UrsaMajor said:
bearnation93 said:
Not Jewish but love the Jewish people and the Jewish State of Israel. As a democracy and a country founded on Judeo-Christian values and Western culture, we share a kindred spirit with Israel and the Jewish faith.
What Israel has done as a nation in a very short period of time is nothing short of heroic and magnificent. They have turned a bunch of rock and sand into a beautiful, thriving part of the world. I have great admiration for that just like I do for formerly backwater countries like Singapore and South Korea. Wish the countries surrounding Israel would get their collective acts together and copy Israel's recipe for success and stop tormenting Israel and tormenting their own people.
I don't disagree with your characterization of Israel, nor do I disagree with the fact that there are countries in ME that are virulently anti-Israel. But be a little more accurate with your "facts." Israel is "surrounded" by Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. Jordan and Egypt are hardly "tormenting" Israel, they are trading partners, etc. Syria, is a mess, and Lebanon is not an enemy, although Hezbollah is. The real problems lie elsewhere (e.g., Iran).
The relationship Israel has with Egypt and Jordan is one of a begrudging tolerance afrer having been attacked by those countries multiple times in the past. To say they are trading partners is laughable...not much commerce (compared to what it should be for nations that are side-by-side such as U.S/Mexico or U.S./Canada) is exchanged between the countries. To be sure, there's still not much love at all shown towards Israel in any form by Egypt and the Hashemite Kingdom.
Sure, Syria is a mess but before it was a mess, Syria was still in a state of war with Israel, similar to the situation with North Korea and South Korea. To be sure, every one of the warring factions in Syria would love nothing more to wipe Israel off the face of the map. Israel has had to make many bombing missions in Syria during their civil war to knock out bad/evil actors threatening Israel.
Lebanon is de facto ruled and controlled by Hezbollah. Sadly, many Lebanese Christians have left the country since their 1970's civil war. In fact, Lebanon's largest plurality at that time was Christians. Sadly, a great majority of those people have left Lebanon due to the horrible takeover by Hezbollah. Now, virtually nothing happens in that country unless Hezbollah has given its blessing. The country is poised to be a major flashpoint with all of the rockets given to Hezbollah by Iran over the years to serve as their proxies on Israel's northern flank. Moreover, they have many seasoned fighters who have been fighting in Syria's civil war and are chomping at the bit to hit Israel like they did in the last mini-war.
You also forget the Arabs in Judea and Samaria (aka Palestinians in the West Bank). Like Lebanon, there were once many Arab Christians living in this area but those, too, have mostly left due to how the Muslim rulers have harshly treated them. Their education system is still hell-bent on demonizing Jews and Israel. A steady diet of hatefulness towards Israel, not to mention a stunningly corrupt regime that has eschewed each and every opportunity for a peace deal while horribly tormenting its own citizens in their one-party state. Yassir Arafat's widow lives very lavishly in Paris. The billions in foreign aid that has been stolen by its leaders instead of used to help its people is a travesty. And the Palestinian Authority still makes payments to families of suicide bombers. What a sick hell-hole society.
Speaking of unmitigated hell-holes, we can't forget Gaza, controlled by its Islamo-Nazi leadership. How many rockets have been fired into Israel since Israel withdrew from that area? Enough said. Every now and then, Israel is forced to "mow the grass" but sure hoping that next time they will go full war on Gaza and wipe these sickos out similar to how we utterly crushed Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany. Would be best if Egypt ruled this area like it once did.
Last but not least, while not directly adjacent to Israel by land but still right next door is Saudi Arabia which has been completely hostile to Israel for years although as of late there has been private cooperation due to their mutual interest in seeing that Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon.
With all of that said about the various Arab/Muslim countries noted above, is there any doubt that if the conditions were right -- similar to how the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, before and during World War II, cozied up to Hitler and the Nazis -- that these same countries wouldn't hesitate to destroy Israel? There is very little good will extended to Israel by any of these countries even when conditions aren't right. Only when these countries either reform their strains of Islam and start living in the 21st Century, or throw off Islam completely (as in convert to Christianity like past Roman emperors and kingdoms in Europe in the centuries following the Crucifixion of Christ) will they ever stop being a threat to Israel and will they ever become shining cities on a hill as Israel is today.
