Modern Israel is one of the most slandered nations in the world. Despite being a democratic state surrounded by hostile regimes, a homeland for a people who survived centuries of persecution, and a living fulfillment of ancient promises, it is constantly accused of crimes it has not committed and motives it does not hold. These accusations are often framed as political critiques, but in truth, many of them recycle old lies in new packaging.
Whether it is the charge of colonialism, the denial of Jewish ancestry, or the distortion of events in Gaza, these claims are not just false. They are strategically designed to delegitimize Israel’s existence and erase the visible evidence of God’s faithfulness. Below are twelve of the most common lies repeated about modern-day Israel, along with the truth that dismantles them.
1. Israel is a colonial project.
The accusation that Israel is a Western colonial outpost planted in the Middle East has no historical basis. Colonialism involves a foreign power taking land from native populations and extracting resources on behalf of a distant empire. But the Jewish people are not foreigners to the land of Israel—they are its indigenous inhabitants. Their presence stretches back more than 3,000 years, and even after forced exiles under Assyria, Babylon, and Rome, a Jewish presence remained in the land. The movement known as Zionism was not an act of imperial aggression—it was the return of an exiled people to their ancestral home. The Jews who returned were not sent by empires, nor did they arrive to enrich a distant homeland. They came fleeing persecution in Europe and the Islamic world. They rebuilt the land they had never stopped praying toward. No colonizer prays to return to the colony for 2,000 years.
2. The Jews stole the land from the Palestinians.
This claim misrepresents the timeline and omits key historical facts. Jewish immigrants to the land in the late 19th and early 20th centuries legally purchased land, often at inflated prices, from Arab landowners. In 1947, the UN offered a two-state solution. The Jews accepted it; the Arab states rejected it and launched a war intended to destroy the newly declared state of Israel. The war displaced many Arabs, just as it displaced 850,000 Jews expelled from surrounding Arab nations in retaliation. The Jewish state absorbed its refugees; Arab leaders chose to weaponize theirs. The displacement of Arabs during the war was tragic, but it was not theft—it was the result of a war initiated by those who refused to accept Jewish sovereignty.
3. Palestinians are the indigenous people of the land.
This modern political narrative depends on historical amnesia. The name “Palestine” was imposed by the Roman emperor Hadrian in 135 AD following the Bar Kokhba revolt, specifically to erase the connection between the Jews and their homeland. It was named after the Philistines, a long-vanished enemy of Israel. The Arab population of the region has fluctuated throughout history, with many families migrating there during the Ottoman and British periods, drawn by economic opportunities created by Jewish development. In contrast, the Jewish connection to the land has never been broken—rituals, prayers, and identity have centered on Zion since the time of David. While Palestinians have a long history in the region, no group has a deeper or more continuous claim to the land than the Jewish people.
4. Israel is an apartheid state.
The use of the term “apartheid” is designed to invoke the racial segregation of South Africa, but the comparison is dishonest. In Israel, Arab citizens vote, hold office, sit on the Supreme Court, and serve in the military. They have full legal rights and access to public services. The situation in the West Bank is not a system of racial segregation but the result of an unresolved territorial conflict compounded by persistent terrorism. Security barriers and checkpoints were erected in response to deadly attacks against Israeli civilians—not to enforce ethnic hierarchy. The accusation of apartheid erases the reality of Arab participation in Israeli society and oversimplifies a complex geopolitical situation.
5. Israel is committing genocide.
Genocide is the deliberate extermination of a people, yet the Palestinian population in both Gaza and the West Bank has grown substantially over the decades. Israel possesses overwhelming military superiority and the capacity to inflict far greater damage if its intent were genocide. Instead, it takes unprecedented measures to avoid civilian casualties: issuing warnings, dropping leaflets, and creating evacuation corridors—all while Hamas embeds its operations within civilian infrastructure. Civilian deaths, though tragic, result from Hamas’s deliberate use of human shields, not from a genocidal campaign by Israel. To accuse the world’s only Jewish state of genocide—particularly in the shadow of the Holocaust—is not only false, but profoundly offensive.
6. Israel has no right to exist.
This claim is not a critique of policy—it is a denial of Jewish self-determination. No other country is told it has no right to exist. Israel was legally established in 1948 with the approval of the United Nations, but its legitimacy does not rest on modern paperwork alone. The Jewish people have a historic, cultural, spiritual, and ancestral connection to the land that spans millennia. To deny them a state in their ancestral homeland while affirming that right for all other peoples is naked hypocrisy. The right of Israel to exist is not up for debate. To question it is to single out one people group for elimination—and that is antisemitism.
