Better to Be Seen as the Strong Man
World propaganda aside, Israel resides in the Mideast, where it is safer to be feared than loved and more important to be seen as militarily victorious.
Sep 03, 2025
A version of this piece appears at JNS today
In 2023, I advised colleagues not to show the video that Hamas filmed of their sadistic murders on Oct. 7, certainly not at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. I said that the sight of Jewish blood always unleashes denial and even more Jew-hatred.
Soon enough, I also understood that the sight of Jewish military prowess unleashes even more Jew-hatred. As Israel fought to ensure that Hamas could not make good on their threat of even more Oct. 7-style attacks on Israeli soil and displayed an extraordinary command of technology in terms of its pinpoint strikes against Hezbollah, the Houthis and their paymaster, a near-nuclear Iran, the entire world condemned Israel, not Hamas, as “genocidal” and accused Israel of causing a famine in Gaza.
Jewish and Israeli compassion, coupled with high ethical standards, made no difference. Even as Israel expertly minimized the civilian-to-combatant ratio in Gaza and provided food and aid to Gazans so that no one starved, the entire world still loudly condemned Israel.
That’s because the propaganda “fix” was already long in place.
Since the late 1950s, Soviet Russia, left-wing Western billionaires and Islamists everywhere have royally funded the business of brainwashing Westerners. Thus, at the sight of Jewish blood and Israeli military might, wealthy and well-educated people, as well as illiterate, vulgar mobs of Muslims, marched against Israel on every continent and menaced Jews individually. The academics and the arts community, with their glitterati-signed petitions and letters, urged that Israeli individuals and the country itself be boycotted. Many stopped traffic and university classes in North America and Europe to “free Palestine.”
Not a word was uttered about freeing the Israeli hostages being buried alive and tortured somewhere along the 300 miles of weaponized Hamas tunnels, beneath mosques, hospitals, schools and homes in Gaza. Not a word about the now 901 Israelis who died in battle or about the countless number of Israelis who’ve been wounded or displaced, or about the Israeli civilians who’ve been traumatized for life.
Not a word about the nine-front war that Israel has been forced to fight against: (1) rocket-launching jihadists in Gaza, (2) Hezbollah in Lebanon, (3) the Houthis, (4) terrorists in Yehuda and Shomron, (5) Qatar and Iran, (6) the global cognitive war against Israel, (7) Israel-based jihadists and (8) Israeli dissidents who have chosen this time in history to attempt to bring the government down. These dissidents hate their own government more than they hate Hamas or Iran. Then there are the Jews outside of Israel (9), including some rabbis, who have also chosen this moment to berate Israel for crimes it has not committed, but really, for the crime of making them vulnerable and unpopular.
If you count the anti-Israel resolutions being passed by the United Nations, European leaders and academic associations all over the world, you could say that Israel is fighting a 10-front war. The Jew-hating “Free Palestine” mobs never note this 10-against-one ratio, but then they are far from even-handed or “proportional” in their perspective.
Let’s not forget that almost immediately after Oct. 7, physical and even murderous attacks against Jews outside of Israel began, or really, simply continued, only louder and larger. These attacks targeted visible Jews on American college campuses, in the streets, outside of synagogues and at Jewish centers. The anti-Israel mobs aimed at anyone speaking Hebrew on vacation in Europe; reservations were not honored, meals were not served, doors were shut, ships ferrying Israeli tourists to Greece were not allowed to dock, and Israeli superstars were not welcome at the Venice Film Festival.
Those who believe the pro-Palestinian propaganda have been infected with a dangerous virus and are no longer able to look fairly at reality. They do not believe any fact-based truths where Israel is concerned. This is as frightening as it is true, as there seems to be nothing that pro-Israel advocates can do to stop the blood libels of genocide or famine.
Expert opinions vary: Israel should cut its losses, make any kind of deal that will return the still-living hostages, allow Israeli citizens to return to "normal" lives, accept the fact that wars are continuous in this region of the world, only pauses are possible.
As a long-time cognitive warrior, I do not know how, when, or even if Israel will be able to redeem its reputation. But that may be irrelevant. Israel resides in the Middle East, where it is far safer to be feared than loved and far more important to be seen as militarily victorious, as a “strong man,” than as a weak or vulnerable nation. Therefore, despite the horrendous price, Israel must win a total military victory against Hamas/Qatar/Iran.
Remember that Nazi Germany and its ally Japan could not be de-programmed until the Allies had defeated them on the ground.
That de-programming does not seem to have lasted--does it? Thus, tackling the Blood Libels again will take a long, long time but until then Israel must control its borders so that its citizens (and visitors) are safe within the Jewish homeland.