Antisemtism - America and Europe

Yom Ha'atzmaut celebration in Chicago's Loop yesterday

How bad is antisemitism in this country? I honestly don’t know. It’s hard to tell based on what the media reports. Or even based on statistics provided by the ADL. Those sources do not always tell you the story. What they do tell you is what the want you to hear. 

I have been thinking about this a bit in light of all the pro Hamas antisemitic protests plaguing college campuses all over the country. Are they representative of an overall national trend? Or are they mostly limited to college campuses? 

As time goes by, I think the latter is the case. I haven’t seen any protests beyond those limits.  I doubt that most Americans pay much attention to those protests anyway... much less what they are all about.

The Amercian public is not antisemitic. While there are pocket sof antisemitsm on both the right and left fringes of society (increasingly so there) it is definitely not mainstream

Yesterday there was a huge Yom Ha’atzmaut rally for Israel in Chicago loop’s Daley Plaza. It was attended by hundreds of people. (I believe I saw one estimate that said 2000 people were in attendance) There were as many Israeli flags being waved as there were American flags.  

Although it was a bit more somber because of the war in Gaza, and the hostage situation - it was otherwise a very positive event that went off without a hitch. The only other people there were a much smaller group of Palestinian protesters. The police were there. There was no violence and  no arrests. 

The American people are far more concerned with pocket book issues than they are with what’s going on in Gaza. The big issue is inflation. Not a war taking place 7000 miles away where there are no American boots on the ground. That is way down on the American list of priorities. The sharp increase in the cost of food at the grocery store being on top. This does not bode well the the president’s chances in the next election. But I digress.

Point here is that I do not believe for a moment that our image as Jews has suffered. Even though there has been a sharp increase in antisemitism in this country - it is still limited to the fringes of society on the right. And on the fringes of the progressive left. Which has increasingly  been vilifying Israel and - by association - the Jewish people.

I still believe that the vast majority of the American people do not think of Israel or the Jewish people that way. Even if some have been influenced to criticize Israel’s conduct in the war, that does not translate into becoming antisemitic or even anti Israel. 

What about Muslim Americans?

I live in a neighborhood that is heavily Jewish. A lot of Muslims live there too. I frequently pass them in the street. I have not experienced the slightest bit of antsemitism from any of them. Occasionally I will wish a woman wearing a hijab a good day and get a smile in return. I walk freely wearing a Kipa in my very ethnic neighborhood without the slightest fear that I will experience an antisemitic attack or even an antisemitic comment..

I know that there have been antisemitic attacks in other parts of the country. Most notably New York. But as far as the heavily Jewish neighborhoods in Chicago are concerned. There is nothing there.  Although one does occasioanlly hear about an act of antisemitic vandalism here and there, incidences of that are minuscule as far as my own experiences go. Or the experiences of anyone I know.

This is however is not what is happening in Europe. Which does not surprise me in the least. As I have always said, Jew hatred is in their mother’s milk. Furthermore the massively huge  influx of Jew hating Muslims exacerbates the situation. How bad is it?  In an interview reported by Arutz Sheva, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the Conference of European Rabbis made the following observation:           

"The statistics show an increase of hundreds of percent in antisemitism throughout Europe. Many Jews are trying to hide their Judaism. One of the most common questions to Rabbis since October 7^th  is whether it is possible to take the mezuzah off the door. This says a lot…" 

"Other precautions that some people took included wearing hats instead of the traditional yarmulkah (skullcap) on the street, and avoiding speaking Hebrew when riding in Ubers. There used to be a red line between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. We have seen this red line disappear. I think that ultimately this is not a problem for the Jewish community. Ultimately, this is a big problem for Europe at large. This situation in the streets is destabilizing our society." 

Rabbi Goldschmidt was asked if he was afraid that the verbal threats would also turn into physical violence, to which he replied, "It never stops with words." 

Indeed. Europeans have a centuries long history of persecuting Jews. Which culminated in the Holocaust. It’s true that things have changed for the better since then. But I believe that latent antisemitism still exists somewhere in the deep recesses of the collective European mind. Which seems to be rearing its ugly head once again. 

This is not the case n America. I don’t know of s single Jewish community that has experienced the kind of antisemitism that has moved them to remove all Jewish symbols from their lives. That is certainly not the case here in Chicago. Is it the case in New York?

As I always say, this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be vigilant even here in the US. One never knows. But based on my own personal experiences we are nowhere near any kind of antisemitic Armageddon in this county. A country founded by people that knew what religious persecution was all about and unlike Europe built in religious freedom into the fabric of the nation at its founding 250 yeas ago.

The Evils of Extremist 'Patriotism'

Screenshot of unconscionable extremist stupidity

I have not lost any sleep over the high number of ‘innocent’ Palestinian casualties. And am in fact sickened by the not so subtle blame the mainstream media places entirely upon Israel for that. 

To just cite one instance from ABCs ‘This Week’ - moderator Martha Radditz practically begged an administration official and a Democratic senator to condemn a report that fell short of concluding that Israel had breached international law. The report did not go far enough in assigning full blame upon Israel for all the Palestinian casualties. They held back going that far because of the dense civilian population in Gaza  and the Hamas tactic of using civilians as human shields

Martha tried so hard. She wanted Jewish blood. As does Senator Chris Van Hollen who said that report should have been conclusive. Radditz kept referring to him as though he was right. But they wouldn’t budge. And they are Democrats. Radditz was disappointed. As I’m sure most of the rest of the mainstream media’s  ‘blame Israel first’ crowd would have been.

