My new article on Linkedin “Israel’s Hopeless Fight against Terrorism”

Recently, we learned that the US government and the Palestinian Authority have resumed their economic talks after a five-year hiatus. According to the State Department, the talks will revolve around infrastructure development, access to US markets, US regulations, free trade, financial issues, renewable energy, and environmental initiatives. In Israel, some people are concerned that the funds will not go to their stated goals but to fund terrorist activities, while others hope that a higher standard of living for Palestinians will reduce their propensity for terrorism. I think that terrorism stems from hatred and the political goals of those who promote it. Therefore, more or less resources will have no effect on its intensity or frequency.

Look at Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and all the governments in the Near and Middle East. For them, terrorism is a tool, a means to gain power and further their goals. The Palestinians are pawns to be sacrificed when circumstances make it advantageous. For leaders in the Middle East, terrorism is a legitimate means to pressure rivals and enemies, a way to gain control. It is a dirty business, as is the business of funding it.

As for Israel, we have only ourselves to blame, since our internal division weakens us and emboldens our enemies. There is only one thing we can do to protect ourselves: solidify our cohesion, social unity, mutual responsibility and solidarity.

Instead of worrying pointlessly about what others are doing, we should rekindle the spirit of connectedness among ourselves. Otherwise, our “neighbors” will soon oust us. The social rules of the State of Israel must be those that guided us until the ruin of the Temple: mutual responsibility and solidarity. When Maimonides repeatedly emphasizes in his commentaries on the Mishnah that “All of Israel are friends,” he means it not as a metaphor, but to affirm the basis of our nationhood. Without it, we are strangers who have no place on this land since we are not a nation.

The only law that should apply in the State of Israel is “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Since we are still unable to live by it, we should at least strive for it. Our progress toward it will justify our presence here.

When we strive for unity and cohesion, we are “a light unto nations.” When we bicker and slander each other, we spread poison and bile throughout the world, for which the world then hates us.

We can make any hostile government or regime behave favorably toward us or the other way around. We do not need to cajole or cajole anyone into accepting us. All we need to do is work on our internal unity. The example we will set will earn us the recognition of the world and make our presence in our country welcome in the eyes of the world.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “An Israel That the World Would Love”

Among the many divisions that plague the Israeli society, one of the fiercest is the dispute between those who want to define Israel as a nation state for all its citizens and those who want to define it as the nation state of the Jews. Currently, the chasm between them seems irreconcilable. There is a way to resolve it in a way that benefits both sides and which the world embraces, but to do that, we must revive the original spirit of Judaism.

Maimonides writes in Mishneh Torah that in ancient Babylon, Abraham discovered that a single force governs nature, but it divides into the two opposites that we experience as day and night, winter and summer, cold and hot, male and female, and so forth. He also discovered that when you realize that the opposites come from a single source, you see how they complement each other and together create our reality and maintain its balance and harmony.

Abraham told what he had discovered to anyone who took interest in his words. In those days, Babylon was in a social crisis and tensions and violence grew among its people. The book Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer details the conflicts that Abraham observed: “They wished to speak each other’s language” as before, but “they did not know each other’s language. What did they do?” asks the book, “They each took his sword and fought one another to death. Indeed,” concludes the book and describes the inevitable outcome: “half the world died there by the sword.”

When Abraham introduced his idea that differences are inherent in nature and complement one another rather than compete with one another, many people in Babylon took to it and Abraham began to garner followers. Gradually, people from all over Babylon united around him. When he moved out of Babylon and headed for Canaan, still more people joined him along the way.

Isaac and Jacob, continues Maimonides in his description in Mishneh Torah, followed in Abraham’s spiritual footsteps. Under their leadership, the alien individuals became a nation united by the idea that opposites complement rather than compete.

These were the ancestors of the people of Israel. They were individuals who came from countless tribes and nations, cared nothing for each other, had no relation or affinity for one another, but believed in the tenet that opposites complement rather than compete, and this is the secret to nature’s vitality and harmony; this is the secret of life.

