Has Our ‘Light Unto the Nations’ Become Dim?

The Jewish people are called upon to be a holy nation, a kingdom of priests, God’s witnesses, and a light unto the nations. These ideals stand at the heart of Judaism’s understanding of its mission in the world. Yet today Israel, the Jewish State, is facing unprecedented international isolation, while Jews around the world confront a dramatic resurgence of antisemitism. The question we must ask ourselves is not merely why this is happening, but whether some of our own actions have contributed to it.

Israel’s standing in much of the world has deteriorated sharply. Countries that were once among its strongest supporters have become increasingly critical and even somewhat threatening, which makes us question just how sincere their support ever was.

However one views the actions of the current Israeli government, claims that Israel has been the stumbling block to peace from the very beginning and thus is in large part responsible for its current situation, bear no relationship to the truth. The record is clear and unambiguous on this crucial point.

The U.N. General Assembly Resolution (181) that carved out part of Palestine for a Jewish state, it carved out a bigger chunk for a Palestinian Arab state. The Jews accepted it. The Arab side chose war instead. Israel was prepared to negotiate a Palestinian state in 1949, but Egypt, Syria, and Jordan preferred to divide up the land among themselves. Egypt took Gaza, Syria took the Golan, and Jordan took the West Bank (Judea and  Samaria). Israel was prepared to do so in 1967, but the Arab world responded with the infamous “Three No’s”: “No peace, no negotiations, no Israel.”

In 1993 1995, and 2020, Israel actually negotiated and signed agreements that would have led to the creation of such a state. The Palestinians responded with renewed and sustained violence.

The world’s leaders ignore all of this and instead they pounce on Israel for defending itself. The result: Recent surveys indicate that unfavorable views of Israel have risen substantially in the United States and elsewhere.

There are also worrying signs within Israel itself because many Israelis are losing faith in Israel’s future. Because of this, Israel now faces a negative migration balance, with more Israelis leaving than Jewish immigrants arriving. Many of those departing are young professionals whose talents are needed in medicine, education, technology, and other critical sectors. This trend is particularly troubling because it is taking place at a time when antisemitism is increasing throughout much of the Diaspora.

Of course, hostility toward Jews and toward Israel did not begin with the current government, nor did it begin with Israel’s response to the horrors of October 7, 2023. Antisemitism has existed for centuries, and Israel continues to face genuine security threats from Hamas and its ilk—Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Iran, and other enemies. Any honest assessment on the world’s part must acknowledge these realities, as well, but they are mostly ignored.

An honest assessment on our part, however, must acknowledge the role that Israel’s current government plays in this existentially dangerous situation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political strategy is self-centered. He is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister and wants to be remembered that way in history, which means extending his record 6,800-plus non-consecutive days in office so far out that no one will ever be able to overtake him. He will do whatever it takes to guarantee that, which means making political deals with any parties willing to form a government with him.

Netanyahu also made the fateful decision to align Israel closely with one side of the American political spectrum. His public confrontation with President Barack Obama over the Iran nuclear agreement may have been politically advantageous in the short term, but it contributed to transforming support for Israel from a bipartisan consensus into an increasingly partisan issue.

The greatest damage to Israel’s international standing, however, has come from the Gaza war—a war that arose from an attack by Hamas that Israeli intelligence had been warning Netanyahu about for over a year. That raised two other facts that must be considered in evaluating Netanyahu and his government. The reader can make up his or her mind about what these facts mean.

The first is this: Much has been made about how Qatar, beginning in 2018, had begun transferring suitcases filled with tens of millions of dollars per month into Gaza, meaning into the hands of Hamas. What is often not said is that Netanyahu approved of those transfers because, he says, they were designated for humanitarian aid. He even supplied security for the Qatari messengers who carried those suitcases.

The second is that early in 2023, Qatar warned Netanyahu that some of the funds, at least, were being used by Hamas to help it plan a major attack on Israel. Qatar asked him whether he wanted the funds to continue flowing into Gaza. He said yes.

He did so even though he already had “detailed information” given to him months earlier of “Hamas’ plan to breach the Gaza border at dozens of points and attack dozens of communities and army posts,” as the daily newspaper Haaretz reported it on November 24, 2023.

As the New York Times reported on December 2, 2023, that information was contained in a 40-page document prepared by Israeli intelligence in late 2022 and called “Jericho Wal.” That report, said the Times, “outlined, point by point, exactly the kind of devastating invasion” Hamas was planning, and which Hamas followed a year later “with shocking precision.”

To date, Netanyahu’s government has reluctantly supported investigations into the October 7 failures, but it continues to obstruct the creation of the traditional independent State Commission of Inquiry demanded by many victims’ families, opposition leaders, former security officials, and a substantial portion of the Israeli public. The central dispute is not whether an investigation should occur, but how independent it should be and who should control it. Again, we leave it to the reader to decide why.

All that aside, however, the Hamas massacre of October 7 was without doubt among the worst atrocities committed against Jews since the Holocaust. Israel had every right—and indeed an obligation—to defend itself and to seek the destruction of Hamas’s military capabilities. Yet as the war continued month after month, images of widespread destruction, massive civilian displacement, and enormous loss of life increasingly shaped global perceptions.

Whether fairly or unfairly, many people who initially supported Israel came to view its military response as disproportionate. The result has been a dramatic decline in international sympathy and support.

At the same time, violence by Jewish extremists in Judea and Samaria has further damaged Israel’s reputation. Palestinian homes have been burned, orchards destroyed, livestock stolen or slaughtered, and innocent civilians assaulted. These are not isolated incidents.

Israeli leaders across the political spectrum, from the moderate right to the far left, have condemned such acts. Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar warned that Jewish terrorism in the West Bank threatens Israel’s future. President Isaac Herzog has described such attacks as shocking and intolerable. Senior military officials have called them both morally unacceptable and strategically damaging.

The daily images of such violence, widely distributed through social media, have had a profound effect on how Israel is perceived throughout the world.

Equally disturbing are the annual Jerusalem Day marches through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. What should be a celebration of Jerusalem’s reunification has increasingly become associated with scenes of intimidation, racist chants, and harassment of Palestinian residents and businesses. Adding to the perceptions this “parade” engenders are the presence of Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. Such images are eagerly seized upon by Israel’s critics, but they also raise difficult moral questions that Israelis themselves cannot ignore.

All of this should concern us not only because it damages Israel’s image, but because it challenges the values Judaism teaches.

The Torah repeatedly commands us not to oppress the stranger, reminding us that “you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” It also mandates that there must be one law for everyone—citizen or stranger, Jew, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, other religion and no religion—because everyone must be treated equally under the law. Our tradition insists that power must be tempered by justice, compassion, and humility. Military strength may be necessary for survival, but it is not sufficient to fulfill the Jewish mission.

There is no simple solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The hatred, mistrust, and trauma on both sides run deep. Nevertheless, Israel’s long-term future depends on it. The alternative is continued conflict, growing isolation, increasing antisemitism, and a future marked by fear rather than hope.

The Jewish people have survived for thousands of years not because we possessed power, which we did not, but because we possessed values. Israel must continue to defend itself against those who seek its destruction. But it must also ask whether its policies and actions reflect the ideals that have sustained the Jewish people throughout history.

If we wish to be a light unto the nations, we must first ensure that our own light continues to shine.

–

This essay was co-authored by Rabbi Shammai Engelmayer.