In a recent Blog post on Israel, I lamented how it has become increasingly fashionable among a certain
segment of self-styled activists – most of whom come across as politically
unseasoned and woefully underinformed - to adopt a fiercely anti-Israel stance,
parroting slogans with the zeal of conviction but none of the burden of
understanding. From a biblical perspective, it's unsurprising to me that so
many modern people have a particular zeal against Israel - I believe it is
frequently a disguised rejection of God. The Bible consistently presents Israel
as central to God's redemptive plan, and I think that the anti-Israel stance
that has emerged with such fervour has a lot to do with resistance to God's
redemptive plan in general. I will elaborate on this shortly - and just to be
clear, in saying this, I am not speaking against the genuine concerns that
Israel's recent conduct towards some Palestinian civilians has started to
become disproportionate to the cause, because there are some valid concerns
there.
No, I am talking about how the huge rise in anti-Israel rhetoric (or in some cases antisemitism couched in anti-Israel rhetoric) is driven by a deep anti-Christ complex. What is often portrayed as a principled stand for justice is, in reality, a lazy moral absolutism that flattens decades of complex history into a social media soundbite or a trip to London to embarrass themselves with reactionary placards. Much of this outrage is driven not by a sincere grasp of the Arab-Israeli conflict, but by the ideological fervour of left-wing extremism that is oblivious to nuance and reduces geopolitics to a grossly oversimplified binary them vs. us mentality. This dogmatic lens not only insults the intelligence of anyone with a balanced mind, but also does a disservice to the actual people - Israeli and Palestinian alike - whose lives are shaped by the long-standing, tragic and tangled realities of this conflict.
My usual stance is to begin any Middle East conversation by stating that no party, group (or side if you prefer) comes out of this situation unimpeached – few who have influence are without fault in the conflict, which is highly complex and goes back decades, and in some cases, even longer. And that remains the case here. And in a post from a few years ago, I humbly submitted that the following propositions are probably true, regarding the conflict:
1) The religious/ethnic/cultural/political connotations of this conflict are highly complex, and go back centuries.
2) Both sides have a long
and complicated history, in which both are at fault for their sub-optimal,
reactionary treatment of the other group.
3) As usual, the innocent
(and majority) Israeli and Arab citizens are the biggest victims of the actions
of those driving the religious/ethnic/cultural/political agendas.
4) Hamas and other Islamic
terrorist/fundamentalist groups are so dreadful that they are never going to be
reasoned with or be seekers of a peaceful solution.
5) Those driving the
Israeli religious/ethnic/cultural/political agendas have played their part in
the division by treating many Palestinian citizens badly too, especially by
enforcing a system of oppression against the Palestinian people.
6) At least some of the
motives for Israel's restrictions on the Palestinians ought to be considered
with regard to historical Arab desire to wipe out Jews/Israel and deny Israel
its right to exist.
7) All the aforementioned
mutual maltreatment is not ethically justified by the above observations, but
probably goes a long way towards explaining them.
8} A two-state solution is
frequently suggested as the best recourse, but as well as over-simplifying the
history, it comes with two fundamental issues: Firstly, neither side really
wants this solution, or behaves like they could achieve such a thing; and
Secondly, deeply embedded religious/ethnic/cultural/political beliefs that date
back centuries make it prohibitively unlikely that they could agree on how it
would be implemented, especially given the deeply, age-old held religious
beliefs about whose Holy Land it is.
I’m shocked that a wicked terrorist organisation like Hamas gains so much support from coddled left wing minds – it can only be explained by wilful ignorance, disguised compassion and selective virtue-signalling. But even though I’m shocked, I’m not that surprised; the West has a crisis of critical thinking, especially in the young - it makes them adopt the vilest opinions at times. You should know if you don’t already that the Hamas Charter includes “Destroying Israel and establishing an Islamic theocracy in Palestine is essential”, and “Unrestrained jihad is necessary to achieve this.” The covenant proclaims that Israel will exist until Islam obliterates it, and jihad against Jews is required until Judgement Day. Compromise over the land is forbidden. The documents promote holy war as divinely ordained, reject political solutions, and call for instilling these views in children. It’s hard to believe so many Western radicals are actually arguing for Hamas to be seen as being less horrid, selling themselves a lurid fantasy that all the torture, decapitation, rape and people being burned alive is just their peaceful way of hinting at a harmonious two state solution.
The ongoing need to protect Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state in a region with a long history of hostility should be evident. And as I said, while Israel doesn’t come out of this without some justified criticism, there is absolutely no justification for this awful swathe of anti-Semitic prejudice against Jews – historically they are a tremendous people with an excellent written tradition and many great innovators. The Jewish people are an insecure group - and understandably so, after being subjected to the Holocaust, continually being threatened with the eradication of their existence, repeatedly being victims of aggression by neighbouring Middle Eastern nations (thankfully all of whom they are much more powerful than militarily), and also being on the receiving end of some extreme factions of the Palestinian people - factions that are letting down their fellow Palestinians, who are innocent civilians trying to obtain basic human rights and not be oppressed. The very minimum responsibility for forming viewpoints is to adopt a thoughtful, compassionate and a balanced view.
