Israel has named its military operation against Iran 'Rising Lion', inspired by a
biblical verse that promises a victorious future for a powerful Israel.
The expression comes
from verse 23:24 of the Book of Numbers in the Bible: "Behold, the people
shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall
not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain."
Israel often pens biblical names or draws from religious inspiration for its military
operations, which some say are used to reinforce their claim of divine
entitlement to Palestinian land and justify its wars in the region. Easy to guess, it's way difficult to give them a peace offering against such a divine entitlement. The Mishna teaches that “Eretz Yisrael is holier than all the other lands” with Jerusalem and the Temple area specified as the holiest parts of the land.
In Western popular discourse the term terrorism has long been associated with the Middle East, but particularly with the activities of Palestinian Arab groups, which have dominated the news for the past forty years. But sixty years ago, it was the actions of Jewish terrorists in Palestine that grabbed headlines around the world.
It has been difficult for Israeli governments, themselves grappling with terrorist challenges from the Palestinians, and for Israeli society as a whole, to acknowledge that some of their founders used terrorism and regarded it as legitimate to do so. To concede that point would confound Israeli efforts to de-legitimize Palestinian terrorism. Irgun"s and Stern Gang"s strategies of chaos and terror still remains in the very foundations of Israel. In the Middle East, terrorism and violence has been playing a prominent role and ironically state of Israel is a product of a terrorist campaign.