Short answer
No. They share a name and a land, but they are not the same thing. In the Bible, Israel is first a man, Jacob, whom God (﷾) renamed Israel. Then it is his family, the twelve tribes. Then it is a kingdom, which the Assyrians ended about 720 BCE. The modern State of Israel was declared in 1948 by a movement whose founder was a secular journalist. About one in five of its people are Arabs, and its Law of Return welcomes the grandchild of a Jew who is not Jewish at all. In the Bible, the land was never given for birth alone. It was kept by obeying God's (﷾) Law, and lost by turning from it. Some Jews, and many Christians taught by the Scofield Bible, say the state fulfils prophecy; other Jews say it breaks the Talmud's own oaths. The Qur'an honours the Children of Israel, but it ties the promise to faith, not to a name: "My Promise is not within the reach of evil-doers". Whoever follows Abraham's faith is his true heir. The nation promised to Ishmael's seed is the Muslims, the people of his descendant Muhammad (ﷺ).
Full explanation
What "Israel" means in the Bible
The Bible uses the name in several ways. First it is a man. God (﷾) told Jacob: "thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name". Next it is his family: his twelve sons and their tribes, "the children of Israel". Later it is a kingdom. After King Solomon, ten tribes in the north kept the name Israel, while Judah and Benjamin in the south became the kingdom of Judah. In the New Testament, Paul writes: "they are not all Israel, which are of Israel". He speaks of "the Israel of God". None of these is a modern country with a parliament and borders drawn in the twentieth century.
“And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.”
“And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.”
“For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,”
The northern kingdom of Israel lasted from about 930 to about 720 BCE. It began when the northern tribes broke away from Solomon's son Rehoboam; Judah and Benjamin kept him as king and formed the kingdom of Judah in the south. Around 720 BCE the Assyrian Empire conquered it and deported part of its people to Mesopotamia; this gave rise to the idea of the Ten Lost Tribes. Those who stayed around Mount Gerizim became the Samaritans.
“Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:”
“And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”
| Meaning | Where |
|---|---|
| A man: Jacob, renamed Israel | Genesis 32:28, 35:10 |
| His family: the twelve tribes | "The children of Israel" |
| A kingdom: the ten northern tribes | About 930 to 720 BCE |
| "Not all Israel, which are of Israel" | Romans 9:6 |
| A modern country | Not in the Bible: declared in 1948 |
The kingdom called Israel ended long ago
The northern kingdom of Israel fell to Assyria about 720 BCE. The Bible says the king of Assyria "carried Israel away into Assyria", and "there was none left but the tribe of Judah only". From this came the idea of the Ten Lost Tribes. Judah fell to Babylon in 587 BCE, and Jerusalem and its Temple were destroyed. In 538 BCE Cyrus of Persia let the exiles go home. Those who went up were "the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites". The word "Jew" comes from Judah. So the Jewish people today trace their line to Judah, Benjamin and Levi, and they have long called themselves Israel. That tie is real. But as a kingdom, the ten northern tribes never came back.
“In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.”
“Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.”
The northern kingdom of Israel lasted from about 930 to about 720 BCE. It began when the northern tribes broke away from Solomon's son Rehoboam; Judah and Benjamin kept him as king and formed the kingdom of Judah in the south. Around 720 BCE the Assyrian Empire conquered it and deported part of its people to Mesopotamia; this gave rise to the idea of the Ten Lost Tribes. Those who stayed around Mount Gerizim became the Samaritans.
The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple in 587 BCE and took many of the people of Judah into exile. Cyrus the Great of Persia ended the exile in 538 BCE and let them return to Judah.
“Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.”
