May 2002 Personal Letter

Dear Friends:

“Four hundred Israeli tanks surrounded Nablus in the early morning. The thundering sounds of tank shells were heard throughout the streets.

“In the town of Jenin, Israeli tanks and helicopter gunships exchanged fire Wednesday with hundreds of armed men.”

Hundreds of tanks? Helicopter gunships? The thundering of tank shells? This sounds like war! Or does it? According to a recent article in USA Today, this is a large-scale invasion. But what resulted from these military actions? “Several Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers have been killed,” in one incident, and “three gunmen, a nurse and a 13-year-old boy were killed, Palestinian militia leaders said,” in another incident.

How do 400 tanks account for so few casualties? Because tanks are used for other reasons. They’re not used to blow up individuals, as the media and Arabs constantly imply. A tank commander told me recently that there are two primary uses of tanks in a situation like this. First, they protect Israeli soldiers from snipers and suicide bombers. Suicide belts are routinely handed out by the Palestinians as weapons. In Nablus, a bomb laboratory was discovered in the home of the Palestinian chief of police. This is only one of 16 discovered so far. And second, tanks are used to clear the streets, demonstrating with their presence that the Palestinians had better think twice about further terrorist acts. As to helicopters, they are weapons of pinpoint accuracy, eliminating immediate threats such as terrorist kingpins located in cars, etc.

“Equally angry Israelis accuse Palestinians of fabricating stories of military abuses to undermine the country’s justifiable fight against terrorism, a campaign that at least has halted the wave of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. Not one has exploded in the past six days,” a USA Today article pointed out.

One would think that Armageddon is brewing. And in a way, it is. Jesus told his Israeli disciples in Matt. 24:9, “Ye shall be hated of all nations….” Could anything be truer of the Chosen People today? The entire world is venting their hatred upon Israel now. And it’s not clear why.

While Fox News has unabashedly referred to the situation in Israel as “the world’s worst problem,” I’m old enough to remember real wars in which thousands of soldiers were killed in real invasions. During the Oslo “peace” process, 130,000 people were killed in uprisings in Algeria. In Bosnia, some 200,000 were killed in ethnic conflicts. But what gets 24/7 news coverage? The killing of “several” in the West Bank and Gaza.

Geraldo Rivera was recently taken to task by colleagues for ludicrous statements about casualties in the Israeli operation. “It’s more than collateral damage,” insisted Rivera when asked about Palestinian civilian deaths. “There is an expectation when you use a jet fighter that flies at 500 or 600 miles an hour to get a terrorist nest… there is an almost inevitably that there’s going to be civilian casualties.” Ridiculous! What air force in the world uses jet fighters to shoot individuals? Of course, when reporting from Afghanistan two weeks earlier, Rivera stated, “The Afghans understand that war is not always precise. They understand the need for violence to combat violence.”

Is this a real war? Not at all. It’s what I would call a public relations war created by Palestinians and Arab dictators, and a ratings war merchandised by Arabist media outlets like the New York Times, CNN, USA Today, etc. Israel seems to sell in the media in the manner of Gary Condit, Princess Di, Jackie Kennedy, etc. It’s simply a sensational subject people will tune into and the truth about the subject is unimportant.

And yet, even the New York Times felt constrained to make these comments:

To allow young people to imagine that they are building their society’s future on their own brutal deaths while murdering innocent civilians on the other side is an abdication of responsibility in the extreme.

Yasir Arafat has led the way in such a failure of leadership. Instead of making clear that suicide bombing is intolerable, he has issued pro forma condemnations of “operations against civilians,” mentioning suicide bombings on rare occasions. Typically, when asked why he doesn’t say that they are wrong, he replies that he is not an Islamic scholar. Meanwhile he calls for “millions of martyrs” and leaves ambiguous any distinction between someone killed by Israeli soldiers and someone who blows himself up.

Meanwhile, Friday sermons at mosques in Gaza have called on worshipers to arm themselves or their children with explosive belts to pursue holy war against the Jews, drawing no open condemnation from the Palestinian Authority.

Last week an 18-year-old woman, a straight-A high school senior engaged to be married and hoping to become a journalist, blew herself up in a Jerusalem supermarket, killing two Israelis, including a girl her age. Only the most bankrupt leadership — spiritually, intellectually and politically — allows this macabre, self-delusional act of ruin to pass without anguished condemnation.

Will America become bankrupt in its leadership? It will if it fails to take decisive action against such terrorism and those who fund, host and facilitate it.

What’s going on in Israel right now is not a war at all, but a police operation by the Israeli military to flush out and bring to justice known and suspected terrorists who operate with impunity under Yasser Arafat’s authority. Arafat refuses to do the job; Israel must do it in order to defend itself. “The Palestinian Authority will not fight terrorism…and we cannot accept going back to the situation as it was before the operation began,” Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said.

This is similar to the National Guard going into a major city like Los Angeles to quell the riots of violent gangs. This is like the United States of America invading Afghanistan to flush out (“smoke them out” are the words President Bush used) those involved in financing, planning and carrying out the suicide attacks in New York and Washington, and any future attacks. But we invaded a sovereign nation; Israel is still operating on its own soil.

