Why I support Israel

I have dedicated the months since the brutal attack on October 7^th to defending Israel. I believe, fundamentally, that it is common sense for any individual to recognise the brutality of what Hamas did on that day, and to understand Israel’s need to retaliate. Not just for justice, but to set a precedent to all terror groups that such an attack has fatal consequences.

But despite the clear moral superiority of Israel’s position as the wronged party in this conflict, many individuals and governments have condemned them. A position founded not in logical or moral reasoning, but in ignorance, prejudice and petty politics.

The vast majority of accusations against Israel is propaganda. Misinformation. And the sheer amount of ahistorical lies levelled against the Jewish state is often too overwhelming to address in every hateful hit piece that floods the media.

I am not Jewish. I don’t have a spiritual connection to Israel. To many, it may seem that I don’t have a personal dog in the fight. But despite that, I am a firm supporter of Israel. A proud Zionist under its real definition – the simple and morally-right belief that the Jewish people have the right to a state, and that state should be Israel.

Israel Aligns with my Values

Fundamentally, I support Israel because it aligns with my values. Despite likes circulating on social media that Israel is some ultra-religious theocracy, it is actually the most secular state in the region. It is the most diverse, tolerant, multiracial, multicultural and multireligious country in the entire Middle East. Its cosmopolitan, modern nature even gives many non-Middle Eastern countries a run for its money.

Jews are actively oppressed and harmed in Arabic countries. While Arabs have equal rights in Israel. Women are not treated as property in Israel, serving in the armed forces and holding many positions of power. A far cry from Israel’s neighbours.

LGBT rights are firmly protected in Israel, with Israel even allowing right-of-return to non-religious same-sex partners of qualifying Jewish individuals.

Even accusations of Israel not allowing non-religious marriages are petty and false. Since 2010, non-religious civil unions have been allowed. And Israel recognises any marriage of any nature that was performed outside of its borders. And as the state continues to secularise, I am pretty sure even this will be lightened.

As a supporter of freedom, the rule of law, democracy and human progress, there are few countries that I can support more than Israel.

Religion and Fairness

Despite being non-religious, I do recognise the inalienable importance of religion to the entire conflict over Israel. Without the conflict between Judaism and Islam, there would be no wars or arguments over land. Many pro-Palestine advocates have deluded themselves into thinking this is some secular war of conquest and colonialism. It is not. Even October 7^th is just another episode in an ancient struggle over a territory important to three religions.

Jerusalem, Judea and Israel as a whole are fundamentally important to Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Hamas called the October 7^th attack “Al-Aqsa Flood”, signalling the symbolic importance of Jerusalem’s holy sites in this struggle.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is one of the contested holy sites. An important holy site to Islam built atop the most important Jewish holy site – the Temple Mount.

Despite being the primogenitor of the Abrahamic faiths, Jews have been restricted and denied access to their most holiest of sites. Even now, Israel does not assert its spiritual claim over the Temple Mount. This is despite Islam having many other holy sites of greater importance.

Imagine if Mecca had to be shared? Imagine if the Vatican had to give way to a mosque? These would all be considered grave injustices. Yet, the Jewish claim to these holy sites is not only forcibly shared, but in contest.

Compromise and Historical Rights

The historical records, for those who have deigned to read them, are clear. Israel has been willing to compromise with its Arabic neighbours, the Palestinians and other powers since its founding. Yet, its enemies have always demanded the total destruction of Israel. Something that Israel cannot abide.

The original 1947 partition plan would have given Israel the smallest amount of land. The Israelis accepted this. The Arabs did not, because they did not want to live alongside Jews.

And no, Israel is not some settler colony full of white people. Israelis are racially and ethnically diverse, with many of them being completely native to the Levant and having never left. Many other Israelis were refugees, fleeing persecution from across Europe and the Middle East. These refugees didn’t conquer the land. They bought it legally from landowners. It was only when Arabs attacked Jewish communities that things turned violent.

