Nobody seriously believes that the U.S. Senate will reject President Donald Trump’s nomination of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. Republicans managed to get far more controversial nominees, such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard confirmed, so they should have comparatively little trouble pushing Huckabee, a man without skeletons in his closet, over the goal line.

Indeed, it’s likely that he will be in Israel, as he predicted, by Passover. But that hasn’t stopped the Jewish left from trying to stop his nomination.

The political arm of Reform Judaism is publicly opposing Huckabee. So too are the left-wing lobby J Street and the Jewish Democratic Council of America. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, an umbrella group of Jewish community relations councils around the country, didn’t condemn the nomination outright but made clear its disdain for him with comments deprecating him as a “Christian nationalist.” 

These views were summed up in an op-ed published in The Hill by Lily Greenberg Call, a veteran Democratic operative who had worked for the campaigns of former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris and resigned from a post at the Department of the Interior because of she felt the Biden-Harris administration was too supportive of Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre. “Unconditionally supporting Israel actually makes Jews unsafe” and the Jewish state is “antithetical” to “Jewish values,” Call asserted.

On the other side of the issue, more mainstream, liberal Jewish groups like the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee said that they looked forward to working with Huckabee. More ardently pro-Israel groups like the Zionist Organization of America and the Orthodox Union endorsed him enthusiastically.

Seen in that context, it’s easy to dismiss Huckabee’s Jewish critics as outliers or merely predictably partisan. But that would be a mistake.

Christian nationalism?

The angry response to Huckabee from the Jewish left echoes something deeply troubling about American Jewry’s attitudes toward both Israel and its Christian supporters, like the former governor. And the talk about “Christian nationalism” reflects a broader backlash among political liberals in general against any expression of faith in the public square. 

At its heart, liberal Jewish distrust of the strong backing Israel gets from evangelicals and other conservative Christians is a function of three factors. One is simple partisanship. Another is the shocking and quite irrational religious prejudice on the part of some Jews. The other is the notion that faith should influence public policy.

The latter was put on display in the viral comments that former Politico reporter Heidi Przybyla uttered on MSNBC in February 2024. (She subsequently left the Washington publication.) 

Przybyla condemned political conservatives and Trump backers as “Christian nationalists,” because they believe that the rights of all Americans “don’t come from any earthly authority,” she said “They don’t come from Congress or the Supreme Court. They come from God.”

That is something that Huckabee believes. But that belief was shared by all of America’s Founding Fathers, not least a non-denominational Deist like Thomas Jefferson. It was, after all, the man who would eventually become the third president of the United States who wrote in the Declaration of Independence that it was “self-evident” that all Americans were “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” 

While Przybyla was widely skewered for her ignorant comments, she was reflecting the wide gap that has opened up between people of faith, regardless of their religion, and those who have contempt for traditional religion. Sadly, nothing reflects that divide more closely than attitudes toward Israel. 

Faith and antisemitism

As a Gallup poll published last June suggested, support for Israel in the United States is primarily a function of religious faith. And declining religiosity is directly linked to growing hostility to Israel. 

The survey, which tracked opinions about the Jewish state and the Palestinians over the last quarter-century, demonstrated that support for Israel was far more prevalent among those who attended religious services regularly, and it declined among those who did not attend a church or a synagogue.

The study also provided at least a partial explanation for the generational differences about Israel. If younger Americans are less supportive of Israel than older ones, it is to some extent the result of their being less religious than their elders. The fact that people 29 or younger are also more likely to have been indoctrinated in the toxic neo-Marxist ideas of critical race theory, intersectionality and colonial-setter ideology that brands Israel and the Jews as “white” oppressors—and which is antithetical to traditional faith—is also part of this depressing trend. 

That’s just as true for younger Jews. Most of them have had the woke catechism of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), which ironically excludes Jews, drilled into them in K-12 schools and again in college. That makes them more inclined to think that a concept is inappropriate if it is antithetical to the principles of equal opportunity and individual rights. It also makes them more inclined to think a sectarian Jewish state is somehow racist, or that Jews somehow are not the indigenous people of their ancient homeland.

It is not surprising that liberal Jews and organizations, which are most influenced by this doctrinaire secularism, are also part of this alienation from Israel. The fact that some, like the Reform movement, are avowedly religious may seem like a contradiction in terms. But it’s easily explained when you realize that they see their religious beliefs, as many liberal Jews do, as not so much a matter of faith in revelation or scripture but a reflection of their opinions on political issues, which they define as social justice.

Their discomfort with Christians, like Huckabee, who believe that the Almighty has promised that they will be blessed if they bless Israel, may seem counterintuitive. But it is part of an aggressively woke and secular mindset that sees such beliefs as inherently illegitimate.

