Apart from the fantastic scenery and the out-of-this-world experience of swimming in the Dead Sea, it’s a place where major religions intersect. For Christians, it’s a transcendental experience to see the places that we’ve only read about in the Bible, from the Old Testament to the places believed to be where Jesus Christ was born and died.
COVID turned me into a paranoid recluse. But on my bucket list is a return visit to Israel – one of the countries I’m eagerly looking forward to seeing again.Israel is also, unfortunately, a place where faith is driving armed conflict and mass killings. And while Putin has made some half-hearted attempt to package his war as one that does not deliberately target civilians, Hamas went directly after civilian targets, including a music festival with many foreign visitors in attendance. Hamas militants barged into civilian homes including those with Filipinos, and the group is now threatening to execute hostages.
Israel’s defense industry, among the most advanced in the world, can also be expected to develop a more formidable shield against rocket attacks, after the current shield was surprisingly penetrated by Hamas. This was a catastrophic failure for Jewish intelligence and national defense. Hamas supporter Iran has reason to applaud. Whoever helped Hamas in this will likely also see Israeli retaliation.
Even during periods of peace, the security situation in that part of the world has always been highly volatile. Now we’re beginning to understand why murder is being committed over local government positions, and why dynasty building has reached shameless proportions, with members of a single clan wanting to occupy every...