Rare Common Sense

In conservative politics we tend to want those we support to agree with all our stances, but when it comes to the Bible and prophecy especially when it pertains to Israel, well it can get a tad dicey as we read in an article from the Jewish News Syndicate:

Amid growing rearmament by Hamas and Hezbollah in Gaza and Lebanon respectively, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) supports Israel taking an active approach in disarming the terrorist groups.

The US Senator doesn’t think the US military needs to be involved, through:

In a recent interview, the pro-Israel senator told JNS that he doesn’t see a need for the United States to get involved with Hamas, but he’d encourage U.S. President Donald Trump to “consider joint operations with Israel if we can’t do diplomacy to disarm Hezbollah like we did with Iran.”

He also doesn’t want the US to fight Hezbollah, either:

American kinetic action in Lebanon is very unlikely though.

US President Trump is careful to get involved in ongoing wars and in the Middle East he is pushing for peace with all parties:

“Trump uses force in the Middle East very selectively and reactively against critical or imminent threats,” Jonathan Ruhe, fellow for American strategy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, told JNS. “Trump wants to be perceived as ending conflicts in the Middle East, not deepening America’s involvement in them.”

Graham thinks that one of those parties needs to be defeated militarily since they aren’t willing to disarm and he and others don’t think Arab forces will make them do it either:

Regarding Hamas, Graham believes that Israel should go into Gaza and “finish Hamas off.”

The senator acknowledged that the Gaza-based terrorist group is not heeding Trump’s demand for it to disarm. He also believes Trump’s proposed international stabilization force of Arab nations in Gaza is unrealistic.

“We’ve hit a wall,” Graham told JNS. “There is no way to disarm Hamas through some Arab force.”

It’s become clear that Arab countries are not interested in participating in dismantling Hamas in the way Trump might have hoped, according to Ruhe.

“Any countries that would contribute forces, many of them Arab and other Muslim countries, have made clear they won’t forcibly disarm Hamas,” he told JNS. “They don’t want to be seen to do Israel’s ‘dirty work,’ and they won’t risk collateral damage to fellow Muslims, namely Gazan civilians.”

Finally, someone who actually listens to what these Arab and Muslim countries are saying. So what strategy it left?

Israel Needs To Be In Charge

It’s not rocket science to see that only Israel can get the job done and I’ve been saying that from day one. Graham clearly agrees with that sentiment:

Graham therefore thinks that Israel should prioritize operations in the Strip.

“The longer we play around with this, the more they regenerate,” he said, of the terror groups. “We have to have a dose of reality here. Hamas is never going to give up their weapons and never going to give up power unless somebody makes them.”

Period. Hamas is saying they will never disarm or leave Gaza so they need to be forced to do those things. The Arab countries back Hamas and always have so they won’t do it and they have said that, too. All the talk of a two-state solution is only a ruse to let anyone but Israel control the area. Israel is the only one who can remove terrorists from running the area and clean the place up. The US Senator see this as the first step to settle the area down:

Graham believes that weakening and disarming the groups will speed up the process of normalizing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

“Once Hamas has been neutralized and Hezbollah has been weakened, I think, is your best chance to normalize,” he said.

But even with Graham supporting Israel doing the so-called dirty work he is off when it comes to what happens after that and he’s not alone:

Graham told JNS that he discussed normalization with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in a November meeting in Washington. The senator acknowledged that the Saudis have conditions that need to be met.

During his November meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, the prince, known as MBS, said that the kingdom wants to be part of the Abraham Accords and also to secure a “clear path” to a two-state solution.

“I think he’s openly expressed desire to normalize relations with Israel,” Graham told JNS. “He believes it’s to the political and economic benefit of Saudi Arabia to end the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

A Palestinian Entity?

Again, all this talk of a Palestinian home right next to Jews is not feasible. Even recent history tells you that. But politicians are blind to that reality and Graham is no different:

Graham hopes to see a future Palestinian “entity” that doesn’t threaten Israel and would be an “antidote to terror.”

“The only way you’re going to stop terrorism and radicalization is to replace it with something better,” he told JNS. “I don’t think you could ever have a Palestinian entity in the West Bank or Gaza until the radical elements have been defeated militarily.”

The problem is that for 30-40 years those people have been brainwashed to see Israel as a nation and jews as a people to be evil. You can’t remove Hamas or anyone else who leads them and expect those feelings to change. Graham somehow thinks it can:

Graham thinks that Israel and the Arab world need to spearhead development of a long-term solution for the Palestinian people.

“America cannot get on the ground and change Gaza or the West Bank,” he said. “Israel has limited ability to do that. The key is the Arab world.”

He is dealing with leaders in the Arab world who have a more modern view of Islam unlike the radical version coming out of Iran and others which no doubt clouds his views:

“The reason I’m hopeful is that MBS in Saudi Arabia and MBZ in the United Arab Emirates have proven to me that they have modern societies, they practice Islam in a fashion that we can all coexist, they’re very growing economic powers,” he said. “They don’t have any interest in Hamas surviving.” (MBZ refers to Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed.)

Iran used to have leaders like that before being taken over in the 1970s by radical Islamic leaders. However, even the countries he cites still have a deep seated hatred for Israel they are trying to moderate to curry favor with America. But Graham does realize the current antisemitism in America is troubling as well:

Back home, with Jew-hatred continually rising, Graham said that he will support revoking federal funding for public universities where Jewish students feel “threatened” and cannot “safely attend.”

“America wouldn’t tolerate for one moment a black student being racially harassed, nor should we have the same attitude about the Jewish population,” he told JNS.

Even in the Republican party the anti-Israel forces are rising up:

He also said that we need to “push back” on forces within the Republican Party that feel that Israel is a liability to the United States and that it isn’t within the U.S. interest to support Israel.

We need to realize that Bible prophecy told us that Israel would be an issue for the world:

“I will make Jerusalem and Judah like a cup of poison to all the nearby nations that send their armies to surround Jerusalem. 3 Jerusalem will be a heavy stone burdening the world. And though all the nations of the earth unite in an attempt to move her, they will all be crushed. (Zech 12:2-3, TLB)

If that sounds a tad familiar it’s because we’re seeing this happen right before our eyes. Which is why we need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem now more than ever.