Eventually, they were called Jews for two reasons: One was that they settled in Judah, and the other was that the Hebrew word Yehudi [Jew] comes from the word Yechudi [united/unique]. The unity-above-oppositeness that they had attained made them a nation and gave them their strength.

Over time, Jews often fell from their sublime perception. When they were overcome by competitiveness and hostility, they became divided and weak, and other nations conquered and tortured them. When they restored their unity above oppositeness, they regained their strength and other nations venerated them.

The current State of Israel is rife with division and replete with clashing opposites. There is no Abraham to tell them to unite above their disputes, that opposites complement rather than compete, and that one-sidedness is their worst enemy. But if we want the State of Israel to persist and for the world to appreciate it, we must nevertheless return to our core tenet of complementary opposites.

Currently, the world hates us because instead of demonstrating how to make opposites complement, we are exporting high tech weaponry and cyberwar software. If we want peace to prevail, we must do it the way we teach Israeli officers to lead: by personal example.

Only if we realize that no one will win the argument over defining Israel as a nation state for all its citizens or only for the Jews since we are meant to complement these opposites rather than win the argument, only then will we be able to make peace among ourselves. And as we do so, we will find that the world welcomes our newly found unity and embraces the idea of unity above divisions. If, however, we insist on division, the world will divest from us, boycott us, and sooner rather than later, the country will dissolve.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Trump Calls a Spade a Spade”

The anger of many American Jews over Donald Trump’s remarks about American Jewry comes as no surprise to anyone. In a recent interview with an Israeli journalist, Trump quoted his father’s words that Jews used to have “a great love of Israel” but it had “dissipated over the years.” To this he added his own words: “I must be honest. It’s a very dangerous thing that’s happening. People in this country that are Jewish no longer love Israel.” He has said it before, and I think he is absolutely right when he says that the chasm between the State of Israel and American Jewry is very dangerous, not only for Israel, but also for American Jewry.

Many American Jews support anti-Israel movements such as BDS and Jewish Voice for Peace not only because they believe in the values that these entities purport to stand for. They support them because they are anti-Israel, and they are anti-Israel because they are ashamed of their own Jewishness. Every day, they move further away from Judaism until eventually they lose all connection to it.

When I say that they shun their Judaism, I am not talking about Jewish customs. I am sure many of them observe those, and still shun Israel. The shunning of Judaism has to do with rejecting the core of Judaism—the unity and mutual responsibility that Israel is obligated to show the world. Instead of caring for their brothers, they show concern for the enemies of their own tradition thinking that by doing so they are showing true Jewish values. Someone should tell them that their Muslim “friends” are not buying that. Muslims will not love them any better when they decide to wipe out the Jews.

This is the same type of Judaism that aroused the most intense hatred in the Nazis, and today’s American Jewry is going to great lengths to form a sequel. The few who understand this are moving out, some to Israel and others elsewhere. However, unless we unite above the chasms in our nation, there will be no safe haven for Jews.

When it comes to anticipating trouble, we have never been wise. We tend to bury our heads in the sand or sink into hubris and complacency. When trouble starts, it invariably gets worse and worse until there is a cataclysm. Only afterwards is there relief. It is all too bad that for all the times we have been through this scenario, we never seem to learn.

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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Jewish Unity Against Extinction”

“I can see very strong antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment, and it’s beginning to be ‘okay,’” said Professor Israel Aumann, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Economics, in a recent interview with local newspaper Israel Hayom. I share his concern and “great sorrow, it is spreading within streams that are considered the bon ton of global society.” We have the diagnosis, but it is extremely urgent to begin intensive treatment to cure Jew hatred before it is too late. The cure is in our hands and in the hands of no one else, we just need to recognize it.

