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| Rabbi Moshe Maya (VIN) |
But beyond this hopeful note, the broader picture has rarely
been darker. In my 78 years, I have never seen the Jewish people under such
attack. From nearly all sides.
After the Holocaust, the world, shamed by its complicity,
voted to create Israel as a haven for survivors. Antisemitism in America
retreated to the fringes. U.S. support for Israel, especially after the Six-Day
War, became robust and bipartisan - driven by both sympathy for survivors and
recognition of Israel’s strategic value.
Yet over decades, anti-Israel forces chipped away at that
support. Academia and DEI programs gave platforms to pro-Palestinian voices,
producing generations of students biased against Israel. The media increasingly
framed Israel as the oppressor, while figures like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib
gained influence in Congress. Support began to erode, even as antisemitic
incidents rose.
Then came October 7th. Hamas’s massacre briefly united the world in sympathy for Israel. Before evaporating as soon as Israel fought back. Overnight, campuses erupted in anti-Israel protests, celebrities denounced the Jewish state, and the media amplified Hamas’s narrative with gruesome images stripped of context. Israel’s denials were dismissed as lies; Hamas operatives masquerading as journalists were treated as truth-tellers.
Today, support for Israel is at its lowest point in U.S.
history. Progressive Democrats openly criticize it, and even MAGA Republicans
like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson call Israel’s war ‘genocide’.
Younger Evangelicals are far less supportive than their parents. Antisemitism
in America is surging.
What makes this intolerable is that it is all built on lies.
Hamas engineers civilian suffering for propaganda. Placing fighters among women
and children, commandeering food aid, even killing their own people. Yet the
world blames Israel. Hundreds of aid trucks enter Gaza daily, but critics claim
it is ‘not enough’ while ignoring Hamas theft. Israel is accused of ‘starving’
Palestinians, even though in an interview yesterday - one of the most recognized
humanitarian leaders, Chef José Andrés, who just returned from a tour of Gaza did
not characterize what he saw as starvation.
Meanwhile, Israel’s hostages, bereaved families, and
displaced citizens are forgotten.
The reality is stark: Israel is not committing genocide or starving
anyone. It is fighting for survival against terrorists who provide fake images of starving children, butchers their own people when it serves their purposes, and has promised to do it to us again
if allowed to survive. No other nation would be expected to tolerate this. Yet
the media and political leaders, eager to believe Hamas’s narrative, condemn
Israel with Nazi-like inuendo.
I wish more people could see through the propaganda. The
truth is clear: Israel seeks not genocide, but survival. And it will not allow
lies - no matter how widely broadcast - to deter it from defending its people.
At least, amid all this, there is a glimmer of hope: a Charedi leader finally signaling willingness to share in Israel’s defense. That could mark the beginning of a much-needed healing within Israeli society—even as the external battles grow fiercer than ever.
