Last week, we saw a subtle, yet meaningful escalation in the attempt to negate the idea of the Jewish state, and through it, the idea of Judaism.
Previous assaults on Judaism used both top-down and bottom-up approaches: In the sixth century BCE, Babylon arrested the leaders of the Jewish state, while in the 20th century, Germany opted for mass arrests of Jewish civilians.
Last week, we saw both: Reports surfaced that the International Criminal Court is planning arrest warrants against elected leaders of Israel, and the EU announced new sanctions against Israeli civic organizations.
The EU retrofitted the “some of my best friends are Jewish” excuse used in previous Europeans assaults. For example, in the early 20th century, Germans made the distinction between Eastern Jewish immigrants that “you see everywhere” and proper German Jews that were acceptable.
Similarly, in the 19th century, the French made a distinction between “bad Jews” from Alsace and those in Southern France (Juif vs Israelites). In both cases, the “good Jews” were eventually arrested along with the “bad Jews.”
Some of my best friends are Zionists
The EU made a similar distinction last week when sanctioning several Israeli Zionist organizations: a government-funded land-purchase organization supported by the World Zionist Organization, a volunteer organization providing security for Jewish families, and a rule-of-law organization advocating for ending illegal land-grabs.
Those organizations have one thing in common: They operate in the West Bank. Therefore, per the EU, its actions are not anti-Israel, only anti-Judea and Samaria.
The EU sanctions were announced right before Shavuot, a Jewish holiday marking the receiving of the Torah, and the biblical-era ascent to Jerusalem, bringing the season’s first produce to the Temple in gratitude to God (a ritual that stopped when European invaders obliterated the Temple and deported the Jews from Judea).
The most popular Shavuot song, “our baskets on our shoulders,” chanted by thousands of secular children in Tel Aviv and throughout Israel last week, reenacts the festive ascent to Jerusalem: “From Judea and Samaria, from the plains and Galilee.”
Are Israeli children, praising Judea and Samaria, now candidates for EU sanctions?
Should the US also worry about EU sanctions as it expands its operations in the West Bank, such as in operating a pop-up US consulate in the West Bank settlement of Efrat?
Indeed, as discussed in this column, Europe uses the assault on the Jewish state (“little war criminal”) as a proxy assault on America (“big war criminal”). Its actions last week were a blatant rebuke to US President Donald Trump, who on his first day in office reversed sanctions imposed on those same organizations by the Biden administration and the UK.
Indoctrination of the global mindset
Some argue that the threat from Europe is exaggerated. Indeed, in briefings about my books, I occasionally get pushback that the actual damage from EU sanctions is limited, as Europe is no longer that powerful.
This might be true, but the primary damage from the EU-ICC assault is not its short-term consequence but the indoctrination of the global population that once again, the Jews are committing horrendous atrocities – now through the Jewish state.
This was evident last week. The EU referred to those Zionist organizations as “extremist entities.” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas doubled down on this slander: “Violence and extremism carry consequences,” while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot incited on social media: “It’s done. The European Union is sanctioning today the main Israeli organizations guilty of supporting the extremist and violent colonization of the West Bank.”
The indoctrination against the Jewish state did not stop there. The EU applied “moral equivalent” as it sanctioned the leaders of those Zionist organizations alongside the leaders of Hamas.
This was the point, as one European said, when the EU shifted from a stance of immorality to that of inhumanity.
In search of righteous Europeans
The Jewish question is back, now in the form of the “Jewish state question” – how to stop this pariah opposed by the rest of the world? Last century, the proposed solution was a physical one: End Judaism by killing the Jews one by one. In our century, it is an ideological one: End Judaism by ending the Jewish state.
Last century, only a few righteous Europeans rose to oppose it. Speaking with the former chief rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, who served as chair of Yad Vashem, he pointed out that despite prolific research, they found less than 30,000 individuals that can be included in the list of “Righteous Amongst the Nations” – less than 0.01% of Europe’s population at the time.
Europeans friends, including in the higher echelons of the EU, tell me that this time it is different. Some even support the proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission, summarized in last week’s article, that would halt the 2,300-year-old European-Israeli conflict.
Many Europeans are outraged that their governments pour billions of euros into NGOs and programs that incite the world against Israel while they are struggling at home. Moreover, some Europeans are wondering, how exactly does sanctioning Israeli organizations that support scientists, doctors, farmers, and innovators living in the West Bank help my economic, health, and security needs here in Europe?
While it is too early to tell if a sizable class of “Righteous Europeans” will emerge, an encouraging sign came on Friday, when new Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa stated his intention to establish robust ties with the West Bank’s regional councils. (Hopefully, the Republic of Slovenia will not join the list of EU-sanctioned entities.)
Indeed, in the same week that the EU cursed, Slovenia blessed, as its new prime minister sent “greetings to the residents of Judea and Samaria.”
This was only a week after the previous Slovenian government denied Eurovision fans from watching the popular music festival due to Israel’s participation.
Last week’s volatile events underscore that every European today is facing the same choice their ancestor did: curse Israel or bless Israel.
The writer is the author of the new book From Survival to Peace: Turning the Assault on Judaism around (2026). He is also the author of The Assault on Judaism: The Existential Threat is Coming from the West (2024), and of Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (2022). He is chairman of the Judaism 3.0 think tank. For his geopolitical analysis, visit EuropeAndJerusalem.com.