Are they serious? The President of the United States is finally doing what the Jewish community *dreamed* the Biden administration would do —taking action. Actual, tangible, visible action to hold campus agitators and foreign funders accountable.
And instead of applauding this long-overdue shift, some in our community are wringing their hands, crying “authoritarianism” and “chilling speech”? What are we even talking about?
Let’s be honest. For years, we asked for federal enforcement. We demanded investigations into the foreign nationals and organizations fomenting chaos and antisemitism on American college campuses. We pleaded for federal funding to be used as leverage against institutions that refuse to act.
This isn’t new. It’s not controversial. It’s what we asked for.
And now, when President Trump actually takes those steps—detaining individuals involved in illegal activity and making clear that there are consequences—we recoil? Why? The answer is simple: **fear.**
We are a people shaped by centuries of persecution. Pogroms. Expulsions. Genocide. That trauma runs deep. And today, it manifests as something almost unrecognizable since the founding of the Jewish State:
Fear of fighting back.
Fear of being blamed.
Fear that standing up for ourselves will unleash even more hatred.
So instead, the community cowers. In the Diaspora, Jews manage to convince themselves that moderation and silence are the only acceptable Jewish responses.
Even worse, a small, radical segment of our community—loud, self-righteous, and more connected with liberalism than it is with our tradition believes it has the authority to speak on behalf of all of us. Spoiler alert: **they don’t.**
They ignore, condescend to, or outright dismiss the voices of Jews who don’t fit their mold. They ignore Orthodox Jews and Sephardim. From the many unsafe cities for Jews in America they speak of human rights as if in Israel our human rights are disconnected. They look at Jabotinsky Jews as if we are some strange, backward tribe, unworthy of consultation, certainly unqualified to be counted as part of the "real" Jewish community.
Eric Fingerhut, the Jewish Federations of North America CEO, last week sent a letter to Jewish federation CEOs across the US making clear that objecting to the Trump administration’s plans to deport students for holding anti-Israel views and to defund and penalize universities is outside the Jewish consensus.
Mr. Eric Fingerhut was absolutely right to advise Federation CEOs not to sign onto a statement that was misleading, divisive, and out of touch with reality. That letter didn’t reflect the consensus of the Jewish community—it reflects the politics of a few. And it certainly didn’t reflect the needs of Jewish students and families who are living in fear on campuses and in cities worldwide.
Mr. Fingerhut showed the kind of moral clarity our community needs. Its rare that Jewish communal leaders make the right decision, but when they do it's time to say: good job!
Ronn Torossian, entrepreneur and philanthropist, is Chairman of Betar North America, and Vice Chairman of Betar Worldwide.