Israel's War For Independence
 Nations
rise and fall with revolutions and coups de'tat on a
regular basis. In some areas of the world the ink is
hardly dry on the maps before boundaries and names have
been changed again. The result is that very few people
can list the various countries that have been formed
in the last 15 years and their dates of independence.
But, there is one country, small in size yet large in
importance, whose name and date of independence is known
by most Christians around the world and certainly by
every serious student of Bible prophecy. That nation
is Israel and that date is 14 May 1948.
Why does this particular war for independence command so
much attention? For some people the reason has to do with
a simple interest in international politics. Even many secularists
are watchers of the Middle East, not because of biblical reasons,
but because they understand the events of the Middle East
set the posture of world politics as a whole. There are others,
however, whose interest embraces other reasons that only a
few outside the Christian faith understand. These people,
mostly Christians whose belief system includes a literal interpretation
of Bible prophecy, see the founding of the modern state of
Israel in 1948 as the unmistakable sign Jesus spoke of in
Matthew 24:32ff - the coming to life of a dead fig tree -
the sign which marks the generation that will see the second
coming of Jesus to this earth.
So, what is the story behind Israel's war for independence;
is it any different from any other such war? Yes, it is. It
is a story that demands much more space than that available
here, though a brief account will be offered in these pages.
It is important to have at least a basic understanding of
the events leading up to 1948 in order to have a clearer understanding
of prophecies such as Jeremiah 31, etc. Knowing the fundamentals
of the Zionist struggle is crucial to grasping the overall
gist of Bible prophecy.
Since A.D. 70 the Jewish people have been scattered all over
the world. For the most part they have been productive citizens
of their adoptive countries with many becoming very famous
in the areas of literature, science and economics. Many have
fought bravely as soldiers in the countries of their residence.
Yet, for the most part their fellow citizens never fully accepted
them as being due the same rights and privileges as other
citizens. Things were generally bearable for the Jews as long
as life was good for everyone, but as soon as the economy
took a turn for the worse, or if a disease became epidemic
or if war broke out the Jews were blamed and became the victims
of terrible atrocities. In spite of such problems many Jews
wanted to remain where they were. They became comfortable
and considered occasional pogroms and outbreaks of violence
as simply the price they had to pay. But, around the close
of the 19th century a different attitude began to emerge among
many Jews - they began to want to go "home".
 Among
other things the Dreyfus trial in France in 1894 helped
set Europe's posture regarding the Jews for the next
century. Captain Alfred Dreyfus was an officer in the
French army and was accused of treason. A secret kangaroo
court convicted him and he was shipped off to Devil's
Island. Though he was later found to be not guilty,
his initial conviction unleashed a new round of persecution
in France. Theodore Hertzl, a Jewish writer from Hungary,
took note of what was going on and determined that Europe
would soon be no place for Jews. The 20th century proved
him right. Hertzl founded the Zionist movement and in
1896 published Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) in
which he called for a homeland for the Jews in ancient
Israel. In 1897 he helped establish the first World
Zionist Congress. Though slowly at first, this idea
about Jews needing to have their own homeland was catching
on.
The famous Balfour Declaration was issued by the British
Government in November, 1917. This document stated Britain's
support for a national homeland for the Jews in the ancient
land of Israel, commonly called Palestine. It was agreed the
establishment of a Jewish homeland would not be at the expense
of those Arabs living there. In 1922 the League of Nations
entrusted the British Government with the responsibility of
implementing the Balfour Declaration. At the time about 85,000
Jews lived in Palestine with many families having been there
for centuries. In fact, the majority of the citizens of Jerusalem
were Jews at that time. By 1947 the Jewish population had
grown to over 600,000. The standard of living increased substantially
with the Jews draining malaria-infested swamps, irrigating
desert areas and generally modernizing the area. The prosperity
of the land attracted a number of Arabs from surrounding countries
and they began to enjoy life to a much greater degree as a
result of Jewish presence. The Arab population grew from several
hundred thousand to well over a million during this same period.
What is not commonly known is that the mandate included the
whole area of Transjordan east of the Jordan River. Winston
Churchill, however, in 1922 gave this area to Emir Abdullah
(who later became King Abdullah) as an Arab homeland. This
means that 80% of the land designated for the Jews was given
to the Arabs. It also means that the Palestinian people already
have a homeland - it is called Jordan. However, Jordan and
other Arab countries continue refusing to allow the Palestinians
to become citizens in order to keep them cramped up in stinking
refugee camps. You see, by not allowing them to immigrate
they keep them labeled as "refugees" and the caldron
of hatred is continually stirred in the eyes of world opinion
by blaming Israel for the situation.
