….Along with an UNPRECEDENTED ideological ASSAULT, in part triggered by envy
Reprints from the Washington Times, January 8, 2024
Gol Kalev argues that Judaism is going through a historic transformation and Zionism is becoming its anchor (Judaism 3.0).
Increasingly, Jews and non-Jews alike relate to Judaism through Zionism and Israel, whether in the positive and the negative.
Zionism has become the most relevant aspect of Judaism. Therefore age-old opposition to Judaism is now expressed through anti-Zionism and Israel-bashing
Read summary of the Judaism 3.0 Thesis: Zionism is the anchor of Judaism
Watch the recent Judaism 3.0 discussion: Anti-Zionism as the new Anti-Semitism
More video analysis: Gol Kalev on American Sunrise
Related Article: The Day After: The ideological assault on Israel
(Reporting from the Jerusalem Post, January 5, 2023)
In thinking through the “day after,” Israel must take into account new interrelated geopolitical realities that will likely emerge from the war.
Post-two-state solution: The Gaza war put a decisive end to the two-state solution. This is not due to Hamas’s attack nor to its 72% support rate among Palestinians. It is also not due to Israeli and Palestinian rejection of the template. The two-state solution died due to Western reaction to Oct. 7.
The two-state solution was based on the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state with various restrictions to accommodate Israel’s security needs, such as Israel controlling the Palestinian state’s airspace and border crossings.
The UN, the media, and Western politicians killed the two-state solution when they placed Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks in the context of the occupation of Gaza. They indoctrinated the world that Gaza was under occupation, in spite of the fact that Israel fully withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
If Gaza was under occupation, then certainly the future state of Palestine would be under occupation: There would be Israeli military presence, settlement blocks, and ample restrictions. Hence, global public opinion would utterly reject the idea of an “occupied” state of Palestine, which is the cornerstone of the two-state solution.
Some argue that the two-state solution was never a practical template but a utopian idea governed by the notion that the “peace process” is its own objective, irrespective of whether it actually led to peace. Yet even this utopian aspect of the two-state solution died due to the mainstreaming of anti-Zionist ideology by Western media and universities that occurred during the war. Why should the West force the Palestinians to give up their right to Tel Aviv?
Topping it all is the inconvenient fact that the two-state solution contributed to the Gaza war. Hamas’s control of Gaza was a direct result of Israel’s 2005 withdrawal carried out with the conviction that Gaza would never be part of a Jewish state in two-state solution.
While the demise of the two-state solution is a geopolitical earthquake, it pales in comparison to a bigger indirect consequence of the Gaza war.
Destabilization of Europe through anti-Zionism: The mainstreaming of anti-Zionism ideology during the Gaza war awoke the European question. As discussed in “Anti-Zionism is a threat to global stability” (Jerusalem Post Magazine, December 22), the motto “globalize the intifada” suddenly legitimized Muslim frustrations in Europe, and heightening fears that the next round of mass riots (like those in France last summer) could be inspired by Oct. 7 and include rape, murder, and hostage-taking, especially since Muslim violence in Europe “did not happen in a vacuum,” to borrow UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s words.
Many Europeans will inevitably resort to the rhetoric that Muslim violence in Europe is in reaction to Israel’s actions in Gaza. (Didn’t protesters burning cars in France in the summer of 2023 chant “Ceasefire now”?)
On the one hand, this is creating a dangerous environment for Jews outside of Israel; but on the other, it is accelerating the transformation of Judaism – which, in the long term, will make Jews safer.
Jews forced home to Judaism: Judaism is transforming. Zionism is becoming the primary vehicle for Jews and non-Jews to relate to Judaism – both positively and negatively. Thus, age-old opposition to Jews is now expressed through anti-Zionism. This reality, Judaism 3.0, is now getting broad recognition – ask any college student with a Jewish last name.
Jews, including those who bash Israel themselves, are now forced into their Judaism through Zionism, whether they like it or not, fulfilling Herzl’s vision that “Zionism is the return to Judaism, even before the return to the land of the Jews.”
