Israel is a spiritual, multi-ethnic, hard-working nation – one founded on nearly four millennia of persecution, leavened by a divine covenant that imparted an enduring national and moral identity on its people.
The dramatic events at Mt. Sinai, when the twelve tribes received the Torah with its 613 laws, established not only religious principles but a collective social identity coupled with an allocation of land in perpetuity. It was only when rooted in the promised land itself that the Jewish people could truly become a nation of destiny.
The patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob each received a divine promise of land -- the boundaries of which were surprisingly specific. Today, while Israel occupies only a small portion of that promised land, this tiny bit remains central to Jews worldwide. Israel is regarded by the Jewish nation in general as "holy" land – donated exclusively to the Jews by the Creator. It is considered a mitzvah – a command – for them to dwell there: "You shall possess the land," the biblical verse reads, "and dwell in it."
Jewish history and identity -- national, social, and personal -- is inextricably bound to Eretz Yisrael: the Land of Israel. It is almost beyond comprehension, therefore, for a Jew to denigrate fellow Jews who support the right of their people to live in Eretz Yisrael. When people, including Jews, negate the right of Israel to exist as a state, such an attitude contradicts not only the fundaments of Judaism, but the core of humanitarian compassion.
"Zionism" is basically the right of the Jewish nation to live in its ancestral home -- the land promised them in millennia past. Nothing more, nothing less. The safe haven of this tiny piece of land -- roughly 22,000 sq. km., about the same as the state of New Jersey - is therefore irreversibly important. The journalist Caroline Glick framed this view as follows: "It is the resurrection of strategic independence — of Zionism — that will secure Israel's future for the next hundred years."
Yet, it has become common for others to denigrate Israel's right even to exist.
In such instances, it has become clear that hostile ideology trumps history, fundamental principles of faith, and basic humanitarian compassion for those Jews who seek sanctuary after centuries of pogroms, genocide, blatant discrimination, prejudice and hatred when their forebears lived among hostile nations. Can such adversaries even be considered credible? It is obvious they have lost much acceptability, including the right to speak on behalf of others, for they have aligned themselves with terrorists and other enemies of Western civilization.
Sadly, pursuant to October 7, 2023, even some supposedly "Jewish" anti-Zionist groups such as J Street and New York Jewish Agenda, according to journalist Jonathan Tobin, "supported the efforts of those who sought to prevent Israel from attacking Hamas and Iran." The world appears already to have forgotten that when Jews were pushed into the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka and other death camps, no one first asked them if they were observant or secular, leftist or conservative, Orthodox or Reform, Zionist or anti-Zionist.
Writing about Phylisa Wisdom, the left-wing activist whom New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed to head the city's "Office to Combat Antisemitism," Tobin remarked that her appointment "symbolizes what has happened to the idea of 'liberal Zionism' in the 21st century."
"If acting and speaking as she has done is what it means to be a liberal Zionist today, then a real disconnect exists. It's not merely time to realize that the phrase has lost its original meaning; instead, we must understand that those who have appropriated that label are neither Zionist nor authentically liberal."
In plain words, they are fake supporters of freedom and justice and should be considered "fake humanitarians"– meaning, detached from their imaginary core identity of supposedly embodying virtue, and instead embracing terrorists, terrorism, and the organizations that espouse and fund them.
Israel, like every country, may not be perfect, but in the accusations they make against it, Israel's enemies feel the need to lie. They accuse Israelis of being "settlers" or "colonialists," meanwhile managing to block out that, on the contrary, it was Muslim armies that invaded, conquered, "colonized" and "settled" much of the planet. Examples, just in the West, include the great Christian Byzantine Empire, Christian Coptic Egypt, Iberia, Europe, and, in 1974, northern Cyprus, among other victims. France, for instance, was only saved from the invading Muslim armies by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in 732 CE.
Other lies currently floated include allegations that Israel is a racist or apartheid state; that Israel occupies stolen land; that Israel oppresses the Palestinians -- not the Palestinians' own corrupt leaders; that Israel commits genocide when, in reality, it is Hamas – as declared in its own 1988 Charter -- that explicitly calls for genocide, not just against Israel, but all Jews (Article 7). The facts all point to the reverse of these allegations. As is to be expected in the current political climate, however, ideological misrepresentations evidently override all considerations of accuracy, objectivity and verifiability.
Demonizing Israel is, of course, always a useful way for a corrupt or incompetent ruler to deflect attention from his own failures onto a convenient decoy. Throughout history, Jews, and most recently, Israel, appear to be repeatedly recruited for this distinction.
American Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz observed:
"In this era of great polarization, politics has replaced ethics and religion. Whether what you do is right or wrong is no longer relevant; all that matters now is if it favors the right or the left. Politics has become an all-encompassing passion; advocates are blind to their own subjectivity."
Within Israel itself, conflicting claims to authentic Jewish identity, and so representative authority, have long been present. The origins are not difficult to trace: the left-wing, socialist parties in Israel were a strong force in the land, even before the re-establishment of Israel as a state in 1948, with friction between future Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion's socialist Mapai party and Ze'ev Jabotinsky's conservative "revisionist" party, which eventually morphed into the ruling Likud party of today.
The discord between "leftist" elites and the conservative "right", largely corresponding to Ashkenazi Jews who had lived in European lands vs. Sephardi/Mizrachi Jews who had lived in Arab lands, continues to this day, polarizing society, and giving the appearance of a weak nation -- in full view of Israel's many chop-licking enemies. This divide in Israel – for instance, claims by Israelis for desperately needed judicial reform and leftists who threatened that, if called up for military reserve duty, they would refuse to serve if the judicial reform were implemented – may well have been a significant factor in Hamas's decision to invade Israel on October 7, 2023. History reveals that when a nation's enemies perceive it to be weak, it becomes vulnerable to attack and downfall: "A house divided cannot stand."
Israel's antagonists, particularly in Europe, appear to be envious that a small nation, which began with sand, desert and malarial swamps, had the gall to become an international powerhouse, while they continue to struggle with economies misguidedly designed to fail, and millions of newcomers apparently intent on replacing Europe's values with their own.
Israel's denigrators probably ask themselves how those "upstarts" in Israel could be so innovative and successful while they, the virtuous, so generously share countless social benefits with needy migrants -- many of whom openly say they would like to overthrow the elected government and transform Europe into an Islamic Caliphate.
The animosity and contrariness of prominent individuals and groups, whether religious or secular, towards Israel has, as intended, exacerbated Jew-hatred and anti-Zionism. Hatred of Jews, whether in the forms of anti-Judaism, anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, or whatever one wishes to call it, is connected to fury at someone else's success.
Despite all odds, for nearly 4,000 years, the Jewish people have survived and thrived, and notwithstanding wars and relentless attacks from enemies, the Jews -- who do not wish ill of anyone -- defeated them all to stand stronger than ever. With courage and brilliance, the determined nation of King David will not just continue to thrive; they will soar.
Nils A. Haug is an author and columnist. A Lawyer by profession, he is member of the International Bar Association, the National Association of Scholars, the Academy of Philosophy and Letters. Dr. Haug holds a Ph.D. in Apologetical Theology and is author of 'Politics, Law, and Disorder in the Garden of Eden – the Quest for Identity'; and 'Enemies of the Innocent – Life, Truth, and Meaning in a Dark Age.' His work has been published by First Things Journal, The American Mind, Quadrant, Minding the Campus, Gatestone Institute, National Association of Scholars, Jewish Journal, James Wilson Institute (Anchoring Truths), Jewish News Syndicate, Tribune Juive, Document Danmark, Zwiedzaj Polske, Schlaglicht Israel, and many others.
