In Genesis, after the great flood there is Abram, a man who loved God, and he was an 11th generation descendant of Noah. God promised him the land that would later be called Israel. God visited with him and changed his name to Abraham. The prophet Abraham despite being senior in his years had a son, Issac. Issac grew up and had two sons, who though they were fraternal twins, were very different. Esau was born first. Then immediately after, Jacob was born. In their lives they had contention, even from the point of being in the womb. Esau had red hair all over his body from birth. Jacob however was smooth skinned. Esau became much more of an outdoorsman, although they both grew up and raised families and did farming with cattle, sheep, and goats, etc. Long story short, Issac proclaimed a prayerful blessing upon his son Jacob:
May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.
God favored Jacob and oversaw that he was blessed to be very prosperous in family and his overall life.
After various occasions of God’s revealing himself to Jacob, he visited him and proclaimed, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel. For you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” – From Genesis 32.
…God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel. I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.” – From Genesis 35.
So this is where the name Israel comes from: it was originated by God. God chose the lineage of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Israel, and David for the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and the Jewish people are specifically favored by God. The obvious reason is, this is where the Bible comes from, and Judeo-Christian values have blessed the whole world with knowledge of God and proper morality.
Yes, early morality was shaky with polygamy, slavery, and a lot of warring. Israel was an occupied territory of the Roman empire in the time of Jesus. Previously they were occupied by the Greek empire. They tended to have periods of sovereignty when they were aligned with the proper religion of their era we now call Judaism. Whereas periods of falling away from God were filled more with war and strife. As according to the covenant of Abraham, the land of Israel was promised to his descendants. The covenant of Moses explains the blessings for a nation of obedience and the woes of the disobedient.
Jacob the name has been described to mean “heel grabber”, or “one who supplants”. Reference this Genesis 25 analysis. A new name tends to be associated with a new mission, or a new commission. Israel is described as meaning “one who struggled with God and prevailed”, or “may God [El] preserve”, or “prince with God”. Reference this Genesis 32 analysis. When you see “El” in a word, it’s a reference to God, such as the names Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, names of angels. Also, there is Alleluia, which means ‘praise God’. (Spoiler alert: hell is a place apart from God.) So God was naming a man whose descendants he would bring into a nation that He conceived, which He especially favored, for its particular destiny.
Additionally, God promised to bring the Jews back to Israel as recorded in both Deuteronomy 30 and Ezekiel 36. This as a process began in 1948 with the modern day nation of Israel, in a large way through people and groups buying the land back, 76 years ago as of this writing.
Tying this back to Data Point One, we’re left with particular assumptions that those who are against Israel are not properly aligned with God. Now modern-day Israel is a secular nation that still isn’t anywhere near perfect, with much liberalism and materialism, and sin. Some Jews say they consider themselves atheists.
It’s right to be compassionate for the suffering of innocents in so many various conflicts, and it’s not necessary to cheer on or to support the secular Israeli government on everything that they decide to do. (Mistakes get made in warfare.) The fact remains that one party broke the peace on October 7, 2023, and outrageous evil was perpetrated. The aftermath is a result of that breach of peace, and hostage taking, and the threat of substantially more preventable rocket barrages.
If large populations of Arabs harbor an irrational hatred of Israel, and “Israel” comes from God, where does hatred come from? Hatred itself of course comes from the devil. According to many, many near death experiences by people of all persuasions, the God of the Bible is real, and Jesus of Nazareth truly is the Son of God, who according to the New Testament, died for the salvation of Humanity according to God’s plan.