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It is a misconception to suppose that only "extremists" hold these views. The intentions expressed in those statements are no different than those "moderate" Arab Muslims who deviously say they want peace. Only the tactics are different. The unstated, underlying assumption behind any Muslim-oriented "peace plan" for the Middle East is that peace will come once the Jews are removed. These disturbing attitudes, that the "filthy Jews" must be expelled from the Middle East, are even more disturbing because they are prevalent throughout the region. The Muslim populations of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Palestinians, may not agree on much else, but they overwhelmingly agree on these kinds of despicable credos. We who believe the Bible know that Israel will not be removed. God has emphatically settled them in that land to show the power of His Name and His Word. "I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling." (Zechariah 12:2 NIV) All who try to "drink" from Jerusalem will find a toxic beverage in that cup, a cup that will make the neighboring nations stagger in a bewildered, debilitated stupor. But why would God allow this situation at all? Why, if God brought the Jewish people back to the land He promised them, has He allowed them to be surrounded by such vicious and implacable enemies, "that (Israel's) neighbors should become his foes?" The answer is twofold: so that Israel will look to Him for comfort and help, and so that God can show Himself mighty on her behalf. If there is "no one to comfort her" when she stretches out her hands in a plea for help, if eventually no nations on earth come to her aid, God Himself will comfort and help her. He will respond to the severe hostilities of her neighbors in a severely hostile manner, according to the prophets. And when He does, the entire world will be astonished and enraged at the degree of destruction inflicted on Israel's would-be destroyers. The motive is similar to the time of the exodus. God could have easily sent the Jews happily along their way after 400 years in Egypt, with good tidings and cheer from their longtime hosts. Instead, He chose to cause that Egypt would not let them go "unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will perform in it." (Exodus 3:19-20 NRSV) Just as the presence of the Jews had become odious to the Egyptians, so also has the presence of the Jews become odious to the Muslim Arabs. Remember that it was in the 1920s that the acts of Arab terrorism began in earnest, in response to the first waves of large numbers of Jewish immigrants. This was before the Jewish state existed, before any controversy over the "West Bank", before any talk of a Palestinian state, before any mention of Jerusalem being a capital for the Palestinians. In fact, there was no such people group as the "Palestinians", for Palestinian was the general term used to describe anyone who lived there, whether Jew or Arab. Indeed, the very presence of the returning Jews, was, and remains, the sole root of Arab/Muslim enmity. Incited by perfidious, perverted, pervasive religious dogmas, the malicious neighbors of Israel rabidly crave her demise. God's remedy is found here, among other places: Note to whom this prophecy applies: a regathered nation, surrounded by malicious neighbors. Note also the solution: "when I (God) inflict punishment on all their neighbors". But most noteworthy is the reason for the actions taken: "I will show myself holy".
Can there be any doubt as to the solution of the Middle East conflict? It will not be through any sham peace plans. It will not be through those hostile neighbors of Israel suddenly deciding to act in a friendly, civil manner. It will not be through the international community foisting an imposed solution. It will only be when those nasty neighbors, who object to Israel's very presence, are soundly beaten down by God's sovereign hand. In the aftermath, those neighbors will be so drubbed, so enfeebled, as to pose no further threat to Israel's security. The Lord, who had foretold these events, will get the credit and glory, and Israel will appreciatively recognize that He still cares.
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