The thousands of incendiary kites and balloons that Hamas operatives have launched into Israel have caused horrific damage in a new low-tech form of terrorism the IDF is finding difficult to combat. Two rabbis weigh in, finding the spiritual roots for the terror-kites which suggest spiritual methods of defeating them.

For almost three months, Israel’s southern border has been plagued by massive Hamas-led protests. With limited resources and technology, the terrorist organization has devised a new method of attacking Israel: kites and helium balloons carrying incendiary devices high over the border and into Israel. The IDF has implemented different methods of countering this new form of terrorism, including drones, but all have produced limited success. Thousands of kites and balloons have set more than 250 fires since the March of Return protests began March 30, burning an estimated 6,000 acres of land, or approximately seven square miles.

Rabbi Yekutiel Fish, the author of the Hebrew Torah blog, Sod HaChashmal, recently wrote about the terror-kites. Rabbi Fish discovered a clue in the Bible connecting them to a similar occurrence of agricultural arson but with Israel playing the role of the aggressor. The clue appears in Hebrew in the verse preceding Samson burning the Philistine’s fields.

וַיֵּלֶךְ שִׁמְשׁוֹן וַיִּלְכֹּד שְׁלֹשׁ־מֵאוֹת שׁוּעָלִים וַיִּקַּח לַפִּדִים וַיֶּפֶן זָנָב אֶל־זָנָב וַיָּשֶׂם לַפִּיד אֶחָד בֵּין־שְׁנֵי הַזְּנָבוֹת בַּתָּוֶךְ׃ Judges 15:3

The rabbi showed that beginning with the letter ‘ו’ (vav) in the word ‘Shimshon’ (Samson), a skip of every fourth letter produces the letters that spell ‘עפיפון’ (kite).

“This clearly links Samson’s burning of the Philistines’ fields with the kites the Palestinians are using to burn Israel,” Rabbi Fish said to Breaking Israel News. “Samson tied the torches to the tails of foxes and the Palestinians tie them to the tails of kites. The kites are the revenge of the Philistines on what Samson did to them by burning their fields in Timna.”

Rabbi Fish explained that the Palestinians, “the spiritual descendants of the Philistines,” resorted to kite arson in a final desperate measure after they sensed Samson’s ultimate revenge approaching. As an explanation, Rabbi Fish cited a section of the Jerusalem Talmud based on the verse concerning the Philistines gouging out Samson’s eyes.

Then Shimshon called to Hashem, “O Hashem! Please remember me, and give me strength just this once, O Hashem, to take revenge of the Philistines, if only for one of my two eyes.” Judges 16:28

Rabbi Fish said that by toppling the pillars of the Temple, Samson killed many Philistines, which was immediate and sufficient revenge for one eye. But, according to the Jerusalem Talmud, the revenge for Samson’s second eye will come before the Messiah.

“The Palestinians in Gaza can sense the revenge for Samson’s second eye is about to come and their fear is causing them to strike out in a Samson-like manner, by burning the fields of Israel,” Rabbi Fish explained.

“But this is all for the benefit of Israel,” Rabbi Fish assured, bringing Samson’s riddle that stumped the Philistines.

“Out of the eater came something to eat, Out of the strong came something sweet.”  Judges 14:14

“The word ‘Az’ (strong) hints at the word Aza (Gaza),” Rabbi Fish explained. “In the end-of-days, a sweetening of the judgements of Israel will come out of Gaza. Because of the evil they do to us, Israel will be forgiven.”

Rabbi Levi Sudri, an award-winning Bible expert, agreed that the Philistines in the the guise of the Palestinians, are striking out at Israel.

“The basis of the conflict with the Palestinians is over their identity,” Rabbi Sudri told Breaking Israel News. “The Palestinians are a nation that is not a nation. They are a reincarnation of the Philistines, which is why they are so entrenched in Gaza, the former stronghold of the Philistine and why they call themselves ‘Palestinians’, which has nothing to do with the land they occupy. They are trying to fool the entire world into believing that they are the true owners of this land.”

Sudri agreed that the Palestinians’ attack has its source in Samson burning the fields of the Philistines but noted that it contained another element that was a nefarious twisting f the Bible.

“They are burning fields in Israel as revenge for Samson burning their fields, the fields of the Philistines,” Rabbi Sudri said. “The problem is that Israel is trying to put out individual fires, literally and figuratively, rather than relate to the root source of the problem which is identifying who is who, what is the truth and what is a lie.”

“This whole confrontation is a reenactment of the confrontation between David and Goliath. But what they have done is flipped the story around,” Sudri said. “The Palestinians are trying to portray themselves as David. That is why they show the young Palestinian boys wielding slings against heavily armed IDF troops. They are portraying Israel as the Philistines. Goliath represented war fought with technology, which the Palestinians are claiming is Israel.”

“In the world today, appearances and pretty stories are more important than the truth. This requires that the weak and small side has a just cause. The Palestinians are portraying themselves as David facing off against Goliath in an attempt to sway world opinion and to change their fate. But the truth, if you look at history and current events, is that Israel is the ‘David’, outnumbered by the ‘Goliath’ of all the Arab nations.”

Sudri noted that the narrative of the Palestinian ‘David’ versus the Israeli ‘Goliath’ is the narrative that appears most prominently in the media.

“But that type of judgement is not what God asks from people,” Rabbi Sudri said. “We are required to look at the truth and do justice. If the strong have justice on their side and the weak are evil, God requires us to recognize who is good and who is evil.”

“We are about to enter ben ha’metsarim”, Rabbi Sudri said, referring to a three-week period of mourning between the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha b’Av, the Ninth day of the Month of Av; commemorating the destruction of the Jewish Temples. This corresponds to June 30-July 21 according to the Gregorian calendar. “These are spiritually difficult times for Israel when our enemies can do serious damage to us if they succeed in pulling us into war. The only way to overcome the Palestinians at this time is to remember that we are Jews, we are David, and they are the Philistines, they are Goliath. The best way to do this is to learn this story in the Bible, over and over.”