The Israel-Gaza War is fast approaching its two-year anniversary. The State of Israel has been unable to vanquish the Hamas terrorist group and end its rule over Gaza. So Israeli President Isaac Herzog has petitioned a higher authority for relief that could transform the war effort: God.

On Tuesday, President Herzog attended the swearing-in ceremony for new rabbinical judges. During the ceremony, he said:

To you, esteemed rabbis and judges—as important public leaders—you have a vital role in this effort: to stir the hearts of the people and the decision-makers and to cry out to the heavens on behalf of the hostages. I call upon you to mobilize and do all in your power—first and foremost, to declare a general day of fasting and prayer for our brothers and sisters held captive by murderers.

Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef stated Israel’s Rabbinate “accept[s] the president’s request and will announce this in the coming days.”

This may seem like highly unusual government policy. It would be surprising to hear the leaders of Ukraine, South Korea or any other state with a hostile neighbor make this call. Perhaps it is less surprising for the leader of the land of the Bible.

Yet such a public call for a day of prayer and fasting has been mostly absent since the war began—especially from such a prominent office as the president.

Israel’s Rabbinate is more than a religious body, it functions as part of the government. It has its own judicial system for interpreting religious questions; the courts are managed by the Ministry of Religious Services. Certain matters like marriage and divorce are the court’s jurisdiction.

The Rabbinate heeding the president’s call makes the day of prayer and fasting semi-official policy.

Ancient Precedent

It is reminiscent of an episode from the Jews’ ancient history. The Bible records that an “Ethiopian” (sub-Saharan African) named Zerah invaded the kingdom of Judah with a massive, intimidating army. Judah’s King Asa mobilized troops at the Valley of Zephathah, southwest of Jerusalem. But Asa didn’t think his army could defeat Zerah’s forces on its own. “And Asa cried out to the Lord his God, and said, ‘Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!’

“So the Lord struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the Lord and His army. And they carried away very much spoil” (2 Chronicles 14:11-13; New King James Version).

Atheists and agnostics scoff at the veracity of this story just as they scoff at President Herzog’s call for fasting and prayer. But the State of Israel exists because the Jewish people desired to reestablish a state in the land the Bible says is their homeland. The text of Israel’s Declaration of Independence begins: “The land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.” Leaving God out of the Jewish people’s heritage means cutting out what makes it so special in the first place.

If a day of fasting and prayer is too superstitious for modern warfare, what is “Plan B”? Israel has been fighting for almost two years now. Gaza should have been a pushover military target. Yet Israel seems no closer to victory than it was a year ago, and it hasn’t yet recovered all the hostages. The war itself is the result of decades of man-made “solutions” to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Whether the Israeli government pursues policies of compromise or offensive warfare, the outcome is always intifadas, rockets over Tel Aviv and terrorism, such as the massacre on Oct. 7, 2023.

What is there to lose? Could Israel’s refusal to follow in the footsteps of King Asa have something to do with its current situation?

Blessings and Curses

Hundreds of years before King Asa, God made a covenant with the ancient Israelites through Moses. Leviticus 26 lists the blessings the Israelites could expect if they followed through with their part of the covenant. “I will give peace in the land,” God promises, “and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land. You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you” (verses 6-8; nkjv).

But if Israel refused to obey God, He promised: “I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you …. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you” (verses 16-17; nkjv).

The brave soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Forces (idf) are making a great sacrifice. Israel has seen some major victories, especially against Hezbollah in Lebanon. But it can’t be denied that Israel has suffered a lot of terror and defeat. And it hasn’t seen the kind of victory King Asa saw.

God wasn’t playing favorites with Judah in Asa’s time. The king earned God’s favor. “Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God, for he removed the altars of the foreign gods and the high places, and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images. He commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to observe the law and the commandment” (2 Chronicles 14:2-4; nkjv).

A 2024 Pew poll, which admittedly had a smaller Jewish sample size when Israeli Muslims were factored out, suggests 33 percent of Israeli Jews never go to synagogue. Israel calls Tel Aviv, where an estimated 1 in 4 residents is homosexual, the “gay capital of the Middle East.” idf soldiers have displayed symbols of sexual perversion even as they fight in Gaza. Abortion, a modern version of child sacrifice, is common: Approximately 1 out of every 600 Israelis is murdered in the womb. People who defy God’s loving, beneficial laws (e.g. Leviticus 18:22; Exodus 21:22-23) suffer for it.

Yet perhaps an even greater sin than all of these is that the State of Israel refuses to actively involve God in its policy. The institution of religious courts may bring some spirituality in public life. But calls for fasting and prayer generally never happen. Neither does public repentance for their sins. At best, this makes God a distant figure from days past. At worst, it blots Him out of the national consciousness completely.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry writes in Jerusalem in Prophecy:

No other nation on Earth was ever chosen as God’s people—chosen not as a favorite people but to lead the world to God. Israel has failed God miserably—anciently and today. Soon God will punish nations as never before. The people of biblical Israel talk a lot about God but don’t believe and obey Him. That is the real source of all our problems today. The nations of Israel will fall because of their faithlessness.

The Jewish nation was born and sustained by godly miracles. But it still refuses to trust God!

Mr. Flurry sums up the Jews’ attitude to God in public life today: “Their history with God is virtually meaningless!”

What’s Next?

President Herzog’s call will not solve all of Israel’s problems. His speech shows he still is looking to diplomacy and negotiating with Hamas: “May it be the will of God that such actions also help pave the way for the necessary diplomatic efforts, and that our brothers and sisters be brought swiftly from anguish to relief, from darkness to light, and from captivity to redemption.”

Of course, it is a worthy goal to free the hostages. But Hamas has made it clear it will release no hostages without guarantees of its survival in Gaza so it can regroup and kill more Jews in the future. The Bible also condemns this kind of policy. God commanded King Saul in 1 Samuel 15 to wipe out the warrior Amalekites for what they did to the people of Israel. When Saul let King Agag of Amalek live, God took away the kingship from Saul. 2 Kings 20 records a similar curse on King Ahab for making a peace treaty with King Ben-Hadad of Damascus.

At the very least, a leader in Israel calling on his people to beseech God in humility for a miracle is a step in the right direction. And God promises to do His part if His people do theirs: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14; nkjv).

How Israel implements this day of fasting and prayer—and what the people do going forward—may mean all the difference in their war effort. The choice is theirs.

To learn more, request a free copy of Jerusalem in Prophecy.