While many view this as a political and territorial dispute, and it is to some degree – as I said at the top, I do not think we can understand the situation properly unless we also see it from a Biblical perspective, because Israel holds a unique place in God's plan. Scripture repeatedly affirms that God chose Israel as His covenant nation (Deuteronomy 7:6-8), although this does not mean that He loves Israel more than other nations. Rather, God’s election of Israel was for the purpose of bringing His light to the world (Isaiah 49:6) and ultimately ushering in the Messiah, through whom salvation is available to all people (John 3:16, Romans 10:12-13). And let me be clear once more, this divine priority does not exempt Israel from judgment or criticism - on the contrary, the Bible foretells that Israel will face immense tribulation in the last days (Zechariah 12:2-3, Matthew 24:15-22) because of their ungodliness. At the same time, it also speaks of a future peace when Israel will turn back to God and recognise Christ as the Messiah (Zechariah 12:10, Romans 11:25-26).
The ongoing struggle over Israel is not just a geopolitical issue but a spiritual one, tied to prophecies yet to be fulfilled. I’ve often asked myself how we square Israel being God's chosen people with some of the things they've done wrong in the past 60 years. But I know that the Bible is clear that God’s choice of Israel was not based on their righteousness or moral superiority. In Deuteronomy 7:7-8, God explicitly says that He chose Israel not because they were greater or better than other nations, but because of His love and His covenant with their ancestors. And we can be frequently aghast at how, throughout our reading of the Old Testament, Israel frequently disobeyed God, engaged in idolatry, and even oppressed their own people. Yet, with His continued grace, patience and mercy, even in spite of their huge failures, God remained faithful to His promises. That the Lord shows each of us similar grace, patience and mercy is something for which Christians, above all, ought to be continually thankful. It is, at best, unbiblical and, at worst, deeply shameful that so many Christians disregard the perspective of Israel in this conflict, especially when in doing so they actively support groups that openly seek the destruction of God’s people.
Let’s be clear about this. As followers of Christ, we are called to seek truth, uphold justice, and love our neighbours. And this requires careful discernment, especially in complex global issues where suffering exists on all sides. But standing for truth does not mean abandoning biblical convictions or aligning with those who promote hatred and violence, even if you’re doing it accidentally by being unapprised of what you’re really doing. What I read repeatedly from scripture is that no individual Christian, church, or nation can truly thrive while standing in opposition to Israel. Scripture is clear: God’s promises to Israel are irrevocable, and His covenant with them endures. To position oneself against Israel - whether through apathy, hostility, or de facto support for those who seek its destruction - is to place oneself at odds with the purposes of God. History testifies that blessing Israel brings blessing; while cursing it invites judgement.
And let me reiterate something vital to the cause, lest you accuse me of being partisan. The Bible actually shows that God holds Israel to a higher standard. In Amos 3:2, God tells Israel, "You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your sins”. This pattern plays out in history: when Israel turned away from God, they faced judgment - whether through exile (Babylonian captivity), defeat, or internal division. The same principle applies today: being chosen does not exempt Israel from being accountable for moral or political failures. And it’d be remiss to not point out that the Israel of today is a secular nation-state, not the theocratic kingdom that existed in biblical times. While modern Israel’s existence is a fulfilment of prophecy (Ezekiel 37:21-22), its government is not necessarily operating under biblical principles. Many Jews in Israel today are secular or even atheist, and the nation’s policies are not always biblical ethics, which means there is reaping in the sowing.
The sad truth is, the nation of Israel has been in a constant state of war since its founding in 1948. It has been attacked multiple times by neighbouring countries and terrorist groups (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, later Iran through proxies, and recently Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Islamic jihadis, including Iran again). And I must stress this point too; even though Israel's behaviour towards the Palestinians has been harsh, disproportionate, and reckless at times, especially around restrictive measures, you can’t begin to understand this except through the lens of perspective that understands being surrounded by countries and tribal ideologies that want to wipe them off the map, and will use any squalid tactic to achieve this. Israel is not just fighting a local territorial dispute; it is fighting for its very survival in a region where multiple enemies openly call for its total annihilation. Understanding this reality is key to making sense of Israel’s decisions, however tough and imperfect they may seem on the surface.
You may recall, in 2005, Israel withdrew completely from Gaza, leaving it to Palestinian self-rule. The hope was that Gaza would flourish, but instead, Hamas took over in 2007, and since then, Gaza has been a launchpad for thousands of rocket attacks on Israeli cities. Every ceasefire has been broken by Hamas. The presence of Israeli military checkpoints and security measures may seem harsh, but they are there because previous terrorist attacks - including suicide bombings in Israeli cities - came from the West Bank. When Israel relaxed these security measures, terror attacks increased, quelle surprise. It’s easy to look at Israel’s recent policies toward the Palestinians - checkpoints, military operations, restrictions on movement - and see them as oppressive. However, these measures exist in no small part because past attempts at peace have been met with terrorism, not cooperation. Even when Israel makes genuine attempts at inviting peace, history shows that it has been unable make peace with entities who calls for its destruction and denies its people the right to exist. For all concerned in the Middle East, I hope and pray things improve.
In the next blog post on Israel, I will look at the situation in terms of biblical prophecies, especially end time prophecies.
