April 29, 2024
North Americans have been generally sympathetic to the nation of Israel for the last eighty years. This has been especially true because of the sympathy created once the American public became aware of the Holocaust in World War II, where millions of Jews were annihilated by the Nazi regime.
However, a new viewpoint about Israel is emerging among hard progressives in North America, especially those on university campuses. I thought it might be helpful to provide a summary of the new viewpoint and then to succinctly offer an alternative understanding in light of history, the current situation in Israel, and Scripture. My goal is to see things truthfully and from a perspective in step with God’s Word.
Viewpoint #1 – We ought to view Israelis as colonizers and oppressors.
Many hard progressives have embraced a worldview that starts by seeing every person through the lens of either being part of an oppressor group or an oppressed group.[1] If that is the starting point, they see the Israelis oppressing the Palestinians. Their narrative can run something like the following:
- Israel is primarily made up of white Europeans who came into Palestine and stole Palestinian land after World War II.
- Israel committed terrible crimes against Palestinians in their Wars, especially in 1948, 1967, 1973, and now, again, against the people of Gaza.
- The U.S. unfairly sides with Israel and gives them incomprehensibly high levels of military, economic, and political help by which Israel oppresses the Palestinian people.
- Recently, Israel is using their military and economic might to kill over 30, 000 people in Gaza, most of whom are innocent women and children.
- Not only are the Israelis killing the people in Gaza, but they are also destroying homes and buildings and subjecting the people to starvation, while depriving them of adequate medical care.
- If we are people who care about justice, we must not only protest what is happening, but help to stop and overturn Israel’s oppression.
More and more, the people in our Western culture are being discipled by progressive thinkers to intellectually move away from a worldview grounded in our Judeo-Christian heritage. The Old Testament teachings, which are part of that heritage, have also helped many North Americans (who identify as Christians) to be sympathetic to the unique role of the Jewish people in history.
“The Old Testament teachings, which are part of that heritage, have also helped many North Americans to be sympathetic to the unique role of the Jewish people in history.”
Under the influence of progressivism, people in our Western culture are being influenced to adopt a Marxist-type worldview centered on seeing every people group as either the oppressors or the oppressed. Accordingly, we must always side with the oppressed in overthrowing the oppressors, which is why we see campus protests demanding that universities divest endowment funds from investing in Israel and from companies that profit from the Israel-Hamas war.
To summarize this progressive view:
- The Israelis are colonizers on Palestinian land, where they oppress the Palestinians and even settle in areas (such as the West Bank) which are supposed to be marked off as Palestinian territories.
- The Israelis are an unjust group because of the colonization and oppression.
- Americans who care about justice must protest Israeli actions and stop any partnership with Israel.
As Christians, how should we think about this viewpoint?
I cannot answer by providing “the viewpoint of Scripture,” nor can I write and state “the RENEW.org viewpoint” regarding these questions. There are differences of interpretation and opinion about these things among RENEW.org leaders (we call one’s perspective on modern Israel a “third-bucket issue,” or a matter of personal opinion, not an essential or an important doctrinal perspective (click here for more information on how to distinguish these categories). To be clear, there are godly scholars in our network and beyond who will disagree with what I write below.
“There are differences of interpretation and opinion about these things among RENEW.org leaders.”
At the same time, as an individual, I have a carefully formed perspective that you might find helpful to hear. It is formed by my understanding of history, the realities I have personally witnessed in Israel, and by my understanding of Scripture. I previously described this vantage point at an in-depth level in two articles in October, 2023: Israelis and Palestinians: Understanding Their Mutual Hostility and Does God Still Have a Plan for Israel. What I write below relates to the information provided in those articles, and you may want to come back and refer to them.
Viewpoint #2 – We ought to view Israelis as a uniquely challenged people.
