Not Beyond Criticism
Faith, justice, and confronting genocide
Independent experts commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council have investigated the on going conflict in Gaza. Their findings are sobering (although not really news to those who are following the situation): Israel has committed acts of genocide.1
For many of us in America, especially those of us who grew up in the church, this clashes with everything we’ve been taught. We’ve been steeped in pro-Israel messaging: Israel is God’s chosen people. Those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed.
If Israel is God’s people, then shouldn’t we bless them?
It’s not that simple.
Israel in Scripture refers to God’s covenant people, chosen to live in relationship with God and to model justice, mercy, and faithfulness to the world. This is not the same as the modern nation-state of Israel (its government, policies, or military actions).
Even as God’s people in the Bible, Israel was never beyond criticism. Prophets were sent again and again to call them back when they oppressed the vulnerable, ignored God’s commands, or pursued their own agendas over justice. The distinction is crucial: being chosen by God meant responsibility, not immunity from judgment.
When Israel strayed, the prophets cried out: Do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the foreigner or the poor. Seek the welfare of your city. Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.
Being chosen never meant a license to harm others, and neither does it excuse the actions of any modern government claiming the same heritage.
Genocide is the targeted destruction of a people group (by race, religion, or ethnicity) with the intent to wipe them out.
Think back to the Holocaust: six million Jews starved, raped, forced into labor, gassed, burned, their gold teeth ripped from their mouths, their bodies piled in unmarked graves. This is the horror that Israel endured. And now, tragically, this is the horror Israel is inflicting on the Palestinian people.
Hospitals were among the first targets, leaving the sick and wounded with nowhere safe to turn. Families who were told to evacuate found themselves bombed in so-called safe zones. Infrastructure (homes, schools, water, electricity) deliberately destroyed. Food aid blocked, leaving children to starve. This is not “defense.” This is destruction.
From Amos to Isaiah, from Jeremiah to Jesus himself, the witness is consistent: God stands with the oppressed. “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to deprive the poor of their rights.” (Isaiah 10:1–2) “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24) “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
Jesus himself wept over Jerusalem, not for the political threats it faced, but because it “did not know the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:41–44). To bless Israel (in biblical terms) is not to give unconditional approval to the violence of a nation-state. It is to call Israel (like any people) to repent and return to God’s justice.
Here in the U.S., we are quick to mourn the deaths of public figures we “know” through screens, yet often silent when schools are shot up, or when children across the world are starved.
Why?
Because their suffering feels far away. It does not touch us. But as followers of Jesus, we are called to see. To remember that every person (Israeli and Palestinian alike) bears the image of God. To resist the numbing of our hearts.
This is not what God had in mind for Israel. This is not what God has in mind for us. We are called to lament with the Psalmist: “How long, O Lord?”
We are called to pray for peace, justice, and healing. We are called to advocate for the widow, the orphan, and the oppressed. We are called to follow Jesus, who broke down dividing walls of hostility.
To bless Israel (or any nation) does not mean excusing its violence. It means calling all people back to the God of justice, mercy, and steadfast love.
May we have courage to see, compassion to feel, and faith to act.
https://apnews.com/article/israel-gaza-genocide-palestinians-c9d40ab3714b46957c5716132f9eb2a6
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/how-did-un-inquiry-find-genocide-has-been-committed-gaza-2025-09-18/
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8641wv0n4go.amp