Golden age of Israel: Israel will come out of this war at an unprecedented high point. The unity, the unshakable conviction of its people, and the strength of its economy all deepen the solid roots of Israeli Jewish society, which in turn allow political differences to be debated passionately and loudly, yet safely.
This is in contrast to Europe, which is going through a process of value confusion (French police forcing a Muslim woman on a beach to remove a long-sleeved tunic is considered a demonstration of French liberalism), and to the US, which is experiencing increased polarization as it enters an election year.
The world is witnessing Israeli ingenuity and mutual assurance: civilian protest organizations turning overnight into supply operations for military equipment; luxury hotels being used to accommodate displaced families from the South and the North; thousands of volunteers cultivating unattended farmland; and heartwarming images of couples on dates, both carrying machine guns, having their bill paid for secretly by other customers. A nation coming together “as one man with one heart.”
Indeed, the thriving of Israel is a unique phenomenon in the history of civilization, inexplicable to traditional Western frameworks. This generates envy.
Envy was a driving force in early 20th-century antisemitism, and it is a driving force in early 21st century anti-Zionism.
Such envy, combined with the above four new geopolitical realities could lead to an unprecedented ideological assault on the Jewish state once the war is over:
Imminent post-war assault on the Jewish state
The end of the two-state solution would lead to frustrations in the “conflict industry”: parts of the United Nations, the European Union, NGOs, and the foreign press (whose representatives are known in Jerusalem for their lavish parties, high turnover, own terminology and insularity). This powerful industry will fiercely oppose whatever present arrangement Israel plans for the “day after.”
Similarly, there will be a flurry of crimes-against-humanity “investigations” scrutinizing Israel’s past actions in the war – not just by the International Criminal Court, the UN, and Western governments trying to placate their Israel-bashing populace but also in the media and academia.
The third vector of post-war assault will come from a small but powerful group of American Jews who will be triggered by the emerging reality that Zionism is becoming the anchor of Judaism. Expect intensified “Israel is horrible’’ articles in the New York Times, as well as more mass funding of NGOs, PR firms, and fringe groups (Israeli “proud boys”) in an attempt to destabilize Israeli society and hijack legitimate Israeli protests and debates.
The Jewish state, attacked so brutally on Oct. 7, is heading toward a different type of battle for its survival once the Gaza war is over.
The writer is author of Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (Judaism-Zionism.com) and chairman of the Judaism 3.0 think tank. For his geopolitical articles: EuropeAndJerusalem.com
Scroll down for videos connecting Judaism 3.0 frameworks to today’s situation
Related: The ideological assault that fuels Hamas physical assault
Related: Anti-Zionism is a threat to Global Stability
This article is a reprint from the January 5, 2024 Jerusalem Post Magazine. Click for PDF of the magazine:
Related: Those who curse and those who bless
Jerusalem Post Special Magazine: Are we in Judaism 3.0?:
Gol Kalev shows how anti-Zionism has turned into an existential threat to Judaism, in a Jerusalem Post article series (2022)
The implications of Judaism 3.0:
This generation’s existential threat to Judaism
Applying Herzl’s thinking to counter Israel-bashing
Occuptionalism: The new form of Colonialism is hijacking the Palestinian cause
Occupationalism is enabled by the Jerusalem-based “Conflict Industry,” known for its lavish parties, insularity, high turnover and its own social hierarchy
European blood libels continue, but now there is a solution
Recognizing that we are in Judaism 3.0 would address existential threats to Judaism, but it would also provide Jewish clarity that would advance humanity
Judaism 3.0: Turning threats to Judaism into enablers of its survival
Like antisemitism in Herzl’s time, today’s Israel-bashing and assimilation of American Jewry also have hidden assets in them
Passover to Shavuot and the American-European divide
How the transition affects today’s geopolitics, the flaws of democracies and the emerging rift: Americanism vs. Europeanism
Threat to Judaism through friends, influenced by Israel-bashing movement
Applying Herzl’s thinking, the threat to Judaism might come through our friends. Such Israel-bashing-light was showcased in the Basel Zionism celebrations in 2022
A broad recognition of Judaism 3.0 would release the Arabs of the Middle-east from debilitating European dogmas that have occupied their true character for the last 100 years
See in Link: Applying Judaism 3.0 to the countering Israel-Bashing
See also The Jerusaelm Report 2022 New Year Magazine: Judaism’s transformation to Zionism – Countering the Israel-bashing movement
Recognizing that Judaism has transformed would rob the Israel-bashers of their starting point: The premise that Judaism is merely a religion.
