This Is How Europe Lets Antisemitism Win

If you’ve been watching Europe over the past few days, it’s hard to believe your eyes. Jews have long known that antisemitism in Europe didn’t just rise after the refugee waves of the last decade; it exploded. Imported, often unfiltered. And that wouldn’t have been the catastrophe it became if countries like Germany had taken seriously the need to educate, to teach those arriving, that antisemitism doesn’t belong in Germany any more than it does in a civilized world. But let’s be honest: it’s not so easy to integrate people who, as many knowledgeable voices warned, were raised on antisemitism the way others are raised on nursery rhymes, passed down, unquestioned, reinforced in the streets and classrooms.

That hate was always palpable. Whether entering a synagogue fortified like a military base or dining at an Israeli restaurant under the watchful eye of security, Jews have felt it. What was once confined to certain neighborhoods has now metastasized. The cancer has spread.

At protests, people chant openly for the annihilation of Israel. Sinwar’s death squads are cheered. And from the political class? Empty platitudes. They are “deeply concerned,” “troubled,” and “shocked.” We’ve heard it all before. And for a while, many Jews could at least hope that mainstream politics still had their back.

That’s over.

When politicians begin to question whether solidarity with Israel is still “required,” when they float vague doubts about proportionality, they’re handing out moral permission slips to the mob. Each ambiguous statement, each diplomatic half-critique, becomes another brick in the moral alibi of the street protesters who scream “Intifada until victory.” They point to parliaments, to press conferences, to the highest offices in Europe and say: See? Even your leaders know Israel is evil. Even your leaders question its motives. This is how democratic societies launder Hamas’s talking points through press releases.

The moment you no longer call evil by its name, you offer it a seat at the table.

And when a continent’s most powerful voices begin to echo, even faintly, the language of the terrorists, the “occupation” narrative, the “cycle of violence” myth, the “both sides” distortion, they become, willingly or not, the unwitting enablers of jihadism.

Terror doesn’t grow in a vacuum. It blooms where cowardice plants the seeds and ambiguity waters them. So don’t be surprised when the crowds grow bolder, when the slogans get sharper, when the Molotov cocktails follow the chants.

Israel does not need fake friends. It does not need compulsory solidarity. It needs honest allies, moral, unflinching, principled. Those who cannot bring themselves to stand clearly with Israel now have chosen a side. There is no middle ground. You stand with the Jews, or you abandon them.

No European country would tolerate what Israel endures. Every time a European leader equivocates, a terrorist somewhere takes it as validation. Every time a columnist accuses Israel of “genocide,” another Jew is made a target on the streets.

This isn’t abstract. It’s immediate. It’s deadly.

And if standing with Israel feels like a burden now, imagine how heavy the shame will feel later. Imagine explaining to your grandchildren why, once again, Europe could not find the courage to stand with the Jews.

This is the test. The sirens are sounding. The fire is spreading. And the world, once more, is pretending not to smell the smoke.