- c. 930 BCE
The kingdom splits
Israel in the north, Judah in the south
- c. 720 BCE
Assyria takes Israel
"None left but the tribe of Judah only"
- 587 BCE
Babylon takes Judah
Jerusalem and the Temple destroyed
- 538 BCE
Cyrus lets Judah return
Judah, Benjamin and the Levites
- 1891
The Blackstone Memorial
American Christians petition for Palestine to go to the Jews
- 1896
Herzl founds political Zionism
A secular journalist
- 1909
The Scofield Bible
Oxford; revised 1917
- 1917
The Balfour Declaration
A "national home for the Jewish people"
- 1948
The State of Israel declared
In Tel Aviv, by David Ben-Gurion
A modern state that took an old name
The State of Israel was declared on 14 May 1948, when David Ben-Gurion read its Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv. The new state was "to be known as the State of Israel". It came out of political Zionism, the movement founded in 1896 by Theodor Herzl, a secular journalist. It grew from European nationalism, not from a prophet's call. The Declaration ends with the words "Rock of Israel", chosen so that both religious and secular signers could sign: one could read it as God, another as the land. The Declaration promises equal rights to all "irrespective of religion, race or sex".
Proclaimed by David Ben-Gurion on 14 May 1948 at the Tel Aviv Museum. It declared a Jewish state in Palestine, "to be known as the State of Israel". It promised "complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex". Its closing words speak of the "Rock of Israel", a phrase that could be read as God or as the land, so that religious and secular signers could each sign it.
Modern political Zionism, the movement for a Jewish state, was founded by Theodor Herzl, a secular Austrian Jewish journalist, with his book The Jewish State (1896). It grew from European nationalism and the antisemitism Jews faced in Europe.
Who belongs: birth, faith or a law?
At the end of 2025 Israel had about 10.18 million people. About 21% were Arabs, Muslims and Christians among them, who are citizens of the state. Who may move there is set by the Law of Return, passed in 1950. It gives that right to every Jew, meaning one born of a Jewish mother or converted to Judaism. Since 1970 it has also given it to the child or grandchild of a Jew, and to their spouses, even if they are not Jews themselves. So belonging to the state is a matter of a law made by its parliament. The Bible's Israel was never only a matter of blood either. Ruth was a woman of Moab who told Naomi: "thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God". She became the great-grandmother of King David.
At the end of 2025 Israel had about 10,178,000 people: 7,771,000 Jews and others (76.3%), 2,147,000 Arabs (21.1%) and about 260,000 foreign nationals (2.6%).
1. Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh. ... 4A. (a) The rights of a Jew under this Law ... are also vested in a child and a grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew, the spouse of a child of a Jew and the spouse of a grandchild of a Jew ... 4B. For the purposes of this Law, "Jew" means a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion.
“And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:”
“And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.”
- 10.18 millionPeople in all
- 76.3%Jews and others
- 21.1%Arabs, Muslims and Christians among them
| Point | Israel in the Bible | The State of Israel |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Jacob's family, a people under the Law of Moses | A country declared in 1948 |
| Who belongs | The tribes, and those who joined them, like Ruth | Its citizens, about one in five of them Arabs |
| Who may come | Those who kept the covenant | A Jew, a Jew's child or grandchild, and their spouses |
The Bible's own condition for the land
God (﷾) promised the land to Abraham's seed "for an everlasting possession". But the Bible ties staying in it to obedience. Moses warns that if Israel turns away, "ye shall be plucked from off the land", and "the Lord shall scatter thee among all people". God (﷾) told Solomon the same: if they serve other gods, "then will I cut off Israel out of the land". The Bible also promises a gathering back. But it sets an order. First they "return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice", "with all thine heart". Then He will "gather thee from all the nations". The movement that founded the modern state was begun by a secular journalist and grew from nationalism, not from a return to the Law of Moses. By the Bible's own order, then, 1948 cannot simply be called the promised return, as many Orthodox Jews themselves say.
“And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
“And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.”
“And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.”
“But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:”
“And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.”
Modern political Zionism, the movement for a Jewish state, was founded by Theodor Herzl, a secular Austrian Jewish journalist, with his book The Jewish State (1896). It grew from European nationalism and the antisemitism Jews faced in Europe.
