Just one year ago, as I was packing my bags to take a group of believers to Israel, I woke up to the news that Hamas had invaded southwest Israel from the Gaza Strip. It was not long before the world was made aware of the terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 1,200 Israelis and that Hamas had taken 240 hostages back to Gaza. The world was in shock…Well, for about a week at least! Eventually, as the IDF started to respond with an incursion into Gaza to rescue hostages and eliminate Hamas terrorists, the attention quickly turned away from Israel and to the Palestinians.

We are now getting ready to remember the victims, the hostages, and their families while Israel is still fighting on up to seven fronts. From a human perspective, things are looking very bleak. Here are a few things to consider as we go to the Lord remembering October 7.

• 10/7 was the bloodiest death toll since the Holocaust: I have always resisted comparing any event to the Holocaust for fear of diminishing the impact of the Final Solution in the minds of people. This is especially true in our age of historical revisionism, relativism, and Holocaust denial. 10/7 changed everything! Again, 1200 innocent Israelis were murdered and 240 taken hostage by Hamas, of which over 100 are still in captivity, if still alive.

This makes 10/7 the bloodiest crime against Jewish people since 1945. NEVER AGAIN seems to have become two words without meaning to the global Jewish community.

• The world needs to flip the narrative: One would expect the whole world to come to the rescue of Israel as they saw the results of the attack. Hamas asking for a cease-fire, reinforced by many world governments, including the US, and asking Israel to show restraint is simply ludicrous.

There was a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip up to October 6, 2023, with no Israeli control at all. Hamas broke the cease-fire. The accusations of genocide, ethnic cleansing and occupations need to be flipped. Even though Gaza is inhabited by “Palestinians,” it belongs to Israel. Nobody likes to hear this, but the “Palestinians” are the occupiers of Gaza and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank.)

Israel keeps warning Gazans and Lebanese people before bombing areas to rid the world of Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists. On the other hand, Hamas and Hezbollah use their civilians as human shields and private homes as weapons depots. Why has this never been reported in the mainstream media?

Incidentally, we need to turn ethnic cleansing on its head. There were 600,000 Arabs in Israel in 1948, and through Zionist ethnic cleansing–do not miss the irony– there are “only 2,000,000” today. Every accusation thrown at Israel needs to be flipped and connected to Hamas and Hezbollah if we want the truth to be told. The perceived victims are the ignored perpetrators.

• Israel has the right to defend herself: Any country in the world being attacked would immediately retaliate and nobody would find fault in that. It is the standard, expected response. If Canada or Mexico were to shoot one missile onto US soil, the response would most likely be immediate, and nobody would ask the US to show restraint. Israel has been blanketed with thousands of rockets and missiles from Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemen, and Iran.

Israelis defend themselves from all this by always going the extra mile to minimize collateral damage. They do it with surgical precision, as we witnessed in the case of the concerted beepers attack on Hezbollah terrorists.

The 1917 Balfour Declaration, the 1920 SanRemo Resolution and the 1947 UN vote for partition validate Israel’s right to exist AND right to defend herself as a sovereign nation.

• Now is the time for Christians to show support: Anybody reading their Bible will notice that Israel and the Jewish people are spoken of on so many of its pages. It is time for Christians to help pull Israel from the grip of world antisemitism.

2,000 years of hatred against the Jews, too often at the hands of Christians, can be reversed. It cannot and should not be ignored, and now is the time to rebuild bridges. Jewish people worldwide need to hear from their Jewish friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Israel needs Christian support economically and spiritually.

• God is still in control: When God allowed the Holocaust to take place, He didn’t stop being in control, but we could call it the “eclipse of God.” He was always there, even if not noticeable. The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God cares for all souls in Isaiah 63:9, “In all their distress He was distressed, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the ancient days.”

Additionally, God Himself is watching over Israel as the psalmist reminds us in Psalm 121:4, “Behold, He who keeps Israel Will not slumber and will not sleep.”

Finally, Jeremiah spoke of God’s unconditional relationship with Israel and His promise to NEVER allow for her destruction in Jeremiah 31:35-37. Simply put, if Israel disappeared from the face of the earth, God would have lied and failed, and He wouldn’t be much of a God at all. We do not know the thoughts of God or His decisions on a day-to-day basis, but we know His promises and covenants from His unchangeable and inerrant word.

• Israel and the Jewish people need our prayers: Despite all this, the world needs to realize that a new leader is on the map. It is not the United States anymore. Israel has shown leadership like no other nation in the last few weeks. Even if the nations refrain from helping, Israel is done asking or waiting. They will most likely soon emerge as the leading nation in the Middle East, so they need our prayers.

Praying for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6) is a very good start, but please, if you have Jewish people around you, let them know in no uncertain terms that you have their back in case of need.

• Israel is fighting a war on seven fronts. Pray!
• Israel’s economy is suffering from almost zero tourism, and additionally, many reservists are called away from their everyday jobs. Pray!
• Jewish people around the globe are experiencing antisemitism at levels not seen since the 1930s and 40s. Pray!
• Israel and the Jewish people need to recognize that Yeshua is their Messiah and savior, today more than ever. Pray!

Olivier Melnick is an author, speaker, antisemitism expert, and the Executive Director for Shalom in Messiah Ministries.