Scared to Strike First

bs’d

There was only one war the Israelis ever launched themselves.

One war in which they took the initiative and denied the enemy a first strike, unleashing instead the full fury of their own potent military force…

 

That war, of course, was the six day offensive of 1967 – not only the country’s shortest military engagement, but by far its most successful. 

In the span of less than a week, the Israelis managed to destroy the entire combined air force of three enemy states, retake the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, Yehuda and Shomron, the Golan Heights, reunify Jerusalem and restore the Temple Mount to its rightful owners. 

 

And more.

 

At that moment, there was not a nation in the Middle East that didn't tremble in awe.  All the world was in awe.  Could it be that the Jews were, indeed, G-d’s Chosen People?  Could it be this was the proof?

In the end, alas, it was too much for the Israelis.  Too much success.  Too much G-d in the picture.

Instead of becoming a model for future wars and a tool from which they might leverage a compelling deterrence, the Israelis turned their G-d given victory into an embarrassment of riches, cast guilt upon themselves for having succeeded, and thereby lay the foundation for the ensuing decline of the Israeli state.

The Creator of the Universe had been kind to them.  Gave them a gift.  Showered them with eminence.  He glorified His own great name through them.  And they snubbed it.

Know it well: an Israeli first strike is a proud, faith-inspired proposition that brings with it the full measure of heavenly fortune. 

It's precisely what the Holy One desires.