“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55: 6-7
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I Laugh When People in the U.S. ask Me, “Aren’t you afraid you might be killed or something in Jerusalem?”
See “Flying bullets ‘not on my itinerary’: Tourists react to Times Square shooting”:
Tourists visiting Times Square on Monday expressed fears for their safety — and the city’s future — following the second shooting there in as many months.
“Worrying about getting killed in a crossfire was not on my itinerary when I booked this trip with my girlfriends — especially while touring the biggest attraction,” said Pat Flanagan of Cleveland.
“It’s actually more sad than scary because I want to see New York pick up again.”
I laugh when people in the U.S. who know that Katie and I spend a lot of time in Israel ask me, “Aren’t you afraid you might be killed or something in Jerusalem?”
The level of crime in the U.S. is 53.64 compared with Israel’s 29.42. Where crime is concerned, Israel has more in common with Japan than the U.S.
Jerusalem is safer than any major city in the U.S. by a very wide margin. Katie and I spend most of our time in Jerusalem. While we are there, we walk around town day or night without fear. There are places in Jerusalem where we shouldn’t go, but we know where those places are. We have no interest in most of those places anyway. If we want to go to places that might be unsafe for us, Amnon, a Jewish friend in Jerusalem, takes us. If a place we want to see is unsafe for Amnon, a Muslim friend of his takes us. We’re covered.
If all you know about Israel is what you see on television, you would think that Israel is a very dangerous place. That’s simply not true. A few years ago, the Israeli government started a campaign to encourage Israeli drivers to drive more carefully. As a part of the campaign, they published statistics on deaths by auto accidents compared with deaths from terrorist attacks. It wasn’t even close. The number of Israeli deaths from terrorist attacks was miniscule compared with auto accident deaths.
We’ve been exploring Israel for more than 20 years. I can confirm that driving in Israel can be challenging, but I can also confirm that the Israeli government’s campaign to improve Israeli driving habits is working. Driving in Israel today is a lot less hazardous than in was 20 years ago. In Israel, I always drive defensively. I do it in the U.S., too.
While we are in Israel, I don’t give gun violence a second thought. In the U.S., liberal politicians are going crazy about concealed carry. They think it contributes to violent attacks with weapons. In many U.S. states, open carry is legal, and the list of states allowing open carry is growing. That makes liberals even crazier.
In Jerusalem, ordinary citizens walk around town with AR15s on their shoulders and handguns on their belts. Not everyone carries a gun, but enough of them do to deter would-be criminals and terrorists. Since we see it every day all over town, we don’t even think about it. Neither does anyone else. It’s normal.
In Israel, law enforcement and the IDF are visible all the time. If something happens, they are at the scene of the crime, terrorist attack, or accident in a heartbeat, and they are well armed.
Below is a picture of Katie and me posing with a couple of police officers in the heart of modern Jerusalem. We were standing beside King George Street. The tall guy drives the motorcycle while the shorter guy sits behind him with an automatic weapon. They can go anywhere on that bike, and they are very well trained. In Jerusalem, police are never far away, and they are visible. Their presence is not intended to intimidate. They just want people to know that they are there. That’s all that’s necessary most of the time. They are there to protect everyone, not just Jews.
Katie and I met them at a coffee shop/bakery next to our hotel. They were taking a break, and they sat at the table next to ours. We struck up a conversation with them that led to them giving us a very detailed explanation about what they do and how they were trained to do it. They are like fighter pilots on a motorcycle. They can move through narrow spaces at very high speeds and engage in combat along the way. Both of them are well armed, but the guy in the back does most of the shooting if the need arises. They hope not to have to put those skills to work, but they are well prepared for whatever comes their way.
One of the things I enjoy most about Israel in general and Jerusalem in particular is that Israeli people enjoy talking with us about themselves and their country. People in Jerusalem love talking about Jerusalem. Katie and I love it, too. We have learned things about Jerusalem from Jerusalem residents than we couldn’t have learned any other way.
Below is a picture of Melanie and Rebekah posing with several IDF soldiers in the Old City of Jerusalem near the Kotel/Western Wall. In the Old City, the IDF, police, and other security people are always present and visible. If something happens, they are there in seconds. Notice how young the Israeli soldiers are. In Israel, that’s the way it is. They are not menacing unless someone does something wrong. They don’t carry weapons for show.
I would rather walk around Jerusalem in the middle of the night than any major city in the U.S. in broad daylight. I don’t even like driving through Atlanta, but sometimes, it’s unavoidable.
I may be killed or seriously injured in Israel, but it won’t be because of an act of random violence. As I said, Israel is much safer than the U.S. even with the terrorists.
Israeli people are among the happiest people in the world. You wouldn’t know that if all you know about Israel is what you see on television. The Israeli people love life, and they protect life. That is obvious to me, and like I said, I’ve been exploring Israel for more than 20 years. Yahweh has a lot to do with the Israeli people’s attitudes even if they are not religious, and most of them are not religious. You can feel it and see it all over the country. Far too many people in the U.S. have chips on their shoulders. They whine and moan constantly. Israel isn’t like that. Some Israelis are malcontents, but they are a very small percentage of the population.
“And the streets of the city [Jerusalem] will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.” (Zechariah 8: 5)
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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”
John 10: 14-18
