The Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, marked a watershed moment not only for Israel but for global Jewry. The brutal massacre of Jews by Hamas—the deadliest murder of Jews since the Holocaust—should have galvanized universal condemnation. Instead, it unleashed a wave of antisemitism so virulent that it laid bare the moral bankruptcy of institutions once trusted as arbiters of justice.
The Vatican, the United Nations, the International Court of Justice and Western governments have weaponized libels of “genocide” and “colonialism” against Israel while actively enabling its enemies. This phenomenon is not incidental; it is the culmination of a decades-long ideological shift in which antisemitism has become the catharsis of a world adrift in the ruins of defunct political dogmas.
The accusation by the recently deceased Pope Francis that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza was not merely a diplomatic misstep but a calculated act of moral sabotage. By equating Israel’s self-defense with the exterminatory aims of Hamas, the pope aligned the Vatican with the same forces that perpetrated the Oct. 7 atrocities. This was not an act of neutrality; it was complicity. Similarly, the ICJ’s indictment of Israeli leaders for “war crimes” while ignoring Hamas’s systematic rape, torture and hostage-taking reveals a grotesque inversion of justice. These institutions are not flawed; they are corrupted.
The deeper pathology, however, lies in the West’s reflexive adoption of the Palestinian narrative. Spain, Ireland and Norway’s unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state—rewarding Hamas for its barbarism—is unprecedented in modern diplomacy. No other nation has been demanded to surrender territory to those openly seeking its annihilation. The Taliban, ISIS and Al-Qaeda were never granted sovereignty by the international community. Yet Israel, the world’s sole Jewish state, is held to a standard that would obliterate any other nation.
For too long, the Jewish people have relied on the assumption that facts and history would speak for themselves. This has been a fatal error. While Israel focused on military deterrence, its enemies waged a relentless narrative war, saturating academia, media and international bodies with libels of “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing.”
The result? A generation weaned on postmodern relativism, where Hamas’s jihadist charter is reframed as “resistance” and Jewish self-defense as “oppression.”
The woke-leftist alliance with Islamism—a marriage of convenience between progressive guilt and jihadist ambition—has normalized antisemitism under the guise of “anti-Zionism.” Universities like Harvard and Oxford, once citadels of liberal thought, now host rallies glorifying Hamas. Francesca Albanese, the antisemitic, anti-Israel “special rapporteur” at the United Nations, along with European Union diplomat Josep Borrell, openly delegitimize Israel while whitewashing Palestinian terrorism. These are not examples of ignorance, but the ideological warfare being waged by Israel’s enemies.
It’s time for a new strategy. Much like Israel’s Iron Dome intercepting rockets, what is needed now is an “Iron Narrative,” a coordinated, global offensive against antisemitic incitement and agents. This requires:
- Legal and economic retribution: Sue antisemitic actors—governments, NGOs, academics—under existing hate-speech and anti-discrimination laws.
- Reputational destruction: Expose the hypocrisy of public figures, like Albanese and Borrell. Their past statements, alliances and funding sources must be weaponized against them.
- Media counteroffensive: Flood social-media platforms with unassailable documentation of Hamas’s crimes and Israel’s historical legitimacy. X has shown that alternative media can bypass legacy propaganda.
- Psychological resolve: Abandon the Diaspora Jewry instinct to “blend in” by refraining from seeking validation from those who despise Israel and the Jewish people.
The Oct. 7 atrocities have ruptured the facade of Western liberalism. The rise of conservative movements and leaders reflects a growing rejection of woke Islamist collusion. Much of the West, however, remains in denial. Its failure to confront Islamist radicalization will inevitably trigger a nativist backlash, with Jews again caught in the crossfire. Already, there are signs that European and Western citizens are weary of seeing their universities overtaken, monuments defaced, founding fathers insulted and values undermined.
What do Western leaders expect right now? Do they believe that average Europeans will continue tolerating the exponential deterioration of their public safety, with no-go areas, massacres at Christmas markets, explosions in train stations, stabbings at festivals and an economy strained by supporting those people who are unwilling to integrate or contribute? If there is no reality check soon and no renewed leadership, what lies ahead is a painful reckoning for people of all religions, nationalities, ethnicities, ideologies and socioeconomic strata.
Having reached this current state of affairs, the global Jewish community must act pre-emptively. Just as Israel eliminated Hamas commanders in Gaza, it must dismantle their enablers in Brussels, Geneva and New York. The tools exist: Israel’s intelligence upper hand, the political leverage of the United States and other pro-Western nations, existing philanthropism and the moral clarity of Jewish history. All that is missing is to connect the dots with the proper political will.