Three Israel’s One Conflict: Why Definitions Matter More Than Ever
The question of Israel cannot be understood without careful distinctions: ancient, modern, and symbolic. When those distinctions collapse, confusion fills the space, and into that confusion rush posturing politics, theocratic theology, endless economics, and frightful fear.
We are living in such a moment.
The present conflict involving Israel, the United States, and Iran is not an isolated episode. It is the convergence of long-standing tensions, regional ambitions, and global dependencies. Recent military operations – launched in late February 2026 – have already drawn in multiple nations triggering retaliatory strikes and destabilizing not only the Middle East but global systems of trade and energy.[1] To think clearly, we must again begin with definitions, but this time, with greater care and sharper edges.
Biblical Israel: A Covenant Before a Country
Biblical Israel is, first and foremost, a people formed by covenant. I’m not referring to your average HAO covenant, but something else. Israel’s name emerges from Jacob, whose descendants become a nation bound not merely by land, but by relationship with God. The land is present, yes, but never absolute. The Hebrew Scriptures repeatedly frame the land as conditional: a gift tied to obedience, justice, and faithfulness to God.[2] Exile becomes the great theological warning that Israel can be in the land and yet lose it. Thus, biblical Israel is not simply an ethnic group, political entity, or something Hollywood loves to illegitimately love for its own gain; it is a moral and spiritual vocation. To reduce this to a modern territorial claim is to flatten a deeply textured narrative into an awful slogan.
Present-Day Israel: A Nation-State in a Volatile Region
Modern Israel, established in 1948, is a sovereign political state. It operates within the realities of international law, military strategy, and national security. Its current conflict with Iran is rooted not in ancient texts, but in modern concerns that include nuclear capability, regional influence, and strategic deterrence. The 2026 conflict, for instance, followed years of escalating tension over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and military reach across the Middle East.[3] Consequently, this is not a biblical war. It is a geopolitical one.
And yet, its consequences are global. Iran’s retaliation has targeted oil infrastructure and shipping routes, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil flows.[4] Disruptions here have already driven sharp increases in oil prices and raised the specter of a wider economic shock.[5] What begins as a regional conflict quickly becomes an economic event of global proportions worthy of a screenplay by Tom Cruise and his Mission Impossible team.
Jewish People Worldwide: Identity Beyond Geography
There is also the global Jewish population represented in millions of individuals living across nations, cultures, and political systems. They are not synonymous with the modern state of Israel.
Some identify strongly with it; others do not.[6] Some support its policies; others critique them sharply.[7] Jewish identity is religious, cultural, historical—but not reducible to citizenship in a single nation-state. To equate all Jews with Israel, ancient or modern, is not only inaccurate; it is a category error with serious consequences.
Where the Confusion Deepens
The real difficulty arises when these three categories are collapsed into one. Biblical Israel becomes modern Israel. Modern Israel becomes all Jewish people. Political actions are interpreted as divine mandates At this point, disagreement becomes dangerous because criticism of policy can be misheard as opposition to a people. Not only that, but support for a nation can be dangerously framed as obedience to God where ancient promises are invoked to justify modern strategies. And beneath it all, another layer often goes unexamined, namely economics.
War, Oil, and the Hidden Undercurrent
The current conflict has exposed something that is often present but rarely acknowledged openly. What I’m referring to is the centrality of energy. Control of oil routes, infrastructure, and supply chains is not incidental; it is strategic. Iran’s positioning in the Strait of Hormuz has given it leverage over a significant portion of the global economy, disrupting shipping and threatening supply stability.[8] Analysts warn that prolonged conflict could send oil prices dramatically higher, with cascading effects on inflation, trade, and political stability worldwide.[9] War, in this sense, is never only about ideology or security. It is also about resources, access, and influence.
A More Careful Way Forward
Clarity does not solve conflict, but it does prevent us from baptizing it with unexamined assumptions. Biblical Israel is not identical to a modern state as the modern state is not the sum total of a people, and global Jewish identity cannot be reduced to either. When we disentangle these, we are better positioned to ask honest questions move beyond slogans and into substance.
Questions Worth Asking
If we step back from the hissy-fit noise of heavily funded activism, several searching questions begin to emerge:
When the United States supports Israel militarily, is that support driven primarily by shared values, strategic interests, or economic dependencies tied to energy and regional stability?
In Israel’s conflict with Iran, how much is about existential security and how much is about shaping the balance of power in a region critical to global oil flow?
If control of the Strait of Hormuz can influence the price of energy worldwide, to what extent are global powers responding to moral concerns versus economic vulnerability?
And perhaps most uncomfortably, when biblical language is invoked in modern conflicts, are we illuminating the situation or obscuring the real forces at work beneath it?
These are not easy questions. But without asking them, we risk confusing the ancient with the modern, the spiritual with the strategic, and the language of faith with the machinery of power.
[1] Britannica. 2026 Iran War. March 27, 2026.
[2] Leviticus 18:24–28; Deuteronomy 28; Deuteronomy 30:15–20; Joshua 23:12–16; 2 Kings 17:6–23; Jeremiah 7:5–7; Jeremiah 25:8–11; Ezekiel 36:16–20.
[3] Britannica, 2026 Iran War. March 27, 2026.
[4] Routers, Kavya Balaraman and Ashitha Shivaprasad. Oil prices to stay elevated across Iran war scenarios
March 27, 2026.
[5] Routers, Shariq Khan Oil prices gain as traders doubt prospects of ceasefire in Iran war. March 27, 2026.
[6] The Guardian. Zaki Cooper and Susan Saffer respond to Jonathan Freedland’s article on antisemitic attacks, and John Reizenstein and Liz Fewings to an article by David Davidi-Brown It should shame us that Jews live in fear in 21st-century Britain
[7] Jews Telegraph Agency. Most US Jews do not identify as ‘Zionists,’ even when they support Israel, JFNA survey finds. March 27, 2026.
[8] The Guardian. Patrick Wintour. A war of regression: how Trump bombed the US into a worse position with Iran. March 27, 2026.
[9] Routers, Shariq Khan Oil prices gain as traders doubt prospects of ceasefire in Iran war. March 27, 2026.