The Israel–Iran Case: A Religious Struggle
Questioner: Acharya Ji, when nations bomb each other in the name of religion, revenge or self-defense, as in the case of Iran and Israel. So, what does it reveal about our so-called civilizational process or human evolution?
Acharya Prashant: Religion exists to civilize the animal, but the animal can turn religion into its own thing. It's not really human beings that are bombing each other, it's the process of humanization gone wrong. Religion is the process of humanization of the animal, sublimation of the beast that is born from the womb. Religion exists to elevate that beast into a being — a human being. But, that beast is very mischievous. It can turn religion into something of its own.
So, that's what is happening in the Israel-Iran case also. You can say it's a geopolitical thing. You can say it's to do with oil or regional influence. You can say it's a thing about a contested history. But the bleak reality is that it's mostly about religion. It's a religious struggle. You know, these two countries were actually some kind of friends till 1979. In fact, in that entire region, Iran was one of the very few allies that Israel had, very few allies. There was Iran, there was Turkey now Türkiye, and Ethiopia.
Israel took birth in 1948 and immediately there was war against the Arabs, and they all took Israel as a stab right in their heart, in the middle of their region — in the middle of the Middle East — a wound called Israel. That's how the Arabs took it. But there immediately was war. Then Iran was one of the first regional countries to recognize Israel. Though the recognition was not overt, it was covert and proxy recognition because Iran is not one of the Arab countries. Iran comes from a Persian lineage and its history predates that of Islam. So, Iran too has had great differences with the Arabs. And Iran is Shia, whereas most of the Arab countries (excluding Iraq) are Sunni. So, even that is a religious thing — the Shia–Sunni thing.
So, till 1979, Iran was a monarchy, and the monarch was pro-West. And Iran was a more westernized place than the Arab world. And Israel had decent relations with Iran. In fact, when there was the Six-Day War, then it was Iran that provided fuel, oil to Israel. And Israel’s Mossad was collaborating closely with Iran’s own secret services. That was the level of cooperation between these two countries. It's not that they were best friends, but compared to Israel-Arab relations, Israel-Iran relations were far more cordial.
Then came 1979, and there was the Islamic Revolution. See, it's religion all over. Don't say it's human beings fighting.
Then came 1979, and the monarch was thrown over, he ran away. He said he is proceeding on a vacation. So he ran away and then Ayatollah Khomeini — he had been out of Iran for a long while, almost 15 years. He was in France or some European country. He returned from there and he took over the reins, and Iran got a new Islamic constitution where the head of the religious board would also be the head of the government.
So, the Ayatollah remains the head of Iran, and that continues to this day. And it is in 1979, with the Islamic Revolution, that Israel-Iran relations go topsy-turvey. Suddenly, Iran declares Israel as the “Little Satan.” Who is the “Big Satan”? US. The US Embassy, which was besieged for around 14-15 months, and their staff — around 50 people were kept hostage. Such a long siege. And there was a total deterioration in relations because of the so-called Islamic Revolution.
And why did Israel have to be attacked? It is such a small country, you see — half the size of Kerala. Half the size of Kerala, that's how small Israel is in area, and in population, it's even smaller. Why did Iran have to be so hostile to Israel when they were friends till just yesterday?
Because Israel is a Jewish country. Israel is a Jewish country, so Israel had to be attacked — attacked to the extent that it had to be said that Israel is a cancerous tumor in the Arab region, and it has to be surgically, totally removed. It has to be totally removed. Goodness! Look at the extent of hostility.
Why this hostility? Because your entire nation is now founded on religion, so you must oppose the other religion.
And also because within Islam there are Shia-Sunni differences, and Arabs are mostly Sunnis. And if Iran has to assert itself, then it has to present itself as more radical than the Sunnis. Are you getting it? If Iran wants to be the regional leader, then it has to show itself as ahead of the Arab countries in terms of its jingoism, in terms of its radical approach to Islam. So then Iran would fund and weaponize Hezbollah and Hamas. Irony is, Hamas is a Sunni organization. Are you getting it?
Because all of you are Sunnis, so you are anyway not listening to me. How do I present myself as a worthy leader of the entire Muslim world? By finding out an enemy and attacking it more rapidly than any of the other countries do. You all are Arab countries, right? And here is Israel — you are not attacking Israel in the same way as I do. And because I oppose and attack Israel in the fiercest way possible, therefore I qualify to be the leader. Are you getting it?
Had both these countries been Muslim, would there be a strife? Had both these countries been Jewish, again, would there be a strife? But we want to close our eyes to the bare fact that religion gone wrong is the worst thing possible to human beings.
Religion can be the most uplifting of forces and equally the most downgrading of forces. Depends on whether religion is understood in its pure spirit or in its distorted externalities.
