By Stan Goodenough
Sep 21, 2007
The Israel Defense Forces upped their alert level along the Syrian border Friday, determined to secure the nation against Arab military adventurism as the Jewish people prepared to observe their annual Day of Atonement (Yom HaKippurim).
According to The Jerusalem Post, the military is concerned Syria might attempt to retaliate for an alleged September 6 Israeli Air Force attack within its borders.
Security forces also imposed a closure on the Gaza Strip and Samaria-Judea through the Yom Kippur fast, which ends Saturday evening Israel time.
On this day, 34 years ago, Israel's Arab enemies took advantage of the fact that most the country's Jews were in the synagogues or quietly keeping the fast at home, and launched what became known as the "October War," "Yom Kippur War," or "War of the Day of Judgment."
While the Jewish state managed to beat the aggressors, it looked into the abyss of destruction before fighting its way back. Only a last-minute plea to US President Richard Nixon by Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir - a plea that resulted in the largest airlift of weapons since World War Two being brought directly to Israel, ensured that Israel would live to fight another day.
Inside the country, life was already winding down early Friday morning. At Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, the early morning El Al flight from New York emptied out its passengers who quickly made their way to their weekend venues. In downtown Jerusalem, the usual pre-Shabbat crush of cars and people was noticeable by its absence.
The normally bustling Hebron Road supermarket - Superdeal - saw business just ticking over; its small on-site bakery putting out just one batch of challah (Sabbath bread) before closing down.
Only Jerusalem's Old City was alive, the roads choked with vehicles near the Damascus Gate; thousands of Arabs streaming their way through the wall toward the Temple Mount for a Ramadan service.
By early afternoon, public transport had stopped running, and a few hours from now barely a car will be seen on the roads.
Radio and television stations have been powered down. Silence, like a blanket, is settling over the capital. And hundreds of thousands of Jews, many with inquiring and repenting hearts, will make their way to the synagogues for prayer.
It will be as it is on every Yom Kippur. As it was last year, and as it was in 1973, just hours before Arab armies from the north, east and south moved to smash into and obliterate the nation of Israel.
While there are no real signs of any plans being put in place to hit Israel over the weekend, the IDF is on the alert, and many Christians in different nations are standing in prayer for Israel's protection and defense.