Israel and the IDF...the West's Feared Frontline

An Associated Press article revealed yesterday that ISIS fears just one country. A German journalist who spent 10 days in ISIS-controlled territory told Jewish News, a British newspaper, that the country is Israel. Jurgen Todenhofer -- the author of the book, "My Journey Into the Heart of Terror: Ten Days in the Islamic State" and the only western journalist ever allowed to enter territory under ISIS control -- returned from his 10 days saying that ISIS is "preparing the largest religious cleansing in history," but has a healthy fear of the Israeli army : "They think they can defeat US and UK ground troops, who they say have no experience in city guerrilla or terrorist strategies. But they know the Israelis are very tough fighting against guerrillas....they are scared of the Israelis and told me the Israeli army is the real danger. 'We can't defeat them with our current strategy. These people [the IDF] can fight a guerrilla war.'" ~~~~~ ISIS recently issued a warning to Israel, saying that "not one Jew will be left in Jerusalem or around it. We will continue until we eradicate this disease from the world." Todenhofer said ISIS considers all other religions except their own to be enemies : "They say Jews and Christians are accepted but must pay the Jizya, a special tax, something like $600 per year....They told them they could stay in Raqqa and Mosul, but more than 100,000 Christians preferred to leave." At the same time, ISIS soldiers kill all the shia Moslems they can, he said. When Todenhoder asked them if they were prepared to kill every shia Moslem, they laughed : "150 million or 500 million, we don't care, it's only a technical problem for us. We are ready to do that." Todenhofer says ISIS is seeking to take over the Middle East, except for Israel, in its first stage, and then move on to the West : "They are a very strong danger for Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Libya, while the West will be subjected to big acts of terrorism instead of a full blown ISIS war because they say they don't want too many battles at the same time." Todenhofer said he built special relations with ISIS through Skype for six months before his trip, but now vows : "I will never go back." ~~~~~ In a just-released audio message, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi warned nations taking part in the war against ISIS : "We promise you, God permitting, that whoever participates in the war against the Islamic State will pay the price dearly." He directly threatened Israel : "we haven't forgotten you...we are getting closer to you every day." To Israeli Jews, he said that they "will hide behind trees and stones" from ISIS. Al-Baghdadi made reference in the audio to the end of days and said the US-led alliance does "not scare us...nor do they scatter our resolve because we are the victors in any event....America and its allies dream of destroying the caliphate through their proxies and henchmen, and whenever an alliance of theirs fails or a tail is cut, they hasten to establish another, they recently declared the Salouli (Saudi) alliance that was falsely called Islamic. If the Saudi-led alliance was truly Islamic, then it would fight the Syrian army and its Russian "masters," as well as shiites and Jews, al-Baghdadi said. ~~~~~ Dear readers, we often focus on protecting Israel from terrorists like Iran-backed Hezbollah, Hamas and the West Bank Palestinian Authority. At the same time, the UN and the Obama administration often heavily criticize Israel for using its IDF to protect itself -- accusing Israel of heavy-handed attacks even while promising to protect it -- which gives a distorted picture of the presence of Israel in the Middle East. Yes, Israel is the homeland for Jewish peoples persecuted by the Nazis and other anti-semitic regimes. Yes, Israel is uniquely protected by all ethical human beings. But, Israel is also in the point position in the Middle East for the West and democratic ideals. ISIS is right to fear the Israeli Defense Force, and Europe, the UN and America should fully support it and Israel. They are civilization's front line.