WHO'S GOLIATH NOW?
By Harmony Grant
20 Dec 06
At the video store last night, I noticed not one but two Holocaust
flicks on the new release shelves. I guess we can never be reminded
too often that Israel is a tiny David on a big battlefield, facing
the constant persecution of mighty Goliaths.
This is more appearance than reality.
While Iran is in the hot seat for developing the nuclear power
Israel has had since the sixties, Israel is developing robots as
a simpler, cheaper way of killing Arabs who resist their military
occupation. (It is, by the way, international law that natives of
a militarily occupied land have the right to resist by any means
possible. Haven’t heard that lately, have you?)
About the robots: Israel is working on flying assassins the size
of hornets, which could be programmed to chase, photograph, and kill
their targets. They could, for instance, pursue a Palestinian rebel
through sinuous alleyways, snap a picture, and neatly end his life.
Israel is also working on “super gloves” to give bionic
strength to the hands of Israeli soldiers. (Reuters, “Israel
developing anti-militant “bionic hornet,” Nov. 17, 2006)
“It’s illogical to send a plane worth $100 million
against a suicidal terrorist,” Deputy Prime Minister Shimon
Peres told Yedioth Ahronoth, “So we are building futuristic
weapons.”
Yup, it’s illogical all right. Meanwhile, Peres thinks it’s
perfectly rational to portray Israel, with nuclear and nanotechnology
and the USA’s lapdog loyalty, as a victim.
Evangelicals completely believe this. Israel-firster televangelist
John Hagee has been comparing Ahmadinejad to the Egyptian pharaoh
who kept the Israelites in bondage.
When 5,000 evangelicals gathered last month for a “Night
to Honor Israel” at Hagee’s San Antonio megachurch, Ahmadinejad
was the topic of conversation. Resounding applause greeted Hagee
when he said, “Pharaoh threatened Israel and he ended up fish
food.” (NY Times, David Kirkpatrick, “For Evangelicals,
Supporting Israel is God’s Foreign Policy,” Nov. 14,
2006)
When Israel was invading Lebanon in August, James Dobson compared
it to “the Biblical skirmish between little David and mighty
Goliath.” He said, “There sits little Israel with its
five million beleaguered Jews, surrounded by five hundred million
Muslims whose leaders are determined to drive it into the sea.” (Kirkpatrick)
I respect Dobson and appreciate much of his work—but this
is simply not true. The Washington Times describes the Israeli Defense
Forces as a “near-mirror” to US military.
“Its air force is led by F-15 and F-16 fighters, armed with
U.S.-designed missiles and precision-guided munitions,” reports
Rowan Scarborough (WA Times, “Military power Challenged,” August
10, 2006). “Israel receives $1.8 billion annually in military
aid, which is used to buy U.S. equipment. The IDF active force numbers
about 170,000 on an annual budget of $34 billion…The army
is built around six divisions and nearly 1,700 main battle tanks.
The air force maintains 400 combat aircraft. The naval fleet features
three submarines able to fire cruise missiles, and 66 coastal boats
with guns and ground-attack missiles.”
Israel justifies her military superiority as vital to her survival,
and American Christians agree. They believe they’re blessing
God’s chosen people and helping fulfill His plan of the ages
by empowering the Jews to recover their Promised Land.
But they should read their own Scriptures more closely. In his
prophetic visions, the prophet Ezekiel foresaw “tiny Israel” someday
in total military dominion of the world. He saw Israel as “a
land of unwalled villages” (38:11) where Jews live “in
safety in their land with no one to make them afraid” (39:26).
But, he warns, this is not through the blessing of God. Ezekiel
says Israel enjoys her power in defiance of God, in “unfaithfulness,” (39:26)
and “uncleanness (39:24). For this reason, God is angry and
grieved, “hiding His face” (39:24) from Israel.
From her position of power, Scripture says, Israel will subjugate
the nations, including the very Christians who empowered her rise
(See, “Israel: On the
Way to Empire in the Mideast”).
Already Israel has achieved incredible military and political power.
Does she have to resort to a slingshot and a prayer? Hardly. She
can lob an arsenal of nukes, not stones, at her enemies.
Indeed, the sons of David have become the Philistine monster, while
Palestinians try to resist with little more than rocks. During the
1988 Gaza rebellion, Israeli prime minister Yitzak Rabin ordered
soldiers to break the arms and legs of Palestinian youths resisting
Israeli occupation. What was the pretext for such cruelty? Rabin
said Israeli troops could no longer endure being pelted with stones.
