The Idea and Image of the "New Israel" Among Christian Peoples / ישראל החדש: גלגולו של הרעיון ושל הדימוי בעמים הנוצריים

This article deals with Christian peoples' use of Chosen People imagery for national and political purposes, with a specific Christian nation or kingdom identified as the "New Israel." It begins by describing the New Israel idea as a pan-Christian notion that underwent a fundamental change when it first began to be used in reference to a specific nation. It continues with a detailed mapping of the phenomenon in Ethiopian Christianity, the Catholic world in the Middle Ages, the Orthodox-Provoslav world, and the Protestant countries at the dawn of the Modern era. It describes the broad context of the phenomenon within the framework of ethnocentric imagery in various cultures and sketches the continued research that is needed for a full description. The phenomenon is of interest because it indicates the importance that many premodern peoples attributed to the formulation of a national narrative and the centrality of religion in this endeavor. It emphasizes the political inspiration that Europe drew from the Bible in the construction of national narratives and the prominence of the national idea in the Bible itself, which made it a ready source of inspiration for national ideas among Christian peoples.