Israelis have always been politically engaged. Demonstrations are part of the country’s DNA. But one of Israel’s enduring truths is that the silent majority is often drowned out by the street.
Israel needs to tend to its own knitting because to allow the Israeli minority and internationalists to blunt their response to Hamas threatens the very existence of Éretz Yisra'el. Personally, as an American Catholic, I don't quite understand why ANY Israeli would WANT Hamas to survive when their oft-stated goal is to abjectly destroy the Jewish state.
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
I agree wholeheartedly with this article. Bleeding heart liberals are destroying both Israel and America. The Jews are “turning the other cheek” more than the Christians. In the Old Testament God never recommended this. This is also a cause of antisemitism in the Western World. The American Jews are always the first into all these left wing causes. They just don’t get it that they are again destroying themselves and Israel. This article makes very clear the point that the Arabs are not “just like us” who want to live in peace. They never did and if they didn’t have the Jews in their midst they’d be killing each other. Just look back in history! I don’t know what will be the answer to all of this. It seems like another situation that will go on for eternity with no end in sight until someone sets off an atomic bomb.
So true. The fake judicial demonstrations/anti-Bibi efforts seamlessly became the free hostage movement. The Biden administration spent almost a billion dollars to topple Netanyahu. As someone who lives in Israel, I know Bibi is not particularly liked, but I can't see a credible alternative.
You articulated with clear analysis the unease many of us feel with the mass demonstrations. Our enemies and frenemies continue to seize upon them to isolate Israel and portray Bibi as the equivalent of ‘he whose name should be obliterated’.
I truly don't understand what the protesters thought they were accomplishing. Israel looks weak in the Arab world now because of them and Hamas can play games to try to stay alive. Just look at the last offer. Bibi already said no deal that doesnt include all the hostages, so now they came back with the rejected Witkoff bullshit deal. Their Bibi derangement syndrome is more powerful than their need to actually save the hostages. If the remaining hostages die it will be on these protestors.
Virtue signaling is low cost. Doesn't take much to join a demonstration. This is technically high cost signaling: it takes much cognitive dissonance for a leftist to pretend that Hamas is just a political entity after October 7, when it murdered a bunch of leftists.
Maybe European or american leftists haven't learned, but Israelis must, on some level, know that Hamas are a death cult. So they are pretending otherwise, but at a high cognitive cost.
I’m afraid that defeating Hamas will result in the death of the 20-30 remaining alive hostages. As painful as that will be it is a very small number compared to the numbers that will die if Hamas is allowed to remain alive.
Thank you for saying this so clearly, without tip-toeing through the minefield of Leftist outrage. The frenzy with which the demonstrators have been disrupting the life of the nation reflects their desperation: this is their last chance to save Hamas along with their own ideological fantasies.
This is their last chance to show the world and themselves that there is no sacrifice they are unwilling to make, no ransom they are unwilling to pay, no evil to which they will not bend the knee. And they do this in the name of a "higher morality" as if the rest of the nation needs a lecture from these suicidal lemmings.
To say that the return of the hostages is a moral absolute which outweighs all other possible considerations is not mere "virtue signaling." It's a fatal calculus that reassures our enemies of their eventual triumph. It encourages them to reject all compromise because it convinces them that Jewish nation can be brought to its knees just by capturing a handful of us.
The current disruptions only demonstrate to all who have eyes to see that the demonstrators learned nothing from the events of October 7th. Demanding a cease-fire and an end to the war while Israel makes its final assault only guarantees that there will be more slaughters and rapes and kidnappings in the days to come.
There is no moral nobility that comes from waving the white flag of surrender while standing upon the bodies of those who have died to protect you.
Thanks for this. I am so outraged by my fellow Israelis that I couldn't find a rational way to frame why they are so damaging to us all. Now I have the tools.
I agree. Proof that the massive pressure to terminate the destruction of Hamas using the hostages as pretext is the main motivator for the organised protests is that these protests have no influence on the government's decisions, and yet they continue. All the while, they debilitate Israel within and make it more vulnerable to its enemies, who are fortified by the sight of Israeli society unraveling.
It saddens me greatly to see the Israeli Left behaving as they are. But, in common with the Left here in the US and elsewhere, they are acting consistently with their twisted, self-centered beliefs. And one of the most corrosive of those beliefs, is that ‘the ends justify the means’; anything goes, in the ‘struggle’ to defeat any opposition and realize utopia.
The zeitgeist surging in the world at present is Satanically-inspired, inflamed, and empowered. It plays upon the inherent weaknesses of fallen human nature; weaknesses that have been masterfully manipulated to become all the more dominant amongst the masses over the past 100+ years.
The only hope for any of us, and for the world at large, is to be found in and through the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
As a Christian (and a Zionist), I believe that He has done all that is required to ultimately defeat Evil in the Universe; to redeem the world and mankind, and fulfill all of His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in and through the sacrifice of His Son, Yeshua HaMashiach - who was born into this world, and remains, a Jew.