Though many cast most of the blame for a decline in Jewish support for Israel on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the truth is it has far more to do with the demography of a community that is rapidly assimilated and the prevailing ideology on the American left. (JNS reported recently on Pew data that indicated that less than 1% of Israeli adults raised Jewish say that they’ve “switched” faiths, compared to 24% of U.S. adults raised Jewish.)

Of course, partisanship is also part of the opposition to Huckabee. In this, the most hyper-partisan moment in living memory, Jewish Democrats can be counted on to oppose just about anyone whom Trump nominates for office.

But it’s important to understand that the fact that Trump is the most pro-Israel U.S. president since the creation of the modern-day Jewish state cuts no ice with Jews on the political left. For the most part, even those who are still at least nominally Zionist think of Israel as only legitimate if it reflects their secularism and their ideas about how to solve the conflict with the Palestinians.

The fact that in recent decades, the Israeli electorate has, for the most part, voted for leaders from the right like Netanyahu is problematic for many American Jews. And the understandable Israeli support for Trump has caused many of them to see Israel as the moral equivalent of a “red state.” 

Unlike their Israeli counterparts, they have little understanding about the rejectionist ideology of Palestinian Arabs. Palestinians have repeatedly refused offers of statehood and independence when it meant they must live in peace with a Jewish state no matter where its borders might be drawn. This has made little impression on liberal Americans, including Jews.

This disconnect with normative Israeli political views, which have only been reinforced by the horrors of Oct. 7 and its aftermath that made the notion of a two-state solution not so much a bad idea but madness, is made clear when you hear the left’s criticisms of Huckabee. 

The idea that Israel needed to be “saved from itself,” as former President Barack Obama believed, is integral to liberal Jewish attitudes toward Israel. That anyone would still think that, after Oct. 7, an independent Palestinian state would mean anything but more war and bloodshed for both peoples is hard to explain. But the alienation of American Jews from the realities on the ground in the Middle East is so great that nothing, not even the launching of a genocidal war endorsed by most Palestinians, will dissuade them from their ignorance.

Yet the disdain for pro-Israel Christians, such as Huckabee who told me in my interview with him on my podcast that the conflict between Israel and its enemies is between “good and evil,” is not just a matter of politics. It also stems from their sneering contempt for evangelicals.

Much like the rest of America credentialed elites, of which they are so representative, liberal and left-wing Jews look down their noses on that broad section of the American electorate that is deeply religious. It’s not just that they disagree with them on abortion, gun rights or any other issue. They have held onto notions about the connection between religious belief and antisemitism that may have made sense a century ago but are now badly outdated. 

Contempt for evangelicals

In 19th century Europe or early 20th century America, it may have been reasonable to think that the more religious Christians were, the more likely they would be antisemitic. But now it’s just the opposite. As the Gallup poll showed, it is people of faith, especially those outside of the shrinking mainline Protestant denominations, who are the most philo-semitic and supportive of Israel.

Conversely, it is the most aggressively secular and most educated demographic slices of America that are heavily influenced by woke ideology and lingering neo-Marxist hostility to Judaism that are the most antisemitic.

Yet most liberal Jews on the two coasts still think of conservative Christians as flyover country hayseeds, who would gladly kill all the Jews but aren’t smart enough to figure out how to do so. Such a murderous desire is normative among Palestinian Arabs and the bizarre red-green alliance of Marxists and Islamists elsewhere that supports their war on Zionism, but it is not among evangelicals. Still, that fact hasn’t dented the consciousness of Jews who instinctively distrust Huckabee and everyone like him.

The argument that conservative Christians’ support for Israel can’t be trusted because of their eschatological beliefs is particularly illogical as well as deeply foolish. Most Christian Zionists do not predicate their love for Israel on the idea that its survival is part of an end-of-days scenario that will lead to the return of Jesus. But even if all did believe that, why should Jews—whether they are secular or religious, liberal or conservative—care if they don’t think that will ever happen?

A pro-Israel ambassador

One doesn’t have to like Trump or be comfortable with the political views of evangelicals such as Huckabee to believe that the latter’s wholehearted support for Israel and realistic views about Palestinian intentions are a good thing.

Prior to David Friedman, who served as ambassador to Israel during the first Trump administration, all U.S. ambassadors to Israel treated Jerusalem the way Roman proconsuls viewed subject peoples. They were primarily there to order Israelis around and impose policies based on failed “land for peace” patent nostrums. Their priority was not, as is the case for most American ambassadors to foreign countries, to promote better relations between their hosts and the United States.

Friedman was a powerful advocate for a rational policy based on the realities of the conflict rather than the conventional wisdom of the “experts” of the foreign policy establishment who had steered U.S. Middle East policy for decades. 

