But do they support Israel?

The Israel litmus test

Up until, oh I don’t know, about 500 days ago, it used to drive me absolutely bonkers when people in our community would try to bring absolutely everything in life back to Israel or being Jewish.

“What do you mean you’re watching Willy Wonka? Don’t you know that Roald Dahl was a notorious antisemite?”

“How could you buy an Acer laptop? Don’t you know that company is anti-Israel?”

“Why are you watching Dave Chapelle’s show? Don’t you know he hates Israel?”

“How could you watch the Avengers? Don’t you know Mark Ruffalo is anti-Israel and an antisemite?”

“Don’t read that book. The author is a critic of the Israeli government!”

“How could you think about buying a Ford? Don’t you know who Henry Ford was?”

I could go on (and on and on and on).

And yes, maybe some examples are more egregious than others. And in some cases, ya, I would steer clear of people or companies that were notoriously anti-Israel, but for the most part, I had a hard time running every purchase or Netflix-show through a Judeo-Israel litmus test before I engaged with it. At a certain point, I decided, there are just too many people who are antisemitic or anti-Israel. Though I don’t necessarily want to give them my money, I am also not going to allow their political views to run or ruin my life (or small pleasures).

Maybe the naive or lazy part of me just thought that people could hold different views, as long as they weren’t actively setting things on fire or trying to overthrow governments. Maybe, then, we could all just get along?

I sort of applied the same test I apply to whether someone’s statue should be pulled down: do they have a statue because of the bad thing they did or stood for? Or was the bad thing secondary to a good thing that they did (that merited the statue in the first place) and was the bad thing considered a not-bad thing when they did it? In simpler terms: statue of Hitler = bad. Statue of John A. McDonald = good. Statue of Winston Churchill = good. Statue of notorious slave trader Edward Colston = bad.

But then 500 days ago, something changed. Jews were slaughtered en masse. Invaded, raped, beheaded, put in ovens, kidnapped, and tortured. And after the first five minutes of shock and awe on 10/7, people went to the streets and declared,

“We are shocked and awed…at Israel’s response!”

Now we have had 500 days to process what happened on that day that will forever live in infamy. Hamas invaded Israel to commit a genocide. In turn, they started a war, in which Israel has responded and engaged according to rules and standards. There has been no famine in Gaza. No genocide. A remarkably low terrorist-to-civilian body count. In fact, Israel is both funding and feeding the people who are continuing to fight them. When in history has that ever happened? Our hostages are being tortured, starved, psychologically manipulated, and murdered in Gaza’s dungeons, and people are still *let me just check my notes here* yep, still violently anti-Israel.

Fires in Southern Israel, October 7, 2023

So now, 500 days later, asking someone if they or their company supports Israel isn’t just a nosy political question: it is a moral checkpoint. Because if someone doesn’t support Israel, you have to wonder... why?

The Good Old Days

Once upon a time, in a world where people debated ideas without trying to cancel each other, it was totally fine to have nuanced discussions about Israel. Maybe you thought one policy was good, another was bad, but at the end of the day, Israel was just another country in a complex world. Disagreements on Israel were kind of like arguing about pineapple on pizza—passionate, but not friendship-ending. (For the record, pineapple on pizza is delicious, especially with green olives. Try it).

But those days are gone. Now, it’s not just about whether you think Israel should build settlements or what you think about Netanyahu’s latest decision. No, now we’ve entered an era where people genuinely question whether Israel—the only Jewish state —should even be allowed to exist. You know, while simultaneously defending the right of literally every other country (no matter how anti-democratic, genocidal, generally horrific) to stick around.

The Great Shift: Israel as the Ultimate Litmus Test

So, what happened? Why did Israel go from “hot-button issue” to “dealbreaker in friendships, careers, social invitations, and Netflix-to-watch-lists”?

Well, for starters, a certain segment of people decided that Israel isn’t just another country with a government you can critique, but rather the world’s Big Bad Villain™. Never mind that dictatorships are imprisoning journalists, launching wars, and violating human rights left and right—somehow, Israel is the problem. It is the reason for all the conflicts in the Middle East (Syrian dictators killing their people, the Iranian regime torturing and imprisoning women and dissidents, the Sudanese killing the Darfuris, and the entire reason for Palestinian corruption and mismanagement), and it is the reason why the world is unstable. Look around, there’s always someone willing and eager to blame the Jews and their State.

Antisemitic cartoon from Qatar, published July 16, 2017

You have to wonder: what exactly is going on in the minds of people who refuse to support Israel? Is it:

• A genuine misunderstanding of history?

• Ignorance par excellence?

• A deep commitment to moral consistency? (Haha, good one.)

• Or something…darker?

Because let’s be real: when someone goes out of their way to argue that Israel, out of all the countries on Earth, has no right to exist, you have to ask: why does Israel get this special treatment? Did someone’s Waze glitch and direct them into a swamp? Did they eat a bad shwarma? Did a Hebrew-speaker cut in line at the grocery store? Or is it just good old-fashioned antisemitism dressed up as “social justice”?

