Sihon gathered all his people together, and he fought against Israel. And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Yabbok. (From this week's Torah portion, Chukat, Numbers 21:32-34)
And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Yiftach: 'Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even unto the Yabbok, and unto the Jordan; now therefore restore those cities peaceably. (From this week's haftarah, Judges 11:13)
Even today, international law places complete responsibility for the consequences of a war on the instigator. Territory that is captured by a country that was attacked becomes the sovereign soil of the victim of the aggression. Germany lost great tracts of territory in World War II, as did Japan to Russia. That is the way the world works and that is the way it should work. For some reason, these simple rules, understood world-wide, were not clear to the king of Ammon and are not clear to all the kings of Yishmael who fight against us today.
Why don't these rules work for Israel? The answer is that we do not have a leader like Yiftach, who answers the nations in the Name of G-d. After the king of Ammon complained to Yiftach that centuries before, the Children of Israel had "stolen" his land, Yiftach had a very clear and simple answer:
The G-d of Israel has driven the Emorites out before the Children of Israel and you think that you will possess their land? Whatever Kmosh, your god has inherited to you, that is what you shall inherit. And whatever Hashem, our G-d has inherited to us, that is what we shall inherit. (Judges 11:23-24)
Shabbat Shalom,
Moshe Feiglin
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