Benjamin L. Corey

Benjamin L. Corey


What If Blessing Israel Means Confronting Their Violence?

My heart breaks as violence is on the rise again in Israel. Just within the last few days, we’ve seen a Palestinian child burned alive , seen leaked video of Israeli police beating an American Palestinian child who was bound at the time, a Christian minister has been attacked by Israeli settlers, and an Israeli lawmaker has called for even the death of noncombatants, saying in part:


If history is any testimony, there’s no telling how bad things might spiral out of control this time. While it’s true that at least this time, one of the final sparks to conflict was the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers, the violent retaliation is beyond sickening.




Even beyond the fact that we ignore it, is the fact that we attack those who have the courage to speak up. It takes no courage at all to criticize Palestinians when they respond to their occupiers with violence– plenty of people speak up. But speaking up against Israel? Too many Christians don’t. While it is true that the Palestinians are not guiltless, it is important to remember that they are not the ones in power. There is always special accountability for the individual (or in this case group) who holds the power– but we’ve held them to none.

Why is this the case? Sadly, the answer is quite simple. In Genesis 12:3 we see God say the following to Abraham:


Not to be overly simplistic, but that verse is the core of why this happens. Many Christians believe that this promise to Abraham means that we must bless the modern nation state of Israel, and that if we don’t, God will curse us. Of course, this belief has all kinds of problems– such as the fact that the New Testament teaches that there is no longer a distinction between Jews and Gentiles, that people of God are those who have been circumcised “of the heart”, etc.

Setting aside the flawed theology I’ve addressed in the past, the belief that we should “bless” Israel has somehow over the course of time come to mean “we must support everything Israel does”. It’s a tragic confusion that has caused us to support all kinds of horrible things that do not reflect the Jesus we see in the New Testament.

While my argument around this area of theology has usually been that the modern nation state of Israel is to be treated equally to all others instead of elevated as having a special standing with God, I want to set that aside for a minute. Let’s say the “stand with Israel” folks are right, and that we must bless Israel in order to avoid God’s wrath. If that’s the case, I have a different question:

What if blessing Israel actually means we develop the courage to stand up against Israeli oppression and violence?

I think the best way to bless someone who is caught up in destructive behavior is not to condone or to support the behavior, but to lovingly confront the behavior and show them a better way. I don’t see why this would be any different with Israel. Allowing this nation to continue this behavior is not loving, and it is certainly NOT a blessing. Ironically, it’s a curse– because violence, oppression and retaliation are ultimately self destructive.

I say, let’s be a blessing to Israel. But let’s not continue to think that blessing someone means we never ever confront unacceptable behavior.


Benjamin L. Corey

Benjamin L. Corey





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