Throughout my career, I have been privileged to have many brilliant bosses who have taught me their vision and brought out the best in my work, from my first boss to my current one.
One of the most inspiring was Bret Stephens, who would arrive at The Jerusalem Post’s former decrepit office in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood every day dressed in an elegant suit and tie that made him look like one of Barack Obama’s aliens. We all knew his wardrobe was intended as a lesson and a metaphor, and we internalized it.
Stephens brought the Post’s professionalism that shone through in all our work. We had to keep up with his high standards, and I still think of him when I write nowadays, long after he moved on to win the Pulitzer Prize at a young age for his commentary at The Wall Street Journal and to set the public agenda at The New York Times.
I even still take his advice and wear a pink or purple tie when facing the most hostile interviews in order to soften my message.
That was why I listened over and over again to his eloquent and nuanced “State of World Jewry” address that he delivered recently at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, and I encourage you to go to YouTube or Spotify and do the same.
Stephens knew he would ruffle feathers with his call for American Jews to “stop caring” about antisemitism, focus instead on encouraging “Jewish thriving,” and adjust their philanthropy accordingly. He invited his audience and viewers to express their disagreement, so this is my chance.
'Well-meaning but mostly wasted effort': Bret Stephens
“The fight against antisemitism, which consumes tens of billions in Jewish philanthropy, is a well-meaning but mostly wasted effort,” he said in the address, asking the crowd whether anyone thinks the fight against antisemitism is working.
One could agree with Stephens that antisemites cannot be reformed – and do not need to be better informed because they suffer from a disease – without accepting his solution of stopping to try or even care. Had he stopped there, I would not have felt compelled to respond.
But he went further, saying that “the same goes for efforts to improve Israeli advocacy and hasbara [public diplomacy].” He said it would be wrong to think the tide could be turned “if we got the news media to deliver fairer coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” or adopted “history’s most brilliant PR strategy for Israel.”
“I also know that Tucker Carlson’s popularity and influence as a podcaster and political figure has only soared as his bigotry has become more blatant,” he said. “That journalistic disgraces such as the fake report about the 500 dead Palestinians at the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza did nothing to prevent subsequent fake or grossly sensationalized reporting about the war that perpetuated antisemitic stereotypes.”
Sorry, Bret, but I think those efforts since Oct. 7 have not been wasted and actually have been surprisingly effective. I am not referring to efforts by the Israeli government, and neither was he, but about the sweat and tears shed by ordinary Jews around the world as digital warriors fighting for Israel on the media battlefield.
They risked losing friends and even their livelihood, as they defended the Jewish state from modern-day blood libels, even though they knew they were hopelessly outnumbered. They used resources provided by media watchdogs like HonestReporting and educational organizations like StandWithUs, knowing full well that the other side could count on constant funding from the Qataris and a PR strategy hatched by Hamas propaganda chief Abu Obeida long before Oct. 7.
Past wars in Gaza were stopped prematurely, just days into the operation, without key accomplishments, after the world media pressured world leaders to pressure Israel to end the war. We could not afford to let that happen this time around.
I believe that the questioning of the coverage that began after the misreporting of the Al Ahli incident 10 days into the war successfully handicapped that media pressure and enabled the IDF’s efforts to be sustained as long as they were needed to improve Israel’s long-term security.
Of course, fake and sensationalized reporting continued and there were plenty of journalistic disgraces, but they were taken with a grain of salt even larger than in your typical bubbie’s matzah ball soup recipe.
HonestReporting did its job in educating news consumers, and even the bureau chief of Reuters in Lebanon, Maya Gebeily, admitted in a video interview with The Beirut Banyan podcast that media watchdogs made her team extra careful while reporting on Israel.
“We were operating – all journalists at the time and continue to be – in an environment... that is hyper-politicized,” she said. “We’ve seen from various organizations like HonestReporting and other watchdogs that basically look at Western media in particular and try to poke holes in the tweets, in the LinkedIn posts, in the stories of journalists, and try to accuse them of bias.”
I admit that gaining deterrence on the media battlefield against journalists like Gebeily and those Stephens rightfully referred to as “the Hamas water carriers masquerading as reporters by the BBC” is easier than for pundits like Tucker Carlson because they have employers who safeguard their media outlet’s reputation. Carlson long ago lost his shame when spreading lies, and who will we complain to – the emir of Qatar?
Nevertheless, Carlson and his ally Candace Owens must continue to be monitored, exposed, questioned, chastened, and held accountable.
As a proud graduate of the Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago, I absolutely agree with Stephens that much more money must be invested in Jewish day schools with low tuition rates for the Jewish people to thrive. But those schools must teach the most sensitive nuances in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and how it could be weaponized, in order to prepare their pupils for college, even if it means treading into political waters and upsetting parents and benefactors.
And until that happens, young people will continue to get their information from social media and AI platforms with no universal truth, so funding fact-checking organizations with Israel’s interests in mind is actually more imperative than ever.
Stephens concluded that “constantly seeking to prove ourselves worthy in order to win the world’s love is a fool’s errand” and “the goal of Jewish life is not to ingratiate ourselves with others so that they might dislike us somewhat less.”
I might be a fool, but I will not stop trying to get the world to understand Israel better and to empower the young base of future Jewish leaders to realize why Israel is on the right side of history.
To that end, I’ve been part of a special team that was honored at the Knesset for what we did as “Voices of Iron” during the war. I’ve addressed communities and campuses in half the 50 states of the US since Oct. 7, helped train dozens of Chabad campus emissaries, and served as the keynote speaker to a mission to Israel of 14 American campus organizations.
And thanks to Stephens, I even did it wearing a suit and purple tie.
The writer served as chief political correspondent and analyst of The Jerusalem Post until becoming the executive director of HonestReporting.