I have very little sympathy for Palestinians these days. They are a people that wish me dead. People that have those feelings instilled in them from cradle to grave. I have very little sympathy for people who cheered what Hamas did to us on October 7^th.  People who have not expressed a word of sympathy for the Israeli hostages and their families. Not even before the war. 

Let me be clear.  Again - as I have been many times in the past. I do not in any way support harming a single Palestinian non combatant in Gaza. Let alone deliberately killing them. That would be murder! But shedding a tear for them?!  My tears are reserved for the suffering of my own truly innocent people.

I used to think that if you give them enough carrots, there would never have to be a stick. That even though they didn’t like us, if we gave them the opportunity to prosper and live together in peace with us that they would choose that option over a lifetime of suffering in poverty as refugees. 

But I was wrong. After decades of life in their own domain, instead of building a society of freedom and opportunity, they elected leadership that built terror tunnels from which  to continue their ‘armed struggle’ against the Jews and get their land back. All of it. From the Jordan River on the west to the Mediterranean Sea on the east. No matter how long it takes. No matter how long they must remain refuges under impoverished conditions. 

Now I’m sure they did not bargain for what they are getting now. But that only makes the more determined than ever to carry on with the ‘struggle’. Refusing to recognize their own leaders responsibility for their suffering. Instead blaming the Jews more than ever.

This is why the 2 state solution which I once supported is now an impossible dream that only fools and certain Democrats believe in. It was a great idea in theory, but the realities of Palestinian hatred of the Jewish people and their determination to get all of Palestine back is a firewall that will never be breached unless a miracle of biblical proportion happens.

I wanted to show where I’m coming from before I comment on the following story from AP:

The White House has condemned an attack on an aid convoy heading to Gaza by Israeli settlers who threw packages of food into the road and set fire to the vehicles.

Video of the incident on Monday at Tarqumiya checkpoint, west of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, showed settlers blocking the trucks and throwing boxes of much-needed supplies on the ground. Photographs from the scene showed piles of damaged aid packages and drifts of rice and flour across the road.

Late on Monday, photos began circulating on social media showing the trucks on fire.

“It is a total outrage that there are people who are attacking and looting these convoys coming from Jordan, going to Gaza to deliver humanitarian assistance,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.

“We are looking at the tools that we have to respond to this,” he added. “We are also raising our concerns at the highest level of the Israeli government and it’s something that we make no bones about – this is completely and utterly unacceptable behaviour.”

Much as I am appalled by - and even angry at - the administration for withholding armaments from Israel at a time of war (as are all Republicans and even some Democrats) I agree with them about this.

I am so done with these setter types that think they are aiding the Jewish people by destroying food packages destined to go to starving Palestinian refugees. 

Let us even assume they were trying to prevent those food packages from getting into Hamas hands. Which is quite possible. Hamas has indeed been commandeering much of that aid for themselves and selling leftovers to civilians at exorbitant prices.  

Even if that was their motive, the horrible images of religious, Kipa wearing young Jews pulling humanitarian food packages meant for starving refugees off of trucks; smashing them to the ground; and torching the truck is disgusting in the extreme. The idea that some of the food might go to Hamas terrorists is not an excuse for doing what they did. 

I am so sick of these settler types taking matters into their own hands. If they broke Israeli law by doing this (as I’m sure they did) they ought to be separated from their families and thrown in jail for a very long time. What did they think they would accomplish? It will not slow Hamas down in the slightest. Hamas will proceed without so much as a blip in their stride

One more thing. Sure as I’m sitting here their apologists will rise with righteous indignation over my condemnation and defend  these ‘wonderful young patriots’ who have in the past presumably served honorably in the IDF on dangerous assignments. ‘Patriots’ much the same as mass murderer, Dr. Baruch Goldstein. Or Rabin assassin Yigal Amir. 

Well with ‘patriots’ like these our enemies won’t have to wait too long to see our closest and most vital friends completely abandon us. The government of Israel – as right wing as it is – must deal harshly with these unpatriotic young zealots and send a message that they will not tolerate  this kind of behavior from anyone ever again!

Conformity and Revisionist History

Many of the issues I deal with here have been placed on the back burner. Not because they are no longer important. They are as important as ever. But  because of what has been going on in Israel since October 7^th  of last year. 

When our very existence as a people is threatened, everything seems to pale in comparison. But they do not go away. One of those issues was brought to my attention recently by a reader who forwarded a video to me. (See below.) It reminded me that life goes on and all the old problems still exist. And may even be getting worse. .The video was in the form of an astute observation by a  religious woman who recognizes the malady and explains it well.

In this particular instance the problem is the move to the right, the pursuit of conformity, and the lengths some people are going to assure that.

Many of the unnecessary Chumros (strictures) and customs now taken for granted by the right hardly existed a generation or two (or three) ago. Being religious back then meant something entirely different than what it means now. The religious woman of yesteryear would not be considered religious at all today.