As much as anyone, he deserves the credit for persuading Trump to ignore them and move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018 and steered the president toward diplomacy that would end the ability of the Palestinians to hold the peace process hostage to their intransigent fantasies of Israel’s destruction.

Huckabee will be equally supportive of the alliance and of Jewish rights and realistic about the Palestinians. And, as an evangelical, his presence in Jerusalem can do much to promote better interfaith relations. Yet for liberal Jews who believe that Israel must make suicidal concessions to Palestinians, whose goal is to destroy the Jewish state, and who have no interest in good relations with evangelicals for reasons that have nothing to do with foreign policy, his nomination is anathema.

Attitudes toward the Huckabee nomination are, therefore, something of a test of American opinions about faith, radical ideologies and whether American foreign policy should aim at strengthening Israel’s efforts to defeat enemies or to weaken them. 

That so many Jews oppose him is a disturbing reminder of the profound problems currently facing American Jewry.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him: @jonathans_tobin.

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In a timely and urgent cinematic release, the Jewish Broadcasting Service (JBS) will host the exclusive television premiere of “Blind Spot” a searing new documentary that confronts one of the most troubling phenomena in modern American academic life: the explosion of antisemitism on college campuses. The broadcast premiere is scheduled for March 30, at 7 pm EDT, and will be followed by an in-depth interview with executive producer Leonard Gold on a special edition of “A Special Look” with Teisha Bader at 8:35 pm EDT.

The film—produced by Ironbound Films, known for such acclaimed works as “Israel Swings for Gold and Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel”—is also available on streaming platforms and will air with closed captioning. Additional encore showings will follow at 11 pm EDT that same evening and throughout the week.

As reported by JBS, “Blind Spot” is the first and only film to examine the trajectory of antisemitism on U.S. campuses both before and after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, an event that served as a cultural and ideological flashpoint, unleashing a tidal wave of anti-Jewish sentiment in institutions of higher learning across America.

Told through the firsthand accounts of more than two dozen Jewish students from over a dozen universities, the film paints a disturbing picture of how normalized anti-Israel hostility has metastasized into open antisemitism, often escalating into verbal harassment, physical threats, and academic discrimination.

These students are not political activists or public figures. They are ordinary undergraduates and graduate students—many of whom, until recently, considered their Jewish identity to be a quiet, private part of who they are. What “Blind Spot” makes abundantly clear is that this is no longer an option. In today’s academic climate, Jewish students are being forced to choose between silence and self-respect, between social comfort and spiritual truth.

For Gold, a lawyer by training and a father moved by personal experience, this documentary is deeply personal. Gold was first awakened to the problem of school-based antisemitism in 2009 when one of his sons endured virulent anti-Jewish hostility at a prestigious private school in New York City. What began as a personal struggle evolved into a broader mission: to expose the ideological rot permeating American campuses and to empower students to stand up for themselves and their people.

“‘Blind Spot” is not just a film,” Gold explains in his upcoming JBS interview. “It’s a call to action—a refusal to look away from what’s happening to our kids in institutions we thought would help shape them, not break them.”

The documentary serves as a witness, but also as a clarion call to Jewish parents, community leaders, donors and policymakers: The problem is real, it is widespread, and it must be confronted.

“Blind Spot” does not limit its focus to headline-making protests or high-profile scandals. It lays bare a systemic failure of university leadership to protect Jewish students from hostile learning environments, even as they enforce strict standards for other protected groups.

JBS reported that the film’s central theme is this, Jewish students are at the front lines of a modern-day civil rights struggle. Whether in lecture halls, dormitories or student government chambers, they are being singled out, marginalized and attacked—not for what they’ve done, but for who they are and what they represent.

The campuses themselves may appear picturesque—brick-lined quads, leafy greens and ivy-covered buildings—but the intellectual climate, the social atmosphere and the moral posture toward Jewish identity is, in many cases, toxic.

The documentary exposes a through-line of demonization of Israel that morphs seamlessly into the demonization of Jews. Asking Jewish students to renounce their connection to Israel or face exclusion is not political discourse—it is a modern form of antisemitism cloaked in the language of social justice.

One of the most powerful insights of “Blind Spot” is how this escalating hostility is catalyzing a spiritual and cultural awakening among Jewish students. Many of them, raised in environments where Jewishness was an incidental or quiet part of their identity, are now being forced to reckon with what it means to be Jewish in a world that targets Jews with venomous hatred.

This is not just about geopolitics. It’s about personal courage, collective memory and the unshakable dignity of self-definition. The students featured in the film are not merely victims; they are heroes. They are the inheritors of a long tradition of resilience, and they are choosing to speak, protest and live proudly in the face of intimidation.