Here are key facts that lead me to see modern Israelis, not as oppressors, but as a uniquely challenged people. In their trials (as with the trials of the Palestinians), the Israelis need our support and prayers. We can hold to this perspective, even while not agreeing with everything the Israelis do. Let me be clear about what that means for us as Christians:
- We should not blindly support the Israeli military, just as we do not blindly support the US or any other military.
- We should not agree with everything the Israeli government does or supports, just as we do not agree with everything the US or any other government does or supports.
- If your theological bent teaches you that God likely has a role for the nation of Israel to play in redemptive history (as is my belief), you can believe this while not thereby believing that God stamps specific Israeli leaders, policies, and actions of the state of Israel with his approval.
At the same time, the following five observations cause me and people like me to be sympathetic to the unique challenges of the people of Israel, and to be prone to support them in their struggle to survive as a nation surrounded by nations and peoples that want to drive them out.
1. The Jews have a rightful claim to land in Palestine.
I believe in the continuing validity of God’s promise of the land of Palestine to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The promise was given somewhere around 2,000 B.C./B.C.E. and is described by God in Genesis 17:
“I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:7-8, NIV)
This promise to Abraham’s descendants, so it seems, falls under that which is described in Romans 11:
“As far as election [of the Jews] is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:28-29, NIV)
I would encourage progressive thinkers who see Israelis as colonizers to remember that if you go back through the centuries, there was a time when the land of Palestine was clearly under Jewish control, and then they were conquered and subjugated by the Romans. The Israelite people lost Jerusalem in 70 A.D./C.E and then lost their limited sovereignty over the land in 136 A.D./C.E., after the Romans defeated them in the Bar Kokhba revolt.
“The Israelite people lost Jerusalem in 70 A.D./C.E and then lost their limited sovereignty over the land in 136 A.D./C.E.”
But, even if this is their historic homeland, does that mean we have to believe Genesis 17 is still valid? That the Jews have a right to the land their ancestors lost in 136 A.D./C.E?
Whether or not your theology sees the Genesis 17 promise as still valid, Israelis have a rightful claim to the land—according to the United Nations. In 1947 it was the United Nations that mandated that the land in Palestine should be divided between the Jewish people and the Arabs who lived there. The Jews accepted the United Nations’ mandate, but the Palestinians rejected the mandate and attacked the Jews in war.
2. Most Palestinian Muslims teach their people hatred, anti-Semitism, and that they must destroy the Jews.
This fact is not talked about enough. Anti-Semitism and hatred for the Jews has been a terrible reality throughout history—and it is the dominant issue that prohibits peace in the Middle East. I believe anti-Semitism is directly inspired by Satan (see the example in Revelation 12:1-4).[2] As a case in point, the Muslim Grand Mufti in Jerusalem during World War II was a colleague of Adolph Hitler. He established and promoted hatred for the Jews in the years that Jews were returning to Palestine. Since those days, many Palestinian Muslims have institutionally embraced and taught hatred for the Jews.
How hard would it be to compromise and make peace when hatred has been the dominant teaching and mindset among the Arab Muslims in Palestine for the last eighty years? It is hard for North Americans to understand this truth, but 71% of Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank agreed with the horrific attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023. This means they agreed when the leaders of Hamas raped, tortured, killed, and kidnapped—slaughtering over 1,200 Israelis in all. There will be no peace in Palestine until the hatred of Jews goes away. Contempt, hatred, name-calling—these continue to be what fuels murder:
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” (Matthew 5:21-22)
“Contempt, hatred, name-calling—these continue to be what fuels murder.”
3. The Jews have been offering land for peace for 80 years.
As stated above, the Jewish leaders agreed with the United Nations mandate in 1947 and offered to follow it, creating two separate states. The Arabs rejected it. Then, again, after the Jews effectively defended themselves in the war of Independence in 1948, they offered, again, to give land back to the Palestinians if they would make peace. The Arabs rejected the Israeli offers outright.
