Shining brightly upon the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem overnight were these words: “We shall never forget!”

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) in Israel. On this day, their soldiers still fight on the ground in Lebanon, protecting Israel’s north from Hezbollah, the savage terrorist proxy of Iran. Their sailors still patrol the waters of the Mediterranean and Red Seas. Almost assuredly, their submarines lurk beneath the surface of the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Airmen still fly incredibly important missions over Lebanon and Iran. Why?

Because Iran has threatened to wipe Israel off the map, and Israel remembers what happened the last time a dictator uttered equally threatening words. The Holocaust happened and over 6 million Jews (over 1/4 of them children) were brutally murdered as Hitler carried out “The Final Solution” against the Jewish people.

Indeed, Israel has not forgotten…and they never will. They can’t afford to forget.

Today is especially somber in Israel as the people remember and mourn. There is likely not a single Jewish family that isn’t impacted by the terrors of the Holocaust. By the time you read this, air raid sirens will have sounded (10am Israel time) throughout the country. This time, it is not due to rockets flying but simply a remembrance call to the people of Israel to remember the day. Traffic will come to a literal standstill on streets and highways. Pedestrians will stop in their tracks, and everyone will observe a moment of respect and honor for those lost.

They will also renew the vow stated over and over again: “We shall never forget!”

THAT is why they so adamantly defend their country against the threat from Iran and its proxies. To believe differently is to be ignorant of the threats made against Israel throughout history. We don’t have to agree with everything their government does, but biblically, we must stand with the one and only nation uniquely called by God to be a blessing to the entire world (Genesis 12:3), or risk facing the worst of consequences (Joel 3:2).