The quiet war against Israel and the Jewish people
There is a quiet war going on. You will not see it on a battlefield. You feel it in rooms that go cold when the word “Israel” is spoken. You see it in emails that never get answered. You hear it in the careful sentences of good people who have learned to protect themselves first.
I learned the rules of this war in Washington. Smart, moral colleagues would lower their voices when the subject turned to Israel. The goal was safety. “Let’s not make this about Israel,” someone would say, and relief would spread across the table. The meeting moved on.
The cost is invisible. It was paid by the student who stopped asking questions. It was paid by the analyst who changed her research topic. It was paid by the founder whose company never got a hearing because the country on his slide was the wrong one.
On social media, algorithms feed you contempt for Israel and call it truth. Mobs form in hours. The goal is to make you feel alone. If you defend Israel, you become a target. But if you stay quiet, “don’t get too political,” you are rewarded with peace. So most people choose peace.
From the cesspool of social media, this went on to infect our universities. The atmosphere turned hostile. Jewish students learned to hide signs of who they are. Professors stopped inviting Israeli scientists. Administrators promised neutrality while looking away from open intimidation. A few loud voices set the tone. Many more learned to keep their heads down.
After a while, you do not need the mob at all. The culture polices itself. Silence became the new virtue. Careers adjusted around that silence.
You would think it is different in Washington. It is not. Those very students become professionals.
So the think tanks choose safer topics. Senior officials delay a decision rather than invite a headline. Meetings that should happen do not happen. A program manager tells you, “I love this tech, but I do not need the headache.” Everyone understands what the headache is: Israel.
If the stakes were low, this would be another sad story about bureaucracy. But the stakes are not low.
Israel sits on the front line of problems that are spreading everywhere: drones that hunt targets in packs, communications that break under jamming, deepfakes that tear trust apart, bio threats that move faster than budgets, sensors and satellites that keep cities alive. When Israel is treated as a taboo, the solutions move slower. People bleed while committees derisk and wait.
If you are pro-Israel, this should disturb you. It should disturb you that students are choosing safety over curiosity. It should disturb you that professionals in Washington tiptoe around the one ally that lives in daily contact with the edge of Western civilization. It should disturb you that technology that could stop a rocket or unmask a lie can be slowed by fear. We are watching a norm harden in front of our eyes. The longer we wait, the more normal it will feel to say nothing.
The secret war runs on fear. It grows when the room goes quiet as soon as the words “Tel Aviv” are mentioned. It grows when decent people decide to look down at their notes and say nothing.
There is a way out. The solution is bravery. Build rooms where speaking clearly is the only way forward. Put the word “Israel” on the first slide and refuse to apologize for it. Invite skeptics. Publish what works and what fails.
That is what I intend to do with Claw and Talon. It is something more than a typical venture capital firm. Through strategic partnerships and collaboration, we will bring Israel’s technological strengths directly into Washington DC.
I want it to be ordinary again to say “Israel” in professional settings. I want conference organizers to back speakers because it is right… even when it isn’t politically convenient. I want think tanks to plan hard Israel briefs and publish them without flinching. I want a program manager to approve an Israeli technology pilot because the mission needs it. I want that decision to be rewarded with a promotion. And at the most basic level, I want young Jews to wear a star in daylight and feel eyes of respect.
When the drone is stopped, when the ambulance keeps its signal, when the deepfake fails to persuade because a verifier flags it in time, and when you get a 100%+ year-over-year return on investment in Israeli stocks, people notice. Reality is stubborn. It cuts through noise.
I made Claw and Talon because I was tired of waiting for someone else to do it. Neither I nor you nor anyone else needs permission to act. We need will. And we need to remember what is at risk if we continue to whisper. If we do continue to whisper, the enemies of civilization and their strong voice will shout us down. So let us raise our voices, and defend what remains of the Western world with Israel as its strongest defender.
