Remember the Bible
by Michael Freund

The Jerusalem Post, June 26, 2001

It almost seems axiomatic that regardless of whether the
current cease-fire takes hold, the propaganda war between
Israel and the Palestinians will continue. Even if the Bush
administration succeeds in silencing the guns on the ground,
the battle for public opinion will endure on our television
screens, with each side trying to paint the other as the
primary culprit.

As in any conflict, Israel’s defenders will have to consider
the tools at their disposal and use them as wisely and
judiciously as possible. It is therefore perhaps time for
advocates of Israel to reconsider an unfortunate taboo that
has taken hold in recent years, one that has weakened Israel's
position and requires a thorough reassessment: "Thou shalt not
mention in public the Biblical right of the Jewish people to the
Land of Israel."

Afraid of turning off various audiences, those entrusted with
explaining Israel's position focus their energies entirely on
the diplomatic, military and security realms. They spell out why
Israel is a bulwark against militant Islamic fundamentalism and
explain the need for the West to support the only democracy in
the Middle East. They rightfully point out that that the
responsibility for the outbreak of the current unrest lies
squarely on Yasser Arafat's shoulders.

These points are important, and they need to be reinforced as
much as possible. But at the same time, Israel is making a grave
tactical error by failing to address the underlying question
behind the Israeli-Palestinian dispute: whose land is it anyway?

By turning down the previous government's unprecedented proposals,
Arafat made it clear that in his view, the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict is not about boundaries and normalization, but about
"us or them." It is a struggle between two entities, the Jews and
the Arabs, over one piece of territory, the Land of Israel, and it
behooves Israel's defenders and supporters to begin focusing on
this point.

That is where the Bible comes into play. Years ago, Israeli
leaders, whether religious or secular, would not hesitate to cite
the Bible as the source for the Jewish claim to the Land of Israel.
In 1937, when David Ben-Gurion appeared before the British Peel
Commission, established to investigate the situation in the
British-controlled Mandate for Palestine, he vigorously defended
the Jewish people’s right to the Land of Israel, asserting that
"The Mandate is not our Bible - the Bible is our mandate."
When was the last time you heard an Israeli official speak so
forcefully and, pray tell, so Biblically?

Opponents of using this argument assert that it would be
counter-productive, because not everyone believes in the Bible.
Ostensibly, they would seem to have a point, because mention of
the Bible can lead some listeners to shift uncomfortably in their
seats, worried they are about to hear a mid-week sermon. 

But as any good salesman will tell you, effective public
relations requires a person to tailor his message to suit the
audience that he is addressing. There are tens of millions of
Jews and Christians across the globe who do believe in the Bible
and view it as the Divine instruction manual for the world.
By ignoring the Bible entirely, Israel’s supporters are abandoning
one of their most powerful and effective arguments, one that much
of the Western world believes in and accepts.

The 20th century is replete with examples of the powerful
impact that the Bible has had on Western public opinion.
Writing about the 1917 Balfour Declaration, in which the British
government reaffirmed the right of the Jewish people to a homeland
in Palestine, historian David Fromkin has noted, "Lloyd George
[Britain's Prime Minister] wanted his country to carry out what he
regarded as the Lord's work in the region… Biblical prophecy was
the first and most enduring of the many motives that led Britons
to want to restore the Jews to Zion" (A Peace to End All Peace,
pp. 274, 298). 

American presidents throughout the 20th century have similarly
been moved, or at least influenced, by the Bible’s vision. Indeed,
it has become standard fare in the United States for a president to
finish his speeches with the solemn intonation, "G-d bless you and
G-d bless America." Democrat or Republican, the leaders of the free
world have not been ashamed to invoke the Divine when addressing
the public. Why, then, should we?

Israel's defenders must stop being embarrassed by the Bible, and
start using it to make Israel’s case. Military and political
arguments must also be made, but in the final analysis, much of
the Western world looks to the Bible as its guide. The time has
come for us to do the same. The Jewish people need to state with
unhesitating pride, in a voice that is both loud and clear, that
the Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel because the
G-d of Israel said so.

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The writer served as Deputy Director of Communications & Policy
Planning in the Prime Minister’s Office from 1996 to 1999.