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Friday, June 11, 2021

I Wear Two Hats

 Ari Bussel has been a more active in submitting posts in the past. He is an honest fellow and a big supporter of Israel. That translates into I usually agree with him. In this submission Ari muses on being born American and looking at his Jewish heritage that also has led to an active citizenship in Israel.

 

In Ari’s musings he touches on a couple things I do not agree with. Ari believes former Vice President Pence conducted his Electoral College count with dignity and that the January 6 protest of a fraudulent 2020 Election began as peaceful but ended as an Insurrection with a capital “I”.

 

It is my opinion Pence at best acted in cowardice and at worst in collusion to treason. And the peaceful protest was infiltrated by Dem-Marxist agitators who made peaceful Trump supporters appear violent and, in some cases, agitated for violence. There was never an Insurrection with a capital “I”. In hindsight of the ever-increasing proof of an Election Coup perhaps a countercoup is not out of the question. Dem-Marxist criminals definitely would view a countercoup as an insurrection against their illegitimate despotic regime.

 

Ari’s thoughts on the USA’s power transition are not the focus of this essay. The focus is the ironic nearly mirror transition of power occurring in Israel. Angry Conservative Israeli Jews are seeing their leader pasted with unproven smears and the exercise of Parliamentary shenanigans by Israel’s Left to depose Prime Minister Netanyahu. Christian Zionist supporters (of which I am one) are uneasy with how Netanyahu is getting the boot.

 

Benjamin Netanyahu - Naftali Bennett

 

Ari is calling for calm. I’m still not calm about what transpired in America, I can only imagine the displeasure Conservative Israelis are experiencing.

 

Info to consider about Netanyahu not typically available in the USA:

 

o   Netanyahu alleges Israeli election fraud, accuses rival of duplicity; By Jeffrey Heller; Investing.com via Reuters-Wire; 6/6/21 03:05PM ET

 

o   A coalition bent on election rigging: By considering a bill that singles out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bennett and Lapid are undoing Israel's democracy; By Amnon Lord; Israel Hayom; 6/8/21 17:16

 

o   Israel’s Netanyahu lashes out as end of his era draws near; By Josef Federman; Washington Times via AP-Wire; 6/11/21

 

o   Anti-Bennett incitement now includes infamous Kabbalistic curse: Posters call for Pulsa diNura ceremony against the "evil Naftali Bennett, who wants to attack the world of the Torah."; By ILH Staff; Israel Hayom; 6/11/21 09:52

 

o   The burden of proof is on Bennett: Sadness at seeing the Right lose power is mixed with joy over the end to the political chaos and pride that Israel is about to have its first religious prime minister; By Yifat Erlich; Israel Hayom; 6/11/21 10:30 - Last modified: 07:57

 

JRH 6/11/21

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I Wear Two Hats

 

By Ari Bussel

Sent: 6/8/2021 5:47 PM

 

A Song of Ascents:  Out of the depths I have called Thee, O, God.  Lord, listen to my voice, let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.” (Psalms 130:1-2)

A Song of Ascents:  I will lift my eyes onto the mountains, from where will my help arrive?  My help from the Lord, who makes heaven and earth.”  (Psalms 121:1-2)

 

 

I wear two hats:  I am American by birth and Israeli by lineage.

 

As an American, I learned of unintended consequences when unleashing great powers over which we may not have complete control.  President Trump said, “let us walk to the Capitol,” meaning let us march there and continue our peaceful protest.  This day in the park turned into an Insurrection with a capital I.

 

Vice President Pence was under immense pressure at that time, both by his boss, the President of the United States, and by the Democrats.  And yet, he handled himself with dignity and has earned the right to walk his head high.  At the end of his term he would say “It was the greatest privilege of my life serving you” or maybe “It was the greatest honor of my life serving you.”  Mike Pence has earned my vote if he will choose to run in three and a half years.

 

As an Israeli and an officer in the Israel Defense Forces, I know that without the IDF, we would cease to exist.  We, the Jewish people, have only one homeland.  When we did not, some eighty years ago, six million of us – and many of my family – were systematically slaughtered.  My parents, the remnants who Survived the Holocaust, vowed with an entire nation: “Never Again.”

 

Israel today is a thriving country.  She is the laboratory of the world, in terms of both innovation and testing.  Creativity there knows almost no bounds, so does ingenuity.  And the people are most grateful for having a country of their own, after two millennia of exile.  We also know we can count on no one than ourselves, and that our fate is in our hands.  Indeed, we have an ancient promise and a Covenant for a thousand generations, but God only helps those who help themselves, and being the children of God does not allow us extra privileges in this respect (only extra responsibilities, being a “Light Unto the Nations”).

 

We had the most amazing four years when President Trump was President, likely the best during our existence as a modern country.  Promises that each previous President had made to move the embassy to Jerusalem became a reality.  Jerusalem was recognized as Israel’s de facto capital.  And a new day has dawned on the Middle East, with normalization of relations – the Abraham Accords – that cannot be undone.  Unlike any other action by President Trump that is being demolished, reversed, cancelled and erased, the new reality is here to stay.

