within ten days. Otherwise the immense numerical superiority of the Arabs would ultimately overcome the Israeli army. In addition, dwindling fuel reserves would have quickly been exhausted. Economically, Israel was not able to maintain a lengthy defensive posture or she would go bankrupt. The whole country became an armed camp; Arab pressure and propaganda threatening annihilation left no other choice. To remain in this position would have crippled Israeli economy and ruined the nation. Under these circumstances the question: Who fired the first shot? becomes academic.
Aggressive Arab intentions were later confirmed by captured documents. Israel called the Egyptian blockade an act of aggression. The war moved swiftly. In spite of numerical inferiority, Israel achieved her basic objectives with astonishing suddenness; tooccupy the Gaza Strip, Old Jerusalem, the Straits of Tiran, the west bank of the Jordan, the Syrian border heights--and to reach the Suez Canal.
Through control of the skies, victory was achieved by Wednesday, June 7, 1967. Summarized the CHICAGO DAILY NEWS: "The third day of the war was the Arab's Waterloo, Dunkirk and Bay of Pigs all rolled into one. Israel smashed through to the Suez Canal on one front. It secured the old city of Jerusalem and won back the Wailing Wall, most sacred site in Judaism. Paratroops took Sharm el Sheikh at the Tiran Straits, freeing Aqaba. Armor rolled to the banks of the Jordan, capturing Bethlehem and Jericho and erasing the Jordaning bulge in Israel's silhouette."
Six days after opening of the hostilities, the Israelis had captured nine Egyptian generals and ten colonels. Death casualties were high: 2,000 Syrians, 8,000 Jordanians, perhaps as many as 20,000 Egyptians and 679 Israelis. The cost of the war was estimated at $100 million for Israel over against $1,500,000,000.
The economic life of Israel had hardly been disrupted. Israel with a total working force of about 900,000 men and women had called 200,000 of these into military service during the war. Within days many were back at their old jobs. The nation's exports for June were almost normal. Officials hoped aloud that the previous hurdle in attracting foreign capital--the constant threat of war with the Arabs--had now been removed. An inflow of foreign capital was expected. Officials also expected a tremendous boom of tourism as a result of the war because of renewed interest in Israel. Besides, Israel controlled the entire city of Jerusalem and had at least temporary control of the Sinai oil wells which produce enough oil to meet all the needs of Israel. Some of these economic gains may be lost again.
Unemployment had been a significant problem in Israel [the socialism of the nation since its founding was not working, and wouldn't be fully abandoned until the second administration of Benjamin Netanyahu in the second decade of the 21st century, thereby precipating the boom--Ed.]. More than ten percent of the labor force needed jobs. This was the first significant setback since 1948. The number of Jewish immigrants fell to 12,000 om 1966 and the gross national product rose only by a fraction--barely enough to compensate for the natural growth in population. It had seemed that the economic miracle might be at an end.
Immediately after the six-day-war, Rachel Ben Zvi, widow of Israel's second president, said: "We badly need people. We need at least a million. We need people of all kinds: teachers, intellectual people, people to establish factories, technicians, builders, students, each to live and work in his own way. We need people of all ages. I believe they will come. Today we have no limit to our opportunities."
On the other side, Egypt suffered economic disaster. Over the last ten years they had received $2 billion of Russian jets, tanks and guns. Most of this war material was destroyed. On June 26 it was reported that disaster threatened Egypt's cotton, the most important factory in their economy. A large scale leaf worm [sent by Almighty God of Israel to punish Israel's cursing enemy?--Ed.] was threatening the cotton crop--worst in 15 years. Egypt conceded that stocks of insecticide were exhausted. The economy also suffered serious blows from the closing of the Suez Canal and the slump in foreign tourism, the two other main sources of hard currency [Tin-Pot Presidente Nasser ought to have considered these things, how his own nation and people would suffer, before he unleashed his dogs of war against God's chosen people!--Ed.], the two other main sources of hard currency.
Israel undoubedly has no less than three important goals: to establish Israel's legal existence and its territorial integrity; to provide for guarantees against maritime blockades; to insure freedom of passage in the Guylf of Aqaba and the Suez Canal. Israel would also like to retain Old Jerusalem. The reasons are deeper than strategy or security. Any government leader who returned this section of Jerusalem to Jordan would undoubtedly be expelled. The ultimate decision is difficult to foresee.
Most significant from a Christian standpoint are the spiritual and religious implications. "All over the country" wrote newsman William Stephenson, "the more orthodox Jews were talking of a new Messiah heralded by the return to the wall. Many believed he would appear on Wednesday, June 14, the festival of the giving of the Torah (Shavuot), the traditional birthday and death anniversary of King David. On that day thousands of Jews walked along the four and one-half kilometers to Mt. Zion through the Dung Gate, and back through the Armenian quarter to Jaffa Gate. Mothers pushed children in prams and youths supported gray-bearded parents come to take a last look at the wall that they had never before seen. Hundreds spent all night around Mt. Zion, praying."
A closing chaper in the book just quoted was written by Leon Uris, the author of EXODUS. His last lines are "And they stood before the western wall of the temple and prayed and danced and they wept for joy. And the Lord felt they had kept the faith well and suffered enough. And he bade them build a third temple and dwell in their own land forever."
TIME Magazine of June 30, 1967 raised the question: "Should the temple be rebuilt?" Obstacles are mentioned, especially the fact that the temple should be administered by priests. At this point it is impossible [impossible no more, since the time this book was printed; thousands of the priestly tribes have been identified and are trained by the Temple Institute and they even have their priestly garments ready to put on for service in the rebuilt temple!--Ed.] to trace authentic genealogies and to discover who belongs to the family of the priests. The animal sacrices are part and parcel of the temple service and yet they would be 'alien to the humane sensitivities of most modern Jews". [This second point is valid still, and remains a problem, but there are orthodox Jewish groups who would not shrink from animal sacrifice. But we know very well that animal rights activists groups all over the Western countries would rise up in utter outrage and even commit violence to stop such sacrifices, so there would have to be a large security force stationed at all times about the temple and throughout it to keep them out. --Ed.] Further discussion on the reconstruction of the the temple in relation to Biblical truth will appear in subsequent pages of this book.
Although the immediate reasons for the new conflict can be traced back to early 1967, it can also be said that the basic reasons for current strife go back centuries to Isaac and Ishmael, or to God's call of Abraham. In order to gain a proper understanding of the present Mideast situation, a review of biblical concepts regarding Israel is necessary.
Bible readers say the significance of Israel's military victory is its renewed evidence that the God of Israel still lives, that his promises of protection and guidance will be fulfilled, and that the establishment of a strong Israel ushers in Act III ont he stage of world history, a history that will end as Jesus Christ returns to establish peace and justice for humanity. The real-life drama of the Jews and human redemption began 40 centuries ago with a man named Abraham...
PLEASE RETURN FOR ACT I, "THE CHOSEN PEOPLE," OF THIS TRULY EXCITING BOOK BY A JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN AUTHOR.