The political left, see Zionism as a secular movement, seeking to find Israel a place in the world and be just like the other nations around them. The right wing on the other hand want to emphasise the Jewish ethno-national nature of the state of Israel, with the religious Zionist camp taking this further to say that the state is a vehicle in God’s redemption process for his people. For the larger part of Israel’s history, the secular influence of the nation has been in the ascendancy. The early Jewish settlement of the land were largely militantly secular, drawing inspiration from the communism of the Soviet Union. But over the years, things have gradually changed. A key moment was the premiership of Menachem Begin in the ‘80s, who brought a Jewish religious spirit to prominence in government. But today, everything is different. Religious Zionism, as its come to be known, the leaders of the settlement movement, are in Netanyahu’s government, with plenty of popular support. There are incredibly important politicians, who wake up in the so-called occupied territories, the ‘West Bank’, Judea and Samaria, perhaps from Hebron or Beit El, and they drive to Jerusalem, to the Knesset, to do their day job. The prominence and public support for these figures in Israel is staggering. The events of the past week should stand as a landmark in the the history of the Jewish people, as one of the watershed moments when it became clear that religious Zionism is turning the tide in the land of Israel.
Details about the Knesset Motion
This week, the Knesset, Israel’ Parliament passed a motion, 71 votes for and 13 against, calling for the application of Israeli sovereignty for the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. After the Oslo accords, in 1993, the West Bank was separated into Area A (full Palestinian Authority control), Area B (under civil Palestinian Authority control but Israeli security control) and Area C (under Israeli civil and security control). The application of sovereignty would apply to Jewish settlements in Areas B and C. Area B makes up about 21% of Judea and Samaria and Area C is about 60%. Annexation, or applying sovereignty, is about extending Israeli rule of law over a territory.
It’s important to note that this was not a vote on legislation, which would be legally binding, this is merely a call to the government to apply Sovereignty by a clear majority of the Knesset. It’s unclear what will happen from now, and pretty unlikely that Netanyahu will actually apply sovereignty in the near future. But the fact that this motion had support from the Prime minister and members of both the governing coalition and the opposition is huge. Benjamin Netanyahu voted in favour of this resolution.
This is a whole world of difference from 2005, for example, when Ariel Sharon withdrew from Gaza and a few towns in the northern area of the West Bank - Samaria. The nation of Israel has changed. This has been evident for a number of years now, but this motion is a statement in time, that demonstrates the scale of this change.
Here are a few quotes from the text of this historic motion itself:
“Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley are an inseparable part of the Land of Israel—the historical, cultural, and spiritual homeland of the Jewish people. Hundreds and thousands of years before the establishment of the State, the forefathers of our nation and its prophets lived and acted in these areas, laying the foundations of Jewish culture and faith. Cities like Hebron, Shechem (Nablus), Shiloh, and Beit El are not merely historical sites—they are a living expression of Jewish continuity in the Land. The Simchat Torah Massacre—October 7, 2023—proved that establishing a Palestinian state constitutes an existential threat to Israel, its citizens, and the region at large. The Knesset declares that the State of Israel has a natural, historical, and legal right to the entire Land of Israel, the Jewish people’s historic homeland. The Knesset calls on the Government of Israel to promptly apply sovereignty—Israeli law, jurisdiction, and administration—over all areas of Jewish settlement in Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley in all their forms”
One of the politicians who brought the motion to the Knesset, MK Simcha Rothman, said the following: “A Knesset resolution does not itself implement sovereignty. According to Israeli law, only the government, using an executive order, the Knesset, via legislation, can extend Israeli law, jurisdiction and administration to parts of the land of Israel. But even as a declaration, this resolution carries immense meaning. It expresses our unbreakable bond with the Land of Israel, the cradle of Jewish civilisation. It reflects the national aspiration to realise the return to Zion. It calls upon the Israeli government to act without delay, by its authority, to transform vision into reality”.
The effect of October 7th on the war of the dreams
The reference to October 7th in the motion shows us how the tragedy has shaped and moulded the perspective of the Israeli public and parliament. It has shifted the dial, or shifted the overton window, away from left wing organisations such as “peace now” or “btzelem”, who advocated for a two state solution, towards the prioritisation of security concerns and religious Zionism. Even in terrible tragedy and suffering, we can see the hand of God working with his people in the last days, as we wait for the Lord Jesus Christ to return.
Latter-day prophecy and the annexation of the West Bank
Famously, Ezekiel 38, a latter-day prophecy about Armageddon, describes a gathering of the Jewish people specifically on the mountains of Israel - Judea and Samaria. A few chapters earlier, in Ezekiel 36, we are given more detail about the destiny of mountains of Israel: “But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come…And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded” (Ezekiel 36:8,10).
While these prophecies do not require annexation, it certainly makes sense that the application of soveriegnty would be hugely consequential, in order to reach a situation of peace on the mountains of Israel. As Israel is rapidly becoming a regional superpower, annexation could be another piece in the puzzle that leads to the conditions described by Ezekiel 38.
Further to this, there are many passages in scripture that lead us to believe that the controversy of Zion at the time of the end will have strongly religious overtones. The very phrase, “the controversy of Zion” as written about in Isaiah 34:8 is clearly a religious conflict. This controversy has been played out down through time between God’s people and Babylon the Great, or the Roman Church as Revelation describes. The Beast of Europe, pictured in Revelation 17 is ridden by a woman, the “great whore”, a definitively religious symbol. When the nations come against Jerusalem, they we read in Joel 3:9, they say “prepare war”. The Hebrew for this is “sanctify war”. This sanctification is a religious idea. We expect to see a religious spirit in the land of Israel prior to the Gogian invasion and particularly on the mountains of Israel. The Knesset motion just passed is deeply religious and cultural. There is a vast chasm between many of the leading Zionists today and those of Ben Gurion’s time.
This has been Daniel Blackburn joining you for this week’s edition of Bible in the News.
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