God's Gift

Netanyahu is Hebrew for God’s Gift. There may be those who find such a name unwarranted, although the former prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, was born with that name. He did not name himself.

Shortly after the Arab terror attack on the World Trade Center, Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to speak to the U.S. House of Representatives concerning his knowledge of terrorism. Of course, any Israeli has become an expert at this nightmare imposed on the Jews of Israel by Hitler’s successor, Arafat Husseini. However, Netanyahu is more articulate than most others. He has also distinguished himself by becoming the youngest prime minister in the history of Israel, and by writing a whole book on terrorism called Fighting Terrorism. In addition he also authored A Place Among the Nations.

When Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister in 1996 he brought to that job his American education and the heritage of a prominent Zionist family who have distinguished themselves in the defense of the Jewish people. It was his brother, Yoni Netanyahu, who led the raid on Entebbe, Uganda on July 3, 1976. That raid rescued 103 Jewish hostages who had been imprisoned in a Uganda airport after their Air France plane had been hijacked by Arafat’s terrorists. Uganda is in Africa, thousands of miles from Israel. It took a seven hour flight by means of a Hercules plane to effect the rescue of these hostages. That rescue was so dramatic an event because it revealed a level of courage among young Jews diametrically opposite the cowardly murders committed by Arab youths, whose sole cause is murder for the sake of murder.

Those who know nothing about the Entebbe raid ought to rent a movie by that name and learn something about Jewish courage, Jewish resourcefulness and Jewish resistance to tyranny.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s father, Benzion Netanyahu, is a historian whose life work is his book concerning the Spanish Inquisition.

Lest it be thought that Netanyahu is just another diploma chaser, it needs to be known that he spent five years with an elite special-force unit. In 1972, at age 22, he participated in the successful storming of a hijacked jet on the tarmac at the Tel Aviv airport.

Today Benjamin Netanyahu is Israel’s most articulate and successful voice in the United States. He appears on radio and television programs and defends his country excellently in face of the Arab terror threat and the anti-Jewish bigotry of the media.

Nothing is more evident to anyone who follows the “news” than the gross anti-Jewish bias of National Public Radio and the CNN news, although Peter Jenkins is evidently as incapable of saying one good word about Israel or Jews as his progenitor Joseph Göbbels.

Perhaps you noticed the letter sent to the News Director of WBFO, Mark Scott, by Dr. Errol Daniels. That letter and the reply by Mark Scott were published on page four of the Buffalo Jewish Review on October 12. The letter by Dr. Daniels concerned the truly hate inspired broadcast by NPR’s Jennifer Ludden which found nothing wrong with the slaughter of Jews by suicide bombers and other killers and pretended that the victims, the Jews, are at fault. Similar trash can be seen on CNN every day.

In view of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center the same pattern of “blame the Jews” is now emerging. Arab apologists and other haters pretend that the bombing came about because Israel exists. These terror lovers keep reciting the nonsense about “root causes”, which is a phrase that has come to mean Jews.

In face of all this it is most welcome that Benjamin Netanyahu can speak English like an American and is capable of appearing before numerous audiences in this country to explain Israel and its people to those willing to listen to Arab hate.

Benjamin Netanyahu is of course not the only one who speaks up for Israel. There are numerous Christians who do so also. Whatever their motive, we are not in a position to now reject anyone who seeks to come to our aid. According to my information there are as many as 100 million Christians in this country who view themselves as Zionists. We need to establish close relations with them because we ourselves are far too few to make an impression on our politicians. However, 100 million Christians can be most influential.

We can of course do a great deal ourselves. Keep writing to WBFO and tell them what you think of their bigotry, and think twice before making a donation to that station. Write letters to the editor on behalf of Israel. Give public speeches in favor of Israel and lend your support by disputing the hate mongers in public appearances. Tell it like it is. Anti-Israel is anti-Jewish. The artificial distinctions made by the haters need not influence us.

After all, Israelis and “Palestinians”, Arabs and Jews, agree on one thing and that one thing is the “root” of the dispute between Arabs and Jews these 100 years. That fundamental issue is that the Arabs seek to kill all Jews everywhere even as all Jews everywhere insist on remaining alive. Jewish lives are the only issue and it is this which is non-negotiable. Surely it has been sufficiently demonstrated that the sole interest of the Arabs is to kill for the sake of killing. That is the issue and it is the only one. In that hope our enemies shall not succeed because we know that despite our minuscule size we will always survive even as those consumed by hatred will always fail. “So it is written, so it will be”. The people of Israel will always live, no matter how many enemies may wish to destroy us. Now it is important to have courage. Illegitimati non carborundum or Don’t let the bastards grind you down”. Do something to lift the depression. Defend Israel wherever you go and remember “Adonai Li, v’lo iyro” or “God is With Me, I Shall not fear”, now or in the future. “Be strong and of good courage”. Bimhaynu v’yomaynu,

Shalom u’vracha.

Dr. Gerhard Falk is the author of Stigma: How We Treat Outsiders (Prometheus Books, 2001) and over 60 other publications.

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