Although Israel is the Chosen People and recipients of God’s Law at Mount Sinai, political strike and visions have dominated the nation’s history. This has lead to countless conflicts and disasters in the chronicles of Israel. It’s not for nothing that the Bible highlights these political conflicts. The goal is to steer the people away from making the same mistakes again. “The classic task of a state leader is to follow God’s voice,” a wise Torah student once explained to me. But from biblical experience and with a view to the political present, this often goes wrong.

When kings David and Solomon ruled, a feeling of peace and security fell over the people of Israel. This is described in the Bible: “Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. …And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon” (I Kings 4:20, 25). It was a political high...