As universities across America continue to grapple—or fail to grapple—with antisemitism, “Blind Spot” arrives at a critical moment. It reminds viewers that silence is complicity, and that the failure to respond to campus Jew hatred is not just an institutional failure—it is a moral collapse.

Through powerful interviews, harrowing anecdotes, and an unflinching gaze at the culture of denial and appeasement, the film challenges us to see what so many have chosen not to see. It demands that viewers confront the uncomfortable truth: antisemitism is alive and well in American academia and its consequences are devastating.

For anyone concerned about the future of Jewish life in America—or the integrity of higher education—“Blind Spot” is essential viewing. It is an indictment, an inspiration, and above all, a mirror held up to a society that must now decide what it will do with what it sees.

Because once you’ve seen it, you can’t look away.

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The willingness to succumb to antisemitism is always a sign of a sick society, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin. The mainstreaming of Jew-hatred in the media, popular culture and political discourse since Oct. 7, 2023, has created a perilous moment for Jews, but it is also a sign of just how lost so many Americans have become. He believes what’s needed now is a willingness to understand that it is Western civilization, which has its roots in Judaism, that is under attack as much as Israel.

https://youtu.be/0rSzLv-4EFQ

He’s joined in this week’s episode of “Think Twice” by Newsweek senior editor-at-large and podcaster Josh Hammer, the author of the new book Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West.

Hammer says he was inspired to write his book by the reaction to Oct. 7, in which so many Americans chose to side with the medieval Islamist death cult of Hamas. The surge in antisemitism, he argues, is a direct result of a far-reaching attack on Western civilization, which has its roots in Judaism. Hammer believes the answer to this should be a “biblical restoration” in which Jews and Christians work together to fight for Western values against the assault on them from the toxic ideas of the Marxist woke left. Those who want to get rid of the West and the idea of the nation-state inevitably start with Israel and the Jewish tradition.

The author says the place to start is to embrace faith and to encourage Christians to do so, as well as Jews, since that is the best antidote to what ails society, including antisemitism.

Hammer also advocates for a realistic rather than a moralistic U.S. foreign policy, such as that prescribed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda, since that is the best guarantee of the alliance between America and Israel.

Both Tobin and Hammer agreed that the left is the primary engine of antisemitism today and that Trump’s efforts to defund schools that tolerate and encourage Jew-hatred and enforce toxic DEI policies are a good start towards defeating it. But they also noted the disturbing trend among a small group of right-wing podcasters like Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson toward embracing anti-Israel and antisemitic positions. Hammer speculated that support for that position among some Christians is ignorance of the Jewish roots of their own faith.

Listen/Subscribe to weekly episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Watch new episodes every week by subscribing to the JNS YouTube Channel.

This episode of “Think Twice” is sponsored by The Jewish Future Promise — ensuring a vibrant and thriving future for Jews and Israel.
Sign the promise: https://jewishfuturepromise.org/jns/

JNS will host its inaugural International Policy Summit on Monday, April 28, 2025. This daylong event will convene government officials, policymakers, diplomats, security experts, leaders of pro-Israel organizations, and influencers for vital discussions aimed at addressing Israel’s critical challenges and opportunities in a post-Oct. 7 world.
Registration at this point is for invitees only. However, you can submit a request for registration using the following link.

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy about the Russia-Ukraine war and the Iranian nuclear threat, according to Tammy Bruce, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman.

Rubio and Lammy “reiterated their shared commitment to ensuring that Iran never develops or acquires a nuclear weapon,” per the readout. U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced a “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran.

Rubio also thanked Lammy “for the UK’s work to align Europe and Ukraine to support a durable peace in Ukraine” and emphasized both “the need for further European contributions to bolster security in Europe” and Trump’s “determination to bring about peace through negotiation,” per the readout.

Lammy recently came under fire for comments after Israel renewed airstrikes in the Gaza Strip and halted aid to the coastal enclave after Hamas rejected the ceasefire extension proposal.

He stated twice that the new blockade was a “breach” of international law, leading the British prime minister’s official spokesperson to reconfirm that the government’s position is that Israel was “at risk” of breaching humanitarian law, the BBC reported. (JNS sought comment from the State Department about whether Rubio raised the incident with Lammy.)

Lammy later told Bloomberg that it was a “matter for the court” to decide if international law had been broken.

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The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint after seizing $47 million in funds from the sale of almost 1 million barrels of Iranian oil, the department announced Wednesday.

The complaint alleges that, between 2022 and 2024, facilitators concocted a scheme to ship, store and sell Iranian oil that would benefit the Iranian Regime and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps by using “deceptive practices to masquerade the Iranian oil as Malaysian.” Facilitators manipulated the ship’s automatic identification system to hide the fact it onboarded oil from an Iranian port and “presented falsified documents to the Croatian storage and port facility.”

