German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated it clearly last week: Israel is doing the dirty work for the entire West.
On Saturday, after ordering game-changing US strikes of Iranian nuclear facilities, President Donald Trump said that the objective is “a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.”
No doubt, Iran is a magnanimous threat to Europe, which is getting a live demo of how Iranian missiles can demolish residential buildings and hospitals throughout the continent, as they are doing now in Israel.
Yet, it seems that Europeans quickly realized that they can have their cake and eat it too – enjoy Israeli and American protection from Iran and continue their ideological assault on the Jewish state, which is also a proxy assault on America.
As discussed in this column, we are in the midst of a rapidly expanding attempt to negate the idea of the Jewish state and, through it, the idea of Judaism. This was visible in the first week of the war:
On day one, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer went out of his way to undermine Israel. He labeled its operation in Iran “concerning,” characterized it as an escalation, and urged “all parties to step back and reduce tensions.”
Early days of any war are crucial in shaping public opinion, and here comes a prominent, highly respected leader who ushers Europeans to the conclusion that the problem here, once again, is the actions of the Jewish state.
This came only a few days after the British launched an unprovoked attack on Israel’s sovereignty: sanctioning elected Israeli officials, disenfranchising the entirety of Israel’s national religious population, and, in doing so, attacking core American values of freedom of speech, freedom of election, and freedom of religion.
On Day 5 of the war, France was supposed to host a conference at the United Nations, along with Saudi Arabia, in order to promote the idea of a Palestinian state.
In spite of the war and US objection, France did not cancel the conference but merely postponed it, citing logistical constraints – the inability of Middle Eastern leaders to travel during war.
As Israeli citizens were being murdered in their own homes by Iranian missiles, French President Emmanuel Macron proclaimed, as reported by Reuters: ”Whatever the circumstances, I have stated my determination to recognize the State of Palestine.”
On Day 6 of the war came yet another European escalation.
As Iranian missiles incapacitated a hospital and murdered Israelis throughout the country, nine European countries demanded that the EU intensify its efforts to sanction “West Bank settlements” and ensure there is no trade between the EU and those communities (even if Europeans benefit from medical, scientific, and other innovations produced there).
While Israel is fighting a war for its survival, Europe is distracting it on two levels.
On the leadership level: As Israeli government ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet are tirelessly leading military operations that keep Europe safe, European countries are concocting surreal reasons to distract them.
And on the people’s level: As residents of Judea and Samaria shelter from Iranian missiles aimed at killing them in their homes, Europe is launching ideological missiles from the West negating their right to live in their homes.
Countering the physical and ideological threats concurrently
Let’s be clear: The physical attack by Iran and its proxies is autonomous from the ideological attack by Europe and proxies. But as explained in my book, The Assault on Judaism, the ideological and physical attacks feed off each other.
We saw this after October 7 – Hamas likely calculated that pressure will soon be built on Israel to stop its counter-operation, “Ceasefire now.”
This, while the European ideological attack was dependent on Hamas’s physical attack. After all, war crime indictments need a war.
Similarly, the physical war with Iran gives Europeans ammunition to target Israel – the source of escalation, per Starmer’s tweet. In turn, Iran might hope that European distractions demoralize and compromise the resolve of Israelis and their leaders.
When my book was launched six months ago, some suggested that it was not the right time to discuss an amorphous ideological threat when Israel was fighting a seven-front physical war. Let Israel win the war, I was told, and then come back to present your strategies for countering this ideological threat from Europe and the West.
The first week of the war with Iran underscores that those two threats need to be addressed concurrently, not 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 an augmenting trajectory.
Vice President JD Vance even said that the threat coming from within Europe is the threat that worries him the most.
Too early for Europe to accept the notion of a free Jewish state
Indeed, as shown in my 2022 book, Judaism 3.0, rising domestic frustrations in Europe will inevitably lead to a dangerous spike in Israel-bashing.
This is a recurring theme of history: Europeans have consistently directed their frustrations to the most relevant aspect of Judaism at the time – in the Middle Ages, to the Jewish religion; in the 20th century, to emancipated European Jewish communities; and in the 21st century, to the Jewish state.
Judaism is transforming: We are no longer passively waiting for the next round of mass murders, as we did for 2,000 years when most Jews lived in Europe (Judaism 2.0). We are now back home and proactively defending ourselves (Judaism 3.0).
Europe can not possibly come to terms with this new notion.
It is too early, after centuries of structural anti-Jewish indoctrination.
Israel is at war. We are indeed doing the “dirty work” for European countries, but we are first and foremost concerned about our own survival. In doing so, we must also be mindful of the threat percolating from the West.
The writer is the author of a new book, The Assault on Judaism: The Existential Threat Is Coming from the West. His Jerusalem Post column applies the ideas in the book to today’s policy decisions and geopolitical developments. He is also the chairman of the Judaism 3.0 think tank and author of Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (Judaism-Zionism.com).