The new head of state in Israel took office some time after his earlier mentor was assassinated. He initiated at once a policy of appeasement. Appeasement was openly advocated and declared, especially regarding the brutal dictator in Syria. The Israeli head of state offered the Syrian dictator everything imaginable and then some. When he was criticized by people opposed to his policies, he had them arrested for incitement. The Syrian dictator refused to be satisfied with the terms of the appeasement. He demanded more and more, including rights to the very capital of Israel.

The above passage is NOT referring to Ehud Barak and his policies. It is not referring to the Assads of Syria.

It is a summary of the events describes in the First Book of Kings, Chapter 20.

In Ecclesiastes it says there is nothing new under the sun. The current government of Israelites is NOT the first to attempt to achieve peace through appeasement. King Ahab, the one and the same, the husband of Jezebel, was also the head of the Peace Now movement of his days. He offered the Syrian dictator, named Ben-Hadad, everything imaginable. For peace. He sent tribute to Ben-Hadad. He stripped his capital of gold and silver. He even sent his wives and children to the Syrian.

But as in all forms of appeasement, the goodwill gestures for peace merely emboldened the dictator. They were interpreted as a sign of Israelite weakness. Ben-Hadad demanded MORE. Now he demanded direct access and sovereignty within the capital of Israel itself. He must be allowed to roam the capital freely, searching the homes and taking what he wanted.

Meanwhile, like his Labor Party disciple thousands of years later - Israel’s most decorated general, King Ahab promoted his "peace movement" accompanied by a "secularist revolution", designed to detach the state of Israel from its Jewish roots. He would deny any role or importance for Jewish religion, and instead pursue politically correct paganism. Anything to increase his prestige among the nations.

King Ahab had myriad faults and indeed is probably the very worst king of the Israelites described in the Bible. But unlike his direct descendent Ehud Barak, King Ahab at least had some national pride and set a limit beyond which he was unwilling to pursue appeasement for "peace". That limit was reached when the barbarians demanded parts of his Capital.

That pushed Ahab over the edge. Never mind the massive hordes and sheer numbers of his enemy. Never mind his own track record of suppressing Judaism and promoting PC paganism. Ahab abandoned appeasement overnight, with the approval of the Prophets and the Bible. He discovered that there really IS a military solution to terrorism and Syrian aggression after all, and he devastated the forces of his opponent. Ben-Hadad’s Syria was annihilated. Even his arch-nemesis, Elijah, begrudgingly congratulates the King on his shift to sane national policies. Ahab whips the enemy twice, once on the mountains and once on the plains. Israel is redeemed, although not from Ahab’s bad government.

Even a villain such as Ahab could display fleeting good sense and courage and atone for his having pursued appeasement for so long. Perhaps some day Ehud Barak will raise himself and achieve the moral courage and wisdom of King Ahab.

Copyright © 2000 by Steven Plaut.
All Rights Reserved.

-Published with permission