“We will aggressively enforce U.S. sanctions against Iran in furtherance of President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign,” said Edward Martin, interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. “With the continued seizures of Iranian oil and U.S. dollar profits, we are sending a clear message to Iran that bypassing the sanctions put in place by the U.S. Government is not as easy as playing a shell game with tankers filled with oil.”

The facilitators used U.S. currency for storage fees by going through U.S. financial institutions, which would have “refused the transactions had they known they were associated with Iranian oil.”

“The FBI will not allow hostile regimes to evade U.S. sanctions or exploit our financial systems to fund designated terrorist organizations,” said Alvin Winston, FBI special agent in charge. “The FBI, alongside our partners, will relentlessly enforce U.S. sanctions against Iran and safeguard U.S. national security by disrupting illicit networks that seek to profit from sanctioned oil sales.”

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A Senate hearing about Jew-hatred on campus on Thursday focused on U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledges to get tough with colleges housing such protests and his efforts to gut the federal agency that is tasked with protecting students attacked by protesters. It also included an announced probe of American Muslims for Palestine.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, stated at the beginning of the committee hearing that he launched the investigation “demanding answers about their activities on college campuses.”

“This group’s leaders have ties to Hamas and helped create the group Students for Justice in Palestine,” Cassidy said. “I also requested information from the Justice Department and several universities on these groups.”

The Trump administration has been very focused on Jew-hatred on campus, with supporters—including at the hearing—praising the federal government’s efforts and critics saying that it erring in its approach.

Trump withheld $400 million in federal funding for Columbia University over its response to protesters targeting Jewish students after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack. Two weeks ago, it warned 60 colleges—including Harvard University, Yale Universities and many public schools—that they could face federal funding cuts if found to violate Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the landmark anti-discrimination legislation.

“Universities have been put on notice. Failing to protect a student’s civil rights will no longer be tolerated,” Cassidy said. “If universities refuse to follow the law, address discrimination on campus and support their Jewish students, then they should not expect the support of the federal taxpayer.”

At the same time, the administration has reduced staff significantly at the U.S. Education Department as it tries to shut down the federal agency, including its Office of Civil Rights, which is responsible for enforcing Title VI.

Rabbi David Saperstein, director emeritus of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, testified that the Trump administration opted to “fire hundreds of experienced employees from the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights who know how universities function, what their needs are and how to effect change, to fire the very employees who are tasked with investigating and enforcing civil rights law on campus.”

That decision “has decimated one of the few channels available for students to take action and report their experiences, especially in the context of unreceptive university leadership,” Saperstein said.

Saperstein told the committee that the civil rights office has closed seven of its 12 regional offices, and the caseload per investigator has nearly doubled from 46 to 86. Moving enforcement to the U.S. Justice Department, as has been discussed, would change the way these cases are treated, the rabbi said.

The lead sponsor of legislation designed to make it easier for Jewish students to file civil rights complaints, Cassidy said that the Office of Civil Rights has enough staff to adequately handle any claims it receives. (Experts have told JNS that the Justice Department is equipped to handle cases as well.) 

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) questioned that, given the Education Department layoffs.

“I would expect to be talking today more about how we are ensuring the Office of Civil Rights is being properly staffed and resourced,” she said. “The Trump administration has taken the opposite approach.”

Charles Asher Small, founding director and president of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, cited funding from Qatar. Some lawmakers suggested China played a role.

The debate over the Office of Civil Rights came after witnesses, including Saperstein and Small, talked about the increasing hostility that Jewish students have faced on college campuses since Oct. 7.

At the “most prestigious universities and campuses,” Small said, “we’ve witnessed  hundreds of antisemitic resolutions and protests, which some of them turned violent, others leading to the harassment of Jewish students, faculty and staff.”

One reason for the antisemitic themes on campus is what Carly Gammill, founding director of the StandWithUs Center for Combating Antisemitism, called a “pernicious, well-funded campaign hat has co-opted and imposed its own erroneous definition of a term that is integral to the religious and ethnic identity of most Jews around the world, including here in the U.S.”

That term, she said, was “Zionism.”

“Zionism is the term that describes the desire of the Jewish people for safety and sovereignty in their ancestral homeland,” she testified. “This nefarious campaign, however, seeds to redefine Zionism as nothing more than a term of political support for the Israeli government, which the narrative falsely accuses of a host of evils.”

That erases more than 3,000 years of Jewish history and is “a direct attack against a core component of mainstream Jewish identity,” she said. “In short, a textbook definition of antisemitism.”

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of the American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), said people need to push back.

“It is not enough for individuals or institutions to merely claim they are not antisemitic,” he testified. “As my father once taught me, it is not enough for people, especially public figures to be neutral or not be antisemitic. One must be anti-antisemitic.”