Turn away
"Ye shall be plucked from off the land"
Scattered
"Among all people"
Return to God (﷾) first
"Obey his voice ... with all thine heart"
Then gathered
"Gather thee from all the nations"
Jews themselves disagree
Many Jews love the land and see the state as the homeland of their people. Some religious Jews go further. The Prayer for the State, written in 1948 by Israel's first Chief Rabbi, calls it "the initial flowering of our redemption". But many Orthodox Jews say the opposite, and mainstream Haredi Jews generally do not say the Prayer for the State. So even within Judaism, the claim that the state is biblical Israel is not agreed.
Written in 1948 by Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, and edited by S. Y. Agnon. It calls the state "the initial flowering of our redemption". Many synagogues recite it; mainstream Haredi Jews generally do not, partly because of that phrase.
| View | Source |
|---|---|
| The homeland of the Jewish people | The Declaration of 1948 |
| "The initial flowering of our redemption" | The Prayer for the State, 1948 |
| Forbidden before the Messiah | The Talmud's three oaths; the Satmar Rebbe, 1961 |
Why many Orthodox Jews say it is not the promised Israel
Many Orthodox Jews hold that only the Messiah can bring Israel home. Maimonides, the twelfth-century scholar whose code of Jewish law is still followed, wrote that the King Messiah will build the Temple and gather the scattered of Israel. He read the promise of return in Deuteronomy 30 as a promise of the Messiah. So a gathering without the Messiah is not that gathering. Second, the Talmud says God (﷾) made the Jews swear not to go up to the land "as a wall", all together, and not to rebel against the nations. Third, the rabbis feared that secular nationalism would turn a people of the Torah into a nation like any other. Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan, the Chafetz Chaim, taught that the Jewish people must stay in exile until the Messiah comes. In 1961 Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, founder of the Satmar Hasidim, wrote that Zionism cannot be reconciled with Judaism. Before 1948 the vast majority of Haredi Jews opposed Zionism. Today most of them accept that the state exists, but give it no religious meaning. A smaller group still opposes any Jewish state before the Messiah. So for many of the most observant Jews, the modern state is not the Israel of the prophets' promise.
Maimonides writes that the King Messiah will arise and restore the kingdom of David; he will build the Temple and gather the dispersed of Israel. Whoever does not believe in him or await his coming denies the Torah and Moses, for the Torah foretold him in Deuteronomy 30:3-5, God gathering Israel from among the nations. A king of David's line who keeps the Torah, builds the Temple in its place and gathers the dispersed of Israel is certainly the Messiah.
“And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.”
Explaining the three oaths in the Song of Songs (2:7, 3:5, 8:4), Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Hanina says: one, that the Jews should not go up to the Land of Israel "as a wall", all together, but little by little; one, that they should not rebel against the rule of the nations of the world; and one, that God made the nations swear not to oppress the Jews too much.
Before 1948 the vast majority of Haredi Jews opposed Zionism. They held Jewish rule in the Land of Israel forbidden before the Messiah comes; Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan (the Chafetz Chaim) taught that the Jewish nation must remain in exile until the Messiah arrives; some consider the state a violation of the three oaths; and they feared that secular nationalism would redefine the Jewish nation away from a religious community. Today non-Zionists, who do not object to the state's existence but see no religious significance in it, are a majority of the Haredi world; anti-Zionists oppose any Jewish state before the Messiah. Among the Ashkenazi Orthodox rabbinical leadership, religious Zionists are a minority.
