A number of weeks ago, I wrote an article highlighting the need for Israel to fearlessly nuke a desert region in Iran and threaten to pulverize the city of Qom, the ideological capital of the cruel Ayatollahs.
Alas, Jews are too merciful and compassionate, and even though the logic and ethical values underlying my proposal are solid, the near-unanimous consensus of experts orbiting around Israel's policymakers is that the Jewish State would never undertake a preemptive nuclear attack, let alone a preventative one.
In other words, just like Lord Chamberlain and Monsieur Daladier watched Nazi Germany rearm itself, confident that German public opinion would topple Hitler if he waged war, so do Israeli leaders appear to delegate the survival of their state to the whims of the Iranian masses.
Since the Jewish soul is too kind to take to heart the Rabbinical injunction that "He Who is Compassionate to the Cruel Ultimately Becomes Cruel to the Compassionate,” there is a simple and painless solution to herald a messianic era. It is a solution even sanctioned by the great Rambam, who allowed renouncing Judaism for the sake of saving one’s life and another monotheistic faith.
As highlighted in this article, the hatred of the Iranian Ayatollahs exceeds even that of pro-Hamas Arabs. The reason is that Iranian hatred isn't just ideological and religious, but also ethnic and racial in a way eerily similar to the Jew-hatred of Nazis.
Nevertheless, even the Ayatollahs aren't quite Nazis. Although they are wholeheartedly looking forwards to erasing the State of Israel from the pages of history, they tolerate a peaceful and docile Jewish minority of 20,000 or so in their midst. In other words, even the Ayatollahs tolerate Jews who accept the supremacy of Islam.
The Israeli-Arab conflict is in origin and essence a religious conflict. For the Ummah, the existence of a Jewish State is an unbearable humiliation for two reasons: It dishonors and discredits Islamic supremacy; and it also dishonors Arab Muslim men who as fighters should be unrivalled in their military bravery.
That the Jewish People, after centuries of docility and degradation suddenly defeats Islamic armies and Arab warriors is enough to rouse the blindest and most fanatical hatred. It is hard to fathom the magnitude of Islamic hostility towards Zionism.
Even the Abraham Accords, celebrated as a wonderful milestone of Jews and Arabs celebrating their shared forefather, aren’t exactly what Jews wish they were. It is true that Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates signed them. What is less clear is if they did so to welcome Israel in their midst or to better defeat it. As the old adage goes, “if you can’t beat them, then join them.”
My skepticism is personal. In the wake of the Abraham Accords, I wrote an article for the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies proposing that the Dubai School of Government should become a pan-Arab institution that catalyzes cooperation and public policy reforms throughout the Middle East and North Africa. As a coda, I highlighted that inviting Israeli lecturers would enable the whole region to benefit from Israeli know-how and accomplishments. But guess which paragraph was omitted from the Arabic translation in a UAE newspaper?
In other words, to parody the Prussian military strategist von Clausewitz, in the Middle East even peace accords are war conducted by other means.
Does this mean that Israel is doomed to live by the sword as long as Islam lives?
If it remains Jewish, and does not have the heartlessness to destroy the Ayatollahs, it is in danger of perishing by the sword.
Imagine this alternate (satiric) scenario: Israel decides to officially accept Islam and become the State of the Bani Israil, to whom Allah and the Quran have promised the whole Holy Land.
Joining the Ummah is a very simple affair: Israelis just need to recite via Zoom one sentence in front of two Muslims and all the hate, violence, and fanaticism aimed at Zionism will instantly morph into boundless love and admiration.
Why? Because as a Muslim missionary once confided to a friend of mine, “a Black convert to Islam is worth ten points, a White convert 20 points, while a Jewish convert is worth 40 points.”
Once Israel transubstantiates into the “Islamic and Democratic State of the Bani Israil,” it can even expel all Palestinian Arabs to Spain and Ireland amidst the cheers and applause of the entire Ummah. And believe me, neither the United Nations nor the UNRWA will raise a finger to defend Gazans once the entire Muslim World rallies to Israel’s side.
In fact, Israel doesn’t even need to change its flag, given that the Islamic Karamanid dynasty in Asia Minor once flaunted a Magen David (i.e. Seal of Solomon) as its symbol. Ditto, Israelis will not need to give up cherished holidays like Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot given that even devout Muslim Kurds and Iranians still celebrate the Zoroastrian Nowruz festival.
And if observant Israeli Jews don’t want to join the Ummah, they can live in Israel as docile dhimmis and pay the poll-tax or jizya that non-Muslims are enjoined to pay.
Accepting Islam also solves the conversion controversy: One may convert to Judaism, but the Bani Israil are such solely by virtue of birth.
Once Israel is welcomed by the Ummah, the sky's the limit: Values such as democracy, human rights, and material progress which are largely scorned by the Ummah as being part and parcel of a Jewish mindset and a Zionist conspiracy, will be mainstreamed into the Muslim World.
And soon, the Middle East and North Africa could experience a boom and the Pax Judaica that eludes us today.
Once the wellsprings of yiddishkeit purify the Ummah, within a generation or two, secular Israeli Jews will be able to openly return to the faith of their forefathers in a Middle East blessed by peace and prosperity.
In other words, the Jewish State is at a crossroads for its survival: Either it is ruthless enough to crush the Ayatollahs before it’s too late, or it accepts Islam and outsmarts them.
All alternative paths are exponentially more self-destructive.
P.S. This article was originally intended for publication on Purim. Nevertheless, the gravity of the existential dangers looming on the horizon, persuaded the author to ask to postpone its publication to a less festive period.
Rafael Castro is a Yale and Hebrew University graduate, and independent political analyst. A Noahide by choice, Rafael can be reached at [email protected]