A rabbinical message: Islam must recognize Israel - opinion

The State of Israel should not be regarded as a foreign entity imposing itself on the Muslim world (Dar al-Islam). 

On the contrary, it should be seen as the realization of divine justice as found in the Quran and the Torah: The return of the land to its rightful owners. It should be recognized that when Israel was founded in 1948, political rule was not taken from the Arabs but rather from the British, who conquered it from the Ottomans.

One of the fundamental obstacles to constructive dialogue between Judaism and Islam is the Muslim claim that Judaism is a religion but not a nation. 

However, from the perspective of Judaism, the Jewish nation is, first and foremost, a nation. Therefore, all of Jacob’s descendants are part of the Jewish nation, whether they believe in the Torah or not, and thus, they are included among the inheritors of the Land of Israel.

A divine promise mentioned in Islamic sources

The Jewish state should be recognized as the manifestation of the divine promise to return the nation of Israel to its land, as mentioned multiple times in Islamic sources, for example – Sura 5,20: “Bear in mind the words of Moses to his people. 

He said: ‘Remember, my people, the favor God has bestowed upon you. He has raised prophets among you, made you kings, and given you what He has given to no other nation. Enter, my people, the holy land God has assigned for you. Do not turn back, or you shall be ruined.’”

We must note that in 1918, a meeting was held between the Emir Faisal, son of Hussein, King of the Hijaz, and Chaim Weizman, the representative of the Zionist Organization, which led to the 1919 London Agreement regarding cooperation between the Arab national movement and the Zionist movement.

Based on the brotherhood between the sons of Abraham, a happy period of peace and advancement of the world toward its correction can be opened.

I should note that in my meeting held in the United Arab Emirates with Dr. Al Nuaimi, who oversees foreign relations and security in the Emirates, he agreed with my statement that the Islamic idea of Israel as “Dar al-Islam,” which means Muslim land that should be conquered by force, is a “recent invention,” not rooted in the fundamental beliefs of Islam.

The writer, a rabbi, is head of Brit Olam institutions.