The occupation of Palestine is routinely framed as a geopolitical dispute. It is discussed in terms of borders, security arrangements, and competing national claims. Yet beneath the checkpoints, settlement blocs, and military assaults lies a deeper and more enduring force: religious ideology.
This is not speculation, nor is it polemic. It is derived from religious texts, rabbinical rulings, and public statements issued by Zionist religious authorities themselves.
Israeli apartheid is not sustained by policy alone. It is rooted in theological interpretations that redefine land, power, and human worth, and that continue to shape state behaviour and settler violence.
I. The Talmud and the Hierarchy of Humanity
The Talmud occupies a central position in Rabbinic Judaism, shaping religious law, ethics, and communal boundaries. Within its vast body of commentary are passages that address relations with non Jews, historically referred to as Gentiles.
Several of these texts present a worldview that sharply distinguishes between Jewish and non Jewish life.
Among the passages frequently cited by critics are:
“Even the best of the Gentiles should be killed.”
Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Soferim 15:10
“A Jew may rob a Gentile; he may cheat him over a bill.”
Babylonian Talmud, Baba Kamma 113a
“A Jew is not liable if he kills a Gentile.”
Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 57a
These texts were not obscure marginal writings. They were studied in religious schools, analysed by leading rabbis, and preserved within mainstream rabbinical literature.
While many contemporary Jews reject literal or extremist readings of these passages, their influence remains visible within ultra Orthodox and religious Zionist movements that play a decisive role in Israeli politics, settlement expansion, and state ideology.
II. Biblical Conquest and Modern Justification
Zionist religious discourse has repeatedly drawn upon conquest narratives from the Hebrew Bible, presenting them not as historical episodes but as enduring moral frameworks.
Verses such as:
“You shall destroy all the peoples whom the Lord your God is giving you; your eye shall not pity them.”
Deuteronomy 7:16
“Now go and strike Amalek… do not spare them, but kill men and women, infant and nursing child.”
1 Samuel 15:3
have been invoked by religious Zionist figures to legitimise the removal of Palestinians from their land.
The late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, former chief Sephardic rabbi of Israel, publicly referred to Arabs as “vipers” and declared that “it is forbidden to be merciful to them”.
Such language did not remain rhetorical. Religious Zionism constitutes the ideological backbone of parties such as Jewish Home and Otzma Yehudit, whose members openly promote policies of expulsion, segregation, and permanent domination while grounding their positions in religious texts.
III. When Theology Becomes State Law
Israel’s Nation State Law, passed in 2018, formally enshrined Jewish supremacy into constitutional practice. It declared that national self determination belongs exclusively to Jews, downgraded the Arabic language, and defined Jewish settlement as a national value to be promoted.
For religious Zionist authorities, this legislation was not merely political. It was theological confirmation.
Rabbi Dov Lior, an influential settler rabbi, ruled that “a non Jew has no right to live in the Land of Israel unless he accepts Jewish rule”.
Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, co author of The King’s Torah, argued that it is permissible to kill non Jewish children if they are deemed future threats.
These rulings are not fringe pamphlets. They circulate within settler communities, inform religious education, and provide moral justification for violence carried out under military protection.
IV. Settler Theology and Messianic Violence
The settler movement is driven not only by ideology but by belief in divine destiny. Groups inspired by religious Zionism view settlement as a sacred obligation and compromise as rebellion against God.
Within this worldview:
Palestinians are framed as Amalekite enemies
The land is treated as exclusive inheritance
Negotiation is cast as religious betrayal
Many settlers believe they are hastening redemption through demographic purification. This is not nationalism in the conventional sense. It is religious extremism embedded within state structures.
V. Silence, Fear, and the Islamic Lens
Despite mounting evidence of apartheid, political discourse in the West avoids confronting the religious foundations of Zionist violence. The fear of accusations of antisemitism has produced analytical paralysis.
Islam, however, does not permit silence in the face of injustice.
The Qur’an warns of entrenched hostility while commanding absolute justice:
“You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward the believers to be the Jews and those who associate others with Allah.”
Qur’an 5:82
“Do not let hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is closer to piety.”
Qur’an 5:8
This is not a call to hatred. It is a call to clarity.
The issue is not Judaism as a faith, nor Jews as a people. It is an ideological Zionism that fuses supremacist theology with state violence.
Conclusion
From rabbinical texts to Knesset laws, from theological rulings to military enforcement, Israeli apartheid is not merely political. It is doctrinal.
Understanding this reality is not bigotry. It is awareness.
Those who ignore the ideological foundations of oppression will forever struggle against its symptoms rather than its source.
Disclaimer: This article critiques specific ideological and religious interpretations that contribute to state violence and apartheid. It does not generalise on all people. This investigation targets Zionist extremism and its justification to oppression.
