In the 1940s, the US could have curtailed the Nazis’ attempt to eradicate Judaism but decided against it. Today, as Judaism is again under attack, President Biden is facing a similar choice.
Reprint from the The Jerusalem post, May 22, 2024
On May 2, six Holocaust survivors who were selected to light memorial torches during Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara.
One of the survivors commented that “the State of Israel is the one and only shelter for the Jewish nation.” Another applied the lessons of the Holocaust by saying that “we cannot count on the world’s nations that make promises.”
Netanyahu responded, “In the Holocaust, great leaders such as [US president Franklin D.] Roosevelt were told what was happening in Auschwitz, Birkenau, and the death camps. He was told! He knew!”
Roosevelt was faced with a proposal to neutralize the death camps, such as by bombing the railway tracks leading to them. Netanyahu recounted Roosevelt’s response: “Over my dead body! I won’t lose a single pilot… [UK leader Winston] Churchill, whom I very much appreciate, tried to act against the death camps. His army revolted against him.”
Indeed, just as Holocaust survivor Michael suggested, the world’s inaction enabled the Holocaust. The allies had the capabilities and plans for action, but, for whatever reason, they decided not to act and to allow the attempted eradication of Judaism to move forward.
The world is faced with the same choice today.
As discussed in this column in recent years, as well in the Judaism 3.0 Think Tank, Judaism is under assault. As in all previous large-scale attempts to eradicate Judaism, the assault is being carried out through the most relevant Jewish channel of the time, and in our era, it is Zionism and the State of Israel.
Over the last few years, I have described the path to Judaism’s destruction through Israel-bashing and anti-Zionism. That path includes actions by the International Criminal Court, paralyzing sanctions on Israel and Israelis, arrests of Israeli soldiers, settlers, and politicians, and even confiscating financial assets of Israeli hi-tech companies and individuals (for example, see the May 5, 2022 Jerusalem Post article, “Israel-bashing is this generation’s existential threat to Judaism”).
Some readers have said that I am exaggerating and that such a path to destruction is merely theoretical. Some said I was focusing on a hypothetical, far-fetched path of destruction that is not likely to happen and that I am diverting attention from the battle against real, present-day antisemitism, such as mobs chanting in Charlottesville, “Jews will not replace us.”
Indeed, I have acknowledged that the path to the destruction of Judaism is not immediate; it is “one day.”
On May 19, The Jerusalem Post headline read: “The day has come: ICC seeks arrests of Netanyahu, Gallant, and Hamas chief.”
The day has come
Just like after the October 7 attack, Israelis came together to unite against the ICC attack. Nearly all Knesset members signed a letter, saying, “The IDF is the most moral army in the world. Our heroic soldiers fight with unparalleled courage and morality, in accordance with international law, as no other army has ever done… The scandalous comparison of the prosecutor in The Hague between the leaders of Israel and the heads of the terrorist organization Hamas is an indelible historical crime and a clear manifestation of antisemitism.”
Israelis are united, but does the world support us? Or, was Holocaust survivor Michael right when he warned that “the world cannot be trusted?”
On May 20th, US President Biden reassured us of his support and his trustworthiness. Just like he stood by Israel in the aftermath of the October 7 attack, he called the ICC’s May 19th action “outrageous,” stating, “There is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
Such a threat is coming from the ICC and others who are seeking to sanction Israel, its soldiers, its military units, and its civic organizations, and to demoralize Israeli Jewish society.
This is not a time for words – just like in the 1940s, when it was not a time to merely “condemn” the Holocaust that was unfolding day by day.
Biden must, at the very minimum, impose sanctions against those individuals in the ICC responsible for the ideological attack on Judaism.
From biblical times to the present day, when people want to attack a nation, they go for its head. Like it or not, the world sees the Jewish state’s leader as the leader of the Jewish nation.
ICC vs Judaism
The ICC needs to be unmasked for what it has become: a vehicle to assault the Jewish nation, with a side business of prosecuting war criminals around the world.
The ICC is not alone in this mission. Plenty of other organizations are in the same line of business, such as the UN Human Rights Council, which, in addition to its core business of assaulting the Jewish nation, has a side business of defending human rights around the world.
Similarly, Hamas, Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS have all helped the poor, provided for the sick, and given charity to thousands of people in need. But let us not be blinded as to what their core business is: terrorism.
Biden must choose from a spectrum of options against the ICC, ranging from sanctions as a minimal response to shutting down the ICC. The US has the capability to do so. For example, it can give The Netherlands a choice: expel the ICC from your country or lose US support (Choose: “ICC or DC”).
It is important to note that the US, through its own actions, has severely compromised its ability to act against the ICC – not only by its bizarre decision to institute, in the middle of a war, unrelated open-end sanctions against Israeli Jews who engage in anti-Arab violence and organizations that provide for their defense, but also by the ludicrous idea to sanction and defund Israeli military units fighting in Gaza.
Biden’s rendezvous with destiny
In that same meeting with Holocaust survivors, Netanyahu stated that he prefers to have the world on our side. However, he added, “if we need to stand alone, we stand alone… If we do not defend ourselves, nobody will defend us.”
The choice that President Biden faces could not be clearer. Will he act like Roosevelt and allow the attempt to eradicate Judaism move forward? Or will he impose crippling sanctions against the ICC and those assaulting the Jewish state, its leaders, its brave soldiers, and its citizens?
The writer is author of Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (Judaism-Zionism.com). For his geopolitical article: EuropeAndJerusalem.com.
Related event: Press release: A revolutionary approach to countering Israel-bashing unveiled at Judaism 3.0 book launch (March 13, 2022)
Related article: Response to antisemitism: Show the world that Judaism has become Zionism (Jerusalem Post, April 12, 2024)
Read the first pages of Judaism 3.0: Judaism 3.0 – Summary
(Preview available for a limited time on Europe and Jerusalem)
Related video: A shift in America’s counter-terrorism strategy (Washington Times’ Bold & Blunt, March 26, 2024)
This article first appeared in the May 22, 2004 Jerusalem Post (click for the PDF):
Related articles:
Recognizing a Palestinian state could destabilize the Middle East and Europe (Washington Times, February 23, 2024)
Tough Choices in Munich 130 years apart – Blinken and Herzl (Jerusalem Post, February 23, 2024)
Related video: Israeli soldiers are not dying for the State of Palestine (Washington Times video-cast, February 15, 2024)
The Big Picture: Gol Kalev argues that Judaism is going through a historic transformation and Zionism is becoming the anchor of Judaism (Judaism 3.0).
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
Judaism is under assault through the port of Zionism
Related: A revolutionary approach to countering Israel-bashing unveiled at the Judaism 3.0 book launch:
Watch more of Gol Kalev’s strategic analysis:
including
The unintended conversation: Two-state solution in Europe?
A shift in America’s counter-terrorism strategy
Another Oslo? Another withdrawal? Israelis united not to make the same mistakes
The Media is an actor in this war:
Related Article: The Day After: The ideological assault on Israel
The Jerusalem Post, January 5, 2023
Abstract: 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: Full Article
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
Anti-Zionism – the contemporary path to eradicate Judaism (Sept. 13, 2023)
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 