IDF –  who else? -- to the rescue for Syria’s White Helmets
IDF –  who else? -- to the rescue for Syria’s White Helmets

Figures that the BBC would refer to the Golan Heights as territory “occupied” by Israel, but it was through there that the IDF brought to safety, into Jordan, hundreds of Syrian first responders who needed to be rescued from Assad’s forces.

Known as the White Helmets, they serve as emergency volunteers and are recognized by us as the good guys.

They were at risk of being surrounded and demolished. The Western Powers, among them the United States, Canada, France and the UK, wanted them saved.

Did they phone any of the neighboring Arab countries to come quickly? After all, brother to brother.

No, they dialed IDF…the Jewish military, which does these things so splendidly for Jews, for Arabs, for anybody. Entebbe, of course…etc.…etc.…

Some say 440 Syrian Arabs were saved. Others say 800. Either way, the Israelis delivered, but how? Never mind. It’s for the world to stand back once again, and be amazed.

Besides France and the UK, other European countries called on Israel for help, which is quite a switch from how they act when they get together at the UN or gather at the EU.

Usually, in order to feel that they got some work done before dinner and drinks, somebody gets up and says, let’s condemn Israel. For what? Anything!

That’s how it’s done.

Then the EU’s Federica Mogherini demands “restraint” whenever the IDF goes to work – but not this time. No, not this time. Neither did they complain or condemn.

You are reading this correctly. On a particular day last week, nobody condemned Israel, at least not for a military operation…imagine that!… except for the usual suspects like Assad himself and surely those mullahs in Iran.

Other than that, cheers, or silence, and if you are an Israeli, silence is good enough. From a world that shouts at them every day, they’ll take silence.

It means approval from the nations.

Silence means that deep inside their anti-Semitic hearts, there is an even deeper reservoir of admiration for this start-up nation and its can-do IDF.
Silence means that deep inside their anti-Semitic hearts, there is an even deeper reservoir of admiration for this start-up nation and its can-do IDF.

Even the news media, whose deceptions we hook in this thriller, couldn’t help but cheer, as much as they’d rather smirk. In true Balaam-style, each time they came to curse, blessings emerged, and so it followed from one to the other. The New York Times, for example, can always be counted on to find some fly in the ointment.

This time, the Times covered the story straight up. No nasty asides. There was no other way to put it apparently, except to credit the IDF as heroic. Imagine the long faces around the editorial desk. Editors asking—is there nothing terrible we can say about Israel as we usually do? Is there no place to accuse the Israelis of some failure?

How about the old goodie – “disproportionate response?”

Obviously not when 400 to 800 Syrians were saved without a hitch…and elsewhere the media were just as compliant, finding no flaws in the IDF operation.

Even the BBC expunged its “occupied territory” reference as to the Israeli Golan Heights. Even NPR reported the news totally favorable to the IDF and the Jewish State.

Haaretz? Same thing. Yes, Haaretz gave thumbs up, and here’s the link to prove that miracles do happen, twofold.

First the event, where we learned that the IDF has not lost its touch, and then the coverage that glorified Israel…if only for one day.

At most that’s historic. At the least, it’s a first step.

New York-based bestselling American novelist Jack Engelhard writes regularly for Arutz Sheva.

He is the author of the international book-to-movie bestseller “Indecent Proposal” and most recently the two inside journalism thrillers “The Bathsheba Deadline” and “News Anchor Sweetheart, Hollywood Edition.” Engelhard is the recipient of the Ben Hecht Award for Literary Excellence. Website: www.jackengelhard.com