If Bismarck could unite Germans through opposition to France, perhaps Europe could unite its Muslim population through opposition to Israel.

Reprints from the Jerusalem Post, June 3, 2026, By Gol Kalev

New book: From Survival to Peace

Amazon best-seller: The Assault on Judaism

Gol Kalev speaks with Fiamma Nirenstein on JNS TV. Cover photo: the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands,(Peter Dejong/Pool via REUTERS/Jerusalem Post)

Nation building in Europe:

Is the assault on Judaism a European interest?

By Gol Kalev

Jerusalem Post,June 3, 2026


Three groups are competing for Europe: Integrationists, nationalists, and Muslims. While the first two have a cohesive narrative and flags, the nascent Muslim national movement is in its early stages of development.

Muslims who came to Europe from various cultures and locations are united on the one hand through voluntary separatism, and on the other, through European actions that force Muslims together: religious suppression, racism, and alleged rising anti-Muslim violence.
Both forms of Muslim collectivization are viewed as a threat to Europe.

But what if Europe can collectivize Muslims through a common bond that has nothing to do with Europe: Opposition to Israel?

As Europe is escalating its assault on the Jewish state, some argue that this is exactly what is happening: Throwing the Jewish nation under the bus in a desperate effort to save Europe.

The writer’s upcoming book, From Survival to Peace – Soft-release: April 16, 2026. Purchase on Amazon

Europe’s engineering of such a “replacement narrative” worked well in the past.

Nation building: through war vs through peace

In the mid-19th century, the father of Germany, Otto von Bismarck, first tried to unite a number of unrelated German-speaking kingdoms and principalities through the “German spirit”: German songs, banners, and dreams. 

This did not work, and Bismarck resorted to Plan B: Unite through a common enemy. Bismarck orchestrated what historians view as intentional wars – first against Denmark, then against Austria, and eventually against France.

This worked, and after a decade of wars, United Germany was established – not in Germany, but on French soil, in the Palace of Versailles.  

Theodor Herzl, who studied Bismarck’s efforts, fathered Zionism as an ideological exodus from Europe. He replaced the European value of voluntary wars with the Zionist value of peace through strength: Once free at home, Jews would advance humanity to such an extent that Europe and the world would need the Jewish state to thrive, he posited. 

Indeed, today innovations produced in Tel Aviv, Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem and throughout Israel are prolonging life, revolutionizing science, and altering humanity.

And yet, Europe and its proxies have been spending billions to block the light from Zion through sanctions, threats of renewed arrests of Jews, travel paralysis, and massive incitement of the global population against the Jewish state

If Bismarck could unite Germans through opposition to France, perhaps Europe today could unite its Muslims through opposition to Israel.

This is even more so, given Europe’s successful identity-engineering experience in the Middle East over the last century.

Clip from Judaism 3.0 course – Brazil Jewish Academy, based on Gol Kalev’s book: Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism. Buy book: Amazon

European identity engineering

In the 1920s, the British were given a mandate by the League of Nations to usher in a Jewish homeland in Palestine. But the British wanted Palestine for themselves, and therefore resorted to the good-old “divide and rule” tactics deployed throughout their empire. 

With France obliterating the short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria, the British forced a new identity on Arabs living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea: Palestinians. 

British diplomat Mark Sykes (of the Sykes-Picot agreement) even designed a flag.

This colonialist identity-engineering exercise was initially rejected by Arabs living in Palestine. Yet, during the following century, European powers successfully cultivated Palestinian nationalism in order to promote their own interests:

The British as counterforce to the Jews, Germans as counterforce to the British in the lead-up to World War II, and in recent decades, the EU and European governments as a counterforce to the State of Israel and by extension to America.

Continuing this trend, Palestinian nationalism cultivated by Europeans in the 20th Century is now arguably exploited by Europe to deflect Muslim frustration away from Europe, and towards the Jewish state.

Moreover, the Sykes flag is now waved throughout the streets of Europe.

And so, European integrationists have a flag – that of the EU, the nationalists have a flag – that of their countries, and now the Muslims have a flag – that of Palestine.

But this is where European colonialist thinking of 2026 has not caught up with realities: Europe seems to believe that it can deflect Muslim frustration towards Israel, while convincing Muslims to integrate en masse. For example, it established “The Office of Promoting Our European Way of Life.”