The Nakba wasn’t some forced removal of Arabic civilians. The Israelis did not pull people out of their homes. The Nakba was caused by the armies of the Arab League ordering Arabs to evacuate on the eve of their 1948 invasion. An invasion intended to exterminate the Jewish inhabitants of the newly formed Israel. The Arab League lost, with many of the evacuated civilians now treating themselves like refugees.

But many Muslims and Arabs stayed in their homes or returned. They were made Israeli citizens.

Israel was not formed in a conquest of an existing Palestine. Palestine has never existed as an independent country. And the idea of its nationhood is a 20^th century construct. Israel had a government and sovereignty before there was any idea that Palestinians were a nation.

Despite this, Israel has always been willing to compromise – allowing the West Bank self-governance and Gaza independence. In exchange for its desire for peace, Israel has been met with holy wars and terror attacks from both sides. Repeatedly.

Many condemn the security walls in the West Bank, but prior to their erection, terror attacks were claiming thousands of civilian lives. They stopped after the walls were built. If the West Bank wants the walls to come down, they need to end their support for terror.

Need for a Homeland

Fundamentally, I support Israel because it needs to exist to ensure the survival of the Jewish people. The Holocaust is not the first time that the Jews faced extermination and persecution. In the previous century, Jews were forced to flee their homes in Russia as they faced constant pogroms. For centuries, Jews faced forced conversions, executions, torture and oppression in Europe.

In the Muslim world, they were comparatively better treated, but still considered second class citizens and a source of tax revenue.

Throughout history, civilisations have considered Jews outsiders, convenient scapegoats and a source of envy. The global response to October 7^th shows that not much has changed.

While the world should have stood with a country that had just faced mass rape and butchery, mass protests immediately erupted condemning Israel. Antisemitism is on the rise globally. Powerful oil-rich countries have used their wealth to push anti-Jewish sentiments across the globe. And social media has been used to push misinformation much more effectively than the fallacious The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ever could.

Israel is important because it is the only country that protects Jews not as a matter of convenience or generosity, but as a matter of inalienable principle. Israel will defend Jews, and anyone else who recognises their right to exist. And, in many ways, I am envious. Imagine living in a country that existed to protect you? That actually cared enough to fight a war to avenge your countrymen?

As South Africans, we should aspire to be more like Israel. To protect our fellows. To exist as more than a blot on a map, but as a guardian of each other’s life, liberty and happiness.

Israel has a purpose far less arbitrary than most post-colonial nations. And the purpose above all gives it a right to exist.

Their Enemies

I don’t need Israel to have enemies for it to enjoy my support. Yet, the nations and factions that align themselves against Israel make my allegiance far stronger.

Western civilisation has not been a capricious colonial power for over a hundred years. The United States, for all of its wishy-washy foreign policy, helped end the scourge of Nazism, stood against the genocidal tide of Communism, and oversaw the most peaceful and prosperous period of human history.

Western values of liberty, rule of law, scientific discovery, tolerance, individuality and commerce brought us not just the keys to unlock prosperity, but the freedom to enjoy it.

Israel, like Ukraine, exists as a bulwark against the enemies of the West and the enemies of freedom. As Ukraine defends Europe from the endless appetite of Putin’s imperialist Russia, Israel stands against the radical theocracy and terror of Iran and its army of terrorist groups.

Decent countries, while playing lip-service to the plight of the Gazans, recognise the importance of Israel’s existence. While dictatorships, rogue states and corrupt governments have easily fallen under the sway of an anti-West bloc that stands to strip away individual freedom, treat women like chattel, and erode all that has enabled human flourishing over the last century.

Manipulated masses on social media and ignorant academics serve as useful idiots (as Lenin called them). But hopefully, as they grow up, they will come to realise that they have been duped by misinformation campaigns.

Israel should not be a pariah state. Before or after October 7^th. They are not practicing apartheid. They are not committing genocide. Rather, they are setting a precedent that the entire world will enjoy. That terrorism cannot be practiced without repercussions. That freedom and life is worth protecting. And that the values of freedom and reason need to be protected.