I have been blown away by the comparison of young Israeli men and women and their counterparts in the US and Western Europe.
I am the father to Israeli kids who stood their ground and fought like hell. The stories of their friends and others who paid with their lives is unconsolable.
In 1967 and 1973 students dropped everything and rushed to Israel to help. While I feel for Jewish students on US campuses I don't want to hear about how uncomfortable it was for them.
Where were you I ask of these American Jewish students when Israel, your people, faced a war of annihilation.
I was a member of a local Hillel board, in October 2023 I was blown away the National Hillel did not call for students to put off studies and GO to Israel to help.
Cowards.
While I don't blame Jewish American students for not having the courage to do so, many did, just not percentage. I don't believe that the hate on campus is not without reason. Over the last 20-30 years campus antisemitism has grown, it has festered. Some protested and fought.
Parents in the US trained their Jewish American students to endure like Chamberlain.
Parents in Israel taught their children that we must fight like lions, we have no where to hide.
We see the results. American Jewry has jumped the shark.
According to The Scroll, 3/25/2025: Eighty-three SJP chapters, including Columbia’s, signed and put out a document in support of Hamas on midnight at the end of the day of Oct. 7, 2023, and the suit implies that these documents must have been written, edited, and signed well before the attacks transpired, meaning that these groups indeed were aware that the slaughter was going down. The Bears for Palestine solidarity statement, shared on Oct. 8, 2023, as part of a national SJP toolkit, honored Hamas terrorists’ actions as a “revolutionary moment” in Palestinian resistance. The Day of Resistance Toolkit included Oct. 7-themed graphics, one of which Kiswani published on Instagram on Oct. 7, a day before the toolkit was released. The creators of that toolkit argued that Israelis killed during the massacre couldn’t be civilians because they were “occupiers.”
I felt emotional just reading Oren’s brilliant essay. It was also very informative. Bibi and others must recognize the need to manufacture and stockpile their own advanced weaponry. While America’s military industrial complex will lobby strongly against losing Israel’s lucrative business, the Jewish State’s future cannot depend on who is elected to office in America. We just saw what happened with Biden in office. The democrat politicians who feared they would lose the Muslim vote in Michigan, turned on Israel faster than a rat could scurry up a drainpipe. It’s Israel’s ‘responsibility’ to develop world class military weapons to protect her citizens.
Great article. How can we donate to those kibbutzim which don't have the weapons and materials to fully protect themselves? Names of organizations? Thank you.
I see Facebook on my feed and there’s always one group or another of Jewish men looking for more supplies-helmets, plates and more, Meyer Malik? Chesed Fund?I may have seen that one. Use the search function from Facebook and see what you can find.
Ambassador Oren's message and historic contextualization comes at a very pregnant moment. Israel's historic and political evolution from 1948-2023 are morphing post-07Oct2023. As we speak, Israeli and US homeland security, intelligence, and military assets are addressing pro-Islamist agendas within the US and the Middle East. Current US-Israeli operational bonds and cooperation have the potential to advance cross-ethnicity cooperatives across the Middle East for economic development and regional security sought by Israel and the US. NEVERTHELESS, such bold visions are contingent upon successful US military and diplomatic actions which result in unusability of Iran's 18+ nuclear sites and demonstrating the US military umbrella can in fact protect allied Nations in the Persian Gulf and Arabian peninsula from Iranian counterattacks. This courageous and complex mission carries many risks. Just as Israel's current state would not be feasible without the resilience and courage of IDF/IAF/INF personnel and Israeli civilians, an economically successful and secure Middle East is dependent upon US military and diplomatic personnel preparing to engage Iran. Let us pray for offensive successes against Iran's homeland and defensive successes in Persian Gulf and Saudi homelands. <hands in praying position>
Michael Oren is a PATRIOT. The dedication to his home, his country and his people is obvious. Dr. Oren, who must be around my advanced age of (60), has volunteered AGAIN for the IDF, put on a uniform, carried a weapon and was assigned to guard a kibbutz. This dedication, sacrifice and strong sense of loyalty to his adopted country is very inspiring. I’ll bet his wife Sally is ever supportive. I’m still hoping the Gaza war ends soon, with ALL hostages released unharmed. I can only hope.
99% of Jewish kids who had a bar mitzvah in the US learned nothing about who the Israelis actually were and are descendants of : the European minority, the refugee remnant of the Holocaust who were still denied entry AFTER the war, the 50% plus Jewish (culturally ) Arab majority forced from all of the Middle East where they lived for the past 3,000 years, and the 20% Muslim ( plus some Christian) Arabs who were not forced out in 1948 and still prefer to be Israeli citizens rather than be in Gaza or any other Muslim ruled place.
The blanket ignorance is why Jewish American Uncle Toms on campuses, in the NYT, cable news especially the “liberal” ones, will slander Israel with words like “genocide” and “occupation” every day. Jews know we don’t grind up little children to make matzoh OR propaganda.
That would be Hamas.
Listening on YouTube to Haviv Gur, Einat Wilf, Erica Le Bon, “Traveling Israel” Oren, Jasmine Mohammed, Aayyan Hersi Ali, “The Green Prince”, Henry Abramson, Ritchie Torres, Harris Sultan, has kept me SANE since October 7.
