Gil Troy may be the smartest defender of Israel - comment

Prof. Gil Troy may just be the smartest defender of Israel on the planet. As we mark the anniversary of October 7, I recommend that you read one of Troy’s new publications to equip you with the intellectual arsenal necessary to advocate for Israel during these challenging times of rising antisemitism and anti-Zionism.

Troy is a senior fellow at the Jerusalem-based Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), distinguished scholar in North American history at McGill University, eloquent public speaker, prolific author, and popular newspaper columnist.

“Every day, I try to figure out how to best explain what Israel is doing; to help others, especially our struggling students [in the Diaspora], appreciate the significance of this moment while inspiring them to find the moral courage to take a stand for us and for truth; and put it all in a Zionist and liberal-democratic framework,” Troy tells The Jerusalem Report.

His latest effort is a 64-page guidebook he produced with JPPI titled “The Essential Guide to October 7th and Its Aftermath: Facts, Figures, History.” Thousands of copies have been printed by North American Jewish federations and synagogues, while the Jewish Community Centers Association emailed it to its more than 100,000 members ahead of the High Holy Days. Here is an excerpt and here is a PDF of the entire guidebook from JPPI.

“I view the project as a joint publishing venture with the Jewish world,” Troy says. “I wanted a short, punchy guide with facts, figures, timelines, charts that someone will easily read in one sitting and that tells a story or series of stories without being one of those propagandistic hasbara Q&A guides.”

To Resist the Academic Intifada

Troy’s second work is a landmark book published on September 17 by Wicked Son (Adam Bellow), To Resist the Academic Intifada: Letters to My Students on Defending the Zionist Dream.

“If the short punchy ‘Essential Guide’ is a how-to offering basic arguments explaining why Israel is doing what it’s doing and why this war matters to all of us, this is a ‘why-to’ – an ideological argument, my update to my bestselling Why I Am a Zionist, using my life story to tell the broader story of Zionism – and its overlap in many ways with Americanism and liberalism. Ultimately, all three ideologies, which rhyme much more than they clash, are stories of hope, resisting the despair of the moment.”

In the preface of the above-mentioned second work, he says the letters call on students to resist what he calls the “Academic Intifada.” In his words: “The ‘Academic Intifada’ means the anti-Zionist movement, on campus and elsewhere, including professors, administrators, and students, that by crying ‘Globalize the Intifada,’ endorses violence – ‘by any means necessary’; terrorism – ‘burn, burn Tel Aviv’ and ‘we are Hamas’; and Israel’s eradication, ‘from the river to the sea.’ These activists attack what Israel is, not what Israel does.” 

Among those praising the book is President Isaac Herzog: “Having spent my high school years in New York some decades ago, I enjoyed diving into Prof. Gil Troy’s inspiring, relevant, Zionist vision, rooted in American values and Jewish moral codes, Jewish history, and contemporary Israeli life. With these timely, must-read letters to his students – and to us all – Gil Troy confirms his stature as a revered teacher, a leading public intellectual, and one of today’s influential Zionist thinkers.” 

Prominent Israeli activist Noa Tishby adds: “As Jews, we tell stories in ways that are personal, compelling, and inspiring. That is precisely what Prof. Gil Troy has done in these important and timely letters. If you want to know Why Israel, why Zionism, why Liberalism, why Americanism, why stand up for yourselves – and how to fight the jihadists and what he accurately calls the Academic Intifada – read this book… now!”

Shana tova from Jerusalem!