Israel is now in a position to serve as the West’s dragoman to explain precisely what’s in this article. The Middle East is not Europe, its cultures and traditions do not track those of Europe and, not to put too fine a point on it, Islam is neither Christianity nor Judaism.
What should have happened as a result of October 7 is a reversal of expectations. Rather than ask “what can Israel do to convince the Palestinians to agree to a lasting peace?” - a fool’s errand if you listen to what they’ve always said in Arabic - now the question should be “what can Palestinians do to convince Israel to agree to a lasting peace?”
For starters, Israel should be demanding of France, the UK and Canada, all of whom recognized “Palestine” to provide an update on what steps the Palestinians have taken to meet the conditions each had set out for the recognition.
Israel had to undergo a very painful learning curve. It seems like most of the West will have to undergo similar tribulations before the scales fall from their eyes.
.. well said .. the palestinians should now be asking what they can do to seek peace ? .. but that’s like watching pigs fly. It just ain’t gonna happen.
Nachum - you write like an archaeologist unearthing the buried truth and brushing off the dirt so we can all see it clearly. Simply put, “when someone shows you who they are the first time, believe it.” Now if only the West would believe it too.
There's one principle underlying Israel's predicament, I believe:
when the Jew went into the West, the West went into the Jew . Now that the Jew is back in the East, the familiar East beckons back.
Israel comes to terms with a mindset it knew, millennia ago. Might is might. Force is force. Winning is all.
Western indoctrination took root over diasporic millennia, and then , as it returned to its land and to its roots, it showed how artificial the Western ideologies are amidst the cultures Israel grew in.
In order to understand the way hostile Arabs think, one needs to unscrew one's head and screw in a different head. It is that alien and extreme. Know thy enemy.
By the time Arabs invaded the land of Israel, the Jews had been Hellenised , or Romanised, for hundreds of years. Much had been lost already.
It is a good sign that Israel is shedding a skin that was never theirs, in order to fully comprehend the barbarity of the milieu which is now, again, its home.
More power to the old-new understanding. May the " suicidal empathy" that debilitates the West , a consequence of Christian meekness teachings, disappear from the ethos of Israel. There was enough compassion in the Ancient Israelite's heart, enough for it to permeate the Roman Empire's thick cruelty. Christianity carried it, but then submitted it to its own delusions.
So we are back, by way of hard learning and our own common sense, to where we started. The view is not pretty, but if we trust it, it's conquerable. To fight a deranged enemy, we need to imagine how they think. It's where the " conseptzia" erred, and devastation ensued.
Excellent article. One of the main distinctions between the Middle East mindset and that of Western thinking and behavior, is that westerners are spoon-fed on instant gratification, while the enemies in the east play the long game. Israel, with one foot in the desert sands of antiquity and the other in the age of AI has been juggling between these two dichotomies. She is dealing with an enemy with pathological intentions, both short and long term, and reason will not prevail. Perhaps it is time for Israel to set the perimeters of both present and future strategies. Genocide is not negotiable.
The differences between Europe and Israel are a lot less complicated than the writer believes them to be . In fact the enmity towards Israel from Europe can be summed up in one word:
Jewhatred. Psychotic, irrational, insatiable and genocidal Jewhatred dating back to the Roman Empire. The ultimate systemic racism, baked into the European DNA after 2000 years of massacres, expulsions, genocides and blood libels.
Never forget - Europe was not upset by the fact that Hitler murdered six million Jews. They were upset that Hitler didn’t finish the job. They are now counting on Muslims to finish it.
Europe is dying and if there is one thing it cannot stand, it is the thought that the Jews will outlast them.
As terrible as October 7 was—and nothing can ever diminish that horror—if there was one positive consequence, it was that it shattered dangerous illusions. Israelis stopped believing that genocidal enemies could simply be managed through good intentions, economic incentives, or diplomacy alone.
I also think October 7 changed the Diaspora forever. Many Jews who believed Canada, the United States, Britain, France, or Australia were their permanent homes suddenly realized something profoundly unsettling: those are the countries where they live, but Israel is the one country that exists for them if everything else fails. That was a painful but important awakening.