I am a “homeless” progressive, formerly woke, still liberal. Fierce Zionist American.
P. S. Trump will betray Israel for a nickel. Like he betrays our country.
I hope you’re wrong about tRump. What Michael hints at but fails to fully explain is how Obama with his “aid” package sabotaged us. Nearly bankrupted the Israeli arms industry. Israel must make all of her own weaponry, period. Because running 5 rounds a day through a cannon is bs. We need to revive the Lavi or a current equivalent and we need strategic bombers because Tehran is a long way away and we can’t depend on allies. At least DJT is supportive now and not just paying lip service to Israel like Biten did.
I like this article. I'm a little concerned at the hint of isolationism, however. Yes Israel must be as self-sufficient as possible; but alliances with other countries are critical too, especially America. We must continue the battle for hearts and minds as well as land.
I am sure that Israel will prevail, and that's a good thing. My question to you is, can you see a real and long lasting solution for the core of the problems? As you know, Israel within its current borders has 2M citizens of Palestinian descent or ethnicity. The West Bank and Gaza have a total of about 5M. For the entire territory, that means there is an almost equal amount of Jewish and Palestinian citizens. The various one-state, two-states, or many-states proposals seem to go nowhere. And I doubt that "Israel as a fortress" is a sustainable solution. Is there a possibility of a solution or will we just have to accept that this will be an unsolvable problem forever?
This is a very optimistic take of this generation, but being a parent of this generation, I am very concerned about the trauma I am witnessing, the sparkle that has gone out of the eyes of some of these children. And, yes, I consider kids in their early 20s to be children. My daughter who has been doing reserve duty for all but two months since October 2023 bawled her eyes out for 56 minutes straight while watching "No Other Land" before we had to stop it. She does not feel tempered, steeled and anything but fragile. Nor does her husband who did months of reserve duty, my son who served in Gaza in late 2023 nor other kids of my friends.
We are inflicting trauma on our children every day with this war, and they are going to be paying the price for years to come. Don't be naive about that reality they are suffering.
With all the billions America has armed Israel with, to say Israel is now an invincible, pitiless Goliath fighting a pathetically weak David in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank is an understatement. You kill 1,200 of us, we'll kill 50,000 of you. The choice is yours.
Michael,
I have been blown away by the comparison of young Israeli men and women and their counterparts in the US and Western Europe.
I am the father to Israeli kids who stood their ground and fought like hell. The stories of their friends and others who paid with their lives is unconsolable.
In 1967 and 1973 students dropped everything and rushed to Israel to help. While I feel for Jewish students on US campuses I don't want to hear about how uncomfortable it was for them.
Where were you I ask of these American Jewish students when Israel, your people, faced a war of annihilation.
I was a member of a local Hillel board, in October 2023 I was blown away the National Hillel did not call for students to put off studies and GO to Israel to help.
Cowards.
While I don't blame Jewish American students for not having the courage to do so, many did, just not percentage. I don't believe that the hate on campus is not without reason. Over the last 20-30 years campus antisemitism has grown, it has festered. Some protested and fought.
Parents in the US trained their Jewish American students to endure like Chamberlain.
Parents in Israel taught their children that we must fight like lions, we have no where to hide.
We see the results. American Jewry has jumped the shark.
Respectfully
Bravo!
According to The Scroll, 3/25/2025: Eighty-three SJP chapters, including Columbia’s, signed and put out a document in support of Hamas on midnight at the end of the day of Oct. 7, 2023, and the suit implies that these documents must have been written, edited, and signed well before the attacks transpired, meaning that these groups indeed were aware that the slaughter was going down. The Bears for Palestine solidarity statement, shared on Oct. 8, 2023, as part of a national SJP toolkit, honored Hamas terrorists’ actions as a “revolutionary moment” in Palestinian resistance. The Day of Resistance Toolkit included Oct. 7-themed graphics, one of which Kiswani published on Instagram on Oct. 7, a day before the toolkit was released. The creators of that toolkit argued that Israelis killed during the massacre couldn’t be civilians because they were “occupiers.”
I felt emotional just reading Oren’s brilliant essay. It was also very informative. Bibi and others must recognize the need to manufacture and stockpile their own advanced weaponry. While America’s military industrial complex will lobby strongly against losing Israel’s lucrative business, the Jewish State’s future cannot depend on who is elected to office in America. We just saw what happened with Biden in office. The democrat politicians who feared they would lose the Muslim vote in Michigan, turned on Israel faster than a rat could scurry up a drainpipe. It’s Israel’s ‘responsibility’ to develop world class military weapons to protect her citizens.
Karp of Palantir says future wars will be drones against drones … some say most heavy weaponry will be obsolete … but better safe than sorry.
Great article. How can we donate to those kibbutzim which don't have the weapons and materials to fully protect themselves? Names of organizations? Thank you.
I see Facebook on my feed and there’s always one group or another of Jewish men looking for more supplies-helmets, plates and more, Meyer Malik? Chesed Fund?I may have seen that one. Use the search function from Facebook and see what you can find.
