Does anyone remember October 7, 2023? Do you recall the heart-stopping morning news, declaring that Hamas terrorists had carried out the most horrifying, brutal massacre imaginable?
While America slept, thousands of hate-crazed Hamas terrorists launched over 5,000 rockets from Gaza into Israel, homing in on small, peaceful Israeli towns, kibbutzim, and villages adjacent to Gaza. Then Hamas murderers arrived by the thousands, viciously raping, torturing, and slaughtering some 1,200 Israeli civilians.
Hamas burned infants and children alive before their parents’ eyes. Hamas repeatedly gang-raped girls and women; they slaughtered entire families after torturing them. Hamas killers also kidnapped some 250 more victims of all ages — from infants to the elderly — carried them into Gaza and locked them into filthy, subhuman terror tunnels.
And that wasn’t the end of it all. Since that horrible day, attacks on Israel by Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, and other Iran-funded terrorists have multiplied without respite.
Today, and in the coming days of remembrance — as if we could ever forget — memorial services are taking place in Israel, in the U.S., and in other nations in heartfelt remembrance of national bereavement.
But the Hamas invasions and abductions weren’t the end of the brutal story — far from it. Since that day of infamy, Israel has been continuously attacked by various radical Islamist groups and countries, including Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and more. Clearly, Iran has proudly sponsored much of this inhuman violence.
Those of us who have lived in Israel — I lived there for more than 10 years — have close interactions with Israeli friends and families, and we continue to watch and wait while international haggling, protests, and riots continue. Meanwhile, tragically, demonstrations in Europe and even North America are largely in support of Hamas. They condemn Israel’s very existence. And as this multi-front Middle East war continues to evolve, individual Israelis — including personal friends of mine that I hear from regularly — report in their posts, texts, phone calls, and news stories about the terrifying situations they’ve experienced.
- My good friend Ruthie Blum, a Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) journalist, has also served as an advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She writes about returning to her Tel Aviv home from Jerusalem, when she was suddenly required to disembark from a Jerusalem-Tel Aviv train and left to stand at the roadside waiting for a bus. As air raid sirens wailed, she repeatedly had to flatten herself on the ground and cover her head. But the worst wasn’t over. After finally getting on the long-delayed bus, she had to disembark every few miles again and again, lying flat in the dirt or on some random sidewalk. Hours later she finally arrived home, shaken and exhausted.
- Another close friend and former neighbor’s son is married with young children. Last year, he was deployed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to Gaza to fight Hamas. As he stood next to his best friend in battle — his closest friend who had recently served as the best man at his wedding — he watched, horrified, as this beloved young man was shot dead right by his side. Just days ago, my friend’s son and his wife named their newborn baby after that lost friend. And despite the PTSD he’s still experiencing, he is close to being redeployed to Lebanon by the IDF to fight Hezbollah.
- Last year in August, another dear friend and I had a wonderful and peaceful lunch overlooking Jerusalem. Two months later Hamas attacked, and today she now has three grandchildren serving in Israel’s military. One is a paratrooper; another works in IDF intelligence. Her third deployed grandson was on active duty in Gaza when his tank was hit by a rocket and blown apart. My friend sent photos and described to me her amazement and gratitude — God somehow spared her grandson with only minor scratches, while the tank’s damage was irreparable. Meanwhile, my friend’s prayers for her paratrooper grandson never cease — day after day.
I often hear from these Israeli friends and several more in various regions of the country. They all share common experiences: rushing themselves and their little ones into bomb shelters and “safe rooms” when sirens blare at all hours of the day or night. They continue to hear periodic explosions and rocket bombardments — deafening at times, lighting up the sky and resonating from one side of the horizon to the other. Every Israeli shares these experiences, no matter where they live.
Meanwhile, traveling outside the country, no Israeli can be sure whether their return flight will be canceled or postponed. Nearly all airlines including Delta, United, and American Airlines have suspended service to Israel. Only El Al is flying regularly. Those who travel abroad cannot be sure whether their house or apartment building will still be standing when they return.
Today, nothing in Israel is predictable. Meanwhile, fear, trauma, PTSD, and endless uncertainty are rampant. Yet, no matter what America and other “great powers” demand from Netanyahu, no matter what vile anti-Semitic public opinions are broadcast globally, and no matter what tomorrow holds from one day to the next, the courageous Israeli people are standing strong behind their leadership. They deserve our prayerful intercession every day.
And more specifically, we need not only to pray, but to vote wisely and with great urgency in our upcoming American elections.
Today’s multiple threats, dangers, and attacks on the Jewish state are all too real. And yet, as Christians, our spiritual and political support is not just a smart or compassionate political ideal. It is grounded in an ancient promise, found in the very first book of the Bible — a vow that God made to Israel’s original founder, the Patriarch Abraham:
“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12: 2-3).
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