Antisemitism is rising and could tip the scales among Israel’s old friends and allies. The answer could be to look beyond Gaza and think of a future for ordinary Palestinians.
Israeli popularity in Europe and the West is rapidly slipping. Old friends, including Australia, Britain, Canada and France, will recognize a Palestinian state. The United States, bedrock and ultimate guarantor of Israeli security, shows startling polling.
According to The Economist, “The share of Americans who back Israel over the Palestinians is at a 25-year low. In 2022, 42% of American adults held an unfavorable view of Israel; now 53% do. A recent YouGov/Economist poll finds that 43% of Americans believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
“In the past three years, unfavorable views of Israel among Democrats over 50 rose by 23 percentage points. Among Republicans under 50, support is evenly divided, compared with 63% for Israel in 2022. Between 2018 and 2021, the share of evangelicals under the age of 30 who backed Israelis over Palestinians plunged from 69% to 34%. Pollsters think that shift has endured.”
Pro-Palestinian forces argue that Israel seeks the “genocide” of Palestinians, a message they reinforce with harrowing pictures of the Gaza ruins and the absence of a clear Israeli answer to a key question: What is the future for Palestinians?
Pope Leo has repeatedly urged Israel to care for the Palestinians, but it has offered no guarantees. It was an opening gesture to Israel. Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin negotiated and signed the historic establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Israel.
Communication also involves the lack of clear positions. If Israel doesn’t take responsibility for the Palestinians, Hamas will appear to be their only true representative.
Therefore, Hamas can present itself not only as a group of extremely bloodthirsty terrorists but as the genuine representatives of roughly 2 million Palestinians who are at risk of being wiped off the map – a narrative that can elicit humanitarian sympathy and potential solidarity from over 1 billion Muslims worldwide.
This becomes a convenient dynamic. In America and Europe, Muslim voters outnumber Jewish voters. Antisemitism—a taboo just a year ago—has resurfaced and it’s increasingly accepted in mainstream media.
Michel Korinman, in “Deutschland über alles. Le pangermanisme 1890-1945” (1999) makes a compelling case: Pan-Germanist expansionism initially relied on German-speaking Jews in Eastern Europe.
But Slavs were more numerous and intensely antisemitic. Eventually, Pan-Germanists decided they had to choose between the Slavs and the Jews, a decision that led to the extermination of German-speaking Jews in Eastern Europe.
It could soon be the same in the Western world, thanks to immigration and the increasing power and sophistication of Arab states. These states understand they don’t have to fund terrorists for their security – the US does that for them.
This means their voice is growing louder in Washington and reaching new, diverse sectors, many of which have a vested interest in becoming more influential than Israel.
The Vativan could be an ideal shield against resurgent antisemitism. But in Israel, there’s an old suspicion (Catholics were initially involved with the God-killing accusation) as well as dismissive skepticism (how many divisions does the Vatican have?). There is also a legitimate sense of being patronized: “We are fighting and dying, while you enjoy the view.”
But this may only be part of the issue. Rising pro-Hamas and anti-Israeli sentiments are sweeping through the West, undermining the tolerant and liberal fabric of society, which is gradually eroding pro-Israeli support in a vicious cycle.
Nonetheless, to counter this, coordination abroad is essential. Israel may also need to pay more attention to the broader landscape of antisemitism.
Israel has two souls: one rooted in the land, and another in an international diaspora of Jews and non-Jews who support Israel. These two nourish each other and are mutually essential. The land cannot afford to dismiss the diaspora.
The ongoing effort against Israel aims to undermine any military victory achieved in Gaza and transform it into a significant political loss.
The Soviets did it with the Vietnam War, and the anti-Israelis are doing it with Gaza. Hamas can then become a symbol even without Hamas. It could be a significant bonus for Russia, supporting the Hamas cause.
This can happen only if Israel fails to provide a clear path forward for Palestinians. It should state something like: “We want free, democratic Palestinians in Gaza just as we have in Israel.” Additionally, it must condemn the ultra-Orthodox for attacking Palestinians and any other non-Jewish people.
This goes to the core of Israeli politics, voting and the formation of government. But it also addresses bigger questions: the role of Jews and pro-Jews in the West, and the future of Israel in the region.
This article first appeared on Appia Institute and is republished with permission.
What means “Semitism?” I am 90 years old and I have yet to meet a Jewish person who identifies as “semitic.” They all identify themselves as “Jewish.” The “semitic” label is a term created by the Trump regime.
