Left out: How the global Left betrayed its Israeli supporters - opinion

When you think of an antisemite, who do you think of? An alt-right Nazi extremist? Well, that’s what I, an Israeli Jew, used to think. It’s usually the extreme political right-wingers that hate minorities like us, and the progressive left-wing is the one that tends to protect them. So now, when the big pro-Palestinian Jew-hating protests are held by the left side of the political spectrum, I am left wondering: what is my place within this political movement that hates me so much?

As the PR media battle of the pro-Israelis and pro-Palestinians goes on, I think of the way the leftist movement, the radical left especially, has abandoned its values and moral compass in favor of pro-Palestinian antisemitic ones. Calling for the murder of Israelis, and by extension Jews all over the world, just to help the ‘poor, weak, oppressed Palestinians’ with no regard for the Israeli people, calling for them to be murdered by the terrorist attacks they justify. This makes me and many other Israelis question ourselves and how much we can align with this movement.

This internal conflict that I and many others experience right now gets more complicated, with the response of the Israeli far political right. Some have even called people traitors and blamed the political left for ‘participating in Israel’s own demolition,’ saying we wanted this war and asked for it. This makes the political dilemma more difficult, since I am exactly as devastated by this war as any other Israeli person – right-wing or not – and just as pro-Israeli, too. We were all affected by the October 7 massacre. Regardless of race, religion, or political opinion, we all ran to the shelters during countless missile alarms, we all know people who serve in the IDF, and we all fear for our hostages still in Gaza. But my progressive, left-leaning political opinions still lead me to align with the global leftists, except for the fact they want me dead, and my country gone.

As a result of all of those pressures and conflicts I wrote about earlier, the Israeli leftist movement and all who took part in it are being attacked from all fronts – the rest of the Israeli political spectrum blames us for the war, and the global left denounces us – which leaves us alienated, ally-less, and conflicted, with a difficult choice to be made. 

Do I denounce my political opinions and what I think is right for my country and community? Or do I sacrifice my Israeli-Jewish identity and all I hold dear for my values and views to be heard clearly? I guess only time will tell.

Dana Ries is a 15-year-old student from Ganei Tikva, Israel, who participates in the Israeli Center for Young Leadership (ICYL).  

This op-ed is published in partnership with a coalition of organizations that fight antisemitism across the world. Read the previous article by Nir Boms, Shayan Arya.