Should support for Israel be carte blanche?

The travesty that plays out hourly in Israel and Gaza is disheartening.  The horrific terror attack of October 7, 2023 committed by Hamas was morally abhorrent.  Israel’s retaliatory response to the attack is repugnant on a grand scale. Hatred begets hatred ad infinitum ad nauseum.  Seldom do I wade into governmental affairs publicly, but I am compelled to do so today, not only as a Catholic, but as an American whose government has supported Israel, right or wrong.   

No one contests the universal right to self-defense, but what is happening now in the Gaza Strip has long surpassed the definition.  It appears to be revenge against an entire people.  And revenge, as both Jews and Christians clearly understand, is in the hands of God. 

From the beginning of Israel, the Lord said to Moses, “Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”  And from the time of Christ, the Apostle Paul exhorted the Church at Rome, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” 

“Payback” is the way of the world.  Politically, it emboldens the ugliest side of human nature and profits none but the money-eyed arms dealers and Machiavellian ideologues who whip the populace into a frenzy to suit their own purposes.  And now in Gaza, this plot of land, little more than a sliver in the world’s forest, is being utterly destroyed, again.  The irony of this region is pathetic with its repetitive conquest-destruction motif.  The latest calamity mirrors the ancient hostilities – only the names and purposes have changed.    

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Many Christians in America support the State of Israel unreservedly. Some see the modern State as God’s prophetic renewal of the biblical Israel, and emotionally applaud her “right” to exist. And while her right to exist is still hotly debated, her status quo existence – at any cost - should not be debatable.  What is happening right now is revenge by a secular government against an indigenous people.

Ancient history tells us that when the Jews returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonia Captivity, they sought to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, and return to the land promised by Yahweh.  Ultimately dispossessed of the land through a series of revolts against the Roman Empire, the Jews never again returned to claim Judea in the name of her Lord.  Modern history tells a different story.

Only after World War I, under the League of Nations, did European diaspora Jews begin to return to Palestine en masse.  Prior to World War I, Jews represented less than 10% of the total population under the Mandate of Palestine.  Between the World Wars, this number increased, yet it was not until after World War II that the real push – to establish a Zionist homeland in Palestine – picked up steam.  The resulting anger, on behalf of the native (mostly Arab) population, led to conflicts with Jewish settlers. 

In May of 1948 the settlers declared an independent Jewish state ultimately named “Israel.” The immediate result was the Arab-Israeli War.  After that war, which Israel won, Jewish immigration increased in Israeli controlled territory and by 1949 the Jews represented over 80% of the conquered area. This was not a war of reclamation by God’s Chosen People to her ancient land for the glory of Yahweh.  It was the return of mostly irreligious Jews to lay claim to a modern secular homeland.  Indeed, some Jews may have spiritually yearned to return to Israel over the many preceding centuries, but it was the horrific pogroms of 19th century Europe that catalyzed the Zionist movement.

Modern Israel should not be understood as biblical Israel.   

The State of Israel is just like any other form of secular human government, and conducts herself according to human nature.  She has embraced the spirit of former rabbi and politician Meir Kahane who once said, “No trait is more justified than revenge in the right time and place.”

There are plenty of “ifs” and “buts” regarding what I have written.  The debate has been and will continue to rage regarding the legitimacy of the State of Israel vis-à-vis the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.  Yet, since the American government has decided to support Israel - to the tune of $300 Billion (inflation adjusted) since 1946 – I had to ask myself the question:  Do I, as a Catholic and American, support Israel carte blanche?   

The answer, if not already self-evident, is “no.”