“There has always been antisemitism of the extreme Right in the world. But the extreme Right doesn’t lead the world and doesn’t set the tone. Those who really have influence are the progressives and the moderate Left in America and Europe,” Aumann added. That’s an accurate reflection, but whether the hate comes from the Right or the Left, it’s still hate, it’s still dangerous. Therefore, we should look at its source and not stop to ask why the Jews and the State of Israel are being attacked so violently. We need to examine how to neutralize all kinds of hatred against us and achieve a good life.

Already 14 years ago, in September 2007, when I met with Prof. Aumann at a round table discussion, he pointed out that relations in Israeli society have changed for the worse, as people only care about their small private slit. “Something has been lost here, and I think that is the reason for all the difficult problems that are overtaking us, including in the area of security,” he told me at the time.

“In my opinion, we will not be able to exist here much longer on the basis of post-Zionist ideals, which in reality are not ideals, but lacking ideals. First, because we are still surrounded by enemies, and second, because today there are elements within the state that do not want the State of Israel to continue to exist as a Jewish state.

“Then there may or may not be physical destruction, but if we continue on the current path, we will lose our identity completely, and I find that very unfortunate and disturbing,” he said.

In fact, the situation has only worsened because of the increased selfishness of Israel’s society which has permeated into many facets of our daily life. In the world, too, the same ego that grew from generation to generation and propelled humanity to development and prosperity in all spheres reached its peak at the end of the twentieth century, until all the boundaries we knew in the past were broken. And so today we all find that we are in a small global village and yet simultaneously there is vociferous hatred between people.

This hostility threatens the very existence of humanity and especially the people of Israel. The selfishness that has erupted in Israel over the last sixty years has led to a drastic alienation between us. The value of “love your neighbor as yourself” that bound us together as a people before the destruction of the Temple has completely disappeared. We have sunk to an unprecedented low, and as Prof. Aumann said, this poses an existential threat to us.

If the alienation between us continues, we will completely lose our identity as a people and as a society. And if we lose ourselves and disappear as a people, we cease to provide the world with its spiritual oxygen, we cease to function as a “light unto the nations.” Consequentially, instead of helping humanity we hinder it. In response, humanity rises up and shows intense hatred for us from all sides of the political spectrum, blaming us for all the evil in the world.

In order to contain the growing threat of antisemitism and preserve the existence of our people and our state, we must return to the principle of “love your neighbor as yourself.” That is the only solution; the cure for hate is love. Therefore, we must first agree that the realization of the value of love between us is the foundation and basis for our existence as a people. Without this love, we do not have the right to be called “one people”; we are just a collection of people living on a common piece of land with nothing to bind us.

In our lives, everything depends on education, on changing human attitudes, on rising above our differences and strengthening the mutual guarantee and consideration between us. It will lead us back to fulfilling our role as a Jewish nation, which Rav Kook clearly stated, namely, “to unite the whole world in one family.” Only when we begin to internalize the importance and value of loving others can we save our people, our country and the entire world.
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The UN has issued another statement condemning Israel. However, we must understand that the main reason for the hatred of Jews is the fact that we are not fulfilling our purpose in the world, which is to explain to all nations how to achieve good connection and peace; otherwise, the world will slide further down its downward spiral.

The growth of antisemitism comes from the general law of development of humanity. If humanity has to develop and we do not sweeten this development through our correct behavior, then we cause hatred toward us. This is a law of nature.

Therefore, antisemitism will grow, and there is only one solution, which was described in the wisdom of Kabbalah and in the Torah thousands of years ago. We will not be able to escape from our mission. We have nowhere to hide. There is no place on Earth where we would be able to exist if we do not establish correct relationships.

Then it will influence all the nations of the world and they will look at us differently. Everything depends on the good and correct connection between Jews because the people of Israel were assembled from representatives of all the nations of the world. Only in this form can we oblige all nations to good association and connection, and then peace and tranquility will come to the entire world.

