Last Updated on September 17, 2022
When Israel began to exist, it faced a host of problems. The Assyrians, Egyptians, and Romans were among them. This article will provide a brief overview of how the other empires reacted to their new nation. In this piece, we will examine the Arabs and the Romans, as well as the response of the Jews. The Arabs were the most significant of these empires, but the Jews were not completely isolated from their neighbors.
Assyrians
The Israelites faced a variety of challenges as neighboring kingdoms and empires tried to influence the Jewish people and their culture. These empires included the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans. Despite these challenges, the Israelites persisted and were eventually able to establish their own state. The Romans, for their part, had a major impact on the Jewish culture and history.
The Assyrians continued their conquest of the region, but they were unable to completely conquer the land. After Ashdod was defeated, the Assyrian conquest of southern Palestine continued. The kingdom of Judah remained independent and remained a staunch ally of Assyria until the death of Sargon II. But the Assyrian conquest of the Jewish people didn’t stop there.
Syria is strategically located between Israel and Iraq and has a long history of conflict with Israel. It gained independence from the French Mandate in 1946 and has since struggled to stabilize its political foundation. In 1958, Syria and Egypt joined forces to form the United Arab Republic, but they soon separated and Syria became its own independent republic. With its geographical location and population, Syria holds significant political significance in the Middle East and is a vital player in the peace process.
The Romans had a huge military, and their leaders were allied with Rome. Many of their soldiers had connections with the Arabs, including Herod the Great. The Romans also had many friends in this region, but they considered them treacherous vassals. The Arabs, as well as the Egyptians, were not interested in the Jewish community. This was not a great example of cooperation between two empires, as it was not a mutually beneficial relationship.
Romans
The Romans responded to the israelites by making them submit to their rule. They impacted Judea and Galilee. These regions were a center of Israelite culture, which included stories of resistance against foreign rulers and an ideal social order where the nation of Israel lived free and independent. As a result, the Romans imposed a new way of life that many Israelites were unable to resist. One example is the parable of the Good Samaritan, which describes the disintegration of village communities under the new Roman rule.
The Jewish people were forced from their homeland by the Romans. They were told they could never return to their homeland. Romans’ defeats of the Jews resulted in a diaspora, or exile of Jews outside their homeland. This history is described in the New Testament as the “diaspora.”
In the aftermath of the defeat, Paul, a Jewish convert, was arrested by the Romans and was taken to Rome. The Roman emperor, Gallus, sent a lightning campaign against the Zealot rebels, recaptured Caesarea, Acre, and Sepphoris. The Romans were on the verge of conquering Jerusalem, but Gallus underestimated the Jewish resistance. A Zealot ambush waited to attack the Roman legion.
In the years following the crucifixion, Jesus’ followers spread the gospel of the kingdom to cities in the Eastern Roman Empire. The initial reaction was shock and confusion. The Roman governor Pilate wanted to release Jesus while the Jewish authorities demanded his execution. In addition, Paul was criticized by his countrymen but sought the help of the Romans. This is a good example of how Christianity spreads over time.
Egyptians
The way the Egyptians responded to the israelites is instructive for how we should respond to people in power. Humans are creatures of work, and work can be mentally and physically taxing. But in the case of the Israelites, slavery was a ruthless form of work. Their masters worked them “ruthlessly” and made their lives “bitter and hard.” They were utterly miserable and suffering, with broken spirits. Yet, it is important to remember that God wanted justice, and that He gave the Israelites the right to reap the fruits of their labor.
God’s command to be fruitful and multiply was not easy for the Israelites. It required the assistance of midwives, a practice that had its roots in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Midwives assisted women with childbearing by cutting the umbilical cord of the infant, washing the mother and child, and presenting the infant to the parents. As a result, Egyptians viewed the Israelites as inferior to their gods.