Neither is happening, and Europe, through its own actions, is turning into a rising threat to global stability and to US national security

Rt. Hon. Joan Ryan reacts to ‘The Assault on Judaism‘ author Gol Kalev suggestion to keep Europe out of Israeli-Palestinian affairs at the Palm Beach Countering Antisemitism Summit, February 28, 2025

Europe’s hope: End the assault

Can Europe pivot and recognize that its assault on the Jewish state is harming, not benefiting Europe?

It could do so by asking US President Donald Trump to lead a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that would halt the 2,300-year-old European-Israeli conflict, as suggested in a recent column article.

Moreover, there is still hope that a class of righteous Europeans would emerge that would force their governments to end this century’s assault.

Some argue that this is already happening – a concurrent shift within European countries, and from West to East; from “Old Europe,” which obsessively prioritizes opposition to Israel over self-perpetuation, to “New Europe,” which wishes to benefit from the crisp light emanating from Zion.

The writer is the author of the new book From Survival to Peace: Turning the Assault on Judaism around (2026). He is also the author of The Assault on Judaism: The Existential Threat is Coming from the West (2024), and of Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (2022). He is chairman of the Judaism 3.0 think tank. For his geopolitical analysis, visit EuropeAndJerusalem.com.

Related articles: Gol Kalev Jerusalem Post Column – 2026


Gol Kalev speaks with Fiamma Nirenstein on JNS TV, incorporating the ideas in his books, From Survival to Peace, and The Assault on Judaism: The Existential threat is Coming from the West.

Related:

2026 Column: Time for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission

2020 New Year Magazine:Preemptive European Peace Conference

Wall Street Journal: The International Criminal Court’s threat to the U.S.

Newsweek: Europeanism vs. Americanism – a new global philosophical divide 

See also: Remember the Maine: The Spanish threat to the US and Israel


Purchase From Survival to Peace (Amazon)

Purchase The Assault on Judaism (2024)


Clips from the JNS Podcast – The Threat from Europe

Gol Kalev applies the ideas in his new book, From Survival to Peace:

Europe is a threat to global stability

How to avoid the War of European Succession

Gol Kalev speaks with Fiamma Nirenstein on JNS TV, incorporating the ideas in his books, From Survival to Peace, and The Assault on Judaism: The Existential threat is Coming from the West. Watch full video.

Europe’s suicidal move: Palestinization of Europe

Why are Macron, Starmer and other European leaders fueling the nascent European national movement?

Gol Kalev speaks with Fiamma Nirenstein on JNS TV, incorporating the ideas in his books, From Survival to Peace, and The Assault on Judaism: The Existential threat is Coming from the West. Watch full video.


Europe’s proxy assault on America

Europe has not come to term with the end of 2,000 years of its global domination, and with the shift of power to the United States – they identified a vector to ideologically attack America

Gol Kalev speaks with Fiamma Nirenstein about the ideas in his books, From Survival to Peace, and The Assault on Judaism: The Existential threat is Coming from the West. JNS. Watch full podcast (Youtube).

Europe prioritizes the Assault on Judaism over self-preservation

A recurring theme of history is reflected in the Iran War

Gol Kalev speaks with Fiamma Nirenstein about the ideas in his books, From Survival to Peace, and The Assault on Judaism: The Existential threat is Coming from the West. JNS. Watch full podcast (Youtube).


The depth of the European threat

The threat from Europe is imminent and its opposition to Judaism chronic. Can Europe change course and switch from cultivating neo-Palestinian ideologies that endanger the Western world, to benefiting from the ingenuity of the Jewish state (“peace through strength”)?

Gol Kalev speaks with Fiamma Nirenstein on JNS TV, incorporating the ideas in his books, From Survival to Peace, and The Assault on Judaism: The Existential threat is Coming from the West. Watch full video.


See also: Gol’s interviews on American Sunrise

Gol places the themes of his book is the context of the Iran War

First war under a new global order

In From Survival to Peace, Gol argues that we are seeing a shift in global structures. Excerpt: “In the Iran war, we saw a subtle shift in America’s strategic position from being Europe-facing through NATO, the ”special relationship” with the UK, and legacy obligations, to a tight partnership with Israel – the “model ally”…

Source: American Sunrise; April 9, 2026. Full interviews

Iran seeks “Peace through Appeasement”?

In From Survival to Peace, Gol shows that there is a shift in peace framework from European-led “Peace through Appeasement” to US-led “Peace through Strength”. Did Iran miss thist?

