Who is responsible for theological drift: Netanyahu or West?

While the Israeli army continues its occupation of Gaza step by step, that country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, attempts to justify the killing of Palestinians with reference to the Torah. In the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, Netanyahu embraced Jewish theology by bringing up the Prophecy of Isaiah regarding the “promised land.”

I discussed in a column last week why that move posed a threat to regional and world politics. I also highlighted the importance of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recognizing the risk of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict turning into a religious war and warning the West, starting with the United States, against portraying the current situation as a battle between the crescent and the cross.

It would seem that Benjamin Netanyahu, finding himself under immense pressure at home, won’t hesitate to double down on this theological discourse. It is alarming, nonetheless, that Western governments haven’t warned the Israeli prime minister against inciting a religious or civilizational conflict – even though more than 8,000 Palestinians have already perished. Furthermore, there is the bitter memory of how the U.S. promptly began to talk about “the crusades” after 9/11 and how its occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq fueled radicalization in the Middle East. That was the toxic environment that gave rise to Daesh.

‘God will bless the nation that blesses Israel’

U.S. President Joe Biden had recently described himself as a Zionist. More recently, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson pledged to “stand like a rock” with Israel, using an Evangelical discourse: “As a Christian, we believe the Bible teaches very clearly that we are to stand with Israel. God will bless the nation that blesses Israel.”

What is there to say about this mindset that treats endorsing the oppression and killing of 2.3 million blockaded Palestinians in Gaza as a means to be blessed? This theological platform, where Democrats and Republicans unite to support Israel, revives the “clash of civilizations” theory. Moreover, as U.S. politicians make no attempt to hide their theological arguments, Europe’s secular politicians refuse to speak up. Unable to show leadership in times of crisis, Europe watches the Judeo-Christian discourse gradually take over the idea of the secular Western civilization. While the militarists in Washington gain momentum by saying that civilians, too, die in wars, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been abandoned for saying that the Palestinians are “suffocating.”

Demise of U.N. system, int’l law

The international crisis that started on Oct. 7 has not been limited to Israel and Palestine. We are witnessing the demise of the United Nations system and international law. Unlike Western leaders, ordinary people have been gathering in Western towns to support the Palestinians – an extremely valuable gesture that embodies the international community’s conscience.

Obviously, President Erdoğan has been doing everything in his power to encourage conscientious acts as the most vocal critic of the ongoing oppression. Addressing 1.5 million people gathered at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport on Saturday for the “Great Palestine Rally,” the Turkish leader delivered a message to the West once again: “Do you want to start a fight between the crescent and the cross anew?”

It was surprising to see that some Western media outlets portrayed that warning as a call to religious war. Those who bless Israel’s massacres instead of stopping them not only fuel anti-semitism and anti-Western sentiment in the non-Western world with their Judeo-Christian discourse but also condemn such warnings. Marching down Netanyahu’s path, they pour poison on the roots of the secular Western civilization. Who bears greater responsibility for that theological drift?

[Daily Sabah, November 1, 2023]