We are holding the key to happiness for the entire world. I cannot express how painful it is for me to see how people suffer and do not find solutions because they do not understand in what form nature operates and what interconnections exist in it. Yet, there is a solution. According to what the wisdom of Kabbalah and the Torah say nothing is required except for one thing: to bring the people of Israel to unity, and we will thus cause all the nations of the world to unite.

Unfortunately, it is easier for Jews to unite with their enemies and haters than with each other. After all, uniting with each other belongs to correction, and uniting with haters belongs to corruption. Our stony heart is drawn to corruption.

While we do not do that, nature will be beating us. Two days ago, more than hundred people died as a result of a tornado in the US state of Kentucky. In a few seconds, the city turned into ruins, an apocalyptic scene. And nature is already preparing more tornadoes.

It is possible to stop all natural disasters by uniting people. Let’s try. Maybe it will help right now. The force of unity of people is more powerful than any tornado, any natural disaster. It is even stronger than the upper force.

Any disaster—a hurricane, a financial crisis, a viral epidemic—all these are blows of nature in response to the lack of unity between people. The connection between people is the most internal force in the world, and if it is not sufficient, then nature reacts with blows.

Yet, people cannot unite because there is a group in humanity called Jews. This group is mandated to come to unity first and thus awaken the feeling in all the nations of the world that unity is the cure for all troubles.

Therefore, the nations of the world need to turn to the Jews and demand that they start working on their unification. This is what the United Nations is for. Instead of condemning the State of Israel, let them protest against the people of Israel all over the world for not working on unification in order to prevent natural disasters in all corners of the world in any form.

It does not matter in which country a Jew lives, in Russia, in America, or in Israel, whether he is rich or poor, any Jew who does not work on unification causes disasters in the world. Therefore, time is running out, we need to unite right now. Only if we show the entire world an example of unity, will we fulfill our purpose.
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From KabTV’s “Conversation with Journalists” 12/12/21

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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “The World’s Only Harm-Doers”

As I wrote some three weeks ago, last Thursday the UN passed the final resolution regarding its support for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA). The tally, in a record vote, was 164 in favor of the resolution, and 1 against—Israel. The resolution was one of several votes, all of which condemn Israel very sharply, and one even declares that “the Palestinians are entitled to their property [since 1948] and to the income derived therefore in conformity of equality and justice.”

Two days prior, “expressing outrage over Israel’s continuing harassment of human rights,” the UN Human Rights Council has resolved to set up “an international, independent commission of enquiry to investigate, ‘all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up and since 13 April 2021.’”

If the entire world, not figuratively but literally the entire world, tells us that we are evil, that we are the only harm-doers, and we see no fault in our actions, shouldn’t we at least ask why the false perception? Could it be that it is our perception that is false? How come we never ask ourselves these questions and automatically reproach the entire world of being antisemitic? If it is antisemitic, and if it wants our destruction, why did it give us a country in the first place? And if it gave us a country, why does it now want to take it away?

It is not that Israeli copywriters are worse than their Palestinian counterparts, or that Israel does not allocate enough resources to explain its position. The simple truth is that in the eyes of larger and larger portions of humanity, we are the only harm-doers in existence. It makes no difference what we say or how we say it, since if we are the only ones to blame, then there is no one else to blame but us for everything that’s wrong with the world.

If this is the case, we should ask ourselves why the world thinks so. It does not think so because there is a Jewish state, since during the Holocaust or during the expulsion from Spain there was no Jewish state, but still we were regarded as the only harm-doers in the world. The world does not think so because of the libel that we pollute wells that cause pandemics, since the world hated us before and after the pandemics. The world also does not hate us because of anything that has to do with Christianity, since Muslims and even complete atheists readily hate us. Finally, the world does not hate us because of our race since there was antisemitism long before there were Nazis and racism.

