Atchalta, which provided the backing for this must-read essay, is a non-partisan Zionist leadership SWAT team that strives to be the gatekeeper of social cohesion and national resilience in Israel. Reposted with their permission.
Dor Lasker, Dr. Jael Eskenazi-Zilcha, and Dr. Carmit Padan are co-authors with Eran Shayshon.
As these lines are written, antisemitism is rampant, and Israel’s international standing is likely at its lowest point ever. Images from Gaza have detonated decades of efforts to weaponize progressive language against the Jewish state and American Jewish communities. The purpose of this document is not to undermine the legitimacy of criticism of Israel, even when we disagree with it or believe it to be one-sided and superficial. Similarly, the document does not aim to propose a political agenda to "reduce the pressure" on Israel, as the security considerations and implications of such an agenda fall outside the scope of the document.
Instead, this document focuses on the trends that have allowed Israel to become a symbol and a victim of the American zeitgeist. This is a phenomenon where celebrities proudly stand against it, where academics automatically adopt genocide claims without intellectual integrity, and where Israel serves as a political litmus test in Western democracies.
Like Israel on October 7th, American Jewish leadership was caught in a collective failure - an "October 8th conceptsia." They failed to grasp how deeply enemies had penetrated Western institutions and discourse, catalyzing the most significant wave of Jew-hatred since World War II. An orchestrated campaign, led by Western organizations, promoted the false narrative of Israel as a rootless colonial project. This narrative is effective because it complements Hamas’s indoctrination in Gaza, where the humanitarian crisis was a premeditated strategic goal, planned with the knowledge that Israel's necessary response would harm Palestinian Arab civilians.
Our adversaries’ core strategy has shifted to weaponizing language. Just as Hamas used dual-use materials for terror infrastructure, the anti-Israel campaign employs “dual-use terminology.” Ambiguous phrases are deployed not always as explicit hate, but to ‘troll’ the Jewish community, forcing endless, unproductive debates over definitions. The aim is to undermine the Jewish lived experience and violate the sanctity of safe spaces, in K-12 schools, or university campuses.
By obsessively seeking perfect clarity on what constitutes antisemitism, we play our detractors' game while real harm continues. Conversely, overly broad definitions from some quarters cheapen the term and dilute its power. The focus must shift from defining the threat to defeating it. The mandate is not to win a semantic argument, nor to undermine the legitimacy of criticism over Israeli policy, but to protect our communal spaces and lived experience.
The Jewish community's response is often hampered by a flawed premise: a "minority mindset" that fosters self-defeating, reactive strategies. This persists despite polling — including the latest Harvard Harris Poll conducted before the publication of this document [August 2025] — showing core support for Israel is far larger than the anti-Israel base. We are failing to turn majority sympathy into effective action. Moreover, the community's serving elite often seems ethically confused, adapting to external pressures instead of leading with moral clarity. This has left the community adrift precisely when it needs firm direction.
Jewish communal leadership paralysis is often driven by the internal dilemma of ‘liberal cred’ versus ‘Jewish cred.’ A desire for validation from liberal circles causes leaders to equivocate, balancing support for defensive actions with criticism and avoidance - such as in the case of the largely ambiguous references to the current administration’s actions against campus antisemitism.
It is time for a new approach: a confident, proactive, and principled offense. Externally, this means refusing to fight on our detractors' terms.
We must champion Zionism as a decolonization movement and frame the fight against pro-Hamas antisemitism as an essential defense of Western democratic values. Communities must meticulously map and counter the infiltration of mainstream institutions - universities, school boards, and city councils - and expose how this agenda aligns with broader movements aimed at undermining pluralism.
The goal must be clear: prevent antisemitism’s normalization by safeguarding the Jewish experience. This demands leaders who not only adapt, but lead with unwavering ethical clarity to forge a stronger, more resilient particularistic Jewish identity for the future.
The immediate emphasis should be on ensuring Jewish serving elite, professionals and lay, adopt a more particular Jewish approach. In the era of identity politics, where minority groups adopt a much more proud and confident particular identity and use universalist frameworks to promote their interests, the universalization of the Jewish community has generated an ambiguous identity clarity that often paralyzes the Jewish professionals and lay leaders in front of a form of hate that is masked with universal terminology.
Even if Israel's situation improves slightly after the end of the campaign (and this development is also questionable in light of the expected international press reporting from Gaza), the loss of the young American generation, may place Israel in deep chronic political distress for years to come. Recovering to deal with this challenge is a necessity for Israeli national security.
The path forward demands both strategic sophistication and unwavering moral clarity. We must be as shrewd as our opponents without ever compromising our values. The stakes could not be higher - the future of Jewish life in the West and Israel's place among the nations hang in the balance.
