ISRAEL - What’s Really Fueling Jewish Hate?
The Jews are not the cause of antisemitism, according to Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute.
“I think there are a lot of forces underway across the West that are leading to the return of antisemitism in this pronounced way,” Kurtzer told ILTV News. “This includes climate pessimism, economic pessimism, distrust in government, the decline of institutions, polarization of all of our democratic societies, and the way social media amplifies conspiracy theories and loneliness.”
In the three months following the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre, the Anti-Defamation League reported a more than 360% increase in antisemitic incidents in the United States alone. Similarly, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights revealed earlier this year that some organizations experienced up to a 400% rise in antisemitism since the start of the war. Even before the conflict, an FRA survey found that 80% of European Jews believed antisemitism had grown in their countries over the prior five years.
Kurtzer emphasized that unlike during the Nazi era, when governments persecuted Jews, today, Jews are equal citizens of Western societies. This position allows them to push public officials to address societal challenges and partner with the Jewish community.
“In turn, I want our Jewish community to be investing more resources in the infrastructure of liberal democracy rather than simply screaming about this hatred that’s happening to us,” Kurtzer said. “I fear that it actually moves us back into enclave thinking, as opposed to saying, how do we help build trust in institutions? How do we play a role in improving the culture around the media?”
-www.ynetnews.com, 25 November 2024
Arno's Commentary
Throughout modern history, there is ample evidence—confirmed by facts and figures—of antisemitism toward Jews in the diaspora.
There are a significant number of books, articles, commentaries, discussions, and interviews targeting the specific purpose: “Why antisemitism?”
Obviously, the answer is found in Scripture. NewSpring.cc highlights King Saul as an example.
For Saul, disobedience in not following God’s instructions had severe consequences. In 1 Samuel 31 many fell dead, all the Israelites were forced to flee, and Saul’s army along with his sons were killed.
Because of Saul’s disobedience, he no longer had the Lord’s protection and Philistine arrows found him. Fearing what would happen when the enemy saw him wounded on the battlefield, Saul asked his armor bearer to kill him. When the armor bearer declined out of fear, Saul killed himself.
Suicide was the result of disobedience for King Saul.
How about antisemitism today? Here again, the Bible gives us the answer, and that long before the time of King Saul. Chapter 28 of Deuteronomy challenged Israel to be obedient or disobedient, to be a blessing or a curse. Bible readers are familiar with verse 37: “And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.” Verse 66 adds: “And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life.”
However, that is not the end. Some 2,600 years ago, the prophet Jeremiah wrote: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31). He then adds in verse 32: “Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD.”
When we read Israel’s Biblical history, we understand that in the end, God’s sovereign grace will overrule everything of the past. Isaiah proclaims: “Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 41:14).
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
