Israeli Messianic Leaders Talk About The War With Hamas
According to Wikipedia, Hamas opposes a peaceful solution to the Palestinian situation, in accordance with its charter. It aims to create an Islamic state in the region.
The charter of the Palestinian National Authority, written in 1988 and still in force, refers to the destruction of the state of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic state. Hamas governs Gaza with Sharia principles and is accused of human rights organizations of torture, executions, censorship, ill-treatment of women, and routine abuses.
The recent war between Palestinian militants and Israel was the most serious conflict since the war in Gaza in 2014. Ministry magazine called pastors from three Messianic churches in Israel to get their view on what happened. Pastor Peter Tsukahira lives in Haifa and serves the messianic congregation on Mount Carmel. Peter shared his thoughts on the 11-day war.
There are many sides to the conflict. It’s not a simple one-sided or two-sided thing. Hamas (in Gaza) is a terrorist organization, as well as a political organization. It seeks influence in the Islamic world and competes with the Palestinian Authority(West bank). I think that the Palestinian Authority is upset that some of the Gulf nations have made peace with Israel. They are concerned, I’m sure, over the Israeli elections and that Israel is gaining strength.
This attack was carefully planned on the part of Hamas. It sought world attention, funding, and influence. At the same time, Hamas calculated the cost of the conflict to themselves as well. It is still unclear whether their strategy worked or not, but the war was bad and we are glad that it’s over.
What will happen next?
From a believer’s perspective, the only solution is for hearts to change. As long as Hamas as an organization is committed to the destruction of Israel and remains in power, there is no political or military solution to the situation.
Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005 with the hopes of lasting peace. Hamas has, however, resisted the formation of a state in Gaza. Hamas has instead built weapon systems to destroy Israel.
We know it’s a hopeless dream. They cannot defeat Isra- el, and we also know that Israel cannot defeat Hamas. Israel does not want to govern Gaza or annex Gaza. We want them to rule themselves and succeed, but that is a solution that’s not acceptable to them.
This is a high-stakes game. They have an evil strategy. This isn’t about chaotic aggression against Israel. Everything is well planned, well calculated. In this past 11-day conflict, we succeeded in that we did not send our troops into Gaza which was the move that Hamas really wanted, to lure our troops, our youth onto the streets of Gaza to ambush them.
Israeli ground forces are a much easier target than directing rocket fire at Israel. They failed and we destroyed over 100 miles of their tunnels as well as their military installations. This weakened Hamas militarily. It was a tragedy that this did not benefit the well-being of the people of Gaza. An Israeli spokes- man said that Israel sees Hamas as the enemy, and not the people in Gaza. Hamas has projected itself as an enemy of Israel.
Was there rocket fire in Haifa?
In my home city of Haifa, we saw unrest between competing extremist groups. Radical Muslims who are Israeli citizens have been violent towards other Jewish Israeli citizens. And vise versa, extremist Jews have attacked Israeli Arabs. We know that here in Haifa, people from outside the city came to incite the crowds and do not represent the large majority.
Our focus is on community
As Messianic Jews, we foster and work towards maintaining good relations with Arab Christian pastors. We have understood this to be the Lord’s plan for us and we have been doing this for decades. Messianic Jewish leaders often pray with Arab Christian leaders, work together and we are friends. We are one body—we meet and we keep in touch.
A word to our readers?
In Psalm 122:6 it says, “Peace be to Jerusalem, may those who love you prosper.”
We ask that you pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for all of Israel so that the Prince of Peace will change the hearts and minds of both Arabs and Jews. Only the Lord himself can solve this problem. It’s not just a political problem, and it’s not just about political justice or terrorism.
It’s about our worldview, our hearts, and our minds. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit would move in a mighty way in our area once again, a mighty wind that heals, reconciles, and changes people.
We will continue to pray for Israel.
Thank you. We know that we have many good friends at Great Commission Media Ministries. We appreciate each of you very much.