Denison Forum
Dr. Jim Denison
As a year filled with conflicts draws to a close, our hearts yearn for lasting peace in the new year. To this end, let’s look to the unlikeliest of places for the hope we need.
In the Middle East, 2024 began with Hamas’s leadership seemingly entrenched as the conflict in Gaza continued. Hezbollah bristled with tens of thousands of missiles capable of devastating all of Israel. Iran was escalating its seven-front assault on the Jewish state through its proxies surrounding the Jewish state.
So much changed across the year: Israel assassinated the top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, neutered the latter’s missile threat against the nation, defeated two air attacks from Iran, and dismantled Iran’s air defenses in response. Iran’s hardline president was killed in a helicopter crash and replaced by a more moderate leader. Rebels toppled the Assad regime in Syria, further weaking Iran’s “Shiite crescent” across the region.
There was a time when many, including former President Jimmy Carter, believed Hamas to be a legitimate political player in the quest for peace in the Middle East. Mr. Carter also called Israel an “apartheid state” and spoke for many in opposing its posture with the Palestinians. At the same time, as his former speechwriter James Fallows noted following his death last Sunday, “Jimmy Carter did more than anyone else, before or since, to bring peace to the Middle East, with his Camp David accords.”
Mr. Fallows may be correct in political terms. But Scripture tells of another leader who resolved a conflict in the Middle East in a way that points to lasting peace in 2025 and beyond. More Here