Sadly, Israel will annex the West Bank. Trump can’t do anything about it, since he owes his entire campaign funding to Miriam Adelson, a staunch Zionist, who pulls his strings.
Hooray, the 4by2’s will develop the W Bank
You are worried about poor little Israel. Call up your AIPAC handler and tell him to go and pound sand. Next up, lobby for the end of the genocide against Palestine and the recognition of those people as human. That would be a start in helping poor little Israel, stuck in its grave digging posture. Until then, the world rejects these morally degenerated cavemen stuck in the era of 103 BC, salivating at the prospect of animal sacrifice on Talmudic temples in the year 2025. We are not scared of being called “anti semites”. There is something greater at play here than cheap anti semantics, if you not only had a brain – but a heart.
Will the 4by2’s practice Bacha Bezi ?
Will you still be grovelling to an endogamous tribe no matter what?
Will you stop bending over for your uncle?
The usual anti semantics from white propagandists carrying water for god’s chosen victims. While the author comveniently ignores the killing of over 60,000 Palestinains – something which actually falls under the banner of “anti semitism”, he is more concerned about criticism of Zionism rather than the crimes of Jewish extremism. What does this fool think, that overshadowing one atrocity with an even bigger one will make the world think highly of Israel? This is about as delusional as the “god’s chosen” complex – a people who are so cowardly they need a get-out-of-jail free card until the end of time. Israeli society is totally Nazified. Only braindead evangelicals or AIPAC shills cannot understand it. The rest of us can.
60k? Wow those number differ so widely. How does it compare with Mo hammed ans killed by other followers of the pedoprofit in the last 30yrs?
Any news about Sudan, Somalia etc ?
These Europeans have degenerated to such a level.
The only thing they are now superior in is sucking on American and Israeli c*ck.
I think Euros care as much about Palestine as Squints care about Tibet and E Turkmenistan
And this Italian pile of human garbage still have the face to come and whine about Russia invading Ukraine while shamelessly shill for Israeli genocide, lol. No wonder the Europeans are seen as nothing but useless dogs nowadays. No one respects them.
You look at this piece of Italian garbage, how to show respect? It’s a joke.
You are insulting one of the nations most actively protesting against Israel. Workers are blocking weapon transport in their harbors. Almost all EU countries support Palestine. However, politicians in Germany and Italy are blocking that support. Firs have their traditions… And second have Meloni who licks the Orange tsar’s backside.
You show how low you crawl by justifying one crime with another. Palestinians, Ukrainians, Uyghurs, and others are a shame to humanity.
You sound like someone who wants to live in Europe but can’t, so insults are all you have left.
They all want to live in Europe or the West
lol, so this Italian clown is just another shill for Israeli genocide.
And this clown thinks that he is SUPERIOR to chinee because his skin is white and he is a “catholic”. Chinese people should follow West like him and shill for Israeli genocide, lol.
Sorry, I am chinese, my skin is YELLOW, it is not WHITE.
I am not an American running dog or a shill for Israeli genocide.
F off lah, U.S. reared dog and Israeli shill.
Superior indeed, superior in eating sh*t for Israel.
These fools never question the moral and intellectual danger and depravity of “God’s chosen” ideology. A sickening ideology that creates monsters who think they can do no wrong. This is on par with Nazism.
I don’t give a f if you’re yellow, white, black, or green. But if it matters to you, take the first step toward joining the most prominent representatives of this movement in the West in the 20th century…
You got it wrong, they hate your white privilege. There is no solidarity
The only privilege you have is the ability to express your frustration on the internet.
No frustration me old mucker. Just enjoy laughing at folks.
And yet you choose to live in the USA. You are yella, you have squinty eyes and are short. Your ladies prefer a taller man, more virile, larger(@!) so you are a leftover man
Yeah, I am white, and I am comfortable with who I am. Is your rooster so small that you have to use a nickname for it and insult others?
And Shulak is your real name ?
Trollin’ trollin’ trollin’…..Rawhide….
Like the song, mind if I borrow it ?
Tiny chicken also prefers taller, larger men, who can stretch him out like taffy, leaving him walking lopsided for days.
There aren’t many ‘larger’ than me !
I’m the reason the LBFM’s have left you as a leftover man.
You haven’t denied what I said, though. Interesting, yet I don’t get what advantage there is in you being a large ladyboy.