Establishment of the State of Israel

Background

In AD 70 the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in Jerusalem. Thereafter the Jewish people lived for many centuries without an independent state, scattered across many regions of the world. These dispersed Jewish communities are collectively referred to as the "Diaspora." As antisemitism intensified in Europe in the late nineteenth century, the Zionist movement arose with the aim of establishing a national state for the Jewish people. Theodor Herzl published The Jewish State in 1896 and convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897.

Course of Events

• 1917: British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour issued the Balfour Declaration, expressing support for the establishment of a "national home" for the Jewish people in Palestine.
• After World War I: The League of Nations entrusted Britain with the Mandate for Palestine. During this period Jewish immigration increased, and clashes with the Arab population became more frequent.
• 1939–1945: Approximately six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust carried out by Nazi Germany. In its aftermath, international opinion in favor of establishing a Jewish state grew stronger.
• November 29, 1947: The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Partition Plan (Resolution 181), which called for dividing Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state, with Jerusalem placed under international administration. The Jewish side accepted the plan, while the Arab side rejected it.
• May 14, 1948: David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the independence of Israel in Tel Aviv. The United States and the Soviet Union promptly recognized Israel.
• 1948–1949: The First Arab–Israeli War broke out as neighboring Arab states, including Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, and Iraq, intervened. Under the 1949 armistice agreements, Israel came to hold more territory than the Partition Plan had allotted, and in the same year it became a member of the United Nations.

Consequences and Impact

Roughly 700,000 Palestinian Arabs are reported to have left their homes during the war and become refugees. Israel remembers the conflict as the "War of Independence," while Palestinians remember it as the "Nakba" (catastrophe). The questions of refugee return, the status of Jerusalem, and borders have carried over into the successive Arab–Israeli wars that followed and into the present-day Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Christians are also among the Palestinian population.

Assessment

Interpretations within Christianity

• Dispensationalism: This view distinguishes Israel from the church and holds that the Old Testament land promises will be fulfilled literally for national Israel. Accordingly, it interprets the founding of the state in 1948 as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy and a sign that the Second Coming is near. The parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24:32-34 and the vision of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37 are frequently cited in support. This understanding has given rise to Christian Zionism, which supports the State of Israel.
• Covenant theology and the Reformed tradition: This tradition tends to hold that the Old Testament promises have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ and that the church, made up of both Jews and Gentiles, is the people of God (Galatians 3:26-29). It is therefore cautious about regarding the establishment of a modern state as the fulfillment of prophecy. Even within this tradition, however, some hold, on the basis of Romans 11, that a large-scale conversion of the Jewish people will take place in the future.
• Palestinian and Arab Christians and the ecumenical movement: Christians in Palestine and the wider Arab world, along with ecumenical bodies such as the World Council of Churches, view the founding of the state and its subsequent history as matters of refugees, human rights, and justice. They have voiced criticism of efforts to justify these developments theologically.

The Korean Church

In the Korean church, the establishment of Israel has often been cited as a sign of the end times in revival meetings and in sermons on eschatology. Pilgrimages to the Holy Land in Israel are also popular. At the same time, some voices caution against interpretations that link biblical prophecy directly to contemporary politics.