Do you believe that the United States has the right to exist? Abba Eban, a former member of Israel’s Knesset summed it up by saying “Israel's right to exist, like that of the United States… is axiomatic and unreserved. (Eban, 2008) That means that just like the United States Israel's existence is justified. 

In reaction to the horrors of the holocaust other countries realized a need for a Jewish homeland. The United Nations, an international organization founded in 1945 for the purpose of “maintaining international peace and security." (UN at a Glance) voted 33 to 13 for Israel’s existence on November 29, 1947. “On May 14, 1948, the Jewish People's Council declared the establishment of the State of Israel.” (Wikipedia, 2012) Although the countries of South West Asia (SWA) believe that Israel does exist, they have not always been happy about it.

Many wars occurred in SWA as a result of the partitioning of the land in the creation of the State of Israel. Finally, after 30 years of ongoing fighting some Arab countries realized they should just give up and accept the situation. Egypt and Jordan have both signed peace treaties to confirm that they don’t want to fight Israel anymore. They know that the Israeli military is very strong and organized, for example Israel conquered miles and miles of land in a matter of six days. (Migdalovitz, 2005)

Unfortunately, not everyone is willing to accept that Israel exists. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said “"We shall never stop until we can go back home and Israel is destroyed, peace for us means Israel's destruction and nothing else". (Know Them By Their Words)  According to PLO member Zahir Muhsein this strong anti-Israel opinion resulted in identifying a group of homeless Arabs as Palestinians. As he said "The Palestinian people do not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese.” (JoeCool101)

Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people, exists like any other country in the world. It has an organized government to create and enforce laws, a military to protect its people and borders and people that call it home. Israel’s existence is not a moral question of right or wrong, Israel’s existence is a statement of fact.

Works Cited

Eban, A. (2008, May 13). Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Retrieved from Procon.org: http://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000339

JoeCool101. (n.d.). The Jews own the right to Israel. Retrieved from Teen Ink: http://www.teenink.com/opinion/current_events_politics/article/342625/The-Jews-Own-The-Right-to-Israel/

Know Them By Their Words. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.shalomjerusalem.com/mohammedism/mohammedism14.html

Migdalovitz, C. (2005). Israeli Cooperation with Arab Countries. DC: Congressional Research Service.

UN at a Glance. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/index.shtml

Wikipedia. (2012, September 26 ). History of Israel. Retrieved from Wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Israel