A Hebrew book of 1961 by Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, founder of the Satmar Hasidic movement. It argues that Zionism is incompatible with Judaism, sets out the Talmud's three oaths, and treats an attempt to end the exile before God's redemption as close to heresy.
| Reason | Source |
|---|---|
| Only the Messiah gathers Israel and builds the Temple | Maimonides, Laws of Kings 11 |
| Do not go up to the land all together | The Talmud's three oaths |
| Stay in exile until the Messiah comes | The Chafetz Chaim |
| Zionism cannot be reconciled with Judaism | The Satmar Rebbe, 1961 |
What many Christians say, and what the New Testament says
Many Christian Zionists see the return of Jews and the founding of the state as Bible prophecy fulfilled. But the New Testament itself moves the promise away from birth. Paul writes: "if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise". He says "they are not all Israel, which are of Israel". Jesus warned the leaders of his people: "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof". So a Christian who reads his own scripture has to ask why a modern state should be the heir by birth.
A religious and political movement that supports a Jewish return to the Land of Israel and, in its modern forms, the State of Israel. Many Christian Zionists understand the return of Jews to the land and the founding of Israel as fulfilments of biblical prophecy.
“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
“Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:”
“Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.”
Christian Zionism came first
The call for a Jewish state in the Holy Land did not come only from Jews. Protestant Christians called for a Jewish return long before Herzl, because they read it in Bible prophecy. In Britain, Lord Shaftesbury was one of the first politicians to press for it as official policy. In 1891 an American preacher, William Blackstone, sent President Benjamin Harrison a petition signed by hundreds of leading Americans. It asked: "Why not give Palestine back to them again?" In 1916 Nathan Straus, with the backing of the Zionist leader Louis Brandeis, wrote to him: "you are the Father of Zionism, as your work antedates Herzl". When Herzl began, an Anglican clergyman, William Hechler, became his close friend and helped open doors for him. In 1917 Britain declared that it viewed "with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". Both its Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, and its Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, were influenced by Christian Zionism. So the idea that the land must go back to the Jews was spread by Christians reading prophecy, as well as by Jews.
Ideas of a Jewish restoration to Palestine grew among Protestants well before modern political Zionism; Christian lobbying for it came over a century before the Scofield Bible. Lord Shaftesbury was one of the first British politicians to press a Jewish return to Ottoman Palestine as official policy. William Hechler, an Anglican clergyman, became a close friend of Theodor Herzl and helped him in his diplomacy; he has been called the founder of modern Christian Zionism. Both Arthur Balfour and the Prime Minister David Lloyd George were influenced by Christian Zionism.
In 1891 William Blackstone, a Christian restorationist, presented a petition signed by hundreds of prominent Americans to President Benjamin Harrison. It favoured the delivery of Palestine to the Jews and asked: "Why not give Palestine back to them again?" In 1916 Nathan Straus, at Louis Brandeis's urging, wrote to Blackstone: "you are the Father of Zionism, as your work antedates Herzl".
Modern political Zionism, the movement for a Jewish state, was founded by Theodor Herzl, a secular Austrian Jewish journalist, with his book The Jewish State (1896). It grew from European nationalism and the antisemitism Jews faced in Europe.
“His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”
The Scofield Bible and Genesis 12:3
In America this belief owes much to one book, the Scofield Reference Bible. Oxford University Press published it in 1909 and a revised edition in 1917. Its text is the King James Version, with notes by Cyrus I. Scofield printed beside the verses. Through those notes, many American fundamentalists took up dispensationalism, which divides history into seven eras of God's (﷾) dealings with mankind. The book had sold more than two million copies by the end of the Second World War. On Genesis 12:3, "I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee", Scofield wrote: "It has invariably fared ill with the people who have persecuted the Jew—well with those who have protected him". After 1948, many of his readers saw the new state as proof of his scheme. Today some apply the verse to the state itself, warning that any nation against Israel invites God's (﷾) wrath. But Scofield's own notes do not say the state is the promised return. He wrote that Israel "will be restored at the return of the Lord as King". He wrote that Abraham's great nation is "Fulfilled also through Ishmael", and in a spiritual line, "all men of faith, whether Jew or Gentile". So even by Scofield's notes, Israel's promised restoration comes at Christ's return, and Abraham's promise reaches Ishmael and all people of faith, not one state alone.
