OPINION:
Who would have thought that a day on which 1,200 Jews were murdered — the largest one-day Jewish death toll since the Holocaust — would lead to an upsurge of antisemitism?
It used to be medieval mobs shouting, “Death to the Jews” and the Nazis promising to make Europe “Judenrein” — free of Jews. Now, it is “Free Palestine,” the new “Heil Hitler.”
The latest Joseph Goebbels clone is a creep called Benjamin Macklemore, who was scheduled as an opening act on select tour dates for pop star Ed Sheeran until stadium owners began banning him from their venues. A few years back, Mr. Macklemore donned a prosthetic nose, black wig and bushy beard, widely criticized as invoking a Jewish stereotype.
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After strutting across the stage shouting, “Free Palestine,” Mr. Macklemore exclaimed, referring to the war in the Gaza Strip, “I know enough to know this is a genocide,” to which HBO’s “Real Time” host Bill Maher replied: “Actually, you don’t know s—-. It’s not. It’s not a genocide. It’s a counterattack in a war.”
Hamas forced the war on Israel. It did everything possible to increase the civilian death total. Israel did its best to avoid civilian casualties. From the end of 2022 to mid-2024, Gaza’s population increased by 7%. What kind of genocide is that?
Fighting in Gaza sparked the greatest outpouring of antisemitism in the post-World War II era.
Mobs of terrorist sympathizers roamed college campuses, harassing and attacking Jewish students. In 2025, American Jews — who are 2% of the population — accounted for nearly two-thirds of all religion-based hate crimes. According to the Anti-Defamation League, attacks on Jews involving a deadly weapon increased 39% in 2025 over the previous year.
The Democratic Party has exploited antisemitism in the pursuit of power. The highest levels of antisemitism are in New York, New Jersey and California, all deep-blue states.
The party’s nominee for the Senate in Michigan, former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed, who has said he is obligated to follow Shariah, has campaigned with commentator Hasan Piker, who said America deserved 9/11, the United States had caused more terrorism than al Qaeda “pound for pound” and it did not matter that Israeli women were raped during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks.
Mr. El-Sayed has repeatedly refused to distance himself from Mr. Piker. Except for Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, every prominent Democrat has rushed to embrace Abdul Jihad.
A super PAC connected to Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York has pumped $30 million into Mr. El-Sayed’s campaign. Last week, former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned with him.
This madness is not confined to the left. Right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, the friend Vice President J.D. Vance refuses to disavow, is also a fan of the Michigan Democrat. Mr. Carlson says Mr. El-Sayed’s campaign is “literally Trumpian.” Are you nauseated yet?
It is not just the fate of Jews that is at stake, but the fate of America too.
To call for Palestine “from the river to the sea” is to demand the end of Israel and the extinction of the Jewish people.
Israel is home to 46% of the world’s Jewish population. Absent Israel, Jews would lose their most reliable defender. President Trump will not be president in 2½ years.
It should come as no surprise that hatred of Jews and hatred of America go hand in hand. Since its inception, the Iranian regime has denounced America as the “Great Satan” and Israel as the “Little Satan.”
The groups that hate America the most — including antifa and the Democratic Socialists of America — are also inveterately anti-Israel. America and the Jewish people are both the subject of curious conspiracy theories.
Modern antisemitism is based on the paranoid delusion that Jews want to rule the world, which, presumably, is manifested by managing to get themselves killed so often. America’s alleged drive for domination may be seen in the U.S. spending $45 billion to keep Iran from blowing up the world.
The fate of America and the Jews is intertwined. America was founded on the Jewish Bible. The existence of modern Israel owes much to U.S. support, from President Truman to President Trump.
Antisemitism is never a one-off thing.
In the days leading up to Yom Kippur, a 16-year-old resident of an Israeli settlement was murdered in an ambush, a police officer was wounded in an attack on an Ontario synagogue, a Connecticut town was covered in swastikas and a German synagogue was firebombed — for the second time.
It is all part of the war that never ends. Everyone must choose a side. Neutrality is impossible.
• Don Feder is a columnist with The Washington Times.
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