NIKKI HALEY: Why I am calling on leaders to confront antisemitism and defend Israel

Surging antisemitism is among the most disturbing trends in our national life and around the world. But where is the corresponding defense of the truth about the Jewish people and the Jewish State of Israel? There is an urgent need for elected officials on the left and right to confront antisemitic falsehoods and declare without fear that America is right to stand with Israel for the sake of our own national security and theirs.

I saw antisemitism every day when I was at the United Nations. I also saw how antisemitic lies quickly spread when leaders don’t regularly fight back with the truth. This is how the Democratic Party has become a hotbed of hatred toward Israel. 

Today, the default position of leftist politicians and candidates is that Israel is an occupying colonizer perpetrating genocide in Gaza. The newly elected socialist mayor of New York City, Zohran MamdaniZohran Mamdani, built his campaign around such lies. Clearly, the lies struck a chord with leftist voters.

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The truth isn’t said nearly enough. Enemies of Israel loudly shout about its “occupation.” In fact, not a single Israeli soldier or civilian was in Gaza after 2005. That’s nearly 20 years of Palestinian governance with zero Israeli presence. 

Similarly, leftists denounce Israel’s actions in the Gaza War as genocide. In fact, in the history of modern warfare, no army has taken more steps to avoid civilian casualties than Israel’s has, often to the detriment of its own soldiers and war goals. Its troops have been killed because Israel has painstakingly tried to save the civilians whom the terrorists hide behind.

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Here’s another truth. Worldwide protests against Israel began on Oct. 8, 2023. That’s one day after Hamas invaded Israel and massacred over 1,200 innocent men, women, and children, including 46 Americans, and took 254 hostages, including 12 Americans. It was also weeks before Israel took any military actions in response. Obviously, these protests weren’t in response to Israeli actions in Gaza. There hadn’t been any yet.

In reality, the cries of “occupation” aren’t about Gaza. They’re about the entirety of Israel, the Jewish people who live there, and the antisemitic belief that there should be no Jewish State whatsoever. And the cries of “genocide” aren’t about human rights. If that were so, the outrage would be directed not at Israel but at Russia and China. They are the world’s worst human rights violators, both of which are engaged in actual genocide. 

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The criticism of Israel is a plain attempt to defame and delegitimize the country to promote its extinction. Yet the left’s leaders either repeat this hateful language or allow it to continue unchecked.

A man carries two Israeli flags during a pro-Israel rally outside the Israeli Embassy on October 8, 2023, in Washington, D.C.  (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Democrats’ turn toward antisemitism is disturbing enough. But the same evil is now creeping into the right, though it’s not yet as widespread as it is on the left. It’s also heartening that many conservatives are vigorously pushing back. But there’s still an urgent need for every leader on the right to unequivocally state that standing with Israel is in America’s interests.

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Israel is a military and intelligence juggernaut in a strategically vital region of the world.  When America supports Israel, we are directly investing in the protection of our own citizens. Israel is fighting enemies that seek our destruction too. When we sell weapons to the Israeli military, we spare our own troops from being sent into harm’s way. 

In the last two years, America hasn’t sent a single solider into battle against Hamas or Hezbollah, though both are committed to America’s destruction. If America abandoned Israel, it wouldn’t be long before we had to send our sons and daughters into battle against the same terrorists and tyrants.

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These truths are the best antidote to the lies of antisemitism. History shows where those lies lead: to the actual genocide of the Jewish people. Preventing that tragedy is a moral imperative and a national necessity.

It starts with leaders who have the courage to say — and do — what’s right.

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