The rebirth of the State of Israel in 1948 was a miracle of history. Never before has a nation been destroyed, it?s people dispersed to the ends of the earth, and then, nearly two thousand years later, regathered to their homeland and reestablished as a nation.
The victory of the 1948 War was a grand miracle composed of a series of smaller miracles, But why? Over 2,500 years ago, the prophet Isaiah made a remarkable prophecy concerning Israel?s regathering:
?They that war against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of nought? for I will help thee.? Isa. 41:12,13
When Israel declared itself a Nation on May 14, 1948, the armies of seven Arab nations marched in defiance against her, boasting that they would push the Jews into the sea. Outnumbered 100 to 1, Israel not only repelled the invaders hut acquired more of Palestine than was granted in the UN partition plan,
A Syrian column of 200 armored vehicles, including 45 tanks, attacked Degania, the oldest kibbutz in Israel. Without artillery, Jewish forces were helpless to block the Syrian advance. Until then, the only heavy weapons available in all Israel were four howitzers of the typo used in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Two of the obsolete weapons were promptly dismantled and rushed to Degania. The local commander, Lt. Col. Moshe Dayan, had them reassembled at the very moment the first Syrian tanks rumbled through the kibbutz perimeter, and Israel scored a hit on the advance tank. Had the Syrians known that these two antirtues represented half the arsenal of field guns in all Israel, They would have pressed the attack. Instead, The armored vehicles swung around and tattered back up the mountain road.
At Safed, near the Sea of Galilee a small unit of Israeli defenders was holding off thousands of Arabs. A sudden tropical storm broke lease. In desperation, the Israelis took their remaining gasoline, poured it over 50 empty drums, set them afire and rolled them down the hill. The flaming barrels flying down the slopes, the rumble of hollow barrels striking rocks, together with the tropical storm, created such an illusion that the Arabs, imagining some sort of secret weapon, took to their heals and fled.
In December 1948, The Egyptians were harassing Israeli settlements in the Negev while advanced columns were moving north. Israel used the table for strategy. It mentioned an ancient road forgotten for centuries, which ran almost directly to the Egyptian?s garrison. Bulldozers pushed aside the heavy boulders, and in armored vehicles and supply trucks, The Israelis sped under cover of darkness along the ancient road. This surprise attack destroyed the Egyptian defense system and ended the war 14 days later.
To liberate the airport at Lydda, again, Biblical tactics were employed. Seven thousand Arab troops were ready to attack. Sixteen Israelis dressed as Arabs infiltrated the city of Lydda. Like Gideon?s band of 300, they made such a tatter during the night that the confused Arabs fired upon each other, and the majority fled back across the border
The Syrian Army had regrouped east of the Galilee. A Jewish column of 24 homemade armored vehicles on the way to relieve a besieged kibbutz took the wrong road and crossed the border into Lebanon. Before they discovered their mistake, they ran head- on into a Syrian convoy of supplies?dozens of trucks of ammunition, a string of light artillery and 20 new armored cars. The Israelis fired point blank at the first truck?a tanker loaded with gasoline. It exploded and set on fire the following truckload of hand grenades. Terrified by the repeated explosions, the Syrians abandoned their cargo. The Israelis scarcely had enough men to drive the captured supply train back Into Galilee. Finally they reached the beleaguered kibbutz, only to learn that the Arab besiegers heard rumors that the Jewish army had invaded Lebanon, and thus, the Arabs fled Israel.
One of the greatest military feats in history was the ?67 War. The Arabs again boasted that they would destroy Israel. However, in six days Israel overran the combined forces of Syria, Jordan, Egypt and took the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, the West Bank (Samaria and Judea), and the Sinai.
The victory of the 1948 War was a grand miracle composed of a series of smaller miracles, But why? Over 2,500 years ago, the prophet Isaiah made a remarkable prophecy concerning Israel?s regathering:
?They that war against thee shall be as nothing and as a thing of nought? for I will help thee.? Isa. 41:12,13
When Israel declared itself a Nation on May 14, 1948, the armies of seven Arab nations marched in defiance against her, boasting that they would push the Jews into the sea. Outnumbered 100 to 1, Israel not only repelled the invaders hut acquired more of Palestine than was granted in the UN partition plan,
A Syrian column of 200 armored vehicles, including 45 tanks, attacked Degania, the oldest kibbutz in Israel. Without artillery, Jewish forces were helpless to block the Syrian advance. Until then, the only heavy weapons available in all Israel were four howitzers of the typo used in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Two of the obsolete weapons were promptly dismantled and rushed to Degania. The local commander, Lt. Col. Moshe Dayan, had them reassembled at the very moment the first Syrian tanks rumbled through the kibbutz perimeter, and Israel scored a hit on the advance tank. Had the Syrians known that these two antirtues represented half the arsenal of field guns in all Israel, They would have pressed the attack. Instead, The armored vehicles swung around and tattered back up the mountain road.
At Safed, near the Sea of Galilee a small unit of Israeli defenders was holding off thousands of Arabs. A sudden tropical storm broke lease. In desperation, the Israelis took their remaining gasoline, poured it over 50 empty drums, set them afire and rolled them down the hill. The flaming barrels flying down the slopes, the rumble of hollow barrels striking rocks, together with the tropical storm, created such an illusion that the Arabs, imagining some sort of secret weapon, took to their heals and fled.
In December 1948, The Egyptians were harassing Israeli settlements in the Negev while advanced columns were moving north. Israel used the table for strategy. It mentioned an ancient road forgotten for centuries, which ran almost directly to the Egyptian?s garrison. Bulldozers pushed aside the heavy boulders, and in armored vehicles and supply trucks, The Israelis sped under cover of darkness along the ancient road. This surprise attack destroyed the Egyptian defense system and ended the war 14 days later.
To liberate the airport at Lydda, again, Biblical tactics were employed. Seven thousand Arab troops were ready to attack. Sixteen Israelis dressed as Arabs infiltrated the city of Lydda. Like Gideon?s band of 300, they made such a tatter during the night that the confused Arabs fired upon each other, and the majority fled back across the border
The Syrian Army had regrouped east of the Galilee. A Jewish column of 24 homemade armored vehicles on the way to relieve a besieged kibbutz took the wrong road and crossed the border into Lebanon. Before they discovered their mistake, they ran head- on into a Syrian convoy of supplies?dozens of trucks of ammunition, a string of light artillery and 20 new armored cars. The Israelis fired point blank at the first truck?a tanker loaded with gasoline. It exploded and set on fire the following truckload of hand grenades. Terrified by the repeated explosions, the Syrians abandoned their cargo. The Israelis scarcely had enough men to drive the captured supply train back Into Galilee. Finally they reached the beleaguered kibbutz, only to learn that the Arab besiegers heard rumors that the Jewish army had invaded Lebanon, and thus, the Arabs fled Israel.
One of the greatest military feats in history was the ?67 War. The Arabs again boasted that they would destroy Israel. However, in six days Israel overran the combined forces of Syria, Jordan, Egypt and took the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, the West Bank (Samaria and Judea), and the Sinai.
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