How was God the only true leader of the Israelites?

Answer 1

God was the only "TRUE" [Steadfast, Loyal, Honest, Just, Merciful, Loving] leader of the Israelites in the sense that "He is Perfect" -- Righteous and Holy. And all the other leaders of the nation, whether united for awhile as one nation, or, later, divided into two separate kingdoms... were all "imperfect," flesh and blood men, subject to sin and the pulls of the flesh and the world.

God took upon Himself that leadership role... literally. He TOOK IT by His own Power. It was a "small-scale" forerunner of what He shall do again at the end of the age, when He shall return to earth, to not just rule over Israel again -- but to be the True [Faithful, Righteous] Leader over ALL THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD.

"Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. And the One sitting on the horse was named FAITHFUL and TRUE. For He Judges Fairly and then GOES TO WAR." (Rev.19:11 NLT New Living Translation)

Answer 2

God would certainly appear to be the only true leader of the Israelites. Time after time, he spoke through the patriarchs, judges, kings and prophets to tell the people what he wanted from them, and to warn of punishment if they failed to obey.

Place this in a modern context, and you would begin to wonder how many of the prophets told the people what they themselves wanted, merely attributing their wishes to God, and how many stories of the patriarchs, judges, kings and even some of the prophets were no more than legends created to explain more ancient events. Either God was the only true leader of the Israelites, or the religious leaders at least sought to be.