Bret Stephens tells AIJAC that we may be reliving the days of Theodore Herzl
June 19, 2024 by J-Wire News Service
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The Jews have unfortunately re-entered history after October 7, New York Times columnist Bret Stephens told a large crowd at the Central Synagogue this week during an Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) event.
Bret Stephens
Stephens cited the German historian Joachim Fest, who once wrote of Germany’s Jews in the 1930s, “Being overwhelmingly governed by their heads, they had, in tolerant Prussia, lost their instinct for danger, which had preserved them through the ages.”
As the fully-assimilated Theodore Herzl discovered during the so-called ‘Dreyfus Affair’, Jews could never in fact fully assimilate into Western society no matter how progressive it seemed, leading directly to the Zionist idea. This unfortunate realisation is occurring to many Jews anew, Stephens said, as they watch events unfold on campus and off.
Once again, antisemitism and attempts to intimidate and drive Jews out of the public sphere and polite society have exploded across the West since Hamas’ barbaric invasion and mass kidnapping that killed more than 1000 Israelis. Stephens’ mother, noticing the similarities, said to him that she was born in hiding due to Jew hatred and did not want to die hiding as it reared its head again.
Although the situation for Jews in the West is extremely worrying, Stephens said he was hopeful that once again, Jewish creativity would enable them to create their own parallel institutions that would rapidly become mainstream, as they did in response to antisemitism in previous eras. For instance, Stephens pointed to the alternative and now extremely successful media outlet The Free Press, founded by former New York Times columnist Bari Weiss, who resigned from that paper four years ago.
He also argued that the answer to the illiberal far left dogmas that have taken over many university campuses, including rabidly anti-Israel rhetoric and activity, is to establish new universities that prize merit over ideology and actually uphold free speech.
Stephens also addressed a wide range of topics aside from the predicament of the Jews in the West and how to face it, including the Iranian regime and the ongoing conflict to destroy Hamas.
Regarding the Iranian regime, Stephens contended that it is inherently unstable, as evidenced by years of large-scale Iranian protests, supercharged by the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement following the alleged murder of Mahsa Amini by the regime in September 2022. On top of the protests, Stephens explained that the regime is now suffering a succession crisis after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash earlier this year.
Iran, Stephens pointed out, had historically been Israel’s ally due to a confluence of regional interests. There is concrete potential for a revolution there, he argued, which would return Iran to the partnership with Israel that existed before the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Yet despite the instability in Iran, the Biden Administration does not have a real plan or policy for dealing with Iran, which is barrelling ahead with its nuclear program and whose terrorist organs, allies and proxies are responsible for instability, war and death across the entire Middle East, Stephens said. This includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, which Stephens warned is on the verge of dragging Israel into a new war.
Nor is the regime a stand-alone threat. Stephens described a dangerous three-headed hydra facing the West and its allies, consisting of Iran, Russia and China as they work together to try to overturn the US-led international order.\
Regarding the Israel-Hamas war, Stephens emphasised that it must end with the Hamas regime destroyed and its military capability severely degraded so that October 7 can never happen again. Mocking the commonly heard refrain that you can’t bomb an idea, or that war only strengthens Hamas and its support, Stephens asserted that in fact the only way to ensure security is to first and foremost degrade Hamas militarily.