To name just a few examples, the idea of separate seating for men and women at banquets or weddings hardly existed in the Yeshiva world prior to the 70s. To the extent that it did, it was almost exclusively found among Chasidim.

The ‘cookie cutter’ look of Yeshiva students (black pants, white shirt and black hat) did not exists at all when I was in high school. When I was in Telshe, we wore any kind of shirt we chose and a baseball cap was perfectly fine for Davening. The velvet Kipa with the outer rim that is now virtually mandatory didn’t eve exists back then. We could wear any kind of Kipa we chose as long as it was big enough.

Things have only gotten worse since then. Need I even mention pictures of woman are now completely forbidden in  many mainstream Charedi publications?

To insure the perpetuation of this move to the right, revisionist tactics are now being used in order to perpetuate the myth that things have always been the way they are now. The implication being that non conformity is not considered to be Torah true and never was. How so? Watch the 2 minute video below and weep!

Sympathy for the Wrong People

I never thought would see the day where so many Jews seem to be actual antisemites. Yes, there is such an animal. These are Jews that reject and disparage Jewish law, tradition, having replaced it with the values of a system based on ignorance combined with blind obedience to the cultural values of the times.

The truth is, however, that the term ‘self hating Jew’ does not accurately describe them. That’s  because they do not have the slightest idea what a Jew really is. Their identification as Jews is based on cultural irrelevancies. Or worse - values that are anathema to Judaism  – mistaking them for Jewish values.

This is the only way I can explain why there are so many Jewish groups like Jews for Justice in Palestine that – along with Palestinian protestors characterize Israel as an  Apartheid colonialist state that has cruelly subjugated the indigenous Palestinian population for over 76 years.  And is now committing genocide against them.

How is it possible that Jews can support a lie like that? 

There are several ways in which this might be explained. Starting with the total ignorance - or even caring about their own religion. Most of these young Jews wouldn’t know a Jewish value if it hit them in the face. Nor do they know Jewish history and certainly don’t have any  objective knowledge of history of the modern Jewish state.

Instead their education on many of these matters comes from radical anti American professors. Whom they respect far more than they do anyone with Jewish credentials. How pervasive are these professors? how influential? Here is what Jonathan Rosenblum said  about it this week:

Many of the radicals of 1968 ended up going into the professorate, beginning their “long march” through American institutions with the universities. None were more effective than Bill Ayers, son of the one-time chairman of Inland Steel, who as a member of the Weather Underground planted a bomb in the Pentagon, but ended up as a professor of education. Ayers brought a young community organizer named Barack Obama to head the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which gave away $100 million between 1995 and 1999 to foster radical educational initiatives. 

Unfortunately there are a lot of well meaning Jews who have bought into the sympathy for Palestinian suffering so pervasively featured on just about every news broadcasts of the mainstream media since the war with Hamas began. 

That sympathy might be coming form a good place.. It’s hard to watch seemingly innocent people suffering the tremendous hardships foisted upon them by the inevitable consequences of a war with savages that purposely place their own people in harm’s way. They consider them martyrs (as do the all Palestinians including those that have lost their loved ones)  for the cause of getting all of Palestine back .

But those with this well intended sympathy seem to bave lost sight of Israeli suffering. Need I mention again the  butchery of Hamas on October 7^th? Or that hostages are still being held and mistreated by those very same butchers? Who are demanding more butchers like them be let out of Israeli prisons? 

What about the hundreds of thousands of Israelis that have been displaced from their homes in the north now for over 6 months? Is there no sypmathy for them?  

And finally what about all the IDF soldiers killed in battle fighting for their people? Where is the sympathy for them? Is it the disparity in numbers thatbothers them? shoul we let more Jews die so that we can get more symapthy? 

And what about the fact that Israel is fighting a war no less siginficnat to them than was the war with Japan was to the US in the 1940s? When a nation is fighting for it life itmust do whater it can to survive. That is why the US killed hundreds of thousand of innocent people in Hiroshima and Nagsaki   ON PURPOSE! If it was OK for the US to do that on purpose then, why isn't it OK for Israel to do that now INADVERTENTLY!

The idea the rules have changed is a convenient but irelavent distinction.. Either it was right then and right now. Or it was wrong then and wrong now. How many people think that ending world war II that way was wrong?  

So that even if their casualty numbers are exponentially greater than ours it shouldn’t matter since Israel has no choice if it is to survive? Going forward, allowing an Iran proxy like Hamas to survive is surely an existential threat to Israel

Mondaay is Yom Hazikoron – Israel’s Memorial Day. This is the day when Israelis mourn and pay tribute to all Israeli soldiers that have fallen in war. That toll has thus far been particularly heavy this year. And it isn’t over yet. We know what’s coming in Rafah. I doubt that there is a single IDF soldier involved in that action that isn’t proud to protect their people in this way despite its dangers.

Instead of crying over the blood of our enemies, we should be expressing our utmost gratitude to the IDF soldiers and commiserate with the families of their fallen. The time to do that is on Yom Hazikoron. I could therefore not agree more with Rabbi Moshe Hauer who said the following in last week’s Mishpacha Magazine: 

(While) we may instinctively classify observance of Yom Hazikaron as a nationalistic or Zionist experience and therefore put it into the category of perennially recurring hashkafic debates that divide us, perhaps this year, when so many are grieving their raw and fresh losses, we can pull it out of that realm and place it where it now belongs: as an opportunity for pure and unadulterated empathy, nesius b’ol im chaveiro, as we try our hardest to understand the experience of those who have sacrificed their lives for us, for Klal Yisrael, whom no one in the world can approach in their greatness.

