Who is David and who is Goliath?

The State of Israel is currently facing a serious challenge – it is being portrayed to the world as a type of Goliath, a neighborhood bully, who attacks its neighbors without cause. When dealing with claim, it is worthwhile to analyze who in fact was Goliath? The world has yet to internalize that Goliath was a Philistine, a nation that serves as an inspiration and possible source of the Palestinian people and strategy. Goliath attempted to destroy the People of Israel, claimed to be engaged in a Holy War, viewing Israel as a nation that had no rights to territory. The Philistines enjoyed the military and moral support of many surrounding nations, including leading sea powers. They were known as a People that conquered foreign lands. Young David defeated this enemy, which obviously overmatched him in might and numbers, through cunning, improvisation, and the implementation of new ideas on the battleground.

 In the short existence of the State of Israel, we see a return of this archetype. Little Israel finds itself surrounded by the hundreds of millions of people, comprising the Arab and Muslim states, who enjoy strong armies, and in many cases, guerilla-terrorist forces. When analyzing the numbers, Israel has little chance of survival against an enemy, which, due to its numbers, not only has a military advantage, but also, and economic and public relations advantage.

 The Arab League is comprised of 22 states, while there are a total of 57 Muslim states in the world, many of which are not Arab. Furthermore, the total number of “non-aligned states” totals 113 states, comprising 55% of the global population, and more than 50% of United Nations member states. Thus, it should be no surprise that in forums such as the United Nations, Israel is mercilessly attacked.

 Within this reality, in which a small state of less than eight million citizens, surrounded by a sea of states with strong armies, strong economies, and domination of various media outlets, how can Israel be the one to be labeled “Goliath”, while the Arab and Muslim world, labeled “David”. There is a great injustice in a reality in which the world sides with states that utilize state-sponsored terror, trample human rights, and repeatedly call for Israel’s destruction. How could such a force, which routinely turns to violence to solve political disputes, be labeled “David”?

 Just a few days ago, we saw a continuation of slogans calling to throw the Jews into the Sea (the modern day expression of slogans from the times of the Holocaust), as Khaled Mashal spoke to millions in Gaza to the sounds of roaring applause. Mashal’s words of hatred were lauded by the Muslim world, while the West saw no reason to condemn these anti-Semitic and inciting remarks. Indeed, the read Goliath has spoken – and the world, in its silence, stood complicit to attempts to exterminate the Jewish people.