Early on in the post 10/7 conflict, I began to listen to podcasts featuring Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur. Gur had a very incisive approach to his analysis. It wasn’t ideological, it was extremely well informed, and it was clear eyed about the challenges faced by Israeli society, by the IDF, and by the Jewish people. Even more compelling was his evident love for Israel and the Jewish people, and his desire to comfort the bereaved and traumatized without compromising on his very matter-of-fact assessments.
One of the most important conclusions that he came to in the opening months was his conviction that Israel would not leave an unfought enemy anywhere on its borders, or capable of presenting a threat it identified as existential. The Israeli electorate would simply not allow it, no matter who is in power. This made the ground invasion of Gaza inevitable, the destruction of Hezbollah predictable (in likelihood if not methodology), the downfall of Syria’s Assad an unmissable opportunity, and the decision to set back Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile plans (especially after missile attacks in April and October 2024) essential.
My friends, way back on October 10th, 2023, I stood on the courthouse steps in New City, among 2,000 of you, gathered to demonstrate our solidarity with Israel and her people. At that rally, I said that though Hamas had written the first chapter of this war, Israel and the Jewish people would write the last one.
Right now, Hamas has been reduced, though still capable of traumatizing a nation through its ongoing torture and abuse of the remaining hostages. Hezbollah has been silenced, and the Lebanese military emboldened. It and Syria may, in due time, join the Abraham accords. Iran is licking its considerable wounds, and the regime there may soon be fighting for its life against a populace which hates it but now sees it exposed as weak.
Yet there is another adversary.
In Dagestan airport, they chased Jews and bayed for blood. In Amsterdam they beat Jews and threw them into canals. At dozens of campuses across the US, they attacked Jewish students, vandalized Hillels, created zones of bigoted exclusions, and banked on the indifference or active animosity of their professors and administrators. Our own local schools haven’t been immune, and our town halls have resonated with chants of “genocide”, “apartheid” and other blood libels. America’s streets have, in places and at times, become too dangerous for its Jewish citizens to traverse. According to our partners at ADL, the number of antisemitic incidents this year was over 9,340, a TENFOLD increase since 2016.
All of this is unconscionable.
We have adversaries here, in front of us, and we have, until now, fought a valiant, somewhat effective, but essentially defensive battle. On some fronts we are strong, but on others we do not have the numbers. Here in Rockland, home to over 100,000 Jews, we have built incredible relationships with government and law enforcement, and, like Federations across the country, we have helped to secure Jewish institutions in numbers unimagined years ago. 2000 volunteers trained. 250+ Jewish institutions in our security network. About 100 vulnerability assessments provided. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants for security guards distributed. On the other hand, there is no victory or security evident on social media. The numbers are simply overwhelming. We are outgunned 100-1. And there are more arenas with more challenging results.
This week, I had planned to be in Israel with our Unity mission, which had to be postponed as the Iran war ran its course. Instead, I pivoted, and for the second time in a month, I traveled to Washington to meet with Members of Congress, Senators, and their staff; with senior members of the President’s administration, and with my colleagues from around the country to coordinate our efforts.
This week, over 400 Jewish leaders from over 100 Jewish communities and 30 national organizations went to Capitol Hill organized by the Jewish Federations of North America and we asked for support - for an increase in Non-Profit Security Grant funding and a streamlining of the application process; additional funding for security guards at our institutions, greater coordination between the Federal Government and local law enforcement, with the appropriate and necessary resources, focused resources and personnel at the Department of Justice and the FBI to address even more comprehensively the proximate threats to our community, and the development of a Federal strategy to address the use of social media in the demonization of our people and the coordination of bloodthirsty actions against it. The response from almost all of those I met with was encouraging and reassuring, and the meetings with administration officials were even more so. We are being heard and we are being listened to. At our own local and state levels, that has been the case as well, and we are grateful for all of the support.
But we have only to look a few miles south to New York City to see that our communities have grave challenges ahead. This week the Democratic primary went to Mr. Mamdani, an avowed blood libeler, someone who has proposed legislation in the State assembly to strip charitable status from some Jewish charities, who will not step away from the murderous terminology used by the killer in Washington DC a few weeks ago. He is reflective of our broader challenge. We have an essentially unfought adversary on our doorstep. WE must write the final chapter. Next week, I’ll describe some ways in which we can do it.
On Monday, June 30, at 7 PM, please join our Federation’s annual general meeting, which will include music from Cantors Barry and Amy Kanarek, light refreshments, and reporting on Federation’s recent work. You can register HERE.