We didn’t start the fire

The chorus to Billy Joel’s iconic song, “We didn’t start the fire,” goes like this:

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning, since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No, we didn’t light it, but we tried to fight it

If ever there were truer words that apply to Israel, it would have to be these! Ever since God chose Abraham to be the first Jew, the intense hatred toward our nation and tribe has been a constant thread in the history of the Jewish people. And, as the song says, “We tried to fight it,” sometimes winning and sometimes facing defeat, but it was a battle always begun by others.

Now, that the Jewish homeland has finally succeeded in changing the vantage point of this war, to their favor – starting with the surprise Hezbollah beeper attack, making tremendous gains by eliminating nearly all of the top Hezbollah echelon and aggressively going after their weapons storehouses, weakening their capabilities, the call for a ceasefire by the U.S. and France is louder than ever.

Leading that charge is French President Emmanuel Macron, who has passionately declared, “We must not – we cannot – have a war in Lebanon. That is why we urge Israel to cease its escalation in Lebanon.” While he also called upon Hezbollah to cease its missile launches at Israel, does anyone think that they will heed that suggestion, short of the military operation, which is forcing them to leave southern Lebanon in droves as we do what needs to be done if we ever hope to return our northern residents back to their homes?

For the last year, while we have been fighting a vicious battle in Gaza, excising the brutal terrorist enclave that foolishly thought they could invade our land, murder, kidnap and eventually move us out of our homeland, Hezbollah operatives have been simultaneously launching an endless stream of rockets into Israel’s northern communities, necessitating many to evacuate their homes and flee to safer parts. 

Their lives have been completely upended, something which is always eluded by presidents and prime ministers who prefer to concentrate their focus upon fleeing populations governed by the terrorists who “started the fire.”The ensuing defense, which is thrust upon us, whether we like it or not, is then characterized as an unwanted escalation of the war which we never anticipated or activated.

In an attempt to be objective and impartial, Macron did state the obvious, that “for too long, Hezbollah has been running an untenable risk of dragging Lebanon into a wall.” In other words, he recognizes and acknowledges that the people of Lebanon are in the mess they are in, due to the terror group which has hijacked their nation, placing them in harm’s way, where they stand to lose everything.

Israel also sympathizes with that reality, because, as our own prime minister has stated, “I have a message for the people of Lebanon. Israel’s war is not with you. It is with Hezbollah. For too long, Hezbollah has been using you as human shields. They place rockets in your living rooms and missiles in your garage. Those rockets and missiles are aimed directly at our cities and directly at our citizens.” But sympathy, for the plight of Lebanon’s citizens, will not ensure the safety of our own who have suffered their own loss, including being homeless for way too long. 

Joining the “ceasefire” chorus is the Biden administration, whose Secretary of State Antony Blinken seems convinced that the best way to return our northern residents back to their homes would be through diplomatic efforts. Apparently, he has a lot more faith in a negotiating process with murderous thugs, who are willing to kill themselves for the sake of a Jew-free Middle East, than the rest of us. But as long as Blinken has no real skin in the game, by virtue of the fact that he doesn’t live here, a bit of pragmatic realism, for those of us who do, might be in order.

If it weren’t so pathetic, it might actually be laughable that all Biden can come up with, at this point, is repeating his predictable, go-to mantra of, “There needs to be a two-state solution. Ultimately, it needs to happen, and there’s a way to do it.”Chalk up yet another unbeliever of the “From the river to the sea” chant – oblivious to their etched-in-stone, immovable position, that this piece of real estate cannot and will not be shared. The administration seems to be crawling with those who don’t get that! 

But, in the end, it’s all just a futile effort. Hamas and Hezbollah have shown their hand. The secret is out. They’re fighting for the whole shebang! So, isn’t it time that these dreamers give up on their delusional fantasies of two nations, living side by side in peace and tranquillity, so as not to trouble the rest of the world with this pesky, unsolvable conflict?

We’ve given up on it after coming to the conclusion that each deal, each compromise and each negotiation has been met with a flat rejection. Perhaps, Israel better understands the well-known definition of insanity – doing the same thing over again, believing that a different outcome will occur. Well, we are not insane! We are simply a peaceful people who have done all we could to live in harmony with our neighbors, endeavoring to do whatever it takes, within reason, to stop the fight to which only they are committed.

But it’s a losing battle. If Biden truly had an answer, to settle the conflict once and for all, he would have received the Nobel Peace Prize for achieving the impossible, but he is not God, Almighty – the only one who can turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh, excising the hatred and bitterness which resides deep inside of terrorists whose only goal is to kill and destroy. 

It’s just the way it is. There are no human solutions for a problem whose roots are from the beginning of time, when nations and tribes decided to take on God’s chosen. So, as the song goes, “We didn’t start the fire.” But don’t ask us to abandon the war that was foisted upon us, because to do so would truly be insanity.

With God’s help, we will prevail, because He will make sure of that!