Israel has been confronted with absurd distortions of reality this year. This makes the principle of deterrence all the more important.
A lasting flaw of the major churches is that they only began a Christian-Jewish dialogue after the Holocaust. It was only this crime against humanity that moved leading Christian theologians to reconsider their relationship with Judaism. The Catholic Church set a milestone in 1965 with the declaration "Nostra Aetate" (In Our Time): among other things, it emphasized the Jewish origin of Jesus and condemned attempts to blame Jesus' death on "the Jews.".
Pope Francis reversed these initiatives almost overnight. During the Advent season, he presented a sculpture depicting the Christ Child lying in the manger on a Palestinian scarf – the symbol of Palestinian terrorists like Yasser Arafat, who deny the Jewish connection to the land of Israel and seek to destroy the State of Israel.
With this statement, the Pope not only denies Jesus' Jewish origins but also places him within a tradition that perpetrates terrorism against Jews. It's hard to imagine anything more malicious. Furthermore, he suggests that Palestinians existed at the beginning of the Common Era. Only after fierce criticism did the Vatican react, removing not just the Palestinian scarf but the entire Nativity scene, including Jesus.
Reversals into their opposites
This distortion of historical and theological truths by a high Christian authority is fitting for this year, in which such perversions have routinely occurred: the accusation of genocide against a people who are subjected to an attempted genocide; the accusations of targeting civilians in war, even though it is the enemy who intends to do precisely that – while Israel provides humanitarian aid; the associated abuse of the international legal system; the political rewarding of terrorism.
In this world of madness, Israel was wise not to listen to the voices from the "international community" that call for peace but really only mean a reprieve for terrorists. Only in this way could the Jewish state assert itself, only in this way does it now stand stronger in the region than before: While its arch-enemy Iran is still a threat, it is weakened, as are its offshoots Hamas and Hezbollah.
Deterrence is necessary
This year of upheavals has shown more clearly than ever that Israel is confronted with obsessions that defy dialogue and diplomacy, relying only on the principle of deterrence. This also holds true for the future: Syria, after the fall of the al-Assad regime, remains largely unknown. And Turkey, increasingly anti-Israel under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will likely gain in military strength thanks to its well-established arms industry.
The episode with the Nativity scene in the Vatican, however, shows that even a tradition of rethinking offers little help in recognizing and denouncing the perversions of the present. The lesson for Israel is not to rely on the goodwill of others, but on its own deterrence. The Jewish state should take this Christmas message from the Vatican to heart. (Israelnetz | Daniel Frick)