Source: American Sunrise; April 9, 2026. Full interviews

Europe forgot to say thank you, again

In From Survival to Peace, Gol speaks about how de-Euroepanization can chart a path to peace. Excerpt: “Unlike the case with Europe, which was saved by America at least twice in the previous century at the heavy price of over 500,000 US dead soldiers, and, then too, forgot to say thank you, the alliance with Israel is a two-way street, characterized with an enormous amount of gratitude that Israelis have to America and to President Trump.”

Source: American Sunrise; March 24, 2026. Full interviews

A war for Israel or a war for MAGA?

In From Survival to Peace, Gol discusses the ideological exodus from Europe Excerpt: “both Americanism and Zionism were structured not merely as vehicles for immigration but as an ideological exodus from Europe and its oppressive paralyzing dogmas. This includes Europe’s 2,300-year-old opposition to Jews and Judaism,”

Source: American Sunrise; March 6, 2026. Full interviews

Trump is actually ending the concept of “Forever War”

In From Survival to Peace, Gol shows how a switch in peace framework can usher in peace. Excerpt: “While peace through appeasement” (1920-2025), is a short-term fix that buys a few years of quiet until the next round, peace through strength (2025-) leads to long-term stability.”

This shift co

Source: American Sunrise; March 6, 2026. Full interviews

Biblical miracles – full interview on YouTube

In From Survival to Peace, Gol places the assault on Judaism in its historic and biblical context. Excerpt: “The first week of the war with Iran underscores that those two threats need to be addressed concurrently, no sequentially. Moreover, while the threat from Iran and its proxies is on a declining trajectory – thanks to the US and Israel’s astonishing military success and to God’s miracles – the threat from Europe and its proxies is on a rising trajectory.”

Source: American Sunrise; March 6, 2026. Full interviews

Purchase : From Survival to Peace

Purchase The Assault on Judaism: The Existential threat is coming from the West

Purchase Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism

Inquiries: Media@TheAssaultonJudaism.com

Gol Kalev speaks with Steve Linde about turning the Assault on Judaism into peace. JNS, June 4th, 2025. Watch full intrerview

See Also:

The physical threat: Iran War analysis  – American Sunrise

The ideological threat: Trump confronts the looming threat from Europe

Wall Street Journal: The International Criminal Court – European threat to the US

Ynet: A threat to US national securityHerzl in 1895: Make Jews Great Again

Newsline with Bianca de la Garza – the duel threat: physical threat from Iran and proxies, ideological threat from Europe and proxies (Newsmax, September 9, 2025). Cover photo credit: Yoan Valat/Reuters – Jerusalem Post

The Palm Beach countering antisemitism summit chose The Assault on Judaism as its official book selection

Gol Kalev discusses his recommendations for President Trump at the Palm Beach Countering Antisemitism Summit, February 28, 2025.
Participants in the Palm Beach Countering Antisemitism Summit (Photo: Tom Tracy)

Palm Beach Summit: Recommandations for Président Trump


RELATED: Iran war analysis – 2025 – American Sunrise

Interview clips

Applying the ideas in Gol’s book to current events:

The world’s oldest conflict: Europe vs Israel

Gol Kalev speaks on American Sunrise on October 13th, 2025: The world’s oldest conflict – the European-Israeli conflict. 

Europe can solve the Gaza crisis

Gol Kalev’s strategic conversation with Washington Times editor Cheryl Chumley (Washington Times, September 17, 2025). Full interview

Herzl and Trump: From appeasement to ‘peace through strength

Gol Kalev speaks on American Sunrise on October 10th, 2025: MAGA enabled the peace deal

Is Hamas playing into ‘war fatigue’ in the US?

Gol Kalev speaks on American Sunrise on October 6th, 2025. Watch full interview

Israel under heat: “Finish the Job”

September 9, 2025: the interdependence between the physical assault from Hamas, and the ideological assault from Europe (American Sunrise). Full Interview

Plans for Gaza: Europe vs US

September 9, 2025: “The Suffering Remnant 2.0?” – Europeans opposing the Trump relocation plan seem to want Gazans to live in tents for 20 years to show the world how horrible the Jewish state is. Full Interview

Peace: from “divide the baby” to win-win deals

Gol Kalev speaks about some of the policy ideas raised in his book, The Assault on Judaism. and column on American Sunrise, March 5, 2025. Watch full interview



Purchase: The Assault on Judaism: The Threat is Coming from the West (Amazon)

