Why We Must Support Israel

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Genesis 12:1-3

Now the Lord said^[a] to Abram, “Go from your country^[b] and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

(ESV)

Abraham, a man of great faith, A man whose great faith caused him to be counted righteous in the eyes of God (Genesis 15:6) is perhaps one of the greatest role models in scripture for anyone deciding to live a life of faith in God.  Abraham’s faith journey begins in Genesis 12:1 with God calling him to leave his home or comfort zone and journey to an unknown land with the promise of making him into a great nation through whom the entire world would be blessed.  How blessed all of humanity is because Abraham decided to take this bold step of faith into the unknown (Genesis12:4). 

With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that the great nation, the nation through whom the Messiah that would save and bless the world would come from is the nation of Israel.  Genesis 12:3 is a blessing or a curse.  A curse to those choosing to dishonor Israel and a blessing to those that bless Israel.  Therefore, individuals and nations have a choice to either be cursed or blessed depending upon how they treat Israel. 

On May 14, 1948, the modern-day nation of Israel was established and on that same day, President Harry Truman recognized Israel as a nation.  (1)  Thus, the support for Israel was set by the United States.  Most recently, on September 15, 2016, Israel and the United States signed a 10-year military assistance deal worth over $38 billion (2) continuing a history of support for Israel’s military.  (3)  There are both secular and political reasons for supporting Israel in addition to the scriptural reason outlined in Genesis12:3. 

Until the recent flood of Muslims into the United States, Judaism was always the second religion of the nation, second only to Christianity.  In addition, the Jews of the New York synagogue Shearith Israel supported and fought with colonists during the Revolutionary War.  Much like the Jews living in Israel today, these brave Jewish people went against what was considered the Tory stronghold of New York during the time of the American Revolution that supported the British crown and instead bravely supported George Washington’s fight against England.  (4)  In fact, on the back of the U.S. Dollar today, above the eagle on the right, we see 13 stars forming the Star of David as a way of honoring Jewish support during the Revolutionary War.  In our present War on Terror we should honor Israel due to the fact they are the only democracy in the middle east, and the only nation not vowing to destroy the United States.  (5) 

Unfortunately, during a time when Obama should be preparing to exit the White House allowing his successor to begin paving his way to govern according to the wishes of the voters who elected him to office in November, Obama has chosen to go against this history of support from Jews during the American Revolution and U.S. support for modern day Israel and instead, slapped Israel in the face by abstaining during the recent UN vote pertaining to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.  (6)  While we normally view an abstention during a vote as someone’s desire not to decide on the issue, in this UN vote, the United States could have vetoed the resolution, something the United States had previously done, a veto which would have stopped the resolution instead of permitting its implementation.  However, the Obama Administration chose an abstention, a political maneuver supporting the resolution without having to be on record officially supporting it.  In other words, this action is a cowardly final slap in the face of an ally of the United States in the Middle East, Israel.  This decision is therefore both a politically and scripturally dangerous one for the United States. 

Jews living and worshiping in the Colonies during the time of the American Revolution stood with the colonists fight for independence against the oppressive British Crown.  The United States in turn swiftly recognized the Jewish State of Israel when they gained their independence in 1948.  Since that time the United States has made good on their support through monetary support of Israel’s fight against their Middle Eastern Neighbors who want to destroy them.  This history of support for Israel is why many believe the United States continues to be blessed by God.  (5)

However, the recent decision by the Obama Administration to abstain and not veto the recent UN resolution places the United States in jeopardy both politically and scripturally.  Politically because this decision serves to empower enemies of both the United States and Israel, some of which are on the verge of obtaining nuclear weapons.  Scripturally, because we are moving from the side of receiving blessings from God promised in Genesis 12:3 to being cursed. 

Please join me in praying the incoming Trump Administration will make moves to restore the historical policies of support for the Jewish state of Israel and return to the side of blessings from God and political sanity. 

1. Office of the Historian. Creation of Israel, 1948. history.state.gov. [Online] Office of the Historian. [Cited: January 1, 2017.] https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/creation-israel.

2. Green, Emma. Why Does the United States Give So Much Money to Israel? www.theatlantic.com. [Online] The Atlantic, September 15, 2016. [Cited: January 1, 2017.] http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/09/united-states-israel-memorandum-of-understanding-military-aid/500192/.

3. Sharp, Jeremy M. U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel. fas.org. [Online] Congressional Research Service, June 10, 2015. [Cited: January 1, 2017.] https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf.

4. Soloveichik, Meir Y. The Jews of the American Revolution. www.wsj.com. [Online] The Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2016. [Cited: January 1, 2017.] http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-jews-of-the-american-revolution-1464302447.

5. Fischer, Bryan. Why God Has Blessed the United States. www.afa.net. [Online] American Family Association, September 14, 2016. [Cited: January 1, 2017.] http://www.afa.net/the-stand/bible/2016/09/why-god-has-blessed-the-united-states/.

6. Stephen Collinson, David Wright, Elise Labott. US abstains as UN demands end to Israeli settlements. www.cnn.com. [Online] CNN Politics, December 24, 2016. [Cited: January 1, 2017.] http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/23/politics/israel-official-rips-obama-un-settlements/.