So many soldiers have given their lives this year that we struggle to remember that each of these kedoshim represents a world. They all deserve to be remembered individually by having their story told and by having Torah learned and tefillos said in their memory. Each and every one of their families deserves to know that their sacrifice is recognized as having been on behalf of all of Klal Yisrael.

Let us — the community that does not serve in the army — bridge the gap of experience and join the families of the fallen in recalling and appreciating their profound sacrifice. We at the OU plan to ensure that during this season there will be a broad and deep expression of profound ahavas Yisrael and nesius b’ol im chaveiro that crosses the ocean and the gap of experience, remembering each soldier uniquely in one of our shuls or batei medrash; and bringing uplift to their neshamos, strength and comfort to their families, and hopefully bringing the Geulah a bit closer.

Please include your shul or beis medrash in this opportunity by undertaking to memorialize one of the kedoshim. Please reach out to lanetzach@ou.org or register at https://www.ou.org/lanetzach/ to participate in this effort.

I wish I could say that the traditional animosity of the right towards anything at all to do with Zionism  (even religious Zionism) will be abandon that animosity for this one act of unity in service of our appreciation of the sacrifice of others from which all of us so greatly benefit.  But the skeptic in me says that very few if any will let go of their anti Zionism even now. I hope I’m wrong. But if I’m right, I can’t of anything more egregiously divisive than that.

A Win for Hamas

No deal! (TOI)

  “Why is there any incentive for the Arabs to make any compromise... if they know that they must only wait — for the U.S. will do their bargaining for them... “The absurd notion that publicly vilifying Israel will somehow change its policy.” 

These words make a lot of sense. The sad reality is that Hamas no longer has any incentive to negotiate with Israel for the release of the hostages - now that the US has improved their bargaining position. 

This is in essence what President Biden has done by withholding military support from Israel. Hamas must be loving it! They have given Hamas hope that pressure from the US will Israel from attacking and eventually force them to retreat. Israel will have to withdraw from Gaza since there will be no opportunity to execute the kind of ground invasion that will successfully take Hamas out. (Unless the Biden administrations has another effective plan which – despite their implication that there is - I seriously doubt.)

One might think that the above sentiments were expressed by a conservative Republican. The truth is that sentiments like these are indeed shared by the vast majority of them. And a few of the more clear thinking Democrats like Senator John Fetterman, Congressmen Jared Moskowitz, Ritchie Torres, and Lois Frankel. One may be surprised to know that these words were uttered by none other than the president himself 32 years ago when he was still a senator from Delaware. If anyone doubts this, they can watch a video recording of him saying these exact words with great passion.

The question is, what changed? Why does he not realize the negative consequences of his words now when he recognized the consequences of similar words back in 1992?

For the most part the sentiments once held dearly by centrist Democrats are now mostly in the domain of Conservative Republicans. I do not think this is arguable. Democrats have been increasingly influenced by their left flank - which is increasingly becoming more sympathetic to BDS (Boycott, Divest, and Sanction). The president has not gone that far. But he has moved somewhat in that direction by suddenly boycotting certain weapons from Israel.  

I don’t think he is being intentionally cruel. People are dying and he wants it to stop. But his vision of who is responsible has been skewed by people with an agenda different than his. The president has been influenced to sanction only Israel in his attempt to stop the carnage without saying as much as a word about the role Hamas has played in all the carnage. And now Hamas feels no obligation to negotiate for the hostages. They will just wait it out. (Yay Biden!)

This is why I see conservative Republicans in a far more favorable light than I now see most Democrats. I only wish that the rest of the Jewish community that has been reliably voting Democrat since FDR would see that too. and stop being guided by blind loyalty to a party that no longer values Jewish interests. Times have changed and along with them the values of political parties.  But for some very strong exceptions the Israeli ball is now in the Republican court. 

Why the President is Wrong

New York Congressman Mike Lawler

I have not changed my mind. I still believe that President Biden is a true friend of Israel. At the same time as I also indicated yesterday I have profound differences with respect to his current Israel policy. And I have surely not changed my mind about that.

President Biden has held back a shipment of  military aid from Israel that they could use in pursuing Hamas's last refuge in Rafa  I really do believe he is doing this for what he believes are  humanitarian reasons. He fears that an invasion into the densely populated area of Rafa would result in massive unprecedented civilian casualties. He may very well be right about that. The question is, however, whether such a massive number of collateral civilian deaths is morally justifiable. The president obviously thinks it is not. 

I understand his concerns. But his sense of morality in this case is misplaced. Much the same way the mainstream media's moral outrage is misplaced. Rather than repeating my reasons for believing that (which I have done many times since the war began) I will excerpt the major part of a PBS interview of Republican congressman Mike Lawler. I completely agree with his perspective. Asked whether he was comfortable with Israel's conduct in the war, here is what he said:

Yes, I am.