The same thing happened after the wars of 1967 and 1973. It wasn’t until 1978 that Israel was able to make peace with Egypt. And then Jordan finally accepted the offer and made peace in the 1990s. Then in 2000, when U.S. president Bill Clinton met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and Israel again offered major concessions so that there would be peace. But the Palestinian leaders rejected peace and unleashed suicide bombing and further conflict.
It is hard to honestly describe Israel as an oppressor when they have repeatedly offered to give up land for peace.
“It is hard to honestly describe Israel as an oppressor when they have repeatedly offered to give up land for peace.”
Gaza is a Palestinian area which Egypt gave over to Israel control from the 1967 War forward. Then in 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip. The Jews did this as an offer of peace, to give the Arabs and Muslims control of Gaza, as they wanted. But then the people of Gaza immediately elected Hamas, which is thoroughly committed to the destruction of Israel. The attack of October 7, 2023, was simply an expression of the hatred and explicit commitment of Hamas.
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.” (James 4:1-2)
4. As a believer in “Just War Theory,” I believe the Israelis have a right to develop and use a strong military to defend themselves.
There are godly leaders within the RENEW.org network who are pacifists. I respect them and their position, but it is not mine. My study of Scripture has led me to embrace the “Just War” perspective on having a military and engaging in war, when necessary.
But why would Israel want such a powerful military?
The Holocaust taught the Jewish people that they must protect themselves. Wrap your mind around this fact: when the Nazis killed six million Jewish people in World War II, they killed half of all the Jewish people in the world! You cannot understand the mindset of Israelis if you do not understand their memory of the Holocaust. Added to that are the wars and threats they have been subjected to since that time.
“The Holocaust taught the Jewish people that they must protect themselves.”
They have been forced to defend themselves in multiple wars where Arab nations have sought their annihilation since 1947. Even today, though they are at peace with Egypt and Jordan, they are not at peace with Hamas, Hezbollah, or the country of Iran. There are more than 10 times as many Iranians than Israelis, and Iran has explicitly stated that they will “wipe Israel off the map.” Israelis are also subject to threats from in Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and Ethiopia. The Israelis believe they must have a strong military so that they can defend themselves.
“For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. . . . For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” (Romans 13:3-4)
5. From what I can tell, the Israeli Defense Forces seek to follow the principles of a Just War.
I know this is controversial, but please stick with me, as I have tried to think long and hard about this question.
First, let’s acknowledge that no government always does right. And no military always does right. But if we believe we must defend our people/country with a military, there is a framework developed by Christians, going back to the time of Augustine in the 400s, that provides guidance for these matters based upon biblical principles.
There are five key components to the Just War framework, as I understand it, and I will summarize it, applied to Israel, below (click here to read more on what constitutes a Just War).
Is it for a just cause?
My understanding of the Israelis’ relationship with the people in Gaza leads me to believe that because of their hatred for Jewish people, the Gazans have been non-cooperative and keep rejecting reasonable grounds for peace. Israel keeps holding up boundaries (to protect themselves) and hoping for some kind of future peace. But I believe the past attacks of Hamas on Israel and the depth of the atrocities that Hamas committed on October 7, 2023, justify military response. The war against Hamas by Israel is based on a just cause.
“I believe the past attacks of Hamas on Israel and the depth of the atrocities that Hamas committed on October 7, 2023, justify military response.”
Is it with the right intention?
The government of Israel has an obligation to protect the people of Israel. They have tried various means by which they hoped to get to an agreement for peace with the people of Gaza for just under sixty years. The Israeli intention to destroy the military and political leadership of Hamas is essential for peace, especially with Hamas’s history and after what they did to the citizens of Israel on October 7, 2023.
Is it from a legitimate authority?
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have the backing of the democratically elected parliament of Israel. Their government represents the people, and the government is united in their goal of destroying the political and military leadership of Hamas.
Does it have due proportionality?
This is an important question. And it has a disputed answer.
