Elections in Israel are only 10 days away. These are the first elections since one of the defining moments of the modern State of Israel - the terror attacks of October 7th. How has this changed public opinion? Will Netanyahu survive as the prime minister? What direction will the country take? These are all questions that will be answered on 27th October, in ten days time.
The Bible view of Israel in the latter days
Firstly, let’s remind ourselves about how the Bible describes the state of the Jewish people in the land of Israel in the latter days? There is lots of information that we can glean from the prophets about this.
- They will have returned to the land of Israel (Eze 38:8 & Joel 3:1-2)
- The old cities on the mountains of Israel will be rebuilt (Ezekiel 36:8)
- Jerusalem will be a largely Jewish city (Zech 12:5-7). The inhabitants of Jerusalem are clearly referring to the Jewish people in the city of Jerusalem
- The towns and cities on the mountains (the West Bank) will be dwelling without bars or gates. They will be living at peace (Ezekiel 38:11)
- The “midst of the land” will become richer in cattle and goods (Eze 38:12)
- The nation of Israel will likely be friendly with the powers of Sheba, Dedan, Tarshish and her young lions. (Eze 38:13).
- Before Christ returns, the Jews in the land will still be in unbelief of the ancient gospel message. The deliverer (the Messiah) comes to turn ungodliness from Jacob (Rom 11:26).
- The Jewish people in the land will be hated by all the nations of the world (Joel 3:2, Zechariah 12:2 - Jerusalem is a cup of trembling).
Therefore, when we look back at the span of the history of the State of Israel, we should expect to the nation moving closer towards the situation described by the prophets. An obvious example is the Settlements on the mountains. Between 1948 and 1967, this territory was part of Jordan, meaning no settlements were built there. After that, although Israel retrieved the territory, its growth was still slow at first. Today however, there is a very vibrant and powerful settler community within the nation.
The “earthquake” election of 1977 still shapes politics today
When the State of Israel was formed in 1948, Ben Gurion’s left wing government held total power. Israel’s institutions were fundamentally left wing, based on the principles socialist economic policy and big government. While everyone in Israel accepted the Bible as part of Israel’s culture, the state itself was also very anti-religion. This version of Israeli politics envisioned the State of Israel as a nation like all of the other nations around. A secular, democratic Jewish State.However, in 1977, everything changed. The elections that year were so historic that they were called ‘the earthquake’ or ‘the upheaval’. In Hebrew, ‘HaMahapach”. Menachem Begin had been the conservative, religious leader of the opposition. He had held the post for years, getting beaten in every election since the founding of the State. But 1977 was different. The devastating setbacks of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, although Israel won in the end, destroyed the publics trust in the left wing labor movement.
Menachem Begin swept to victory, leading the Likud party (of which Netanyahu is the leader today). This meant that everything changed. His religious values meant he was very pro settlement building. He was not in favour of giving the land of the bible away for peace. In short, he began the process of turning Israel into a place that is much closer to the description of Israel in the latter days, as described in the bible. While there have been ups and downs in Israeli politics, since 1977, the right wing religious element of the country has continued to grow and grow in power. Not least because of the strong leadership shown by Netanyahu for decades.
Introduction to Israel’s Politics today
Israel’s Knesset is based on a system of proportional representation. This means that lots of different smaller parties can receive enough votes to gain a few seats in Parliament. This is why the big parties, like Likud (Netanyahu’s centre right party) are sometimes held to ransom by more extreme, smaller parties. He needs the extra seats to form a coalition to get stuff done.
The most exciting thing about all of this, is that the movement to the right of Netanyahu has been growing and growing. The smaller parties, called Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism have been growing in support. These parties represent the votes of settlers on the mountains of Israel. They believe that Israel, rather than being a nation like all the others, should work harder to fulfil their destiny as God’s people, acting as a light to the nations.
Overall, based on the polls so far, it looks like the right of Israeli politics is growing stronger. However, there is also a very strong anti-Netanyahu vote. One of the biggest lies about the State of Israel is that Netanyahu, is some brutal fascistic leader who is hellbent on murdering all the children in Gaza and causing wars all across the Middle East. The world’s media have singled him out and mercilessly demonised him for year after year. Pretentious news anchors and podcasters make the claim that they love the Israeli people, but detest the policies of Netanyahu. The irony of this is that, as far as the Iran war and the situation in Gaza is concerned, public opinion is pretty unified. The next strongest contender for Prime Minister is Gadi Eisenkot. He also was totally in favour of war in Iran. He dismisses immediate demands for Palestinian state with very similar language to Netanyahu. He was part of the emergency war cabinet after October 7th. In two days, his son and his nephew were both killed, fighting in Gaza. He seems to have run a soft right wing campaign, relying on centrist voters and right wing voters who have become disgruntled with Netanyahu.
The Israeli people have to live the reality of being neighbours with a a terrorist organisation. They live the reality of being the only democracy in there region. They live with the possibility that one day, their mortal enemy, Iran might get nuclear weapons. Netanyahu is in power because the Israeli people put him there. They may vote him out of power, but Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza or the war with Iran is still very unlikely to see a shift in direction. The world does not really have a problem with Israel’s leaders. They have a problem with Israel. They have a problem with the only Jewish State in the world.
The elections on 27th October
Its nearly impossible to tell what will happen in these elections in Israel. It looks like Netanyahu may not be able to form a working coalition. But its not looking that amazing for Gadi Eisenkot’s coalition either. It could easily end up as some kind of rotation agreement for the role of prime minister. But what does seem certain, is that overall, Israeli public opinion is slowly shifting further and further right - helped on by October 7th. Neither of the big parties are running on the suggestion of a two state solution. The population of Jews on the mountains of Israel is growing. It looks like the world will carry on hating Israel as much as ever, regardless of whether Netanyahu is in power. All of this the wider view of what we might expect, based on what the prophets say about Israel in the latter days.
The hope of Scripture is that one day, God will establish a new King in Zion when Jesus returns. Psalm 72 describes the kind of ruler that he will be. He will give Israel dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. All there kings of the earth will fall down before him and the nations will serve him. He will bring justice and peace to his people and break in pieces the oppressor.
This has been Daniel Blackburn joining you for this weeks’ edition of Bible in the News.
