Which countries want to see Israel destroyed and why?

The conflict between Israel and the Arab nations is many many centuries old and involves a LOT of issues that it would take a book or two to fully explain. It was immeasurably worsened by the events of world war 2. The Arab states allied themselves with the British and Americans to help fight in Africa in return for a promise to allow the Arab states to form a unified Arab republic. When the war was over, the US and Britain, who wanted Arab oil reneged on this promise, betraying the Arabs who had helped them. The man known as Lawrence of Arabia protested this, and in the end, committed suicide over the issue as he had negotiated the promise and felt responsible for the betrayal. To make matters worse, the Israelis essentially stole land from the Arabs which happened to be the location of many of the Muslims sacred locations. This was ratified and defended by the US and Britain. The Arabs have very long memories, and for them, this betrayal is just as fresh as if it had happened yesterday. It created a great hatred for the US and Britain and magnified immensely the conflicts they already had with the Israelis. It doesn't help that the Israelis, for whatever reasons of their own, keep exacerbating the conflict.

T he history between these 2 groups goes back a lot further than the mid 20th century though.  Goes back to Jacob & Esau in biblical times.  Was never totally settled back then,  and it's only gotten worse..........

Those of us that live in Israel are used to these kinds of threats. The most absurd thing that has happened recently has to do with the British. In case you haven't heard an arrest warrant was issued against Tzipi Livni. For more details see this article. Israel has the right to defend itself just like any other nation, so if anyone is going to try and argue with me, don't bother.

First, it is important to understand that not all Arabs are Muslims, and not all Muslims are Arabs. While a majority of Arabs are Muslims, there are many non-Muslim Arabs. Further, there are significantly more non-Arab Muslims in areas such as Indonesia and Malaysia than there are Arab Muslims. Second, it is important to remember that not all Arabs hate Jews, not all Muslims hate Jews, and not all Jews hate Arabs and Muslims. We must be careful to avoid stereotyping people. However, generally speaking, Arabs and Muslims have a dislike of and distrust for Jews, and vice-versa.

If there is an explicit biblical explanation for this animosity, it goes all the way back to Abraham. The Jews are descendants of Abraham’s son Isaac. The Arabs are descendants of Abraham’s son Ishmael. With Ishmael being the son of a slave woman (Genesis 16:1-16) and Isaac being the promised son who would inherit the blessings of Abraham (Genesis 21:1-3), obviously there would be some animosity between the two sons. As a result of Ishmael’s mocking Isaac (Genesis 21:9), Sarah talked Abraham into sending Hagar and Ishmael away (Genesis 21:11-21). Likely, this caused even more contempt in Ishmael’s heart towards Isaac. An angel prophesied to Hagar that Ishmael would “live in hostility toward all his brothers” (Genesis 16:11-12).

The religion of Islam, to which a majority of Arabs are adherents, has made this hostility more profound. The Qur'an contains somewhat contradictory instructions for Muslims regarding Jews. At one point it instructs Muslims to treat Jews as brothers and at another point commands Muslims to attack Jews who refuse to convert to Islam. The Qur’an also introduces a conflict as to which son of Abraham was truly the son of promise. The Hebrew Scriptures say it was Isaac. The Qur’an says it was Ishmael. The Qur’an teaches that it was Ishmael whom Abraham almost sacrificed to the Lord, not Isaac (in contradiction to Genesis chapter 22). This debate over who was the son of promise contributes to the hostility today.

However, the ancient root of bitterness between Isaac and Ishmael does not explain all of the hostility between Jews and Arabs today. In fact, for thousands of years of Middle Eastern history, Jews and Arabs lived in relative peace and indifference towards each other. The primary cause of the hostility has a modern origin. After World War II, when the United Nations gave a portion of the land of Israel to the Jewish people, the land was at that time primarily inhabited by Arabs (the Palestinians). Most Arabs protested vehemently against the nation of Israel occupying that land. Arab nations united and attacked Israel in an attempt to drive them out of the land, but they were defeated. Ever since, there has been great hostility between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Israel exists on one tiny piece of land surrounded by much larger Arab nations such as Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt. It is our viewpoint that, biblically speaking, Israel has a right to exist as a nation in its own land that God gave to the descendants of Jacob, grandson of Abraham. At the same time, we strongly believe that Israel should seek peace and display respect for its Arab neighbors. Psalm 122:6 declares, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May those who love you be secure.”