שופטים, פרק ב׳, פסוק ב׳

The relationship between God and the Israelites is a mutual agreement, built on absolute loyalty and the complete rejection of foreign worship. God’s promise to uphold His side of the covenant depends entirely on the people fulfilling their obligations.

To maintain this bond, the Israelites were forbidden from making any treaties with the local inhabitants of the land [מצודת דוד, אלשיך]. Forming an alliance with those who oppose God is a direct contradiction to the divine covenant, as it is impossible to genuinely love the Creator while simultaneously embracing His enemies [מלבי״ם]. In practical terms, this meant an absolute ban on forming relationships with the Canaanites or living peacefully alongside them [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. As part of this required separation, the people were commanded to completely break and destroy the local altars [מצודת ציון]. Unlike pagan systems that comfortably accept multiple gods, the Israelites were strictly forbidden from allowing any foreign places of worship to remain standing in the land [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

However, the people failed in this mission. By ignoring God's voice and leaving both the local inhabitants and their altars intact, they displayed great foolishness [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. They forgot all the good that God had done for them, and their abandonment of the proper path was considered fundamentally wrong [מלבי״ם].

Another perspective notes that even if the Israelites had not yet signed official treaties with the local nations, they still failed in two major ways. First, they ignored the command to destroy the foreign altars. Second, rather than driving out the local nations, they compromised by forcing them to pay taxes and work as laborers. Choosing to keep these nations under their control instead of removing them entirely was a deep moral failure. This compromise was viewed as dangerously close to actually making a forbidden treaty, which ultimately led to the harsh rebuke they received for their actions [אלשיך].