The world changes its pretexts for hating Jews faster than the seasons change, but our own sages never change their minds, not once. They, too, think that we are the only harm-doers in the world, or as they put it, “No calamity comes to the world but for Israel” (Yevamot 63a). However, they also tell us why they think so, and their reasoning has never changed.

The only purpose of our people is to serve as “a light unto nations.” Once we united “as one man with one heart” and established our nationhood, we were tasked with setting an example to humanity. We, the nation that emerged from an assortment of strangers who hated one another, became a proof that with great resolve, people can rise above their hatred and unite.

Through our unity, we formed a society based on mutual responsibility and loving our neighbor as ourselves. We fell out of unity and rose back to unity, and along with our ups and downs, we lost and regained our sovereignty in the land of Israel. Accordingly, our sages never pinned our downfalls on foreign tyrants; they always attributed them to our disunity. For instance, they did not write that Titus destroyed the Temple, but rather, “The Second Temple … why was it ruined? It was because there was unfounded hatred in it” (Yoma 9b).

We should have no qualms about it: If we maintain our division, the resolutions of the UN will grow increasingly hostile and increasingly emphatic toward the Jewish state. Soon, the nations will declare, by a huge majority if not unanimously, to give Palestine to the Palestinians and that Resolution 181, to divide the land between Jews and Arabs, was an unfortunate mistake.

As long as we are not being what Jews are meant to be—people who unite above their division—the world has no need for us. Once it gives up on our ability to set an example of unity, it will resolve to eliminate the Jewish state and expel its Jewish residents.

If we care about our future more than about the pleasure of righteous indignation, we should muster the resolve to show the world that Jews who hated one another just a moment ago can truly be as brothers.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Denying Antisemitism Will Not Eliminate It”

Antisemitism is on the rise and Jews are being attacked hourly in various parts of the world, but everyone seems to deny it. Even when the danger is right in front of their eyes, Jews in Europe and the United States say, “It will not happen to me.” Leaders and governments promise, “We will not tolerate such extremists,” but nothing really changes for the better. And nothing will change until we treat the root cause of the disease.

In ancient Babylon, about four thousand years ago, people stopped understanding each other, as a consequence, confusion, fighting, and chaos ensued. A sage named Abraham emerged and taught them how to overcome narrow-minded selfishness – receiving only for your own benefit – the cause of all conflicts. If we learn how to do this, we will discover in the new relationships that arise between us a special power hidden in nature: the power of love and giving.

Those who became Abraham’s disciples learned the method of connecting with love above their ego and differences, and then the nation of Israel was formed. Throughout history, the mentors who came after Abraham continued to teach the method of acquiring a desire for unity and bestowal. But about two thousand years ago, people began to submit to their egoistic selfish desires. This caused the ruin of the Temple, as hatred between people took over. The spiritual connection that existed between us was destroyed, and our altruistic worldview was reduced to self-centered concern.

From then until today, the main thing that keeps Jews together is the hatred expressed towards us from other people. It reminds us that we belong to that same nation that descended from Abraham. Antisemites make us brothers in arms against the hatred we experience.

The hatred towards us has caused all sorts of phenomena. Firstly, throughout history there were Jews who tried to escape from antisemitism by giving up their Judaism, and in the process became great antisemites themselves. “The Conversos”, Jews who converted to Catholicism in 14th and 15th century Spain were great examples of this. Secondly, Jewish communities suffering from persecution looked for ways to escape the hatred by assimilating with the other cultures in order to negate the antisemitism.

They even paid to the authorities and assisted in everything they could in the hope that they would let them survive somehow. It was clear to the Jews that they were hated, but there was no point in talking about it. Third, the authorities for their part also played the game. In general, it was good for them to deny basic antisemitism, and to find up-to-date excuses for their hostile treatment of Jews.

Today, we see the same lady with a different outfit. You will not find a government that declares itself antisemitic. The UN will also oppose antisemitism in public, of course, but it is evident the outrageous biased treatment of this organization towards the only Jewish nation, Israel, denotes something else. Denying antisemitism publicly is often a smoke screen for either doing nothing about the problem or worse, actually committing those actions they seemingly denounce.

