Dear Friends,

I really hate to become nothing but a news commentator but I feel I must write you. about the Israel situation once again. I should utilize this communication for our ministry purposes rather than for editorials on current events, but “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent” (Isa. 62:1).

The problem is that the American television and press seem to have an unspoken aggreement to avoid telling it like it is. Evidently it sells better to make Israel into some kind of superpower run amuck.

But as the Israelis hold their positions and our diplomats have a better chance to review the situation, we are getting a glimmer of fairness now and again in the press. Philip Reinstein, writing in the Dallas Morning News, complained that Israel is not getting a fair shake and characterized the media assault on that nation:

“The difficulty was in making a convincing case against Israel. Rarely has history featured as unattractive a villain as the PLO: terrorists and assassins armed to the teeth by the Soviet Union, the arch enemy of the American people, the jury before whom the case is being tried.

As a result, some obfuscation was necessary. The conflict had to be redefined, The story that unfolds on the nightly news is not of Israel vs. the PLO, but rather Israel against women and children.

In this one-sided presentation, all the historically accepted justifications for war are treated as irrelevancies. Armed provocation, self defense, the safeguarding of liberty, justice, and even peace are all non-starters as issues in the discussion. The causes, objectives, conduct, and even the outcome of the war are ignored. Only the nature of the war is presented.

War in general, not this war in particular, has been put on trial with the intention of making the Israelis guilty by association. Have not all the wars, since time immemorial, been ghastly, bloody and gruesome? Is Israel responsible for that?

Even the opinion of the Lebanese people, the alleged victims, is given reminiscent of the allied advance through occupied Europe. Yet this truer picture of the war can be glimpsed only in snatches amidst miles of film documenting the horrors common to every war.”

On that last point about the Lebanese people being victimized, David K. Shipler of the New York Times News Service, has been sending quite a series of articles from Sidon in Lebanon. The truth is, according to this correspondent, that no one could feel happier than the Lebanese that their occupation by the PLO is coming to an end. The treatment in this case is painful but the malady is very serious. For five or six years the Lebanese have lived their lives under the jurisdiction of hordes of terrorist thugs who all but ran the country. The PLO, being unwelcome everywhere else, did nothing more than overrun peaceful Lebanon, which hasn’t provoked a war for centuries. It has been a dark age for Israel’s northern neighbor and the Israeli rescue is very welcome indeed.

The Morning News editorial went on to point out that Israel was in reality doing a service for everyone everywhere who abhors terrorism:

“Indeed, the whole free world should be cheering. The PLO, the terrorist center of Moscow’s worldwide network of terrorism, is being destroyed. Thousands of innocents will be spared death and misery as a result. It is a blow against terrorists of every stripe, from the urban terrorists in the capitals of Western Europe to those that prowl the countryside in Latin America.”

What can the believers of America do at a time like this? Well, we are admonished in Psalm 122 to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” This particular ministry quotes the passage in concluding every program we make. Secondly, we can open our mouths and talk about this. The believing Church in this nation is a tremendous force and we don’t have to sit still while the ABC television network, for one source, leads our media in condemning the land of our Lord. And we can vote; we can intelligently watch the performance of those we have appointed to deal with our international policies, and we can at least choose them according to that performance.

This ministry in particular, I’m happy to say, is effective in its support of Israel. The publicity you are receiving goes to more than 20,000 people every two weeks and frankly, when compared to Christian magazine circulations, that is a very good number. The fact is, we can safely assume that a huge proportion of our people read every word in every publication we send, which is not true of the average magazine. And the letters are more effective than books considering the sheer numbers of copies. I have been writing books for Christian publishers for some ten years and in that time over a million copies of my books have been distributed. But a million copies of our ministry publications can be distributed five times as fast as books, and they are. And they’re very carefully read. Don’t underrate this brief letter; it’s a powerful medium.

Secondly, this ministry helps Israel’s situation by simply taking people there, if you’re able to go on one of our tours you’ll see for yourself what kind of people the Israelis are and what kind of people they have to contend with. You’ll, get a personal feel for what is being done with the Holy Land by those who love it. Go and see, and understand. Our next trip is Oct. 5–15 to celebrate the least of Tabernacles in the streets of Jerusalem with tens of thousands of Christians of all nations. If you can make it, contact us immediately and we’ll reserve your place.

Thirdly, and most powerful of all, this ministry promotes the security of the land of Israel with its television programs. The numbers in this medium are staggering. Over half-a-million people a week watch ZOLA LEVITT LIVE, as near as we can figure it, and by the time a single program has completed its reruns, more than a million people in fifty states have pondered the message. Now we don’t have a political forum and we don’t just stand up and say that Israel is right about everything. As a matter of fact, we treat the Promised Land as it should be treated—not as some modern world political entity but as the one land God chose. We explain its vast and complex history, its Biblical heritage and its place in the prophecy of the Scriptures. We honor it in a way that would please the King.

Our new fall series, which we filmed this summer in Israel, will start in September, when the networks start their annual craziness they refer to as their “new season” (as if anything they do is really new). We’ll show you a dozen excellent new programs shot on location in the land of our Kingdom. Please be tuned in to this series and thank you, by the way, for submitting all of those catchy names for it. We’ll have a wealth of good ideas to choose from as we produce the film into thirty-minute programs. I think you’ll agree that this series reaches new levels of quality production and spiritual message, if you liked “The Holy Places,” you’ll love the fall programs.

And very straightforwardly, one way you can get in a vote for Israel is to support us in airing these programs. We have to meet increased expenses, including sharp hikes in air time rates this fall. At the same time we have to produce these new shows, which frankly cost a small fortune. I hate to present you with the bill before you’ve seen the product, but believe me, you’re going to like it.

I said a while back that our problems would be “down the line” after we returned from Israel with our footage. But it’s getting to be time to confront the expenses. I wanted to be fair enough to see what quality of films we came up with before deciding whether to take the plunge and make a series as long as “The Holy Places.” But honestly, the material we got cries out for it. As much financial difficulty as we got into last year doing a lengthy series of new programs, I still feel it’s the thing to do. When you see these shows I think you’ll understand.

So please help us to help Israel. We don’t ask this for ourselves but for the greater purpose of teaching the Word of God and supporting His own land. Some TV programs teach a sound, compelling doctrine and some others honor the land of Israel. But if I may say so, with ZOLA LEVITT LIVE you get a full measure of both of those blessings. Remember us during the summer when things slow down. We are working our hardest at a time like this.

I know I can count on you as always. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

Your messenger,