“We must demand the same of our universities and government institutions,” he told the committee. “This hearing, in my opinion, is an attempt to be just that.”

Kenneth Stern, director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, told the committee that he was concerned about how the U.S. government was responding to schools dealing with post-Oct. 7 outbreaks of Jew-hatred. (Stern describes himself as “lead drafter” of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of Jew-hatred, a claim that is contested by its other authors.)

“Students, including Jewish students, have a right not to be victims of true threats, harassment, intimidation, bullying, discrimination, let alone assault,” Stern testified. “However, they should expect to hear ideas that cut them to their core. Attempts to affect the campus that aren’t grounded in protection of free speech and academic freedom are not likely to work.”

The Trump administration has gone after universities for what it says is a failure to address the post-Oct. 7 climate of Jew-hatred. It withheld $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University until the school took certain actions, including banning masks and putting its Middle East studies programs under external review.

“Recent threats against funding without a full investigation or an opportunity to be heard are not only likely illegal but horrible policy,” Stern said. “Arresting students should be a last resort, not a first impulse, especially for technical violation of rules.”

“The campus environment can be improved, with programs and courses, but if we bludgeon the campus into submission, we risk destroying an institution which has made America the envy of the world,” he said.

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During a virtual meeting with faculty over the weekend, Katrina Armstrong, the interim president of Columbia University, downplayed the school’s commitment to the Trump administration that it would address Jew-hatred on campus, The Washington Free Beacon reported.

Armstrong told some 75 professors assembled on a Saturday morning Zoom call that the Ivy League school had made “no changes” to rules about mask-wearing on campus, per a transcript of the call that the Free Beacon obtained.

“Much has been said about Columbia by people inside and outside of our community, sometimes without full context, including statements attributed to me from internal meetings,” Armstong stated on Tuesday. “Let there be no confusion: I commit to seeing these changes implemented with the full support of Columbia’s senior leadership team and the board of trustees.”

“Any suggestion that these measures are illusory or lack my personal support is unequivocally false,” she added. “These changes are real, and they are right for Columbia.”

Orri Zussman, 20, a freshman studying mechanical engineering at Columbia, told JNS that the school’s declared mask-banning policy is vague.  

“If you look at the way that they phrased their ‘ban,’ it’s basically just re-emphasizing Columbia’s right to tell you to take off your mask if you’re doing something that violates their policy,” he said. “Then if you refuse to take off your mask, then they have the right to kick you off of campus.”

“In essence, nothing has changed,” he said. “There is no mask ban.”

“It seems that the university is being very two-faced,” he said. “They are trying to appease the administration and also just keep things the way that they are. They are just trying to get the money back without making any reforms, and it’s just absurdly frustrating.” (The Trump administration pulled some $400 million in grant monies from the school over, it said, Columbia’s mishandling of Jew-hatred on campus.)

Zussman told JNS that he has been following the news and is concerned that the culture on campus won’t improve. 

“You feel like finally, there might be some change and there might be an end to this antisemitic rhetoric, to Hamas propaganda being handed out on campus, that their changes might finally be starting to take effect,” he said. “Then you get back to campus after spring break and nothing has changed.”

“It is super disappointing,” he said.

Jewish students on campus feel on edge, and many freshmen are actively considering studying abroad or even transferring schools, according to Zussman.

“This is an issue that could have been solved by the university,” he said. “We didn’t need to get to a point where, after a year and a half, the federal government gets involved.”

“The power was always in the university administration’s hands, and they didn’t use it effectively,” he said. “Hopefully, they can start actually making the reforms that they’re promising to make publicly, and then we can just see a return to normal, which is better for everyone.”

“The university has to take some real action and stop telling faculty behind closed doors one thing and then the public another,” he added.

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In the global era, the phenomenon of national diaspora is gaining increasing recognition as a significant factor in the international arena. Experts even consider it as an integral component of the modern world, rather than a passing phenomenon. Nowadays, almost every country has a diaspora spread across the world, such as the Turkish diaspora in Germany or the Syrian diaspora, which was initially concentrated mainly in South America, but after that country’s civil war, has expanded to all Western countries.

In this complex reality, the Azerbaijani diaspora is becoming an increasingly important strategic force for Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani diaspora is not just a group of citizens or expatriates living outside the country, it is a factor of influence in global politics with a role to play international public diplomacy. This phenomenon is not limited to the Azerbaijani diaspora, but applies to many other diasporas around the world, which are becoming a kind of "soft power" for their countries of origin, though of course, it depends on how each country utilizes its soft power.

