Israel, antisemitism, and the choice before us

It is no longer shocking to see university students chanting “intifada revolution” or masked agitators tearing down posters of kidnapped Israeli children. What is shocking is how quickly this ugliness has become socially acceptable in polite company. On city streets and social media, young Westerners shout slogans they don’t understand for causes they don’t comprehend—fuelled not by lived experience, but by ideology. In 2024–2025, antisemitism doesn’t always wear a swastika. Sometimes it cloaks itself in ‘decolonisation’ and speaks the language of human rights.

To the reasonable, open-minded people who find themselves swayed—whether loudly or subtly—by those cheering on Hamas: you are being deceived. You are being manipulated and triggered by monsters who know exactly which strings to pull. This isn’t just about the destruction of Israel—it’s about dismantling the civilised world, including the one you live in. As Robespierre learned, revolutions always consume the dimwits who ignite the fuse. The same fate awaits today’s kaffiyah-clad keyboard warriors and their naïve enablers.

Those waving the Hamas flag are not demanding Palestinian freedom—they are cheering for theocratic fascism, gender apartheid, and the elimination of the Jewish people. These are not values confined to Gaza. Hamas’s ideology is exported, adapted, and echoed in the West—in classrooms, on TikTok, and even in parliament. If civilisation does not stand firm now, we are complicit in its slow undoing. Today’s appeasement will not buy peace; it will embolden violence. The Islamists marching for blood in Gaza do not stop at Tel Aviv. London, Paris, Sydney, and New York are next.

As Elie Wiesel warned, “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” This is one of those moments. The siren song of antisemitic propaganda—whether broadcast in the streets or whispered through academic respectability—is a moral test.

And as Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminded the world in even darker times, “The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.” That test is here again, and it will be judged not by hashtags, but by courage and clarity.

When people ask me who the IDF are, I say this: on an individual level, picture your own children or grandchildren—idealistic, decent, and determined. When asked about the IDF collectively, I remind people it is exactly what its name declares—a Defence Force. It protects Israeli homes and families with innovation, restraint, and conviction like few have seen in military history.

And when asked about Israel, I speak of my Druze, Jewish, Christian Arab, and Muslim Arab mates—citizens who live, serve, and hope together. Israel is more Western, more pluralistic, and more decent than most of its critics ever care to acknowledge. In my years of service, and later during my time in Israel with the United Nations, I saw it with my own eyes.

On a visit to Israel in September 2024, I sat with Jewish and Druze reservists who are as close to me as kin. On a Friday morning, I went mountain biking with a Jewish friend in the Ben Shemen Forest, nestled between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Only in Israel will you see five observant Muslim women, riding in hijabs under MTB helmets, with long sleeves and full-length trousers—exercising their freedom, their joy, and their right to belong. Because they are Israeli.

Yes, 20 per cent of Israel’s population are Arab. Of that 20 per cent, roughly 19 per cent are Muslim and 1 per cent Christian. Do they all support the Jewish State? Of course not. Just as in Australia, where a small number of citizens support terrorist organisations that have been proscribed by our government, Israel too has its fringe elements. But like Australia, those voices are a noisy minority—and no more representative of the average Israeli Arab than extremists in Australia are of mainstream Australians.

Also like in Australia, these minority voices are the ones repeatedly sought out by failing legacy media organisations—among them the ABC, the Sydney Morning Herald, the BBC, and Al Jazeera. We live in an Orwellian age, where compromised zealots and activist-journalists insist that two plus two equals five.

Talk about resilience, unity, and purpose. The people I met weren’t asking for pity or praise. They spoke of duty, of family, of fear. They spoke of living with the unbearable contradiction of being both demonised and expected to show restraint in the face of barbarism. Their courage reminded me that Israel is not perfect—but it is good. And that matters.

Too many people of influence know the truth yet say nothing. Editors bury the hostage story by paragraph five. Academics twist themselves into knots to justify the unjustifiable. Political leaders mumble about “both sides.” But there are not two sides to terrorism. There is only courage—or cowardice. There is standing up—or standing by.

This is not a time for moral ambivalence. It is a time for clarity, courage, and commitment.

The 2023 Foundation exists to engage, educate, and empower the reasonable majority—the good people who, once exposed to truth, may choose to become fierce defenders of it. Together, we are building a new generation of non-Jewish allies for Israel. Because the West cannot survive if it betrays the Jews again.

Not this time. Not on our watch. Together we will prevail.

Michael Scott CSC is the CEO and founder of the 2023 Foundation, a charity focused on combating antisemitism. The views expressed are his own and do not reflect the official positions of the Australian Defence Force or the Commonwealth Government of Australia.

To learn more about The 2023 Foundation visit: 2023foundation.org.au.

To learn more about Michael Scott or support his work, visit: colonelmichaelscott.com