Aug 25, 2:03 PM
The Geopolitics of Scripture: Israel’s Preemptive Holy War
By wrapping military doctrine and territorial expansion in biblical rhetoric, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government attempts to elevate raw power politics above international law.
Statesmen have long understood the utility of divine sanction. Addressing a Jewish conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in West Jerusalem this June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu anchored a strategic shift towards preemptive warfare in antiquity. Citing an ancient Jewish legal maxim about killing those who come to kill you, he translated the doctrine into blunt instructions for his forces to strike first. This rhetorical maneuver frames a modern military posture, reminiscent of the 1967 strategy, as an ancient moral imperative.
Scriptural justifications carry legal risks. During International Court of Justice hearings in January 2024, South African counsel highlighted Netanyahu’s invocation of the biblical Amalek, a scriptural command for the total destruction of an enemy. Lawyers presented this as evidence of genocidal intent in a Gaza campaign that has claimed over 73,400 Palestinian lives since October 2023. Consequently, in January 2026, the Arab Organisation for Human Rights UK petitioned London to impose travel and financial sanctions on the Israeli premier.
Political survival often demands a flexible relationship with scripture. Even David Ben-Gurion, the secular architect of the state who oversaw the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Nakba, employed biblical references during wartime more frequently than Netanyahu, a 2025 Jewish People Policy Institute study found. Yet today's rhetoric frequently abandons any diplomatic veneer. Former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant justified a total siege on Gaza by declaring that the military was fighting human animals.
Beyond Gaza, theology serves as a highly effective land acquisition strategy. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and his allies routinely use the biblical designations of Judea and Samaria to assert an absolute entitlement to the West Bank. This echoes historical edicts; in 2004, Rabbi Avraham Shapira warned soldiers that dismantling settlements was a sin akin to eating pork. Today, this divine claim is backed by earthly resources, allocating unprecedented funds from a 271 billion dollar budget to consolidate control. Approximately 700,000 settlers now reside there amid a surge of violence, with upwards of 3,700 attacks against Palestinians over two years.
This ideological framework inevitably dictates behavior on the front lines. Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv, an army reservist, appeared on Israeli television in January 2025 to boast about demolishing homes in Gaza and southern Lebanon. Rather than facing censure, Zarbiv was selected by Transport Minister Miri Regev to light a ceremonial torch on Independence Day, prompting an International Criminal Court war crimes complaint from the Hind Rajab Foundation. The human rights organization B'Tselem condemned the honor, stating it signals state endorsement of ethnic cleansing. When a nation-state delegates its military ethics to biblical literalism, the distinction between territorial defense and holy war conveniently evaporates.
Written by Thorben Thiede thorben.thiede@alpineweekly.com
