https://fremont.hostmaster.org/articles/israels_betrayal_of_the_covenant/en.html
Judaism is one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions, rooted in the soil of the Holy Land and founded not upon conquest or domination, but upon justice, mercy, and humility. As the prophet Micah wrote:
“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8
This covenant - brit - between God and the Jewish people was never meant to confer privilege, but rather to demand ethical responsibility. To be chosen is to be held to a higher moral standard, to be a light unto the nations.
“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness… I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations.” Isaiah 42:6
Historically, Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived side by side in the Holy Land, often in mutual respect and shared devotion. Judaism has always emphasized love, forgiveness, and empathy for others:
“You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge… but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Leviticus 19:18
Zionism, in contrast, is not an extension of Judaism but a nationalist and colonial ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe. Founded not on Torah values, but on the secular myths of blood, soil, and supremacy, Zionism imposed a political agenda onto a religious heritage. As Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declared:
“We must expel Arabs and take their places… and if we have to use force… we have force at our disposal.”
Where Judaism teaches compassion, Zionism has brought dispossession, apartheid, and unrelenting violence. It transformed the Holy Land into a battleground, desecrating its sanctity and betraying the ethical heart of the Jewish tradition. The state of Israel is not the biblical Israel - it is a modern invention, a secular state whose policies often defy the very teachings of the prophets.
“Do not oppress the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 23:9
Perhaps no act more clearly illustrates the gulf between Judaism and Zionism than the violence of Israeli settlers. In expanding illegal settlements, they have engaged in the systematic displacement of Palestinians - burning crops, uprooting ancient olive trees, filling wells with concrete, and terrorizing families.
“When you lay siege to a city… do not destroy its trees… Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?” Deuteronomy 20:19
These are not the actions of a covenant people. These are the actions of a nation drunk on power and blind to the moral ruin it sows.
Another crime that flagrantly violates Jewish ethics is Israel’s use of administrative detention - the imprisonment of Palestinians, including children, without charge or trial. Detainees are held in inhumane conditions, routinely subjected to humiliation, starvation, disease, and torture. Numerous reports have documented the use of sexual violence, ranging from forced penetration with objects to gang-rape. Prisoners are cut off from all communication, leaving their families in anguish, often unsure whether their loved ones are alive or dead. Even the International Committee of the Red Cross is denied access to many military detention facilities, and deaths in custody are not uncommon.
“If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.” Proverbs 25:21–22
Since October 2023, Israel has escalated this cruelty to unprecedented levels by extending the logic of administrative starvation to the entire population of Gaza - two million human beings.
“I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip… no electricity, no food, no fuel… We are fighting human animals.” Yoav Gallant, Israeli Defense Minister, October 9, 2023
“Not even a grain of wheat will enter Gaza.” Bezalel Smotrich, March 2, 2025
This is not security policy. This is not defense. This is collective punishment - a war crime under international law, and a moral abomination under Torah.
Judaism commands compassion even toward enemies. What Israel is doing is not just illegal - it is sacrilege.
Judaism teaches that all human beings, regardless of race, religion, or nationality, are created in the divine image - b’tzelem Elohim.
“And God created man in His own image… male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:27
To dehumanize Palestinians, to describe them as insects, beasts, or subhumans, is to desecrate that divine image. It is chillul Hashem - a profanation of God’s name.
“The Palestinians are beasts walking on two legs.” Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, 1982
“Palestinians are like animals, they aren’t human.” Eli Ben Dahan, Deputy Defense Minister, 2013
“We are fighting human animals.” Yoav Gallant, 2023
Such rhetoric not only echoes genocidal language from the darkest chapters of human history - it directly contradicts the moral foundation of Judaism.
“You shall keep My statutes… which a person shall do and live by them.” Leviticus 18:5
The commandment of pikuach nefesh - saving a life - overrides nearly every other mitzvah in Judaism. To kill, starve, or torture others while claiming to act in God’s name is the ultimate blasphemy.
“Whoever destroys a single life is considered as if he destroyed an entire world.” Sanhedrin 4:5
To bulldoze homes, bomb refugee camps, shoot aid workers, and let children die of thirst while invoking divine approval is not only chillul Hashem - it is idolatry.
“He who says, ‘This field is as sacred as Jerusalem,’ has committed false sanctification.” Mishnah Nedarim 3:3
Zionism has transformed the land of Israel from a sacred responsibility into a golden calf. It has prioritized statehood and power over life and justice. This is idolatry in its most dangerous form.
“You shall have no other gods besides Me… You shall not bow down to them or serve them.” Deuteronomy 5:7–9
When the love of land and blood overrides the love of neighbor, the covenant is broken.
Jews around the world have a religious and ethical duty to speak out. To remain silent is to become complicit in the desecration of Judaism itself.
“Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression.” Isaiah 1:16–17
“Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos 5:24
“Whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” Sanhedrin 4:5
To redeem the soul of Judaism, Jews must reclaim the moral core of their faith - and stand with the oppressed, not with their oppressors.
The soil of Gaza is soaked with innocent blood. And like Abel’s cry, it rises to the heavens in judgment.
“What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the earth.” Genesis 4:10
You may weaponize the charge of antisemitism to silence critics. You may evade justice on Earth. But you cannot hide from the divine reckoning that awaits those who mock His covenant and profane His name.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own image.” Genesis 9:6
“If you do not obey Me… I will scatter you among the nations, and will draw out a sword after you.” Leviticus 26:33
The covenant was never a shield for murderers. It was a call to justice. Betray it, and you invoke not divine favor - but divine wrath.