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Even though the population of the State of Israel is exceedingly small, Israel has never in their times of greatest peril asked for military personnel from another nation.

​WAR OF INDEPENDANCE   

Fighting broke out in late 1947 shortly after the United Nations voted to grant Israel’s statehood. The Arabs falsely claimed that the Jews were trying to annihilate them. Not so.
The Israeli forces permitted them to leave, if they wanted, the cities that were captured by the Jews.
On May 14, 1948 the British left the country, and Israel declared Independence. On the very next day, five Arab armies from Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon and Iraq invaded the new Israel. The Jewish Haganah had 60,000 trained fighters, but only 18,900 of them were fully armed and ready for war.
Did Israel ask the U. N. or the U. S. to aid them in this fight for the life of their new nation, authorized by the United Nations and recognized by the United State? No.
No nations fought alongside Israel. Israel won the war without personnel from any other nation. 

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THE SIX-DAY WAR OF 1967 
After years of terrorist activity on Israel’s southern border by Egyptian militia, Egypt and Syria determined to make war with Israel. President Nasser of Egypt declared their aim: “…the full restoration of the rights of the Palestinian people…at the destruction of the State of Israel.”

On May 15, 1967, Israel’s Independence Day, Egyptian troops began amassing troops in the Sinai desert. On May 18, the Syrians prepared for battle in the north on the Golan Heights. On May 22, Egypt violated international maritime law by closing the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, Israel’s only supply route with Asia.

The United States attempted to negotiate a deal to prevent hostilities but was unsuccessful. President Lyndon Johnson was hampered: America was in the Viet Nam War. He urged Israel not to initiate hostilities. How could he say that? Israel was surrounded by nations that were all ready for war and on Israel’s borders. International commerce to the east was cut off. Nasser declared over the radio this this was a war of extermination.

America’s State Department at this time announced: “Our position is neutral in thought, word and deed.” What?  

AND GET THIS: Both the United States and France put an arms embargo on every nation in the region including Israel to express disapproval of the war. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union was supplying massive amounts of arms to the Arabs! And…Kuwait, Algeria, Saudi Arabs and Iraq were contributing troops and arms to the Egyptians, Syrians and Jordanians as they fought Israel!

Yitzhak Rabin, Chief of the General Staff said at the time: “It’s time we stop deluding ourselves that someone will come to our aid.”

AND NOTE: Look at where the U. S. has been or is now defending the freedom of other nations both small and large—South Korea about what...40,000 soldiers? We’re still in Europe, though some may soon be coming home. I think we have some in Iraq. And then there’s Afghanistan.   

QUESTION: Is Israel in an alliance like NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization) where each and every member is pledged to come to the aid of ANY of the others, no matter how small, who are invaded by another country.

ANSWER: No, Israel is not included in any alliance of this type.  
 
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ISAIAH
As I was preparing for this blog, my reading from the prophets took me to this Isaiah passage where Israel is “brought low.” That was the feeling in Israel before the 1967 war. “Prophecies of doom and the feeling of imminent defeat were prevalent among the majority in Israel.” (Jewish Virtual Library)

Jerusalem (Ariel, another name for the city) is brought low. Yet…and here Isaiah speaks an unbelievably relevant and poignant poem that magnificently speaks to Israel’s situation:

                                            But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust,
                                                        And the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
                                                                          And in an instant, suddenly,
                                                                 You will be visited by the Lord of hosts….
                                               And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
                                              All that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her
                                                               Shall be like a dream, a vision of the night….
                                                              So shall the multitude of all the nations be
                                                                         that fight against Mount Zion.
                                                                                      --from Isaiah 29
 
The final episode of the nations swooping down on Israel to destroy her has not happened yet. But these wars since her rebirth in modern times illustrate how alone Israel is in this world—how devoid of the help of other nations--how dependent on the Lord God she is for her existence, protection and health. It is He that has chosen Israel, who will renew her covenant with Him; and it is He that is raising her up to be a witness to His Lordship over the nations.   
 

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