Now Israel is constantly bombing Iran in the fear that if Iran manages to have a nuclear weapon, then Israel would be obliterated out of existence. It's a small country — two or three nuclear bombs and the entire country is gone. So their doctrine is: no Arab country would ever be allowed to have a nuclear bomb.
They've had the Holocaust already. They don't want another one. There are barely, like, what — 1.5 million Jews in the world? And half of them live in Israel. It's a very small number, you know — 1.5 million. They're saying, "We are all concentrated here. It's a small number. And if you bomb this concentration, then everybody is gone."
And they're saying, "We'll bomb it because it's our religious duty. The Zionist regime must perish. The Little Satan must disappear." And Israel, in its turn, approaches Muslims with the kind of hardness that is rarely seen in history.
You know the human tragedy that Gaza has now become. You know of the devastation, the shortages, even the starvation. You know how even the relief supplies are being blocked by the Israelis. And you know how they have been condemned by the entire world, including Europe. Not just condemned, they are actually being sanctioned now. Still, there is a great hardening of the Israeli attitude that remains towards the Muslim world.
And that is when both the countries come from the common pedigree of Abraham. First come the Jews, then the Christians, and then the Muslims. And they have common prophets as well. And still, look at the fighting.
Even within Islam, look at how the Shia and Sunnis fight. Are you getting this? Religion can be the most violent and debasing force. And we are not talking only of Judaism or Islam here. We are talking of all religions across the world. When distorted, they are the worst thing that can happen to mankind.
And then sane people find it better to drop religion altogether. They say, "We have nothing to do with religion. We are irreligious or atheists or agnostics. We have nothing to do with this primitive historical thing called religion." They say religion is a thing of the past. Religion is a medieval phenomenon, and modernity should have nothing to do with religion. And one can understand where they're coming from. They have seen the most rotten aspects of religion. Therefore, it is understandable that they want to keep their hands off it. Are you getting it?
Now Israel is saying, unless the Iranian religious leader Khamenei agrees to a total abortion of the nuclear program, he will be physically removed. You understand what that means? We'll kill the president himself. As if that can halt an entire nation. And nuclear technology and fissile materials are relatively very easily available today. And there are just too many players willing to sell nuclear secrets and material for a price.
You have Pakistan, you have North Korea, you even have China. All these are people who can aid Iran's nuclearization. Sooner than later, Iran will have a nuclear weapon. And Israel already has 80 to 90 nuclear weapons. And those — these two countries are not far from each other. You know what's coming. Thank you so much, religion.
Similarly, the India-Pakistan conflict. You really think, you really think it's about Kashmir or any other issue? No. Let's face the fact — it's a Hindu-Muslim thing. Pakistan sees itself as the inheritor of the subcontinent's Muslim legacy and the unfinished Muslim agenda. Now, one can contest whether there was anything called a Muslim agenda at all. But at least the Pakistani generals think that there was one. And they say, "We exist to take care of the unfinished agenda." You look at their weapons, they are all named after invaders: Ghauri, Ghaznavi. Doesn't that tell you about their mindscape, the inner environment they are operating in?
Somebody asked them, "Why have you named your missile as Ghauri?" They said, "Because India named its missile as Prithvi." They thought Prithvi means Prithviraj Chauhan. So if you can call it Prithvi, we will call it Ghauri. Now, that kind of tunnel vision — don’t understand that Prithvi is not necessarily Prithviraj.
Again, a religious thing. I'm not saying all conflicts are religious but religion is a major reason, whenever there is a conflict. Be it riots within a country or be it wars between countries, it's a major thing — my religion. The Second World War was so much about race. My race is superior to yours, which is again a thing that's allied with religion — race. Are you getting it?
Religion dropped is better than religion left unpurified. But religion dropped would also mean a great elevating force dropped — a great possibility, a great potential that could have assisted the human being — that has been forsaken. That's the problem with dropping religion.
That's the reason why your Gita Mission is so important. Because if religion is not purified, it would either be further contaminated, or it would be dropped. And both these things are happening. People are either dropping religion totally, or they are getting in the throes of — in the captivity of totally contaminated religion.
Don't you see that happening in India? Those who are gullible, they are taken in by contaminated religion. And those who have some sense, they say, "We have nothing to do with religion. Keep it aside." Now both these are imperfect options. The first one is an outright abominable option. And the second one too is suboptimal.
The best option always is to have religion in its pure spirit. Religion in its pure spirit is a beautiful thing. It does not engender wars.
Are you getting it?
One is a beast. One has nothing better in life than to cut open the other’s throat. But one is some kind of a rational beast. So one seeks to justify cutting open other’s throats. One says, "You know, this is to defend my religion."
The thing is you are, you are misusing religion in the worst possible way. You're misusing religion to justify your very — "My car is better than your car, my argument is better than your argument and my God is better than your God. My God is better because he is my God. And I'll spit on your God because he is your God."
