Division Over Israel

What’s going on in foreign policy in the world is one of the most interesting variations of division that I’ve seen in my lifetime.  Positions divide normal allies and unify former enemies.  It’s a challenge even in theological circles with diverse interpretations of biblical prophecy.  The event of October 7, 2023 with the brutal attack by Hamas on Israel also ratchets up emotions, making it more difficult to discuss.

When someone becomes settled, what I like to call “concrete,” in his position, he might take disagreement personally.  Maybe very personally.  It’s tough to talk issues when emotions run so high.  Maybe you’ve seen various podcasts with arguments between an Israeli and a Palestinian.  Heated doesn’t represent how hot the temperature gets.  I’ve noticed very often, between school yard taunts and name calls, the same repeated accusations from both sides.

Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and the Democrat Party

Perhaps you heard about the skirmish now between Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens.  The co-founder of Daily Wire called his employee an “absolute disgrace,” caught on video in a private meeting and went viral.  She then sits down to comment to Tucker Carlson in an explosive interview.  Shapiro has done very angry high energy rants about the expressed position of Carlson.  I couldn’t possibly list every prominent ongoing debate, there are so many.

One can witness the variated division between the remaining Republican presidential candidates.  A divide also exists among Democrats between university-type leftists, Pro-Palestinian, and traditional Democrat Pro-Israel stances, especially represented by Senator Chuck Schumer and others.

The Animosity Toward Israel

Hatred of Israel across the world validates biblical prophecy.  Despite propaganda-like support from Hollywood and in the mainstream media for the Jews and against genocidal treatment, hatred reaches a recent high everywhere.  Based on its mere size, Israel would not deserve or receive this animosity, yet it does.  Why and how?   Two reasons.

One, Satan opposes Israel still.  He wants to throw a wrench into the ongoing plan of God in the world.  He has strong influence on the easily manipulated lost nations and their leaders.  Two, God still fulfills prophecy with chastisement of Israel.  Israel does not have a statute of limitations on God’s reprimands.  I wish for open eyes for Israel, although I don’t expect it.  Yet, God still isn’t done with Israel; hence the continued discipline.

As an example of division, many reading this nod “no” in strong opposition to what I write here.  Many both amillennialists and postmillennialists see God done with Israel, replaced by the church.  When I say “church,” I mean their version of God’s kingdom on earth, made up of Christendom.  They see Israel as an unbelieving, rebellious people, who deserves no special favor against the Arabs in Palestine.

Candace Owens, who professes Christianity, married a Roman Catholic.  Maybe she leans that way now.  She can find support from Reformed evangelicals with a similar view of the world.  You look at the history of Roman Catholicism and even the European Protestant state churches, and you see historical anti-semitism.  Tucker Carlson grew up Episcopalian and he seems right now to return to some version of Christian nationalism, as seen in his interviews of foreign Christian nationalists.  I see Vladimir Putin himself a kind of Christian nationalist, more interested in the survival of his nation and culture.

Jewish Anger toward Hamas and Palestine

What I’m writing in this post would require book or dissertation level analysis.  I’m not going to write that, even though it’s an interest.

I understand Shapiro’s anger.  Hamas killed 1,500 Israelites and took 240 hostages.  The United States is 33 times the population of Israel and had 3,000 killed on 9-11.  That means this is at least fifteen times worse, and it’s almost immeasurable with the way Hamas did it.

Remove the religious and ethnic component, and even as an international incident, if Israel acts like any other nation, it would react more harsh than it even is acting.  When I hear Shapiro defend Israel’s reaction, I agree with him.  I’ve heard both sides of the argument in all their iterations and I support Israel’s argument.  The United States should just let Israel do its thing and not get in the way.  I would advocate for U.S. backing and support if international escalation occurred from prominent Israeli enemies like Iran.

