Dateline Jerusalem — Where is Israel?  What happened to it?  These might seem strange questions. Considering what is happening in the world today, however, they are not that odd after all.

When looking at a map, Israel is just a sliver of land surrounded by the Arab world.

In fact, the State of Israel fits into the Arab world 545 times.  Blink, and it is easy to miss on a map.

Blink again and it has been wiped off many maps and atlases by those who do not consider Israel a sovereign nation.

Because Israel is so small — only 8.7 miles wide at its narrowest point — it cannot afford to give up any more land.

Yet every day the United Nations seems to be passing a resolution chipping away at Israel’s miniscule boundaries, security, religious freedoms, Jewish identity, religious sites, and its right to exist.

Because Israel can be compared to an island surrounded by a sea of open-jawed sharks waiting to swallow it in one bite, its very existence is dependent upon recognized, defensible and secure borders.

In their charters and their official statements, both Hamas and the PLO call for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews.  But the U.S., Europe, and the U.N. continue to provide aid to them even though they use the aid to kill Israelis and to reward terrorists.

“Peace partners”?

Furthermore, the Palestinians are not satisfied with just withdrawals from Gaza or the West Bank.  They consider all of Israel to be “occupied,” to be a “settlement.”  The issue of settlements is just a subterfuge.

A Startling Fact Overlooked

Let us not forget that in 1964 when Arafat started the Palestinian movement, there were no Jewish “settlements” in Gaza or the West Bank.  Those areas were under Jordanian or Egyptian control.

Yet, the Palestinians called for the “liberation of Palestine” from all Jews, a full three years before Israel recaptured Jerusalem and the West Bank.

For example: In 2000 and in 2008, first Prime Minister Barak and then Prime Minister Olmert offered the Palestinians over 90 percent of the West Bank.

Arafat and Abbas refused these deals.

When current Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu offered to freeze settlements, the Palestinians thanked him by responding with violence just as they did when Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

The vacated settlements were destroyed. Palestinian terrorists used them as launch pads for rockets, missiles, and mortars lobbed into Israel.

The slogan “Land for Peace” is meaningless to them.

But what is “Palestine”?

There never has been a Palestinian state governed by Palestinian Arabs.

Arabs did not start calling themselves “Palestinians” or have a national movement until Arafat came into power in 1964.  Not only was Arafat an Egyptian, prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the only ones who were called Palestinians were Jews.  Arabs residing in the land of Israel referred to themselves as “Southern Syrians.”

The League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, passed in 1922, recognized the historic connection of the Jewish people with Palestine. It called for a national home for the Jewish people.

The San Remo Agreement was recognized and incorporated in the Covenant of the League of Nations, and eventually in Article 80 of the U.N. Charter.

Therefore, Israel cannot be an “occupier” of its own land, nor can its cities and towns be called “settlements.”

The legal definition of “occupier” does not apply to Israel.

Obama’s Stubbornness

A bipartisan Senate demand, by 88 of 100 U.S. Senators, called for President Obama to veto any unilateral anti-Israel action by the U.N. Security Council.

Obama refused to veto U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334 last month.

Thanks to the Obama administration, Israel’s right to worship at its holiest religious sites and its very existence is threatened.  The U.N.’s Security Council Resolution 2334 calls for the removal of all Israeli claims to Jewish holy sites, as most are in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, areas deemed by the resolution and Obama as “occupied” and “settlements.”

That means Jews no longer will be able to pray at the Kotel (Western Wall, or Wailing Wall), Rachel’s Tomb, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, and Joseph’s Tomb.

Jews wills not have access to the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

Even the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem will be “Judenfrei,” free of Jews.

Already the U.N. and Palestinians have begun to change the names of these ancient Jewish sites into Muslim names to erase any connection with the Jewish people.

For example, on behalf of the Palestinians, UNESCO recently declared there is no Jewish connection to the Temple Mount or the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism for over 3,000 years, the last remnant of the Holy Temple.

By the way, the U.N. resolution is against international law.

International law allows a nation to legitimately claim territories acquired in wars of aggression in order to maintain its security and the safety of its citizens.

In 1948 and 1967, Israel had to defend against invading Arab armies.  Therefore, Israel has a legitimate claim to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.  But just as Obama, Kerry, and the U.N. are fixated on establishing a Palestinian state, with or without any negotiations between the parties, as required by U.N. Resolution 242 and the Oslo Accords.

They are systematically overturning established law and erasing any Jewish connection to the Land of Israel.

Just as the Romans changed the name of Israel to Palestine in 135 BC in an attempt to erase all Jewish connections to the land, the same seems to be happening today.

Therefore, all connections to Israel as the Jewish homeland for over 3000 years are being systematically erased.

As a further result of the passage of Resolution 2334, on that very day it was passed, Dec. 23, the U.N. also established a blacklist of all companies doing business in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The BDS movement is alive and well.  These resolutions, however, are the least of Israel’s worries.

Worst Lies Just Ahead?

Israel is afraid that there is more to come.

Just a few days before President-elect Trump will be sworn in, there will be a meeting in Paris attended by 70 nations to determine a resolution for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Permanent borders of Israel are to be confined to the indefensible, dangerous 1967 armistice lines. If approved, it will be brought to the U.N.

Will Obama in his last days in office use the U.S. veto power to prevent this anti-Israel resolution from passing in the U.N.?

Considering Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech the other day — erroneously claiming that Israel cannot be both a Jewish state and a democracy — it is doubtful.

Despite what Kerry and Obama think, Israel is a Jewish state and is a democracy.

Most of all, Israel is America’s best friend in the Middle East.

Am Yisrael Chai!  The people of Israel live.

L’hitraot.  Shachar