So, one may ask, is this the fate of the Jews? Will this bad movie never end? Everything is in our hands. If we understand that antisemitism is a natural phenomenon, ingrained in the nations of the world, then we can also find the cure for that hatred.

What Abraham tried to teach everyone in ancient Babylon is desperately needed in the world today. The human ego has reached enormous proportions; people are more hateful towards each other, at a time when the world is becoming more connected and interdependent. We are all in the same boat, highly dependent on each other and without a new way of life, we will not be able to survive the 21st century.

People feel that the Jews have some secret that they are hiding, some special power, and their accusations are correct. Although we ourselves are not aware of this, we inherited the wisdom of connection which we are not spreading to the world. King Solomon said “Hate stirs strife, and love covers all crimes (Proverbs 10:12). This teaches how to evoke into action the force of bestowal to cover the great ego with love. When we reveal this force between us, we will see how the hatred towards us is replaced by love from everyone.
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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 12/12/21

America is deeply divided, split in half between the political left and right. It is particularly alarming when such polarization blinds American Jews to antisemitism and makes them oblivious to it if the hatred is coming from a political sphere that they concur with. That is exactly what is happening now and which may bring dangerous consequences in the future.

In a rare speech, Michael Bloomberg, the Jewish-American billionaire and former New York Mayor, recently called on U.S. Jews to refrain from partisanship and open their eyes to “antisemitic violence that is deeply unsettling,” and coming from all sides. The hatred is manifested as physical violence against Jews, damage to synagogues and subversive conspiracies on social media.

“When faced with these kinds of attacks, we like to imagine that our community will naturally put aside its differences and stand together in solidarity,” Bloomberg said. “Yet history records that the opposite is often the case. The Talmud teaches that the Second Temple was destroyed in part because of baseless hatred — one Jew against another.”

Does Bloomberg’s statement indicate that American Jews are beginning to understand what their role is and how they should act? I hope so. However, this is not the correct way we should come to the realization of our role in the world as Jews. Not being aware of it just prolongs the agonizing pressure of hatred towards the Jewish people.

But despite the great difficulty facing American Jews, they still dream of a promising future. If they do behave in any fraternity between them, it will only be like brothers in time of need, to preserve themselves and be saved from antisemitic pressure, not out of a tendency to fundamentally investigate their origins, role, and destiny. Jews have no sense of closeness to their roots. If not for the hatred towards them from all strata of American society, which points to them negatively as Jews, they would have long ago been totally divided.

Due to the reluctance of the Jews to know who they are and what they are and due to their evasion of Judaism and their role, the antisemitic pressure continues to increase and may easily reach a similar situation to that of Nazi Germany. There, too, it all began with petty and marginal things, until it deteriorated to the point where Jews were excluded from state law, and from outside societal laws in general. If this happened in Nazi Germany which was more developed and the Jews were an integral part of it, there is no reason why it should not happen in America.

History has repeatedly tried to teach us, Jews, that we will be really valued and appreciated not for leadership among other peoples, not for financial success and prosperous business. Rather, we need to get to a point where we know exactly what to engage in, what our mission is. Know it and implement it.

Our mission is related to the free hatred that was revealed between us in the Second Temple, but the mission did not end there. Quarrels and conflicts are the basis on which we must transcend, lovingly cover all crimes and thereby set an example to the whole world that is in constant war and needs a similar method of connection. This has always been our destiny. No other people can fulfill our role, and as long as we do not perform it, the world suffers and consequently hates us.

There is no expectation here from Bloomberg and American Jewry to become unconditionally pro-Israel and develop sympathy and closeness to Israel, but the aspiration is to be pro-Jewish. For now, the State of Israel is neither an example nor a “light unto nations”, nor does it have a tendency to approach our identity and our destiny. There is nothing in today’s Israeli society that can be boasted of, spread and shown as an example of unity and cordial connection.

