Look: the US has been supporting Israel for a long time. I'm not saying that we should sever those ties. Let's just get a few things straight.
First of all, the United States' support of lack of support for Israel shouldn't really be a Christian issue. There are several schools of thought among theologians when it comes to Israel's place in New Testament prophecy. There are those that believe that Christ is going to establish of physical kingdom of Israel on the physical location where the historic kingdom stood. There are others who believe that the "Israel" most often referred to in New Testament prophecy is simply a metaphor for the Church. They believe that the Christian Church has replaced Israel as God's chosen people. There's also a school of thought that falls somewhere in between. I haven’t done an exhaustive study on the subject, but I lean towards the second explanation for a few reasons. For example:
“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galations 3:26-29
Honestly, I feel like you could make a relatively convincing scriptural case for either point of view. One thing theologians seem to agree on though, is that the modern nation of Israel isn't the one referred to in prophecy. If you paid attention in History class, you'll remember that Israel wasn't a nation for a long period beginning around the first century AD. That's when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the Romans. You may also recall that Israel didn't become a nation again until May 14, 1948. The nation that was established that day, while founded on the location of ancient Israel and populated by many descendants of Abraham and practitioners of Judaism, isn't analogous with ancient Israel. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could announce tomorrow that Iran will henceforth be known as Persia, but that wouldn't make him Cyrus the great. Similarly, the modern, secular government of Israel can't really lay claim to being chosen by God the same way Isaac, Jacob, or Moses could. If all God cared about was ancestry, he wouldn't have invited us gentiles to the party and he certainly wouldn't have orchestrated things so the line of Christ went through Rahab, the Canaanite harlot.
But let's ignore point #1 for a moment. Let's say that I'm wrong and that the modern-day nation Israel is 100% the same as ancient Israel. Does that make them infallible? I keep seeing Christians talking about how we need to support them and that's all well and good, but you know they're just human, right? Humans make mistakes. Take a look at the literal Biblical nation of Israel. They were constantly turning away from God and towards idolatry, often ruled by wicked kings like Ahab. Unless you're living in a true theocracy where God is literally making all of your country's decisions, your leaders are going to screw up and do stupid or wicked things from time to time. Without our support, there's a good chance that Israel would have been wiped off the map by now. I'm glad we've kept that from happening. But I see no reason why we can't call out Israel's leaders out for their mistakes while remaining the nation's ally. We shouldn't have to worry about facing the wrath of the Almighty (as a lot of Christian Conservatives keep threatening) because we sometimes disagree with Shimon Peres.
My third and final point is this: You don't think we support Israel right now? Really? Currently, the United States gives Israel 3 billion dollars per year in military aide and the Obama administration has shown no desire to change that. How could anyone in their right mind say that we're not standing with Israel? Over the past few years, the United States has provided Israel with millions of dollars to help fund their Iron Dome missile defense system. This system has been key in preventing civilian casualties on the Israeli side. We've also supported Israel through diplomatic channels, using our Security Council veto power on Israel's behalf and voting against the recognition of a Palestinian state on numerous occasions. And none of our pro-Israeli policies have changed under Obama, despite what some on the Right would have you believe.
This a nuanced conflict. There are two sides to every disagreement. I've seen person after person posting on Facebook about how Israel has the right to defend itself and those people aren't wrong. But Israel isn't blameless in this conflict either. They've mistreated the Palestinian people in many ways and stubbornly refused to compromise. Hamas is a terrorist organization that attacks civilians almost exclusively and I'm glad that Israel is taking steps to end its relevancy and defend their people. That being said, it's undeniably tragic that so many Palestinian civilians are dying in the process. I get that that's what happens with terror cells because they hide among the people, but that doesn't mean we can't mourn the innocent dead. I refuse to believe that I or my nation are incurring the wrath of God for taking a nuanced stance on a centuries old conflict or admitting that the leaders of modern-day Israel sometimes make mistakes. By all means, support our ally. Just don't act like this conflict is black and white.
