Old Testament- of time

Today, as I drove into work, the radio was reminding us of the passing of the last man on the Enola Gay, who in 1945 dropped the “little boy” nuclear bomb on Hiroshima.

He said, “The Japan of that day was not the Japan we know today. The Emperor had stated his intent to fight to the very end with every last man, woman and child. Truman answered with two nuclear weapons that quickly ended the war.”

It immediately flashed into my mind, this is what Netanyahu is doing.

The United States would not hesitate to respond fiercely to attacks like those of Hamas. No country would. Israel has the absolute right to defend itself, and Netanyahu stood on firm ground as he described to “Meet the Press” on Sunday, the motives and tactics of Hamas. He said that Israel uses missiles to shield their people, while Hamas uses people to shield their missiles. Netanyahu stated “there is no war more just than this.” Israel has said it is defending its citizens against attack from Gaza by hitting Hamas rocket launchers, weapons storage sites and military tunnels. He said we needed to go to the Egyptian initiative. The demilitarization of Gaza. We must stop them from stocking missiles and building terror tunnels. That would help the people of Gaza. If you want to bring in the concrete, how would you know that these would not help them rebuild terror tunnels to invade Israel. There is a link between demilitarization and relief for the people.

Why is anyone surprised that this will be a fight to the end? What end? Hamas refused to agree to an extension of 24 hours to the cease fire. They have violated their own cease fires. They will fight to the end. Israel states that Hamas’s tunnels into Israel must be destroyed and any future threat of Hamas must be removed. That sounds like “to the end”.

The difference in WWII and today is the media presence and the lightning speed of graphic photo dissemination of events. Who can forget the magazine covers after Hiroshima? We see the rubble and heartache of Gaza. Today’s 1,000 casualties are equivalent in effect to 140,000 in 1945. If we had a photo journal of Israel’s past, we would see that this is their homeland for centuries. They have managed to coexist with the Palestinians and could continue. There are principles & a rich history, to protect.

There is a difference in how we perceive the results, but there is no difference in how these two leaders are proceeding. When threatened by an enemy that will not stop until they either win or die, there is no other option than to meet them on their territory. Brave people on both sides, so what is the problem? There is an aggressor, who becomes convinced of their right to something that someone else has. It didn’t turn out well in the past and I am sure this will be another “testament to time” direct from the Old Testament.

The Hebrew word chai is made up of the Hebrew letters chet and yud. These letters have a number value of 18. The word means ‘life’ which is highly valued in Judaism. Many Jewish people wear necklaces with Hebrew word Chai on them.

The main difference will be how the leaders and peoples of the rest of the world respond. Indifference or acknowledgement- no change. Lack of understanding or animosity towards Israel- big difference. Resurgence of a similar terrorist group- same difference. There is a strength to standing steadfast on principle. That’s all we have for lasting testaments.