Sometimes history teaches its lessons at an unbearable cost. My hope is that both Israelis and Diaspora Jews never forget the lessons of October 7, because remembering them may save lives in the future.
Unfortunately, the lessons of Oct 7 are also the lessons of January 1994, when 4 months after the signing of the Oslo Accords, Palestinian terrorists murdered 54 Israelis in suicide bombings.
Within two years the Peace Now movement collapsed but, as the article points out, its ideas remained and came back in vogue.
Terrific article. The truth: might projects strength. Remember: when your enemy has stated that he will destroy, even if it takes many lifetimes, prepare your defenses accordingly.
Nachum, that was an excellent piece, if a little long. You are absolutely write that the ‘Oslo era’ of seeking peace no longer exists.
Whether Israel is more West or more East, it’s the neighbourhood that is the difference. At the end of WW2, the countries of Europe contained like minded people. Immediately after WWII, Germany was completely demilitarized and stripped of all military forces by the Allies. However, as Cold War tensions escalated, both West and East Germany were eventually allowed to rearm in the mid-1950s. West Germany established the Bundeswehr in 1955, while East Germany formed the National People's Army.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and break up of Yugoslavia all played their part, but in principle, like minded populations.
The European Common Market (EEC) started in 1957 with 6 members, it then became 9 members, and has grown to become the EU with 27 nations,
The Middle East & North Africa set up is a whole different world. Israel is a parliamentary democracy with a predominantly Jewish population, distinguishing it from the Muslim-majority, mostly autocratic or monarchic states in the Middle East.
It’s a difference of civilisations, and with that in mind, it’s fair to say that it’s now a clash of civilisations.
Thank you for a clear statement of the difference between living in the Middle East and Europe, or being a Democrat with socialism as a goal, a college Professor claiming insight, or a student enjoying being in a demonstration. The Israeli sees a different world than the American.
In the same vein, is the Diaspora becoming less naive when it comes to its understanding of the relationship with the United States? Being an American Jew is very different from being any other hyphenated American citizen.
"Good — much of that worldview was never a description of reality. It was a luxury purchased by societies protected from reality’s harsher consequences." Israel's critics in Europe and the US do not have constant crossborder attacks, rocketings, and events such as October 7th. Israel lives in a very bad neighborhood and the Islamic attitude that the Jewish state must be totally destroyed by Mad Mullahs throughout the region says that being prepared to fight for survival is an unfortunate problem that won't recede as long as Islam is the driving force for Éretz Yisra'él's destruction.
During the Cold War the US managed the Communist threat with great resolve and aggressiveness, to the point of risking nuclear war in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Some American interventions were successful, like those that prevented Communist takeovers of Greece, Turkey and South Korea. Others, like Vietnam, were failures. Yet others were achieved covertly at little US cost, like the overthrow of Communist-aligned governments in Iran, Guatemala and Chile.
When it mattered and the threat was real, the US acted preemptively with great force. Much like Israel is doing after Oct 7. The European countries criticizing Israel now are doing so with the benefits of tough American actions during the Cold War
This is a very well-written article, as is typical from Nachum Kaplan. The central premise, which suggests that “the West” and in particular Western Europe believes that in a post-Cold War world every actor has the same intentions and motivations. This explains how badly the entire West was caught flat-footed by Russian aggression including not only the original invasion of Georgia, but then also the eventual War against Ukraine. That is to me a perfect example of Western delusions resulting in a massive security failure and a terrible war of aggression and conquest. Totalitarian forces do not view the world from through the same lens as we do, and ignoring them with our heads buried in the sands of an unrealistic belief in pacifism and diplomacy is done at our collective peril.
The Third Temple and the Kingdom of Yisrael (Davidic Dynasty) are Eternal and Sanhedrin is also in the Third Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem Very Soon Baruch HaShem. Excellent analysis. David Melech Yisrael Chai Vekayam 🕎🇮🇱✡️
Israel is now in a position to serve as the West’s dragoman to explain precisely what’s in this article. The Middle East is not Europe, its cultures and traditions do not track those of Europe and, not to put too fine a point on it, Islam is neither Christianity nor Judaism.