God responded to Egypt’s inhumane behavior by sending plagues on their land. While God has the power to remove Egypt, he chose a plague that would destroy Egypt. God is a God of judgment, and he never delays justice. As a result, the Egyptians’ brutal treatment of the Israelites, and their attempts at genocide against them, God sent a terrible judgment on the nation.
The Egyptians had already begun to make their people subordinate to their oppressors. Eventually, the Israelites were forced to work as slaves, making them unfit to live as free citizens. However, in spite of these measures, the Israelites were still viewed as a threat to Egypt’s national security. They were often forced to work as slaves in order to make a living. This, in turn, made the Israelites even more subservient to Egyptian culture.
Arabs
The influx of Jews into Palestine was more than double the number of Arabs that emigrated. However, while Jewish refugees walked hundreds of miles to a small country with a different culture, Palestinians stayed in their homeland and continued their traditional lives. The number of refugees from neighboring empires has declined since the 1948 war. Nevertheless, the issue remains. What is the proper response?
After the State of Israel was established by Zionist leaders, the surrounding Arab states mobilized to prevent its creation. In the end, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War ended with Israel gaining control of most of the former British Mandate, while the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights were still under Arab control. The Arabs, meanwhile, continued to claim the Golan Heights, despite Israel’s insistence that it belonged to them.
The future of Israel lies in its peaceful relationship with the Palestinian state and the Arab world. There have been many wrongs and brutalities on both sides, but it is time to move forward and find a peaceful solution to the conflict. Israel’s greatest achievement will only come when it can achieve that goal. Until then, the Arabs in neighboring empires should not forget that Israel was a colony of the Roman Empire and that it had to share the same fate as its neighbors.
The modern Arab-Israeli conflict began as the result of the rise of Zionism and the rise of reactionary Arab nationalism in the late 19th century. The Ottoman Empire, a British colony that had ruled the Middle East for over 400 years, had been a powerful force in the region. At the time of the First World War, the Ottomans had firmly established a Turkish ethnic identity in the region. This reflected an increasingly privileged position for the Turks in the empire and discriminated against Arabs.
Russians
As the Syrian conflict continues, the Israeli military has negotiated a deal with the Russians that will allow it to strike Iranian targets from inside Syria. The presence of the Russian military in Syria serves as an important check on Iran’s influence and Israel’s security. Israeli officials have yet to respond to this implication. Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov compared the Jewish president of Ukraine to Adolf Hitler. Israeli president Isaac Herzog expressed “angry and disgust” at Lavrov’s comments.
The Russian government implements Temporary Regulations for the Jewish population in the Pale. These Regulations remain in effect until 1917. They restrict Jews’ ability to own land or settle outside of the Pale, and they also prohibit Jewish traders from doing business on Christian holidays. The Russian governments continue to restrict Jewish lives, establishing quotas to restrict their entry into academic institutions and expulsion from major cities.
Israel’s response to the Russian invasion has been mixed. While initially denouncing the Russian invasion, it later tempered its criticism of Moscow, in part because of its wider security relationship with Russia. Israel relies on Russian forces to conduct airstrikes on Iranian-backed militants in Syria. Its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has good relations with Zelensky and Putin, played an important role in facilitating rapprochement between the two sides during the early stages of the conflict.
In the meantime, the Israeli leadership should not assume that the state of Israel is the end of Zionism. The state of Israel is not the end of Zionism, but rather a form of Jewish nation-state and equal citizenship. Israelis who are in the center should embrace Zelensky’s version of Zionism. But it may be too late. The situation in Syria is far too dangerous for the Israeli government to ignore it.
About The Author
Pat Rowse is a thinker. He loves delving into Twitter to find the latest scholarly debates and then analyzing them from every possible perspective. He's an introvert who really enjoys spending time alone reading about history and influential people. Pat also has a deep love of the internet and all things digital; she considers himself an amateur internet maven. When he's not buried in a book or online, he can be found hardcore analyzing anything and everything that comes his way.