Sometimes it’s hard to be an antisemite.
Even though our haters have made remarkable strides in vilifying Jews around the world, caused a massive rise in antisemitic violence and hate crimes, and generally made Jews look worse than the actual monsters trying to masssacre us, sometimes it’s not enough. They find that despite their best efforts, there are still some people who are not okay with blaming Jews for the world’s collective ills.
In the past, when this happened, their go-to response was to shift blame. No, they argued, we aren't heaven forbid against the Jews, they were simply anti-Israel. Hating the Jewish state was a totally different and morally acceptable thing in contrast to hating Jews. And so, since October 7th, they’ve perpetuated the claim that Zionism was separate from Judaism, and one could hate one without hating the other. It was only the wicked Zionism they were fighting against, and sadly, too many Jews, eager to show their loyalty to secular values, began to parrot the same line.
It is, of course, the same old excuse antisemites have always used. It’s never the Jews. It’s always the “internationalists” or the “Talmudists” or whatever buzzword happens to be in vogue at the time. The trick is to describe your enemies as Jews while not actually referring to them as such.
Yet in recent months, this tactic has proven increasingly ineffective. The attacks on Jews around the world, as well as on synagogues, businesses, and private homes, have shown that for the antisemite, Jew is synonymous with Israeli. The Jews who were attacked were not Israeli, and as far as the attackers knew, had no connection to the Jewish state. But they were Jews and were therefore guilty by association.
Besides, the libels spread by antisemites have become recognized for what they are. More and more people are waking up to the fact that claiming Israelis willfully murder children and Jews drink children’s blood is the same hate rampant in the Middle Ages, just in a different packaging. When the libels are so close to traditional Jew hatred, it’s impossible to keep the mask on.
It’s even harder for politicians. As Democrats move further and further into extreme antisemitism, political leaders need to figure out a way to ride the wave without alienating their still sizable Jewish support base. They somehow need to show Jewish voters that they are willing to maintain the traditional bipartisan support for Israel to some extent, while still appealing to the antisemites who want to see the Jewish state burned to the ground. Pity the poor politicos who have to walk that tightrope.
And so they have latched onto the same old trick. When in doubt, rebrand. Instead of being anti-Israel, they say, they are simply anti-Netanyahu. They fully support Israel, they claim, with a support that remains unwavering. Instead, the beef is with Israel’s leader, one Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu.
There are, to be sure, perfectly reasonable reasons to criticize the Prime Minister. Like any world leader, he’s far from perfect. During his long tenure, he has racked up his share of mistakes and scandals.
This has also been true recently. His attempts at Judicial reform have been one of the most divisive issues in Israel’s history. Proponents argue that it will bring much-needed change to a corrupt system. Opponents say that it’s a complex maneuver for Bibi to avoid criminal charges. The issue spilled into the streets, with thousands raucously protesting his proposed reforms. It led to a moment of national disunity that left Israel primed and vulnerable for the events of October 7th.
Even as the war rages, he’s not without his detractors. The Israel Business Forum, representing most private sector workers from 200 of the country’s largest companies, warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his policies are leading the country into a “dangerous and unprecedented economic and political downturn.” Except the economy and stock exchange are booming.
In short, Benjamin Netanyahu is unpopular with a significant sector of Israeli society, but far from the majority. For many Israelis, he is Israel’s Trump, with everything that designation entails. This makes him the perfect candidate for vilification.
It’s Bibi and his "fascist" rightwing government, the West's antisemites claim, that are the real problem. Bibi and his ilk are responsible for the current “genocide” in Gaza and somehow for the entire war. They're not at all antisemitic, they argue, or even anti-Israel. Instead, they are merely opposed to what they consider a wicked and brutal regime.
This is, after all, perfectly reasonable. In democracy, citizens have the right and even the duty to criticize. Free speech is a hallmark of Western values. In fact, to try to silence their grievances is to block free speech and prove the claim that he’s a fascist. It’s even consistent. The same people claiming that Bibi is the source of all the world’s ills have no compunction about making a similar claim about President Trump.
And so, like the biblical scapegoat, Bibi becomes the bearer of all the Jews’ sins. He’s transformed from a moral politician into a sort of modern-day bogeyman, hiding under the beds and in closets of the decent Western world.
In their minds, Netanyahu is all-powerful. He singlehandedly started this war and is keeping to going for reasons vague yet sinister. The Arab world meanwhile is absolved of all blame for the current situation. The fault lies entirely on one man.
In this sick delusion, it’s not the Palestinian Arab terrorists, who butchered and massacred innocent civilians in the most barbaric ways imaginable, who are the criminals. Nor is it the Hamas leadership who refuses to free the hostages, uses schools and hospitals to launch rockets and uses their own people as human shields. Not even Qatar, Turkey and Iran who fund these war crimes, as well as funding the growing antisemitism around the world. It doesn’t even matter that it’s Hamas’ repeated refusal to accept a ceasefire that is causing the war to continue Somehow the guilt of all the world’s wrongs fall on Netanyahu’s shoulders.
Just what Bibi has done to keep the war going, why he wants the war to continue, and how he goes about orchestrating these events is never fully explained. Luckily, they don’t need to be. Like all other disguises of antisemitism over the years, people are willing to accept the claim without question or further inquiry. Many in the West, especially in the political sphere, are quick to denounce Bibi. Yet none have yet come forward with any specific concrete claims, let alone actual proof, of why he deserves their condemnation.
