Only a few understand that even today, the threat of a pogrom still hangs over the heads of Jews in Israel, exactly as it did in May 2021, when Arab rioters brutally attacked Jews at hundreds of locations across the country.
For decades, efforts were made to draw lessons from the past, shape a different attitude toward Jews and prevent the return of the ideas that led to one of the darkest periods in human history. Over the years, especially from the 1970s onward, those perceptions began to erode, slowly.
The war we are currently waging on multiple fronts cannot be concluded without a spectacular military victory. Nor can a peaceful and lasting settlement be achieved without the collapse of the Iranian regime.
Despite repeated attempts around the world to silence and deny them, there is no doubt: grave sex crimes were committed strategically, systematically and on a large scale throughout the October 7 attack and in captivity. Meanwhile, all Israeli official bodies remain silent when the question arises, and that silence is deeply troubling.
Reports from Washington indicate that the Americans, too, have finally gotten the message, and that they, too, have lost patience in the face of Hamas' refusal. The question, however, is where we go from here, assuming the Americans give us a green light to carry out Trump's threat: If Hamas refuses to disarm, I will let Israel do it.
Israel’s spirit and hardiness make it a model for the world.
Operation Roaring Lion marks a historic peak in US-Israel relations, with a shift from remote strategic backing to integrated military action. But this “honeymoon” carries a significant danger. This is how Israel can preserve its institutional partnership with Washington without blurring the boundaries of its sovereign decision-making.
When incidents like this happen in Israel or abroad and Jews, usually visibly ultra-Orthodox, are the ones attacked, we rightly raise an outcry and define them as “antisemitic” and as “racially motivated terrorism.”
The latest round of fighting ended with dangerous concessions: Iran proved that it decides when the fire stops, the IDF lost its freedom of action in Beirut, and we were drawn into a limited guerrilla war in the buffer zone. While Israel clings to illusions that the Lebanese government will dismantle the terrorist organization, it is time to wake up and prepare for a real victory in the next round.
The Jewish people have been linked to Europe since time immemorial, since the empires of Athens and Rome. They lived in Europe even before the Inquisition and the expulsion from Spain. This historical link, and our geographical presence in the Mediterranean basin, can never be erased. We share democratic and Judeo-Christian values with Europe. These values are deeply rooted in our shared history and are strong enough to overcome the obstacles and condemnations of extremists. In democracies, there is a peaceful transfer of power, and therefore we should cultivate good relations with all political actors on the right, in the center, and on the left.
