Vierend veertig jaar na de wonderbare Israëlische overwinning in de Zesdaagse Oorlog van 1967, is een analyse van de omstandigheden van die momentous gebeurtenis onlangs gepubliceerd door een commissie van onderzoeksjournalisten en historici. Zijn conclusie is dat zo vele factoren samen voor het succes kwamen van Israël dat het onmogelijk is om te besluiten dat zij natuurlijke resultaten of de normale cursus van gebeurtenissen waren.

„Dit is van God“.

Voorafgaand aan Juni 1967, waren de grenzen van Israël precair, onverdedigbaar - op één punt, was het zuiden van Haifa, de breedte van Israël van de Middellandse Zee aan Jordanië-Gecontroleerd Cisjordanië minder toen tien mijlen. De oorlog verhoogde de grootte van Israël-Gecontroleerd gebied met meer dan dubbel. Het belangrijkst, werd Jeruzalem een verenigd stad en van Israël kapitaal. De Arabieren erkennen hun rampzalige nederlaag door de „terugkeer naar de grenzen van pre-1967“ in om het even welke vrede constant te verzoeken Israël behandelt.

In de oorlog bestreed Israël tweemaal zo vele vijandelijke militairen, drie keer zoals vele tanks en vier keer zo vele vliegtuigen. De nacht alvorens de oorlog de bevelhebber-in-Leider begon van Egypte verzamelde zijn hoog bevel voor een partij bij een verre luchtmachtbasis waar zij volgende ochtend opgesloten waren, onbekwaam om op hun basissen terug te komen. Radar van Jordanië ontdekte de eskaders van Israëlische aanvalsvliegtuigen die en waarschuwde Egypte van start gaan maar de cijferbediende gebruikte het verkeerde signaalboek en kon niet het dringende bericht begrijpen.

Alle hoogste legerbevelhebbers in Sinai werden vervangen twee weken vóór en waren onbekend met het grondgebied zij moesten verdedigen.

De auteur Sarah Rigler, die over de Zesdaagse Oorlog heeft geschreven, gelooft dat de reeks Egyptische fouten het werk van een unseen hand openbaarde: „U kunt zeggen, wat een gelukkig toeval of u de Goddelijke Hand kan zien,“ zij zei. „U kunt zien de God al deze dingen om schikte te gebeuren de manier die zij omdat hij de Israëlische staking wilde slagen hebben gedaan. Hij wilde ons winnen. Hij wilde ons onze heilige plaatsen herwinnen.“

Beroemde Algemene Moshe Dayan, de bevelhebber van de Israëlische krachten, was een zeer seculaire persoon. Maar toch ging hij de Westelijke Muur bezoeken de dag nadat het werd bevrijd. Er is een traditie om nota's aan God in de muur voor te leggen. Zo zelfs legde hij een kleine nota aan God in de spleten in de muur voor. As soon as he left, a newspaper man ran and took the note out and read it.

It was a line from Psalms that said; ‘This is from God. It’s wondrous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:23).

One of the many places in the Bible that refers to the latter day lowly state of Egypt is Isaiah 19. “The Lord has mingled a perverse spirit in her midst, and they have caused Egypt to err in all her work, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit” v.14. This description could have been specially written for Egypt’s performance in the Six Day War.

A reading of any detailed record of the 1967 war, such as The Swift Sword by Brig. Gen. S. Marshall and published by the American Heritage Magazine, will confirm hundreds of battlefield incidents that are simply beyond normal experience. These miracles have been a recurring theme throughout Israel’s sixty years of modern history and testify to God’s overriding care for Israel. “Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper” Psalm 121:4-5. “He who touches you touches the apple of his eye” Zechariah 2:8.

Israel Desperately Needs a Better Government
The present leaders of Israel have little to no idea of Israel’s divine destiny. Surrounded by hostile Arab forces, Israel’s politicians are trying to find the least repulsive of the options open to them - coexistence with a Palestinian state - to divert the worst of the Arab invective and make Israeli life more tolerable. They don’t seem to realize that the 3000 year old Arab enmity will not go away, “…you have had an ancient [other versions "perpetual", "continuous"] hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword…” Ezekiel 35:5. Furthermore, the Bible destiny of the Palestinians is surrender of the lands on which they now camp [Obadiah vv.18-20 where modern Esau = Palestinians] rather than an official identity. The only Biblical [and therefore certain] option for Israel is to stand firm against Arab efforts to annihilate her as tough as that course may be.

The UK newspaper The Economist recently issued a 14 page assessment of Israel in 2008. A key conclusion is that, over many decades, the proportional system of election, rejected by nearly all democracies, is producing an increasingly irresponsible brand of government in Israel. At present there are 12 political parties represented in the Knesset, each scrabbling for a place in the ruling coalition, resulting in risky promises, shaky loyalty and unstable alignments. Corruption of politicians is on the rise. Integrity is at a discount. Harassment is increasing. Israelis of integrity and talent are avoiding politics and turning to business. It is a sad decline from the old days of visionary government.

On the other hand, Israel’s economy and tourism is healthy, the value of the shekel improving. The Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fischer announced plans to buy daily $25 million of foreign currency to arrest further rises in the shekel value. It will boost reserves from $28 billion to $35-40 billion to aid Israeli business competitiveness.

At an international business conference in Jerusalem, a US-based investor said, “Israel boasts many advantages for foreign investors: including terrific universities, a wealth of experienced managers, quality engineers and scientists, well-trained physicians and more. But I have never seen a lower calibre of government than you have in this country. Your foreign ministry is staffed with low quality people and a low quality leader. The Supreme Court is a collection of far-left activists who then appoint more far-left activists to join them on the bench. It feels like all the smart people in the country have started their own companies, and the rest have been left to run the country”.

God will not let Israel disappear or be displaced. He did not restore Israel to the Holy Land in vain. Despite the politicians, God has given Israel a sound base to survive. The politicians will lose the plot and let Israel’s enemies grow to the point where Jesus will need to deal with them [Isaiah 63:1-6]. Then the politicians will be replaced by Jesus ruling out of Jerusalem. “For out of Zion the Law shall go forth and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” Micah 4:4.

And Still the Tourists Come
While Israel watchers deplore the political ineptitude of Israel’s government and its inability to deal effectively with Hamas, Gaza and the Palestinians, and while rockets from Gaza pepper two towns in Israel [Ashkelon and Sderot], the tourists are not deterred. The following information from the Israeli Tourist Board is surprising:

“February 2008 saw 200,000 tourists arrive in Israel, an increase of 46% in comparison to 2007. The U.S. tops the list, providing more than a quarter of all tourists, followed by France and Russia. Poland, Italy, Ukraine, Germany and England also rank high. Individuals from China and Korea are also beginning to show a keen interest in visiting Israel.”

Jesus Christ’s coming Kingdom Age will see enormous crowds arriving in the Holy Land, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts” Zechariah 14:16. They will come in their millions, not as tourists, but as worshippers of the true God.