Upon a first visit to Israel, during an uprising, we gave rides to Israeli soldiers who were hitchhiking to posts, saw how residents of Tel Aviv had sealed rooms set aside in case of a gas attack, and in general felt deep sympathy for the Jews, who were under constant threat.
That was a research trip. During a second visit, this time a pilgrimage, we spoke also to Palestinians and, after an especially long conversation with a taxi driver in Jerusalem, saw their point of view. Two sides, caught in a quandary.
And so it goes. Multiple are the ways to view the Gaza crisis and Israel in general.
There is the evangelical interpretation of Scripture, to the effect that Jews would be dispersed to the far reaches of the earth but eventually brought together in Palestine (Israel) before the end of days. Many believe that has occurred and continues.
Others argue that the new “Israel” is the Christian Church. This is not a widely held view internationally.
And others—most ardently, of course, Arabs—reject Zionism (the movement to reassemble ancient Israel under the domain of Jews).
The problems with that, as we all know, are many.
Start with the fact that however sympathetic the common Palestinian, and however true it is that this land in ancient times was also theirs, the leaders are too often terrorists like Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar, who has reportedly admitted that their true goal is “to create a world where Judaism and Christianity do not exist.” Everyone recalls 9/11 like it was yesterday. First Jews, then the rest of those of us believing in the Bible?
Whatever view one holds, the situation seems unsustainable; a visit to East Jerusalem or the West Bank of Israel reveals a nation of somewhat primitive fenced-off Palestinian encampments surrounded by thoroughly modern and prosperous Jewish communities.
With all the checkpoints and wire, visiting Bethlehem can feel like visiting a prison.
Whose land is it?
Most controversial was the view of a famous Jewish author named Arthur Koestler, who 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, not ancient Israel. The Ashkenazi today compose at least 31.8 percent of Israel’s population.
Is this—the non-Palestinian origin of so many modern Jews—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.
Hatred for Jews—the bias—is not confined, we all know too well, to the Middle East and was exhibited most appallingly by Adolf Hitler.
Irony: that “nazi” would be the last part of the ethnic moniker “Ashkenazi.”
Quite opposite and extreme can views be.
Many proclaim, “The Jews are God’s chosen.”
Others (citing 1 John 2:22) cry, “Israel is of the anti-christ!”
Currently, the situation in Gaza, where Israel is at war, is reigniting such antagonisms. Such disputes have greatly intensified since the horrendous attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, when 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”). It’s hardly just terrorists who are being killed.
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 of course 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.
And so we finish where we began: in that humanitarian (and spiritual) quandary, acutely aware of anti-Semitism, which can be demonic, while at the same time discerning the plight of Palestinians and the extent of Zionism, with a backdrop of end-times prophecy.
+