Where do we go from here?

Lessons from Oct. 7

By Allen Menkin, MD, Project Manager, CAMERA’s Naples Partnership of Christians and Jews

On Oct. 7, 2023, Israel was invaded by barbaric sadists. We had not even counted our dead and wounded when we were informed that the Jewish State had been a criminal enterprise since its founding, and that “antisemitism” was now spelled a-n-t-i-zi-o-n-i-s-m. Whether we liked it or not, Jewish identity and security in America were inextricably linked to Israel.

The war we never wanted is far from over; our hostages have not yet been freed, and Israel will need our support for a long time. But the traditional Jewish year of mourning has passed, and it is time to consider where we go from here. IMHO.

Israel stands strong. The righteous IDF and IAF are dismantling Hamas and Hezbollah and bombing their puppet masters in Tehran. Our Christian partners have no doubt that they will prevail. They fully believe that Adonai Elohey Yisrael dwells among us and works miracles daily. We should do no less.

On Oct. 7, we were brethren in grief. The sinat chinam that had divided us was briefly suspended and tikkun am Yisrael became more important than tikkun olam. It was beautiful and must never be forgotten.

Antisemitism has been “normalized,” and the national data is appalling. But cain ayin hara, good public policy, good policing and good luck have, so far, kept Naples safe. However, there is no historical reason to expect that state bureaucracies will indefinitely defend our rights or our status as “special victims” (which is completely enfeebling and wholly inconsistent with today’s political culture), and luck is a fickle lady. We need to take responsibility for ourselves in our town, in our time.

Our enemies know the Book of Jew Detestation by heart, but it is a new story for our children and grandchildren. Eventually, they are going to realize that their elders fundamentally misjudged the times and circumstances in which we lived and have left them to navigate a world for which they are completely unprepared. We owe them far better.

“Elite institutions of higher education” were cesspools of antisemitism before Oct. 7 and have not repented their sins. They have just learned that it is bad optics and worse business to openly encourage Gaza encampments and Jew-Baiting as First Amendment rights. We need to keep the spotlight on them.

With a single exception, decades of American administrations conditioned peace in the Middle East on the establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza and “the West Bank.” They failed because the political, cultural and institutional bases for a Palestinian state willing to live peacefully alongside Israel have never existed, and the United States cannot wish, conjure or bribe them into being. As Shany Mor put it, “The principal grievance of the Palestinian cause . . . is not the absence of a desired nation-state but the existence of another one.” Indulging them brings war not peace.