Netanyahu Addresses Christians
written by David Soakell
Imagine the scene... the British
Prime Minister stands in front of a huge audience, and upon taking the
microphone declares, "I ask you all to join us in this battle to
defend the truth. Let us remind ourselves of Abraham... Isaac... and
let's remind the world that the land of the Bible is not in the heavens but
right here on earth." How would you feel? Would a
sense of awe fill your heart? Would you be sat there thinking, "I
knew I did the right thing in voting for this man"? Wouldn't it be
awesome if this was true and our Government spoke from a Biblical
understanding?
Defending the Truth
In Israel, this is exactly what happened when the Israeli Prime Minister took to the platform this week. Benjamin Netanyahu stated, "I ask you all to join us in this battle to defend the truth. Remind them of Abraham and Isaac, remind them of Joshua and Samuel, remind them of David and Solomon. Remind the world that the land of the Bible is not in the heavens but right here on earth. And that the people of the Bible, are on the land of the Bible... Today, Christians by the thousands, by the tens of thousands, by the hundreds of thousands, by the millions, by the tens of millions _ today they have heard this call, and they stand with Israel. I salute you, the people of Israel salute you, the Jewish people salute you."
Zionism
Greeting the crowds on 8th March at the Christians United for Israel Jerusalem summit, the Israeli Prime Minister stated, "Welcome to Jerusalem, the undivided, eternal capital of the Jewish state and the Jewish people. Your presence here today represents a profound transformation in the relationship between Christians and Jews.
"This transformation has its roots in the 19th century when the early Christian Zionists came to the Land of Israel and when they began exploring the land of the Bible, when they began to yearn for the Jewish restoration in this land, the restoration of our numbers, the restoration of our sovereignty. In fact, Christian Zionism preceded modern Jewish Zionism, and I think enabled it.
"It was time to take a stand with the sole democracy in the Middle East. It was time to take a stand against the lies and the slander and the vilifications. It was time to defend the Jewish state's right to defend itself."
Standing Shoulder to Shoulder
Benjamin Netanyahu went on to state that time after time, through thick and thin, the Christian supporters of Israel stood shoulder to shoulder with the State of Israel, and that he had come to thank them for their unwavering support and friendship. "Today, that friendship is more important than ever because Israel faces unprecedented challenges to its security and its legitimacy" he said.
On hearing this, I wanted to yell, "yes... but what of the Shas Party (The Shas party is made up of Sephardic Jews and stands for Mifleget Sfaradim Somrei Torah) and those within the government who are stopping the Christian workers from continuing their support in the land... what of those who are refused visa's?" I hope that the audience actually had the opportunity to address this, as it's no good telling us they need our support on one hand while taking our visa's off us with the other.
Threat from Iran
The Israeli Prime Minister then went on to speak of the threat of Iran. "No security challenge is more important to our common future than preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons" he said. He then went on to state, "I have said before and I'll say again, that the greatest threat facing mankind is the spectre of a militant Islamic regime acquiring nuclear weapons, or the spectre of nuclear weapons acquiring a militant Islamic regime.
"The first is dangerously close to happening in Iran, and the second may or may not happen in Pakistan. I believe that with the right policies both can be averted... If Iran develops atomic weapons, the world would never be the same. We would witness a cascade of terrorism across the globe as terrorists would operate under an Iranian nuclear umbrella. Look at how much havoc, how much terror they sow now, when there is no such umbrella, and understand what can happen if Iran, their patron, sponsor, supplier and supporter, if that Iran had nuclear weapons.
A Different Threat
Netanyahu then spoke of a different kind of threat, an unprecedented challenge to Israel's legitimacy.
He stated that this assault on their legitimacy comes in many forms... "it comes from the so_called human rights bodies in the UN which would deny Israel its legitimate right of self_defence, it comes by falsely charging Israel's political and military leaders with imaginary war crimes, and it comes by the outrageous waging campaigns to boycott, divest and sanction Israel.
"But I think that
there is an even greater assault on our legitimacy. I think it is the attempt
to perpetrate one of the greatest lies of history __ to deny the connection
between the people of Israel and the land of Israel; to cast the Jewish people
as foreigners in the land of our forefathers. Make no mistake about it. The
attempt to deny our history in this land is an attempt to deny our future in
this land. That is why to defend our past is to defend our future" he
said.
The Israeli Prime Minister concluded, "Let me tell you how I
remind foreign officials of this connection of the Jewish people to our history
and to this land... I say, would you come and look at this little signet
ring that I was given on loan from the Department of Antiquities? It was found
next to the Wall of the Second Temple, but it dates back to the First Temple.
It goes back some 2800 years ago, to the period of the Kings. It is a signet
seal of a Jewish official, and it has a name written in ancient Hebrew, which I
can read.
"The name is: Netanyahu. Netanyahu Ben_Yoash. I say, that's my last name. My first name, Benjamin, dates back 1000 years earlier, to Benjamin the son of Jacob, who also walked these hills. That is our connection. And nobody can deny the connection of the Jewish people to the Jewish land.
"Israel faces great challenges. We must prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. We must repel the assault on our legitimacy. We must find a way to achieve peace with our neighbours. We must all pray for the peace of Jerusalem. After centuries in exile, I have come here to assure you, the people of Israel have come home and no force on earth will ever make us leave our home again."
To comment on this article you need to be logged in, you can Log In here or Register here.