"With God On Our Side"
Reader comment on item: Israel Does Not Need Palestinian Recognition?

Submitted by Georges (United Kingdom), Jun 28, 2006 at 03:54

So for Menachem Begin the political legitimacy of the Jewish state depends on the existence of Jahweh. Jahweh has decreed that Israel must exist, and that's the end of the matter. This is pretty weird. The legitimacy of India does not depend on the existence of Krishna, nor Iceland on the existence of Thor. I support Israel's right to exist. This is because Israel and Israelis definitely exist. I'm not so sure about Yahweh. How do you give an imaginary supernatural being a constitutional role in a modern state?

The Iranian President, Mr Ahmadinejad, believes the Mahdi has been hiding down a well near Jamkaran for the past thousand years, and is about to pop out any minute. He made his cabinet sign a pact with the Mahdi, then had it dropped down the well. I want to support an Israel that has nothing to do with this kind of silliness. That's why I find Mr Begin's statement absurd. The bottom line is, you can't give Yahweh the vote. What happens if, one day, Israelis vote for a peace treaty with the Arabs, but a small minority insist that Yahweh opposes the treaty? For me the opinions of human voters must overrule those of an imaginary deity. What do you think? People who believe in Yahweh claim he parted the Red Sea and destroyed a city's ramparts with musical instruments. But in war, Begin always put his faith in superior firepower, not supernatural intervention. He would never have sent the IDF into battle armed only with trumpets. So on this most basic level, even he must have had doubts about Yahweh.

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