Hamas is a terrorist organization who indiscriminately slaughtered innocent women, children, babies on October 7, and uses their own Palestinian civilians as human shields. Israel has a right to defend itself. Nobody would tell the United States after 9/11 or during the war on terror not to go after al-Qaida or ISIS.

And so I think the approach by the administration is wrong. Congress passed the aid to Israel, along with Ukraine and Taiwan, weeks ago. And so it is incumbent upon the administration to fulfill the legislation that was passed by Congress and get these high-payload munitions to Israel as quickly as possible.

The fact that they are delaying it and having not informed Congress, but rather tried to hide their decision, is wrong. And so I believe very strongly that they need to move quickly to get the munitions to Israel.

Asked about the high number of civilian casualties he said the following: 

Well, first of all, these numbers are based on the Gaza Health Ministry. They do not differentiate between terrorists killed.

Obviously, we want to avoid innocent casualties in any war, but there is a reality of war. And so I think Israel has done its very best to limit the casualties. But, again, when Hamas is using innocent civilians as human shields, setting up operations in hospitals and schools, setting up operations in hospitals and schools, I think Israel is conducting the war as best they can, adhering to international law, and making sure that they are rooting out terrorists who are responsible for what happened on October 7… 

Israel is under threat and attack. And again, Hamas is a terrorist organization. And so they have a right to defend themselves. They have a right to prosecute this war. And I think the president should be supporting the state of Israel as they conduct this war… 

(You) are dealing with a terrorist organization that is using civilians, innocent civilians, as human shields.

Look, I want the Palestinian people to be free from their oppressor. Their oppressor is Hamas. And so the objective of everyone should be to eliminate Hamas as the governing body of Gaza and make sure that the Palestinian people are free.

And, ultimately, the fastest way for a cease-fire to occur and for the avoidance of any civilian casualties is for Hamas to surrender and release the hostages. That should be what everyone, including those on college campuses, is demanding.

The fact that you have some folks identifying with Hamas here in America is deeply disturbing. And it does nothing to actually help protect innocent civilian life in Gaza.

Mike Lawler is not alone: 

The decision also drew a sharp rebuke from House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who said they only learned about the military aid holdup from press reports, despite assurances from the Biden administration that no such pauses were in the works. The Republicans called on Biden in a letter to swiftly end the blockage, saying it “risks emboldening Israel’s enemies,” and to brief lawmakers on the nature of the policy reviews. 

Here is how former President Trump reacted: 

"Hamas murdered thousands of innocent civilians, including babies, and are still holding Americans hostage, if the hostages are still alive," Trump said in a Truth Social post. "Yet Crooked Joe is taking the side of these terrorists, just like he has sided with the Radical Mobs taking over our college campuses, because his donors are funding them."

And finally there is this exchange between Republican Senator Lindsay Graham and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Joint Chief of Staff Chairman General Charles Q. Brown. If this doesn't explain the morality of Israel's conduct in the war, than I have to question the moral intelligence of those who don't get it.

Compare any of these Republican responses with what's coming out of the mouths of Democrats. With the exception of a few of the more courageous ones (like Senatot John Fetterman) most sound pretty much the way Democrat Chris Van Hollen does in that same PBS interview. 

Israel's reaction was as follows:

Israel fumes as Biden signals a harder line against a Rafah ground assault

The president's threat to cut off supplies of weapons was met with a mix of concern and fury by the U.S. ally on Thursday.

Is there any wonder why I have gravitated so strongly to the right? As should any supporter of Israel. 

A word to all the Netanyahu haters. This is not about him. This is about Israel's very survival as a Jewish nation. There is no question that Israel must destroy Hamas. I doubt there is a single Israeli leader of consequence that would dispute that. If any of them have a better way of doing it let them say so. I haven't heard a word from any of his detractors other than somehow blaming him for the President's decision without a shred of proof that anyone else in his shoes would do things differently.

Jews in America

The President strongly condemning antisemitism yesterday (ABC)

President Biden is a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people. There is not the slightest doubt about that in my mind. I say this even though I am in profound disagreement with his opposition to a major military offensive by Israel into Rafah.

Those who would say he is not our friend are fools in m view. Just because one disagrees with him about that does not make him our enemy. Not even slightly.

His opposition is based on the mistaken view that Israel can avoid a major military incursion into Rafa and still eliminate Hamas. I don’t think it’s possible. Would he still be opposed if he thought it was the only way Israel could eliminate Hamas? I don’t know. But his concern is not anti Israel. It is  humanitarian. 

Perhaps Biden believes that Israel will survive even if Hamas does too. And that the US will be there to make sure it does in any case. In my view Israel cannot afford to rely on that. They must remain capable of defending themselves. They cannot rely on assurances of future support. No matter how sincere those assurances are at the time they are given. You never know what the future holds.

With respect to antisemitism, the president made his views very clear yesterday at a ceremony commemorating the Holocaust:

President Joe Biden on Tuesday warned of a “ferocious” surge of antisemitism in America and around the world, in comments that both called out the violent excesses of pro-Palestinian campus protest and reaffirmed the U.S. alliance with Israel.

“On college campuses, Jewish students [have been] blocked, harassed, attacked, while walking to class,” Biden declared. “Antisemitism, antisemitic posters, slogans calling for the annihilation of Israel, the world’s only Jewish state. Too many people denying, downplaying, rationalizing, ignoring the horrors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7... It is absolutely despicable, and it must stop.”

