The Messianists and Netanyahu Share a Dream: Perpetual War

A man inspects the wreckage following a Saturday direct hit in southern Israel's Arad, Sunday. Credit: Itai Ron

Benny Biton, the mayor of Dimona, which suffered a direct hit on Shabbat, is apparently a "the glass is half full" person. There were dozens of casualties, hundreds without a roof over their heads, and extensive destruction of buildings.

Yet, Biton stressed the miraculous dimension of the incident. While speaking to a Channel 14 reporter at the site of the impact, he said with a smile that two pictures miraculously survived inside one of the safe rooms: that of the late Moroccan spiritual leader Baba Sali and that of the prime minister. The two righteous men are truly watching over us.

Right-wing journalist Yinon Magal didn't miss the opportunity at hand. He shared a video of the site with the caption "The miracle in Dimona: Everything destroyed, only Bibi remained," accompanied by a winking emoji. Like believing Christians who see the image of Jesus in toast, or Mary's facial features in a cup of coffee, a ritual of icons seems to be developing here, too.

On the right-wing propaganda station, aka Channel 14, they announced last week that they'll end the news programs "with thanks to the Holy One blessed be He, for the miracles that he performs for us and our soldiers." Anchor Maggie Tabibi, who is becoming more religious, explained they'll continue with this prayer during all of Nissan, the month of redemption, and until the end of the war.

But judging by the religious-messianic atmosphere that is taking hold in our country, which is being polluted by blood and fire, the aspiration is that the war won't come to an end.

For messianic religious Zionism, whose representatives are deeply embedded in the government and in the security services, war isn't a crisis or a disaster. Rather, it's welcome. War unifies the nation. It destroys metaphysical evil and awakens the Tel Avivians from the coma of normalcy.

The war shakes up the heretics from holding onto the crazy idea of a quiet life. It disrupts their childish adherence to an individualistic existence, in which the survival of the individual takes precedence over the survival of the nation.

The war is a divine tool for realizing the vision of Greater Israel. It's also the logic behind the Jewish terror running riot in the territories. Since the war began, the Wild West in the West Bank has reached the heights of lethal pogroms.

The routine has become pogroms with no detentions, while the IDF chief of staff weakly condemns the violence rather than do something about it. In this atmosphere, the death of settler Yehuda Shmuel Sherman, the reason for which has yet to be officially determined, serves as an excuse for calls of revenge against Palestinians, by Knesset Education Committee chairman Zvi Sukkot, among others.

If anyone still believes the war's pseudo-rational goals, like eliminating Iran's nuclear and ballistic capabilities or regime change, that person would do well to listen to the messianic voices in this country. They are the ones who are expressing a stronger connection to reality.

Take, for example, the cabinet meeting before the war to discuss possibly providing more shelters for the city of Dimona. What did the cabinet conclude? It would rather allocate funds for the yeshiva world, the Garinim Torani'im (groups of Religious Zionists who run communes in development towns and mixed cities to boost religious awareness) and ATV's for the so-called hilltop youth.

In Arad, where there was also a disaster a few days ago from the impact of an Iranian missile, empty shelters were recently turned into synagogues. "We here come from the seed of Mordechai's Jews, and not from the seed of the evil Haman," explained the mayor, using motivated reasoning.

The messianists are dreaming of a perpetual war for ideological reasons, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dreaming about it for personal and political reasons.

A video was uploaded last week to Netanyahu's Instagram account, as part of a trend in which people post pictures from the 1990s. Next to it, the caption read: "Then. Now, always protecting the State of Israel." Like the Shekhinah, the divine presence, Netanyahu always dwells among us. Actually, Magal was probably right. How did he sum it up? "Everything was destroyed. Only Bibi remains."