Every Jew, in Israel and abroad – and in general anyone who can connect to the Jewish idea – should strive to direct himself to the values of the people of Israel, to the foundations of Judaism which are connection over separation, love over hatred, “and love your neighbor as yourself”—this is the whole Torah.
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My new article on Linkedin “We’ve Turned Ourselves into Temporary Residents”

A few days ago, the United Nations General Assembly passed a (yet another) resolution denying Jewish ties to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Instead of referring to it by its Jewish name, Temple Mount, after the Temple that King Solomon built there 3,000 years ago, as well as by its Muslim name al-Haram al-Sharif, it will now refer to it only by the latter. I cannot blame the world for doing so. When we turn ourselves into temporary residents, shun our historic task and obligation to the world, we cannot complain that the world wants to evict the seditious tenants.

We keep looking for better diplomatic ways to explain Israel’s position, to show that we’re valuable to the world and that we have a historic right to live here. We don’t understand that the world does not see things the way we do. It does not care about history, and it does not care about the “startup nation” we have built here. It sees us as a belligerent, invasive nation that has taken what doesn’t belong to it by exploiting the world’s remorse over the Holocaust.

We are arrogant and patronizing to think that the world owes us something. The world doesn’t think so, and the fact that we are not even asking why, but keep “explaining” to the nations our position, which they are clearly reluctant to hear, illustrates what conceit can do to a nation’s sense of judgment.

The thing we are getting absolutely wrong is our obligation to the world. We were placed here to build “a national home for the Jewish people,” just as the Balfour Declaration says. Regrettably, instead of building our home together, we are fighting one another. We’ve come to a point where we care more about destroying each other than about defeating the enemy. If we are not doing what we are meant to do here, then we have no reason for being here. This is how the world sees it, and the sooner we realize it, the better.

The current UN resolution focuses on Jerusalem and the West Bank. But more UN resolutions are on the way, and they will obviate our right to sovereignty on any part of the country that was not given to us in the 1947 UN Partition Resolution. Not long after, the UN will declare that Jews are an alien entity in Palestine, and that Palestine is where Israel used to be.

As long as we are here, we can reverse the trend, but we haven’t got much time. The only way to change the world’s view about Jewish presence in the Middle-East is if the Jews begin to act as they are expected. We were sent here to rebuild our nation, to reestablish our union, which formed a remarkable nation out of complete, and often hostile strangers who had decided to unite under the motto, “as one man with one heart.” This is our legacy, and only if we are true to it will the nations welcome us here, including the Arabs.

If we wish to work on our unity, then we have every right to declare that this is our goal in being here and that we will not allow anyone to interfere with our efforts. Not only will the world respect this declaration, it will support it.

Here are two examples of how two notorious antisemites relate to Jews when Jews set an example that the world wants to see and follow. Ukraine born Vasily Shulgin was a senior member of the Duma, the Russian Parliament, before the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. He was also an avid antisemite. In his book What We Don’t Like About Them…, he complains that “Jews in the 20th century have become very smart, effective, and vigorous at exploiting other people’s ideas. However,” he protests, “this is not an occupation for ‘teachers and prophets,’ not the role of ‘guides of the blind,’ not the role of ‘carriers of the lame.’” In another essay, Shulgin becomes almost poetic as he describes where the Jews can lead humanity if they rise to the challenge: “Let them … rise to the height to which they apparently climbed [in antiquity] … and immediately, all nations will rush to them. They will rush not by virtue of compulsion … but by free will, joyful in spirit, grateful and loving, including the Russians!”

A more terse example comes from none other than Henry Ford, who, when not building cars, dedicated much of his time to writing damning essays about Jews. In his infamous composition, The International Jew — The World’s Foremost Problem, Ford writes, “Modern reformers, who are constructing model social systems on paper, would do well to look into the social system under which the early Jews were organized.”