Executive Summary
American Jewry, much like Israel before October 7th, was caught in a "conceptsia" (a fixed mindset - the term was used to describe the Yom Kippur War failure) that led to a fundamental surprise on October 8th, as a severe wave of antisemitism emerged.
This stemmed from underestimating the fusion of Israel's delegitimization, the rise of identity politics, and the universalization of Jewish identity. Like in Israel, American Jewish leadership didn't lack information or intelligence but suffered from incorrect assessment and a failure to understand implications - largely due to a tendency to define antisemitism in ways that primarily capture its right-wing expressions.
By de facto accepting the progressive binary discourse that frames Jews as privileged, many Jews have been experiencing an identity crisis that challenges communal cohesion. This has resulted in the absence of a shared definition of left-wing antisemitism, leaving the American Jewish response weak and incoherent. Consequently, the inability of Jewish organizations to define shared interests has made creating a unified front against Jew-hatred a failed mission.
The weakening of distinct Jewish identity, replaced by a universalist framing, has diminished connection to Israel and communal solidarity, leaving many Jews ill-equipped to recognize or confront antisemitism. When incidents arise in K-12 public schools - whether overt harassment or subtle bias disguised as “legitimate criticism” of Israel or progressive activism - parents often feel isolated, unsure of how to respond, and unable to identify such acts for what they are.
Mainstream Jewish organizations are not structured to support political and social activism. The U.S. Jewish community, while historically influential, has specialized more in fundraising than in leading social or grassroots movements. This has diminished the relevance of traditional communal organizations to younger generations and reflects a broader societal mistrust of centralized representation. As a result, Jewish organizations have lost ‘street cred’, making it difficult for them to effectively counter the pro-Hamas wave at the local level.
The myth of numerical inferiority that prevents 'winning' is a key component in the October 8th ‘conceptsia.’ Polls across Western countries, especially the U.S. -including the latest one released before the publication of this report in August 2025 by the Harvard Harris Poll - show that support for Israel remains greater than support for Hamas. That is even the case in supposedly anti-Israel university strongholds. This myth is the result of two trends:
First, Jewish communities fail to translate Israel sympathy into activism, unlike opponents who succeed at impressive rates from a much smaller supporter base. Their secret: framing anti-Israel struggle as relevant to Americans by presenting it as integral to internal fights against racism and discrimination. Meanwhile, attempts to generate Israeli relevance for mainstream audiences have completely failed
Second, social networks create 'collective illusions' of non-existent majorities, producing distorted perceptions of consensus that silence pragmatic voices through fear of social ostracism. Anti-Israel investment in promoting content reflecting small percentages of noisy voices, combined with algorithmic manipulation, creates the appearance of a false majority.
The big opportunity to address Jew-hatred on campus is being squandered due to the Jewish community's internal “conceptsia.” The administration's declared war on the “DEI industry” has created a rare opening, but these actions are often met with skepticism, and community inaction may forfeit the chance to alter the campus dynamic. This is critical, as most Jewish students experience antisemitism and feel isolated, while efforts by Jewish organizations to engage this silent majority have seen limited success. This is even more crucial within the K-12 school system, as it is a far less structured arena, with no obvious Jewish address to turn to.
The Structure of Pro-Hamas Jew-Hatred
The resulting Jew-hatred and Israel's isolation stem from an organized network campaign undermining Israel's legitimacy, promoted by Western organizations with involvement from bodies sympathetic to the Islamist Muqawama axis in the Middle East. Hamas acknowledges this reality and launched the October attack knowing the Israeli response would harm Palestinian Arab civilians and generate an anti-Israel global campaign.
American Islamist organizations lead efforts to undermine Israel's legitimacy as part of the Muslim Brotherhood's anti-Western agenda. These organizations underwent "Americanization," adopting progressive rhetoric to strengthen partnerships and create alliances with the radical left (known as the Red-Green Alliance).
The fusion of progressivism and Islamism fundamentally challenges Western liberal democracies. Contemporary progressive discourse often undermines democratic values and adopts an anti-patriotic stance, exemplified by actions such as burning American flags and calls to defund the police. These groups operate as agents of chaos, promoting a purist and uncompromising approach in the name of combating alleged discrimination. In practice, however, their ideology undermines pluralism, meritocracy, freedom of speech, and even scientific principles.
Islamist organizations, for their part, currently operate behind a “progressive curtain,” employing what they describe as a “civilizational jihad” — a process aimed at weakening Western civilization from within. This so-called “Red-Green Alliance” creates a coordinated global pressure campaign, receiving encouragement, moral support, and in some cases, more tangible backing from openly anti-American powers such as Iran, Russia, and China.
