Can Israel Survive?

 The nation of Israel is in trouble.  The division there might even be worse than the division in America. This article from the Jerusalem post asks if the Jews are capable of running their own nation for more than 80 years?  He points out Jewish history back to King David and recognizes that the longest they could stay together was 79 years under King Solomon.  So is Israel going to vanish from the earth once again just like it did for 2000 years after the Romans destroyed it?

Ezekiel was told by God that wouldn’t happen.  It appears that God says he will regather the Jews from all the nations they had been scattered and bring them back to the Promised Land in the very last days.  Once there they will never be divided again.  There is great pain coming for the Jewish nation during the Great Tribulation but God will keep a remnant and protect the nation of Israel.

Ezekiel 37

18 “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lordsays: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’ 20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.

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The Zionist project of establishing a sovereign Jewish State in the biblical land of Israel was a success. This movement, established more than 125 years ago in Europe, succeeded in establishing Jewish sovereignty for the third time in history.

I was born and raised in Israel, but have been living in the US for a few decades. I love Israel and consider myself as a Zionist, but questions that I've been asking myself for the past few years have suddenly become more urgent: What is the future Of Zionism? What will happen when the Jewish people aren’t able to thrive in a Jewish sovereign state?

We do not need to compare Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Russia’s autocratic President Vladimir Putin or to the leaders of Hungary and other Eastern European countries. Rather we have our own history to provide relevant comparisons.

Israel’s former Prime Minister Naftali Bennet recently said that “our ancestors blew it.” He explained that “they couldn't keep it together for more than 80 years.” 

Indeed, a review of our own history might suggest that, as Jews, we haven’t been able to run our own country for more than about 80 years. The crowning of King David in 1010 BCE resulted in a Jewish state that continued with the leadership of his son, King Solomon. After his death, there was an insurrection against the House of David around 931 BCE. The Kingdom was then divided into two: The Kingdom of Judah led by Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, with Jerusalem as its capital; and a second kingdom in the northern part of the country with Samaria as its capital. Only 79 years of Jewish sovereignty and a Jewish state therefore existed during the first temple.

Again, during the time of the Second Temple, there was only a short period of between 75 to 80 years where the Maccabees ruled the sovereign Jewish state, until external superpowers took over or ran the country.

Perhaps our destiny, as Jews, is not to maintain sovereignty in Canaan, but rather to wander around the world and promote positivity and Jewish values and strengths. God told Abraham (Genesis 12), “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” So, perhaps, God was not telling Abraham specifically to go to the land of Canaan (or at least not only), but rather to travel the world, have an impact, gain respect and improve lives through Tikkun Olam (the commandment to repair the world); economic growth and influence; education; and leadership in many sectors. 

Indeed, for thousands of years, countries in which Jews have settled and prospered have also succeeded and flourished, that is, until those countries expelled their Jews. Examples include: Spain, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, even Germany before the Holocaust. 

But just as we were kicked out of these other countries after having helped them prosper, this “expulsion” is threatening to happen again de facto to our own startup nation and our own people. 

Many of Israel’s best and brightest are considering leaving the country with their assets. Already $4 billion dollars left Israel last month. Thousands of Israelis – especially the educated and economic elite – are looking for second passports to Europe, US, and elsewhere. 

Is destiny again repeating itself? As Israel reaches its 75th Independence Day later this month, it is important for us to ask this question aloud and start finding solutions. Can we stay in our own country for more than 80 years or do we need a Plan B?

https://www.allisrael.com/can-israel-survive