Israel will last forever – Hamas will not

Like many Americans, I am watching the tweets and updates coming out of Israel over the last 48 hours. I am receiving the Red Alert messages on my phone as hundreds of rockets are fired from Gaza into Southern Israel. I am praying for the safety & security of everyone in Israel and the Israel Defense Forces who have one mission, to keep Israel safe.

Now it should be noted that just like human beings, Israel is not perfect. They’ve only been in existence for 70 years, in comparison to the United States who will celebrate 250 years soon. They’ve made decisions along the way that have sometimes fueled the fighting from the terrorists who seek to destroy them BUT Israel has always done what is right and what is needed for the survival of it’s people, the Jewish people. I want to dissect the words “It’s People” and “Survival” I just used.

Of the 8.8 million people living in Israel, roughly 70% are Jewish. It’s safe to say that the majority of Israel is inhabited by Jews. Hence, why in my opinion, there is no problem in saying, The Jewish State of Israel. It’s a Jewish State. It was created as a refuge for the Jewish people after six million Jews perished and millions more displaced in Europe after the atrocities of the Holocaust. It is the eternal homeland of the Jewish people. The Jewish people, not the Arabs  have farmed the land and built Israel up from a desert to a country that leads the world in innovation and technology.

Survival is something that we as Jews and they as Israelis know all too well. Throughout our history, the world has tried to exterminate us. This was even more real for us Americans when the Pittsburgh shooting occurred two weeks ago. 11 Americans were killed for one simple reason, they were Jewish. Six million Europeans were killed 80 years ago for one simple reason…They were Jewish. Iran chants death to Israel & funds Hamas & Hezbollah for one simple reason…Israel is a Jewish State. Throughout the last 70 years, Israel has faced down and destroyed well funded and well organized countries and organizations that have fought for Israel’s destruction because of one simple reason, it is the homeland of the Jewish people. Survival is the name of the game for us as Jewish Americans and for Israel.

Earlier, I said that Israel is not perfect. Now, let me be very clear. I am a very strong Zionist and supporter of the Jewish-American community. I would do anything for Israel and the Jewish people. Anything. So when the pundits and internet trolls start to label Israel as an occupying force or as a country that murders children, I take great offense and I push back with every fiber of my body. Before Israel conducts their military operations, they warn the Palestinians that they are coming!!! What other country do you know warns their enemy that they are coming to attack them and to make sure all women and children are removed from the area? When the left here in American tries to label my party, Republicans, as supporters of anti-semitism but refuses to condemn known anti-semites like Louis Farrakhan, I push back with every fiber of my body.

Israel does not target civilians. Israel does not reward it’s people for murdering Palestinians. Israel does not teach it’s children in grade school that Palestinians are the enemy and need to be exterminated from the planet. Israel does not train it’s children to pick up arms and fight at the age of 10.

On the flip side, replace the word Israel with Hamas and remove not from the above paragraph. Hamas teaches hates, rewards murder and targets civilians.

Israel is a peace loving country. The people of Israel desperately want peace. As an American Zionist who loves Israel, I don’t know how we are going to have peace with terrorist organizations like Hamas calling themselves a government. Israel is forced to negotiate with Hamas. This is a recipe that will never make it to the dinner table. Hamas needs to be removed from power and replaced with Palestinians who want peace with Israel.

I want to thank President Donald J. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, the Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,  Special Adviser to the President Jared Kushner, Assistant to the President and Special Representative for International Negotiation Jason Greenblatt & US Ambassador David Friedman for their unwavering commitment to fighting back against all those who seek to destroy Israel and the Jewish people.

I will close with this quote from the 35th President of the United Sates, John F. Kennedy:

“Israel was not created in order to disappear—Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom.”