Ronald J. Edelstein is the son of Holocaust survivors and a lifelong Jewish activist, writer and speaker. He is the chairman of Ron Properties, a real estate company in New York.
The resurgence of antisemitism demands a reckoning with extremism, political radicalization and the lessons of history. Now.
The disturbing spectacle unfolding across France should serve as an unmistakable warning to the United States: antisemitism is no longer confined to the ideological fringes, whispered conspiracy theories or isolated acts of vandalism. It has become an increasingly visible element of political radicalization, public intimidation and extremist agitation, with consequences extending from European streets to American universities, synagogues and Jewish neighborhoods.
The violence accompanying France's October demonstrations has exposed a particularly disturbing phenomenon: the exploitation of domestic political unrest by individuals and organizations advancing antisemitic conspiracy theories and hostility toward Israel.
Among the most alarming developments was the vandalism of a Jewish house of worship on Rue Burnouf in Paris's 19th district, where members of the Ohalei Yaakov congregation have been conducting religious services while their permanent synagogue undergoes renovations.
Media footage showed religious books and sacred objects scattered across the premises following the attack. Subsequent reporting indicated that congregation officials believed the incident may have involved attempted theft. The precise motivation remains unestablished.
Nevertheless, the desecration of a Jewish religious space amid widespread disorder illustrates the vulnerability of Jewish institutions during periods of social upheaval.
The historical resonance is impossible to ignore.
Jewish communities have repeatedly discovered that when political extremism becomes normalized and public institutions fail to respond decisively, the consequences can extend far beyond damaged buildings and threatening slogans.
The Combat Antisemitism Movement has documented how the French disturbances became a vehicle for an extraordinary proliferation of anti-Jewish conspiracy theories.
According to an October 19th investigation by its Antisemitism Research Center, CAM researchers identified 1,384 social media posts from 816 accounts attributing the unrest to Jews, Israel or supposed Jewish manipulation of political events when the truth is precisely the opposite.
One particularly revealing accusation declared, "Mossad is burning France right now." Another claimed that the underlying cause of the disturbances was "Jewish capture of the West." Such allegations are unmistakable descendants of conspiracy theories that have circulated for centuries, depicting Jews as secret architects of political instability and national misfortune.
The report concluded that online agitators were portraying France's unrest "not as a domestic crisis but as a deliberate operation orchestrated by Jews, Zionists or Israel."
These accusations are not harmless political eccentricities. They encourage the belief that Jewish communities constitute an alien, conspiratorial force whose supposed influence must be resisted. The consequences can be devastating when such narratives circulate among individuals already predisposed toward violence.
The historical lesson is that antisemitic propaganda often prepares the psychological ground upon which discrimination, intimidation and physical attacks subsequently flourish.
Of particular concern is the ideological convergence of the Red-Green Alliance: cooperation between revolutionary socialist movements and Islamist political organizations around selected objectives, including opposition to Western foreign policy and hostility toward Israel.
These movements arise from fundamentally different philosophical traditions.
Revolutionary Marxism generally emphasizes class struggle and the transformation of economic institutions. Islamist extremism seeks political arrangements grounded in particular authoritarian interpretations of religion.
Yet their differences have not prevented tactical cooperation around shared adversaries.
The danger becomes especially pronounced when opposition to Israeli government policy evolves into rhetoric legitimizing Hamas, glorifying terrorist violence or portraying Jewish national identity as inherently illegitimate.
Hamas's October 7, 2023, massacre demonstrated the catastrophic consequences of an ideology that deliberately targets Jewish civilians. No political grievance can justify the barbaric murders of families, the abduction of children or the deliberate terrorization of civilian communities.
Organizations that excuse such atrocities should face uncompromising public scrutiny.
The historical parallels deserve serious examination. Adolf Hitler's movement systematically transformed antisemitic conspiracy theories into an organizing principle of political power. Jewish citizens were portrayed as enemies of the nation, blamed for economic hardship and accused of exercising sinister control over political institutions.
The progression from propaganda to persecution and ultimately genocide remains one of history's most terrible warnings. Contemporary extremist movements are now interchangeable with the Nazi Party, and present-day America and France have become increasingly equated with Germany under Hitler.
Certain rhetorical patterns are disturbingly recognizable.
When Jews are collectively blamed for international crises, when Jewish institutions become targets of intimidation and when the murder of Israeli civilians is celebrated or excused, society confronts forms of dehumanization that history has already shown to be dangerous.
