You know, folks, I’ve been watching some of the things being said by church leaders lately, and it grieves my heart. The Archbishop of York has welcomed the British government’s measures against Israel’s building in Judea and Samaria—>what the world keeps calling the West Bank—>and he described those measures as “just, necessary and frankly overdue.” He was careful to say he opposes antisemitism, but still… the words hang there.

Whenever something like this comes up, we have to do what we’ve always done. We open the Bible and ask the only question that really matters: What does the Word of God say?

The land belongs to the Lord. He gave it by an everlasting covenant to Abraham and to his descendants through Isaac and Jacob. Genesis 12:3 is still on the books: “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” In Genesis 17:7-8 the Lord says He is establishing an everlasting covenant, and He promises to give them the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. Psalm 105:8-11 tells us that He remembers His covenant forever—the word which He commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, His oath to Isaac, and confirmed to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance.”

That’s not temporary politics, folks. That’s the unchanging Word of the living God.

Now, international law expert Natasha Hausdorff has repeatedly shown that this whole claim of “illegal settlements” is a serious misapplication of the law. The key text people keep pointing to is Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. But that article was written in the shadow of the Holocaust to prohibit the forced transfer of populations—>exactly what the Nazis did when they moved people against their will. It was never intended to ban voluntary Jewish communities returning to the land of their fathers.

Now under the Oslo Accords, which the Palestinians themselves signed, Area C of Judea and Samaria was left under Israeli administration, and the final status of the settlements was deliberately reserved for future negotiations. There is a long-standing legal principle of uti possidetis juris further supports Israel’s position: when a new state is born, it inherits the administrative borders of the previous governing authority, in this case, the British Mandate. When the word “illegal” is used to insist that Jews should not be allowed to live in Judea and Samaria simply because they are Jews, it stops being ordinary policy disagreement. It becomes a demand that certain parts of the biblical heartland be made free of Jews. And that kind of language has historically fuelled real hostility against the Jewish people.

But here’s the deeper issue that should burden every Christian heart. Jewish people, Arab people, and Muslim people don’t need more political statements from York. They need the gospel of Jesus Christ. The primary calling of every church leader, and of every one of us, is to point every soul to the only Saviour who can forgive sin and give eternal life. Paul said it so clearly in Romans 10:12-13: “For there is no difference between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

God’s heart is for salvation, not sanctions. The same Jesus who wept over Jerusalem is the One who still says, “Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He is still the way, the truth, and the life.

So let’s stand firmly on the clear covenants of Scripture. Let’s pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Let’s refuse every form of antisemitism, whether it comes dressed up in religious language or political language. And above all, let’s keep pointing every person, Jew and Gentile alike, to Jesus the Messiah, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.

That’s the work the church is called to do.

Peter

For further reading to get your facts right – key legal sources referenced

• The Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49 (official ICRC text):
  https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949/article-49
• The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement (Oslo II) – full text:
  https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-185434/
• The UK Lawyers for Israel webinar on Uti Possidetis Juris and Israel (featuring Natasha Hausdorff):
  https://www.uklfi.com/webinar-uti-possidetis-juris-and-israel
• Important information by Natasha Hausdorff, “The Israeli settlements lie” (The Spectator):
  https://spectator.com/article/the-israeli-settlements-lie/