Modern Christians, particularly those in the United States, often show unwavering support to Israel in its various conflicts. While there are perhaps good reasons for this at times, there might also be benefits to taking a step back and attempting a more objective view of the situation.
Why do Christians support Israel?
There are number of reasons why Christian support for Israel is so strong.
God’s chosen people
First of all, we have the traditional view that the Israelites are God’s chosen people. While there are theological arguments about whether that still stands, there are no doubt a lot of Christians who take the view that Israel holds a special place in God’s heart and so should also hold a special place in our hearts.
Historical injustice
The western world knows full well what happened to the Jews in the Second World War and understandably would not like to see a re-run of what is still widely considered the worst crime against humanity ever committed.
“They’re more like us”
This is where religion and politics mix. Many Christians see their spiritual heritage as coming from Judaism, and indeed it’s hard to deny this is in fact the case. Compared to Islam, many Christians feel that Judaism is not that far away from their own faith.
This combined with the fact that Israel is effectively the only liberal democracy in the region, again making them just like us.
This point is sometimes put more bluntly as the “Would you rather find yourself in a dark alley with ten Muslims or ten Jews?” question.
The problem
Added to all this is the fact that Israel finds itself surrounded by hostile neighbours and lives with the constant threat of terror attacks.
Critics of Israel often note that its reprisals are excessively brutal and result in large numbers of civilian casualties and destruction. Given the recent conflict in Gaza, it is hard to deny that Israeli military action can be quite devastating.
The reasonable response to this is the “What would you do then?” question. Should Israel just do what Europe does in response to constant terror attacks? (i.e. nothing) or should they actually try to remove the deadly threat to their people?
Can any nation that takes itself seriously allow an event like the 7 October attacks by Hamas go unanswered?
War is not a game of football
Israel’s decision to go to war over the issue is completely understandable and quite probably the right one. But it also has consequences.
War inevitably leads to the moral coarsening of everyone involved. What was previously unthinkable, becomes not only acceptable but perhaps even righteous and desirable.
Let us take the example of Israel’s famous exploding pager operation in Lebanon. This extraordinary attack, targeting Hezbollah’s leadership killed 42 people, but injured thousands more. Two of the dead were children.
It probably is the case that this was the most efficient and “low casualty” method of eliminating Hezbollah’s leadership structure. However, it’s also the case, that had for example Russia done this in Ukraine, or if Iran had done it in Israel, it would have been called terrorism.
Benjamin Netanyahu apparently boasting of the attack, by presenting a golden pager to Donald Trump, strikes me as being somewhat bad taste.
Here lies the problem for Christian supporters of Israel. By cheering on everything Israel does, the impression can be given that Christians are in fact cheering on the wholesale slaughter of women and children in Gaza.
The situation is not helped when some in Israel use allegedly genocidal language when discussing what should be done with the Palestinians in Gaza.
As Christians, we can support Israel and even affirm the need for it to take unpleasant actions to defend itself. However, we should do so while acknowledging and regretting the human tragedy that comes with it.
It might also be worth acting as a “critical friend” from time to time. A real friend will tell you what you the truth, not just cheer you on no matter what you do.