What an outstanding and beautifully written article, Ambassador Oren! Thoroughly enjoyed resting it! Am Yisrael Chai!
Ambassador Oren's message and historic contextualization comes at a very pregnant moment. Israel's historic and political evolution from 1948-2023 are morphing post-07Oct2023. As we speak, Israeli and US homeland security, intelligence, and military assets are addressing pro-Islamist agendas within the US and the Middle East. Current US-Israeli operational bonds and cooperation have the potential to advance cross-ethnicity cooperatives across the Middle East for economic development and regional security sought by Israel and the US. NEVERTHELESS, such bold visions are contingent upon successful US military and diplomatic actions which result in unusability of Iran's 18+ nuclear sites and demonstrating the US military umbrella can in fact protect allied Nations in the Persian Gulf and Arabian peninsula from Iranian counterattacks. This courageous and complex mission carries many risks. Just as Israel's current state would not be feasible without the resilience and courage of IDF/IAF/INF personnel and Israeli civilians, an economically successful and secure Middle East is dependent upon US military and diplomatic personnel preparing to engage Iran. Let us pray for offensive successes against Iran's homeland and defensive successes in Persian Gulf and Saudi homelands. <hands in praying position>
Israel has a great friend in Trump and the biggest and best of America is not on elitist campuses…
Michael Oren is a PATRIOT. The dedication to his home, his country and his people is obvious. Dr. Oren, who must be around my advanced age of (60), has volunteered AGAIN for the IDF, put on a uniform, carried a weapon and was assigned to guard a kibbutz. This dedication, sacrifice and strong sense of loyalty to his adopted country is very inspiring. I’ll bet his wife Sally is ever supportive. I’m still hoping the Gaza war ends soon, with ALL hostages released unharmed. I can only hope.
99% of Jewish kids who had a bar mitzvah in the US learned nothing about who the Israelis actually were and are descendants of : the European minority, the refugee remnant of the Holocaust who were still denied entry AFTER the war, the 50% plus Jewish (culturally ) Arab majority forced from all of the Middle East where they lived for the past 3,000 years, and the 20% Muslim ( plus some Christian) Arabs who were not forced out in 1948 and still prefer to be Israeli citizens rather than be in Gaza or any other Muslim ruled place.
The blanket ignorance is why Jewish American Uncle Toms on campuses, in the NYT, cable news especially the “liberal” ones, will slander Israel with words like “genocide” and “occupation” every day. Jews know we don’t grind up little children to make matzoh OR propaganda.
That would be Hamas.
Listening on YouTube to Haviv Gur, Einat Wilf, Erica Le Bon, “Traveling Israel” Oren, Jasmine Mohammed, Aayyan Hersi Ali, “The Green Prince”, Henry Abramson, Ritchie Torres, Harris Sultan, has kept me SANE since October 7.
I am a “homeless” progressive, formerly woke, still liberal. Fierce Zionist American.
P. S. Trump will betray Israel for a nickel. Like he betrays our country.
I hope you’re wrong about tRump. What Michael hints at but fails to fully explain is how Obama with his “aid” package sabotaged us. Nearly bankrupted the Israeli arms industry. Israel must make all of her own weaponry, period. Because running 5 rounds a day through a cannon is bs. We need to revive the Lavi or a current equivalent and we need strategic bombers because Tehran is a long way away and we can’t depend on allies. At least DJT is supportive now and not just paying lip service to Israel like Biten did.
TDS
I like this article. I'm a little concerned at the hint of isolationism, however. Yes Israel must be as self-sufficient as possible; but alliances with other countries are critical too, especially America. We must continue the battle for hearts and minds as well as land.
Magnificent article. Thank you.
I am sure that Israel will prevail, and that's a good thing. My question to you is, can you see a real and long lasting solution for the core of the problems? As you know, Israel within its current borders has 2M citizens of Palestinian descent or ethnicity. The West Bank and Gaza have a total of about 5M. For the entire territory, that means there is an almost equal amount of Jewish and Palestinian citizens. The various one-state, two-states, or many-states proposals seem to go nowhere. And I doubt that "Israel as a fortress" is a sustainable solution. Is there a possibility of a solution or will we just have to accept that this will be an unsolvable problem forever?
Baruch Hashem!
Joining the reserves at your age?? I'm impressed. God bless you!!
This is a very optimistic take of this generation, but being a parent of this generation, I am very concerned about the trauma I am witnessing, the sparkle that has gone out of the eyes of some of these children. And, yes, I consider kids in their early 20s to be children. My daughter who has been doing reserve duty for all but two months since October 2023 bawled her eyes out for 56 minutes straight while watching "No Other Land" before we had to stop it. She does not feel tempered, steeled and anything but fragile. Nor does her husband who did months of reserve duty, my son who served in Gaza in late 2023 nor other kids of my friends.
We are inflicting trauma on our children every day with this war, and they are going to be paying the price for years to come. Don't be naive about that reality they are suffering.
With all the billions America has armed Israel with, to say Israel is now an invincible, pitiless Goliath fighting a pathetically weak David in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank is an understatement. You kill 1,200 of us, we'll kill 50,000 of you. The choice is yours.