Instead, they are happy to go to the media and attack him in the strongest terms for the vaguest crimes. And it works. Ask the average left-leaning or progressive Westerner who the biggest villain in the world is. They won’t say Vladmir Putin or Kim Jong Un. They won’t even name Donald Trump. They certainly won’t say Hamas. Instead, they will point right back to Bibi. But while they’re sure he’s the cause of all these troubles, they’d be hard pressed to explain why (asking for proof of any claims is asking far too much). It’s simply taken as a dogmatic statement of fact, as are all antisemitic claims.
He has become Israel’s whipping boy. Bibi has been thoroughly defamed in the West so that good progressives can hate Jews without actually having to admit to it. He allows antisemites to make the same claims they used to make about Israel, or about Jews themselves, while allowing themselves to couch it in terms that suggest that what they oppose is really something entirely reasonable.
After all, they argue, many Israelis hate Netanyahu. Surely no one would claim that Israelis are against themselves or antisemitic.
Again, there are legitimate reasons to criticize Netanyahu as well as his government’s actions and policies. Many find fault in his constant political maneuvering. Others have a personal animosity towards him, still others in the face of criminal allegations against him. There is anger at his long tenure as PM, with some accusers feeling that he puts his own interests before those of the nation he leads. A fair percentage of the Israeli population is very critical of the way Bibi runs their country. It’s true, many Israelis are very much against Bibi. But increasingly, to left wing Israelis, the realization has dawned that these Western idiots are their greatest enemies.
More and more liberal Jews see the danger and are saying that they are sick of having their valid concerns and critiques lumped in with Western antisemites. It takes away from what they consider real serious issues that need addressing. As so many have expressed, they hate Bibi because they strongly disagree with his policies and politics. The West hates Bibi because they think he’s literally Hitler. The two are not the same.
The modern Israeli leftist today finds that their rational concerns are hijacked to lend support to an antisemitic conspiracy theory they vehemently oppose. For these Israeli liberal Zionists, this means that they increasingly dare not speak out, lest their words be taken as fuel to the fire. Worse still for them, they find themselves in the unenviable position of having to actually defend Netanyahu. He might be bad, they feel, but he’s not anything close to the fanatically grotesque things the West claims he is. They understand too well that supporting the West’s attempt to make Bibi the fall guy might work short-term, but in the end, it will only make their own concerns seem equally invalid.
Imagine those poor souls on the Israeli left who have spent years attacking Bibi now having to argue to the world that he’s not the devil he’s made out to be.
According to the antisemites in the West, everything seems to be because of Bibi. He has been accused of personally being behind the assassination of Charlie Kirk, of suppressing the Epstein files, and of causing COVID. Another few weeks and he’ll be accused of sinking the Titanic and causing the fall of Constantinople. And just where was he when JFK was shot?
To its credit, much of the Jewish left has so far done an admirable job of refusing to allow antisemites to co-opt their movement. Much as it disgusts them, leftist Jews around the world are standing strong and refusing to give legitimacy to Jew-haters’ claims.
Sadly, this doesn't apply to many on the left in Israel’s government, who seem far too willing to throw Bibi under the bus for what they hope will be a political advantage. In recent months, they have repeatedly and shamelessly latched on to any attempt to discredit Bibi, no matter what the cost to the Jewish State. The actions of these politicians have raised the price for freeing the hostages, prolonged the war and put Israeli citizens in ongoing danger. Traitors like Ehud Olmert would gladly see Israel crumble so long as they get their share of the ruins. These cowards are risking the wellbeing of the national they claim to be representing and should be rightfully condemned. Fortunately, the common citizens on the Zionist left are showing better judgment than their leaders.
I have many friends on the political left who feel that there's plenty to complain about without making things up and who are sick at the idea of their very real concerns being appropriated for hate. They know that their support would feed into the designs of those who will turn it into an attack against all jews, whether they support Bibi or not. Their speaking out shows true courage and real strength of character.
Now is the moment for the rest of the Jewish world to follow their brave example and to stand up with courage and conviction.
We must unmask the latest rebranding of antisemitism, refuse to remain silent, and expose it for the hatred it truly is. If we do not act decisively, we risk allowing Jew hatred to gain a dangerous new foothold in society—one that wears respectability as a mask while endangering our futures.
History has taught us that silence is complicity. Our voices and our vigilance are our best defense. The time to call out this injustice is now, before it becomes further entrenched.
The idea that anti-Israel speech is different from antisemitism has already collapsed under the weight of current events. The Jews around the world who have been assaulted by angry mobs, chased in the streets, stabbed, and shot in cold blood were attacked by the same people who believe in the conspiracy theories propagated by anti-Israel activists. We’ve exposed this lie. Now, it’s time we turn our attention to the latest blood libel
The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks OBM called antisemitism a mutating virus. It's time we vaccinate ourselves against the spread of Bibi derangement disease.
Ilan Goodman is a museum collections professional and exhibition curator who also serves as a rabbi and educator. He made Aliyah to Israel in 2011 and lives with his wife and children in Beit Shemesh.