For decades, the Jewish community has poured billions of dollars into Holocaust museums, educational programs, and legacy organizations, such as the NGO Anti-Defamation League (ADL), believing that these efforts would make the world a safer place for Jews.
Unfortunately, they were wrong.
If there was ever a moment that proved the utter failure of these institutions, and of all those donations, it was October 7, 2023.
When Hamas terrorists butchered, raped, and burned innocent Jewish men, women, and children – the response should have been global shock and sympathy for the Jewish people. Instead, what did we see? Open celebrations of the massacre on the streets of Western cities and on university campuses – and this was weeks before Israel began a military offensive in Gaza.
Overnight, Jew-hating antisemitism exploded around the world in a way that should terrify every Jew worldwide. Mobs chanting for the annihilation of Israel, students physically attacking Jewish classmates, corporate CEOs defending Hamas – all happening just hours after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. How did we get here?
For decades, the legacy Jewish organizations focused on the wrong threats, refused to recognize the real dangers, and even aligned themselves with the very people fueling modern antisemitism.
They relentlessly attacked “far Right” politicians as the primary threat to Jews, while embracing DEI activists, Black Lives Matter, and the intersectional movement – all of whom are openly antisemitic.
They obsessed over educating the world about the Holocaust, assuming that if people just “learned” about Jewish suffering, antisemitism would disappear.
They refused to acknowledge the central role of Islamic teachings in modern antisemitism, despite decades of terror attacks, incitement – and now, outright public support for the slaughter of Jews.
UNLIKE THE failure of the legacy organizations, Israel is blessed with Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, who understands – and is ready to deal with – the real roots of antisemitism today.
That’s why I fully support his upcoming International Conference on Combating Antisemitism.
A defense of Amichai Chikli's International Conference on Combating Antisemitism
Nevertheless, some Jewish leaders and organizations, who have failed to properly fight antisemitism all these years, have now rushed to criticize it and even pull out. Those speakers and attendees are withdrawing from Chikli’s conference because he invited politicians from the European Right who are supportive of Israel and recognize the Islamist threat.
While there is growing antisemitism on both the Right and the Left in the West, there are not many politicians willing to be public about the danger to the Jews and to society that is emanating from the Muslim world right now – and we need allies.
Chikli understands what others refuse to admit: that the primary driver of antisemitism today is Islamic jihadist ideology, not far Right European politicians, and the only way to fight antisemitism is by standing strong, proud, and unapologetic as Jews and as a Jewish state.
October 7 proved that our allies from the political Left in the West failed us. Even those who voiced support for Israel still ignore the evil we are up against from the world of Islam. It would be a mistake to dismiss allies from the political Right who understand this reality.
October 7 shattered the illusion that antisemitism could be fought with educational campaigns, Holocaust museums and “social justice” alliances. The billions of dollars spent on legacy organizations were thrown in the garbage.
One day, donors will begin to ask why they even donated toward all that work that did not help stop the growth of antisemitism.
It’s time for Jews to wake up and stop listening to the organizations that ignore reality because they prefer political correctness. That has betrayed us for decades.
The only way forward is through strength, clarity, and standing unapologetically as Jews, proud of our ancestral identity, proud of our connection to our ancestral homeland, and proud to support the actions of the third Jewish commonwealth of Israel on the front lines of the freedom-loving world against a genocidal evil.
Every Jew should be looking for those organizations that proudly call out the true growth behind the Jew-hating today and stop donating to the organizations that ignore it.
I will be at Chikli’s conference that will finally give a platform to voices to truly fight antisemitism today. Will you?
The writer is the host of the Pulse of Israel daily video/podcast and the CEO of 12Tribe Films Foundation.
