By Peyton Majors
Christian Action League
April 19, 2024
Israel struck back at Iran Friday and successfully targeted a military site in response to an unprecedented attack on the Jewish state nearly one week earlier that included more than 200 drones and missiles.
The Israel attack on Iran was described as “measured” by military observers and targeted an air defense radar site near Isfahan, Iran, that’s part of the protection of the country’s nuclear facility, according to Israeli media. Israel reportedly used a handful of missiles, not manned aircraft.
“The first assessment is that the strike took out the site, but assessment hasn’t been completed,” a U.S. official told ABC.
The goal was to send a signal to Iran that “we can reach out and touch you” while not escalating the conflict, the official said.
Iran claimed the Israeli counter-strike did no damage, apparently in an attempt to save face.
Aviva Klompas, a former speechwriter for Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., said of the attack: “Israel did more damage to Iran with just three missiles than Iran managed when it fired hundreds of missiles at Israel.”
Former Israeli diplomat Avi Pazner told the international news channel i24 News that the Israeli attack on Iran was a “limited answer but a very effective one.”
“At the same time, we can preserve what is most important: the coalition which was built last Saturday night,” Pazner said.
Pazner noted that a coalition of several countries including the U.S., the United Kingdom and Arab countries such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates helped defend Israel against the Iran attack last week, which involved more than 200 drones and missiles. An estimated 99 percent of them were intercepted and shot down before reaching Israeli soil, thanks to Israel’s defense system, defense systems in other countries and fighter planes.
“This is of utmost importance for the future so that Iran should know that if it thinks again to attack Israel, it’s not only Israel it will confront, but a coalition that will stand strong against it,” Pazner said.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Arab countries “quietly passed along intelligence about Tehran’s attack plans, opened their airspace to warplanes, shared radar tracking information or, in some cases, supplied their own forces to help.”
Iran’s attack on Israel came as many world leaders were pressuring Israel to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza, which has been the focus of the war since Hamas attacked the Jewish state Oct 7, killing more than 1,000 and taking 200-plus hostage.
Iran’s attack may have backfired by giving Israel new life in world affairs.
Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, said the world must continue supporting Israel in its war against terrorism.
“George Santayana has been credited with the timeless statement, ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ Isn’t this true? It’s amazing what Israel’s critics have already forgotten in such a short while,” Creech said. “The people most critical of Israel’s response to Hama’s unprovoked attack are those who have one mission: They wish to annihilate the Israelis. Israel’s enemies, whether Hamas, the Palestinians, or Iran, do not want peace, they want to wipe Israel off the map.
“Israel, a very small country, is the object of extraordinary unjustified hatred. That hatred is just as intense and real as Hitler’s loathing of the Jewish people and his efforts to exterminate them in the Final Solution. Israel is not just fighting a war but is fighting for survival.”
Israel is fighting for its existence and must not stop until Hamas is defeated, Creech added.
“Regarding criticisms of Israel’s disproportionate force, the targeting of infrastructure, and conducting attacks on densely populated areas, I am reminded of the words of General Tecumseh Sherman, who said, ‘War is hell.’ This succinct phrase captures the truth of the brutality, suffering and devastation that is inherent in armed conflict. It reflects the firsthand experience of the horrors of war and the profound human cost it exacts,” Creech said.
“… Sherman’s actions were controversial then and remain so today, with critics citing the immense suffering inflicted upon civilians, including women, children and the elderly, as well as the destruction of property. However, Sherman’s tactics hastened the end of the war by demoralizing the Confederate population and weakening their ability to continue fighting. I believe this is exactly what the Israelis feel they must do to keep their land and to exist.”
It is not antisemitic to criticize Israel, Creech said, but “I do believe the failure to see and comprehend what attacks they are now experiencing and aggressively pushing back on should be seen in the same light as the holocaust.”
“There is very little difference, except that the Jews are armed this time and understandably determined never to be victims again.”
