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Fifty years ago, on June 5, 1967, the State of Israel was attacked by the neighboring nations of Egypt, Syria and Jordon in what was to be the final, decisive blow to eradicate the Jewish state which had been established a mere 19 years earlier.

According to SixDayWar.org, “The Six-Day War involved three distinct battlefronts, tied together by a shared desire on the part of the surrounding Arab states to eliminate Israel and erase the shame of their defeat 19 years earlier when they failed to destroy the nascent Jewish state.

Egypt, the largest Arab state with a population of 31 million, massed troops on its border with Israel and imposed a naval blockade of Israel’s southern port, an act of war. Confronted with these aggressive moves, and the Arab leaders’ promises to destroy the Jewish state, Israel launched a pre-emptive strike against the Egyptian army and airforce. Egypt’s air force was quickly crippled, and a well-executed Israeli ground offensive routed the Egyptian forces in Gaza and the Sinai peninsula in four days.

Buoyed by false reports of Egyptian success, Jordan initiated offensive actions against Israel from the eastern portion of Jerusalem and from lands it occupied west of the Jordan river (the West Bank). Israeli forces responded by attacking Jordanian military positions. After a three days of fierce fighting, especially in and around Jerusalem, Israeli forces defeated the Jordanians and gained control of all of Jerusalem as well as the West Bank, the historical heartland of the Jewish people known to Israelis as Judea and Samaria. 

Following an air attack by the Syrians on the first day of the war, Israel dealt a shattering blow to the Syrian air force. Hostilites continued in the days that followed, and on fifth day of the war, the Israelis mustered enough forces to remove the Syrian threat from the Golan Heights. This difficult operation was completed the following day, bringing the active phase of the war to a close.”

To commemorate the 50-year anniversary of the liberation of Jerusalem by Israeli troops, President Donald Trump announced that he is “seriously considering” moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, from it’s present location in Tel Aviv. This is something that U.S. Presidents have all refused to do, out of fear that it may upset the Arab/Islamic nations in the region, and lead to more war and terrorism. 

I wonder to myself, could there be any more war and terrorism than there already is? The West Bank and Gaza strip are hotbeds of terror as it is, and now Europe is feeling the pinch, with 22 people dead in Manchester from a terrorist bombing days ago. General George S. Patton Jr. once said, “Don’t take counsel of your fears,” and “We have no plans for retreat.” These are times that call for strong actions by our leadership. The only way to stop a threat is from a position of strength, and a unified front.

Trump, for all of his appearances of naiveté, may be just the man for our time. He was well-received by the Saudis, as they admire a confident leader, something America has not had since Reagan, and they are tiring of the terrorist state of Iran, and the thuggish actions of ISIS, and they might just be ready to participate in a peace process, if it means that tranquility and the status quo can be maintained. War and unrest is not in their best interest. Oil production, high prices, trade and investment with the West, these things are.

We may be on the threshold of the most significant progress in middle-east peace since 1948, due to the “accidental diplomat”, Donald Trump, and his unencumbered world view and belief in the “art of the deal.”