Between Two Lions: Watching the Middle East Burn in the Name of God

It feels like the invasion of Iraq all over again.
Donald Trump is pushing the United States toward a confrontation—this time with Iran—following nearly a week of Israel’s failure to compel Tehran into submission to Benjamin Netanyahu’s demands.

 In just a few days, the narrative has shifted from halting Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program to escalating tensions on a much broader scale.
It’s worth noting, just as in the lead-up to the Iraq War, that the IAEA has no evidence of a systematic Iranian effort to develop nuclear weapons.

It’s déjà vu—once again, God’s foreign policy is being invoked in the Middle East.

  This post was originally planned to focus on how Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu uses religious rhetoric to influence both Israeli society and the broader Jewish community—an approach amplified when U.S. President Donald Trump shared a message he received from the U.S. ambassador to Israel, former pastor Mike Huckabee.

That SMS is like something from G.W. Bush Jr's divine orders to invade Iraq. For the second time in less than 50 years, the Middle East is being dragged into the hell of neo-crusades.

Here is the SMS :

"Mr President, God spared you in Butler, PA to be the most consequential President in a century—maybe ever. The decisions on your shoulders I would not want to be made by anyone else. You have many voices speaking to you Sir, but there is only ONE voice that matters. HIS voice. I am your appointed servant in this land and am available for you but I do not try to get in your presence often because I trust your instincts. No President in my lifetime has been in a position like yours. Not since Truman in 1945. I don’t reach out to persuade you. Only to encourage you. I believe you will hear from heaven and that voice is far more important than mine or ANYONE else’s. You sent me to Israel to be your eyes, ears and voice and to make sure our flag flies above our embassy. My job is to be the last one to leave.
I will not abandon this post. Our flag will NOT come down! You did not seek this moment. This moment sought YOU! It is my honor to serve you!
Mike Huckabee"

The White House shared it.

"From Mike Huckabee, a Pastor, Politician, Ambassador, and Great Person!" –President Donald J. Trump @USAmbIsrael pic.twitter.com/hB9oD0WTQk

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 17, 2025

This SMS is a historic moment in the political life of the United States — not because of its content alone, but because it signals that the secular character of the American republic may be over. The traditional separation between church and state is crumbling before our eyes. I have no doubt: Mike Huckabee just made history, though not in a good way. His message reads more like a televangelist sermon than any form of diplomatic or political communication.

“God spared you in Butler, PA.”
That line reads like a prophecy, not a political statement. Butler, PA refers to the failed assassination attempt on Trump — and Huckabee frames it as divine intervention.
“Only ONE voice that matters. HIS voice.”
Here, His refers to God — evoking the same divine justification George W. Bush once claimed when he said God told him to invade Iraq.
“This moment sought YOU!” This suggests Trump is not just a leader but a chosen one, a messianic figure.

In certain far-right Christian circles in the U.S., a disturbing belief has gained traction: that a cataclysmic war between Christians and Muslims — often imagined as a final apocalyptic clash in the Middle East — will usher in the Second Coming of Christ.

Christian Zionists see modern Israel not simply as a political ally, but as the centerpiece of biblical prophecy. They don’t necessarily support Israel out of genuine solidarity with Jewish people; rather, they believe that restoring Israel to its biblical borders will trigger a sequence of prophetic events: the rebuilding of the Third Temple, a global war (often envisioned as a Christian-Muslim conflict), the return of Jesus Christ, and ultimately, the Rapture.

For believers in this ideology, modern geopolitical conflicts are not tragedies to avoid — they are necessary milestones in a divine script. Attacking Iran or destabilizing the region isn’t just foreign policy — it’s prophecy fulfillment.

These believers include figures like Mike Huckabee and John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI). While they appear to be strong allies of Israel and the Jewish people, their support is deeply conditional and often borderline antisemitic — if not explicitly so. In their apocalyptic vision, most Jews are fated to perish at Armageddon, with only a small “remnant” converting to Christianity and being saved.

