The Miracle that is Israel. If you don’t believe in miracles, you’re not a realist.
May 26, 2023
By: Joseph Puder
Israel’s founding father and its first Prime Minster David (Green) Ben Gurion once said, “If you do not believe in miracles, you are not a realist.” In Israel, miracles have occurred repeatedly, and I am not referring to the “parting of the waters” before Moses and the Children of Israel on their exodus from Egypt after 400 years of slavery. In fact, when Ben Gurion declared in the Tel Aviv Museum on May 14, 1948, the establishment of the Jewish state to be called Israel, it was given little chance of survival.
President Harry Truman’s Secretary of State, George Marshall, urged Truman not to recognize the Jewish state. He argued that the Jewish State would have little chance of survival against the massive Arab forces surrounding it. He also pointed out to Truman that recognition of Israel in 1948 would harm US relations with the Arabs.
Emerging from the ashes of the Holocaust, Jewish survivors from Europe, along with Jews driven out of the Arab states streamed into the newly found State of Israel following the British departure from Palestine in May 1948. The Palestinian Jews (Jews were then called Palestinians, while those calling themselves Palestinians today were simply called Arabs) had very little in terms of arms and personnel to defend themselves against the surrounding established Arab states of Egypt, the Emirate of Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. These states had standing armies and large armories that included planes, tanks, artillery, warships, etc. The Jews of Israel had light arms, and some machine guns, but no artillery, tanks, aircrafts, or warships. The Arab states were able to openly purchase modern arms from Britain and France (their former colonial masters) without hinderance. The Jews of Israel were placed under an international embargo that included the US. Moreover, the Arab states combined manpower by far exceeded the Jewish population of about 700,000, and the Arab combined militaries surpassed that of Israel in 1948.
With their backs against the wall, and the helplessness of the European Jews on their minds, the Jews of Israel were determined to fight and triumph against all odds. And the odds were totally against them. Ingenuity, initiative, as well as capable military leadership helped secure some heavy arms from Czechoslovakia in later stages of the War of Independence along with victories. Some tactical arms invented by the Yishuv (the pre-state Jewish community in Palestine) such as the Davidka, a homemade primitive mortar that made a lot of noise but little damage because of its inaccuracy, helped win battles. The battle over Safed in Galilee was won with the Davidka. Its noise frightened the Arab forces who retreated, fearing that the Israelis had heavy artillery.
It seems that God left another miracle for his Jewish people to take place 19 years later, during the Six Day War. When the War of Independence ended in 1949, the Jewish state survived but its crown jewel, the Old City of Jerusalem was conquered by the Arab (Jordanian) Legion, commanded by the British officer, Glubb Pasha. The Temple Mount, the holiest site for Jews was denied to them, and the Jewish population of the Old City that survived the battles for Jerusalem were expelled.
The period preceding the Six Day War of June 1967 was one filled with fear and trepidation. The Egyptian dictator Abdul Nasser threatened to push the Jews into the Mediterranean Sea. The odds were once again against Israel. The Soviet Union had supplied Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, with massive amounts of modern Mig fighter aircrafts, and tanks. Once again, in terms of manpower, and arms, the combined Arab forces by far exceeded that of Israel. In Israeli cities graves were dug in anticipation of vast casualties. An atmosphere of doom engulfed the Jewish nation. Would there be another Holocaust?
God, however, was not about to abandon his people. Miraculously, Jordan’s King Hussein agreed to join Egypt and Syria (with additional contingents from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Sudan, and other Arab countries) in a war of annihilation against Israel. Hussein though, was subjected to numerous assassination attempts by Nasser’s agents, and he was accused by Egypt and Syria of being a puppet of the West. He had all the reasons to stay out of the War. Levi Eshkol, Israel’s Prime Minister, appealed to him to stay out, assuring him that Israel had no intention of attacking Jordan in any way. This is where God’s hand somehow intervened. Hussein’s decision to intervene, bombarding Israeli military bases (including my own), compelled Israel to move against Jordan. On June 7, 1967, Israel’s commander of the Jerusalem Brigade announced, “Temple Mount is in our hands.” This was a 2000 year yearning fulfilled. The concluding prayer “Next year in Jerusalem the Rebuilt” became a reality.
Israel has been situated in a hostile environment, where the neighboring Muslim states wished to eradicate its existence through wars, terror, demography, and now possibly by Iranian nuclear arms sought by its theocratic regime. Predictions of the demise of the Jewish state were numerous through the intervening years. Yet, 75 years later, Israel is stronger than ever. Its population has reached the 10 million mark and its military is rated as one of the best in the world.
In 1979, Israel was achieving one of its most cherished goals: peace with Egypt, the most powerful Arab state. But, not before another devasting war took place in October 1973, known as the Yom Kippur War. Israel’s casualties mounted, particularly in the early stages of the war. Moshe Dayan, Israel’s Defense Minister, predicted doom and was in despair, but in the end, Israel stood at the gates of Cairo and Damascus, and yet another miraculous salvation had occurred. Not that one would discount the bravery and sacrifice of Israeli men and women in battle. But as the old saying goes, “God helps those who help themselves.”
Before the onset of the 21st Century, Israel made peace with Egypt and Jordan. Realizing that they can no longer afford to fight Israel, or remove it from the region, the Arab moderate states chose a less aggressive path. Peace ensued in September 2020 with Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and a bit later with Morocco and Sudan (pending). Many African states that severed relations with Israel due to Arab pressure have since resumed diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. A similar phenomenon occurred in Asia. Israeli technology, its agricultural, medical, and military advancements have attracted interest in Israel.
Although the current rift in Israeli society does not completely fulfill Isaiah’s prophetic words of being “a Light to the Nations,” in many ways Israel is still a miracle and a beacon of light.