The Iran war is a political project from the Torah

Many aspects of the US-Israeli aggression look like attempts to fulfil biblical prophecies.

The current conflict between Iran and Israel isn’t a classic war driven by strict geopolitical interests. Certainly, the rivalry between the two countries is very well known and everybody focuses on the Strait of Hormuz and the dramatic economic consequences of its disruption. Of course, a lot of people rightly observed the timing: this sudden turn of events has been perfect to bury the Epstein scandal under Palestinian, Lebanese, and Iranian (and even Israeli) rubble. But aren’t these considerations purely temporary?

The conflict initiated by Israel (and into which it drew the US, as Joe Kent explained when he gave his resignation as director of US counterterrorism) can be seen as a completely irrational religious and eschatological adventure driven by Hebraic mythology. Let’s try to take a look at three of its main pillars.

Amalek

In the Book of Exodus, Amalek is the name of the founder of a nation of the same name, who attacks the Children of Israel after they leave Egypt. Apparently for no specific reason. Consequently, the Amalekites are considered as the staunchest and most persistent enemy of Israel and Jehovah gave a clear order.

Deuteronomy 25:17-19: “Don’t forget what Amalek did to you on the road after you left Egypt, how he attacked you when you were tired, barely able to put one foot in front of another, mercilessly cut off your stragglers, and had no regard for God. When God, your God, gives you rest from all the enemies that surround you in the inheritance-land God, your God, is giving you to possess, you are to wipe the name of Amalek from off the Earth. Don’t forget!”

Samuel 15:3: “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.”

At this stage, it’s even beyond genocide. One could say that it’s just biblical mythology. But in October 2023 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invoked the Amalek story when the IDF went into Gaza, and once again in March 2026 concerning Iran: “We read in this week’s Torah portion, ‘Remember what Amalek did to you.’ We remember – and we act.” Nothing could be clearer.

Esther

Then we have to move on to the Book of Esther.

The thing is, the Israelis did wipe out the Amalekites – except one. And his descendant, Haman, became grand vizier at the court of the Persian Empire (based in the Iranian plateau). Esther is a Jewish orphan adopted by her cousin Mordecai, who also holds a position at the court. She becomes the King’s new Queen. And here we go again, Haman (that is, Amalek) wants to get rid of the Jews. Exterminate all of them. For no other apparent reason than because Mordecai refused to bow down to him. Mordecai urges Esther to convince the King to foil Haman’s plot. The King gets mad at Haman, and eventually the course of events is reversed and the Jewish population is able to exterminate its enemies in the Persian Empire. That’s what Jewish people celebrate annually during the Purim holiday.

One can only think about the level of contemporary Iran infiltration by Israeli secret services. Otherwise, Israel wouldn’t have been able to act so effectively against Tehran.

Gog and Magog

Next, the Book of Ezekiel.

The Prophet Ezekiel had some visions. One of them is that ‘Gog and Magog’ will attack the rebuilt state of Israel but eventually will be destroyed by Jehovah. Consequently, we know the idea, a new temple will be built, the ‘Messiah’ will appear, and Israel will reign supreme. As to what are exactly ‘Gog and Magog’, the pilpul is literally endless. But according to the Book of Revelation, they are supposed to be a coalition of hostile pagan nations going against the Israelites.

Now, if we look at the current conflict, we have on one side Israel backed by Christian Zionists, and on the other side Iran, mainly backed, though quietly, by Russia and China. Russia is a multi-confessional state where Orthodox Christianity is the majority. In China, the primary belief system is Buddhism. Iran is an Islamic Republic, yes, but as it is one of the oldest cradles of civilization, it kept elements of its ancient religion, Zoroastrianism. For example, Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, is a Zoroastrian tradition, and the Strait of Hormuz is named after Hormoz, the Zoroastrian god of wisdom, light, and cosmic order.

We see here the biblical pattern: a coalition of countries with various beliefs in an existential fight against Israel. This is, of course, an extremely simplistic conception: a final battle between Gog and Magog (i.e. Iran, China, and Russia) and Biblical Israel (i.e. Zionist Israelis and Americans). However, the Chinese are highly pragmatic, and a lot of Russian Jews live in Israel, so Beijing and Moscow won’t act against Israel directly. But the Israelis and American Zionists seem to be convinced by this mythological interpretation. Just remember that Pete Hegseth, the incumbent American Secretary of War has been calling every step of the creation of the state of Israel a “miracle.” Or think about Mike Huckabee, US ambassador to Israel, who was saying in an interview with Tucker Carlson concerning Israelis and the Middle-East: “It would be fine if they took it all.”

Western mainstream media constantly call Iran a “theocracy” and Israel the “only democracy in the Middle-East.” But as current geopolitical events mirrored by biblical stories show, the US-Israel side is moved by a religious vision with three goals: the foundation of Greater Israel (from the Nile to the Euphrates), the reconstruction of the temple, and the coming of the Messiah. Because, even if a large chunk of the Torah (let alone the Talmud) looks more like a political project than like a religious textbook, Israel is indeed a theocracy in disguise. Therefore, even if Iran should prevail in the current conflict, the Israelis will keep looking at other nations not fully supporting them as Gog and Magog.

Image credit: Diana Polekhina