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Benjamin Kerstein

Benjamin Kerstein is a writer, editor and novelist, and a fellow at the Z3 Institute. His latest work is Self Defense: A Jewish Manifesto (2025).

Internal division, civil unrest, disregard of democratic principles by both left and right, and loss of faith in the republic are the real threats.
Israel’s divided opposition should adopt a simple slogan: “Equality, Secularism, Peace.”
To defeat antisemitism, U.S. Jews should finally admit that assimilation has failed and find a new way of being Americans.
The atmosphere on American campuses is toxic, but Jewish students have the opportunity to see how the antisemites do without them.
A former PLO adviser waxes anxious over Israel’s incoming government but fails to recognize the anxieties of Israeli Jews.
Zionism stands for many things, but its deepest self is the assertion that if the world does not recognize this right, it stands condemned.
Are civilizations without the Torah also without morality, and is this the origin of antisemitism?
Pro-Palestinian and other radical activists use emotional blackmail to force vulnerable people into submission and sometimes suicide.
Perhaps the only true Jewish pride comes not from simply being Jewish, but from gratitude and resolution.
The Israel-haters may not like it, but everyone, at some point, was a settler.
We are not a people of plaster saints, and no one has the right to demand otherwise.
Netanyahu, Lapid and Gantz could form a stable Zionist government right now, if only they didn’t hate each other.