Oxford University Press first published the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909; Scofield revised it in 1917. It prints the whole King James Version with Scofield's notes beside the text. It made dispensationalism, the teaching of seven eras of God's dealings with mankind, popular early in the twentieth century, and largely through its notes many American fundamentalists took it up. It had sold more than two million copies by the end of the Second World War. It significantly influenced the Christian Zionist movement, and the founding of a Jewish state after the war led many to see the scheme as vindicated. John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel, applies Genesis 12:3 to the state: the man or nation that lifts a voice or hand against Israel invites the wrath of God.
“And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
“(1) "I will make of thee a great nation." Fulfilled in a threefold way: (a) In a natural posterity—"as the dust of the earth" (Gen. 13. 16; John 8. 37), viz. the Hebrew people. (b) In a spiritual posterity—"look now toward heaven ... so shall thy seed be" (John 8. 39; Rom. 4. 16, 17; 9. 7, 8; Gal. 3. 6, 7, 29), viz. all men of faith, whether Jew or Gentile. (c) Fulfilled also through Ishmael (Gen. 17. 18-20). ... (6) "And curse him that curseth thee." Wonderfully fulfilled in the history of the dispersion. It has invariably fared ill with the people who have persecuted the Jew—well with those who have protected him. The future will still more remarkably prove this principle. ... Note.—The gift of the land is modified by prophecies of three dispossessions and restorations (Gen. 15. 13, 14, 16; Jer. 25. 11, 12; Deut. 28. 62-65; 30. 1-3). Two dispossessions and restorations have been accomplished. Israel is now in the third dispersion, from which she will be restored at the return of the Lord as King under the Davidic Covenant (Deut. 30. 3; Jer. 23. 5-8; Ezk. 37. 21-25; Lk. 1. 30-33; Acts 15. 14-17).”
A religious and political movement that supports a Jewish return to the Land of Israel and, in its modern forms, the State of Israel. Many Christian Zionists understand the return of Jews to the land and the founding of Israel as fulfilments of biblical prophecy.
| Note | Scofield's words |
|---|---|
| Genesis 12:3 | "It has invariably fared ill with the people who have persecuted the Jew" |
| Abraham's great nation | "Fulfilled also through Ishmael" |
| Abraham's seed | "All men of faith, whether Jew or Gentile" |
| When Israel is restored | "At the return of the Lord as King" |
What the Qur'an says about the Children of Israel and the land
The Qur'an honours the Children of Israel. Moses reminds them that God (﷾) "produced prophets among you, made you kings". It says God (﷾) preferred them "to all other (for My Message)". Ibn Kathir says this means above the people of their own time. Moses told them: "Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you". Ibn Kathir explains it as the land promised through their father Jacob, "the inheritance of those among them who believe". But they refused to enter, and said to Moses: "Go thou, and thy Lord, and fight ye two". So God (﷾) said: "Therefore will the land be out of their reach for forty years". The gift was real, and it came with faith and obedience.
“Remember Moses said to his people: "O my people! Call in remembrance the favour of Allah unto you, when He produced prophets among you, made you kings, and gave you what He had not given to any other among the peoples. "O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin."”
“Children of Israel! call to mind the (special) favour which I bestowed upon you, and that I preferred you to all other (for My Message).”
On "gave you what He had not given to any other", Ibn Kathir says it means in their own time: the Children of Israel were the most honoured people of their time. On the holy land "which Allah hath assigned unto you", he says it means the land Allah promised them through their father Isra'il (Jacob), that it is the inheritance of those among them who believe. He says they refused to enter and fight, and were punished with forty years of wandering.
“They said: "O Moses! In this land are a people of exceeding strength: Never shall we enter it until they leave it: if (once) they leave, then shall we enter." (But) among (their) Allah-fearing men were two on whom Allah had bestowed His grace: They said: "Assault them at the (proper) Gate: when once ye are in, victory will be yours; But on Allah put your trust if ye have faith." They said: "O Moses! while they remain there, never shall we be able to enter, to the end of time. Go thou, and thy Lord, and fight ye two, while we sit here (and watch)." He said: "O my Lord! I have power only over myself and my brother: so separate us from this rebellious people!" Allah said: "Therefore will the land be out of their reach for forty years: In distraction will they wander through the land: But sorrow thou not over these rebellious people.”
