Why Isael is Rightly Reluctant to Cede More Land to the Terrorists

Anti-Jewish voices in the Arab and non-Arab Muslim world and their subservient lackeys in the European Union harp about how Israel should "end the occupation" and "get off Palestinian land." This drumbeat has two sources: one is hatred of Jews and the other is breath-taking historical ignorance by people who mean well but are, to put it mildly, uninformed.

Eileen F. Toplansky reviews some recent history that should be kept firmly in mind by anyone who wishes to comment on the current situation without being accused of being anti-Semitic. After all, it is not easy to tell if someone knows the facts and is screaming at Israel because of pure hatred or if they are simply uniformed dupes of the anti-Semites.

In July 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton convened a peace summit between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Barak offered Arafat approximately 95% of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem. Sixty-nine Jewish settlements would be ceded to Israel. Arafat rejected this offer. Clinton reportedly requested that Arafat make a counteroffer, but Arafat proposed none. Clinton blamed Arafat for the failure of the Camp David summit.

As a result, Arafat's PLO Intifada II launched a terror war that killed 1,000 Israelis.

In 2002 and 2003, Israelis withdrew from Gaza and dismantled Israeli settlements there.

Nevertheless, terrorists launched a terror war which sent rockets and bombs to Israeli cities, particularly Sderot.

In August of 2005, Israel completely dismantled 21 Jewish communities and evacuated almost 10,000 Jews from their homes in the Gaza Strip. No Jews are present in the Gaza Strip any longer. This dismantling cost Israel $500 million. Nonetheless, there was a continuing terror war which sent rockets and bombs into Israeli homes, schools, and hospitals, with seven thousand rockets fired at Israeli citizens!

In 2008, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert made another generous peace proposal to Abbas.

Abbas dismissed the proposal without even engaging in a dialogue.

This is why the Israelis look upon the past fifteen years and see the futility of trying to hand over territory in the hope that peace will finally emerge. It does not. The result has been a corrupt, militarized Palestinian authority which has permitted Hamas' terrorist activities. To this day, Hamas and Fatah charters still call for Israel's liquidation. They refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist. Abbas said, "I do not accept the Jewish State, call it what you will."

The Arabs reject every plan to divide the land into adjacent states, one for the Arabs and one for the Jews. After the 1967 Six Day War, Israel offered to exchange the land it had won for permanent peace with its neighbors. The Arab response was no peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, no recognition of Israel.

The settlements issue is bogus. Before 1967, there were no Jewish settlements.

When the Arabs did control the West Bank and the Gaza Strip before 1967, did they work to create a peaceful Palestinian state? No, the Palestinians lived in squalor and misery because their leaders were corrupt. Arafat stole money that was intended for his people. Corruption was rampant. Schooling is aimed at teaching hatred of Jews and Israelis.

History shows that the more concessions Israel makes, the more her enemies are emboldened. The more Israel tries to compromise, the more here actions are interpreted as weakness. The only thing that makes the Arabs hesitate to attack is a firm show of strength and the threat of overwhelming reprisal. For Europeans and North Americans to sit around in their comfortable worlds imagining that the Palestinians are only angry because of their material poverty is to interpret the entire world and very different cultures through their narrow, Western, materialistic worldview.

There can be no peace with those whose hatred and stubbornness make them unwilling to negotiate. The world needs to wake up to the fact that supporting Hamas means supporting a movement that is just as evil as the Nazi Party and has the same aims. If that is what you want to support, that is your choice. But to do so is to place yourself in rebellion against the Lord of Hosts and under His judgment.

We know from Scripture that God does not intend to let the Jews be destroyed and that His covenant with them is eternal. Whatever Romans 11:26 may or may not mean, we can at least be certain that it means that Hamas and Hizbollah and Iran and Turkey and Syria and the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaida and all the forces of hell can not carry out their murderous threats and desires. They will end up like Haman and all those who oppose God and His people. Let us hear Romans 11:26 in its context:

"I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written:

The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
And this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins." (Rom. 11:25-27)