Is it permissible to criticize one’s own people when such criticism seems to play into the hands of enemies? Is it legitimate to point out flaws when it appears externally as weakness or division? This question is as old as the people of Israel itself, and the Bible offers a surprisingly clear answer: the prophets were often uncomfortable patriots.
Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah denounced injustice, corruption, social indifference, and religious hypocrisy—not quietly, but loudly, publicly, and urgently. They did so not in peaceful times but under the shadow of imperial threats: Assyria in the north, Babylon in the east, and political instability within. How, then, should we judge criticism that accuses the nation’s leadership of war crimes during wartime?
Two former senior figures in politics and the military—ex-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan—recently voiced sharp criticism of Israel’s military actions. In a BBC interview, Olmert bluntly stated, “What Israel is doing in the Gaza Strip borders on war crimes.” Golan went further: “A rational state doesn’t kill babies...
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What did these two accomplish while they were in their offices? Perhaps Bibi has accomplished more than they did and they are speaking from jealousy. Jealousy is spoken of many times in the scripture, it is deadly at times. Israel doesn’t need this kind of enemy from within.