This statement cannot be overlooked or glossed over. It is not just a platitude given privately to a group of Jews. It was  recorded by the mainstream media and replayed on all of the major broadcasts several times.  Antisemitism does exist on college campuses all over the country (and beyond).

The question arises, how has any of this affected the view the American people have of Israel and their  fellow Jewish citizens?  Have all these protests taken a toll on our heretofore positive image? Does this translate into a less favorable view of the Jewish people?

I don’t think so. Clearly support for Israel’s conduct in the war has diminished. That’s because of media focus on the immense suffering Palestinians are going through because of that war. It's difficult if not impossible not to be opposed to a war like that. Especially if one is not fully aware of all the facts in play. 

So, do they love us? Do they hate us?  My guess is neither. They see us as they see themselves. I believe most Americans see us as fellow citizens deserving of all the same  rights and  privileges as anyone else. This is not to say that there aren’t varying degrees of ethnic stereotyping about us. There are. But that is true about any ethnic minority which often parodies itself in good natured stereotypical ways. There are Catholic jokes, Irish jokes, Italian jokes and Jewish Jokes (as in the humor of the late  Jackie Mason). We laugh at ourselves and allow others to laugh along with us. That is not antisemitism.

Just a few of my thoughts about how we are now faring in light of the rising tide of antisemitism. Point being that we are no where near the rabid  institutional and nationwide antisemitism of 1930s Germany. By order of magnitude. Except among the relatively few but highly influential (among impressionable young students) extremist, progressive professors spread  across colleges and universities all over the country.

On that score - if I am a parent sending my children off to college, it would behoove me to find out which college professors are like that and to make sure my children avoid taking any of their classes.

The Moral Imperative of Fully Supporting Israel

Typical protest message - Free Palestine -End Zionism (Forward)

The more to the left one goes, the more one will see Israel is an Apartheid state that is committing genocide and ought to be dismantled. 

These ‘true believers’ aren’t just reacting to Israel’s war with Hamas. They are stating their devout beliefs that Zionism is Nazism and that the Jews are nothing more than South African type  Apartheid colonialists that enjoy oppressing the indigenous Palestinian population. 

Apartheid was the official policy of the white government of South Africa. It was a truly despicable system that institutionalized segregation. A white colonialist minority marched into that land, and dominated its indigenous majority black population. Both socially and economically. 

Blacks were systematically removed from their homes (sometimes en masse!) and relocated into segregated depressed neighborhoods. They were forbidden to marry whites, disenfranchised (not permitted to vote) and had no representation in government. Resistance was met with brutal government crackdowns resulting in thousands of deaths - and included long prison terms for black anti Apartheid leaders like Nelson Mandela.

Israel’s treatment of its indigenous Arabs is of course nothing like that. They have full social, economic and voting rights and are fully represented in government. Israeli Arabs are generally as prosperous as are Israeli Jews.

Palestinian refugees on the other hand have been pawns of the Arab nations since they all rejected the 2 state solution envisioned by the original UN partition. – which Israel had accepted right away. Had the Arab nations accepted it too, they would have had their state over 76 years ago. And could have lived side by side with Israel in peace and harmony.

Instead the Arabs decided they would attack tiny little Israel and get rid of their pesky little problem right quick. That did not happen. Israel won that war. But in the process many of the indigenous Arabs fled. 

(Whether they fled at the instigation of the Arab nations claiming Israel would be slaughter them… or whether they left because Israel chased them out is almost irrelevant. The point it that Palestinian refugees were created as a result of the Arab nations declaring war against the Jews of Israel.) 

Those fleeing Arabs became refugees and were kept in refugee camps on the West Bank (then under Jordanian jurisdiction) for 19 years with a promise that they would be repatriated to their old homes. That was the case until Israel was again atttacked by their/Arab neighbors. Only this time Israel won big – retaking all of biblical Israel, Gaza, and the Sinai dessert all the way to Egypt. 

This put Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank into Israeli hands - and that’s pretty much the way its been since then. Until Prime Mister Ariel Sharon decided to give Palestinian refugees the entire  Gaza strip to rule as they chose. The hope was that they would build a city that would be a model for a future Palestinian state. Something many of us hoped for if Israel was going to stay a Jewish majority.

But instead of building a city where its citizens could prosper, their leaders turned Gaza into a system of terror tunnels designed to attack Israel until they got it all back. A policy that was supported almost universally by all Palestinians regardless of where they were located. Thus proving that there was never any serious intent to have a 2 state solution despite the rhetoric coming out of the more ‘moderate’ PA. They see a 2 state solution as an interim step towards the eventual restoration of all of Palestine from the river to the sea. And that is exactly what Hamas has sworn to achieve.by any means necessary.

On  October 7^th of last year we saw exactly how far they are willing to go. That Israel dropped the ball on that day is a serious issue that its government will have to deal with. But for now, these truths are as self evident as is the American credo that all men are created equal. Which is why Hamas was cheered by Palestinians in Gaza and on the West Bank after the October 7^th attack.  

