Two major reports were published this week on the explosive and continuing rise of antisemitism around the world.
One study was prepared by the J7 Large Communities’ Task Force Against Antisemitism. J7 is a partnership between Jewish organizations from the seven countries with the largest Jewish populations outside of Israel: Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US.
The second, longer study is by Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry, led by the minister, Amichai Chikli. Its 153-page review singles out the governments of South Africa, Ireland, and Spain for leading the way in antisemitic rhetoric by voicing opposition to Israeli actions or policies. Political leaders speaking out against Israel are fingered for bolstering anti-Jewish sentiments, as are the United Nations, the TikTok social media network, and Columbia University.
How to combat the rise in violent antisemitic incidents
Both studies identify common global trends: A rise in violent antisemitic incidents; repeated targeting of Jewish institutions including synagogues, schools, and community centers; an escalation of online hate; growing insecurity leading some Jews to hide their identity; and government failure to hold accountable those who engage in antisemitic violence or support terrorism against the Jewish state.
However, both reports are thin regarding pathways of combating antisemitism, and they fail to draw lessons from the field: what works and what does not. Obviously, more comparative studies and the sharing of best practices in this regard are necessary.
One central principle must be to avoid mistakes of the past and have the courage to adopt new paradigms and approaches in combating antisemitism. To this end, here are “ten commandments” – ten takeaways that I think have emerged in recent years on how not to combat antisemitism.
(Note that most of the ten Biblical commandments given at Mount Sinai are also broached in the negative – do not do this or that – probably based on the first principle of proper behavior, to do no harm.)
1. Reject false equations and homogenizing statements. Some “intellectuals” and Western politicians feel compelled to simultaneously condemn “Islamophobia” and “all forms of racism” every time they demur from antisemitism. This politically correct refusal to acknowledge the uniqueness of antisemitism (and the overwhelming preponderance of antisemitism, beyond all other hatreds including anti-Muslim hatred) demonstrates precisely that Jew-hatred. As Melanie Phillips has written, “People can’t stand the uniqueness of antisemitism because they can’t stand the uniqueness of the Jewish people.”
2. Reject passé partisan lenses. This mainly refers to the political Left, which sees antisemites only on the Right, and which refuses to embrace new allies on the Right in combating Jew hatred and anti-Israelism.
This is because confronting antisemitism on the Left runs-up against politically correct liberal sensibilities. It requires recognition that “progressivism” has fallen captive to antisemitism and has failed to curtail radical Islam that fuels it in placid Western countries.
Minister Chikli showed leadership in this regard by embracing some “far-Right” European political figures and “fundamentalist” Christian leaders at his recent international conference in Jerusalem on fighting antisemitism. These are figures like Jordan Bardella of France’s Rassemblement National who have repented and become partners in the fight against antisemitism, and who have forcefully stood up for Israel against Hamas and poisonous Palestinianism.
3. Do not hide behind “free speech.” While free speech, especially in academia and media, is a valued democratic principle, it ought not be brandished to a blind, self-immolating degree to defend the indefensible.
Should Mahmoud Khalil, the radical leader of recent Columbia University protests against Jews, Israel, and America, be protected from arrest and deportation just because of “free speech”? Should Facebook and X/Twitter hold no responsibility for monitoring and censoring genocidal propaganda because “free speech” reigns supreme?
An interesting, sad historical footnote is necessary here. In the 1990s, the Israeli government’s Inter-Ministerial Forum for Monitoring Antisemitism forcefully advocated global legislation that would limit access to sources of hate literature such as neo-Nazi websites on the Internet. But at the time, many American Jewish groups opposed this approach because it suggested limits on free speech.
In retrospect, this was a terrible mistake, considering the monstrous proportions to which antisemitism on social networks and the web has grown. Now, belatedly, everybody agrees that combating “cyberhate” is a top priority.
4. Do not accept security measures as sufficient. Yes, Jewish community institutions around the world need more protective police patrols, safe spaces (“bubble zones”) around schools and synagogues where antisemitic and anti-Israel demonstrators should be banned, and more government funding for physical security and security personnel.