Amid the backdrop of images from Gaza, the fixation on foreign affairs and chaotic diplomatic operations contributed to Israel's diplomatic isolation. Despite having optimal conditions after October 7th, Israel saw its international sympathy evaporate within weeks, effectively becoming a“pariah.” At least partly, this is a result of a tendency [in Israel] to view politics as secondary to [immediate life and death issues of] security. (The Hebrew version of this document focuses more on this aspect.)
The Playbook for Jewish and Pro-Israeli Leadership in North America
Play #1: Define the End Zone — Neutralize Normalization: The single, unifying objective is to halt and reverse its normalization in the mainstream. This strategic focus transforms an endless fight into a winnable campaign with a defined, measurable goal: making antisemitism less acceptable in public discourse and institutions. Every other play and tactic must be measured against this standard, enabling focused planning, smart resource allocation, and measurable results.
Play #2: Reframe the Battlefield — A Threat to America, Not Just the Jews: The old framing of antisemitism as a uniquely Jewish problem is a strategic dead end. The new approach positions it as a direct assault on American identity and Western democratic values.
Two key moves:
Shift the Focus: Frame the wave of Jew-hatred as part of a broader progressive extremism threatening America’s core principles. When protesters burn flags and call for disruption of the American order, they reveal that Israel is a proxy target - the real aim is dismantling the West.
Abandon the "Canary": The “canary in the coal mine” metaphor is obsolete. Pro-Hamas antisemitism is not a warning sign of future dangers; it is an active threat to American society today, alongside attacks on meritocracy, pluralism, and free speech.
Play #3: Flip the Mindset - Act Like the Majority You Are: Our greatest handicap is psychological: a “minority mindset” that sees us as outnumbered. Polling consistently shows core support for Israel far exceeds anti-Israel sentiment. Two-pronged approach:
External Play: Project confidence. Stop apologizing for Jewish existence or defending against bad-faith claims of “colonialism.” Assert Zionism as a decolonization movement and frame the fight against pro-Hamas antisemitism as defending Western democracy.
Internal Play: Build resilience. Invest in education that fosters proud Zionist identity and establish clear red lines that reject internal fringe voices who parrot opposition talking points.
Key Tactic: Activate the silent campus majority - 70-80% of Jewish students who face antisemitism yet remain disengaged. Empower them to act independently with tools, clarity, and agency, transforming them into a visible, decisive force.
Play #4: Shatter the Collective Illusion The apparent numerical inferiority of the pro-Israel voice is a manufactured perception amplified by extreme online actors.
Three moves:
-Educate and Inoculate: Teach communities that the online flood of hate is likely an illusion, not reality, converting despair into resolve.
-Strategic Tech Diplomacy: Engage Big Tech in sustained negotiations for algorithmic transparency, disruption of hostile bot networks, and policy enforcement tailored to pro-Hamas antisemitism.
-Build a Superior Tech Arsenal: Invest in AI-driven tools to detect disinformation, track hostile narratives, and arm the pro-Israel network with advanced digital capabilities.
Play #5: Go on Offense - Dismantle the Red-Green Alliance: A defensive stance is a losing stance. Four moves:
-Capture the High Ground: Influence boards, editorial rooms, unions, and political institutions.
-Drive the Wedge: Highlight the contradictions between progressive values (women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, religious freedom ) and Islamist partners’ oppressive stances.
-Create a “Price Tag”: Expose funding and ideological links to terror groups and impose social, economic, and legal consequences.
-Empower New Allies: Strengthen anti-Islamist Muslim voices to create a counter-narrative from within.
Play #6: Build the Big Tent Coalition: An offensive strategy requires allies. Four pillars:
-Rebuild Our Diplomatic Corps: Revitalize professional community relations work at all levels.
-Forge a Coalition of the Targeted: Unite with other groups harmed by progressive orthodoxy.
-Activate the Sympathetic Majority: Focus on non-Jewish allies who see antisemitism as a threat to their own values.
-Make Pluralism the Rallying Cry: Defend the pluralistic society that has enabled Jewish and minority prosperity.
Play #7: Develop a more Particularistic Jewish Identity: Start with the serving elite of the Jewish Community. A strong external posture requires an equally strong internal foundation. The Great Reversal: Internally, emphasize Jewish particularism; externally, universalize the fight against antisemitism. Five moves:
-Champion Proud Particularism: Elevate Jewish values and Hebrew learning.
-Focus primarily on educating the Jewish serving elite, professional and lay leaders.
-Re-engineer Jewish Education: Immunize youth against corrosive identity politics.
-Deepen the Israel Connection: Use the post-October 7th moment to forge emotional ties with Israel.
-Recruit Allies from the Jewish Left: Harness disillusionment among progressive Jews to challenge anti-Israel sentiment from within.
