Israel's time to act alone

Friday evening, while readying to board a plane to Tel Aviv from John F. Kennedy Airport, I casually observed Israelis and some American Jews and Christians in the waiting lounge. Despite the recent conflict between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, with all the attendant rocket firings into Israel by these terrorists, there was a sense of calm and assuredness. That's typical of the psyche and enduring deep confidence of the Jewish state.

This recent "war" is just one in a never-ending series of similar historical events in modern times, beginning with the War of Independence in 1948, after the United Nations granted Israel statehood. Since that time, Arabs and other Muslims have been unrelenting in their never-ending desire to destroy Israel and annihilate the Jewish people altogether. (Christians are not far behind on this hit list.) Nothing new, I thought while waiting to board the flight, so why get uptight? This hatred dates back thousands of years. Indeed, the roots of this religious war stem in large part from a fundamentally different concept of God. Generally speaking, the Muslim god is a hateful god who teaches to kill all "infidels" in the name of Allah – "infidels" being non-Muslims – and the Judeo-Christian God is a loving one, typified by the teachings of Moses and Jesus Christ.

I too felt a sense of assuredness, calm and, of course, pride as I waited in the lounge. My father and others urged me not to travel to Israel during this latest war. What would I have to gain and why should I take the chance, they asked. But, I was going anyway and nothing could keep me away – not just because this latest conflict is nothing new and will likely continue forever, but because I am a proud Jewish Christian and feel that Israel and its survival is synonymous with my American heritage. I am one with my people and will never forsake them. And, I am in Israel also on my professional and personal mission, to do whatever I can – particularly in light of the destructive and anti-Semitic policies and actions of President Barack Hussein Obama (our first and hopefully only "Muslim" president) and the ignorance if not stupidity of the 70 percent of the clueless American Jews who just voted to put him back in the White House for another four horrifying years. In my opinion, Obama is as much a threat to Jews and Christians as is Hamas because he enables Hamas and those other Islamic groups bent on destroying us. Regrettably, Obama's pro-Arab policies and disdain for Jews, and Israel in particular, have encouraged terrorist organizations such as Hamas to continue and recently step up their strikes and rocket attacks on Israel. Now that Obama has been re-elected, it is even clearer to the Israelis that there is no time to lose in acting alone.

The offensive which Israel unleashed this week in self-defense against Hamas in Gaza is just the beginning of what I believe to be the Jewish state's prelude to soon taking out the Iranian regime and its nuclear capabilities. During the last four years, the Obama administration (with Republicans' mere political pre-election lip service for Israel and hypocritical indifference), not only allowed Iran to build up its nuclear program, but to continue to arm Hamas, Hezbollah (in Lebanon and Syria) and other radical Islamic groups and interests surrounding Israel. If Israel were to attack Iran today, these terrorists would likely converge on and attack Israel from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and other Arab states and, with continued Iranian support in arms, try to annihilate Israel. Thus, Israel must first weaken Hamas, Hezbollah and these other terrorist interests bent on its destruction as a prelude to attacking Iran. Obama's actions – if not complicity in allowing Iran to build up these purveyors of evil against Jews and Christians – forced Israel's hand.

My travels around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Saturday and Sunday (Jerusalem has also been hit with Hamas rocket attacks in recent days) and my conversations with its citizens and non-Muslim inhabitants revealed their unsurprising view of Obama and the U.S. administration. While the overwhelming numbers of Israelis strongly detest and distrust Obama for obvious reasons, they could care less about his support with regard to the current conflict or in general. Israelis know that they must go it alone and cannot rely on the United States – as it has in recent years been shown to be a grossly unreliable and hostile "partner" under Obama. Despite their isolation from American support, Israelis are not hiding indoors; they're going about their business, shopping, eating in restaurants and living a "normal" life, even in Tel Aviv which has seen an increasing barrage of rocket fire. There is a quiet confidence that its people, their government and the Israeli Defense Forces will take care of business, as has been true for the last 64 years since independence. That is also because this land has been given to Jews, and by extension Christians, by God. God will not forsake Zion.

Consistent with the Israeli indifference to Obama, Obama is also "indifferent" to their security during this crisis. Predictably, he is off traveling in the Far East. As usual, he's unengaged when it comes to the Middle East and America' support of the Jewish state. So much the better, as his involvement could only make matters worse. Best to leave the socialist Muslim out in left field where he can do less harm to the vital interests of Jews and Christians in the Holy Land. We, as Jews and Christians, can and must take care of ourselves and don't need or want Obama and his Muslim-sympathizing comrades in his administration to "help."

The time for Israel to act alone is now, and the new war with Hamas in Gaza is only the beginning of a campaign which will hopefully soon lead to Tehran and the destruction of the mullahs' neo-Nazi Islamic regime and its nuclear capabilities.