Criticizing Israel for its actions is not inherently antisemitic. However, the criticism becomes problematic when it is applied in a way that violates the principle of equal judgment. Unequal weights and measures occur when Israel is singled out for condemnation while comparable or worse actions by other nations or groups are overlooked or downplayed.
Examples of Disproportionate Focus
Conflict in Yemen: Over 377,000 people have died due to the civil war, famine, and disease, yet it rarely garners the sustained global protests or international outrage that Israel’s actions in Gaza provoke.
Syria’s Civil War: The conflict has claimed over 500,000 lives, including countless civilians killed in indiscriminate bombings, yet the global focus on this tragedy is often muted compared to reactions to Israel’s conflicts.
Ethnic Violence in Africa: In countries like Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia, ethnic massacres and violence have killed tens of thousands, but the outrage is sporadic and lacks the intensity directed at Israel.
Proverbs 20: 23. The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.
Criticising Israel becomes antisemitic when it is not part of a consistent and principled approach but instead targets the Jewish state with disproportionate focus and double standards.
While all actions should be open to scrutiny, fairness demands that Israel be treated like any other nation, without undue bias or selective outrage.
Romans 11:25-32
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs,
for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience,
so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you.
For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