Hamas claims that Israel is using immoral, disproportionate military force. They also claim that Israel has killed over 40,000 people in the war. You can find sympathy for the view of Hamas on the Al Jazeera website.
But there are significant problems if you accept the view put forward by Hamas’s leadership and Al Jazeera. They neglect or minimize truths like the following:
- Hamas uses civilians as human shields, sacrificing innocent lives to protect their military and soldiers.
- Hamas uses hospitals, mosques, churches, etc., to hide their soldiers and weapons.
- Hamas holds their own citizens as hostages in the dangerous areas of Gaza, forcing them to stay at gunpoint when the Israelis have announced they are going to attack an area.
- Hamas reports Israeli atrocities that factually did not even happen.
- Hamas exaggerates death counts and includes in the grand total all the deaths of their soldiers, just as though they are civilians.
“Hamas uses hospitals, mosques, churches, etc., to hide their soldiers and weapons.”
On the other hand, Israel has an army that—by policy and by public government review—is required to follow moral protocols and the conventions of internal law, which corresponds to many of the Just War criteria. Again, like all armies, they will do things that are wrong because they will have soldiers who go their own ways. But they are highly scrutinized and subject to high accountability. You can find a more accurate view of the Israeli army’s actions, in my opinion, by reading the Jerusalem Post on their website.
Here is what you will find if you carefully follow the public conversation in Israel.
- The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are careful to avoid civilian deaths.
- The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) message the cell phones and distribute flyers to all the people in Gaza who may be impacted by their upcoming attacks.
- The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) will stop attacks if they know that most of those who will be killed will be civilians.
- The war in Gaza cannot be fought without a high number of accidental civilian deaths, because of how Hamas embeds itself in civilian infrastructure.
- The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) seek accurate death counts and they say up to a half of all deaths in Gaza are Hamas soldiers.
I have a friend who is a lieutenant colonel in the US military. He spent the last year at a U.S. military war college, preparing for his next assignment, working as a colonel, with a general in Washington, D.C. At high levels, he has been reviewing past and present wars, with U.S. military experts, including the war in Gaza. We talked on the phone last week, and he told me something that surprised me.
“The war in Gaza cannot be fought without a high number of accidental civilian deaths, because of how Hamas embeds itself in civilian infrastructure.”
“Bobby, people have no idea,” he said. “The U.S. military could not be as surgical, precise, and careful as the Israeli Army has been in this conflict. We learned the hard way fighting ISIS in Mosul, Iraq,” he said. “If the US military were conducting this war in Gaza, with circumstances like their dense population, there would many, many more casualties.” He finished by saying, “The media and public have no idea how professional and conscientious the Israeli army is being.”
Is it the last resort?
We must go back to October 7, 2023. When Hamas committed the atrocities on that day, almost every leader in the world supported Israel’s right to defend itself. “Israel must defend their citizens,” everyone said.
But war against Hamas in order to prevent another October 7 and to rescue the hostages is much harder and more costly, and it has taken longer than people expected. These realities do not do not make Israel “an oppressor.” The foundational issues at play coming out of October 7, 2023, have not changed.
I grieve for all the Palestinians in Gaza and for their families. They are not well-served by their leaders. I believe that Satan has established a foothold in the way that they think and believe, and it is driving both their leaders and their population to hate and seek to destroy the Jews. In light of historical brutalities and their current precarious situation, Israelis must defend themselves. They cannot let Hamas pursue their destruction.
“I grieve for all the Palestinians in Gaza and for their families. They are not well-served by their leaders.”
I believe we are being most accurate not to see the Israelis as an oppressor group, but rather as a uniquely challenged people.
Please join me in praying for everyone involved.
[1] For more information, see Daniel McCoy, “We Can Now Go Post-Christian,” RENEW.org, https://renew.org/we-can-now-go-post-christian/.
[2] See “Why Is There Anti-Semitism . . . Then and Now? Q&A with Matthew Umbarger,” and “What is the cause of all the anti-Semitism in the world?”