It is through Him; through His sacrifice, and the outworking of it in individual lives by the Holy Spirit, that redemption comes to anyone that turns from self-will, to seek and honor God’s will for their lives.
If one actually loves the truth, and will commit themselves to prayerfully seek and follow it, understanding that it can only be known by the grace of the God Who Is Truth, then He will lead them into a deeper and deeper apprehension of it. But, they must make that journey by faith - and their faith will be tested in myriad ways along the way.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 (Tanakh)
“For I am mindful of the plans I have made concerning you—declares the LORD—plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a hopeful future. When you call Me, and come and pray to Me, I will give heed to you. You will search for Me and find Me, if only you seek Me wholeheartedly.”
And:
John 14:6 (CJB)
“Yeshua said, "I AM the Way—and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”
You echo the heartless by dismissing these protests as mere political theater. To reduce a million Israelis in the streets to “a boisterous minority” is to ignore the anguish of families whose loved ones are still in captivity. Protest is not a betrayal of democracy, it is the lifeblood of it — especially in a country where elections are years apart and the stakes are measured in lives.
The hostages are not a “tool”; they are sons and daughters, parents and children. To frame compassion as weakness is itself a dangerous illusion. What the protesters are demanding is not Oslo nostalgia but accountability, urgency, and a recognition that endless war does not safeguard Israel’s future.
Even if the protests are political, they still ought to mean something — especially after October 7th. When a government refuses to take responsibility for its failures, the people have every right to take to the streets and question whether that government has the legitimacy to continue governing. To dismiss this as “a loud minority” is to deny Israelis the very democratic voice that leaders claim to be defending.
If Israel is to remain a Jewish state worth defending, it must be more than a fortress. It must be a society that hears the cries of its citizens, even when they challenge the government’s chosen path.
In every free country, radical activists are a minority that outshouts the normal majority. Unfortunately Israel is in an existential battle and can scarcely afford to let the radical left undermine it.
Israel needs to tend to its own knitting because to allow the Israeli minority and internationalists to blunt their response to Hamas threatens the very existence of Éretz Yisra'el. Personally, as an American Catholic, I don't quite understand why ANY Israeli would WANT Hamas to survive when their oft-stated goal is to abjectly destroy the Jewish state.
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
King James Version (KJV)
I agree wholeheartedly with this article. Bleeding heart liberals are destroying both Israel and America. The Jews are “turning the other cheek” more than the Christians. In the Old Testament God never recommended this. This is also a cause of antisemitism in the Western World. The American Jews are always the first into all these left wing causes. They just don’t get it that they are again destroying themselves and Israel. This article makes very clear the point that the Arabs are not “just like us” who want to live in peace. They never did and if they didn’t have the Jews in their midst they’d be killing each other. Just look back in history! I don’t know what will be the answer to all of this. It seems like another situation that will go on for eternity with no end in sight until someone sets off an atomic bomb.
"Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world.”
—Eric Hoffer
Let’s not reckon without The God of Yisra’el. No atomic bomb can pass by Shomer Yisra’el
So true. The fake judicial demonstrations/anti-Bibi efforts seamlessly became the free hostage movement. The Biden administration spent almost a billion dollars to topple Netanyahu. As someone who lives in Israel, I know Bibi is not particularly liked, but I can't see a credible alternative.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/2-Chronicles-7-14/
No doubt funded by the Soros left here in the US
You articulated with clear analysis the unease many of us feel with the mass demonstrations. Our enemies and frenemies continue to seize upon them to isolate Israel and portray Bibi as the equivalent of ‘he whose name should be obliterated’.
Excellent piece, Josh.
Thank goodness; a voice of reason!! And Gad Saad got it right, describing the left's thinking as "suicidal empathy!"
I truly don't understand what the protesters thought they were accomplishing. Israel looks weak in the Arab world now because of them and Hamas can play games to try to stay alive. Just look at the last offer. Bibi already said no deal that doesnt include all the hostages, so now they came back with the rejected Witkoff bullshit deal. Their Bibi derangement syndrome is more powerful than their need to actually save the hostages. If the remaining hostages die it will be on these protestors.
Virtue signaling. Sadly my boyfriend is one of them.
Virtue signaling is low cost. Doesn't take much to join a demonstration. This is technically high cost signaling: it takes much cognitive dissonance for a leftist to pretend that Hamas is just a political entity after October 7, when it murdered a bunch of leftists.
It should only be but clearly many of them have not learned the lesson. I don't understand it but I guess some habits are hard to break.
Maybe European or american leftists haven't learned, but Israelis must, on some level, know that Hamas are a death cult. So they are pretending otherwise, but at a high cognitive cost.
Outstanding! Just made a donation. You are a beacon of sanity .
