The Return of Israel to Its Land: A Resumption of Its Historical Course?
Because they failed to grasp the transformative effect the land of Israel had on the Jews who settled there, the nations of the world have consistently misunderstood what was taking place.
Albert Londres, a renowned journalist of the early 20th century, described how the “wandering Jew” was transformed upon arriving in Palestine: how he stood tall again, regained strength, and recovered his dignity.
Accustomed to the Jews of their own countries—Jews of the court, Jews of the community, often docile or even submissive—the nations found it difficult to accept the independence demonstrated by the Jewish State since its creation.
In fact, that independence preceded the state’s creation itself: on May 14, 1948, Israel proclaimed its independence despite American opposition and a boycott imposed by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall.
The boldness of David Ben-Gurion, the heroism of the fighters, and the help of the “Rock of Israel” brought about a victory that no foreign chancery believed possible.
In 1967, Israel launched the Six-Day War in response to Egypt’s blockade of the Strait of Tiran and its military alliance with Syria, Jordan, and Iraq.
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson warned Israel not to fire the first shot: “Israel will not be alone unless it decides to be.” General de Gaulle warned Israel: “He who fires the first shot will not have France’s support,” and imposed an arms embargo on all sides.
Israel went to war despite these warnings—and won a total victory in the Six-Day War.
The Yom Kippur War served as something of a counterpoint: fearing the loss of international support, Prime Minister Golda Meir and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan chose not to carry out a full mobilization, despite intelligence reports throughout September 1973 indicating Egyptian preparations for war.
The consequences were severe: the initial days of the war were disastrous, with heavy losses (2,656 Israeli dead), even though Israel, aided by a massive American airlift, eventually regained the upper hand.
On July 4, 1976, when Air France Flight 139 from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked to Entebbe, Uganda, the hijackers demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners. After releasing the non-Jewish passengers, they held about a hundred Jews and Israelis hostage, following a selection process of sinister memory.
Once again, Israel responded with audacity. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin refused to yield, and Israel carried out a daring solo rescue operation in Uganda, freeing the hostages.
The bombing of Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor in June 1981 was another striking example of Israel’s boldness and exercise of sovereignty. Saddam Hussein’s Iraq had built the reactor near Baghdad with French assistance.
Prime Minister Menachem Begin decided to act, despite opposition from the United States and France, the latter denouncing the strike as an attack on a civilian facility it had helped construct.
On June 7, 1981, Israeli warplanes flew at extremely low altitude to avoid radar detection and dropped precision bombs on the reactor dome, destroying it completely.
Though the operation was a tactical success, it was condemned by the United Nations Security Council. Yet, during the Gulf War a decade later, Iraq had no nuclear weapons—thanks to that operation.
Six years later, Israel once again exercised its sovereignty: Operation Orchard, the bombing of a nuclear facility in eastern Syria built with North Korean assistance.
Although informed, Washington refused to authorize a strike and advocated for diplomacy. Israel overruled that position, and its air force, having jammed the Syrian radars, destroyed the reactor within minutes.
Israel’s unprecedented and daring efforts to obstruct Iran’s nuclear program have not ceased:
- In 2007, Israel developed the Stuxnet virus, which stealthily sabotaged Iran’s nuclear centrifuges.
- Beginning in 2010, the targeted assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists—attributed to the Mossad.
- In 2018, the Mossad seized Iran’s secret nuclear archives in Tehran and smuggled them into Israel.
Simultaneously, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on weapons convoys for Hezbollah, Iranian bases in Syria, missile depots, and intelligence centers.
And yet, it would take the tragic events of October 7 for Israel to implement the strategy of Horatius, facing off one by one against Iran’s proxies: first Hamas, then Hezbollah and Syria, and finally confronting the head of the octopus—Iran, a country seventy-five times larger and ten times more populous.
These actions bear witness to the boldness and ingenuity of a small country compelled by its enemies to develop unprecedented survival strategies.
Is it mere coincidence that Israel’s leaders, when facing these trials, chose biblical names for their operations?
- “עמוד ענן” (“Pillar of Cloud”)—evoking the protective clouds that guided the Israelites out of Egypt—used to name the 2012 strikes against Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
- “עלות השחר” (“Dawn’s Rise”)—alluding to Jacob’s struggle with the angel, after which he was named Israel—used for the August 2022 attack on Islamic Jihad.
- And finally, “עם כלביא יקום” (“This nation rises like a lion”), the name given to the current war against Iran.
Even if not all recognize it, the return of Israel to its land appears to mark a resumption of its historical course—an extension of its biblical narrative.
This fact is difficult for many nations to grasp, much less accept, as they view the State of Israel only as a haven of refuge.
It is also hard for part of the Jewish people to accept—those who wish to see the State of Israel as merely one state among others.
And yet, the ceaseless wars Israel faces, and the singular treatment it receives from the media and the United Nations, demand serious reflection.
There is nothing to prevent one from undertaking that reflection in light of the biblical prophecies.
Those very prophecies that foretold the return of the people of Israel to their land—2,500 years ago, even before they were exiled from it.
Marc Lévy