Ken Bridges/Contributing Writer
On Oct. 7, Israel was attacked by Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip. It was an act that horrified the world. Gunmen gunned down unarmed dozens at an outdoor concert, murdered elderly Holocaust survivors, and broke into homes to kidnap and slaughter civilians. The long list of atrocities committed cannot be repeated in a family newspaper. Hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed, including more than a dozen Americans. Once again, Israel has become the focus of violence in the Middle East as it launches its response in an effort to defend itself.
Israel’s history in the region dates back more than 3,000 years. It had long been at the mercy of rampaging armies, but the people used their faith, heritage, and sense of community to stand against the tide. The tales surrounding life in ancient Israel recorded in the Old Testament have since become favorites around the world and reminders of the importance of faith and integrity. After the Roman destruction of the Second Temple and after the uprisings of the first century AD, the Jewish population began to spread out from the area. The diaspora eventually led most of the Jewish population to reside in Europe.
Israel’s position as the center of the Jewish faith, as well as the birthplace of Christianity, made it a focal point for religious pilgrimages from Europe as early as the Middle Ages. By the nineteenth century, after facing generations of discrimination, lynchings, and segregation, many European Jews were attracted to the growing movement of Zionism to return to their ancestral homelands. Thousands eventually moved to what was once Israel, now a land occupied by the Ottoman Turks, and dominated by Muslims.
In 1917, the British, who would take control of the area after World War I, promised to re-establish a Jewish state in the region. After the Holocaust during World War II, this took on a new urgency following the horrific acts of genocide by Nazi Germany which had left six million Jews dead. The new United Nations in 1947 proposed that the area, now called Palestine, would be divided between a state dominated by the Jews and an area dominated by the Muslim Palestinians. The Arab states, however, refused to accept this. They demanded that no Jewish state exist and prepared to attack.
Events moved so quickly that Israel initially could not decide on a name, debating between Judah and Israel before making Israel official. Immediately upon the departure of the British, and Israel’s declaration of independence on May 14, 1948, the combined armies of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq attacked the new state from all sides. The Arabs ordered the Palestinians to leave the area, swearing they would destroy absolutely everything and everyone to annihilate the Israelis. The Israelis were hurled back initially. After weeks of intense fighting, Israel began gaining the upper hand. By the following January, the badly outnumbered Israelis had managed to expel all four armies and had actually increased their holdings by almost 50%. At the end of the War of Independence, Jordan had annexed the Arab-held West Bank of the Jordan River and East Jerusalem, and Egypt held the Gaza Strip.
Israel was a young democracy surrounded by hostile enemies in a very unstable part of the world. Egypt continued to antagonize Israel by inciting terrorist attacks from Gaza and blocking Israeli access to the nearby Suez Canal. This led to an armed confrontation in 1956 that drew in the British. It ended after one week of fighting.
In 1967, Egypt and Syria prepared to strike again. The Israelis realized they were about to be attacked, and in a pre-emptive move, struck Syria and Egypt. Jordan then attacked Israel in response. In six days, Israel hurled back all three armies and seized the Golan Heights of Syria near the Sea of Galilee, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. Terrorist attacks on Israel escalated in the ensuing years.
After the humiliation of the Six-Day War, Anwar Sadat became the Egyptian president and swore revenge. In 1973, on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, also known as the Jewish new year, Egypt and Syria launched a sneak attack on Israel. For 35 years, Israel had been building a military prepared for such attacks and launched a massive response. The Yom Kippur War ended with a United Nations cease-fire 17 days later as Israeli forces approached Damascus and recovered from Egyptian attacks near the Suez Canal. By 1978, Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel called the Camp David Accords; a treaty of which has been held since that time. In 1994, Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel as well.
Since Israel’s victory in the Yom Kippur War, no Arab army has attacked Israel. However, the Arab states continued to escalate their rhetoric against Israel, calling for its total annihilation. Instead of direct confrontation, terrorist groups are funded by Iran and various other individuals and organizations to attack Israeli targets.
Founded in 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization was one such group, launching blistering attacks on Israel into the 1980s. Israel faced many difficulties protecting its population as terrorists would launch attacks from the West Bank and Gaza, hiding in residential areas while at the same time infiltrating the Israeli population to launch attacks on women and children.
Hamas was founded in 1987, splitting off from the radical Muslim Brotherhood because it would not participate in violence in Israel. It began launching attacks on Israel in 1989, including bombings and kidnappings. Hundreds of people were killed, and Israel responded with force to defend itself. After years of peace negotiations, Israel left Gaza in 2005 and granted autonomy to the area and portions of the West Bank.
Hamas fashioned itself as a political organization. Focusing the frustrations of Palestinians still in the West Bank and especially Gaza against Israel, they won a majority of seats in the Palestinian legislature in 2007. Instead of building a state and addressing the problems of Gaza, they continued to focus their energies on attacks on Israel and assumed full control of Gaza. In spite of Israeli responses, Hamas continued to attack.
While spending decades under threat by its neighbors, Israel built a prosperous technical and agricultural society. Israel today is a nation of 9.7 million people. Throughout its entire existence as a modern state, it has had the difficult problem of balancing security and freedom. It has built a powerful military and an efficient intelligence service. As one Israeli official told NPR recently about the difference between the United States and Israel, “Your enemies are 7,000 miles away. Our enemies are 7,000 feet away.”
Dr. Ken Bridges is a native Texan, and author of seven books. He can be contacted by e-mail at drkenbridges@gmail.com.