We are in the midst of yet another escalation in the assault on Judaism, as a number of European countries recently threatened to sanction the Jewish state for its defensive war in Gaza and reward the October 7, 2023, atrocities with a recognition of a Palestinian state.
Pundits explain that those actions are meant to placate angry European masses, who have been learning from the BBC and other credible outlets about alleged atrocities committed by the Jewish state in Gaza.
“Throwing them a bone,” the logic goes, would allow friendly European governments to continue their cordial relationship with Israel.
This is the same rationale used in the late 19th century, when there were similar dynamics in Europe: pro-Jewish governments and angry anti-Jewish masses.
Incited European populous
Back then, credible news organizations and opinion leaders exposed alleged atrocities committed by Jews. In France, Édouard Drumont explained in his popular book Jewish France, how the “Jewish occupation” is destroying France.
In Germany, opera composer Richard Wagner showed in a series of papers and speeches how the Jews pollute humanity – through music, culture, and life.
The indoctrinated masses demanded that their governments take action against the Jews, and just like now, European governments decided to “throw them a bone.”
When Vienna residents voted for an antisemitic mayor in 1895, the Austrian-Hungarian Kaiser, who had the final say, initially rejected the people’s recommendation. This generated large-scale anti-Jewish protests. The Kaiser reacted by throwing the antisemites a “bone” and affirming the antisemitic mayor.
In France, once it became clear that Alfred Dreyfus was framed and falsely convicted of treason in 1894, he was brought back for a retrial that was meant to exonerate him. But by then, in 1899, the “Dreyfus Affair” was no longer about Dreyfus – it was a referendum on the “Jewish occupation of France.”
Jews in music, banking, and journalism is one thing, but Jews in high ranks of the military at a time when France was gearing up to avenge Germany for its humiliating 1871 defeat was a red line.
Dreyfus’s retrial triggered angry protests that threatened the stability of the republic. It is possible that throwing Dreyfus to the masses by affirming his framed conviction prevented an all-out massacre of French Jews.
Theodor Herzl, the father of Zionism, understood that “throwing a bone” to the European masses can buy some time, but it is no long-term solution. European opposition to Judaism is permanent and structural and will adjust as Jewish and European circumstances evolve.
Even if Jews convert to Christianity, Herzl argued, all that would change is the slur – from “Jewish pig” to “Baptized pig.”
Now that Jews are back home, European opposition has evolved and is funneled through the Jewish state. While last century’s attempt to eradicate Judaism was a physical one, killing Jew by Jew, in our century, the attempt led by Europe and its proxies is an ideological one, negating the idea of Judaism through negating the idea of the Jewish state.
As discussed in my book, Judaism is in a much more dangerous place today in the 2020s than it was in the 1920s. There is a rising global consciousness that, once again, the Jews are committing awful things – this time in Gaza.
The incited European masses are enraged, and the UK government just threw them a bone: an 80-year-old Jewish grandmother!
Delivering a Jewish grandmother to the angry masses
On May 20, the UK issued a statement describing its unequivocal opposition to Israeli actions in Gaza and “the threat of starvation for the Gazan population.”
It then made a magic jump from Gaza to the West Bank, claiming there is widespread settler violence against Muslims – a stance broadly considered by now as a modern-day blood libel. By far, there is more anti-Muslim violence in the UK than there is in the West Bank.
To address this alleged Jewish violence, the British government imposed sanctions against a prominent civic leader of the Jewish residents in the West Bank – Daniella Weiss, a former mayor who was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
As long as there are Jews in the West Bank, the apparent logic goes, some of those Jews can engage in violence against Palestinians. Therefore, to end Jewish violence, one needs to go after civic organizations and the infrastructure of Jewish life.
The British logic is stunningly similar to Wagner’s: as long as there are Jews in Europe, some Jews can engage in stock market manipulation and poisoning of European values. Therefore, the only way to end the “Jewish occupation of Europe” is, to use Wagner’s word: annihilation.
The US to the rescue of Britain and Europe
We have to say it clearly: While US President Donald Trump is making unprecedented inroads to counter antisemitism, the British and European governments are aggressively fueling it.
The European masses can not be placated. Anybody subjected to decades of indoctrination by the BBC, Wagner, or Drumont will want their government to act against the Jews/Jewish state.
This is where the US can help European governments.
As discussed in the Palm Beach Countering Antisemitism Summit, the US should insist that Europe end its disruptive intervention in Israeli-Palestinian affairs, including its funding of programs and organizations that incite Palestinians and Europeans against Israel.
If not forced out, Europe will sabotage Trump’s new innovative peace initiatives.
Indeed, the UK Foreign Office statement included a British demand that Gazans stay in their demolished homes as human shields for Hamas and not move to humanitarian zones.
After all, how can the BBC and British government accuse the Jewish state of “starvation for the Gazan population” if they are fed and in safe environments?
European disengagement from Israeli-Palestinian affairs would not only end Europe’s abusive dehumanization of Palestinians but would also free it to focus on the rising threat to global stability emanating from Europe itself – including the surge in British violence against Muslims.
(The BBC reported about 6,000 anti-Muslim incidents in the UK in 2024 alone, double that of 2022).
The UK should not wait for a demand from the US. It should have the moral conviction to shut down its “Sanctioning Jews” programs, apologize, and compensate its victims, including Weiss.
There are 80-year-old Jewish grandmothers in the UK as well. Some of them donate to Israeli causes and perhaps fear that the “and then they came for me” moment is getting near.
The writer is the author of a new book, The Assault on Judaism: The Existential Threat Is Coming from the West. His Jerusalem Post column applies the ideas in the book to today’s policy decisions. He is also the chairman of the Judaism 3.0 think tank and author of Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (Judaism-Zionism.com)