In a sharply worded article, Freddy Eytan, a former Israeli ambassador and senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs and Security, argues that the surge of antisemitism and Islamist terrorism across the Western world is not accidental, but the direct result of a deep and ongoing strategic failure.
According to Eytan, Western governments have embraced excessive tolerance under the banner of “freedom of expression,” while systematically ignoring open incitement against Jews and Israel — on the streets, on university campuses, and even inside mosques. At the same time, diplomatic restraint toward Iran and its terror proxies has created a sense of immunity that fuels further radicalization and violence.
Eytan stresses that the link between ideological incitement and real-world attacks on Jewish communities in Europe and the United States is clear and undeniable. The absence of firm red lines, weak law enforcement, and fear of political or cultural confrontation have, in his view, left Jews uniquely exposed and vulnerable in Western societies.
The solution, he argues, lies not in symbolic condemnations but in decisive action: harsh legislation against incitement, freezing funding channels for extremist organizations, shutting down institutions that promote jihad, and forcefully suppressing religious propaganda that calls for violence. Only such a comprehensive and uncompromising approach, Eytan concludes, can halt the spread of antisemitism.