 From
1922 on the Arabs (under the leadership and incitement
of Moslem clerics like Haj Amin el-Husseini, the then
Mufti of Jerusalem) did all they could to stop Jewish
immigration to Palestine. The Arabs enjoyed the Jewish
prosperity, but they wanted it all for themselves. No
more Jews coming in! They hated the Jew with a seething
passion and initiated numerous attacks upon them at
every opportunity. The Jews, though saddened at the
loss of 80% of the mandate, embraced the division because
it meant they would still have their own homeland. The
Arabs, on the other hand, wanted it all and did not
embrace any such partition agreement. Even today, the
Arabs wish to take away another huge chunk of Israel
for another Palestinian "homeland". Should
that happen the borders of Israel would become indefensible;
a situation they cannot afford to let happen with millions
of Moslems surrounding them just waiting for an opportunity
to drive them into the Mediterranean Sea while turning
the sand of Israel red with Jewish blood.
With World War 2 on the immediate horizon Britain had to
make a choice: they could support Jewish immigration to Palestine
and loose the support of the Arabs and their oil, or they
could slow down Jewish immigration and get the oil they needed
for their industrial and military machines. They chose the
latter. The result was that the Jews had to defend themselves;
the British chose not to. Attacks by the Arabs became more
frequent, and the Jews formed militias to fight back.
During World War 2 the fight in Palestine slowed down a bit,
but that did not stop over 30,000 Jews from joining the British
armed forces and fighting in service to England. Over six
million Jews died from 1933 - 1945. When the war was over
the Jews of Europe finally concluded that Hertzl had been
right. They tried to immigrate to Palestine, but an ungrateful
government in Britain did all it could to interfere with the
effort. Many attempted the trip anyway, under the most trying
of circumstances. Hundreds sneaked in while making the trip
in the holes of old rusted out ships with insufferable heat,
unbearable stench and constant fear of British patrol boats.
The British began suffering casualties in the renewed fighting
after the war, and finally decided to give up and go home.
But, before they left they handed over most of their military
hardware and materiel to the Arabs thinking the fight would
be over quickly. God, however, had other plans.
Battles were already being fought on the 14th of May, the
day of the British withdrawal. Jerusalem was under siege and
the Jewish leadership could not make their declaration of
statehood from there. David Ben-Gurion and the other Jewish
leaders, on the same day at 4:00PM, in the Municipal Museum
in Tel Aviv, declared the formation of a Jewish state that
was to be known as the State of Israel. On the next morning,
as he spoke to America regarding Jewish statehood, Egyptian
planes could be heard dropping bombs on Tel Aviv. The Arabs
threw everything they could at them in order to insure the
infant state would be still-born. God, however, had another
plan. He had said Israel would be re-born, and May 14th, 1948
was that day. The Arabs would not, could not, stop it.
There are several reasons Israel was reestablished as the
national homeland for the Jews. The Jews - a distinct group
of people that had not and could not be assimilated into the
foreign cultures of the nations of their wanderings - had
no place to call their home. Only after centuries did they
finally admit there is only one person any Jew can trust,
and that is another Jew, and that there is only one place
they can defend themselves, and that is in Israel. In essence
they admitted that which Moses said long ago about their wanderings
among the nations of the world, And among those nations
you shall find no rest, and there shall be no resting place
for the sole of your foot; but there the Lord will give you
a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. So
your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall be
in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your
life (Deut. 28:65-66 NASB).
But, the major reason Israel was reestablished is God said
it would be. You see, He is the personal guarantor of the
promises made to the patriarchs, and He will never break them.
He said He would gather them from the four corners of the
earth and bring them back to their own land. Though they will
never be driven from their home again, God will indeed allow
them to experience the fires of persecution once more; in
fact 66% will die during those years yet future to our day.
But, this time the result will be that the remnant will acknowledge
that Jesus is their Messiah, and will accept Him completely
and without reservation. That day is coming, but first they
must be brought to the brink of destruction; to the point
where they have no place to go and there is no one to help
them. The battle will not be as it was in 1948. This time
all the nations of the world will be united against them with
the purpose of complete annihilation. And then, at the last
moment, Jesus will come again to this very earth and fight
for His people, destroying all those who have come against
them. The result of this last battle, however, will not be
a declaration of independence, but a declaration of total
dependence. Total dependence upon their Messiah - Jesus Christ.
DLM
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