What should have happened as a result of October 7 is a reversal of expectations. Rather than ask “what can Israel do to convince the Palestinians to agree to a lasting peace?” - a fool’s errand if you listen to what they’ve always said in Arabic - now the question should be “what can Palestinians do to convince Israel to agree to a lasting peace?”
For starters, Israel should be demanding of France, the UK and Canada, all of whom recognized “Palestine” to provide an update on what steps the Palestinians have taken to meet the conditions each had set out for the recognition.
Israel had to undergo a very painful learning curve. It seems like most of the West will have to undergo similar tribulations before the scales fall from their eyes.
.. well said .. the palestinians should now be asking what they can do to seek peace ? .. but that’s like watching pigs fly. It just ain’t gonna happen.
Nachum - you write like an archaeologist unearthing the buried truth and brushing off the dirt so we can all see it clearly. Simply put, “when someone shows you who they are the first time, believe it.” Now if only the West would believe it too.
Terrific article. Undeniable truths.
There's one principle underlying Israel's predicament, I believe:
when the Jew went into the West, the West went into the Jew . Now that the Jew is back in the East, the familiar East beckons back.
Israel comes to terms with a mindset it knew, millennia ago. Might is might. Force is force. Winning is all.
Western indoctrination took root over diasporic millennia, and then , as it returned to its land and to its roots, it showed how artificial the Western ideologies are amidst the cultures Israel grew in.
In order to understand the way hostile Arabs think, one needs to unscrew one's head and screw in a different head. It is that alien and extreme. Know thy enemy.
By the time Arabs invaded the land of Israel, the Jews had been Hellenised , or Romanised, for hundreds of years. Much had been lost already.
It is a good sign that Israel is shedding a skin that was never theirs, in order to fully comprehend the barbarity of the milieu which is now, again, its home.
More power to the old-new understanding. May the " suicidal empathy" that debilitates the West , a consequence of Christian meekness teachings, disappear from the ethos of Israel. There was enough compassion in the Ancient Israelite's heart, enough for it to permeate the Roman Empire's thick cruelty. Christianity carried it, but then submitted it to its own delusions.
So we are back, by way of hard learning and our own common sense, to where we started. The view is not pretty, but if we trust it, it's conquerable. To fight a deranged enemy, we need to imagine how they think. It's where the " conseptzia" erred, and devastation ensued.
Excellent article. One of the main distinctions between the Middle East mindset and that of Western thinking and behavior, is that westerners are spoon-fed on instant gratification, while the enemies in the east play the long game. Israel, with one foot in the desert sands of antiquity and the other in the age of AI has been juggling between these two dichotomies. She is dealing with an enemy with pathological intentions, both short and long term, and reason will not prevail. Perhaps it is time for Israel to set the perimeters of both present and future strategies. Genocide is not negotiable.
The differences between Europe and Israel are a lot less complicated than the writer believes them to be . In fact the enmity towards Israel from Europe can be summed up in one word:
Jewhatred. Psychotic, irrational, insatiable and genocidal Jewhatred dating back to the Roman Empire. The ultimate systemic racism, baked into the European DNA after 2000 years of massacres, expulsions, genocides and blood libels.
Never forget - Europe was not upset by the fact that Hitler murdered six million Jews. They were upset that Hitler didn’t finish the job. They are now counting on Muslims to finish it.
Europe is dying and if there is one thing it cannot stand, it is the thought that the Jews will outlast them.
As terrible as October 7 was—and nothing can ever diminish that horror—if there was one positive consequence, it was that it shattered dangerous illusions. Israelis stopped believing that genocidal enemies could simply be managed through good intentions, economic incentives, or diplomacy alone.
I also think October 7 changed the Diaspora forever. Many Jews who believed Canada, the United States, Britain, France, or Australia were their permanent homes suddenly realized something profoundly unsettling: those are the countries where they live, but Israel is the one country that exists for them if everything else fails. That was a painful but important awakening.
