OPINION:
Ever since exiled from Judea, sanctions were periodically imposed against Jews. Oftentimes such sanctions were rationalized.
Last month, in reaction to the October 7th massacre, the Biden administration issued an unprecedented Executive Order sanctioning four Israeli criminals who committed acts of violence against Arabs, such as stone-throwing and setting cars on fire.
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This immediately triggered calls for more sanctions on a border set of Israelis, including elected officials and political leaders. The Wall Street journal reported that this is under consideration.
Indeed, the deplorable acts of those four individuals is not the issue. There are by far more anti-Arab violence in France, Sweden and even in America. Mr. Biden himself acknowledged in the Executive Order that those Israelis were targeted also because their “actions undermine the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution.
Most Israelis oppose the two-state solution, which they view as a threat to the survival of the Jewish state, especially after October 7th. Should they too be sanctioned? Or perhaps be careful about speaking against this sacrosanct western template?
The sanctions also contribute to the false narrative promoted by the Biden administration of “settler violence” – a prerequisite to the infuriating narrative of “there are extremists on both sides,” be it Hamas or the settlers, who stand in the way of the secret formula to eternal peace. Incidentally, much of the violence against Palestinans is committed by non-settler Jews. Hence, it would be more accurate for Mr. Biden to switch the term “settler violence” to “Jewish violence.”
No doubt, Mr. Biden set an incredibly low bar for a future president to sanction foreign individuals who do not agree with his foreign policy objective (can one imagine President Trump imposing sanctions on European individuals who “undermine the foreign policy objective of the United States,” including the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel?)
Most dangerously, the U.S. sanctions play right into the hands of those who are gearing up for the onslaught on Israel expected after the Gaza war.
With his Executive Order, Mr. Biden has just provided a “Kosher certificate” for other countries and organizations to sanction Israelis.
Those are coming: the United Nations set the standard-bearer in the 2009 Goldstone report, deeming the Jewish state self-defense actions as a possible “crime against humanity,” and in recent months, respectable world leaders gave credibility to the modern-day blood-libel that Israeli Jews kill babies (Justn Trudeau), engage in dehumanization, and even “poison our common well” (Anthony Blinken).
With that, along with the “Biden Kosher certificate,” one can expect countries and organizations to try to impose sanctions against Israeli soldiers who fought in the Gaza war. Moreover, the recent sanctions against Russia serve as a proof-of-concept and a template to confiscate assets of Israeli high-tech companies (many of them are owned by reserve soldiers), entrepreneurs, scientists, innovators, as well as to arrest Israelis who fought in the war when visiting Europe.
In short, the attempted eradication of Judaism through paralyzation and demoralization.
Such scenarios would normally seem far-fetched – the United States would vehemently oppose such efforts. But with the Biden Executive Order and its wording, the U.S. dramatically compromised its ability to defend Israelis from such atrocious actions.
The Jewish nation is under a large-scale assault, which in our era is funneled through Zionism. Foreign policy decisions regarding Israel must be made with that in mind.
There were Jewish criminals in Germany in the 1930s during the early stages of the previous large-scale assault on the Jewish nation. Can one imagine the United States imposing sanctions against them in reaction to the Nazis’ rise to power? This would have contributed to a false narrative of “extremists on both sides,” and give legitimacy to the Nazis’ atrocities.
The same is true today. As the existential threat to Judaism has shifted from traditional anti-Semitism (“Jews poison the wells,” “Jews will not replace us”) to anti-Zionism and Israel-bashing, it is imperative that the Biden administration think through the long-term consequence of their Israel-related actions, and refrain from acts that could put Jews and Judaism in danger.
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Gol Kalev is the author of “Judaism 3.0: Judaism Transformation to Zionism,” and chair of the Judaism 3.0 Think Tank. He analyzes long-term geopolitical shifts at EuropeAndJerusalem.com. He is also a columnist at the Jerusalem Post and writes for various other publications.
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