Many aspects of the US-Israeli aggression look like attempts to fulfil biblical prophecies
By Matthieu Buge, who has worked on Russia for the magazine l’Histoire, the Russian film magazine Séance, and as a columnist for Le Courrier de Russie. He is the author of the book Le Cauchemar russe (‘The Russian Nightmare’)
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/authors/matthieu-buge/
© Jon Hicks / Getty Images
The
current conflict between Iran and Israel isn’t a classic war driven by
strict geopolitical interests. Certainly, the rivalry between the two
countries is very well known and everybody focuses on the Strait of
Hormuz and the dramatic economic consequences of its disruption. Of
course, a lot of people rightly observed the timing: this sudden turn of
events has been perfect to bury the Epstein scandal under Palestinian,
Lebanese, and Iranian (and even Israeli) rubble. But aren’t these
considerations purely temporary?
The conflict
initiated by Israel (and into which it drew the US, as Joe Kent
explained when he gave his resignation as director of US
counterterrorism) can be seen as a completely irrational religious and
eschatological adventure driven by Hebraic mythology. Let’s try to take a
look at three of its main pillars.
Amalek
In the Book of
Exodus, Amalek is the name of the founder of a nation of the same name,
who attacks the Children of Israel after they leave Egypt. Apparently
for no specific reason. Consequently, the Amalekites are considered as
the staunchest and most persistent enemy of Israel and Jehovah gave a
clear order.
Deuteronomy 25:17-19: “Don’t forget what Amalek did to you on the road after you left Egypt, how he attacked you when you were tired, barely able to put one foot in front of another, mercilessly cut off your stragglers, and had no regard for God. When God, your God, gives you rest from all the enemies that surround you in the inheritance-land God, your God, is giving you to possess, you are to wipe the name of Amalek from off the Earth. Don’t forget!”
Samuel 15:3: “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.”
At
this stage, it’s even beyond genocide. One could say that it’s just
biblical mythology. But in October 2023 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu invoked the Amalek story when the IDF went into Gaza, and once
again in March 2026 concerning Iran: “We read in this week’s Torah portion, ‘Remember what Amalek did to you.’ We remember – and we act.” Nothing could be clearer.
Esther
Then we have to move on to the Book of Esther.
The
thing is, the Israelis did wipe out the Amalekites – except one. And
his descendant, Haman, became grand vizier at the court of the Persian
Empire (based in the Iranian plateau). Esther is a Jewish orphan adopted
by her cousin Mordecai, who also holds a position at the court. She
becomes the King’s new Queen. And here we go again, Haman (that is,
Amalek) wants to get rid of the Jews. Exterminate all of them. For no
other apparent reason than because Mordecai refused to bow down to him.
Mordecai urges Esther to convince the King to foil Haman’s plot. The
King gets mad at Haman, and eventually the course of events is reversed
and the Jewish population is able to exterminate its enemies in the
Persian Empire. That’s what Jewish people celebrate annually during the
Purim holiday.
One can only think about the level of contemporary
Iran infiltration by Israeli secret services. Otherwise, Israel wouldn’t
have been able to act so effectively against Tehran.
Gog and Magog
Next, the Book of Ezekiel.
The
Prophet Ezekiel had some visions. One of them is that ‘Gog and Magog’
will attack the rebuilt state of Israel but eventually will be destroyed
by Jehovah. Consequently, we know the idea, a new temple will be built,
the ‘Messiah’ will appear, and Israel will reign supreme. As to what
are exactly ‘Gog and Magog’, the pilpul is literally endless. But
according to the Book of Revelation, they are supposed to be a coalition
of hostile pagan nations going against the Israelites.
Now, if we look at the current conflict, we have on one side Israel
backed by Christian Zionists, and on the other side Iran, mainly backed,
though quietly, by Russia and China. Russia is a multi-confessional
state where Orthodox Christianity is the majority. In China, the primary
belief system is Buddhism. Iran is an Islamic Republic, yes, but as it
is one of the oldest cradles of civilization, it kept elements of its
ancient religion, Zoroastrianism. For example, Nowruz, the Iranian New
Year, is a Zoroastrian tradition, and the Strait of Hormuz is named
after Hormoz, the Zoroastrian god of wisdom, light, and cosmic order.
We
see here the biblical pattern: a coalition of countries with various
beliefs in an existential fight against Israel. This is, of course, an
extremely simplistic conception: a final battle between Gog and Magog
(i.e. Iran, China, and Russia) and Biblical Israel (i.e. Zionist
Israelis and Americans). However, the Chinese are highly pragmatic, and a
lot of Russian Jews live in Israel, so Beijing and Moscow won’t act
against Israel directly. But the Israelis and American Zionists seem to
be convinced by this mythological interpretation. Just remember that
Pete Hegseth, the incumbent American Secretary of War has been calling
every step of the creation of the state of Israel a “miracle.” Or
think about Mike Huckabee, US ambassador to Israel, who was saying in
an interview with Tucker Carlson concerning Israelis and the
Middle-East: “It would be fine if they took it all.”
Western mainstream media constantly call Iran a “theocracy” and Israel the “only democracy in the Middle-East.” But
as current geopolitical events mirrored by biblical stories show, the
US-Israel side is moved by a religious vision with three goals: the
foundation of Greater Israel (from the Nile to the Euphrates), the
reconstruction of the temple, and the coming of the Messiah. Because,
even if a large chunk of the Torah (let alone the Talmud) looks more
like a political project than like a religious textbook, Israel is
indeed a theocracy in disguise. Therefore, even if Iran should prevail
in the current conflict, the Israelis will keep looking at other nations
not fully supporting them as Gog and Magog.