Israel stands and dwells alone. Is that bad? No, that is good. How do I know that such an irrational and counter-intuitive statement is spot-on correct? Because G-d said so in the Bible.
When Balak, King of Moab (same national name as the 30,000 Bomb of the Week, which by deliberate design also stands for “Mother Of All Bombs”), retained the professional cursing-by-oath services of the non-Jewish prophet, Bil’am, he moved his curser (yes) to Moab. Bil’am was physically situated so as to view from a hilltop the entire Jewish encampment outside Moab. By glancing at them, he could invoke his imprecations. However, he instead could not help but exclaim “How goodly are your tents, O [People of] Jacob!”
He would not stop, continuing with blessing after blessing. Among those blessings: “Behold, a Nation that dwells alone!” (Numbers 23:9). King Balak, his sponsor, split a gut: “I brought you here to curse them, and instead you blessed them.” Bil’am responded: “I couldn’t help myself. I am a prophet, and I go into a trance by which G-d speaks through my mouth. Those were not my words; they were His. And He chose to bless them.”
So it emerges that everyone — G-d Almig-ty; King Balak, the Enemy of the Jews; Prophet Bil’am, the enemy of the Jews; the Jews; and the Bible — all agreed then and, by extension, necessarily agree now that it is a blessing on the Jews to dwell all alone. That is the fact. It is not debatable. The only debate is: Huh?
It definitely is tough to be lonely. “One is the loneliest number you will ever know.” (Three Dog Night, not only one canine.) But lonely periods of being rejected and criticized by those standing outside the fire make one stronger. Loneliness hurts but is a gift for a principled, believing Orthodox Jew. It builds character and strength when standing alone.
And that is the Nation of Israel, writ large. As my rebbe used to say, Israel is not meant to be a Hebrew-speaking Portugal. Israel has a unique greatness and mission.
Yes, in a world where the evil inclination balances the righteous one, Israel also has in its midst embodiments of corrupted souls: Yair Golan telling the world that the one Jewish country murders children as a hobby. An Ehud (Olmert) telling the world that the one Jewish country perpetrates war crimes, while the other (Barak) tells a Zoom assemblage that — not to worry — he will return to power as soon as Israel is filled with dead Jews floating in bloodied waters.
There is the evil of the Kaplan Square crowds and their boosters on Kan 11, Keshet 12, and Reshet 13 who boom to their viewers the times and places of each new leftist gathering to tear down the country. There is the Blight of an Attorney-General whom Gideon Sa’ar personally selected because he knew how much she hates Netanyahu and Likud, and that evil choice was approved personally by Bennett, no less than by Gantz and Lapid.
But despite all the evil, Israel’s isolated society is balanced by unbelievable righteousness and courage, legion. It is a center for Shabbat and kashrut observance and more.
I do appreciate what America has done for me. I am not one to repay kindness with ingratitude. But let’s be clear: America, with its 250+ years and 300+ million people and its extraordinary weapons and its MOAB cannot touch what Israel can do and has done. America is not clever and streamlined; it is big and bulky. Certainly, it is more kind than other countries — a very low bar to meet — and it throws the full force of its money and its weapons and its 300 million into its fights. When it drafted soldiers, it could afford to confer 4D draft exemptions to divinity students.
But America is not genius; look at its past 50 years of presidential choices. Only a very dim-witted nation could have elected Biden and Harris. Forget politics; they are two remarkably, uh, challenged thinkers. Seriously, no joke. Ecuador, Ghana, Mongolia (both Inner and Outer) never would have elected two such bagel holes on the same ticket. At least Biden’s excuse is that he did not know he was there. Harris?
America simply throws all it’s got— money, manpower — at a problem and sometimes it wins (Granada), and usually it loses (Gaza Pier).
-Vietnam used to be North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Then America came to help, and now the latter live in Garden Grove, California.
-Reagan condemned Begin for blowing up Saddam’s nuclear reactor and then set about the following year to show Israel how to handle Arab Muslim Hezbollah cutthroats in Lebanon after Sabra-Shatilla. Great job: 241 Marines blown up.
-Afghanistan — America left $7 billion in the latest most advanced weapons for the Taliban. What Israel gets from America in two years from begging, year after year, the Taliban got in a single day in return for killing 13 American service men and women.
-Before America walked into Iraq, a wonderful decade was in full bloom as Iraq and Iran were actively killing each other — more than 500,000 of each other in only 8 years, truly doing G-d’s holy work on earth. And then America messed that up.
Everything America has touched the past 80 years, except for Granada, has been a mess. The China mainland has become Communist. America under Carter helped Khomeini take down the Shah, impressed that an Ayatollah of the Religion of Peace would be a spiritual leader, a man of the cloth. Then Obama sent them $1.7 billion cash, while Biden removed the Trump sanctions. Just messed up everything, even gave away the Panama Canal to a two-bit banana republic dictator after America had spent $375 million (equal to $15.7 billion in current cash) and 5,600 deaths to build it. And Carter gave that all away: A Man, A Plan, A Canal. A Schmendrick.