Ford’s grandson, by the way, made it a point to build one of the company’s plants in Israel as a token of support for the Jewish state. Symbolically, that plant is now closed. Unless we begin to work on our unity and strive to set the required example, the fate of our country will resemble the fate of Ford’s plant, and Israel’s Jews, who have turned themselves into temporary residents, will be evicted.
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My new article on Linkedin “Neither Diplomacy Nor Military Will Convince Iran Off Nuke”

It has been clear from the get go, but after the latest round of talks, everyone understands that Iran has no intention to stall its nuclear arms program. Even before the talks began, Iran’s former head of the nuclear program, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, admitted to his country’s efforts to build nuclear weapons. According to Reuters, “Iran abandoned any compromises it had made in talks to revive its 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, pocketed those made by others, and demanded more during indirect U.S.-Iran talks.”

It is written, “If one comes to kill you, kill him first” (Midrash Rabbah, Bamidbar 21:4, and elsewhere). Currently, it appears that Israel will have no choice but to land a preemptive strike to intercept Iran’s plan to destroy it. However, a permanent solution to Iran’s aggression lies not in severing its nuclear power, but in uniting our own ranks.

Regrettably, diplomacy does not work. No one is naive enough to believe that diplomats can solve anything. At best, diplomacy can maintain a facade of communication, something to maintain contact, but no one believes that there is any solution other than a military one.

Even threatening Iran with retaliating with a nuclear weapon in case it strikes with one will not deter it. Considering Iran’s treatment of its own people, it would have no problem losing half of its population for the pleasure of eradicating Israel.

And if we think that economic sanctions will derail Iran’s progress toward a bomb, we should think again. If anything, it will invigorate it and give it an excuse to attack Israel, which will be portrayed as the force behind Iran’s economic woes.

Therefore, as hard as it may be, I think we will have no choice but to “denuke” Iran on our own. If we let it launch a nuclear attack against us, it will not help us to know that we were right all along in assuming their foul intent. It is better to be alive and criticized than justified posthumously.

At the same time, a military solution can only help for so long. If all we rely on is our strength, we are in deep trouble. Currently, it seems like this is the case.

A lasting solution can be found only in our unity. If we unite, it will solve not only our problems with Iran, but with the rest of the world, as well.

Moreover, as I have explained in countless articles and several books (links to two of them below), Israel’s unity will “neutralize” the world’s hatred toward it. We may think of Iran as the aggressor and of ourselves as the potential victim, but the world sees it very differently. Look at the recent resolutions of the UN General Assembly, voting almost unanimously against Israel’s right to sovereignty. When it comes to Israel, the world sides with Iran, and we must ask ourselves why this is so.

The divided society in Israel is sending negative messages to the world. Not only do the nations ridicule us, they also blame us for being the aggressor in the region. Israel is accepted only when it is united. When we are divided, no one appreciates us, and everyone accuses us of their own troubles.

We are always at the center of attention, even, and especially when we do not want to be. We are the only country in the world that is a permanent, mandatory item on the agenda of several UN committees. Because we are so conspicuous, even if against our will, when we are hateful toward each other, this is the example we give to the world. As a result, the world hates us for inciting war and division.

But because we are always “on stage,” we are in a unique position to be a positive influence in the world by setting an exemplary society that others will want to emulate. If we rise above our differences and establish a society based on solidarity and mutual responsibility, this is the example we will give to the world, and the world will reciprocate it with appreciation.

This is why the only lasting, and in the end, possible solution to our problems with Iran, as well as with all other countries, is to work out the problem of our own division. If we do, our problems with the world will dissolve by themselves.

Further reading on the topics of Israel, Jews, and antisemitism: Like a Bundle of Reeds: Why unity and mutual guarantee are today’s call of the hour, and The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism, Historical facts on anti-Semitism as a reflection of Jewish social discord
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