There is Something About Israel that Makes People Furious

“For what great nation is there that has God so near to them… Only take heed and guard your soul diligently, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen…” (Devarim 4:7–9)

When a Non-Jew Reminds Us Who We Are

Sometimes, it takes a non-Jew to remind us, the Jews, of something we are reluctant to face: who we truly are. British journalist Allister Heath, writing in The Sunday Telegraph (June 30, 2025), offers just such a moment of painful clarity.[1] Though his audience is not the Jewish people, his words should be heard loud and clear in Israel and throughout the Diaspora.

Since the horrific attacks of October 7, 2023, the Jewish people have once again become the target of global animosity. After the unspeakable horror we suffered at the hands of barbarians and our response, Israel is now accused of war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. The level of hatred and distortion is staggering.

And yet, it is not new.

Heath’s diagnosis is brutally honest: “The real reason why Israel is vehemently attacked has nothing to do with Gaza, genocide, settlements, or wars. All that is a cover for something deeper: ‘A discomfort not with what Israel does, but with what Israel is.’”

Israel Defies the Rules of History

“A nation this small should not be this strong,” Heath writes. And indeed, Israel has none of the attributes typically associated with world powers—no oil reserves, no vast population, no global alliances that fully defend it. Surrounded by enemies, condemned by international institutions, slandered by celebrities, and yet… it thrives.

It thrives in military innovation, in medicine, in security, in technology, in agriculture, in intelligence—and in sheer, unbreakable will. It intercepts rockets mid-air, turns deserts into farmland, rescues hostages with impossible missions, and wins wars it is supposed to lose.

And the world cannot cope with this.

So, Heath explains, the world reaches for false explanations: “It must be cheating. It must be lobbying. It must be theft. It must be oppression. Because heaven forbid it’s real. Heaven forbid it’s earned. Or worse—destined.”

What drives the world mad, he writes, is the possibility that the Jews really are chosen. That history is not random. That evil does not get the final word. That God still keeps His promises.

There is no historical precedent for surviving the Babylonians, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Inquisition, the pogroms and the Holocaust, and still showing up to work on Monday in Tel Aviv.

“Israel doesn’t make sense,” he writes. “Unless you believe in something beyond the math.”

Jewish Discomfort with Jewish Identity

Heath’s insight is not only relevant to the outside world. It holds up a mirror to the internal crisis of the Jewish people themselves.

Many Israelis have forgotten—or never learned—our history. For them, Jewish identity began in 1948. The long exile, the persecution, the powerlessness of Diaspora Jewry is seen as a mark of shame, not resilience. We internalized the disdain of our enemies.

And yet, it is that very history—nearly 2,000 years of dispersal, wandering, and suffering—that forged a people capable of surviving everything.

Historians and philosophers have long marveled at this paradox. A people without a land, without an army, endlessly persecuted—and yet, they do not disappear. They flourish. They contribute to the world out of all proportion in every aspect of human achievement. Over the centuries, they created a spiritual and intellectual civilization that outlasted every empire that tried to destroy them.

Pascal and the Miracle of Jewish Survival

Among the many thinkers struck by this miracle was the French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), who wrote:

It is certain that in certain parts of the world we can see a peculiar people, separated from the other peoples of the world and this is called the Jewish people…. This people is not only of remarkable antiquity but has also lasted for a singularly long time…. While the people of Greece and Italy—Sparta, Athens, and Rome—and others who came so much later have perished long ago, these still exist, despite the efforts of so many powerful kings who have tried a hundred times to wipe them out… Their preservation was foretold… My encounter with this people amazes me.”[2]

The Failure of Secular Zionism’s Dream

The founders of secular Zionism hoped to break free from this mysterious history. They believed that once Israel became a “normal” country the metaphysical uniqueness of the Jews would disappear. Israel would be like all other nations. And therefore, anti-Semitism would end. Zionism, just like the emancipation of the Jews, promised to make an end to Jewish suffering.

But it didn’t.

On the contrary, since the founding of the State, anti-Semitism has increased. War after war, Israel has found itself on the brink—only to survive by what can only be understood as miracles.

The attempt to normalize the Jewish people has failed. The mystery of Israel has not disappeared; it has simply metamorphosed. The State of Israel, too, resists definition. It is on its way to becoming as much of a puzzle as the Jewish people always were. In fact, it already is.

The Words of Yechezkel Fulfilled

It is as if the prophet Yechezkel foresaw all of this:

And that which comes to your mind shall never come to pass, that you say: We will be like the nations… It will not be. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God. (Yechezkel 20:32–33)

The more Israel tries to imitate other nations, the more mediocre it becomes. The more it pursues normalcy, the more it arouses resentment. The more it relies on military power alone, the more vulnerable it becomes.

Israel’s prophets knew this. They warned that Israel’s security depends not on arms and borders, but on fulfilling its mission: to be a light to the nations, to be witness to the Divine meaning of history.

Being Ourselves to Be Respected

The final irony is this: non-Jews respect Jews who respect themselves. They admire Jews who honor Judaism. What Heath has articulated—and what our prophets have long known—is that Jewish strength comes from Jewish authenticity.

In one of the most daring promises in the Torah, God declares that if the Jews live in accordance with their mission, they need not fear even leaving their borders undefended:

“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord… and no man shall covet your land.” (Shemot 34:23–24)

In other words, not only will the enemy fail to conquer our land—they won’t even desire it.

Anti-Semitism will not end by hiding our identity. It will end when Jews practice what it means to be upright, noble, and faithful to our calling. The mystery of Israel will never vanish. It will either become a source of blessing—or of turmoil.

Many young Israelis have begun to realize this. But for the older generation, raised on socialism and other “isms,” there is still a long way to go. To admit that for years one has been mistaken—that it is not normalcy but uniqueness that drives the Jews to excellence—is very hard.

“The Lion has roared—who can but fear?” (Amos 3:8)

The time has come to listen.

Notes:

[1] While this essay has been widely credited to Allister Heath of the Daily Telegraph, it appears that it was in fact written by a Jewish writer on X (formerly Twitter). See: https://x.com/Average_NY_Guy/status/1936669168146731012.
Thank you to reader Tamar Wisemon for pointing out the misattribution.

[2] Pensées, trans. A.J. Krailsheimer, 1968, fragments 771–773.