The history of the people of Israel is plagued by enemies who tried to destroy the Hebrew people to this day.
The King of Syria Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175 and 164 BC) decided to hellenize the people of Israel, and forbade the Jews to follow their traditions and customs. A group known as the Maccabees began to rebel against the Greek soldiers and refused to do acts that went against their own religion. The battles were very difficult since the Greek army was much larger.
Despite being a minority, the Maccabees, with a great strategy, determination and strong faith, achieved the miraculous victory: winning few against many.
Below I prepared a list of the most important enemies of the people of Israel in history both inside and outside the biblical period until today.
In the Bible:
Egyptians in the Bible appear in the books of Exodus, Kings and Chronicles
Amalekites appear in Exodus and Judges.
Edomites are mentioned in Numbers and Kings.
Amorites in Numbers.
The King of Bashan Og in Numbers.
Canaanites in the book of Joshua
Hittites in Joshua
Girgashites in Joshua
Perizites in Joshua.
Hivites in Joshua.
Jebusites in Joshua.
Aramean Syrians in the books of Judges, Kings and Chronicles
Moabites in Judges and Kings
Ammonites in Judges, Chronicles, Kings, Samuel
Midianites in Judges
Philistines in Judges, Samuel, Chronicles
Assyrians in the book of Kings.
Babylonians mentioned in the books of Kings and Chronicles.
Persian Haman appears in the book of Esther to try to destroy the Jews.
Greeks in Zechariah
Roman Empire mentioned in the book of John.
Additionally, the following enemies who tried and try to destroy the Jews and Israel to this day:
Byzantines between the 4th and 6th centuries AD
Crusades in the medieval period.
Spanish and Portuguese through the Inquisition in the 15th century
Ukrainian Cossacks and their massacres of the Jews in 1648
Communists of Russia in the twentieth century.
The fascists of Europe of the First and Second World Wars.
Nazis between 1933 and 1945.
The allies of the Nazis in the European countries conquered by Hitler
Arab nations that fought together to eliminate Israel in 1948: Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.
The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) led by Yasser Arafat’s terrorism.
The terrorist organization Hamas
The terrorist organization Hezbollah, which operates in Lebanon.
Islamic Republic of Iran, most responsible for financing the majority of terrorist organizations in the Middle East.
Houthis operating in Yemen.
The Palestinian National Authority led by its leader Abu Mazen, who in addition to being anti-Semitic, financially compensates the family of the terrorists who blew themselves up, killing innocent Israeli civilians in the streets of Israel.
The terrorist organization Isis.
The terrorist organization Al Queda.
The anti-Semitic leader Louis Farrakham and his organization called: The Nation of Islam, located in the United States.
President Erdogan of Turkey and his government that directly supports Hamas.
Qatar, in addition to financing and supporting the Hamas terrorist group, is affiliated with the Islamist ideological current called the Muslim Brotherhood.
Most Arab and Muslim countries around the world (with rare exceptions)
Islamic terrorist organizations that appear in an extensive list and are officially recognized by various governments worldwide.
We should add to this list some famous universities such as Harvard, Columbia, Pennsylvania among others that allow aggressive anti-Semitic demonstrations in favor of Hamas on their campuses and are not protecting Jewish students from the harassment and threats they are suffering.
The UN (United Nations Organization) whose organization has a recurrent history of resolutions voted and passed against Israel in recent decades in its forums and world organizations like no other country in the world has, not even Syria whose civil war left more than 400,000 dead, not even North Korea (regime governed by one of the harshest communist dictatorships), Sudan, which suffered a tremendous civil war with thousands of dead, or Iran whose country governed by an Islamic theocracy represses women’s rights, freedoms basics of expression, executes homosexuals, organizes and finances terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi and others in Iraq and the Middle East, without forgetting that it is preparing to have an atomic bomb. Only Israel has the record of being the country most condemned by the UN (the blocks of Arab and Muslim countries with their lobbies put pressure even on countries that are far from the Middle East conflict to vote against Israel).
The Israeli army has recently discovered in Gaza military arsenal of Hamas terrorist activities deployed in hospitals, schools and civilian centers that received support from UN agencies.
The BBC news network in London with its bias against Israel, the Qatari news network Al Jazera, and most of the international press seem addicted to always blame Israel.
The progressive ultra-left sectors installed in social and digital organizations and networks.
Some populist regimes such as that of former President Chavez and current President Maduro in Venezuela.
Neo-Nazis associated with far-right groups.
The list is a summary, there are many more political, governmental, social, cultural, and sports associations in almost every country in the world.
All of these various enemies have or have had at least these characteristics in common that make them alike: they were often more numerous than Israel. They were often better equipped. They were cruel and oppressive. They were clever. They were determined to destroy Israel. They were often allied with each other.
And above all, they were fueled by a great spirit of hatred, envy, and defamation.
Where are the ancient enemies of Israel and where will the present and future enemies of Israel be in history?
There is a biblical passage in Genesis 12:3 that never ceases to surprise me, which is the following: “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed’’.
Author
Adiel Wajsman
Licensed Tour Guide
December 10, 2023