Israel, a Nation that dwells alone, cannot afford to be American Stupid. If the cheap and crooked French won’t hand over the gunboats that Israel paid for, so Israel just sails off with them anyway (December 1969). Sadat (October 1973) thinks his army is about to conquer the Sinai and wakes up to news that (the once-good) Ariel Sharon is on the way to Cairo with no one in the way. Beepers. Walkie Talkies. Fouad Shakr, Nasrallah, and the band. Haniyeh, Sinwar & Sinwar, Deif, etc. Now add the June 13 Night of Shock and Awe.
America never could have done that. By comparison, the Bush-Rumsfeld “Shock and Awe” was a county carnival or a state fair arcade. Only a nation that stands alone could do June 13. In other words: Only Israel.
And now where?
First, we must remember that no one was with Israel on and after June 13 except for half of America (somewhat). That means all the others no longer get to play. They walked off the field at half-time. Israel got a refreshing slap in the face: Israel does not need them or their non-commital UN votes or their tears when Jews get put into ovens; they do not matter. Sure, try to persuade them not to embargo, but if they do, stuff them.
G-d Almig-ty has replaced them — and what a shame that Israel’s top leaders never invoke G-d’s miracles except in a token, phatic “Barukh Hashem” at the end of a 30-minute speech praising generals, soldiers, Mossad, and Shabak — all of whom deserve their honor, but G-d’s miracles are primary, and what an opportunity missed, even as no one really wants to hear from Goldknopf, Gafni, or Deri right now. AWOL during one of the Top Ten Divine miracles in Jewish history.
It was not Netanyahu but G-d who put into his mind to strike just as the G7 were gathering for Macron to declare an “[epithet deleted] State.” Just at that moment, they who had shared evil counsel (“utzu eitzah”) had all their designs sabotaged. The words they spoke did not materialize because G-d is with us. G-d put into Trump’s head to walk out on their G7 conference. The right man at the right time.
There will be no Arab sovereign between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. If they ever advance their evil design further, let Israel declare and actualize sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and Ariel (city of more than 20,000), and that’s it. America will not interfere. Trump will say: “I warned Macron not to start up. It’s his mess now. Let him clean it up.”
As for America, this next critical lesson is very, very important: I love Trump, OK? But we all must take note: He now is taking all the credit for everything because that is Trump. We know the shtick. He “knew all about it from Day One.” He was on the phone with Netanyahu. It was he who always said Iran will not get nukes. Etc.
Understand: He is great, the best, but . . . He did not stick his neck out until Israel did — and Israel wiped the floor with Iran. Let Trump take credit, Let him call it “Trump’s War for World Security.” But know the truth: If Israel’s efforts had not been blessed by G-d’s miracles on June 13 (and if you need more convincing, look at the Soroka Hospital miracle), Trump was positioned to say he had sent in Steve Witkoff, and they were on the brink of a “great deal” in the seventh round, but Netanyahu failed to wait and messed things up by jumping the gun. Now Trump is trying again, the White House says.
That is Trump, and that must be grasped. He is now talking about waiting to see if negotiations move forward again. By contrast, now with each day’s more intensive Israel dominance and Iran’s collapsing opposition — fewer ballistic launches, fewer hits — Trump will move closer to hitting Fordow because, with each passing day of Israel doing the yeoman’s work by G-d’s grace, MOAB seems lower risk to drop, and Trump risks history books ignoring his role as the Savior of World Security.
And now for my last insight here:
It will be more elegant if Trump drops two or three MOABs on Fordow, but that is not the only option. Absolutely no one says this, so it may as well be I: Iran built Fordow without first dropping MOABs into it to make holes to get inside. They got in through the front door, not the ceiling. Fordow can also be taken out from the front door without MOABs. It will take longer, be messier, be more perilous, and all — but can be taken down that way. Israel can force Iran to dismantle it under Israeli supervision. Or Israel can dismantle it.
At some point, that may require killing the Supreme Peerless Leader. It may require blowing up every oil field and refinery in Iran. But the bottom line is that Fordow, one way or another, can be dismantled and taken down.
And life works both ways.
If America does not bomb Fordow, and if Israel instead decides to blow up every Iranian oil field and refinery, it may lead France, England, Canada, Japan, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, and Australia to start begging Trump to drop the darned MOABs before the entire European continent loses its Iranian oil and explodes under gasoline prices of $30-$50 a gallon. Two can play that game. Israel can Samson (verb) all of Europe without even having to get injured when the EU Temple to Baal collapses. No one has figured that out yet. But that can be Plan B or C.
If Trump does not drop the MOABs, then Israel can kill the Ayatollah, destroy all Iranian oil, and keep at it until Iran opens the front door and starts throwing grenades inside until that mountain comes to Muhammad.
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