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Reuven Koret is the publisher of Israel Insider and the CEO of Koret Communications.
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By Reuven Koret
February 4, 2007
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At the beginning of the new season of "24", a bedraggled Agent Jack Bauer is brought back to the United States from two years of captivity in China, only to be informed that he has been repatriated solely for the purpose of being sacrificed to an Arab terrorist who says he is ready to give up another Arab terrorist supposedly responsible for a wave of terror attacks but only if he can exact revenge on Jack for supposedly killing his brother.
The Americans, from the President on down, are regretful and apologetic about having to sacrifice their star counter-terrorism agent, and though Jack has done more than his share of mission to save the United States from various and sundry threats, he is expendable in the national interest of stopping a wave of suicide bombings. His former buddies chain him to a wall and leave him for dead. Jack, for this part, initally accepts his fate, stoically pronouncing his readiness to "die for a purpose."
Of course, it turns out that the terrorist who took him captive is in fact the one responsible for the wave of attacks, and the one whom he is ready to betray to the Americans has actually come to stop the attacks. Luckily for the Free World, Jack takes a pound of flesh from one of this captor's flesh with his mouth and, after brushing his teeth, goes on his merry way to exact mayhem on the terrorists.
The new season has sparked outrage among Islamic-American "defense organizations" like CAIR for portraying American Muslims as being responsible for terror attacks in the United States. What a shocking idea! Indeed, a seemingly innocent young assimilated Arab-American "boy next door" turns out to be in cahoots with the arch-terrorist.
There are counter-balancing forces arrayed against the idea of persecuting poor innocent Arab-Americans for supporting the terrorists. There is even a pretty Arab-American working in CTU. The neighbors who suspect the "boy next door" of being a threat are portrayed as racist thugs. The Presidential Adviser who advocates strong measures against the population is depicted as smarmy.
"24" does show a bit more teeth than the typically "politically correct" American readiness to frisk grandmothers at random at the airport rather than being accused of profiling twenty-something amateur pilot illegal immigrant Saudi box-cutter salesmen.
But is it unrealistic to imagine that a U.S. President, facing a "code red" national emergency, would sanction the execution of a loyal and capable agent to appease a terrorist so that he would not carry out a threatened attack? He would feel lousy about it, of course, and it might ruin his day, but would it stop him from doing so if it were in his perceived national interest? Of course not.
And therefore what assurance does Israel have, for all its common values and shared interests with the United States that, when push comes to shove in the Middle East, it won't be asked, or told, by the U.S. President that, well, sorry, but you Jews just gotta go?
If given a stark choice between surrendering Israeli citizens, or Israeli survival, to a terrorist threat, and giving up American citizens, or American cities, can there be any doubt that a U.S. President would, with regret, wash his hands of the Jewish State?
The hand-washing expression hints at a deeper sacrificial connection. Christian theology deems the greatest sacrifice in the history of the world to be "God's sacrifice of his only son" in the person of a Jewish teacher in the 'hood a couple thousand years ago. Indeed, Jesus is ready to "die for a purpose," the Christian theologians tell us, to redeem mankind from its sin. Indeed, die he does.
Some modern-day evangelicals, looking at the Middle East, preach that to bring about the return of Jesus to Earth, modern day Israel must also be sacrificed. Christian believers will be "raptured up", but regular old Jews here or elsewhere will face no salvation, along with other non-believers. Only when a good chunk of Israel is nuked, and her population decimated, will the Messiah return in his glory, the Left Behind crowd crows.
All of this begs the question of whether Israel is not, indeed, being set up to take the fall.
Pesky Israel, you stubborn Jewish State, so obsessed with your own survival! No wonder the powers that be want to take you down a peg! Let's put you up on the Cross, let's jeer you, let's toss trash and an occasional spear at you. If that's not enough, let yourself be crucified. Die, for the good of humanity, or at least to get us out of Iraq. Sacrifice yourself for a better world, or at least a New World Order, you selfish Semites!
Speaking as an Israeli, I don't particularly like this scenario. Better to follow the route of Jack Bauer rather than Jesus Christ, turning the tables rather than turning the other cheek. Rather than serving as a sacrificial lamb before the slaughter, I'd rather first tear out the jugular of my detractors, spit it out, brush my teeth, liquidate as many terrorists as I can and continue on my way.
The Samson Option has been presented in rather stark terms on these pages. The pre-emption of existential threats, even if it means taking the Arab world down with us, is an alternative of last resort, yet one infinitely preferable to being crucified (again) on the cross of an appeasing world's moral cowardice and strategic shortsightedness. Let us not underestimate those who want to sacrifice Jewish Israel and then replace us. The dreaded day may yet come when the powers make their choice to abandon us. Then we will be forced to make ours.
Did history have to come to this? I have taken in recent days to listening to the clear and creative voice of Regina Spektor, a rising musical artist who came with her family to the United States from the former Soviet Union in 1989. A proud Jew, she wears a star of david necklace, occasionally sings in Hebrew, and will soon be appearing in Israel.
She sings a haunting song to Samson, in which the singer shears the hair of the Biblical hero, who finds love but loses his strength and never becomes famous, and thus never needs to bring the Philistine temple down. "Samson went back to bed / Not much hair left on his head / Ate a slice of Wonder Bread and went right back to bed / Oh we couldn't bring the columns down / Yeah we couldn't destroy a single one / And the history books forgot about us / The Bible didn't mention us / Not even Once."
Will Israel find the love and understanding she deserves from the world so the Jewish State can avoid the stark choice between Jesus and Jack, Christ and Samson? Can't they just leave us alone to live in peace so that we don't need to bring down the house?
I am not sure that we will have that luxury. But for now I am looking forward to hearing Regina sing on her visit to Israel and watching Jack continue to do his thing on "24".
Pass the Wonder Bread.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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