Purchase Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (Amazon)

Media and book tour inquires: Media@TheAssaultonJudaism.com

The Assault on Judaism is making a big impact

Gol Kalev speaks to Dr. Gina Loudon on December 20, 2024. Watch full Interview


See also:


Jerusalem Post column articles:

Gol’s Jerusalem Post column applies the ideas of his book, The Assault on Judaism, to policy decisions:


Gol Kalev speaks on American Sunrise about Trump’s Gaza plan on February 27, 2025. Full interview

Buy The Assault on Judaism on Amazon


Related Interviews with Gol Kalev

Assault on Judaism: a national security threat to the United States

Syrian coup ended the ‘two-states solution’

Gol Kalev relates events in Syria to the two-state solution, during his the US book tour for The Assault on Judaism, December 10, 2024

The Media is an actor in this war

The Assault on Judaism is coming from the West

Gol Kalev speaks to Washington Times editor, Cheryl Chumley on August 3, 2024: Full interview

Europe must decide: ICC or DC

Gol Kalev speaks to Washington Times editor Cheryl Chumley. Watch the full interview (Washington Times, May 28, 2024): “Europe should decide: It’s either ICC or DC”

“In the two-state solution we trust”

Gol Kalev discusses the two-state solution with Washington Times editor Cheryl Chumley on January 22, 2024

Western incitements against the Jewish state

Gol Kalev discussed the Western Assault on Judaism on American Sunrise,

The Assault on Judaism was launched on October 14th, at an event hosted by the Begin Center in Jerusalem. See clips, read summary: Press Release


Watch the Full Event:


Jerusalem Report corer: Gol Kalevs new book

Read an excerpt and Summary of the Assault on Judaism: Jerusalem Report Cover – September 23, 2024

Cover of the September 23, 2024 Jerusalem Report magazine- Click on image for the PDF of the Magazine

The cover the September 23, 2024 issue of the Jerusalem Report features Gol Kalev’s new book:

Reprints from The Jerusalem Report, September 23, 2024, By Gol Kalev

Judaism is facing its greatest survival challenge since the Jews were deported from Judea, as a nuanced, layered, yet fast-paced assault is coming from the West.

Every few centuries there is an attempt to eradicate Judaism, using destruction mechanisms that are relevant to the time. Sometimes, it is done through an attempt to kill Jews by Jews, such as in Europe during the 20th century and during the Crusades of the 12th century. Sometimes it is done through an attempt to destroy Judaism collectively, as an idea, such as in Spain during the 15th century and by the Greeks during the 2nd century BCE. 

Today, Hamas, Iran, and its proxies are attempting to destroy Judaism Jew by Jew through a physical assault. However, they do not have the capabilities to eradicate Judaism. Those destruction mechanisms are housed in the West and are carried through an ideological assault on Judaism.

Like previous large-scale assaults, the attack is being channeled through the most relevant aspect of Judaism at the time. In our era, this aspect is Zionism, which has become the anchor of Judaism.

In my 2022 book Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism, I showed that we are in the midst of a historic transformation of Judaism. I identified Israel-bashing as an existential threat to the survival of Judaism. I argued that recognizing that we are in Judaism 3.0 could help counter the threat, as the Israel-basher must stay in Judaism 2.0 – the illusion that Judaism is merely a religion. This allows the attacker to express “zero tolerance to antisemitism” (the threat to Jews and Judaism in the 20th century), while partaking in Israel-bashing (the threat to Jews and Judaism in the 21st century). 

The Jerusalem Report dedicated the cover of its 2022 New Year issue to the book, with an article titled “Judaism’s transformation to Zionism – Countering the Israel-bashing movement,”which summarized the main thesis of the book. Since then, October 7 turned Judaism 3.0 from a thesis to a depiction of day-to-day life. 

In my new book, The Assault on Judaism, which is being released in September, I describe the path to destruction of Judaism that was triggered on October 7. I show the interdependence between the physical attack and the ideological attack that followed, including how inevitable it was for friendly Western governments, which ferociously defend the Jewish state from physical attack, to partake in the ideological assault on Judaism.

I show the gradual activation of the destruction mechanisms. This includes the ICC and the ICJ setting the legal groundwork for the arrest of Jews en masse, and of Western governments, such as France, pledging in advance their collaboration – just as they did 80 years ago, the last time arrest warrants were issued against Jews en masse.

