Rewind

And just like that, the Trump Era in the Middle East is over (temporarily).

Biden, I believe a coup plotter that illegally occupies the Oval Office, pays lip service to Israel’s security and our nations’ friendship, while enacting policies that undermine both.

His goons have now told new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that the U.S. will not tolerate the razing of Palestinian terrorists’ homes. According to the Jerusalem Post:

“The issue came to the forefront in advance of Bennett’s first visit to Washington to meet with US President Joe Biden, after the IDF on Thursday morning razed the West Bank home of the Palestinian-American terrorist Muntasir Shalabi.

“US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had personally intervened and spoken to a ‘senior Israeli counterpart’ prior to the demolition, Price said.

“’The secretary and other senior officials here at the State Department in recent days have raised these concerns directly with senior Israeli officials – and we will continue to do so as long as this practice continues,’ Price said.”

Tellingly, Bennett ignored the warnings. The next morning, the IDF demolished Shalabi’s home, near Ramallah. Good for him; he almost has to show some sort of strength in jockeying for position with a now-hostile administration in Washington.

Make no mistake, the regime in Washington is an enemy of Israel.

At the same time, Jordan—I believe never a real peace partner with Israel, at least since the death of King Hussein. Note this wicked report:

“On 27 June 2021, Jordan’s King Abdullah II met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Baghdad. All three announced an agreement to cooperate on transporting Iraqi oil through pipelines from Iraq to Jordan to Egypt, from where it will be exported to Europe through the Mediterranean. This agreement is King Abdullah’s ‘coming out of the closest’ with Iran. It is now official: Jordan is allied with Iran because Iraq is actually under Iran’s control. The Iraqi government is a puppet state controlled by Iran. Exporting Iraqi oil through Jordan to Europe is simply exporting oil controlled by Iran, which rules Iraq through its Shi’ite militias and controls the country’s resources.”

Abdullah is not what his father (or even grandfather) was. More a product of the modern world, and European influences, he is no loyal friend. However, his hand is being forced due to the 180 American diplomacy. After Trump’s genuine peace gains, Biden is what he always was on the issue (notwithstanding his claim to be Bibi’s friend for 40 years): a left-wing “Peace Now,” Oslo flunky. These policies are doomed to failure and worst of all, play with peoples’ lives in the Middle East.

Just think, a year ago peace was breaking out all over the Middle East. Now we are saddled with Blinken, Biden, Valerie Jarrett, Obama, etc.

It’s a reminder that this world is not our home and modern governments are not the solution.

Israel is, as always, really on her own. And for us, those that support the Jewish state, it is a season to not be swayed by right or left policies, but to rest in the knowledge that God is in control, yesterday, today, and forever.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

www.thegodthatanswers.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can read about this remarkable story here, and watch a riveting documentary here. You’ll be very glad you did.

4 July 1976

I don’t always write about the anniversary of the Entebbe hostage rescue, but this week feel moved to do so. We are now 45 years past this remarkable accomplishment, when Israel sent her most elite troops on a 2,500-mile journey to pry 100 Jews from the grip of evil, in this case Palestinian terrorists and two German revolutionaries.

The successful rescue is still astonishing. The daring plan, made up on the fly in only about 48 hours, involved complexities and challenges that would have prevented almost any other country from attempting it.

When the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine” (PFLP) hatched the plan, they wanted scores of fellow terrorists freed from Israeli and European prisons. Remember, this was in the days of airline hijackings. When this particular French plane was flown to Uganda, the middle of Africa, the world knew they meant business. The threat was that if demands weren’t met, the hostages would be murdered. The long distance ensured there would be no rescue.

Except, Israel.

Air Force pilot Joshua Shani felt they might be able to send an airborne raid team, and in the end that’s exactly what the government of Yitzhak Rabin decided to do. Buying time by pretending to be willing to negotiate, Israel saw the terrorists push the deadline from Thursday to Sunday, July 4. Mid-morning.

Defense Minister Shimon Peres presided over the plan, then sold it to the Cabinet. They were all under intense pressure from both the terrorists and the families of the hostages, who wanted anything done to free their loved ones.

Kept in a cramped terminal building at the Entebbe Airport, the hostages—men, women, and children—knew they were alone. A handful of vicious terrorists and Ugandan soldiers guarded them.

Israel Defense Force planners enlisted the help of their most elite counter-terrorism unit, Sayeret Matkal. A rotation of one-day famous commanders (Ehud Barak, Benjamin Netanyahu) found the Unit in 1976 led by the oldest Netanyahu brother, Jonathan. A legendary fighter even during his career (One day at a base, Shani glanced at “Yoni” and told a visitor, “There goes the greatest fighter Israel has ever had”), Netanyahu was a 30-year-old colonel. Injuries in the Six Day War gave him an out from active combat duty, but he felt an internal tug to defend his people.

The 30-man squad from the Unit was all-volunteer! In 2005, I met two of those commandos, and their stories were like something from a book in the Bible. One said that everything had to go right that night, and the most important element was the element of surprise. Lo and behold, when he was the first one in the door of the terminal building, the terrorists were caught completely flat-footed. So shocked were they that they put up losing resistance. I was told that the Unit’s members that burst in the door fired 60 rounds in 15 seconds, killing all the terrorists. They then spent an hour loading the stunned hostages onto four transport planes for the eight-hour flight home to Israel.

I think about this story often. It is another reminder that Israel’s enemies always go down to defeat. This has been going on for thousands of years.

Why do we worry about Israel? Why do we continually question whether God will protect them?

From the time the Israeli planes touched down at midnight at Entebbe Airport, to the time the hostages were secured took…five minutes. Complete surprise. Superior forces. Close coordination.

And Yoni Netanyahu to lead them.

Israel’s planners estimated they would suffer at least 20 percent casualties. With an overall force of 200, that meant many deaths and injuries.

Netanyahu was the only one killed. So successful was the raid that it rocked the terrorist world for years. It is still studied at war colleges.

 

Yoni was shot just as the rescue force entered the hall. He was out front, leading his men. His funeral saw a standing-room only crowd at Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem, later in the week. His death drove his famous middle brother into politics. His youngest brother, Iddo, is a friend of mine and a remarkable man. Their father, Benzion, is one of my favorite people of all-time.

What a family.

And what a fighting unit the Jewish state sent to Entebbe 45 summers ago. I salute them this weekend, but I do that often. I remember them, always.

God is in control of everything: the hostages’ lives, your life, everything. All the time.

Everything.

Jim1fletcher@yahoo.com

www.thegodthatanswers.com