God did not give Israel unconditional support

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I have for years followed the situation in the Middle East with Israel and Palestine. I was sympathetic to the cause of the Jews, who were persecuted through millennia, and supported their right to a homeland. In more recent years as I have followed these issues more closely, I have come to realise that Israel and its leaders are not blameless in these matters. I have learnt that people of the Jewish faith were not above participating in an oppressive system, if it were in their interest. Here, I reference the transatlantic slave trade. The Jewish people are human beings, with human failings, like the rest of us.

Today, guilt, in the USA and elsewhere, over inaction during the 1930s when the Jews of Europe were being persecuted and over the holocaust of the 1940s is giving the impression that Israel and its leaders are above criticism and reproach. In many circles, criticism of Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and actions in Gaza are framed as anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. Israel, in my view, is not above criticism. Hamas is wrong, but so is the government of Israel under Netanyahu, in the overkill of actions being taken in Gaza and the impact on Palestinian civilians. This has gone beyond ‘an eye for an eye’. In my view, President Biden has been wrong in giving unconditional support to Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government.

While I am not a biblical scholar, from my reading of the Bible, God did not give unconditional support to the people of Israel and their leaders. They were chastised and punished when they violated their covenant with God. This is seen throughout the Old Testament. A reading which particularly struck me during Easter was from Ezekiel 36, “The word of the Lord came to me saying: Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it by their conduct and deeds. Therefore, I poured out my fury upon them because of the blood they poured out on the ground, and because they defiled it with idols. I scattered them among the nations … I judged them … .” God was not blind to the faults of Israel, as He was not unforgiving in their repentance.

Just as we all decry terrorism and denounce extremist groups like Hamas, there should not be fear in denouncing the actions of Prime Minister Netanyahu as excessive and violating human rights.

The people of Palestine are human beings and have rights too.

ELIZABETH MORGAN