I show how an ecosystem is being developed for collective destruction of Judaism through DAS – demoralization, attrition, and sanctions. I also show how just like in the previous large-scale assault, there is an understandable, yet laughable, attempt to carve out “Good Jews” (Jews in America) from “Bad Jews” (Jews in Israel/Jews in the IDF/Jews in settlements).

Throughout my analysis, I draw not only on lessons from previous large-scale assaults on Judaism but also on the wisdom of Theodor Herzl, whose frameworks are becoming more and more relevant today. Indeed, just as Herzl identified back then, the lethal part of today’s assault does not come from the hard-core Israel-bashers on the fringe but from mainstream people in positions of power, who control the destruction mechanism. Those “Israel-bashers lite,” some of whom are my friends, are certainly not “organic antisemites” but are influenced by the pressure generated by the Israel-basher movement.

The ideological assault on Judaism has turned into a threat to global stability, but it has been all but ignored. A paradigm shift is needed – abandoning old conceptions and crafting long-term and short-term defense strategies correlated to the existential threat.

 Gol Kalev lectures about the assault on Judaism that is coming from the West, in a September 13, 2023, Judaism 3.0 event at the Begin Center in Jerusalem. (credit: AVIGAIL TRESGALLO)
Gol Kalev lectures about the assault on Judaism that is coming from the West, in a September 13, 2023, Judaism 3.0 event at the Begin Center in Jerusalem. (credit: AVIGAIL TRESGALLO)

This is what I do in the last few chapters of the book, focusing on different stops along the path to destruction of Judaism, and tailoring a different strategy to counter each of those stops. I am glad that the book is already making an impact, and grateful that some of those in governments and media partaking in the assault invited me to present the arguments in the book, even before it was published.

Now The Jerusalem Report readers have the opportunity to be among the first to read an edited excerpt from the overview to the section of the book that outlines the strategies to intercept the path of destruction of Judaism.

Putting together an effective defense strategy against a large-scale assault involves three basic elements: acknowledging that indeed there is an assault; determining who is committing the assault; and identifying the arena in which the assault is being carried out. In the October 7 physical assault on Judaism, it was quite clear: We were indeed under a large-scale assault. It was carried out by Hamas, and the arena was Gaza. The same clarity exists for the ideological assault on Judaism: We are indeed under a large-scale assault on Judaism. It is coming from the West, and the arena for the attack on Judaism is Zionism.

Point of attack on Judaism: Zionism

To state the obvious, Zionism is not the reason for the attack on Judaism. It is the vehicle through which the ideological assault on Judaism is being made. That is because Zionism has become the anchor of Judaism.

Historically, large-scale attacks on Judaism have always been carried out through the most relevant aspect of Judaism of that time. When Judaism was anchored in the Temple, the Greeks tried to eradicate Judaism by desecrating the Temple, and the Romans by burning it. When Jews were organized in insular communities and bound together through the religious aspect of Judaism, the assault on Judaism was carried out through its theological and religious aspects. When Jews were given rights and lived freely in Europe, the attack was on the emancipated Jews – their success, freedom, and power. 

Now that the Jewish state was reestablished and is thriving, Israel-bashing and anti-Zionism have replaced traditional antisemitism as the vehicle of opposition to Judaism. This is quite natural, as more and more of the world’s touchpoints with Judaism are now through Israel and Zionism.

Theodor Herzl, the father of Zionism, wrote: “How can we tell the power of an idea? When we see that nobody can ignore it – whether he is for it or against it.” 

Zionism today is the one aspect of Judaism that cannot be ignored, including in opposition. Indeed, criticism of Israel has become the number one Jewish-related activity for many American Jews, by far more than going to synagogue, thinking about the Holocaust, or engaging in Jewish cultural activities.

In previous chapters of the book, I outlined the path to the destruction of Judaism and showed that we are already far along this path. To intercept that path of destruction, we need to have a deep and nuanced understanding of the various stops along this path, and tailor a defense strategy for each of those steps:

• The hard-core Israel-bashers who are leading the assault on Judaism through “pro-Palestinian” activities and slander the Jewish state and its citizens

• The Israel-bashers lite, who may not be organic Israel-bashers but are influenced by incitement in the media and by the pressure of the hard-core Israeli-bashers

• Governments that ultimately have the capabilities to activate the destruction mechanism of Judaism but also have the capabilities to defend Judaism

Each group along this path has its unique motivations, characteristics, and vulnerabilities.