But in most news accounts, we are led to believe that big, bad Israel has overrun a nation of poor, defenseless, peace-loving people. Now on this bandwagon of dissent against Israel we find the Europeans, the UN, and on alternating days, the White House, joining hands with a billion Moslems and communist bullies like China.

We hear reports of riots in Islamic dictatorships around the world, but remember that those same demonstrators have refused time and again to allow their Palestinian “brethren” refuge and citizenship.

Islamic leaders meeting in Malaysia recently voted to condemn terrorism, but could not decide what that word meant. In the end, they excluded the suicide bombings by Palestinians from the definition. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told reporters that it was “legitimate to use terror tactics in response to terrorism,” the official Bernama news agency reported.

Under that definition, Arabs who believe the United States is somehow “terrorizing” them will now feel free to attack more American cities. Do you see where we’re heading?

The tiny nation of Israel is fighting for its very survival with 200 million Arabs breathing down its neck. Much of the rest of the world is turning against this brave democracy. Oil-rich Arab nations are mulling over the idea of turning off their oil spigots until Israel is subdued. If this happens, oil prices will rise and Americans will blame who? The Chosen People.

This scenario, my friends, is what we find leading up to End Times prophecy. If Israel rebuffs world opinion in its own defense, it gives the nations (particularly the Arabs) an excuse to attack. (And don’t forget about the prophesied attack by the surrounding powers in Ezek. 38–39.) If Israel accepts a phony peace treaty, it gives the Arabs a foothold to attack, and this will most likely usher in the peace-making skills of a world leader the Bible refers to as the Antichrist.

More than at any other time, I believe, the world stage is nearly ready for the opening curtain of the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the Millennial reign of the Messiah from the throne of David in Jerusalem. The rise of Islamic aggression in the world, the consolidation of political and economic power in Europe, the growing threat from China, whose missiles are pointing toward the Western world, all signal that pieces of the End Times puzzle are coming together to form the prophetic picture. Technological advances like implantable biochips that will track human movements, purchases, etc., will facilitate the future use of weapons against mankind.

What excuse will we have when we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and have not stood alongside the Chosen People, defending their Biblical right to exist on the Land God granted to them? What will we say to the King of the Jews if we’ve not gone “to the Jew first” with the gospel, nor treated His brethren as He stated in Matthew 25:40? Make a decision today to stand up for the Chosen People, to testify of Messiah’s salvation to them, to aid them in their suffering. Yes, witness to Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and atheist, but don’t fail to share your faith with the Jew. It’s very likely that a Jewish person you meet today, even though he may reject Christ now, could become one of the 144,000 evangelists during the Tribulation period, where a great harvest of souls will be saved during the worst time in human history.

And don’t forget to support ministries involved in genuine evangelism to the unreached. Consider Jews for Jesus or our own ministry, where supporting us is as easy as giving a gift or participating in any of the delightful activities listed below.

Our tour to the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Florida, is filling up and we want you to be included. Call Tony ASAP at (214) 696-9760 to reserve your spot for the weekend of May 17–19, three great days of teaching, worship, and exploring this marvelous re-creation of Biblical Israel.

The summer Kibbutz Tour is still on schedule for June 1–10. Experience the sites of the Bible up close and personally on this relaxed and less expensive tour of the Promised Land. Led by my wife, Sandra, you’ll stay on a traditional Israeli kibbutz and even participate in an archaeological dig. Please know that our 30 years of experience in taking pilgrims to Israel has afforded us great accommodations, courteous service, and valuable local contacts and staff who regularly update me on any new developments that would affect our tours. Holy sites in Israel are protected by Israel and left alone by the Arabs. Of course, should conflicts spill over into these areas, we would never take passengers into danger (nor have we ever had an incident to date). Even the mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert, commenting in March about the blessing of visitors to Israel, said to reporters, “We received one group from Dallas [our tour]. That was very encouraging.” You, too, can be an encouragement and blessing to the Chosen People by visiting in person. Call Tony at (214) 696-9760 for details.

The Great Passion Play tour will take place June 14-16 in beautiful Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I’m eager for you to join me at this wonderful resort, much of which has been surrounded by numerous re-created Biblical sites. It will be a meaningful time of teaching and touring, praise and worship, rest and relaxation.

This is a good opportunity to mention as well my summer conference schedule. Beginning in the latter half of July and into the first part of September I’ll be leaving for Colorado and then heading out to the West Coast, speaking in congregations and conferences along the way. I’d love to meet you at one of those events if you’re in the area. In fact, if your church would like me to stop by, have someone call us and we’ll try to make arrangements. Contact Cynthia at (214) 696-8844.

The Jewish Agency for Israel has been alerted that the White House is receiving significant numbers of emails protesting President Bush’s strong support of Israel, which is the only democracy in that area. Show your support for the President’s pro-democracy, pro-Israel stand. Please email the president at president@whitehouse.gov, or write him a letter stating your support for Israel.

Finally, as you watch the news each day and see the Chosen People defending their right to exist in the Promised Land, please don’t forget to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Your Messenger,

P.S. We realize that the news in this letter is not perfectly up to date. To understand the fast-moving events in Israel, please subscribe to the Levitt Letter XTRA.