In psychology, bipolarity describes a debilitating oscillation between extreme poles—a manic phase of frenetic, ungrounded activity and a depressive phase of withdrawal and despair. Transposed onto geopolitics, it captures a nation’s inability to reconcile its internal reality with its external projection. For Israel, this bipolarity is not a disorder; it is a carefully orchestrated statecraft, yet one that is morally devastating to those caught in the crossfire.
The “manic” pole is the raw, unvarnished reality of the occupation. It is the frenetic pulse of military operations in Gaza, the daily humiliation of checkpoints in the West Bank, the systematic demolition of Palestinian homes, and the institutionalized disregard for the civic rights of Arab citizens within Israel’s borders—compounded by the relentless bombardment of civilian infrastructure in South Lebanon and South Beirut. This is a state constantly at war, where the violence is impulsive, sustained, and undeniably asymmetrical. It is a policy of domination that operates with a frantic energy, stripping human dignity and international law away, in the name of existential security.
Yet, this manic reality exists alongside a tranquil, pristine “depressive” pole—the polished, victim-centric narrative presented to the world. In boardrooms in Washington and in pulpits across the Pasifika, Israel portrays itself as the sole beacon of democracy in the Levant and West Asia, a “start-up nation” overcoming the trauma of the Holocaust. The language is sanitized: occupation becomes “disputed territories,” military strikes become “precision operations,” and systemic inequality is dismissed as “security necessity.”
The enablers of this psychological split are the United States and a global network of Christian zealots—from the American Bible Belt to the Pasifika. In Pasifika island states, where Christianity is deeply woven into our national fabric, the theological scaffolding of Christian Zionism provides a potent justification for absolute support. For these global Evangelical communities, Israel’s political sovereignty is not a geopolitical question; it is a celestial prophecy. They grant a blanket moral immunity to the manic actions on the ground because they are captivated by the messianic narrative of the “chosen people.” This theological armada effectively renders the suffering of Palestinians irrelevant in the eyes of key global constituencies. The Israeli state, in turn, actively courts these remote nations, knowing that a vote of support from Suva or Apia, is not rooted in careful analysis of the two-state solution, but in an unwavering, scriptural loyalty that forgives all sins.
Yet Pope Leo XIV has cut through this polished theological spin with devastating precision: “It is a greater defeat to bless a war in the name of heaven than to lose the war itself. Do not use God as a shield for political interests.” By wrapping military dominance in prophetic certainty, these global enablers are not merely backing a foreign policy—they are engaging in a profound theological betrayal.
This bipolar strategy is a masterclass in global projection, but it is tearing the nation apart. By maintaining two utterly incompatible poles, Israel avoids the primary moral crisis of our time: how can a state claim to be a Western liberal democracy, while operating a system of profound civil and military inequality? The manic violence demands a response from the world but, the depressive spin sells so effectively to its powerbrokers that the international community continually looks away.
The cost of this polarity is truth. Eventually, cognitive dissonance collapses into fracture. The world is beginning to see through the split screen. You cannot have a Western liberal democracy that operates two systems for two peoples. Pope Leo XIV offers the theological antidote: “The Holy Land is not a trophy to be won, but a cradle to be shared.” And echoing this across the ecumenical divide, the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, Reverend Dr. Jerry Pillay, has warned: “No theology of ‘chosenness’ can ever justify the collective punishment of a people. To weaponize prophecy for political domination is to desecrate the very Gospel we proclaim.”
The path forward requires a painful integration: a nation must choose one consistent reality. Either it must be a genuine, Western liberal democracy for everyone under its control, or it must drop the moralistic façade and accept the consequences of being a sustained, permanent occupier. The current state of manic brutality, polished by depressive piety, is a disservice to both Israelis and Palestinians—and, as the world’s leading Christian voices now remind us, a dangerous spiritual delusion for the global zealots who enable it.
Pasifika Talanoa by a traveled ITaukei Fijian 