Summary of above articles:
Gol Kalev shows how Israel-bashing is today’s existential threat to Judaism, having both a populous dogmatic retail component – Occupationalism, and institutional destruction mechanisms that deploy modern-day blood-libels. In such circumstances, Hasbara (Israeli PR) is futile. Yet, a broad global recognition that Judaism has transformed to Judaism 3.0, and Zionism is now its anchor, would dramatically mitigate the threat.
Related. Jerusalem Post Magazine Cover-articles by Gol Kalev:: EUROPE & JERUSALEM
The resurfacing of European Colonialism
Hijacking the Palestinian cause
European opposition to the Jewish state
Time for a new European peace conference
Europe should benefit from Herzl’s vision
For inquiries/comments: info@europeandjerusalem.com
Judaism 3.0 launch: Revolutionary approach to coutnering Israel-bashing
Watch Gol discuss his new book in an i24 interview
Applying the frameworks of Theodor Herzl to today
Judaism 3.0 event: Applying Herzl to today’s strategic issues
Watch Gol Kalev address to the Jerusalem Leaders Summit
Related article: anti-Zionism is anti—humanity
Praise for Judaism 3.0
“A courageous thesis that must be part of any serious discussion of the future of Israel and the Jewish people.”
Michael Oren, historian, former ambassador of Israel to the United States
“Gol Kalev does not just know Theodor Herzl – he lives and breathes Theodor Herzl…This book should trigger the conversation the Jewish community needs about Israel, Zionism, Judaism and Identity. Bravo!”
Professor Gil Troy, author – The Zionist Ideas
ייA remarkable ideas book that is about much more than the state of Judaism…One of the most important books about Judaism, Zionism and global trends of our times.”
Catherine Carlton, former Mayor of Menlo Park, Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur
“This book should play an important role in the discussions about the future of world Jewry and its relations with Israel.”
Natan Sharansky, former Chairman of The Jewish Agency, former Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
“Gol Kalev’s book has the merit to transform the very essence of the State of Israel to becoming an objective expression of Jewish identity“
Dr. Georges Yitzhak Weisz, author – Theodor Herzl: A New Reading
“This book has sparked as much conversation as it has because the premise is so interesting, so counter-intuitive and demand of us that we think many thing anew. That is perhaps the greatest gift a book can give.”
Dr. Daniel Gordis, author – We Stand Divided
“Fresh new thinking about the relationship between Judaism and Israel. Kalev picks up where Herzl left off…A must read for people of all religious and political backgrounds who want to get a deeper understanding of the state of Zionism and Judaism today.”
Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem
About the Author: Gol Kalev is a former Wall Street investment banker who has been researching Herzl and Zionism. Growing up in Tel Aviv and serving in the Israeli army, he then lived in New York and now resides in Jerusalem. He also spent time in various European cities and has traveled through both the American and European countryside, learning about contrasting world-views.
He has been chairman of The AIFL Think Tank since 2011 (now the Judaism 3.0 think tank), which explores the state of Zionism and Judaism, and has been writing analysis articles about Zionism, Europe, global affairs and long-term geopolitical shifts for the Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem Report, Israel Hayom, The Daily Wire, The Media Line, Newsweek and Foreign Policy.
He has been praised for his unique understanding of Judaism by people throughout the political and religious spectrum. In this book, he delivers the state of Judaism as he sees it: Zionism as the anchor of Judaism.
Visit the Judaism 3.0 website: Judaism-Zionism.com
Mazo publishing is offering organizations and companies who wish to purchase 100 copies or more, a special edition of Judaism 3.0 with a dedication page. For information:
Europe and Jerusalem 