How Israel and Saudi Arabia Became Theological Superpowers — and Why Reason Must Strike Back

If power is the ability to make others bend, then Israel and Saudi Arabia wield a supremacy out of proportion to their size. Their leverage is not GDP, nuclear arsenals, or industrial might. It is theology. They are the only two modern states whose legitimacy is rooted in a sacred narrative. And as long as the world kneels before their prophets, they will keep ruling us.

Israel survives not only because it has a formidable military, but because it is the object of Western theological imagination. For the United States and Europe, the Bible remains a silent constitution. Jesus was a Jew; the New Testament presupposes the Old. That chain of inheritance binds Western conscience to Israel. Thus, when Israel’s 2023–24 war in Gaza killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, Washington did not threaten sanctions or arms embargoes. It rushed more weapons, more vetoes at the UN, more moral cover. In a world where human rights rhetoric is wielded like a weapon against every adversary, Israel remains untouchable. Its shield is not made of iron, but biblical.

Saudi Arabia’s strength is even stranger. Its GDP is smaller than Italy’s, its military runs on American contractors, and its crown prince is notorious for brutal repression. Yet Riyadh enjoys immunity. Why? Because every Muslim, five times a day, turns toward Mecca. The House of Saud sits not just on oil but on theology. It is the custodian of Islam’s holiest cities. A Pakistani may burn his own parliament; a Yemeni may rebel against his own ruler. But for Mecca, for the sanctity of Arabia, they will fight to the death. The Saudi monarchy commands not only soldiers but a billion-strong, unpaid militia of the imagination. No other state on earth enjoys that luxury.

Together, Israel and Saudi Arabia are rivals and twins. Both claim Abraham’s mantle — Isaac vs. Ishmael, Sarah vs. Hagar. Both circumcise, ban pork, and despise idols. Arabic and Hebrew are siblings. Both worship a God utterly transcendent, removed from the world of rivers and stones. Both rule not by freedom but by law. Their mutual hatred is family rivalry, and it spills blood across the globe.

Events today prove the point. Israel, still waging its war in Gaza nearly two years after Hamas’s October 7, 2003, attack, invokes divine right to justify bombardment. Saudi Arabia, once at odds with Iran in a proxy war, now shakes hands with Tehran under China’s mediation — but not out of peace, out of calculation to retain its status as Islam’s “protector.” Both float in Washington’s orbit, but both also leverage their theology against it. Israel dares America to break from biblical loyalty; Saudi Arabia dares America to jeopardize oil and Mecca’s sanctity. Both always win.

And yet, their theological foundations are indefensible. Archaeology long ago dismantled Israel’s conquest narrative, showing gradual cultural evolution, not divine covenant. Biblical texts reveal contradictions and redactions. Qur’anic studies expose multiple recensions, redactional layers, and borrowings. The sacred stories collapse under scrutiny. But the world treats them as untouchable. Criticism of Israel becomes anti-Semitism; criticism of Saudi Arabia becomes Islamophobia. Political dissent is baptized as blasphemy. Theological empires disguise themselves as nation-states, and modern powers defer to their sanctity.

The danger is obvious. When metaphysics dictates geopolitics, wars never end. Gaza becomes Armageddon theater; Yemen becomes holy war proxy. Every missile comes with a sermon; every refugee camp doubles as scripture’s footnote. Humanity is sacrificed on the altar of Abrahamic rivalry.

The only liberation lies in reason. Logical Empiricism demands that assertions be tested or discarded. Dialectical Materialism unmasks faith as ideology — a weapon of power. Together, they strip revelation of its immunity, dissolve miracles into propaganda, and expose theology for what it is: politics in disguise.

Faith will survive. People will still pray. But faith must lose its power to command armies, veto laws, and dictate policy. Israel must be judged as a state, not a covenant. Saudi Arabia must be treated as a kingdom, not a holy custodian. Until then, they remain superpowers not because of their people, their wealth, or their weapons — but because the rest of humanity still kneels before their metaphysics.

The task of our century is simple, if terrifying: stop kneeling. The true Holy Land is not Jerusalem or Mecca. It is a reason.

References

Finkelstein, Israel, and Neil Asher Silberman. The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts. Free Press, 2001.
Crone, Patricia. Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam. Princeton University Press, 1987.
Wansbrough, John. Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation. Oxford University Press, 1977.
Masuzawa, Tomoko. The Invention of World Religions. University of Chicago Press, 2005.
BBC News. “Israel-Gaza war: Death toll and humanitarian crisis updates.” Updated Sept. 2024.
Al Jazeera. “Saudi Arabia, Iran restore ties in deal brokered by China.” March 10, 2023.