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  2. What Can We Learn From Watching the Suicidal Israeli Left?
October 20, 2025 at 10:10 AM

What Can We Learn From Watching the Suicidal Israeli Left?

Old Bathos
@OldBathos

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The weirdly suicidal tendencies of left-leaning Jews should serve as an object lesson, a 'canary in the coal mine' for the entire Judeo-Christian enterprise we call Western Civilization.

Russian Jews were prominent in Marxist movements that proposed mandated atheism or secularism would eliminate persecution of distinctive minorities. Stalin dispelled that fantasy. Many American Jews still reflexively regard the conservatism that draws upon Burke and John Locke as largely identical to “blood and soil” right-wing European movements. They still vote as if the only relief lies in a society that is somehow militantly secular yet still permits Jewishness to be distinct when it wants to be.

It should not have come as a surprise that the left has now turned on Jews.

In Israel, the vision of the Israeli left was described by one wag as a desire to establish a “Hebrew-speaking Sweden.” If only Israeli nationalism and religious conservatism would go away and enough concessions were made to their enemies, this secular paradise could emerge. Other Jews who, with very good reasons, believe that territorial and other concessions will not even slightly reduce the threat of lethal attack, are the real enemy of the left. And Netanyahu personifies the outlook that keeps political Nirvana at bay.

A harsh but insightful piece on JNS.org by Gadi Taub looks at the recent reaction to the negotiated release of the hostages:

The hostage deal was a realization of its declared aim, but it was also the painful defeat of its larger political strategy—because the main goal of the “Bring Them Home, Now!” campaign was never really the hostages. It was designed to harness the raw pain felt by a whole country in the service of the continued effort of the lavishly funded permanent protest to oust Netanyahu. In fact, when you look at the way the campaign was managed, an even darker picture emerges: It was an attempt to remove Netanyahu from power at the expense of the hostages and their families.

The American left refused to regard the Soviet Union as a threat--Goldwater or Reagan was the real enemy. The open warfare on Western society by a newly primitivized Islam must also be denied. Not even at their peak did the Soviets use expressly aggressive verbal equivalents of jihad, and yet we are directed by the culturally ascendant left to pretend this is foreign to Islamic religion, culture and actual practice.

The attempt to erase borders, the strange assault on normality and common sense in handing sports trophies to males with identity issues, the refusal to respond realistically to crime, the Luddite assault on sound energy policies and economic productivity, and the spiritual and emotional destruction of great numbers of our young people are all calls for societal death. It is as if destruction of reality is the only way some faux nirvana can emerge.

The insanity of left-wing Jews who endorse expressly anti-Semitic policies and movements in the United States and Europe and demand policies that would effectively exterminate Israel provides a perspective on how hideously wrong the larger leftist project is in the West.

This post was promoted to the Main Feed at the recommendation of Ricochet's members.

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    Henry Racette@HenryRacette·51w
    Old Bathos (View Post):

    The weirdly suicidal tendencies of left-leaning Jews should serve as an object lesson, a ‘canary in the coal mine’ for the entire Judeo-Christian enterprise we call Western civilization.

    And this has always been my ultimate reason for defending Israel: like us, Israel is the West, and the West must not fall.

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    Susan Quinn@SusanQuinn·51w
    Old Bathos (View Post):

    The insanity of leftwing Jews who endorse expressly anti-Semitic policies and movements in the United States and Europe and demand policies that would effectively exterminate Israel provide a perspective on how hideously wrong is the larger leftist project in the West.

    I keep thinking that the Leftist Jews have to get how destructive they are being. How they can support the Left and think they are going to come out of the politics whole is beyond me. They may just decide to abandon Judaism and declare Leftism their religion; that's what they've essentially done.

    I respect Gadi Taub and read the whole article. Still, I have a hard time believing that there were many who were prepared to sacrifice the hostages to get rid of Netanyahu.

    Insanity.

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    David Foster@PseudoNomyous·51w

    " Many American Jews still reflexively regard the conservatism that draws upon Burke and John Locke"...see my post The Phobia(s) That May Destroy America.

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    Andrew Troutman@Dotorimuk·51w

    Reminds me of a Woody Allen interview I saw recently where he said that he was voting for Cuomo, although he thinks Mamdani’s “heart is in the right place.”

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    Subcomandante America@TheReticulator·51w
    ReplyingtoSusan Quinn

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    I respect Gadi Taub and read the whole article. Still, I have a hard time believing that there were many who were prepared to sacrifice the hostages to get rid of Netanyahu.

    I was wondering what you thought of that possibility. I suppose I should read the article to see what evidence is given.

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