Recognizing the truth about Israel and Jewish connections to the land - opinion

One of the wonders of Israel is its uncanny ability to take center stage of global attention irrespective of how significant or insignificant events here are. By any metric, the current war in Gaza shouldn’t garner the level of attention it is currently receiving from world leaders, media, and the average person.

Presidential elections of the world’s most powerful country are affected by Israel’s actions. Millions of people around the world take to the streets to support or demonstrate against Israel and her enemies. World and business leaders fly into Israel to offer us their support and advice. The world’s interest in Israel is not commensurate with its size.

If the world’s focus is on Israel, it’s important that the truth about Israel be told. The usual lies told about Israel in extreme right and left wing antisemitic chatrooms have spread to social media and have even made appearances in mainstream media. Israel is a well-established successful nation – it is currently older than half the countries in the world and its economy is growing faster than many of the biggest nations in the world. It doesn’t need to defend itself against false accusations, but it should stand for the truth.

Early Zionist leaders aimed to build a Jewish state on the historical land of the Jewish people. The exact borders of the potential state they hoped for weren’t clarified, but the location of the state would closely match the historical borders of the land of Israel. The creation of Trans-Jordan, later to be the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, restricted the borders of British Mandate Palestine from the Jordan River in the East to the Mediterranean Sea in the West.

The 1947 United Nations Partition Plan split British Mandate Palestine into a proposed Arab and Jewish state. Both states were to share the land mass between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The Jews and the Zionist leaders accepted the Partition Plan but the Arabs rejected the deal, preferring to go to war and annihilate the Jews than to compromise and earn their own state.

The Arab rejection of the plan led to their defeat in battle and the loss of their own state. Today, when Palestinian advocates chant for a “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,” they are chanting for the annihilation of the State of Israel and its people.

Israel is a small country with many enemies, and it has fought more wars than normal for any nation of its size and age. From the moment of its inception Israel has gone to war against five Arab countries, repeated those wars multiple times, fought terrorist fedayeen in the 1950’s, two intifadas, a constant battle against Palestinian terrorists, multiple operations against Hamas in Gaza, and now the war Israel is currently fighting. Its frequent wars have made it easy for Israel’s enemies to paint Israel as a warmongering country.

Yet, from its founding moments Israel and its leaders have wanted nothing more than peace with the Arabs it shares a land with, and their neighbors. They asked “the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the state on the basis of full and equal citizenship.” They reached out and appealed to “all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, and appealed to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land.” Israel is a country that seeks peace and only fights wars when it has no other choice.

Colonies are an anachronism of yesteryear. Powerful empires sent their militaries to conquer faraway lands and conquer native peoples and rule over them. In today’s world of egalitarianism and respect for native peoples, colonialism is an evil notion. Israel’s enemies love to characterize Zionism as a colonial movement that was created to rob the Palestinians, who they claim are the natives of the land, from their homeland. 

Jews are the true indigenous people of the land of Israel

Zionism was the opposite of a colonial movement. Jews are the true indigenous people of the land of Israel. While many ancient and far gone nations have lived and ruled the land, there are no people around today that have an older claim on the land of Israel than the Jewish people.

The Jews have lived in Israel for over 3,000 years. No one sent the Zionists to colonize the land of Israel, the Zionists came to liberate the land from non-native people who had no rights or connections to the land.

Lastly, the Israelis have made it a priority to treat all people under their rule in accordance with international law and grant all people their human rights. They’ve dramatically improved the lives of all peoples, Arabs, Druze, Bedouins, and Circassians that live in Israel.

Israelis have made sure to give equal rights to all citizens irrespective of their religion or nationality. While it won’t grant citizen rights to non-citizens, like Palestinians, it does make sure to grant them full human rights. This doesn’t stop Israel’s opponents from slandering Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, but their accusations never match reality. 

As Israeli soldiers fight on behalf of their nation to secure it against foreign enemies in Gaza, Israel’s advocates speak on its behalf on social and mainstream media. The two can’t be compared in the importance of their mission, but the latter group ensures that the truth about Israel is spread throughout the world.

Israel deserves to rule its historic homeland, it seeks peace, is the indigenous people of its land, and treats its citizens and residents properly. In challenging times the truth will eventually rise and become the final world. 

The writer, a rabbi, is CEO of Israel Educational Supply.