A famous Jew named Arthur Koestler once posited that most modern Jews are not of Israelite genes but actually of European descent: from lineages that converted in Germany and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages to escape the wrath of invading Muslims, who were targeting not Jews, back then, but Christians.

They called them Khazars, a Turkic group that established a powerful empire between the Black and Caspian Seas and evolved into the “Ashkenazi” Jews, notable not only for that conversion to Judaism in the ninth century but also for their strategic position between the Islamic and Christian worlds. 

The term “Ashkenazi” comes from the Hebrew word “Ashkenazi,” which was a medieval name for the Germanic region. These are “Jews” whose ancestors lived in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in countries like Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Hungary, and surrounding regions.

The Ashkenazi today compose at least 31.8 percent of Israel’s population. Is this—their non-Palestinian origin—a key factor in the modern tensions?

The theory got Koestler in much trouble and today is widely discarded based on updated alleged genetic evidence.

Irony: that “nazi” would be the last part of the ethnic moniker.

Hatred for Jews–the bias–is not confined, we all know too well, to the Middle East and was exhibited most appallingly by Adolph Hitler.

Currently, the situation in Gaza, where Israel is at war, is reigniting such antagonisms.

There is no question that what Hamas did to Israel was beyond horrendous:  On October 7, 2023, thousands of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory. Over 2,500 armed Hamas terrorists infiltrated southern Israel, attacking over twenty civilian communities. Many victims were tortured, mutilated, or burned alive. Entire families were executed in their homes. Death toll: 1,200. It was an incredible, unprovoked atrocity.

The question now is whether Israel, with its ongoing war in Gaza, has overreacted. (Death toll in Gaza: 60,400).

This has caused outrage around the world, including at the Vatican (where Pope Leo describes what is now occurring as “barbarity”).

In so many ways, Jews are our brothers and sisters; after all, we’re “Judeo-Christian.”

We both focus much on the ancient holiness of Jerusalem.

We both live by the Old Testament, looking to Abraham and Moses and Isaiah and David.

Elijah. Jacob.

But of course, one we part ways over the second half of the Bible: the all-important New Testament.

Our sorrow is that our Jewish brothers don’t acknowledge their own kinsman Jesus as the Messiah.

The danger for our brothers the Jews is in 1 John 2:22-23 and 2 John 1:7. These verses highlight that denying Jesus as the Christ is a characteristic of an antichrist and a liar, and that those who do not acknowledge Jesus coming in the flesh are deceivers. 

While no one is calling Israelis that, does the resistance to Christ, in addition to any possible ethnic tension, cause resistance to them?

We must beware of anti-Semitism while at the same time discerning Zionism.

Anyone who has visited Israel knows how remarkable–and kind–Israelis are.  They are not of the antichrist. That they have been able to survive is a modern wonder.

It’s time for their leaders to act similarly.

[Footnote:

The Bible tells a long, dramatic story about the Jewish people. It says they were chosen by God through Abraham to be His special people, with a promise of blessings if they followed Him—and trouble if they didn’t. Over time, they often strayed, and prophets like Moses warned that they’d be scattered across the world if they didn’t stay faithful. That happened through various exiles, especially after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

Even so, God promised He would never completely abandon them. No matter what, a faithful group—a “remnant”—would survive. The prophets also spoke of a Messiah who would come to save them and the world. Christians believe that Messiah is Jesus, though most Jews didn’t accept Him, which led to the idea that one day they will come to recognize Him. In fact, Paul in the New Testament wrote that the Jews’ rejection of Jesus was temporary and that eventually “all Israel will be saved.”

The Bible also hints that the Jews would one day return to their land, which many see beginning to happen with the modern state of Israel. It also speaks of a future time of great hardship for them, but in the end, they would be redeemed and come to see the One they “pierced” and mourn—realizing who He really is. The overall message is that the Jewish people have a unique and ongoing role in God’s plan, marked by struggle, survival, and ultimately, a dramatic reunion with God.]