Maintaining the Courage of Our Convictions

Palestinians fleeing Gaza after being warned by Israel before they attack (NPR)

5785 has been a tough year for the Jewish people. To state the obvious, antisemitism has risen to an alarming degree. And never has support for Israel been so low..

In a Mishpacha Magazine op-ed, Agudah CEO Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zweibel noted that when he began his career 42 years ago, his organization’s lobbying efforts on behalf of Israel used to get enthusiastic support from both sides of the political aisle. Today, there has been an almost total erosion of support by Democrats, and even among Republicans it is weakening. Most concerning, this trend is most pronounced among younger Americans. The Ivy League students of today will become the political and social leaders of tomorrow.

Things do not look particularly bright going forward. Rabbi Zweibel does not claim to know why this has happened, other than to suggest that the events post–October 7^th, along with the loud voices of progressives like AOC, have had outsized influence on their colleagues and the general public. One need not look any further than New York City to see clear evidence of this: the city with the largest Jewish population in the world has just nominated Zohran Mamdani for mayor. A progressive who denies Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, supports BDS, and has even said he would arrest Israel’s sitting prime minister if he visited New York.  

A nomination like that in New York would have been unthinkable just a few short weeks ago. And yet according to most polls, Mamdani will easily be elected in the general.

With antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment so high, does this mean we are on the precipice of antisemitism not seen since Nazi Germany? Is it possible that we will all be rounded up and sent to concentration camps to await the Final Solution? There may be more than a few people thinking along those lines. Well before October 7^th, some were already making comparisons to Germany of the 1930s based just on the increased antisemitism at the time. They may very well be feeling an ‘I told you so’ moment about their predictions.

The temptation to think that way may be strong, especially among those who constantly warn against people like me, who praise this country for its full acceptance of Jews in just about every way. Does that mean I was wrong? Are they right? Were our days here always numbered? Was it only a matter of time before the latent, eternal antisemitism attributed to ‘Eisav’ (meaning non-Jews) reared its ugly head? And now - “Whoops! … there it is!”

I could not disagree more with those who have come to these conclusions. For several reasons. Starting with the fact that some of the loudest anti-Israel voices are Jewish. And if I understand correctly, most Jews in this country do not support Israel’s war with Gaza right now. OR its prime minister. If the Jewish people have themselves lost support for Israel, why does it make a non-Jew an antisemite if he feels the same way?

This sad reality speaks directly to Rabbi Zweibel’s concern. The erosion of support in Congress for Israel is mirrored by the erosion of support among American Jews. In no way can it be classified as antisemitic if Jewish people themselves hold these views.

As I have said more times than I can count, these views are based on a sincere belief that Israel’s conduct in the war is both unethical and immoral. That its leader is a corrupt politician who does not care how many innocent people his soldiers kill in pursuit of his selfish desire to stay in power. That prolonging the war will surely cause the death of all the remaining hostages, bring about many more Palestinian casualties, and cost the IDF an untold number of casualties. Not to mention the additional trauma it will cause soldiers who suffer from PTSD, and the heartbreak for families who lose loved ones in battle.

When people (whether Jew or Gentile) see two years of daily images of horror coming out of Gaza, accompanied by a media narrative that blames Israel - especially its leader, Netanyahu - for all of it, why would anyone not expect public support for Israel to erode?

The fact that the images and media narrative are grossly misleading doesn’t seem to matter. I should add that I’m not even sure the media’s anti-Israel narrative is deliberate. I do not believe the entire mainstream media is anti-Israel. (Although surely a significant portion of it are, not all are.) The media reports what it is presented with from anti-Israel sources inside Gaza. In doing so, they (perhaps unwittingly) distort the truth. A distortion I have tried to combat here constantly.

But no one has put it better than OU Executive Vice President, Rabbi Moshe Hauer in the Fall edition of Jewish Action Magazine, where he interspersed that truth with his biblically based Rosh Hashana message. Here is how he begins his article:

It is infuriating. The incomplete and twisted narrative promoted by many in the media and government casts Israel’s holy and dedicated army and Jewish people everywhere as genocidal, oppressive, and hateful. How can they forget who initiated the attack on October 7, including not only the “soldiers” of Hamas but the common Gazans who joined them? How dare they preach about Israel’s humanitarian responsibilities while failing to exert maximum pressure on Hamas to unconditionally and immediately release the hostages? How do they level accusations of genocide against an army that warns its targets before launching attacks? How do they highlight the destruction of homes and hospitals while ignoring the terror infrastructure embedded within and beneath them? Don’t they understand that there is only one army in the entire region that follows a moral code and reviews its actions for compliance with international law; that one side in this conflict sees civilian casualties as a tragedy while the other cynically uses them as a strategy?

Why is the plain truth so hidden from them?

Indeed. Since the beginning of the war, I don’t believe I’ve seen clearer thinking from a leader of a major Jewish organization than Rabbi Hauer. He is not some radical right-winger foaming at the mouth. He is a thoughtful, rational individual who thinks before he speaks. He studies the facts and analyzes them, noting that in the case of Israel, facts have been replaced by emotional, knee-jerk reactions based on images taken out of context.

There is much more to his article that should be read in full. It is a must-read. I could not agree more. 

That said, the ‘elephant’ built by the media remains in the room. And the willful ignorance of the media persists. As does the anti-Israel narrative in Congress. Egged on by popular progressives like AOC, and supported by highly influential entertainment figures.

What to do about it is something I still cannot answer. We dare not concede the truth to the prevailing lies being promoted as fact. At the same time, I’m not sure how we can change the narrative, given the obstacles placed in our way.

Had anyone told me that Israel would not receive continued universal sympathy after the savagery they experienced on October 7^th - I would have never believed them. And yet, here we are. And the inability to break through the wall of ignorance-based lies - seems more impregnable than ever.