Leonid Goldin | Parade of winners

Being in danger, do not remain idle hoping for a miracle.  ~ Talmud.

No one Jewish organization has shown as much persistence and consistency in fighting anti-Semitism and defending Israel as the Zionist Organization of America. Contrary to the position of most American Jews and Jewish organizations, the ZOA actively supported the election of President Trump, in whom it sees a true friend of Jews and a staunch ally of the Jewish state. Trump received ZOA’s highest honor for his uncompromising support of Israel’s historical and moral rights.

ZOA saw early the threats posed by the ideological and demographic rebirth of America, the radicalization of the left wing of the Democratic Party, the advance of anti-Semites in politics, media, education, and the growing influence of radical Islam in the country and the world.

The Zionist Organization of America has never had any illusions about the suicidal worldview and policies of Jewish liberals and their hopes of re-educating the enemies of the Jews through education and good deeds.

The anti-Semitic resolutions of the UN, its double standards towards Israel have always been condemned by the ZOA, which strongly protests against Israel’s disastrous territorial concessions and the establishment of a Palestinian state. The only condition for ending the war in Gaza is the disarmament and liquidation of Hamas and the return of hostages. Any demands on Israel that do not address these conditions must be rejected.

For many years, the ZOA has looked like a lone warrior in the struggle to defend Jews and the Jewish state. Most Jewish organizations supported the Obama and Biden administrations, taking increasingly critical positions toward Israel and essentially encouraging the advancement of anti-Semites in politics and public institutions.

But Trump’s election victory radically changed the situation. From his first steps, the president-elect has shown in practice on whose side his sympathies and support lie, in whom he sees friends and in whom he sees enemies of America.

There was a festive atmosphere at the regular annual meeting of the Friends of the Zionist Organization of America. The war is not over, shelling and acts of terror continue, hostages have not been released, but there was confidence that political, military and economic aid to Israel will not be a tool of blackmail, that anti-Semitism in the streets, in the educational system will not be encouraged, that justice will fulfill its purpose.

In the spotlight were brilliant speeches by Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan, America’s most famous lawyer Alan Dershowitz, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, and ZOA President Mort Klein. The speech by Harvard University student Shabbos Kestenbaum made a vivid impression. He has recently become a national star, and his outlook and political activism give hope that despite the ugliness of the liberal-progressive ideology dominating education, there is sobriety and courage among Jewish youth. Shabbos does not take off his kippah, does not hide his views, although he has suffered constant insults and threats, and not only from fellow students, but also from anti-Semitic teachers. I won’t recount the speeches; you can listen to them on the ZOA website.

If history, law, reason and conscience could guide the course of events, the speeches would have been sufficient to understand the reality and actions needed to achieve peace and stability in the region. But logic and virtue in the fight against obscurantism and hatred need a powerful arsenal of tools not limited by rhetoric, and there is reason to believe that the new administration is prepared to use this arsenal to its fullest extent.

But it must also be said that we were met at the entrance by a rabid crowd of pro-Palestinian supporters shouting “Child murderers”, “40000 dead children”, “Palestine will be free”, “Shame on you”. During the Israeli ambassador’s speech, hooligans who infiltrated the hall yelled something about genocide and murderers. There were police, private security, detectors, bag inspections, but you can’t forget, even for a little while, the world in which Jews live today.

I had spent my professional life teaching, and like most of my colleagues, I hoped that knowledge and logic could have an impact on reshaping minds and beliefs. As it turned out, the anti-Semitic bullies were in the audience from the beginning and listened to the speeches; there are no better, more persuasive arguments. But hatred proved to be stronger. A sad lesson for those who still hope to make a difference with education and dialogues.

Relaxing, hoping Trump will solve everything, is naive and irresponsible. Obama and Biden appointees and their associates retain important positions, they successfully sabotaged Trump’s first term, managed to mount an unprecedented campaign to smear him, and will continue their efforts with redoubled vigor. The mainstream media, polsters, and PR are in the hands of liberals. Media coverage, and public opinion analytics are 90% anti-Trump. Today, these rulers of the mind are facing a dilemma: either to confess their ignorance and unprofessionalism, their lack of understanding of the country and the will of the majority, or to look like liars and manipulators who deliberately deceived the public with their commentaries and forecasts.

But there is no hope for repentance and reconsideration of positions. For opponents, Trump and his supporters remain fascists, enemies of democracy. The clearly democratically expressed will of the majority means nothing to today’s Democrats. Here are the latest issues of The New Yorker: on the prospects for a second civil war and on a strategy for resisting the president-elect. Other mainstream media are in the same vein.