Moses: "Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you"
They refuse: "Go thou, and thy Lord, and fight ye two"
The land is kept from them for forty years
Does the Qur'an foretell the modern state?
Some people today say that Qur'an 17:104 foretells 1948. In Yusuf Ali's words, God (﷾) told the Children of Israel, after Pharaoh, to "Dwell securely in the land". Then "We gathered you together in a mingled crowd". The Arabic words behind "the second of the warnings" are wa'd al-akhira, "the promise of the Hereafter". Al-Tabari explains the land as al-Sham, greater Syria, in the time after Pharaoh. He explains the promise of the Hereafter as the Hour. On the Day of Resurrection God (﷾) will bring them from their graves all mixed together, no one keeping to his tribe. Ibn Kathir says it means "all of you, you and your enemies". The verse is about the Day of Judgement, not a state in the twentieth century.
“And We said thereafter to the Children of Israel, "Dwell securely in the land (of promise)": but when the second of the warnings came to pass, We gathered you together in a mingled crowd.”
Al-Tabari says that after Pharaoh was destroyed, the Children of Israel were told to dwell in the land of al-Sham (greater Syria). "The promise of the Hereafter" is the Hour: Allah will bring them from their graves to the standing place of the Resurrection, all mixed together, no one keeping to his own tribe. He reports that Ibn Abbas read lafifa as "all together", and another early scholar as "from every people".
Ibn Kathir explains "We gathered you together in a mingled crowd" as: all of you, you and your enemies. He reports that Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Qatada and al-Dahhak said lafifa means all together. He reads the verse's first half, the Children of Israel inheriting the land after Pharaoh, as good news for the Prophet (ﷺ) that he would one day enter Mecca.
Who are Abraham's heirs?
Genesis says the land was promised to Abraham's seed, "from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates". Ishmael is Abraham's seed too: God (﷾) said of him, "will I make a nation, because he is thy seed". Abraham and Ishmael prayed together, as they raised the Kaaba: "make of us Muslims, bowing to Thy (Will), and of our progeny a people Muslim". The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) came from Ishmael's line: he said God (﷾) chose his people from the descendants of Ishmael. So in Islam, the nation promised to Ishmael's seed is the Muslims: the people of Ishmael's descendant Muhammad (ﷺ), and all who follow him in Abraham's faith. The Qur'an answers who the true heirs are. When Abraham asked for leaders from his offspring, God (﷾) said: "My Promise is not within the reach of evil-doers". It says: "the nearest of kin to Abraham, are those who follow him". It says the righteous "shall inherit the earth", as the Psalms say. Moses told his people: "the earth is Allah's, to give as a heritage to such of His servants as He pleaseth; and the end is (best) for the righteous". The Prophet (ﷺ) said that whoever is held back by his deeds will not be hurried forward by his lineage.
“In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:”
“And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.”
“"Our Lord! make of us Muslims, bowing to Thy (Will), and of our progeny a people Muslim, bowing to Thy (will); and show us our place for the celebration of (due) rites; and turn unto us (in Mercy); for Thou art the Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.”
Wathila ibn al-Asqa' reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said God chose Kinana from the descendants of Ishmael, chose Quraysh from Kinana, chose Banu Hashim from Quraysh, and chose him from Banu Hashim. In Sahih Muslim it stands under the heading on the merit of the Prophet's lineage.
“And remember that Abraham was tried by his Lord with certain commands, which he fulfilled: He said: "I will make thee an Imam to the Nations." He pleaded: "And also (Imams) from my offspring!" He answered: "But My Promise is not within the reach of evil-doers."”
