In 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon. One of the architects of that invasion was Ariel Sharon, who was laid to rest on January 13, 2014.
While there were many tragedies and mistakes associated with Israel's invasion, it came in response to the mini-terror state Yasser Arafat and the PLO had established within Lebanese territory. He used it as a base to carry out cross-border attacks against Israel.
Arafat also terrorized Lebanon's Christian community and committed a number of atrocities.
Sharon spoke with Pat Robertson on The 700 Club in 1989 about Lebanon and Israel's commitment to helping the Lebanese Christians. He asked where the West was and why it didn't come to the aid of the Christians?
More than 30 years later, with Christians fleeing the Middle East in unprecedented numbers because of Islamic terrorism, Sharon's question remains as valid now as it was then.
"Israel has been helping the small Christian community in Lebanon since 1975. It was started then by Prime Minister Rabin and Minister of Defense, Mr. Peres. We ourselves, the Jews, being a small nation and a minority, we understood the need to support and back that small Christian community. And since then, these relations developed.
For many years, Israel was the only country that supported. We sent our medical doctors there, we sent our helicopters to evacuate the wounded. I never saw others doing this. At the present time, we can see the disaster in Lebanon. We can see the atrocities, the heavy shelling by the Syrians, and what bothers me is that the free world-the Western democracies-are not taking the steps in order to help the Christians.
We ourselves were asked to leave Lebanon. We did what we could have done. But what about the Western world? I think the Western world should come up and stick to its commitment not to let the Syrians and the, the terrorist organizations-the Arab terrorist organizations-to threaten the small Christian community."
Watch the full interview below.