In every era, there is a European-led attempt to eradicate Judaism. Sometimes it is done physically – killing Jew by Jew – and sometimes ideologically.
The Jewish nation today is facing its greatest survival challenge in 2,000 years: an attempt to negate the idea of the Jewish state, and through it the idea of Judaism.
This is exacerbated by Europe’s rift with America, as it is using the assault on Judaism as a proxy assault on the US (for example, through the International Criminal Court).
However, we have a latent asset: antisemitism. Unlike in previous centuries, it is taboo today to openly be anti-Jewish. Therefore, one must mask opposition to Judaism as “anti-Zionism.” As discussed in this column, once there is a broad global recognition that Judaism has transformed and Zionism is now its anchor (Judaism 3.0), the existential threat to Judaism will be mitigated.
In September 2023, we held a Judaism 3.0 symposium at Jerusalem’s Begin Heritage Center, outlining the path to destroy Judaism through Israel-bashing and anti-Zionism. Three weeks later, Oct. 7 happened – turning Judaism 3.0 from a thesis to a depiction of day-to-day realities: Jews were indeed pulled into their Judaism through Zionism and the Jewish state – whether they liked it or not.
However, Oct. 7 also validated the defense strategy of Judaism. Indeed, in the two years since, the ideological assault on Judaism has been conducted using a sword and shield.
The sword was the adaptation of age-old European blood libels: accusations that the Jews, once again, kill children (through the Jewish state), and that Jews, once again, deliberately starve other nations (through the Jewish state). The shield was Judaism 2.0 – the illusion that Judaism is merely a religion; therefore, such slander of the Jewish state is not antisemitism.
Macron’s sword and shield
French President Emmanuel Macron has been at the forefront of this sword-and-shield assault on Judaism – including in the pledge that, for the second time in 80 years, France would collaborate with efforts to arrest Jews en masse, starting with the Jewish state’s leaders.
Macron then lobbied for an embargo of the Jewish state in the midst of battle, effectively supporting Hamas’s war efforts, then partook in what is viewed as one of the largest acts of state-sponsored antisemitism of our century: instilling Jewish insecurity through the good old European practice of sanctioning them. Not Jews in Europe practicing their religion, however (Judaism 2.0), but only Jews in Israel fighting for the survival of the Jewish nation (Judaism 3.0).
Yet, in those same two years, Macron also took a strong stance against the threat to Judaism of the 20th century: He took part in a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, and carved out precious time during a summit with his German counterpart to lay a wreath at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
Responding to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s concern about the dramatic rise in antisemitism in France, Macron published an infuriating open letter in the Le Monde newspaper in August, saying: “The fight against antisemitism must not be weaponized and will not fuel any discord between Israel and France.”
A few weeks later, the French president continued to fuel this discord: He initiated an international effort to reward Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities with a declaration of a Palestinian state.
The incitement of Macron and other European leaders trickled to America – and not only in progressive circles. Some pundits associated with the MAGA movement adapted European negation of key aspects of the American Revolution and have been blaming Jews for their own woes – a European practice for centuries. This, while challenging the Judeo-Christians roots of the United States, which was formed as an ideological exodus from Europe.
The US takes action
As it became clear that the assault on Judaism was becoming a strategic threat to the US and to global stability, President Donald Trump took bold steps, such as through Project Esther, designed to combat the rise of antisemitism. A summit held in Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this year delivered additional actionable recommendations.
Yet in France, Macron continued to fight the wrong war – World War II (1940s) – with the wrong tactics – a symbolic gesture.
Against this backdrop, US Ambassador to France Charles Kushner published an open letter to Macron in The Wall Street Journal, expressing his “deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France” and the “lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it.”
Instead of asking for America’s help in fighting the malaise, however, Paris summoned the ambassador for repudiation, calling his allegations “unacceptable.”
France picking a fight with the United States over Kushner’s letter is telling, since it has a long list of asks from America. It underscores the key point: The assault on Judaism is a European priority, even at the expense of self-preservation. For example, Paris’s recognition of a Palestinian state had no practical effect in the Middle East but inflicted severe damage to France, as it fueled the nascent European Muslim national movement.
France’s feud with the Jewish nation did not start with Macron. It goes back to the French Revolution – an anti-theist one, in sharp contrast to the faith-based American and Zionist revolutions.
France was developed in opposition to Judaism, alongside zealous opposition to Christianity and to God. It even changed the week from seven days to 10 days, just to refute the Judeo-Christian idea that God created the world. (This failed after a few years for practical reasons.)
Judaism 2.0 is core to French ethos
France must stay in Judaism 2.0 as part of its raison d’etre. Its relationship with the Jews is governed by the French Revolution concept articulated in its Parliament in 1789: “We must refuse everything to the Jews as a nation and accord everything to Jews as individuals.”
France’s opposition to Zionism and Jewish nationalism is structural. It consistently funneled its opposition to Judaism through the Jewish nation (Judaism 3.0), not the Jewish religion (2.0). This was the case in the campaign against Jews in the late 19th century led by French newspaper La Libra Parole (“free speech”), in the notorious Dreyfus affair that divided the country over the question of Jews’ role in the republic (Jews in music is one thing, but in the military?), and in France’s collaboration with Germany’s attempt to obliterate the Jewish nation physically.
Indeed, as Kushner correctly stated: “Antisemitism has a long scarred French life.”
It certainly does today. As Kushner wrote, “Gestures toward recognition of a Palestinian state embolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France.”
This was evident last week as smoke bombs interrupted a Paris performance of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (Jews in the military in one thing, but Jews in music?).
Macron dismisses all this, effectively arguing that we are in Judaism 2.0 – he regularly attends Holocaust memorial ceremonies and expresses zero tolerance for last century’s threat to Jews.
Yet, Kushner concluded his letter with what we state in this column to be a core principle of Judaism 3.0: “In today’s world, anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”■
The writer is the author of "The Assault on Judaism: The Existential Threat Is Coming from the West." He is chairman of the Judaism 3.0 think tank and author of "Judaism 3.0: Judaism's Transformation to Zionism." For more of his geopolitical analyses: europeandjerusalem.com.