Gol connects the physical assault that started on October 7th with the ideological ASSAULT on Judaism that followed from the west
Clips from the ThE Washington Times Videocast, Bold and Blunt, October 7, 2024,
Negation of “America is an idea” vs Biden’s Executive Order (Sept. 30th)
Gol Kalev’s article in the Jerusalem Post October 7th Magazine
Who decides: Who will live, who will die?
Europe claims to be the arbiter of which freedoms Israeli Jews should have
This weekend, Jews around the world will gather in synagogues, pray to be inscribed in the Book of Life for the coming year, and profess that God is the one who decides “who will live and who will die.”
While Jews spent this last month of the year, Elul, asking their Creator and each other for forgiveness, EU Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell has spent the last month initiating a new front: In the Western assault on Judaism that negates the Israeli public’s right to choose their own representatives. He plans to sanction elected Israeli ministers whose words are not to his liking.
Jews, who for a brief period of 80 years enjoyed freedom of speech and self-expression, and who felt confident to be themselves in their own land, are now in the process of being denied those freedoms.
It is no surprise that Europe is leading this campaign – both directly and through its sphere of influence. After all, for 2,300 years, Europe not only opposed the idea of Judaism in any form but also turned this opposition into a key European ethos.
That was what Theodor Herzl identified when he defied the conventional wisdom of his milieu and argued that the perceived freedoms granted by Europe to Jews in the late 19th century were only superficial. “There is no use in suddenly announcing in the newspaper that starting tomorrow, all people are equal,” he warned Germany’s first chancellor, Otto von Bismarck.
Indeed, the idea of Jewish freedoms, then and now, was met with a fierce European counter-reaction. In Herzl’s time, it was the rapid rise of the new ideology of antisemitism – opposition to the emancipated Jew. In our time, it is the rapid rise of the new ideology of anti-Zionism – opposition to the Jewish state.
Let’s be clear: Today’s assault on Judaism through anti-Zionism and Israel-bashing is expanding at a much faster pace than last century’s assault on Judaism through antisemitism.
The term antisemitism was coined in the 1870s; the ideological development took decades. During the first few decades of antisemitism, there was a lingering debate if antisemitism was a form of Jew hatred or merely directed to a subset of Jews and a “friendly effort” to reform them.
While today, the term “antisemitism” is synonymous with Jew hatred, many, through the early 20th century, considered it a legitimate political view. It took 70 years for antisemitism to mature and serve as the ideology that governed the German-led genocide of Jews in the 193s and 40s.
TO GET a sense of the rapid pace of today’s assault on Judaism, one just needs to look at the European actions over the last year.
First, the heartwarming EU’s expression of unequivocal support for the Jewish state on October 7, then turning the blame for October 7 on to the Jews themselves, a attitude perfectly encapsulated in the words of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that it “did not happen in a vacuum.”
Shortly after that, the incitement of global public opinion against the Jews (a staple of European history). By the spring of 2024, the European-based and sponsored International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) were setting the groundwork for the arrest of Israeli Jews.
This was followed by the pledge of European countries, such as France, that when arrest warrants were issued against Jews, they would collaborate (just as they did 80 years ago). And in recent months, the suppression of Jewish confidence and personal freedoms through looming threats of sanctions against Israeli Jews.
Now, less than a year since Europe’s first reaction of “We stand with Israel,” come Borrell’s efforts to effectively “cancel” the Israeli electorate.
This is not because of accusations that the Israeli Jews’ elected officials engaged in “war crimes” or voted for the “deliberate starvation of Palestinians” as per ICC prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan’s slanderous accusation.
This, according to Borrell, is because of the way they speak.
Borrell made a clear statement: Europe will decide how Israeli government ministers should speak, and Europe should, at least metaphorically, be the one to decide who will live and who will die. Not the Israeli electorate, and certainly not some other idea “primitive” Israeli Jews have.
This is a deja vu to 2,300 years ago when a European invader initiated a well-funded project to suppress Jewish freedoms and self-confidence.
An assault on Americanism
The assault on Judaism from the West is not just a threat to Judaism but also to US national security and the essence of Americanism.
President Joe Biden has stated: “America is an idea.” Borrell’s actions are a snub to the idea of America. They attack the sacred American principle of freedom of speech while championing the idea of voter suppression.
A short while after Borrell began his “Elul project,” he announced which part of the Israeli electorate he was targeting first: religious voters.
Is it a coincidence that the representatives of those Israelis who continuously thank God and talk about the sacred covenant and the holiness of the Land of Israel were the ones who were first targeted for sanctions, due to the way they speak?
Borrell and his colleagues will not stop there. They would likely follow the lead of Europe-based ICC prosecutor Khan, who announced upon his first set of indictments of alleged Jewish war criminals: “My office will not hesitate to submit further applications for warrants of arrest.”
In the coming days, over 85% of Israeli Jews, including secular Jews, will mark Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in prayer, fasting, and religious rituals.
Are their representatives the next to be targeted by the EU?
As of now, Borrell’s efforts have been stopped by righteous Europeans, underscoring that there are those in Europe who wish to break from that age-old European ethos of opposing Judaism.
On Rosh Hashanah, Jews forgive one another. While Foreign Minister Israel Katz labeled Borrell “an antisemite and Israel-hater,” Borrell should be forgiven if he changes course. He personally is not the issue; he is merely a reflection of the 2,300-year-old ecosystem of European opposition to Judaism.
Like his predecessors, he makes it clear that it is Europe that, in its grace, will decide which freedoms Jews should be granted and to what extent: freedom of speech, freedom to vote, freedom of self-defense, and freedom to live.
In doing so, Borrell reminds us how rapidly the existential threat to Judaism is advancing from the West.■
The writer is author of the new book The 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.
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 July 5, 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 