Play #8: Expose and Disarm the Weaponization of Language: Antisemitic activists deploy “dual-use terminology” to troll, confuse, and divide Jewish communities. These ambiguous phrases derail debate, erode safe spaces, and infiltrate school environments. Five moves:
-Identify and Catalog: Map the most common weaponized terms and phrases.
-Train for Counterplay: Equip leaders, educators, and students with language tools to flip the script and expose the tactic in real time.
-Set Institutional Boundaries: Push schools, universities, and workplaces to recognize and act against the misuse of such language as harassment.
-Apply a ‘Jewish standard’ in Jewish public spaces to ‘dual-use’ terminology, which often aims at challenge the Jewish lived experience.
-Big Jewish Tent - The left's support for Hamas has created a moment of profound cognitive dissonance for many progressive Jews who now feel betrayed. This creates a strategic opening leverage their discomfort to acknowledge their recognition of the double standards and dual use terminology within progressive circles to recruit them.
State-Level Playbook: Israeli National Policy:
Directive #1: Redefine Victory — Make Legitimacy a Strategic Objective
Israel’s national security paradigm must evolve from focusing solely on battlefield outcomes to measuring victory by the political and diplomatic trends that follow. The enemy’s core strategy is to turn Israel into a pariah state; therefore, true victory is defeating that narrative while strengthening Israel’s strategic position. Three moves:
-Make International Standing a Core Metric: Legitimacy and diplomatic outcomes are not by-products - they are primary objectives that shape military goals from the start.
-Integrate Military and Political Action: Align operational planning with diplomatic, humanitarian, and media strategies to convert battlefield wins into strategic advantage.
-Think Globally, Act Strategically: Plan to defeat Qatar’s influence at Harvard with the same rigor used against Iran’s nuclear program. Every operation must be leveraged to create a more favorable global reality.
Directive #2: Redefine the Threat - Antisemitism as a National Security Issue
Pro-Hamas antisemitism is a key component of the regional doctrine aimed at Israel’s destruction. For decades, Israel has treated antisemitism and delegitimization as “soft threats.” That ends now. Two moves:
-National Security Classification: Officially define pro-Hamas antisemitism as a core national security threat.
-Establish a Central Command: A dedicated executive authority is not established (see below), responsibility should be placed at the highest level - the Prime Minister’s Office, National Security Council, or Foreign Ministry - to unify strategy and execution.
Directive #3: Establish a National Authority to Combat Antisemitism
A challenge of this global scale requires a dedicated executive body with authority, budget, and operational independence to ensure continuity and long-term strategy. Instead of creating another ministry vulnerable to political shifts, we propose a statutory National Authority. In its initial incubation inside a ministry or as a semi-independent unit, its role would be to develop the operational concept, map actors and gaps, draft a multi-year plan, and coordinate early inter-ministerial and security efforts. Once feasibility and doctrine are proven, the unit would transition into an independent authority, functioning as the government’s executive arm. Key Advantages:
Continuity and Stability: As a statutory body, it would be insulated from frequent political changes and ensure consistent long-term policy.
Professionalism and Focus: It would serve as a national knowledge hub, attracting experts and relying on research, intelligence, and data rather than media impulses.
Breaking Government “Silos”: The authority would coordinate ministries (Foreign Affairs, Diaspora, Justice, Economy, etc.) and security agencies under one national strategy, avoiding duplication and waste.
A Single Global Interface: It would provide a clear focal point for Jewish and pro-Israel organizations worldwide, leveraging Israel’s advantages in intelligence, technology, diplomacy, legal support, and resources efficiently and in sync.
Directive #4: The Catalyst Approach - Empower the Global Pro-Israel Network
The state should not attempt to act like an activist NGO. Its role is to enable and supercharge the global pro-Israel movement. Three moves:
-Leverage State Authority: Use Israel’s unique status as the Jewish nation-state to unify, integrate, and professionalize the existing network of civil society actors.
-Deploy the State Arsenal:
Intelligence & Information: Share actionable intelligence on hostile financing, organizational networks, and digital influence campaigns.
Strategic Diplomacy: Lead the global push to embed the IHRA definition of antisemitism as the standard for governments and institutions.
-Operate as a Force Multiplier: Focus on providing the tools and resources only a state can offer, allowing allied organizations to act more effectively on the ground.
Directive #5: Re-found the US Alliance on Interests — From Covenant to Contract
The shared-values “covenant” is failing; the alliance must be reframed around a “contract” of mutual interests. Three moves:
-Reframe the relationship from unilateral “aid” to bilateral “joint investment” to position Israel as an innovative partner.
-Emphasize tangible US benefits by showcasing Israel as a strategic asset that provides intelligence and co-develops vital technology.
-Project a unified message that a strong, independent Israel is a net strategic gain for the United States, appealing to both the Right and the Left.