This belief system isn’t staying in the pews — it has already influenced U.S. foreign policy, especially under Trump. For these Christian Zionists, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem or provoking conflict with Iran weren’t just bold political moves — they were eschatological milestones on the road to the end times.

Now, Moving to Bibi Netanyahu

Israel has long been promoted as a role model — a secular democratic beacon in a region dominated by theocracies, Sharia-obsessed regimes, and military dictatorships.
Ignore, of course, the part where Israel’s very concept and borders are rooted in biblical mythology.

Although it was established largely by secular and even atheist Jews, the Israeli army has consistently drawn on biblical language and references to stir hearts and minds — even back when much of the Arab world was entrenched in secular Pan-Arab socialism, especially under Nasser in Egypt.

Take, for example, Operation Nachshon in April 1948 — what we in the Arab world called the War for Palestine — or Operation Kadesh during the 1956 Suez Crisis when Egypt called the Canal War.

But starting in 1967, and accelerating through the 2000s, religious nationalism began to merge tightly with Israel’s military and political machine.
Today, the Israeli army frequently invokes biblical language, and leaders like Netanyahu use scripture deliberately to frame military operations — especially when targeting Iran or the Palestinians.

We saw this in Operation Pillar of Defense (2012), Arrow of Bashan (2024), Gideon’s Chariots (2025) — and now in Operation “The Rising Lion” against Iran.

The phrase "الأسد الصاعد" ("The Rising Lion"), used in Netanyahu’s speech, is a direct reference to Numbers 23:24 from the Torah — part of the prophecies of Balaam:

“Behold, a people rises like a lioness and lifts itself up like a lion; it shall not lie down until it devours the prey and drinks the blood of the slain.”
— Numbers 23:24

In the biblical narrative, Balaam was a prophet hired by King Balak of Moab to curse the Israelites — but ends up blessing them under divine inspiration. Traditional Jewish interpretations (in the Talmud and Midrash) see this verse as a metaphor for Israel's strength, restraint, and decisive power when provoked.

This isn’t the first time Netanyahu has leaned on such language. He famously invoked “Amalek” — a genocidal reference in scripture — and we know what that led to in Gaza: war crimes under biblical justification.

Now, ironically, we have a Zionist “Rising Lion” vs. the Shia “Haydar.”

“Haydar” — meaning lion in Arabic — is one of the names of Imam Ali, a central figure in Shia Islam. It was historically featured on Iran’s national emblem from the Safavid dynasty (16th century) through the Pahlavi era. And despite the Islamic Revolution and the adoption of a new flag, Iranians have not abandoned Haydar.

On Wednesday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei invoked Haydar directly, declaring that this new confrontation begins in the name of “Haydar.”

So now we ask: Which lion will rise — and which will fall?

It is hypocritical to watch Western politicians praise Israel as a “secular oasis” while its own army and leadership continue to rely heavily on religious symbolism to justify violence.

 Palestine, it seems, is cursed — ever since the Crusades — to remain the focal point of foreign conquest disguised in religious righteousness: once Christianity, now Judaism, tomorrow who knows?

And yet, as much as Palestine bleeds — as much as it devours blood and souls — it has a strange, sacred ability to heal and absorb invaders, transforming some into natives over generations, regardless of their ethnicity or religion.

Modern Palestinians are descendants of ancient Israelites, Canaanites, Assyrians, Arabs, Crusaders — and even Africans. Afro-Palestinians, for example, trace their roots to Mali, arriving during the time of Mansa Musa to serve Muslim pilgrims in Jerusalem.

I know this is hard to say, but it must be said:
Christian Zionists — despite claiming love for Israel — have proven to be more dangerous to the people of the Middle East, including Israelis themselves, than any radical militant group.
They do not seek peace — they seek prophecy.

May God protect us all.