 

Have we been grateful enough?  Have we shown our appreciation?  I am ashamed to say that the answer to these two questions is likely no.  God must have meant to tell us something, hoping we will see, observe and learn a lesson.  He who brings down the mighty and lifts the lowly at His will, in an instant, wanted us to change our ways.  For four years, President Trump had a Divine Iron Dome protecting him, then in an instant it was all gone, taken away, and his presidency is now being demolished, erased, cancelled, reversed and tarnished to oblivion.

 

Did we learn the lesson?  Likely not.

 

An Evangelical leader with good people around the world his followers, believers in the Word of God, stood up in rage.  For a moment, he felt the world is collapsing around him.  Trump – gone.  Netanyahu – soon to be gone.  He was filled with fright, to the point he threatened to unleash forces of good to fight the outcome of Israel’s fourth election in two years.

 

We are all fallible, and this Christian leader is but a man.  He too erred.  He was so anxious that he wrote a letter to the Prime Minister-designate, a letter that should not have been written or sent, and definitely should not have been published.  He later would apologize for his haste, tone and verbiage.  The Prime Minister-designate has likely already forgiven, for he knew it was not personal; the writer was hurting.  Bennett’s kids, like all other kids, err at times too, and we use such moments as teaching tools and move forward.

 

This Christian leader who walks with kings could have picked up the phone, or knocked on the door of the Prime Minister’s residence and comforted his friend, Benjamin Netanyahu.  A Man of God would know how to guide his flock in troubled times.  After all, the Prime Minister did not realize (or refused to recognize) until just days ago that these are his last days as the prime minister of all prime ministers of Israel. 

 

Indeed, it is President Rivlin who, at the height of the Pandemic, instructed us to act in this manner exactly, enlisting the words of the Prophet Isaiah (41:6):  “One person helped the other, and to his brother he said:  ‘Be Strong!’”

 

It is evident this Christian leader did not mean to turn friends into enemies, or to abandon the Jewish State of Israel.  Christian support of Israel and the Jewish people does not depend on any one person and is not given as a reward or a punishment.  It is not the annual monetary and military aid by the USA that some radical elements in Congress are threatening to take away.  It is given, in whole, without any conditions or expectation.  It is pure and complete and enduring.

 

Those who oppose Israel are standing against none other than Lord of Hosts, our God.  Harm the Temple of God’s Eye, and what is to be expected, that God Himself will sit idly and say “amen, good, please proceed?”  It may not have been evident to the onlooker, but a close examination of what took place reveals a greater purpose.

So if the threat to unleash forces over which one does not have full control was known to be wrong, what was the intention?  We know that when we step onto a path, we may have an idea of where we want to go, but the path may take us elsewhere.  And still we trust that all is known and planned and happens for a reason.  Likewise here:  Only God is all-knowing, and He guides his children and disciples.

 

The Christian leader started a tsunami that galvanized the Christian leadership-at-large into self-reflection and action.  On the Christian side, it yielded reinforcement to oneself, “Why do we support Israel.”  Maybe even an opportunity for self-examination, “Have we done enough?  What can we do differently? Maybe better?  Is our Lord God happy with our actions?”

 

On the Jewish Israeli side, “Why do the Christians support us, when some of our greatest detractors come from within?  Why do they need this headache?”  And:  “Have we been grateful, have we shown our gratitude?”  And further, “What can we – and the State of Israel – do in action to show the Christians we value and appreciate them?”

 

This process is likely the most important outcome of the current debacle.  The Saturday and Sunday people having received a wakeup call that made them reexamine themselves and realize the importance of unity.  As the Prophet Ezekiel said (37:15-28):  “And bring them together one to another … and make them one … and they will be one in [your] hand … before their [own] eyes.”

 

The Prophet Ezekiel ends with “And the nations would know that I AM LORD, Sanctify Israel, as My Temple is in their midst for ever.”

 

The support of the Jewish people and the State of Israel comes from God and no other; and only God can bestow or withdraw it.  We are mere instruments.  All things happen at God’s will, and we must continue counting our blessings and be most grateful to God for having given us life, and having sustained us and having brought us to the present.

 

A new day is coming to Israel.  A new government is being formed, one that represents the most amazing tapestry of its citizenry.  There are extraordinary leaders – individuals of great stature – who have been anointed, and we must pray for their success, which will be our success.  In fact, we must do more – we must put action behind our very prayers and do whatever we can to support and further enhance Israel, her leaders, ministers and advisors.

 

The challenges Israel facing continue to grow.  They intensify in strength and frequency.  Jews and Christians stand together in support, a great army, a most magnificent one, an army full of soul, meaning and determination – we are not a valley of very dry bones.

 

Jews and Christians may look like two hats, but we are one and the same, part of the same most magnificent tree.  Let us remember the strength in unity, and let us continue to work together. 

_____________________________

Edited by John R. Houk, Blog Editor

This is the latest in the series “Postcards from America – Postcards from Israel,” a collaboration between author and journalist Norma Zager and columnist Ari Bussel.

 

Zager and Bussel collaborate both in writing and on the air in a point-counter-point discussion of all things Israel-related.  Together, they have dedicated the past two decades to promoting Israel and have become “the Jewish Voice on Christian Radio.”

 

© Israel Monitor, June, 2021

 

First Published June 8, 2021

Contact:  bussel@me.com

 

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