Neutrality? Not a Thing Anymore

In advocacy circles, we used to talk about the 10-20-70 rule when it came to Israel in the world: 10% of the population is anti-Israel, 20% is pro-Israel, and 70% are wholly indifferent. Maybe I am a little too immersed in the social media world and need to log off X for a few days, but I would argue that the 10-20-70 time has passed.

October 7, 2023, changed everything. Hamas launched the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, and instead of everyone responding with the obvious, “Wow, that’s horrifying,” many shrugged and went: “Well, let’s hear both sides. Let’s hear out the rapists, if that’s what they even did.”

Let’s not forget the two-sidesing of 9/11 when people rushed to ask whether the hijackers had a point to knock down the towers. Or whether the Japanese had a point in bombing Pearl Harbor. Did anyone ask whether the Sandy Hook school shooter had a legitimate grievance before he killed 26 people in 2012?

Did the terrorists have a point?

Of course that didn’t happen, because there is usually no two-sidesing terrorism when Jews are not the target. This is a distinct manifestation of antisemitism, promoted by the likes of Mehdi Hassan and Peter Beinart (in his atrocious new book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza. Beinart never misses an opportunity to deprive the Palestinians of agency for their own decisions and blame the Jews).

So at this point, today, 501 days later, if someone still refuses to support Israel, it’s fair to ask:

• Do they actually believe in human rights, or is it just a hobby? (its the latter)

• Would they be this “neutral” if it were their own country under attack? (no)

• Do they apply the same standards to other nations, or is Israel the only one getting this special scrutiny? (its the latter)

Because if someone says they stand for human rights but can’t muster an ounce of sympathy for Israeli civilians being murdered in their homes, it’s not a “difference of opinion.” It’s an utter moral failure.

What Does It Mean to “Support Israel”?

Supporting Israel doesn’t mean agreeing with every single thing the Israeli government does. Many Jews and most Israelis don’t agree with everything their government does at all times. It’s a democracy, which means it’s messy and loud. The worst system of government, other than all the other kinds (features of the Middle East).

Supporting Israel means acknowledging that it has a right to exist. It means recognizing that it’s the only democracy in the Middle East. It means understanding that when terrorists launch rockets at Israeli civilians, Israel is allowed - in fact morally obligated - to defend itself.

And supporting Israel means calling out the absurd double standards. If you’re okay with nations like China, Russia, and Iran existing—despite their actual human rights violations—but you think Israel shouldn’t exist? I have questions for you.

Why Asking the Question Matters

We all like to assume the best about people. Honestly, sometimes I feel like I do it too much. But nowadays, if someone refuses to support Israel, to even consider Israel’s viewpoint or moral positions, it’s worth digging deeper:

• Do they believe in Jewish self-determination, or do they think Jews are the only people on Earth who don’t deserve a homeland?

• Are they applying the same standards to Israel that they apply to every other country, or is this just selective outrage?

• Or let’s just go back to basics: do they think terrorism is objectively bad, or only bad when it happens to certain people?

If someone’s answers to these questions make you feel like you need a vodka rocks, then congratulations—you’ve discovered yet another person whose so-called “social justice” mysteriously stops applying when it comes to Jews. And yes, I think it is OK to ask the questions: “Do they support Israel? Are they antisemitic?” before you watch their show, buy their product, or give them money.

The Consequences of Ignoring the Question

I can no longer pretend this isn’t a big deal. If anything, ignoring it only makes it worse. Because history has shown that when people stay silent while Jews are under attack—whether physically, politically, or ideologically—it never ends well.

And let’s be clear: the fight against Israel isn’t just about Israel. It’s about truth, democracy, and whether we live in a world where people can freely exist without needing to justify their right to be alive every five minutes.

So no, asking where someone stands on Israel isn’t unfair. It’s not some niche political question. It’s about whether they believe in basic human decency, or if they’ve signed up for the “Hating Israel Makes Me Feel Morally Superior” club. Membership in this club comes with a keffiyeh manufactured by a Uygher in a Chinese labour camp.

A Yom Kippur Service at an IJV synagogue. (just kidding)

This isn’t a new or unique realization or idea. It just bears being written down and publicised: if people have a hard time finding moral clarity in the war between Israel and Hamas, between those who value life and those who value death, then they don’t deserve our support, our attention, our money, our benefit of the doubt. They have been given 500 days of opportunities to realize what good versus evil looks like. Time’s up.

Clarity Is Good. So Is Israel.

The world used to be a simpler place. People could have different opinions on Israel without it being a dealbreaker. But that was back when people were debating policies—not existence. Now? If someone refuses to support Israel, it’s not just a political stance. It’s a flashing neon sign that says, “I might have some seriously questionable moral priorities. Do not swipe right.”

And I include in this deliberation not only non-Jews, but also those Jews who see what is going on, and who either turn on their own people/community, or keep quiet. This includes all those Jewish celebrities who refuse to speak out in support of Israel for fear of being cancelled, and those Jewish politicians who find it impossible to say something positive about Israel without a moral equivocation of some kind about the “other side.” For God’s sake, stand up for yourselves! What’s the point in having a platform if you are going to keep quiet?

In the past, at least to me, it was not so black and white to judge people based on their stance on Israel. But now? Not asking the question is even worse. Because if someone can’t stand with Israel today, it says a lot about what they believe. And that’s worth knowing.