The recent murder of two Israeli diplomats in Washington was a tragedy: cold-blooded, horrific, and very telling. It was not simply a terrorist attack but a manifestation of the ongoing cry to Globalize the Intifada.
In reality, the act by the perpetrator was more an act of desperation than it was an act of escalation. It was a recognition that what their side has been doing, by virtue of trying to play to the heartstrings of the average Westerner, has not worked. This was not an act from a position of strength but rather an action out of fear and helplessness. That distinction matters.
In recent years, the chant to “Globalize the intifada” has become more widespread on university campuses, street protests, and social media. Young people have been cynically indoctrinated by a radical anti-colonial ideology and have taken up the cause of Israel’s enemies with fervor.
These movements are emotional and increasingly aggressive, not just toward Israelis but toward Jews in general. These threats should not be diminished, but they should be understood in the context in which they are taking place. They are attempting to do the work that they believe their allies in the real battles are failing to do.
For decades, Israel’s enemies understood they could not win through traditional warfare. The IDF was too strong, the intelligence too sophisticated, and Israeli resilience too deep-rooted. So they adapted. They identified a different front: the ideological vulnerability of the West. And they attacked it brilliantly. They hijacked the language of social justice, repackaged terrorism as resistance, and sold a lie: that Israel is a settler-colonial state oppressing an indigenous people.
This wasn’t a show of power. It was a pivot from weakness. Like any desperate army, they found a crack in the wall and drove through it. Indeed, the forces represent a formidable foe, but they are only one front of a much larger war that they are losing.
The illusion of Israel’s decline is cracking
Today, the illusion of Israel’s decline is cracking. Yes, in the early months following October 7, it may have seemed like Israel was on the ropes. The protests in the West were loud, organized, and effective, but beneath the noise, history has been moving in a different direction.
In the last 19 months, Israel has decimated Hamas and Hezbollah. The Syrian regime, with its seemingly endless appetite for conflict with Israel, has evaporated, and the Iranian threat is in the process of being systematically dismantled. The battlefield tells a different story than TikTok.
At the same time, peace across the Middle East seems to be on the verge of breaking out. This flies in the face of everything that the protesters stand for. How could it be that most of the Middle East doesn’t agree that Israel is a fascist, genocidal regime? In their worldview, this makes no sense and is leading them to desperation.
In war, final battles often come long after the outcome is decided. In World War I, the Battle of Amiens in August 1918 broke the German lines and signaled the inevitable Allied victory. But fighting continued. Soldiers still died. The Meuse-Argonne offensive, the deadliest operation in US military history, raged on until November 11, 1918, the very day the armistice was signed. Victory was certain, but the violence had not yet stopped.
We are in a similar moment now. The ideological war against Israel has not ended, but the momentum is shifting. This isn’t to suggest we should be complacent. The battle for the minds and hearts of the average Western person is still very much raging and must be fought until the end. The danger is real as Jews around the world remain vulnerable.
But these recent spasms of violence and venom should be understood for what they really are: the final yet furious attempts to turn back the tide of a war that worldwide Jewry is winning.
The writer is the co-founder and co-chair of a new initiative to combat antisemitism on social media called Emissary. He can be reached at drosen@Emissary4all.org