Since Hamas’s brutal, genocidal assault on October 7, 2023, Israel has confronted threats on seven military fronts: Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank/Judea and Samaria, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Against overwhelming odds, Israel has defied expectations, demonstrating extraordinary resilience, strategic ingenuity, and near-miraculous battlefield success.
These achievements have opened a fragile but real window for a more stable Middle East. But military victories alone cannot secure the future.
Not when anti-Israel propaganda spreads faster than facts. Not when antisemitism surges from college quads to corporate boardrooms. Not when global hate movements are more coordinated and better funded than the Jewish world’s response. Israel may be winning the war on the ground, but we are in danger of losing the eighth front: global public opinion and diplomacy.
This eighth front – the battle for narrative, legitimacy, and moral clarity – shapes government policy, public attitudes, and the daily safety of Jews across the Diaspora. Losing it means forfeiting the understanding that protects not only Israel but also Jewish communities worldwide. Yet this front remains underfunded, undercoordinated, and undermined by fragmentation within our own community.
The uncomfortable truth is that this crisis did not begin on October 7. It has been building for decades while we focused elsewhere. We are now living with the consequences.
The battle Israel is at risk of losing
Still, the eighth front is not lost. Winning it will require something we have not yet fully mustered: unity, coordination, and unapologetic resolve from the Diaspora itself. I am calling for the creation of a collective, time-limited entity with one mission – winning the eighth front.
Many legacy and grassroots organizations have done extraordinary work. But the moment demands more than isolated excellence. It requires a disciplined coalition of the willing, aligned in purpose and coordinated in execution.
What will it take to win?
First, we must modernize hasbara (public diplomacy) – or lose the information battlefield. Israel cannot fight 2025 battles with 2005 tools. We need a professionalized, digital-first, rapid-response communications infrastructure that is offensive, strategic, and relentless. This means engaging top-tier talent in media, technology, and data – not relying on uncoordinated networks of well-meaning volunteers. We need a real strategy.
Second, we must engage government at every level – relentlessly. Maintaining bipartisan support for Israel is an existential imperative. From city councils to Congress, advocacy must be expanded and deepened. Policymakers need a clearer understanding of the ideologies fueling anti-Israel extremism and the consequences of ignoring it.
THIRD, we must transform the campus front from reactive to strategic. Universities have become incubators of anti-Israel radicalism. Protecting Jewish students and reclaiming the intellectual landscape requires a continent-wide infrastructure that integrates legal support, education, and grassroots organizing. Campus advocacy can no longer be improvised, and transforming our campus posture from reactive to proactive Israel advocacy is paramount.
Fourth, we must arm our youth with pride, knowledge, and identity. While Jewish engagement is rising across North America, interest alone is not enough. We need a revitalized Jewish and Zionist curriculum in both day and supplemental schools – one that provides confidence, historical grounding, and moral clarity. If we fail this generation, the next war will be fought with even fewer allies.
Finally, we must rebuild alliances carefully, selectively, and seriously. October 7 exposed painful truths: some partners stood with us; others vanished or turned hostile. We must recalibrate by setting clear expectations for allyship and investing in communities that seek genuine partnership.
This includes strengthening relationships within Black, Latino, and LGBTQ+ communities, while also deepening alliances with Hindu, Sikh, Maronite, and moderate Muslim partners where shared values exist.
The Jewish world has a narrow but critical window to act. What is needed now is a continent-wide strategy, a unified command structure, and bold philanthropic leadership willing to move beyond siloed programs toward a collective-impact mindset. Our legacy institutions have done extraordinary work, particularly since October 7 – but no single organization can win this fight alone.
This is why I am calling for a dedicated umbrella entity charged solely with winning the eighth front. It must be time-limited, metric-driven, and relentlessly focused on results, bringing legacy institutions and best-in-class emerging organizations together under a coordinated command structure.
This is a war, whether we wanted it or not. And wars are not won by scattered committees and good intentions.
What we need now is achdut – not unanimity, but unity of purpose. The kind of unity that has carried our people through crisis after crisis, transforming fragmentation into strength.
Only through coordinated action can we secure a proud, safe, and thriving Jewish future in the diaspora, anchored by a strong and enduring Israel.
The writer is senior vice president and chief development officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. He has spent 30 years in the Jewish communal sector, is an IDF veteran, and was a pro-Israel student activist leader in the 1990s.