By Stan Goodenough
May 13, 2004
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz have decided that the settling of Jews in Gaza was an historic mistake.
But as the painful events of the past few weeks have shown, it is these Israeli leaders who are erring.
Like the owners of the Titanic who said that "God Himself could not sink her," they are, as it were, forcing the hand of the Almighty.
Thus, despite his own party’s referendum decision, and the more than 100,000 Israelis who voted with their feet against abandoning Gaza, Sharon remains determined to do just that.
Stung by taunts from Israel’s God-rejecting left who assert that the majority of their countrymen want out of the Strip, the premier is buying into the lie that NOT pulling out of Gaza would be anti-democratic.
Olmert, Sharon’s terrier and a man with his own sights on the prime minister’s throne, dismisses detractors with the feeble reasoning that there is no option to leaving Gaza simply because there is no other plan.
Meanwhile, as his soldiers beat an increasingly bloody retreat from Gaza – and it i s a retreat, even if more soldiers are being poured in just now to try and ensure it takes place on Israel’s terms – Mofaz has taken to assaulting the bedrock beliefs upon which many of Gaza’s 8000 Jews based their decision to live there.
"Gaza is not our birthright nor the land of our forefathers, and we will not be there within five years," he declared on May 9, according to The Jerusalem Post . "Under any final-status agreement, it is clear that Gaza will remain outside the borders of Israel."
Outside
the borders of Israel? Well, that may be clear to Minister Mofaz. But with all the respect due to him and his fellow ministers, and leaving aside for a moment all those Jews who have and are giving their lives in defense of the Jewish presence in Gaza, the LORD God of Israel neither makes mistakes nor repents of the calling He has placed on His people.So either Mr. Mofaz does not know the Bible – a validated document known to be one of the most ancient land deeds of all time – or he is out to refute it.
According to the Bible, Gaza was part of the inheritance given to the children of Israel in the past (Numbers 34:2-6), and promised to them for the future (Ezekiel 47:19-20). Gaza was specifically given to the tribe of Judah – from whence come Mofaz’s people, the Jews. (Joshua 15:20,47)
Under Joshua, the Israelites conquered the land as far as Gaza (Joshua 10:40-42), but in line with the promise of its designated territorial legacy, it was the tribe of Judah that took that land in battle. (Judges 1:18)
The Gaza Strip was also a part of Solomon’s kingdom. (1 Kings 4:24)
So the Bible, at least, is quite clear about who owns Gaza.
The Jewish settlers who live in Gaza today have built the homes and gardens of their beautiful communities based upon these title deeds.
In 1967, in what millions of Jews and Gentiles believed to be a miracle, the Arab occupiers were driven out of Judea and Samaria and the illegally occupied Gaza Strip, back to where they came from.
While Israel’s soldiers fought bravely and brilliantly in the Six Day War, it was God Who gave that victory. It was not a mistake. Rather, it was another step in His unfolding plan to "restore the kingdom to Israel."
For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; but it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, because You favored them. … But You have saved us from our enemies, and have put to shame those who hated us.
(Psalm 44:3,7)By declaring that no-one can teach them about security, and by threatening to abandon Gaza and uproot its Jews in order to pursue the bankrupt land-for-peace process, Sharon et al are showing a blanket disregard for what the Bible has stated and affirmed. The cost of this folly is an ever-spiraling fatality figure - first the mother of the Hatuel family with her five kids, and now at least 11 Israeli soldiers.
Will the rush of violence in Gaza push Israel to accelerate the withdrawal, as leftist Israelis are gleefully anticipating? Or has Sharon’s determination to move ahead with the pullout un-bottled a war-genie that will force Israel to resolutely confront and deal with the terrorism-breeding Arabs in the Gaza Strip?
The coming days will tell.