Nils A. Haug
Gatestone Institute, Mar. 3, 2024
“They [Hamas] told us in all of their statements that their charter is to destroy Israel and exterminate the Jews. Other countries have said the same thing. It’s also in the Houthis’ charter. It’s in Iran’s direct messaging. I think that when they tell you they want to kill you, you should believe that. I think that’s the lesson.”
The hard truth is that for millennia, the land of Israel, whether occupied by Jacob’s tribes or others, has been the domain of countless generations of Israelites. The vast majority of Israel’s citizens, and many Jews in the diaspora, understand their rights to retain their homeland after escaping 400 years of slavery in Egypt. At its core, the debate over this tiny area of land is founded on three primary factors: spiritual, national, and political. In the result, the conviction of the majority populace is that not one square inch of the current boundaries of Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) can belong to anyone who might harm them again, although people of peace are always graciously allowed to reside among them.
In the minds of the most committed Jews, their land is sacred, promised to them by their Creator, and deserves to remain under authority and control of the Jewish nation. It is therefore a fantasy to expect that this ancient land would be willingly parcelled out, especially to enemies of that nation.
Furthermore, actions by Western nations to compel expropriation of any portion of the land accords with an anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic ideology irrespective of commendable, but mistaken, motives. Such action would again expose the Jewish people to existential danger, as is evident throughout centuries past and most recently on October 7, 2023. No lasting peace could possibly ensue from partitioning this ancient soil. It is unrealistic to expect that historic enemies could harmoniously reside in close proximity to each other when one party keeps vowing to destroy its peaceful neighbour.
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