Five Things Learned On the Ground in Israel

      I spent last week with a team in Israel on a solidarity tour. The purpose of the trip was two-fold:

      • We wanted to share with Israelis that they weren’t alone, and we were standing with them. That didn’t seem like something that would matter much, but it truly was. Everywhere we went, we had Israelis thanking us for coming.

      • We were there to see and retell the truth. We had that chance. We toured the sites of the attacks and visited with survivors. We talked with people from all levels to gain insight to the attack and current situation. Those people ranged from displaced children living in our hotel to the head of the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) strategic command. There was so much I walked away with wanting to share, here are five of those things:

         • The 10/7 attacks in Israel did happen — I don’t imagine anyone reading this has doubted that the attacks in Israel on Oct. 7 happened, but that idea is certainly floating around in the world. Going back to the Holocaust, some claim it never happened. Not only are there those who claim that the 10/7 attacks didn’t occur, but there are conspiracy stories of Israel attacking their own people. So, for now and into the future, when the world claims that Hamas did not attack Israel, let this be just one of the many proofs that it happened. I had the chance to be on the ground and walk through kibbutzim (small towns) that were attacked. I saw the homes that had been ransacked and burned. I talked with survivors, parents of young families killed and parents of hostages. I visited daily with families displaced from the attacks on 10/7 and threats of attacks in the north. I heard from soldiers who cleared the kibbutzim. I heard the 101 call tapes (their 911). I saw the burnt cars. I walked through where 364 were killed at the music festival. I walked from burned spot after burned spot along the roads where cars were burned. It happened just as the footage shot by the terrorists themselves showed, and it was even more brutal than you can imagine.

         • The nation of Israel is hurting. One of our guides said we had walked into the national sitting Shiva — the mourning room. When Jewish families have a loss, after the funeral, the family gathers in a home where they mourn for seven days. They receive guests who come to sit with them in their grief. Though it had been four months since the attacks, the nation was very much still in mourning. Our trip was to sit with them in their grief.

      It is hard for us 21^st century Americans to grasp how a nation can grieve together, but Israel functions much more like a large family than a nation. Though there are over 10 million residents in the country, the nation is so small that six Israels could fit in Arkansas. That’s a very small area. One person said, when it comes to the hostages, those killed and the soldiers fighting, the chances are that every Israeli knows them or knows someone who does. Another person told us you can’t say Israel is facing post-traumatic stress because they are still in the trauma — the wound is still open. Trauma is the right word to describe what Israel has faced. One reason is that these attacks were very personal because the nation had done so much to help the Gazans. A survivor in the kibbutz that was attacked worked daily with the very ones who came and brutally killed his family and friends.

      The attack and its aftermath have impacted every aspect of the nation. There were over 300,000 reserve soldiers called up to duty. We talked to many wives and parents of soldiers called up. We met a father who just had come back from being called up, and he served in Gaza with his two sons. Another 200,000 people are displaced due to attacks and there are threats of more. Our hotel was full of those displaced. Children have not been in school for four months.

         • Israel is more than justified in eliminating the threat in Gaza. It is important to stand alongside Israel because we stand with God, but that does not mean everything Israel does is right or pleasing to God. To think otherwise is to make Israel an idol. But when it comes to the justification of Israel’s response, any sensible person can realize it is more than justified.

      To travel within Israel, we had to download the “Red Alert” app. All Israelis use it. It is just part of life. This app gives real-time rocket/missile detection. Your proximity to Gaza impacts your reaction time. At some points we had only 15 seconds to take cover, and at others, we had 2 minutes. We went through training from our security detail on how to take cover. The Red Alert App has been in use since 2016. It went off every day we were there. Just this morning, it went off as rockets went to 16 locations. Israel has lived in the rhythm of this app for nearly 10 years. Nearly every day there would be rockets, and residents would stop what they were doing and take cover or get into their safe room. Every home has a safe room/bomb shelter. They even had to have bomb shelters in the middle of the desert for the music festival.

      That’s only scratching the surface of what Israel has dealt with from Hamas. Hamas has been shooting rockets since 2001 and periodically attacking Israel since the 1990s. Yet through that time, Israel has sought to do good by Gaza. All Israelis moved out in 2005 and gave Arab Muslims the land. Those people elected Hamas to lead. From the mid-90s to today, Israel has helped and allowed $40 billion dollars in aid to be given. Recently, Israel was allowing 20,000 Gazans daily work permits to work in Israel. Israel was convinced there was no way Hamas would attack.

         • There already are more than two nationalities living in Israel. Through the news media, we keep hearing that Hamas attacked so the Gazans (Arab Muslims) would be free. First of all, they are not fighting for freedom. Hamas’ charter says they exist to eliminate Jews from the land. In each home in Gaza, the IDF has found maps of Israel that excluded Jews. They don’t want freedom and peace with Jews — they want Jews eliminated. There are already many Arab Muslims that live among Jews in Israel. They live and function side-by-side in peace along with other people groups. The groups that are in Gaza and the West Bank are there because they support terrorism against Israel and do not want to coexist.

         • Israelis just want the truth told. Every time we had the chance to meet with someone, I asked, “How can we help.” Every person replied the same, “Please, go home and tell the truth of what you see here, for it feels the whole world is against us.”

         — Jake is a state missionary and would love to share about the work in Northwest Arkansas and encourage your church to stand firm. (standfirmministries.com)