It is even more difficult to change the situation in American education. Administrative measures are far from all-powerful. I worked in education in New York City for thirty years, and I can say that the vast majority of teachers are obsessed with liberal ideology and utopian ideas about the nature of society and man. The personnel policies of recent years have left no room for dissent and opponents.

Even government sanctions and de-funding are no guarantee of change. Harris has raised three times as much money for her campaign as Trump. Jewish donors have spent more money on Democrats than Republicans. And contrary to anti-Semitic propaganda, Jewish money is by no means the determining factor in politics, media, and education. Many charitable foundations, private donors are on anti-Israel positions, and the influence of money from Islamic countries is constantly growing.

From what Jewish organizations and leaders have repeated for decades: “Never again”, from tours to Holocaust museums, from publications “How to fight anti-Semitism”, there is little help. The orthodox mantra that Jews survived all the troubles and catastrophes of their history and outlived their enemies, but the price of survival was too great, there is no consolation.

Today, most Jewish organizations have no effective program of action, no understanding of new threats and challenges. Statements and appeals, utopian hopes for enlightenment and “small deeds” will not change the situation. There is now a campaign to send to universities books by Bernard Levy and Alan Dershowitz highlighting the worldwide anti-Semitic bacchanalia, in the hope that this will help enlighten the minds of students and faculty. There was a time when great literature, intellectual and moral authorities were an influential force. But now the consciousness of young people is shaped by progressive ideologues and social media, where bigots and sociopaths have found freedom. Anti-Semitic rhetoric and propaganda are normalized, insults and attacks on Jews are becoming routine statistics and a new way of being.

International organizations, most notably the UN, are becoming more and more blatantly anti-Semitic. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres declares that “October 7 did not happen in a vacuum” and shifts responsibility to Israel, with terrorists becoming freedom fighters. Can we imagine that the Secretary General would say that 9/11, Al Qaeda, ISIS, any acts of terror around the world “did not happen in a vacuum”! But one can say that about Israel, and the highest diplomatic forum in the world takes it with approval and passes new anti-Israel resolutions in a flood.

Despite all the calls for unity, divisions among Jews have increased, from political and religious to family conflicts. Even in the current crisis, a well-publicized campaign to organize a march on Washington against anti-Semitism has essentially failed. A year ago, 300,000 people gathered; this year, about 2,000, mostly staff and volunteers from Jewish organizations, showed up in a stadium with a capacity of more than 40000. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have far more participants than pro-Israel demonstrations. Historians recall that the atmosphere is much like the situation in pre-war Germany.

Under these circumstances, the results of the Jewish vote in the presidential election, in which a majority supported Harris, were a deafening, shocking blow. Much has been said and written about Jewish liberalism with its mind-boggling complexes of guilt and responsibility for everyone else but oneself, self-hatred, the “Stockholm syndrome” when the victim paralyzed by fear tries to justify his haters, but neither the past nor the present teaches anything.

Counting the Jewish vote in America is not an easy task even for polsters who are not subordinate to party service, if any. How, for example, to count the Rabinoviches and Bernsteins if they assure us that they are not Jews but atheists, agnostics, citizens of the world; according to the dominant perception in America, Jewish is a religious affiliation. Most Jews are in mixed marriages, many of them will not remember when they have been to synagogues or a Jewish event – how do you count them?

We have to rely on available data. According to the National Election Pool, Harris received a record 79% of the Jewish vote, more than Obama, Hillary Clinton and Biden. Most publications cite this data. According to FOX News polls, Harris received 2/3 of the Jewish vote, little consolation. And this at a time when every day brings new evidence of hostility toward Jews, and it is increasingly obvious who their friends and who their haters are. I won’t comment on this data, it doesn’t fit in my head. These are votes for the candidate of a party that through unchecked immigration from countries where ignorance and anti-Semitism is much stronger than in the U.S., through the media and the education system and cultural institutions enforces hostility to Zionism, demands ruinous concessions from Israel, promotes anti-Semitic progressives, supports anti-Semitic protests and actions….

Many Americans voted for Trump not out of great love, but because they realized they were losing the country. Jews, who felt more than anyone else where the Democrats’ policies are leading, did not understand this, why, there is no rational explanation.

But here’s another sensational result: 75 to 90% of Jews from the USSR and post-Soviet states voted for Trump. It’s not about the intelligence and political education of “Russians.” From the Soviet experience, they have well understood what anti-Semitism is in all its hypostasis – from pogrom mobs and street hooligans to anti-Semitic intellectuals and state officialdom.

In times when events are out of control, when reason and logic are powerless, even people far from religion hope for a miracle. On November 5, the Jews received a miraculous gift. But four years is a very short time. Whether the Jews will be able to utilize the opportunities opened during this time – the answer to this question will determine their fate for many years to come.

* All photos provided by ZOA.