Israel Alone

On October 7, 2023 the Jewish world and the Jewish people suffered a punch in the gut. The attack awakened fears of another Holocaust with slogans such as “Never Again is Now”. The entire world seemed to be against Israel in its heroic defense against Hamas and Hezbollah. However, content to ignore the hostages suffering in Gaza and focusing on Israel’s response to the devastating attack against Israel and its people, Anti-Semitism raged around the world. In Amsterdam, Israeli soccer enthusiasts were beaten and nearly murdered by a rampaging mob – the New York Times remarkably opined that this was the fault of the Israelis (“Our eyes do not betray us, Gray Lady – we saw the videos – so we ignore the bankrupt so-called journalists who wish to bend the truth and write propaganda!). The International Criminal Court, without a shred of jurisdiction, issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu – and Justin Trudeau, that poor imitation of a statesman and leader, said he would enforce the warrant in Canada.The ICC’s warrant was based on the laughable accusation that Israel, which has provided an enormous amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza (much of which is looted by Hamas) engaged in deliberate starvation of the people of Gaza. Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said that she was not sure that the Hamas beasts had actually raped and murdered women at Nova on October 7th (once again – the evidence is there Ms. Albanese – the videos made by the rapists and killers – calling home to brag to mommy and daddy about what they did to the Israelis in Gaza). NPR continued its, as usual, endless screed against Israel. The media continued to quote the statistics of the Gaza Health Ministry – Query? – have you ever seen or heard from a representative of this invisible entity which seems to have instant data on the casualties in Gaza (not distinguishing between civilians and Hamas terrorists)?

Before October 7th, observes Bernard-Henri Levy in his extraordinary new book “Israel Alone”, the overt threat to Jews was everywhere around the world, except in Israel – in France, for example, where there was a massacre in Toulouse in 2012 and the killing of hostages at the Hyper Cacher market in Paris in 2015 – says Levi, “the France of the Declaration of Rights of Man and of Voltaire was turning into a country where one could die from being Jewish”.

Notwithstanding all of this, the place of refuge and safety was always Israel. After October 7th, says Levi, “[t]here is nowhere in the world where Jews are safe; that is the message. No land on this planet is a shelter for Jews; that is what the Event of October 7 proclaims”. He says further that this is “the revenge of Amalek, of the oldest enemy of the Jewish people, the one who appeared as soon as the Jews left Egypt and were camped in the Sinai Desert. Now he has come out of limbo to bang on our doors and drum in our ears…Amalek is the terrifying being that has no other attributes or will than the inborn, radical and eternal hate that he bears for Jews…He was not unaware that, by plunging into the bubbling tub of the Jewish people, he would be scalded…But Amalek knew, in so doing , he would cool down the bathwater and tarnish the image, prestige and radiance of Israel”. Levy is alluding to Rashi’s commentary on the Torah portion about Amalek where Rashi says that what Amalek did was to cool down the scalding bath which no one would jump into – but then someone came along and cooled it down - for everyone else to jump in. Same idea – Hitler and the Nazis – they cooled down the hot scalding tub so, for example, the ordinary men of Police Battalion 101 could commit heinous crimes against Jews – and Hamas by attacking on October 7th, cooled down the scalding bathwater so that groups shouting “From the River to the Sea” (tantamount to calling for the destruction of Israel) could assault Jews in the street, disrupt synagogues and Jewish institutions, threaten Jewish students on campus, and rampage through the streets of Amsterdam attacking Israelis, and countless other such horrific activities and threats around the world. Then there are the media enablers, which are also involved in cooling down the scalding tub through their misleading (and often false) coverage of Israel’s actions in Gaza and the region, making it easy to accuse Israel (falsely) of “Genocide”.

My parents and grandmother were in Auschwitz and my father’s family was murdered in Auschwitz. Never did I think that the world would experience such a turnaround in terms of the diminution of Jewish life and safety. Israel was always there as the Jewish State – and a source of pride and hope - and safety - for Jews everywhere- can you imagine if there had been a Jewish State and a Jewish Army at the time of Hitler? How many would have been saved by finding refuge! Levi tells us to face reality – “[a]nd whether we are secular or mystic, modern or observant, whether we are Yiddish-speaking Hasidim from Williamsburg, freshmen at MIT of the Sorbonne, Californians or New Yorkers, we all find ourselves thrown into the situation of our elders. We had hoped to escape it but here it is”.

Peter Hayes, a leading Holocaust scholar, in observing why more efforts were not undertaken to save Jews in the Holocaust or stop the Nazis – says that the main reason was that people – including world leaders – had better things to do. Other things to do. More important things to do. For example, FDR had to win the war effort so he did not allocate resources to bombing the concentration camps. And on and on. Well, at this point in time, the leaders of the world community need to pay immediate attention to what is occurring and focus on how the free peoples of the world will defend against those who threaten Jews, Israelis and their survival. We are facing a world-wide threat against Jewish life and institutions, and the Jewish State is in peril. Also, every Jew must act in complete solidarity with Israel and not fall prey to the disinformation and misinformation perpetrated by the miscreants in the media who repeatedly – and baselessly - attack Israel for defending its own citizens. The hostages must be brought home! Hamas and Hezbollah must be destroyed. Iran must be countered and contained. The freedom of the entire world is at stake, not just that of the Jewish people. Let us hope and pray that the future will bring peace and security for Israel, America and the entire world.