Netanyahu and His Nightmare Coalition Are the 'New Antisemites'
Prime Minister Netanyahu addressing a crowd. (Photo inserted)
May 28, 2024
Israel-antisemitism relations are a model of successful ambivalent relations that efficiently serve both sides. Israel, with its actions, provides vital fuel for antisemitism. And in exchange, antisemitism provides Israel with a host of excuses for its actions, and helps to nurture Israelis' paranoia and hysteria, which is so vital for taming the citizenry and preserving the rotten government.
In order to cement the usefulness of antisemitism for generations to come, the young state decided – without authority or permission, arrogantly and foolishly – to make the State of Israel and the entire Jewish people completely identical, thereby making the Jewish people a party to all of its deeds and misdeeds.
The "old" antisemitism hated Jews for being Jews. For having killed the son of God, for baking matzot with Christian blood, for being conniving and greedy, concealing their horns and tails beneath their tallit. But this antisemitism, poor thing, has for years had to exist outside the law in most countries of the world – defined and pursued as a crime, forced to make do with vandalizing tombstones, scrawling hateful graffiti, shouting racist slogans and, on a good day, harassing someone wearing identifiably Jewish garb like a kippah or tzitzit.
But never fear – Netanyahu recently discovered the "new antisemitism" and informed the nation of this following the announcement of the potential international arrest warrant for him. And for a change, this time he is right. Yes, there is a new antisemitism. But is doesn't dwell on college campuses, at protest, in the world media or The Hague.
The new antisemitism arises from his very own bureau. From Netanyahu himself, and in his nightmare coalition. From Ben-Gvir and Smotrich to Strock, from Levin to Karhi, from Amsalem to Eliahu. These are the ones whose actions are striking more and more blows, causing more and more trouble, and increasingly defaming the entire Jewish people. It is they who are the new antisemites.
As a nation, Israel is currently getting the same treatment that France did over Algeria, the Americans over Vietnam, the South African Whites over apartheid, Russia over Ukraine (and the list goes on). All were subjected to demonstrations, protests, turbulent campuses, critical press, condemnations and boycotts. And with their actions, they honestly earned all of these things. And when these actions ceased, the angry voices fell silent too.
When Israel acts wildly, it doesn't suffer all the consequences of its actions. Thanks to the "new antisemitism," the entire Jewish people is seen as a party to its crimes and pays a price. But the "Jewish people" did not kill 35,000 people, did not starve masses of people, did not wipe out hospitals, demolish cities and uproot millions from their homes. "The Jews" did not do all these things. The Israelis did. Just the Israelis.
The new antisemites have also inflated "the right to self-defense" to monstrous dimensions in which everything is allowed; they've stretched the "right to self-definition" to the scale of a ravenous empire, in which they've been waging bloody tyranny for decades. They do these things, and the entire Jewish people is to blame? Classic antisemitism. And in their deeds, they defame the Jewish people as they've never been defamed before, pin on them responsibility for criminal actions they never committed, endanger their lives and routines, and tar them with a dark stain that will take many years to remove.
Let us hope they will actually be arrested. Let's hope they will be tried for their actions. And let's hope that the Jewish people will finally be able to extract itself so that it is no longer locked in the bear hug of this new antisemitism.
