There he was. At the Sacred Land.

It took some time, but it happened. After Antonio arrived in Lima he went directly to a travel agency to find out how much it would cost to fly to Israel.

Then Antonio contacted his grandmother Filomena by phone. She was ecstatic to hear from him and rapidly convinced his father, Floro, to wire money to the travel agency in Lima so his son could “accomplish his Catholic duty of visiting the Holy Land”.

He flew from Lima to New York and then Rome and on to Tel Aviv from Rome. It was a long trip and he was exhausted.

Then what? He was there by “impulse” and he did not know if he had money enough to find lodging and food. He cautiously came out to the hall where people were waiting for passengers. He took a look at some of the cardboards or papers holding names but he knew his name would not be there.

He was about to take the first exit he found when he heard a voice calling: “Antoine”.

He turned thinking, “that is my name in French,” knowing it was a coincidence but, he could not understand, there, behind him, and calling his name, was the lawyer that helped him in France years ago. His name was Matis Gavi. (In Hebrew Matis means “gift of YHWH” and Gavi “God is my strength”.)

After the normal interchange of greetings, Antonio, with his limited French, asked, “What are you doing here?” Matis said he was waiting for three young Jewish girls from United States who were coming to do volunteer work at the kibbutz where he was a member. Antonio asked, “What is a Kibbutz?”

Matis, with the paternal attitude that Antonio had known so well while working for his freedom in France, explained that a Kibbutz was a type of settlement which is unique to Israel. A collective community, traditionally agrarian but slowly evolving to manufacturing. The word kibbutz means ‘gathering’, however the first were known as ‘kvutzat’, which means ‘group’. The Kibbutzim (plural) originally were socialistic communities, with equal wages and communal property, and children being communally raised while their parents worked. However, today the kibbutzim are mainly privatized and the communal child-rearing has gone. People now own their own property, including their cars and homes. Many work outside the kibbutz, and make their own incomes.

Antonio was amazed. “Could he have any opportunities there?” he asked. Matis said, “Let me get the girls and then we will all go together to the Kibbutz.” Strangely enough, he did not ask Antonio anything else as if he knew Antonio didn’t have anywhere to go or anything to do in Israel.

The girls introduced themselves in English, of course, Maya, Joana and Rachel. Matis translated for Antonio. They were coming from New York, in the same plane with Antonio.

While on route to their destination Maya asked Matis about the Six-Day War.

Matis said that he had been one of the teenagers that had come to Israel when they learned that Egypt blockaded Israel’s southern port of Eilat and the Gulf of Aqaba. He was in Paris, France. His Jewish community, originally from the south of France, was preparing to return to Israel. He had arrived in the Holy Land on May 1967. He was then 17 years old.

The six-day war was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from June 5-10, 1967.

Israel was outnumbered by the combined Arab armies, and totally surrounded–North, East and South by enemies and the deep blue Mediterranean on the West. However, with God’s help, Israel had decided to strike first and win quickly.

Matis was sent to a hotel with many other young men, ready to fight. Instead, they were asked to pray. The main passage they concentrated on was Isaiah 31:5 “Like birds flying about,
So will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; Passing over, He will preserve it.” (Isaiah 31:5 – New King James Version, 2019)

He said that Israeli forces knew that in order to win any advantage it was necessary to control the skies. However, the Israeli Air Force could manage only two hundred aircraft, almost all French airplanes, against six hundred Arab planes, including many Soviet-supplied MiG fighters.

On June 5, 1967, the Six-Day War was about to begin. The Israeli forces started the attack at 7:45 a.m. The Egyptian dawn patrols had returned to base. The pilots were having their breakfast, while many other pilots and ground crew were still making their way to work in the middle of the traffic from Cairo.

“When God protects His people”, Matis said, “you can tell.” The Jordanian radar operators, noticed the unusual number of Israeli aircraft in the air and sent a coded warning to the Egyptians. However, curiously enough, the Egyptians had changed their codes the day before without informing the Jordanians. No warning.

In the middle of the attack, the Israeli ground crews were able to rearm and refuel the returning aircraft in only 8 minutes. They had been well trained. This allowed the strike aircraft of the first wave to fly in the second strike in short time. In three hours, Egypt lost 293 of its six hundred aircraft, including all of the Soviet-made bombers that had threatened Israeli cities. The Israelis lost 19 aircraft, mostly to ground fire.

But that day was not over. The Israeli Air Force at 12:45 p.m. on June 5, turned its attention to the other Arab air forces. Syrian and Jordanian airfields were hit, as was the Iraqi H3 airbase. The Syrian lost two-thirds of their Air Force, with 57 planes destroyed on the ground, while Jordan lost all of its 28 aircrafts. By the end of the 1967 war, the Arabs had lost 450 aircraft, compared to 46 of Israel’s.

Most importantly, the West Bank (located to the west of the Jordan river, including Bethlehem, East Jerusalem and the northwestern quarter of the Dead Sea), was captured from Jordan in the six-day war of 1967. Isaiah’s prophecy made sense to all those who were praying based on the prophet predictions. The Old City of Jerusalem returned to the chosen people!

According to Isaiah 11:14, “Ephraim and Judah will [unite and] swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines toward the west; together they will plunder the sons (Arabs) of the east. They will possess Edom and Moab, and the sons of Ammon will be subject to them.(Ammon, Edom and Moab are part of Jordan)”(“Bible Gateway Passage: Isaiah 11:14 – Amplified Bible” 2019)

Isaiah foresaw the Israeli people returning far in the future, their world-wide exile, and predicted the birth of the Jewish state. He foresaw the ‘swoop down’ incursion of Israel into Gaza during the Six-Day war. Subjugating the people of Edom, Moab and Ammon, the modern-day Israelis took control of the West Bank from Jordan.

On June 7, Israeli troops captured the Old City of Jerusalem and celebrated by sounding the shofar and praying at the Western Wall.

On June 9, after an intense aerial bombardment, Israeli tanks and infantry advanced on the fortified region of the Golan Heights in the northeastern border with Syria. They successfully captured the Golan Heights the next day, June 10.

Also on June 10, 1967, the United Nations ordered a ceasefire, and the Six-Day War came to an abrupt end. Statistics showed that some 20,000 Arabs and 800 Israelis had died in just 132 hours of fighting.
(“The Six-Day War – Israel My Glory” 2025)

Matis and his friends, after thanking God for His obvious intervention in so many ways, had come out to the streets to join the jubilant national mood. In less than a week, the very young nation captured the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.

They arrived to the Kibbutzim, and Matis promised that he would continue telling them about the many interventions of God during the six-day war.

Matis said, “After the six-day war ended, my praying friends and I went to look for pilots and soldiers and heard many fascinating stories of God’s hand during those days”. Matis had then returned to France and pursued his career as a lawyer.

Antonio’s mind was twirling. His lawyer was in Israel and was a believer? He had been talking non stop about the intervention of God during the six-day war and specifically about the prophecies of Isaiah? This could not be a “coincidence”.