One of the many reasons why I oppose the Israeli government’s war against Palestinian people is that Israel’s government is actually HURTING the Jewish faith by VIOLATING some of its core ethical values:
- The First Commandment says we must have no other gods besides the one true God. But Israel’s government violates that commandment by worshiping the false idol of nationalism and the false idol of military violence. I wish they would put their faith in God instead of military weapons.
- Other commandments prohibit coveting anything that belongs to our neighbors. But Israel’s government is breaking that commandment by coveting their neighbors’ lands.
- Then – in order to take those lands for itself, Israel’s government breaks two other commandments: “Thou shalt not steal” and “Thou shalt not kill.”
I am concerned that Israel’s government is violating its core ethical principles so horribly that it is perverting the faith of many Jewish people there and elsewhere in the world.
Indeed, some of the strongest criticism of Israel’s government have come from Jews there and elsewhere who want that government to stop abusing Palestinians. A great many Jewish organizations – including Jewish Voice for Peace (https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/) and the Jewish Peace Fellowship (http://www.jewishpeacefellowship.org) – strongly oppose the cruelty of Israel’s government.