7. Israel is the reason there’s no peace.
This accusation inverts reality. Israel has made repeated offers for peace, including territorial concessions far beyond what many of its citizens were comfortable with. In 1947, 2000, 2008, and again under the Abraham Accords framework, Israel has demonstrated its willingness to accept compromise. The pattern is consistent: Israel offers; Palestinian leaders reject and respond with violence. When Israel left Gaza in 2005, it dismantled settlements and withdrew entirely. The response was a takeover by Hamas and the launching of thousands of rockets into Israeli communities. Peace has always been on the table—but it requires a partner who wants peace more than destruction.
8. Criticism of Israel isn’t antisemitic.
Not all criticism is antisemitic. Democracies can and should be critiqued. But when Israel is held to standards applied to no other nation, when its right to exist is denied, or when Jews around the world are harassed in its name, that’s not legitimate criticism—that’s antisemitism. The “3 D Test” is useful here: if the criticism involves Demonization, Double standards, or Delegitimization, it has crossed the line. Much of what passes for criticism of Israel today is simply recycled hatred repackaged for modern audiences.
9. The Jews lost their claim to the land after rejecting Jesus.
This is a theological error rooted in replacement theology. The New Testament itself refutes it. Paul makes clear in Romans 11 that God has not rejected His people. The promises to Israel are irrevocable—not because of their faithfulness, but because of God’s. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, but He never annulled the covenant with Abraham. The biblical narrative is not one of replacement, but of fulfillment. The Jewish people remain God’s covenant people, even in unbelief, and their return to the land is not a coincidence—it is a sign that the God of Israel still keeps His word.
10. Modern Israel has no spiritual significance.
Some argue that because modern Israel is secular, it has no role in redemptive history. But Scripture anticipated a physical regathering before spiritual renewal. Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones coming together precedes the breath of life entering them. The prophets describe a return from the nations that precedes national repentance. Israel today is not the kingdom of God, but its rebirth after centuries of exile is not a political accident. It is a visible demonstration of God’s faithfulness and a stage upon which prophecy continues to unfold.
11. Jews are just Europeans with no ancestral connection to the land.
This falsehood, rooted in the debunked Khazar theory, is often used to delegitimize Jewish claims to the land of Israel. But genetic, linguistic, and historical evidence all confirm that Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi Jews share common ancestry rooted in the Levant. While centuries in diaspora left cultural and genetic traces from host nations, the core identity remained intact. Jewish liturgy, customs, and language all point back to Jerusalem—not Berlin, Baghdad, or Vilnius. No other people group has preserved such a deep and consistent identity tied to one land for so long.
12. Israel is starving the people of Gaza.
This accusation ignores both context and fact. Gaza is governed by Hamas, a terrorist organization committed to Israel’s destruction. Israel is under no obligation to supply an enemy with resources during an active conflict, yet it has continued to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza—food, water, fuel, and medicine—often under dangerous conditions. The true cause of suffering in Gaza is not Israel’s blockade; it is Hamas’s theft of aid, use of civilians as shields, and prioritization of warfare over welfare. Israel even pauses operations to facilitate aid, while Hamas turns hospitals and schools into military assets. If Gazans are suffering, it is because their leaders have turned them into pawns in a war they intend to never end.
Want to Know More?
- Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm
A foundational work for understanding the divine council worldview, the role of Israel in cosmic geography, and how modern spiritual conflict connects to ancient patterns of rebellion. Essential for placing Israel’s significance in its biblical context. - Eugene H. Merrill, Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament
A serious theological treatment of Israel’s covenant relationship with God across the Tanakh. Clarifies how God’s promises, judgments, and restorations work together—and why they still matter today. - Jonathan Sacks, Future Tense: Jews, Judaism, and Israel in the Twenty-First Century
Written by the former Chief Rabbi of the UK, this book makes a strong moral and philosophical defense of Israel’s place in modern history. Combines covenantal insight with political clarity. - Mitchell Bard, Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict
A thoroughly documented response to common political and historical myths about Israel. Concise, fact-driven, and ideal for readers needing real-world clarity in a propaganda-heavy debate. - Derek Prince, The Destiny of Israel and the Church
A theological case by a respected Bible teacher showing how the Church and Israel are distinct but deeply connected in God’s redemptive plan. Strongly opposes replacement theology. - Yosef Garfinkel, In the Footsteps of King David
Archaeological confirmation of Israel’s ancient presence in the land. This book dispels claims that Israel’s historical connection to the land is a modern fabrication or myth. - Joel Richardson, When a Jew Rules the World
A bold, theologically grounded defense of Israel’s place in prophecy and the role of Jewish believers in the body of Christ. Richardson dismantles replacement theology and affirms God’s ongoing covenant with Israel.
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