The union of Azerbaijani diaspora organizations worldwide for a common purpose began under the leadership of former President Heydar Aliyev. His successor, President Ilham Aliyev, has continued to maintain the relationship between Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani diaspora worldwide. Aliyev addressed the Azerbaijani diaspora community in a speech during which he emphasizing the principles that guide Azerbaijan that should continue to guide those in the diaspora.

In his speech, Aliyev said, “I believe that in these historic times, when the ideals of an independent and free Azerbaijan, which we have long aspired to and struggled for, are being realized, our compatriots living in every corner of the world will work with even greater determination to achieve our national goals fully. I firmly declare that Azerbaijan’s state independence is eternal, and no force can turn us away from this path. I call on all of you to stand in solidarity and national unity for the further strengthening of a free, independent and democratic Azerbaijani state.”

It is understood by the Azerbaijan leadership that one of the key factors for success in foreign policy is the development of its diaspora, strengthening its ties with the societies in which it resides and encouraging its expansion.

In an era of ever-increasing hostility toward Israel, an alliance between the Jewish Diaspora and Azerbaijani diaspora in the United States can help Israel fight against anti-Israel sentiment. The average Azerbaijani holds a positive view of Israel and would be willing to help us face anti-Israel sentiment in the United States. In return, Jewish Americans will help the Azerbaijani diaspora face their issues, as that is what allies do for each other.

The primary goal of the activities of the Azerbaijani diaspora is the preservation of the language and culture of Azerbaijani minorities worldwide. However, it is also important to develop and implement cooperation with other ethnic communities and to leverage those connections into international support with the countries of origin of the diaspora communities.

These activities are voluntary and have a socio-cultural nature. There is no official union or organization acting on behalf of the diaspora. It is individuals who understand they represent their community and seek to integrate into the society in which they live, while maintaining their national characteristics and language. Thus, no matter who is in power in the countries of origin, relations will remain warm.

The most prominent example of this approach is the Azerbaijani diaspora in Israel and the Jewish community in Azerbaijan. In Israel, the Azerbaijani Jewish community has integrated in the best possible way. In addition to being able to practice any traditional customs and speak their native language freely, they are not distinguishable from other Israelis. Moreover, there is also a non-Jewish Azerbaijani community in Israel who reside there for work purposes.

Despite living in the Jewish state, non-Jewish Azerbaijani residents are accepted by the Israeli community, are employed and celebrate holidays together with Jewish Israelis. The non-Jewish Azerbaijani community in Israel also lives in comfort and peace in the Jewish state. The Jewish community in Azerbaijan, meanwhile, enjoys excellent relations with both the Azerbaijani government and their Muslim Azerbaijani neighbors.

Jewish rabbis, such as Rabbi Zamir Isayev (the chief Sephardic rabbi of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan), praise their treatment from the Azerbaijani government and view themselves as proud Azerbaijanis. Incidentally, Azerbaijan’s representative in the Eurovision Song Contest this year is a member of the Jewish community there. The official representative of the state of Azerbaijan is Jewish, which is significant considering the Jewish history of the past century. The relations between the Jewish people and the Azerbaijani people will remain strong, regardless of which government leads these countries.

A good example of this was the June 2022 visit by Azerbaijani Minister Fuad Muradov, chairman of the state committee for work with diasporas, which is similar to Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. During his visit, Muradov met with Israeli government officials and members of the Azerbaijani community in Israel who spoke warmly of their community life and the friendly attitude Israelis have toward Azerbaijan. According to them, the Israeli people also have a great affection for Azerbaijan, which is evident from the increase in Israeli tourism to the country. Muradov’s visit to Israel was not just a one-time event, but part of Azerbaijan’s routine efforts to maintain a strong connection with Azerbaijanis living abroad.

A building of cooperation between Muradov and Amichai Chikli, Israel’s minister of Diaspora affairs, could lead to a significant strengthening of ties between the Azerbaijani diaspora and Jewish communities worldwide. As mentioned, strengthening diaspora relations leads to strengthening the relations between the two countries. If the Azerbaijani diaspora maintains regular contact with Jewish communities across the globe, Azerbaijanis could become ambassadors for Jews and Jews vice versa.

There is no doubt that by continuing to maintain the Azerbaijani diaspora and fostering closer ties between the Azerbaijani people abroad and other communities, Azerbaijan will be strengthened politically and diplomatically. It will also open the country to numerous and diverse opportunities. This will not only benefit Azerbaijan, but also Israel, which would likely welcome the rise of a moderate country like Azerbaijan.

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Turkey is deepening its military and political foothold in northern and central Syria, raising significant concerns over the long-term consequences of Ankara’s ambitions for regional influence and control. 

From the construction of a military base to growing engagement with the Syrian Islamist-leaning regime and a steady flow of Turkish armored vehicles into the area, Israel must now be on the lookout for threats that emanate from Sunni Turkey in a country dominated by Shi'ite Iran for many years under the previous Assad regime.