The Holocaust teaches that antisemitism must be confronted before it acquires institutional legitimacy. It also teaches that democratic institutions, independent courts, accountable policing and the protection of minority rights are indispensable safeguards against political persecution.
The latest figures from the Anti-Defamation League provide compelling evidence that American Jews face an exceptionally dangerous environment:
According to the organization's 2025 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, the United States recorded 6,274 incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and assault. Although that represented a 33 percent decline from 2024, the total remained the third-highest annual figure since the organization began tracking incidents in 1979.
Physical assaults increased by four percent, reaching 203 incidents. Attacks involving deadly weapons rose by 39 percent. Three people were murdered in antisemitic attacks during 2025. New York recorded 1,160 antisemitic incidents, the highest total of any state. Within New York City, 860 incidents were documented, including 278 in Brooklyn.
Of the 90 antisemitic assaults recorded statewide, 50 occurred in Brooklyn, and 60 percent of statewide assaults targeted Orthodox Jews. These figures are especially disturbing because visibly observant Jews are identifiable through religious clothing, traditional practices and their participation in communal religious life.
The ADL's chief executive, Jonathan Greenblatt, warned that "numbers that would have shocked us five years ago are now our floor." His assessment reflects the severity of a threat that has persisted despite some improvement in overall incident totals.
Federal statistics reinforce the concern. According to the FBI's 2025 hate crime data, 1,528 anti-Jewish incidents accounted for approximately 63 percent of all reported religion-based hate crimes nationwide. These numbers demand sustained attention from every level of government.
The November 3rd elections must place public safety, hate-crime enforcement and the protection of religious institutions before New York voters.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman has emphasized policing, public order and his opposition to the policies of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Blakeman, Nassau County's executive, has argued that stronger law enforcement is necessary to protect Jewish communities from intimidation and violence. His Democratic opponent, Governor Kathy Hochul, has defended her failing administration's alleged security initiatives.
The attorney general's contest presents another consequential debate. Republican candidate Saritha Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor, has promised a more aggressive approach to prosecuting antisemitic hate crimes. In a September 29 campaign statement, she declared, "Funding for security and for NYPD hate-crime work is needed, but someone has to make sure that we take that case into a courtroom and win it."
She has proposed staffing the attorney general's hate-crimes unit, pursuing appropriate prosecutions and strengthening protections for Jewish students.
In New York's 17th Congressional District, Republican Representative Mike Lawler has emphasized continued American military assistance to Israel and federal measures against antisemitism. "Israel is our greatest ally in the Middle East," Lawler declared during a September debate.
In the 21st Congressional District, Republican candidate Anthony Constantino is among those seeking federal office as voters assess competing approaches to national security, public safety and foreign policy.
The relevant question across these contests is not merely which candidates employ the strongest language. It is which specific proposals are legally workable, adequately funded and capable of producing measurable improvements in Jewish security.
Antisemitism is way too dangerous to be treated as an instrument of political convenience.
It must be confronted wherever it appears: among revolutionary movements, Islamist extremists, white supremacists, conspiracy theorists or political activists who excuse violence against Jews.
There can be no acceptable justification for threatening worshippers, vandalizing synagogues, intimidating Jewish students or glorifying the murder of Israeli civilians. Nor can political leaders credibly condemn antisemitism among their opponents while ignoring comparable rhetoric among their allies.
Jewish Americans deserve effective policing, meaningful prosecution of hate crimes, protection of religious institutions and equal enforcement of civil rights laws.
They also deserve public officials who recognize that anti-Jewish hatred cannot be dismissed simply because it is expressed through the language of fashionable political causes.
The events in France and the alarming American statistics demonstrate why complacency is unacceptable. The historical warning signs are serious enough without exaggeration.
Jewish security is not an abstract ideological controversy. It concerns whether children can attend school without intimidation, whether worshippers can enter synagogues without fear and whether visibly Jewish citizens can walk through their neighborhoods without becoming targets.
The obligation to protect those freedoms belongs to every democratic institution and every elected official, regardless of political affiliation. The most enduring lesson of Jewish history is not that catastrophe is inevitable. It is that indifference to antisemitism carries consequences, and that determined action, principled leadership and vigilant democratic institutions are essential to preventing them.
The time to defend Jewish life is before threats become attacks, before intimidation becomes routine and before hatred acquires the protection of political respectability.
This is why we must all vote RED on November 3rd, without question or equivocation. Our lives and those of our children and grandchildren depend on this.
That responsibility is immediate, nonnegotiable and shared by the entire nation.