It was quite a week to present my new book, The Assault on Judaism, to President Isaac Herzog and discuss the paradigm shift it offers.
As I argue in the book, we are in the midst of a rapidly expanding attempt to negate the idea of the Jewish state and, through it, the idea of Judaism. This assault has penetrated the Western mainstream and is expanding into more and more arenas.
CNN’s comparison last week of the horrific conditions of freed Israeli hostages to those of Palestinian terrorists released in exchange “with signs of physical abuse and starvation” is just one example of how the West is being indoctrinated day after day, week after week. Once again, there is seemingly something awfully wrong with the behavior of the Jewish state.
Indeed, the Jewish question from previous centuries is back: What to do with that “pariah,” as the Jewish nation has been called throughout history? In our time, it is manifested in the form of the “Jewish state question.”
Herzog has been at the forefront of defending the Jewish nation from this expanding assault. Our meeting at the President’s Residence took place a few days after he returned from the United Nations. Standing at the podium of the General Assembly on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, he warned the world:
“We have all witnessed a huge volcano of antisemitism erupt following the [October 7] massacre.” Referring to a recent UN report about antisemitism, the president rang the alarm bells, stating, “This is an urgent wake-up call for all of humanity.”
From Herzog (1975) to Herzog (2025)
Fifty years ago, the president’s father, Chaim Herzog, stood at the same podium as the UN was about to adopt a resolution equating Zionism with racism. “This wicked resolution must sound the alarm for all decent people in the world,” he warned.
But the world ignored this warning, and the attack on Judaism through Zionism has since escalated. This should come as no surprise. Historically, the assault on Judaism has always been carried out through the most relevant aspect of Judaism of the time. As I argue in my 2022 book, Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism, in our era, that aspect is Zionism.
Indeed, ambassador Herzog clarified in his November 1975 speech that “this attack constitutes not only an antisemitic attack of the foulest type but also an attack in this world body on Judaism.”
Fast-forward 50 years, and today’s assault on Judaism through Zionism no longer comes through resolutions that can be countered through diplomatic tools but through a popular ideology that has engulfed the Western world.
In 1975, ambassador Herzog, who later became the sixth president of Israel, tore down the resolution demonstratively from that podium; in 2025, his son, Isaac Herzog, the 11th president of Israel, could not do the same: One cannot tear down an ideology.
Countering the contemporary assault on Judaism requires a change in conceptual thinking – something yet to happen.
In September 2023, we held a Judaism 3.0 think-tank symposium exploring the depth of this Israel-bashing ideology and offering new ways to intercept it. Then came October 7, and as was said, “It turned Judaism 3.0 from a thesis to a depiction of day-to-day life.”
In the year-and-a-half that has ensued, the assault on Judaism has gotten more structure and funding and even turned into a priority.
This was evident last week in the explanations given for opposition to President Donald Trump’s audacious plans to relocate the Palestinians of Gaza.
Those explanations did not have much to do with the question of what is best for the Gazans. The plan might benefit the Palestinians, but it will also benefit the Jewish state and, therefore, must be rejected – turning the Palestinians of Gaza into “collateral damage” in the Western assault on Judaism.
Clear choice: Either bless or curse
Back in 1975, then-ambassador Herzog told the UN: “The issue before this assembly is not Israel and is not Zionism. The issue is the fate of this organization.”
A nation of believers, Israelis know we will prevail – both in the physical assault emanating in the Middle East and the ideological one percolating throughout the West.
The question is: What will the world’s nations do? As I stated in the launch event for The Assault on Judaism, held in October at the Begin Center, never before has there been such a clear choice: One can either curse Israel or bless Israel.
While many opt for the former, last week, we saw a tremendous blessing from the 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump – once again demonstrating that he is “The greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House,” as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attested.
Abandoning old frameworks and promoting bold, new thinking last week could turn out to be the biggest leap toward Middle East peace we have seen in decades.
Just as I had the privilege last week to thank President Herzog in Jerusalem for all that he is doing for Israel, I had the privilege a few weeks ago to thank President Trump in Mar-a-Lago for all that he is doing for the Jewish state.
Although we do not know how these developments will unfold, we can recite the prayer for the welfare of the State of Israel composed by President Herzog’s grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak Halevi Herzog, Israel’s second Ashkenazi chief rabbi (1936-59), and yearn that God will bestow our leaders – in Israel and the United States – with good advice.
The writer is the author of a new book, The Assault on Judaism: The Existential Threat Is Coming from the West. He is the chairman of the Judaism 3.0 Think Tank and author of Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (Judaism-Zionism.com). His geopolitical articles can be accessed on the website: EuropeAndJerusalem.com