Ben Cohen
Two years after the monstrous Hamas-led pogrom in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, we are faced with opportunity and anxiety in equal measure.
The opportunity lies in the Middle East, Israel’s own region. On the eve of the atrocity, Israel was confronted by a phalanx of Iranian proxies; as well as Hamas in Gaza, there was Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, an array of militias in Iraq and Syria, and, of course, the Iranian regime itself. In the interim, the depraved rapists of Hamas have been decimated, Hezbollah is a shadow of its former self, and the Iranian regime is still licking its wounds after the Israeli and U.S. bombing campaign in June wrought destruction upon its clandestine nuclear-weapons program. Israel is not the unchallenged power in the Middle East — Iran still presents a threat, as do Hamas-backers Qatar and Turkey — but it is the dominant one.
Yet Israel’s undoubted military gains have been achieved at a profound political cost — one that may take a decade or more to reverse even if the war in Gaza caused by the Oct. 7 massacre is brought to an end. That the Jewish state’s reputation would be in tatters mere weeks after the war began was not surprising. I remember telling a friend that the shock and sympathy expressed as the brutality of atrocities was revealed would last for about a week, “and then we’ll be Nazi Germany.”
That is not how it should be. It is simply how it is; hence, the anxiety that comes alongside the opportunity.
The antisemitism that has surged in the wake of the massacre to levels unseen since the 1930s is truly global in scale. There is barely a part of the world that has not been impacted by it, regardless of whether Jews happen to live there or not. The list of urgent situations that follows, then, is not, I willingly admit, curated according to any scientific yardstick. It is purely subjective, though I imagine it will chime with the thoughts of many others who share my concerns.
Defeat Zohran Mamdani. Let me start with the United States, where last week an Anti-Defamation League survey revealed that more than half of American Jews had experienced some form of antisemitism in the past year. It is in New York City — the most Jewish city in the world outside of the State of Israel — where, for now, the most decisive battleground lies. In less than a month, an Islamist antisemite is likely to be elected as mayor.
Zohran Mamdani could still be defeated at the ballot box, but for that to happen, he will need to face down only one opponent. Incumbent Democratic Mayor Eric Adams did the right thing by pulling out of the race, and now the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa, must do the same. The thought of Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an Independent, leading the city is hardly thrilling, but we are now in the “anyone but Mamdani” phase of the campaign, and only Cuomo is positioned to defeat Mamdani.
If Mamdani goes on to win the election, the imperative will then shift to inflicting as much damage as possible upon his administration. The vast majority of New York Jews view him as a threat to the well-being of our community, as evidenced most recently by the shameful statement he released on the second anniversary of the pogrom, in which he denounced Israel’s “occupation,” “apartheid” and “genocidal war,” ignoring the fact that the only genuinely genocidal act committed over the last two years was the one that occurred on Oct. 7.
Now we face a four-year battle against the spread of these noxious ideas through City Hall and beyond. No matter how bitter this conflict becomes, we cannot relent. Our politicians must understand that any compromise or accommodation with a New York City mayor who wants to destroy Israel as a Jewish, democratic state is the kiss of death for their careers. By defeating Mamdani — hopefully, before he attains office, but if necessary, afterwards by isolating and challenging him relentlessly — we will send a message that the dementia of antizionism has no place in the Democratic Party if it seriously seeks to govern this country again. Much as the COVID epidemic is now, we must work to ensure that Mamdani’s term as mayor is remembered as a ghastly experience that we never want to repeat.
Europe: Enough is enough. It’s hard to imagine that just days after the deaths of two Jews during an attack on a synagogue in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur, Europe could have sunk any lower than it has over the last two years. In Spain and Italy, pro-Hamas demonstrators are blocking roads and burning down stores and restaurants in their zeal. Spain, Ireland and Slovenia are three E.U. member states whose governments have sunk deeper into antisemitic rhetoric as the war has dragged on. From Lisbon to Athens and Stockholm to Naples, we must challenge this trend without mercy. Don’t waste your money vacationing in cities where the Palestinian flag (today’s equivalent of a swastika) is a more common sight than the national flag, and where those who are visibly Jewish are subjected to verbal and physical abuse. The welcome U.S sanctions against the Italian provocateur Francesca Albanese, who serves as the U.N. special rapporteur for the “occupied Palestinian territories,” should not be restricted to her alone, but should be applied to every official who sinks into the same mire that she has.
Create a standing international conference to combat antisemitism worldwide. The United States and Germany, two countries whose governments have rejected the trend of piling upon Israel, should take the lead in convening a top-level conference to combat the rise of Jew hatred. After the conference sets the tone — no space for antisemitism anywhere, ever — a standing committee must begin the work of monitoring and logging every outburst of antisemitism, pressuring governments to take all necessary measures, including banning pro-Hamas protests and designating pro-Hamas organizations, such as those sponsoring the recent flotillas heading for Hamas-ruled Gaza, for terrorism. Only then will we be able to test whether governments like those in Canada and Australia, who say they want to turn back the tide but do virtually nothing to achieve that outcome, can be considered as genuine partners.
Rewrite the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Many governments, municipalities and civil-society groups have endorsed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which includes several examples of antizionism. Still, the definition is not explicit enough. Antizionism must be identified as nothing more than a faithful mutation of antisemitism. Anyone who believes Israel has no right to exist as a Jewish state or that Jews living in their historic homeland are “colonists” is an antisemite. That is the message that must be hammered over and again.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas declared war not just on Israel but on Jews worldwide. For two years, we have been living with the consequences: insults, violence, injuries and deaths. If we don’t start fighting back now, then will we ever?
Ben Cohen is a senior analyst with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and director of FDD’s rapid response outreach, specializing in global antisemitism, anti-Zionism and Middle East/European Union relations.