Sometimes history teaches its lessons at an unbearable cost. My hope is that both Israelis and Diaspora Jews never forget the lessons of October 7, because remembering them may save lives in the future.
Unfortunately, the lessons of Oct 7 are also the lessons of January 1994, when 4 months after the signing of the Oslo Accords, Palestinian terrorists murdered 54 Israelis in suicide bombings.
Within two years the Peace Now movement collapsed but, as the article points out, its ideas remained and came back in vogue.
This time the lessons must not be forgotten.
Agree, my friend, completely.
Terrific article. The truth: might projects strength. Remember: when your enemy has stated that he will destroy, even if it takes many lifetimes, prepare your defenses accordingly.
Nachum, that was an excellent piece, if a little long. You are absolutely write that the ‘Oslo era’ of seeking peace no longer exists.
Whether Israel is more West or more East, it’s the neighbourhood that is the difference. At the end of WW2, the countries of Europe contained like minded people. Immediately after WWII, Germany was completely demilitarized and stripped of all military forces by the Allies. However, as Cold War tensions escalated, both West and East Germany were eventually allowed to rearm in the mid-1950s. West Germany established the Bundeswehr in 1955, while East Germany formed the National People's Army.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and break up of Yugoslavia all played their part, but in principle, like minded populations.
The European Common Market (EEC) started in 1957 with 6 members, it then became 9 members, and has grown to become the EU with 27 nations,
The Middle East & North Africa set up is a whole different world. Israel is a parliamentary democracy with a predominantly Jewish population, distinguishing it from the Muslim-majority, mostly autocratic or monarchic states in the Middle East.
It’s a difference of civilisations, and with that in mind, it’s fair to say that it’s now a clash of civilisations.
Thank you for a clear statement of the difference between living in the Middle East and Europe, or being a Democrat with socialism as a goal, a college Professor claiming insight, or a student enjoying being in a demonstration. The Israeli sees a different world than the American.
In the same vein, is the Diaspora becoming less naive when it comes to its understanding of the relationship with the United States? Being an American Jew is very different from being any other hyphenated American citizen.
"Good — much of that worldview was never a description of reality. It was a luxury purchased by societies protected from reality’s harsher consequences." Israel's critics in Europe and the US do not have constant crossborder attacks, rocketings, and events such as October 7th. Israel lives in a very bad neighborhood and the Islamic attitude that the Jewish state must be totally destroyed by Mad Mullahs throughout the region says that being prepared to fight for survival is an unfortunate problem that won't recede as long as Islam is the driving force for Éretz Yisra'él's destruction.
During the Cold War the US managed the Communist threat with great resolve and aggressiveness, to the point of risking nuclear war in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Some American interventions were successful, like those that prevented Communist takeovers of Greece, Turkey and South Korea. Others, like Vietnam, were failures. Yet others were achieved covertly at little US cost, like the overthrow of Communist-aligned governments in Iran, Guatemala and Chile.
When it mattered and the threat was real, the US acted preemptively with great force. Much like Israel is doing after Oct 7. The European countries criticizing Israel now are doing so with the benefits of tough American actions during the Cold War
This is a very well-written article, as is typical from Nachum Kaplan. The central premise, which suggests that “the West” and in particular Western Europe believes that in a post-Cold War world every actor has the same intentions and motivations. This explains how badly the entire West was caught flat-footed by Russian aggression including not only the original invasion of Georgia, but then also the eventual War against Ukraine. That is to me a perfect example of Western delusions resulting in a massive security failure and a terrible war of aggression and conquest. Totalitarian forces do not view the world from through the same lens as we do, and ignoring them with our heads buried in the sands of an unrealistic belief in pacifism and diplomacy is done at our collective peril.
This is such a great article. I have restacked it in the hope that it reaches a wider audience.
The Third Temple and the Kingdom of Yisrael (Davidic Dynasty) are Eternal and Sanhedrin is also in the Third Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem Very Soon Baruch HaShem. Excellent analysis. David Melech Yisrael Chai Vekayam 🕎🇮🇱✡️