Cover of Gol Kalev’s new book – The Assault on Judaism
Hard-core Israel-bashers

The hard-core Israel-bashers are the ones who drive public opinion against the Jews. They are the face of the assault on Judaism. They carry the “From the river to the sea” banners and accuse the Jewish state of genocide. They are the most vocal part of the assault on Judaism. However, they do not possess the destruction mechanism.

While they are not a homogeneous group, the crux of that part of the assault on Judaism are young progressives, driven by DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) and woke values. They are characterized by strong conviction. To their credit, most of them act on a strong belief that they are doing the right thing, per their understanding of the world.

While they have strong convictions, most of them lack content. They are not acting based on firsthand experience or independent research but rather on secondhand sound bites they get from their social networks, their friends, and their “clergy” (be they progressive professors, liberal news organizations, popular social media influencers, or opinion leaders). They express their opposition to Judaism through being “pro-Palestinian,” which in their social circles is akin to being pro-women, pro-minorities, or pro-justice.

A Catalan separatist once told me that the primary problem of their separatist movement is that they are occupied by Spain and not by Israel. If they were occupied by Israel, the entire world would be pro-Catalan, and nobody would have ever heard of Palestine.

Indeed, most of those hard-core Israel-bashers waving a Palestinian flag could not find Palestine on a map. But that is utterly irrelevant. 

Western pro-Palestinianism has become a culture, a fashion, and a social trend. This, for example, was expressed in the September 2023 University of Pennsylvania festival Palestine Writes. For an American to write about a longing for a physical Palestine that he has never been to, nor heard much about, is rather absurd. However, he can write about injustice, about how he can imagine life under occupation, about the travesty of oppression, the cancer of fascism, and the malaise of Zionism – and, by extension, of Judaism – which, after all, represents a counter-diversity, counter-inclusivity concept to him.

Indeed, hard-core Israel-bashers, expressed through the Western pro-Palestinian movement, are driven by their opposition to colonialism, racism, suppression of freedoms, and the violation of human rights. Palestinians are merely a vehicle.

The way to address this group is to demonstrate that the Western pro-Palestinian movement is a Western colonialist movement that hijacked the plight of Palestinians for its own benefit.

While the intention of many Western pro-Palestinians is good, they should be aware that when they put on their keffiyeh, wave the Palestinian flag and head to the protest, they are engaging in Islamophobia, bigotry, racism, and white colonialism.

Palestinians and pro-Palestinians are two different, competing movements. They have different long-term objectives, short-term goals, cultures, symbols, ethos, mottos, and banners. In the clash between the interests of pro-Palestinians and Palestinians, it is clear who wins. The Western pro-Palestinian movement is well funded, organized, and structured, with access to resources and power. 

As will be discussed in Chapter 11, this is reflected in Western pro-Palestinians systematic suppression of basic Palestinian rights, such as freedom of employment, freedom of consumption, property rights, and even the right to control their assets. 

Western pro-Palestinians even engage in an act of racism when they wear their keffiyeh. Indeed, the keffiyeh is today’s blackface – a demeaning stereotype of an Arab of a previous century – not of today. Such dehumanization continues when it comes with the Western pro-Palestinian attempt to deny Palestinian refugees in Gaza the right to choose whether to stay or flee the war zone. The Western pro-Palestinian movement is dependent on the misery of their Palestinian victims, and hence acts to perpetuate it, to the tune of millions of dollars.

The most effective way to defend against the attack from hard-core Israel-bashers is to bring the battle to them, and that is what Chapter 11 in the book describes: “Arena shifting: Bring the battle to the Israel-bashers’ turf.”

Israel-bashers lite

The Israel-bashers lite may have no organic interest in the assault on Judaism, but they are influenced by the pressures created by the hard-core Israel-bashers and act on it. 

Unlike the hard-core Israel-bashers who show their opposition mostly through rhetoric, since they do not have a destruction mechanism, the Israel-bashers lite can assault Judaism in both rhetoric and actions – they are the ones who possess the destruction mechanisms of Judaism. They are normative people in government, media, and international organizations.

They are sensitive to public sentiment and to their assessment of where “the wind is blowing.” The politicians in this group need to get reelected; civil servants need to execute the will of those they serve; journalists need to provide information to the public that reflects the public sentiment. As that journalist who rationalized the distorted headline “Israel kills dozens of Palestinians” put it, “This is what Europeans want to hear.”