Amen ❣️🇮🇱
I’m afraid that defeating Hamas will result in the death of the 20-30 remaining alive hostages. As painful as that will be it is a very small number compared to the numbers that will die if Hamas is allowed to remain alive.
A terrible tradeoff but essential.
Thank you for saying this so clearly, without tip-toeing through the minefield of Leftist outrage. The frenzy with which the demonstrators have been disrupting the life of the nation reflects their desperation: this is their last chance to save Hamas along with their own ideological fantasies.
This is their last chance to show the world and themselves that there is no sacrifice they are unwilling to make, no ransom they are unwilling to pay, no evil to which they will not bend the knee. And they do this in the name of a "higher morality" as if the rest of the nation needs a lecture from these suicidal lemmings.
To say that the return of the hostages is a moral absolute which outweighs all other possible considerations is not mere "virtue signaling." It's a fatal calculus that reassures our enemies of their eventual triumph. It encourages them to reject all compromise because it convinces them that Jewish nation can be brought to its knees just by capturing a handful of us.
The current disruptions only demonstrate to all who have eyes to see that the demonstrators learned nothing from the events of October 7th. Demanding a cease-fire and an end to the war while Israel makes its final assault only guarantees that there will be more slaughters and rapes and kidnappings in the days to come.
There is no moral nobility that comes from waving the white flag of surrender while standing upon the bodies of those who have died to protect you.
Thanks for this. I am so outraged by my fellow Israelis that I couldn't find a rational way to frame why they are so damaging to us all. Now I have the tools.
The Far-Left is the embodiment of Einstein’s definition of crazy - keep saying/doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.
PS - these suicidal morons just guaranteed getting the hostages back will now be harder.
I agree. Proof that the massive pressure to terminate the destruction of Hamas using the hostages as pretext is the main motivator for the organised protests is that these protests have no influence on the government's decisions, and yet they continue. All the while, they debilitate Israel within and make it more vulnerable to its enemies, who are fortified by the sight of Israeli society unraveling.
Well done Josh…
It saddens me greatly to see the Israeli Left behaving as they are. But, in common with the Left here in the US and elsewhere, they are acting consistently with their twisted, self-centered beliefs. And one of the most corrosive of those beliefs, is that ‘the ends justify the means’; anything goes, in the ‘struggle’ to defeat any opposition and realize utopia.
The zeitgeist surging in the world at present is Satanically-inspired, inflamed, and empowered. It plays upon the inherent weaknesses of fallen human nature; weaknesses that have been masterfully manipulated to become all the more dominant amongst the masses over the past 100+ years.
The only hope for any of us, and for the world at large, is to be found in and through the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
As a Christian (and a Zionist), I believe that He has done all that is required to ultimately defeat Evil in the Universe; to redeem the world and mankind, and fulfill all of His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in and through the sacrifice of His Son, Yeshua HaMashiach - who was born into this world, and remains, a Jew.
It is through Him; through His sacrifice, and the outworking of it in individual lives by the Holy Spirit, that redemption comes to anyone that turns from self-will, to seek and honor God’s will for their lives.
If one actually loves the truth, and will commit themselves to prayerfully seek and follow it, understanding that it can only be known by the grace of the God Who Is Truth, then He will lead them into a deeper and deeper apprehension of it. But, they must make that journey by faith - and their faith will be tested in myriad ways along the way.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 (Tanakh)
“For I am mindful of the plans I have made concerning you—declares the LORD—plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a hopeful future. When you call Me, and come and pray to Me, I will give heed to you. You will search for Me and find Me, if only you seek Me wholeheartedly.”
And:
John 14:6 (CJB)
“Yeshua said, "I AM the Way—and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”
Am Israel Chai!
You echo the heartless by dismissing these protests as mere political theater. To reduce a million Israelis in the streets to “a boisterous minority” is to ignore the anguish of families whose loved ones are still in captivity. Protest is not a betrayal of democracy, it is the lifeblood of it — especially in a country where elections are years apart and the stakes are measured in lives.
The hostages are not a “tool”; they are sons and daughters, parents and children. To frame compassion as weakness is itself a dangerous illusion. What the protesters are demanding is not Oslo nostalgia but accountability, urgency, and a recognition that endless war does not safeguard Israel’s future.
Even if the protests are political, they still ought to mean something — especially after October 7th. When a government refuses to take responsibility for its failures, the people have every right to take to the streets and question whether that government has the legitimacy to continue governing. To dismiss this as “a loud minority” is to deny Israelis the very democratic voice that leaders claim to be defending.
If Israel is to remain a Jewish state worth defending, it must be more than a fortress. It must be a society that hears the cries of its citizens, even when they challenge the government’s chosen path.
Guess you don't live in Israel...
I guess you want my zip code to decide my right to an opinion.
In every free country, radical activists are a minority that outshouts the normal majority. Unfortunately Israel is in an existential battle and can scarcely afford to let the radical left undermine it.