With the barrage of untruths emanating from Mahmoud Abbas and his Authority, it is always a welcome and refreshing phenomenon when world leaders recognize and speak the truth. Pat Robertson, who passed this past week, was one such leader. He was a great friend of the State of Israel. He will be sorely missed. I am always grateful when leaders clearly state that the Jews are the rightful heirs of Israel, promised by the Almighty to the Jewish people. I appreciate it when diplomats and dignitaries point out that King Solomon’s Temple and the Second Temple stood on the Temple Mount.
Napoleon Bonaparte tried to conquer Israel from the “Butcher,” Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar (Ottoman governor, 1776-1804). On April 16, 1799, Napoleon defeated the Butcher’s cavalry and his Ottoman allies at the Battle of Tabor Mountain. When he reached Ramla, which is 25 miles from Jerusalem, he made a “Proclamation to the Jews”: “General Headquarters, Jerusalem, 20 April 1799. Bonaparte, Commander in Chief of the Armies of the French Republic in Africa and Asia, to the rightful heirs of Palestine – the unique nation of Jews who have been deprived of the land of your fathers by thousands of years of lust for conquest and tyranny. Arise then with gladness, ye exiled, and take unto yourselves Israel’s patrimony. The young army has made Jerusalem my headquarters, and will within a few days transfer to Damascus so you can remain there [in Jerusalem] as ruler.”
Unfortunately, Napoleon lost the battle of Acre to the Butcher, who was aided by two British Navy ships under Sir Sidney Smith, a maverick English commodore. On May 21, 1799, Napoleon retreated towards Egypt. Despite his defeat, Napoleon made Palestine a focus of the world and increased Jewish immigration. His statements about the Jews and Palestine have been emblazoned for eternity.
Benjamin Disraeli, British statesman, writer, and Prime Minister, who was born Jewish but was baptized at age 12, also made significant statements in support of the Jewish Heritage. In 1851, Disraeli said: “Restoring the Jews to their land, which could be bought from the Ottomans, was both just and feasible.” He also made the well-publicized statement: “Yes, I am a Jew, and when the ancestors of the Rt. Hon. Gentleman were living as savages in an unknown island, mine were priests in the Temple of Solomon.”
It is scandalous that Mahmoud Abbas continues to deny the Jewish People’s connection to the Temple Mount and the Land of Israel. Leaders the world over have to follow in the footsteps of Napoleon, Disraeli, and Robertson, who weren’t afraid to speak up on behalf of Israel and the Jewish People.
Joseph M. Frager is a physician and lifelong activist.
