“As long as within the heart a Jewish soul is yearning” is the English translation for the first line of the Israeli national anthem.

From an early age, Jewish children are taught that they were chosen by G-d for unique purpose and that their souls (Neshama) were created as a divine spark of sacred and immortal nature superior to that of other mortals – the goyim. Each soul has a life journey through various levels of spiritual attainment ranging from the sentient to the intellectual. These lead to a balance which should enable a profound, holy union after Judgement Day.

To the 27% of Israeli citizens who are nearly entirely of Palestinian or Levantine descent this differentiation is somewhat perplexing. Most of these goyim are of the Islamic or Christian persuasions which envisage the redemption of souls in almost identical ways to that of Judaism. However, this prohibits their inclusion, although being full citizens since 1980, in their country´s national hymn.

Moreover, this exclusion process relates to a substantial minority of the registered (73%) ethnic Jewish population who are either irreligious or have converted to a faith other than Judaism. To orthodox Jews such aberrations are also unacceptable for qualification as being possessors of the “Jewish Soul”.

Rabbinical law also casts doubt on the authentication of migrants who have made Aliyah under the Law of Return (1950) which admits to citizenship all those who can prove descent from at least one Jewish grandparent.

Extremist members of the right-wing government have called for the gradual ethnic cleansing of Israel so that eventually its citizens will compose an entirely Jewish state. Existing citizens who do not qualify as being Jewish will be allowed to stay by using a permanent resident system which will give a limited civil right while still requiring obligations to pay taxes and perform national service.

The Israelis are adamant that such constitutional matters must be of only internal concern and will not permit external interference by the UN or International Courts of Justice which may suggest breaches of human rights.

However, the same cannot be said of the present declared intention of Mr. Netanyahu´s government to seek sovereignty over all of the West Bank and Gaza plus certain sections of Jordan, Syria and Lebanon thus reverting to the Eretz Israel of biblical times.

This marks a significant alteration to the piecemeal policy agreed in 2020 by the Gantz/Netanyahu coalition whereby annexation would be limited to the settlement territories, including the Jordan Valley, being linked by road and rail to Israel thus leaving the Palestinians in temporary possession of a state consisting of a fragmented series of enclaves.

Under the direction of Bezalel Smotrich, the ideological position of the controlling right wing extremists is that all thought of a separate Palestinian sovereign state must be abandoned in favour of complete annexation to form the apartheid regime of Eretz Israel.

There will only be three options for the nearly six million Palestinians now surviving in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem:

  1. To avoid living under Israeli rule by accepting assistance to emigrate
  2. Remain as non-citizen residents with limited rights and a requirement to live in designated “reserves” to provide domestic services and menial labour.
  3. Continue with armed resistance and be crushed militarily.

Arabic as an official language will be discontinued. The existing structure of Israeli law and administration will be applied to both secular and religious cases.

While the Trump-Kushner patronage continues, little will be done to prevent the full implementation of the Smotrich plan for the Jewish State of Eretz Israel becoming the most powerful force, economically and militarily, in the Middle East.

It seems that Souls in these Distressed circumstances must wait until Judgement Day for divine relief.

by Roberto Cavaleiro - Tomar, 30 October, 2025