Israel does not have to prove her existential legitimacy

Imagine a scenario where a woman, who has been happily married for ten years, continues to be haunted and hounded by her former boyfriend, who still believes he has a chance to win her over and get her to leave her husband. Sounds absurd, right?

Yet that is exactly what has been playing out in Israel as those who oppose her call into question the right to exist in her ancestral homeland. In an article entitled, “The need for long-term, strategic thinking, writer, Jason Silverman contends that, “Israel has yet to secure its existence in the region and that we have yet to get past the threshold of a permanent Jewish state surviving in the Arab-dominant Middle East.”

While this does not, at all, represent how everyday Israeli citizens feel, there is something to Silverman’s theory, because why else would so many politicians, leaders, organizations and individuals still be throwing out the idea of a two-state solution or even, in some cases, the complete replacement of Israel with a Palestinian state, free of a Jewish presence?

It was only recently, at a student assembly meeting, held at Rutgers University, where pro-terrorism and anti-Israel chants were forcefully heard, to the point that the university president and administration members had to be escorted out of the hall by police and security as pro-Palestinian activists angrily shouted, “We don’t want two states, we want ’48!” Apparently a reference to the year – 1948 – when Israel officially became an independent state.

But, in this case, we’re not speaking about a 10-year marriage. We are speaking about a 76-year existence, which you would think should be settled in the minds of all, but which seems to still be up for discussion, at least to some.

But if anyone still has a doubt, as to whether Israel is here to stay or not, they should take a look at what has been invested in order to arrive at all that we have accomplished in our nearly eight decades of existence. Our population is now hovering at the 10 million mark, and it includes every ethnicity, walk of life, diverse orientation and language as well as thought. We have excelled in the fields of medicine, technology, innovation, agriculture, business, defense weaponry and countless other areas of expertise. 

Our army is among the best in the world, and our ability to rally around others, who need assistance during times of need, is legendary. No other country has accomplished half of what we have in the time we’ve existed, so why would anyone be so foolish as to believe that we have signed a temporary lease with the option of moving out shortly?

It is because we live at a time when everything is being called into question – one’s gender, the right to make personal health decisions, rather than being coerced via governmental mandates, the ability to be exposed to diverse thought without censorship, the prerogative for parents to decide how to raise their children and so much more, because the list is endless. 

In some bizarre fashion, it’s as if Theodor Herzl’s well-known quote, “If you will it, it is no dream,” has been co-opted by Israel’s enemies and taken to a whole new level. Spoken by the Father of modern Zionism and intended for the Jewish people, who had been dispersed to the four corners of the earth after being exiled from their homeland, he believed, with a full heart, that his people would, once again, be able to inhabit the land which God gave to them, convinced that the dream was within their reach if they cared enough to seize it.

Of course, those were the days when Israel was just a neglected wasteland, needing to be drained of its malaria-filled swamps and built from scratch. Having been under the control of the Turks for some 400 years, only 3,000 Jews were said to be living in Jerusalem, in the 19th century, many of whom suffered persecution, arrests and famine. Others lived in the areas of Hebron, Gaza, Safed (Tzfat) and the Galilee. In fact, the entire country only had a population of 335,000, and was referred to as a land without people. 

Under British rule from 1917 – 1948, things improved slightly as more structure was put into place. For the first time, “roads and airfields were built, sound legal institutions were provided as well as reliable police.” All of this was done per the British Mandate, towards the aspirational goal of creating a Jewish homeland. By the time statehood came along in May of 1948, the entire population was 805,900 of which 649,600, representing 80.6% were Jews and 156,000, representing 19.4%, were Arabs. 

It was only then that the real hard work began, as all the returning exiles labored together, investing their blood, sweat and tears, followed by their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, to build the country of which we are so proud to call home.

Today, Israel boasts ten universities and 53 colleges, 354 hospitals, 430 multinational corporations, more than 80,000 lawyers and close to 25,000 physicians. Of course, we built the best military possible, and despite our present situation, the economy has remained stable, for the most part. 

Is it any wonder that this is the proverbial Garden of Eden which is being sought after by those who “will it” but who neither have legitimate claim to it nor have invested the backbreaking work it demanded to create a nation which is the envy of so many others? But in this case, “willing it” will not result in taking it by force, because the land of which the Jewish prophet Isaiah spoke, referring to it as “the desert, which blossomed into a rose” (35:1) was intended for the people whom God chose. Only they are the rightful owners!

The land of Israel retains its legitimacy, as the Jewish homeland, both historically and biblically. The fact that 2,000 years of exile did not deter its prophetic re-creation from coming to fruition, despite the rise of tyrants, within every generation who did their best to annihilate us, attests to the fact that only the Sovereign God could have preserved us as a people in order to make good on His promise to reinstate us in our land, even restoring our ancient language in its modern reiteration.

Consequently, ours is a mandate from the Almighty, who Himself willed the land of Israel for the people of Israel. Given that irreversible fact, anyone who still has designs on this particular piece of real estate, in the hope of replacing the Jews, will literally find themselves fighting the greatest advocate of all time – the Creator of the universe who always ends up having the final word!