Israel's recent series of steps in southern Syria, including ground and air operations, the setting up of multiple military posts on the Syrian side of the demilitarized zone, and the setting up of an alliance with the southern Syrian Druze population, appear designed to prevent Turkish-backed Sunni fundamentalists—or Turkish forces themselves—from moving south beyond Damascus. 

Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, a prominent expert on Turkey at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, told JNS on Wednesday that there are multiple warning signs. 

“After the fall of Assad, we know that Turkey replaced Russia as the dominant player in Syria," said Yanarocak. "When we speak about today’s Syrian regime, it is thanks to Turkey, due to Turkish changes and Turkish strategy.”

Citing a recent uptick in Turkish involvement, Yanarocak emphasized that “the Turkish intelligence organization, then the Turkish Foreign Ministry, and finally the president of Turkey met with al-Joulani [the new 'interim' Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who headed Ha'at Tahrir al-Sham rebel coalition that overthrew the Assad regime]. And we actually saw the Turkish infiltration—both on the ministerial and military levels.” 

Amid unconfirmed reports that Turkey was planning to build a new military base in Palmyra in central Syria, the IDF announced on March 25 that it had struck Syrian military bases in the area, including the T4 Airbase. The message to Turkey appears to have been, "Please don't come," said Yanarocak.

Yanarocak noted that last week, media reports stated that Turkey had begun supplying various armored vehicles to Turkish-backed elements in northern Syria. "We will see the Turkish influence, more and more,” he assessed. 

 “Let us not forget that Turkey has a land corridor to Syria and has not yet withdrawn from Syria—it is inside Syria. So we are only going to see more and more penetration, not the opposite.”

On March 10, the Syrian presidency announced an agreement with the head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, based in northern Syria, to integrate the institutions of the autonomous Kurdish administration in the northeast into the national government, France 24 reported.

Yanarocak interpreted this as a signal of American withdrawal. “This will make Turkey the only solution, with Russia—if Russia remains. But if the current trend continues and the Russians leave, then Turkey will be left alone in Syria,” he said.

Turkey appears to be positioning itself through an ideological lens that frames its intervention as a form of Sunni Muslim brotherhood that transcends ethnicity, Yanarocak stated. “The Turks convey the message that we have here a shared Sunni Muslim brotherhood bond,” he stated.

As a result, Yanarocak warned, Turkish air force and ground force presence will likely begin to appear all over Syria. He stressed that such an expansion would not include meaningful Syrian input, adding, “No one really asked the Syrian people in the past what they think, and they won’t be asked now either.”

Yanarocak added, “Turkey has already penetrated Syria. The head of Turkish intelligence, Ibrahim Kalin, was the first foreign official to visit Syria and he prayed at the Umayyad Mosque. This signals a shared Sunni ideological camp. This isn’t about Turkish dominance over Arabs. It’s about a shared ideological brotherhood.”

He continued, “I don’t think anyone else is willing to arm the Syrian army besides Turkey," adding that Turkey’s military-industrial complex makes it the only realistic candidate to shape a new Syrian army. "It has many products that could fit a new Syrian army—from APCs to rifles, even combat ships."

Former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman, a Distinguished Scholar at the Washington D.C.-based Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), told JNS on Tuesday that the new Syrian leader will have to consider a range of factors that go beyond Turkey's interests.

 “Turkey is extremely influential, but its views are not dispositive with Sharaa, at least at this point. Sharaa has many different concerns to balance and Turkey will be an important but not the sole factor for his decision calculus,” Edelman assessed. 

The former ambassador added, “There will be some inherent resistance among Arabs to an overbearing effort at establishing a neo-Ottoman overlordship—something Turkish officials frequently underestimate. That said, the key will be the degree to which Turkey can establish military, and especially air bases, in Syria. That, of course, would be a significant move in the direction of Turkish overweening influence.”

Despite growing Turkish infiltration, Yanarocak argued that Israel must make efforts to deconflict with Turkey as much as possible. “Israel, to prevent any undesirable friction or incident with Turkey, must act very responsibly. The two states need to sit face to face, especially the military professionals, and clarify red lines with seriousness and mutual respect. Not to provoke or poke each other in the eye.”

He said the overarching goal should be “to prevent the escalation from spiraling into declared hostility. That is the main objective.” According to Yanarocak, “The Turkish side must also internalize that they cannot be on the Israeli-Syrian border. That is an Israeli red line. Israel will not accept this.”

In northern Syria, meanwhile, Turkey has spent years backing the SNA (Syrian National Army) and other rebel groups, which it activated to fight the Kurds of northern Syria. Israel will no doubt be watching closely to see if these entities attempt to move south. 

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