This is why Israel has absolutely no choice but to finish off Hamas no matter how many innocent civilians Hamas throws in its way. No matter the international political cost. If they don’t succeed in doing that Israel will surely be subjected to many more attempts at massacres. Even if Israel beefs up its security apparatus  there is no guarantee that (with the continued help and encouragement of Iran and its proxies) Hamas will not succeed yet again if they are allowed to stay in power. 

Which brings me to the current hostage deal agreed to by Hamas – which has been unanimously rejected by Israel’s cabinet. This has understandably upset many hostage families. And I can’t say that I blame them. The deal would mean that Hamas would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for  Palestinian prisoners being held in  Israeli jails and a permanent cease fire that would leave Hamas in power.

Last time a deal like that was made it resulted releasing the mastermind behind the October 7^th attack. But more importantly, Hamas is not exactly known for  keeping its word. They have broken many cease fires they had promised to keep. Why would they behave any differently now? Especially with Iran backing them up?

Israel has no choice but to proceed with their goal of completely eliminating Hamas. 

That the Biden administration, many Democrats, and the mainstream media keeps talking about the unacceptably high number of Palestinian casualties if Israel goes ahead with its planned attack in Rafah might seem like a humanitarian approach. 

But I do not believe that there is another more humanitarian way to do that. If there was - why wouldn’t Israel do it that way? If for no other reason that to retain full US support.  Even if one believes Netanyahu wants to win the war for his own personal reasons. A win is a wain no matter how you get there. 

There are many other supporters of Israel in congress whose moral outrage has led them to criticize the president for not fully supporting Israel in this regard. They have correctly said that the US should be 100% behind what our ally Israel is doing. And that any talk of civilian casualties should be placed exclusively upon Hamas. Blaming Israel is as morally detestable as is calling Zionists Nazis

This holds true for all the college protesters as well. They are either ‘river to the sea’ Palestinians, anti American anarchists, or ignorant fellow students misled by antisemitic, anti American professors who spew their socialist garbage as the as though it was gospel - and their students eat up like it was chocolate cake.

More than a few of those anti Israel - anti American protesters have been pretty violent. (Over 2400 arrested on college campuses all over the US.) I agree with former President Trump who said watching the police clean up the UCLA campus was a beautiful thing. Glad to see America’s finest doing their job and enforcing the law.

It’s just too bad the mainstream media has expressed any sympathy at all for these protesters. As though it was a free speech issue. Committing - or even advocating - violence against the Jewish people is not a free speech right. Their lack of pointing that out often enough is a stain on their supposed objectivity

The More Things Change...

Rav Yitzchak Yosef (Screenshot -YWN)

It pains me to say this - but I do not recall ever seeing such a divide among the Jewish people in my lifetime.  A divide not only between religious and secular or heterodox Jews... a divide not only between Charedi Jews and  religious Zionist Jews. But a divide even among Charedi Jews. with near identical Hashkafos

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. Controversy has always dogged  even the most religious Jews among us. Even within a singular subgroup. All we need do is look at the enmity between the two Satmar Rebbes (who are brothers). Or the extreme animosity between the Gerrer Rebbe and a relative he perceives as a potential rival to his leadership.  Or in Israel between the mainstream Yeshiva world and the Jerusalem (Peleg) faction.

But still, I don’t think the divisions have ever reached this point. The reason we seem to have descended to this level of animosity toward each other is the war in Gaza. Army service for Charedim is now a serious consideration. There are two streams of thought about this.. One is that Charedim should never serve for a variety of reasons. The other is that perhaps there is room for moderating that view

I had seen the latter as a sea change in the Charedi attitude. I though that the wall of Charedi opposition  had finally been pierced. That Charedi leaders would acknowledge that the army was not the exclusive ‘social engineering’ agency they had been saying it is. That it actually served its purpose as ‘advertised’. Which is to protect and defend Jewish people.

While there may be some residual social  engineering motivation among a few old guard anti religious army officers, Charedi leaders now realized that this was by far not the purpose of the army. And perhaps they were now taking a second look at all the religious soldiers that  were serving honorably while remaining entirely observant. And that there were indeed sincere attempts by the IDF to accommodate Charedi recruits through special units.

That allowed a few prominent Charedi voices (politicians and pundits) to say that perhaps they should allow some Charedim to serve the military.  

I thought that was huge. An opening that would spur a lot of Charedim to enlist that might not have otherwise. In fact it had already begun happening shortly after October 7^th  when about 1000 Charedim actually enlisted. (if I recall correctly).

That and the manpower shortage in the IDF would - I thought - lead to some sort of meeting of the minds whereby a compromise between the Isaeli government and the Chaedi leadership could be reached. 

Happy ending?  Hardly. Hard core Charedi leadership has doubled down on their opposition to Army service. Adding insult to injury the following happened: 

While delivering his weekly Motzei Shabbos Shiur, Hagaon HaRav Yitzchak Yosef spent a few minutes discussing the Nissim that Klal Yisroel has witnessed the past few months.

Rav Yosef made it clear that these miracles are only due to one thing: Bnei Torah, and Bnei Yeshivos.

“Thirteen thousand rockets have hit our country. There should have been hundreds and thousands of people killed, and Boruch Hashem we have seen incredible miracles. In what Zechus is this? In the Zechus of the IDF Chief of Staff? In whose Zechus? In the Zechus of the Bnei Torah and Bnei Yeshivos, who are sitting and learning Torah! This is the correct Hashkafah.”