Varied Points of View, Yet Still Supporting Israel

Support without Foreign Aid

On the other hand, I like the idea of not sending money to Israel.  I’m in the proto-Republican anti-intervention, quasi-isolationist camp.  This is more in the realm of a fresh realization of the Monroe doctrine.  The United States solidifies its own security and borders, solves its own very serious problems first.  It follows the Pauline view of bearing your own burdens before you bear those of others.

As a companion to everything else, I like firming up freedom of speech.  Some of this relates to a reaction to January 6 compared to Antifa and BLM riots and the denial of a rigged 2020 election and the denial of 2016 election seen in the Russian Hoax and Hunter Biden laptop.  I understand the concerns over any even questioning of Israel policy as anti-semitic.  White people in the United States, Israel supporters, have felt left out of the concern over racism from American Jews in comparison with silence over Antifa and BLM.  Apparent first amendment supporters should allow free expression of these inconsistencies without pulling an anti-semitism card.

Democrat support of Israel comes with obvious strings attached.  American money brings American supervision or control.  When  America attacked Iraq after 911, relatively little criticism came for collateral damage, death of innocent civilians.  This is the cost of war for American retaliation.  Hamas uses children as human shields and Israel must pause its offensive, perhaps leaving Hamas intact.  The United States should consider not sending monetary support and just allowing Israel free reign on its own security.  American Democrat politics affect Israeli security, bouncing Israel around like a political volleyball.

Hatred from Jews for their Own Supporters

It is tough to bridge historical support of Israel with the typical woke politics among Jews in the United States and Israel.  Almost 50% of Jews in Israel self-identify as secular.  They support same sex marriage and other forms of moral perversion, not operating according to objective truth.  62 percent of the 7.6 million Jews in the United States are secular.  79% voted Democrat in the 2018 midterm elections.

Pew Research did a study on American Jews in 2020 and 81 percent of Orthodox Jews supported Trump.  On the other hand, the same study said 73% of all Jews opposed Trump.  This describes the difference between a secular and religious Jew in the United States.  Recently, secular Jew Barbara Streisand complained that she would not live in the United States if Donald Trump became president again.  She would move to England — you know, the place where 300,000 pro-Hamas protestors recently gathered on the streets of London against Israel.

Shapiro himself sometimes plays, I believe, to the secular Jew.  Perhaps a form of self-preservation innate from hundreds of years of persecution explains.  As a professing Orthodox Jew, attaching himself to the Old Testament in a prominent way, he uses profane language and tells dirty jokes in public. Then when an Owens or Tucker, whom I would see as supporters of Israel, albeit in a lesser way, he reacts in a ballistic manner.  When questioned on Trump in a secular crowd, he throws Trump under the bus in a harsher way than he would George Soros or Bill Maher.

Support of Israel and Milquetoast Response

Part of the Abrahamic Covenant, which is still intact, is that God promised He would bless people that bless Israel.  Among other reasons, that explains a strong support of Israel in the United States, including welcoming those 7.6 million Jews in the United States.  A majority of those Jews have been sharply antagonistic with their chief supporters, many expressing intense hatred for them.  This communicates the peculiar situation this issue provides.  You can greatly dislike the Jewish worldview while really loving and bestowing support for Jews and Israel.

No group provides as sharp and hateful rhetoric toward Christians in the United States like Jews do.  Israel’s protection in the Middle East greatly depends on this group of people mainly hated by Jews in the United States.  In a personal way, I’ve received no greater disrespect than I have from Jews and on many different occasions.  I’ve never treated a Jew in a bad way, always in a loving way.  A small percentage of the Jews I’ve known return that favor.  Of course, they might explain that they don’t like the reason why we love them so much.

Many forms of contradiction occur over the issue of Israel and Palestine.  A Jew easily can confuse a Catholic from a Protestant from an Evangelical.  Even on this blog, in the comment section some attack Israel for Christian reasons while we defend Israel for Christian reasons.  They both can’t be right, yet they both exist.

More to Come