Israel’s foes seem surprised that the Jewish state’s people prefer the defeat of existential threats over applause from antisemites and an indifferent world.
Even Israel’s most severe and unfair critics have to acknowledge two things. One is that since the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab terrorist attacks in southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, the strategic situation in the Middle East has been substantially altered in favor of the Jewish state. The other is that although Israel has become extremely unpopular around the globe and even lost favor with many Americans as a result of the war with Hamas in Gaza post-Oct. 7, most Israelis value their security over the opinions of spectators to their struggles.
This is hard for Western liberals and leftists to understand. And yet, it points to a profound truth about the dilemma of Jewish life in the 21st century—and every one of them throughout the last two millennia. The choice facing Israel and the Jewish people is clear: If they refuse to let themselves be slaughtered and their state demolished, then they’re going to be mightily judged by a double standard applied to no other nation or people on the planet.
Pariah status