“I said this a few weeks ago, and I was attacked in the media by some Hesder Roshei Yeshiva and demanded that I retract what I said. But I said under no circumstances will I back down and retract. I repeat and will say it again, that everything we survived in this war that our enemies rose up against us in the north and the south, all the Hamasnik Arabs and we survived, this is only in the Zechus of the Bnei Yeshivos. They protect all the soldiers and all the people of Israel.”

“Whoever does not believe in this is an Apikores.” 

I have said this before. But it bears repeating in the context of Rav Yosef’s comments. I am certainly not going to dispute the value of Torah study. Or even that it provides protection to our people. But i do want to express my profound disappointment with his lack of appreciation for the ultimate sacrifices of the IDF. Many of whom were actually observant Jews. In fact I believe that their casualty numbers exceed their proportion to the general population

Not only did Rav Yosef not recognize this – he implied their service and sacrifice is irrelevant. That it is  ONLY those who study Torah that protects the Jewish people. And that people who don’t recognize this are heretics!

I cannot image the pain Rav Yosef must have caused to parents, husbands, wives and children  that have lost  loved ones in battle. I cannot imagine the damage he caused to the fabric of the Jewish people who - since October 7 must be living in a perpetual state of anxiety

He has surely poured gasoline into the open wound of a nation by refusing to recognize those ultimate sacrifices. 

There is no question in my mind that without an actual military, Israel would be lost. No less a Charedi Gadol than Rav Chaim Shmulevitz, ZTL  made that observation. In the aftermath a war and in a very public way he thanked both those who study the Torah and the IDF for protecting the Jewish people. Was he a heretic for recognizing the IDF contribution?

If Rav Yosef believes that the Torah study of the tens of thousands of Yeshiva students alone - is what saves the Jewish people from disasters, where were they on October 7^th? Mars?

I don’t know. Maybe he thinks they should have been learning instead of celebrating Simchas Torah that day!

I guess the more things change the more they stay the same. Or maybe even worse!

Why is Israeli Suffering Almost Completely Ignored?

Anti Netanyahu protest in Israel last night (Euronews)

Last night there was a huge anti Netanyahu protest in Israel, The largest since the October Hamas massacre. It was led by angry hostage family members demanding he make any deal with Hamas that will free the hostages. Including a permanent cease fire. While they were at it - they demanded that Netanyahu  resign as prime minister - accusing him of prolonging the war at the expense of the hostages in order to save his own skin

Fortunately the majority of the Israeli public disagree and support his goal of destroying Hamas. One might think that all of the hostage families and families of massacred victims agree with last night's protest. But that would not be true. This is not to say that they would vote for Netanyahu in the next election. It is to say that on this one issue they are one with him.

This was made evident by the mother of a young woman slaughtered by Hamas on that October day. She was interviewed by CBS reporter Martha Teichner during a tour of a new October 7^th museum located near the 911 memorial in Manhattan. 

During that interview Teichner asked her about this very issue: Should Israel continue the war against Hamas until they destroy them - regardless of the human cost? Something the US and the entire world is against. 

Her response was crystal clear. The Israeli people must be protected. Hamas must be destroyed. They must not be allowed to survive another day to do again what they did on October 7^th . Which was exactly what they promised to do over and over again until they get all of Palestine back!

This was followed by the obvious question: What about all of the civilian Palestinian casualties that will surely result  if Israel proceeds with its goal? Her response there was just as clear and just as right. She regrets any loss of life on either side. But what is Israel supposed to do when Hamas uses its own people as human shields? 

If Israel is going to protect its people, it has no choice but to eliminate an implacable mortal enemy. (Obviously Israel tries to avoid civilian casualties ...contrary to the claims of many of the rabid anti Israel protestors.)  But they will not stop until their goal is achieved no matter what Hamas throws in their way.

This is what’s missing from the media. Their focus is almost exclusively on Palestinian suffering. Precious little focus is on Israeli suffering - with the exception of an occasional piece like this one on an obscure Sunday morning magazine type show. 

To the casual observer the almost exclusive media focus on Palestinian suffering combined with their visceral hate of Israel’s prime minister will surely influence the Americans who are not keenly attuned to the abovementioned details. It then become easy to see why they sympathize with Palestinians without thinking about what Israelis have -  and still are - going through. Without being reminded what this war is all about it should not surprise anyone that Palestinians are getting the lion’s share of sympathy while Israel gets thee lion’s share of the blame.

This is also what’s missing from the student protests on college campuses all over the country. But that is more a function of the participants being influenced by charismatic anti establishment leftist professors dripping with anti Israel and anti American sentiment. Not to mention the fact that many of those protesters are not students at all but infiltrators with ulterior motives.

This is also why there are many young Jews involved in these protests. They have little respect for their own Jewish heritage (about which they know very little) and have replaced it with  enormous respect for their ‘brave’ charismatic professors whose ideology they so  admiringly imbibe in.. 

I only wish the mainstream media would feature Israeli suffering to at least the same extent they do Palestinian suffering. But that would take a degree of integrity that seems to no longer exist in the mainstream media.