Best of 2025 - The three core myths driving Israel’s war on Palestine |
Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, one of the most outspoken moral critics within Israel itself, once summarised what he called the “three core values of Israeli society”: the belief that Jews are the chosen people; that they are the world’s ultimate victims; and that Palestinians are not equal human beings.
A repost from 28 October 2025
While harsh, his words illuminate how the ideological framework of the Israeli state continues to justify ongoing violence and domination over the Palestinian people.
The current war on Gaza, marked by mass civilian deaths and destruction of infrastructure, cannot be understood without recognising these underlying myths. They have shaped Israeli policy for decades, enabling its leadership to act with impunity, to dismiss international law and to frame even the most disproportionate assaults as moral necessity.
The myth of chosenness: Exceptionalism and impunity
Israel’s self-definition as a “Jewish state” has long merged nationalism with theological exceptionalism. From early Zionist ideology to modern political rhetoric, the idea of a divinely sanctioned mission has lent moral cover to the dispossession of others. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu frequently invokes Israel as a “light unto the nations”, implying a moral superiority that overrides external criticism.
This belief in exceptionalism extends into state policy. Israel remains the only nuclear power in the Middle East and refuses to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It routinely ignores United Nations Security Council resolutions demanding an end to settlement expansion and occupation. Successive governments have justified these positions as necessary for the survival of a people uniquely threatened – a nation that answers only to its own moral code.
The result is an enduring culture of impunity. When international organisations, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Israel’s own B’Tselem, labelled the system of control over Palestinians as apartheid, Israeli officials dismissed the findings as “antisemitic propaganda”. The reflexive rejection of........