Netanyahu's Latest Ploy – The 2021 Gaza War

It is tragic to watch yet another chapter of violence unfold in the Southern Levant. Israel and Hamas are at war again. People are dying in Gaza. Homemade rockets, the paltry weapons of a desperate people are fired into Israel and yes, some have died. We've seen this play out before. But in this case, there's an extra layer of cynicism and depravity at work as all this centers around the evil that is Benjamin Netanyahu, the current and longtime prime minister of Israel.

A member of Likud, Israel's mainstream version of fascism, Netanyahu is a man of blood and violence and this goes back to his rise in the 1990's. He fomented violence and many believe that he bears at least some of the blame in whipping up the Israeli settler population in the aftermath of the Oslo Peace Accords. This would result in the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, an event Netanyahu capitalised upon, coming to power in 1996.

He fell from power and his party did all it could to sabotage the brief and ineffective Labour administration of Ehud Barak. Ariel Sharon would come to power in the spring of 2001, a name associated with Israel's many wars and vast slaughter among the Palestinians and the Lebanese. He would fall victim to a stroke in 2006, and his successor Ehud Olmert would fail, burdened by Israel's disappointing performance in the 2006 Lebanon-Hezbollah War as well as numerous scandals, eventually leading to his post-office incarceration. The Sharon-Olmert Kadima Party would also eventually collapse and with Olmert's fall and the ensuing chaos - the door to a renewed Likud under Netanyahu was opened.

Netanyahu once again became prime minister in 2009 and twelve years later he's still office and doing everything he possibly can to avoid leaving. Plagued by scandal and impending indictments upon leaving office, he's clearly doing all he can to retain power. He has manipulated elections, used the instability created by Covid-19, and sabotaged attempts to form a new government, and in every case is able to work the Israeli system in order to stay in power. In some cases he has blatantly defied the law and in this case he's demonstrated he's more than willing to start a war in order to retain his position.

Netanyahu more than anymore has stoked these fires. He has pursued an aggressive settlement policy in the West Bank that has effectively killed any possibility of the Palestinians forming a viable state – and thus the Two-State solution is (it would seem) a dead prospect. He defies laws both international and domestic, behaving at times like a dictator or one that wishes to become one.

In light of recent protests over Israeli moves in East Jerusalem it was Netanyahu who ordered Israeli forces to invade the al-Aqsa mosque knowing full well that would spark a major confrontation. Ariel Sharon sparked what become known as the Second Intifada in 2000 when he forced his way into the Temple Mount. Palestinian outrage led to violence and thousands would die by the time things calmed down in 2005.

Thus far dozens have died as violence has broken out all around the country and there's a strong possibility of a wider war.

Netanyahu doesn't care. For him, it's an opportunity. Emergency rule means he can retain office and that's ultimately his only goal. He does not care if people die as a result. Additionally he knows he has cover. The United States stands behind him. The Biden Administration may not be as wholeheartedly devoted to Likud as was the Trump administration but that hardly matters. Israel will be protected by Washington. And in addition to the Biden circle, Netanyahu has strong (and many personal allies) among the American Evangelical community. This is in no small part due to the heresy of Dispensationalism which has a Judaized understanding of the Kingdom completely at odds with New Testament teaching. Because this school of theology rejects the teaching of the apostles and insists on reading the New Testament through Old Testament eyes, they believe the Jews are still God's chosen people and have an unqualified right to those lands. Due to their eschatological system they believe a Third Temple must be built in order for prophecy to be fulfilled and thus they support every policy of Likud which seeks to drive Palestinian Arabs from the land.  Like their ally Netanyahu, these people who are often very politically active have hands literally dripping with blood. Their ethic is derived from a false reading of Scripture and has resulted in an outlook and political activism that is diametrically opposed to New Testament teaching.

They are the force behind Israeli support in congress and financially speaking many of their 'ministries' play a direct financial role in supporting Israeli settlements and some of the more radical elements in that society. Netanyahu more than any other Israel prime minister is their hero. And he's no fool. While he undoubtedly personally despises these people he is willing to use them and caters to them. He is the consummate politician, a master at manipulation. He has also played no small role in attempting to steer US policy vis-à-vis Iran. The significant support for an aggressive policy and the rollback of the Nuclear Peace deal came from not just Right-wing circles but Evangelical ones.

And that's the tragedy. Christian radio is filled with calls to stand by Israel. Even politicians who don't agree with Likud tremble at the thought of opposing Netanyahu – especially if Evangelicals comprise a significant bloc within their constituency.

The modern Zionist movement has nothing to do with Old Testament Judaism. It is a secular-nationalist ideology born of Enlightenment thought. Doctrinally speaking the Jewish people have no right to that land. In light of humanitarian concerns their moves toward the creation of a state in the aftermath of the Holocaust is understandable but their outrageous maneuvering in the aftermath of WWII cannot be justified. Further, the events of 1948 are without theological significance. They are read in (eisegetically) into the prophetic texts. Additionally it is more than slightly ironic to consider just how the Israeli state has behaved once it was empowered. It has been brutal and at times has behaved very much like the people who have oppressed the Jews throughout history. As expected there is a spectrum to Zionist thought but since the late 1970's the hard-right has dominated. Likud has fascistic and terrorist roots going back to the days of the British Mandate and it cannot be denied the party's ideology and some of its founders were more or less fascists themselves. The history is ugly but largely unknown in the United States. The charlatan pastors who twist the Word of God to their own personal and political ends are certainly not going to tell it.

And the tragedy continues. Netanyahu's only hope is to stay in office until his indictments collapse or the statute of limitations is reached. He will lie, cheat, steal, and murder to avoid prosecution and it's a sad day when his closest allies are found among the Evangelical community in the West. Heresy is bad enough but in this case it's heresy that's literally killing people.

See also:

https://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-jerusalem-embassy-dispensationalism.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2015/08/dispensationalisms-bloody-record.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-twin-disasters-of-american.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2020/03/netanyahu-and-likuds-bid-for-power.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-most-dangerous-man-of-hour.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2015/05/dispensationalism-and-14-may-1948.html

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2014/11/some-historical-and-theological.html