Christians have responsibility to support Jews and Israel

As a Christian who believes in the authenticity and authority of scripture, I’m compelled to express my support for the arguments put forward by Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein in the front-page article of the SA Jewish Report (10 June 2021).

I find it disturbing and tragic that any church leader could show bias against Israel, especially with regard to the recent conflict in Israel and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. It’s ironic that it was Anglican Church leaders in Britain in the early 20th century who advocated the return of the Jewish people to their own land. In fact, they played an active role in the formulation of the Balfour Declaration. They clearly understood that according to the covenantal relationship with the Jewish people, the land of Israel had been promised to Jacob and his descendants. They also believed Biblical prophecies that the Jewish people would return to their land.

As Christians, we owe our entire heritage to the Jewish people, without whom we would have no patriarchs, no prophets, no Messiah, no apostles, no teachings, in fact, no Bible (including the New Testament). The Bible clearly teaches that the Jewish people were sovereignly chosen by Hashem to be a light to the world and a blessing to the nations, and that the land of Israel was given to them as an eternal, inalienable inheritance.

Given this understanding of the scriptures, we can never justify supporting any point of view that can potentially harm the state of Israel. Christian leaders should teach a correct understanding of the scriptures, and the unique significance of the Jewish people and Israel in particular. Their role should be, above all, to seek truth, peace, and reconciliation.

While we are deeply concerned about the plight of the ordinary Palestinian citizens, joining in the propaganda war against Israel only adds grist to the mill of those extremist groups whose avowed intent is to commit genocide, and it will in no way alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians who are pawns in this conflict.

Of course, we are all entitled to express our political opinions in a free democratic country like South Africa, but it’s extremely dangerous to simply tow the party line, as church leaders did (with some notable exceptions) in Nazi Germany. We cannot afford to support any dominant political ideology unless it lines up with the truth of the Bible, our highest authority.