This group is not only normative, but they want to stay normative. They are therefore risk-averse and vulnerable to social pressures. They do not want to separate from the prevailing wisdoms and the presumed principles of their milieu. As a result, this group is easily influenced by incitement against the Jewish state. Israel-bashers lite are not “organic Israel-bashers”; they are “reactionary Israel-bashers.”

Unlike the hard-core Israel-basher, the one thing the normative Israel-bashers lite fear is being perceived as antisemites. While being anti-Zionist and an Israel-basher is socially acceptable and even encouraged in certain circles, being anti-Jewish is a career-ending taboo. 

Israel-bashers lite operate in an echo chamber that assures them that their participation in the assault on Judaism is not antisemitic.

Once there is a broad recognition that Judaism has transformed and Zionism is now the anchor of Judaism, Israel-bashers lite will be deterred. In Chapter 12, I describe how Israel-bashers lite can come on their own to the realization that the world increasingly now views Israel-bashing and Jew-bashing as synonymous.

Governments

Hard-core Israel-bashers fueled the assault, and Israel-bashers lite activated the destruction mechanisms. However, Israel-bashers can only go so far down the path to eradicate Judaism. They need to engage the full power of governments. 

This was the case in previous episodes of assault. The antisemitism ideology that became popular in Europe in the early 20th century was mostly in rhetoric until a government – the German government – stepped in. Haman’s strategy to eradicate the Jews in the Book of Esther would also been in theory only, had the Persian king not decided to engage the full force of the Persian government.

This is the case today. As it became clear in 2024 that European and other governments opted to participate in the contemporary assault on Judaism, it is now left up to the United States to intercept the path to the destruction of Judaism.

The good news is that those other governments that partake in the ideological assault are dependent on the United States for their economic, political, and national security. The US has enormous leverage.

Assault on Judaism as proxy for assault on America

Let’s be clear: The assault on Judaism is also a proxy for assault on Americanism. This is both conceptually, in an attempt to negate the principles of the American Revolution and its Judeo-Christian basis. 

The infrastructure that is being set by the ICC and the ICJ to arrest Israeli soldiers and political leaders can also serve as a “plug and play” template to be used against American soldiers and political leaders. 

Just as Iran views the Jewish state as “Little Satan” and attacks it in part as a proxy to attacking America – “Big Satan,” the same is with the ideological assault on Judaism. If Israel, which international military experts state has the most moral army in the world, is “Little war criminal,” America in the attackers’ view is “Big war criminal” and can be next.

Indeed, on May 28, 2024, South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor revealed that her country was planning to do exactly that: The US is next, she promised. Similarly, the assault on Judaism destabilizes the world and triggered a series of unrelated conversation under the “pro-Palestinian” banner – from the nascent discussion of Spanish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula to disruption of the American higher education system.

For this and other reasons, the assault on Judaism should not be treated as a matter of antisemitism but as a US national security issue. As discussed in Chapter 13, the assault on Judaism is a way to “launder” an attempt to destabilize America.

If one can intercept the assault on Judaism, one prevents the subsequent assault on America.

The US has the ability to intercept the destruction mechanism of Judaism; for example, by sanctioning the ICC and those who collaborate with it.

This is not the first time the US faced such a decision. During the previous large-scale assault on Judaism in the 1940s, the US had the ability to intercept the destruction mechanism used at the time. President Franklin D. Roosevelt evaluated the proposal to disrupt those mechanisms in the context of the range of threats the United States was facing at the time.

For the United States, neutralizing the death camps where the Nazis carried out their plan to eradicate Judaism by killing Jew by Jew would have taken resources from other crucial operations. FDR made the prioritization call and allowed the path of destruction to continue.

In our era’s assault on Judaism, it is the reverse: Disrupting the destruction mechanisms of Judaism is defending America. As discussed, the assault on Judaism embodies both a short-term and a long-term threat to America. 

Unlike in the 1940s, the United States today has the capability, capacity, and pressing national interest to disrupt the assault on Judaism on its multiple levels, using various tools at its disposal and in so doing, defining America. Chapter 13 discusses those tools and offers some simple and immediate measures the US government can take to disrupt the assault

Gol Kalev is author of Assault on Judaism: The Existential Threat Is Coming from the West (TheAssaultonJudaism.com). He is chair of the Judaism 3.0 Think Tank and author of Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (Judaism-Zionism. com).


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