But Jewish communities also must demand and obtain much broader and deeper action from their governments against antisemitism, such as adoption of the IHRA definition for antisemitism across educational institutions and government bodies; strengthening hate crime legislation; judicial and law enforcement training; prioritizing the safety and well-being of Jewish students, faculty, and staff on campus; protection of Zionist expression; and, especially, fighting radicalization and extremism in local Muslim communities.
5. Do not hide or let local authorities tell Jews to hide. Unfortunately, some local police forces and municipal leaders are afraid of the aggressive antisemitic and anti-Israel protesters. It is often easier for them to tell Jews to hide themselves or any signs of their Jewishness than it is to confront the radical hordes.
This happened last year to me and a large group of Australian Jews who were rallying for Israel inside the Sydney Great Synagogue while protesters rampaged outside. The police shamefully asked that Jews skunk-out the back door of the synagogue after removing signs of their Jewish or Zionist identity. This is utterly unacceptable!
6. Do not rely on institutions like DEI bureaucracies. The Biden administration’s “national strategy” for combating antisemitism of June 2023 relies heavily on existing government-enabled Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives to address root causes and promote anti-hate education. But DEI offices are more likely to house antisemitism than to combat it. A Heritage Foundation study of the social media patterns of 800 campus DEI officers found that they tended to reflect a level of hostility toward Israel that went far beyond policy disagreement and often descended into antisemitism.
7. Do not accept distancing from Israel. Don’t fool yourselves into thinking that it is possible for Western governments to truly combat local antisemitism while simultaneously denying Israel arms when it is fighting for its life against genocidal enemies. The two matters may seem disconnected, but they are not.
Every Western leader who brags about his/her arms embargo against Israel from a position of ersatz “morality” is essentially giving tailwind to the antisemites. Any Western leader who supports the arrest of Israeli leaders as “war criminals” because of the Gaza war is essentially strengthening the antisemites.
8. Do not brook unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood. The penchant (threat) of Western leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron to unilaterally recognize the “statehood” of Palestinians davka (specifically) now, after the Hamas invasion of Israel, is nothing less than outrageous – and this is not just a diplomatic/security affront.
Recognition of a faux Palestinian state at war with Israel not only retards peace and weakens Israel: It is grandstanding to defy the opinion of most Jews. This also drives antisemitism.
9. Do not deny Israeli leaders their inevitable role in the fight against global antisemitism. Not all Diaspora Jewish leaders are comfortable with Israeli leadership in this regard, especially because of the Gaza war and because of takeaway #2 above.
But as raw antisemitism around the world has risen and morphed into virulent anti-Israel sentiment – making the two phenomena almost indistinguishable – the State of Israel has inexorably moved from indifference to active involvement in the struggle against such hate. And Israel’s involvement today is critical to blocking the transformation of the Jewish state into a “criminal” one that is a key target of the antisemitic/anti-Zionist extreme Left.
10. Do not ignore the truth about strength and weakness. There is only one explanation for the explosion of antisemitism around the world on October 7, 2023 – the day Hamas raped, tortured, murdered, and kidnapped Israeli Jews in the Gaza border communities and long before the IDF launched its counterattack.
The explanation is this: That Jews everywhere are despised and vulnerable when Israel is weak. That is when enemies pounce. Jews everywhere are grudgingly respected and relatively safe only when Israel is strong.
In other words, the safety and security of Jews around the world depends on Israel winning – on regaining its strength, self-confidence, and deterrent power. This, in turn, will re-empower Diaspora Jews to defend Israel and themselves.
The writer is managing senior fellow at the Jerusalem-based Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy. He was the coordinator of the Israeli government’s Global Forum Against Antisemitism under the leadership of Natan Sharansky in the Prime Minister’s Office. The views expressed here are his own. His diplomatic, defense, political, and Jewish world columns over the past 28 years are at davidmweinberg.com.