In March 2018 while at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee event held in Washington, the Isreali Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, received what was described as a hero’s welcome. It was so inspiring hearing him speak glowingly about the progress made by the Jewish State. For a country surrounded by very belligerent neighbours and only came into existence since 1948, the progress recorded is nothing short of phenomenal. He stated and rightly so that Israel is a nation punching way above her weight.
The speech was vintage Bibi, strong in delivery, compellingly persuasive and laced with a generous dose of arrogance. But who can blame a nation that was born to fail but has not only survived but grew to become the most advanced economy in the Middle East. A nation of about eight million people that turned an arid desert into an arable land practicing the most technologically innovative system of agriculture that is being copied around the world. Am sure you are not unaware of the Isreali military might with the impregnable iron dome and how she has maintained a comfortable lead in the area of cyber security amongst world powers. Isreali has produced more Nobel laureates than the whole continent of Africa and Latin America combined and her footprints could be seen in almost every scientific innovation in the twenty first century. And so Bibi is absolutely right.
If you a Christian faithful, you would argue that nothing less is expected. After all the Jews are God’s chosen people. It doesn’t matter that Judaism is a little different from Christianity and that the Jews haven’t always followed the footsteps of Christ.
Recently an Isreali company was in the news following the now infamous hacking of the phone of the world’s richest man by no less a person than the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, allegedly. The hack was made possible through the help of a technology developed by an Isreali cyber-security firm, NSO called Pegasus. Pegasus sends people what is referred to as “exploit link” which the malware uses surreptitiously to penetrate a phone’s security features and gets installed without the victim knowing.
Even when you ignore that as just one Israeli company gone rogue and working hard to line the pocket of her shareholders, you probably didn’t know half the history of the Israel nuclear program. Isreali is the only nuclear power in the Middle East, a charge that it has neither confirmed nor denied and yet she declined to sign the treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapon. Her reactors tucked between the sand dunes of the Negev desert remains one of the most closely guarded piece of real estate in the world.
The processed Uranium Ore referred to as yellowcake that helped give the Israeli nuclear effort a boost was obtained through an infamous covert operation by Mossad agents in 1968. And yes, Operation Plumbat involved all kinds of criminal activities ranging from stealing to forgery and impersonation.
And so whether it’s counterfeiting multiple foreign passports or carrying out the most audacious dare-devil espionage activities around the world, Israel traffics in sophisticated thuggery. Mossad the elite intelligent agency takes no prisoners. The world has gotten familiar with those pretty faces in the Israeli Defence Force elite unit slinging the lethal Uzi on their shoulders like fashion-forward Louis Vuitton bags. Totally bad ass!
As eye popping as those action are, they are not unique to the Jewish State. Covert measures are routinely employed by sovereign nations to stay a little ahead of both friends and foes. In fact almost all nation states have done same or will do so if the capabilities are available. The Jews just happen to be way ahead of the game.
The problem is this is hardly the virtuous path you expected from God’s own people.
Osmund Agbo MD, FCCP writes from Houston, Texas, United States