PH Quickie: Israel's "secret weapon" is GOD?
American Ambassador to Israel David Friedman attends a meeting of the lobby for Israel–United States relations at the Knesset, July 25, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
by Kathryn Shihadah
The New York Times reported on startling words from the US Ambassador to Israel:
Speaking at a celebration sponsored by an American evangelical group to mark the anniversary of the move of the United States embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, Ambassador David M. Friedman said that Israel was gaining strength for two reasons.
First, he said, the relationship between the two countries was growing “stronger and stronger and stronger.”
“And the second is that Israel has one secret weapon that not too many countries have,” Mr. Friedman added. “Israel is on the side of God, and we don’t underestimate that.”
The arrogance of this last statement takes my breath away.
How does Friedman, an American official, make such a blatantly religious declaration? We who are careful to separate Church and State, we don’t talk about God in sectarian ways. Not only is this un-American, it’s anti-American. Believe it all you want, but don’t shout it on an international stage as a representative of the United States. (And Friedman’s words don’t even resemble the beliefs of most American Jews, let alone the rest of us.)
How does he dare to co-opt the Creator of the Universe as the “weapon” of a country whose human rights record is legendary in its depravity? The mere suggestion that Israel is winning wars against a starving, unarmed population because God is its secret weapon, would be laughable if it weren’t so blasphemous.
Ambassador Friedman, you know that a global body has declared Israel an apartheid and racist state, contravening international law for decades. Deny these accusations if you wish, but they’re still true. How dare you invoke the name of Yahweh over these travesties of justice?
And what is he implying about the Palestinians (and all other countries for that matter)? It’s obvious. God is against them.
The god that Friedman is referring to is not the God of the Bible, but a provincial lower-case deity of a warring kingdom looking for a way to rationalize its barbarism. I’m not a fan of Israel, but neither do i believe it is the petty, bloodthirsty nation that the ambassador is making it out to be.
He should be reprimanded; he should have his mouth washed out with soap; and then he should be removed from his post.