“Without doubt, among men, the nearest of kin to Abraham, are those who follow him, as are also this Prophet and those who believe: And Allah is the Protector of those who have faith.”
“Before this We wrote in the Psalms, after the Message (given to Moses): My servants the righteous, shall inherit the earth."”
“Said Moses to his people: "Pray for help from Allah, and (wait) in patience and constancy: for the earth is Allah's, to give as a heritage to such of His servants as He pleaseth; and the end is (best) for the righteous.”
Abu Hurayra reports a longer saying of the Prophet (ﷺ) about good deeds and their reward. Among them: whoever follows a path in search of knowledge, Allah makes easy for him a path to Paradise; and when people gather in a mosque to recite the Qur'an and study it together, tranquillity descends on them, mercy covers them and the angels surround them. It ends: whoever is held back by his deeds will not be hurried forward by his lineage.
Ishmael's promised nation: the Muslims
The righteous
Those who follow Abraham
Evil-doers, of any line
Lineage alone
So what is the answer?
The State of Israel shares a name and much of a land with the Israel of the Bible. Most of its Jewish citizens trace their faith to it. But it is not the Israel of the Bible. That Israel was a man, a family of twelve tribes, and a people bound by the Law of Moses. Its northern kingdom ended about 720 BCE. The modern state is a country, declared in 1948, judged like any country by how justly it acts. The Qur'an says: "let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice". It names Jacob among the prophets Muslims believe in, and calls him Israel. It calls the Children of Israel, as it calls everyone, back to their covenant with God (﷾): "fulfil your covenant with Me as I fulfil My Covenant with you". That covenant, the Qur'an says, is kept by faith and deeds, the faith of Abraham.
“O ye who believe! stand out firmly for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear Allah. For Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do.”
“Say ye: "We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah (in Islam)."”
“All food was lawful to the Children of Israel, except what Israel Made unlawful for itself, before the Law (of Moses) was revealed. Say: "Bring ye the Law and study it, if ye be men of truth."”
“O Children of Israel! call to mind the (special) favour which I bestowed upon you, and fulfil your covenant with Me as I fulfil My Covenant with you, and fear none but Me.”
“Without doubt, among men, the nearest of kin to Abraham, are those who follow him, as are also this Prophet and those who believe: And Allah is the Protector of those who have faith.”
Perspectives
The state is biblical Israel
Some Jews and many Christian Zionists say the modern state is Israel restored, the fulfilment of the Bible's promise of return.
God promised the land to Abraham's seed for ever.
Rebuttal
The same Torah makes staying in the land depend on obedience, and Ishmael is also Abraham's seed. The Qur'an says the promise does not reach the evil-doers of any line.
The return of 1948 fulfils Deuteronomy 30.
Rebuttal
Deuteronomy 30 puts the return to God (﷾) and His Law first, and the gathering after it. The movement that founded the state was led by secular nationalists, and many Orthodox Jews reject it on the Talmud's own grounds. Even the Scofield Bible puts Israel's restoration at the return of the Lord.
The Qur'an itself gives the land to the Jews (5:21, 17:104).
Rebuttal
Verse 5:21 was said to Moses' generation, who refused it; the commentators say the land is the inheritance of those who believe. Verse 17:104 speaks of the gathering on the Day of Resurrection.
The Islamic perspective
The Israel of the Bible is Jacob, his family and the covenant people under the Law; the modern state is a country of 1948 that took the name. In the Qur'an the promise goes to the righteous who follow Abraham's faith, not to a lineage or a state.
The Bible's kingdom of Israel ended about 720 BCE.
Belonging to the modern state is set by its own laws, and a fifth of its citizens are Arabs.
The Bible ties the land to obedience to God's (﷾) Law.
The Qur'an says Abraham's nearest kin are those who follow him, and the promise does not reach evil-doers.
The nation promised to Ishmael's seed is the Muslims: Abraham and Ishmael prayed for a Muslim people from their offspring, and the Prophet (ﷺ) came from Ishmael's line.