The reality of living in Israel is that one never knows what tomorrow will bring. If we needed proof of this statement, we have it in the here and now of the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza, as well as Israel’s successfully fought war with Iran. Israel had reached the decision that the time had come to cut off the head of the Iranian octopus – the patron of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, and other evil in the world.
Time and again at the United Nations, Iran’s leaders have threatened to annihilate the one Jewish state. One can but wonder how the UN would have responded had Iran threatened to annihilate Britain, France, or any other country.
Following Iran’s two earlier bombardments of Israel in 2024 – the first, unprovoked, in April; and the second in October, apparently in response to Israel’s crippling Iran’s air defenses – Israel decided to strike Iran on June 13.
Israel began the process of eliminating Iran’s stockpile of missiles, together with attacks on its nuclear facilities. The concept of a nuclear-armed Iran determined to eliminate the Jewish state was something we could not afford to ignore.
How did the free world react? Aside from German’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz who stated that “Israel was doing the dirty work of the West,” the general response of the West appeared predominantly negative.
Where is the Churchill of today?
In the 1930s, it was Winston Churchill who recognized Hitler’s evil intent while others thought they could negotiate with the dictator.
Churchill understood the threat Hitler posed to the free world, unlike his predecessor Neville Chamberlain, who backed the Munich agreement of November 1938, calling it “Peace for our time”; an agreement whereby Sudetenland territory would be ceded to Germany with Hitler taking over portions of Czechoslovakia.
It was the world’s good fortune that Churchill saw through Hitler and took the lead in calling for British rearmament to counter the German threat.
On June 21, 2025, President Donald Trump became the Churchill of today, deciding the time had come for the United States to enter the war.
The US Air Force dropped its bunker buster bombs on the nuclear facilities at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz, greatly contributing to a safer world.
Trump realized that it was impossible to negotiate a meaningful deal with the Iranian leadership. Did his allies thank him? Their response was measured and carefully worded in the usual attempt to be what the West calls “balanced.”
What of our Arab neighbors’ reaction to Israel’s war with Iran? Israel has peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan – even if somewhat cold. Egypt considers itself a leader in the Middle East. While blaming Israel for the conflict, Egypt endeavors to walk a tightrope. It is a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, whereas Iran’s population has a Shia Muslim majority.
We recall that in July 2013, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, then-Egypt’s defense minister and commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces, played a key role in the expulsion of the Muslim Brotherhood, headed by Egypt’s president at the time, Mohamed Morsi. That led to Sisi becoming Egypt’s president.
Jordan’s population – two-thirds of which is Palestinian – is the likely reason that its King Abdullah II lost no time in publicly condemning Israel. At the same time, it was Jordan that contributed to the shooting down of Iran’s missiles during its attacks on Israel in 2024.
Both Egypt and Jordan endeavor to retain close ties with the US, receiving economic benefits and being part of global counter-terrorism efforts. It would appear that their anti-Israel rhetoric is primarily for the benefit of their population.
Saudi Arabia, which Trump once thought would be ready to join the Abraham Accords, has chosen to publicly blame Israel for the war, while feeling relief that Israel has removed the Iranian threat.
We should not be surprised at the public anti-Israel rhetoric expressed by the leadership of our neighbors, who for decades have indoctrinated their population to hate Israel. Their school curricula reek of racism against the Jewish state.
NGO report highlights antisemitic and anti-Israel content in higher education curricula
A recent study carried out by the NGO Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT) found that while 80% of Egyptian elementary schoolchildren are now studying under a revised curriculum featuring improved attitudes toward the Jew and Israel, unfortunately the textbooks for the higher grades continue to include antisemitic and anti-Israel narratives.
Without doubt, it is these secondary schoolchildren who are far more likely to absorb what they are taught than those in elementary schools. Palestinian children continue to learn from textbooks rife with antisemitism and hatred of Israel.
Regarding Jordan, where the population is dominated by Palestinians who remain virulently anti-Israel, it is not surprising to learn from an IMPACT report (released in May 2025) that Jordan’s educational material contains antisemitic messaging, glorification of violent jihad, and hostile rhetoric about Jews and Israel – in stark contradiction to the kingdom’s claim of promoting tolerance and religious moderation.
The report brought to mind the time I confronted Hanan Ashrawi, the former PLO spokesperson who is virulently anti-Israel. Ashrawi hosted a side session at a United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. In presenting Ashrawi with quotes from the Palestinian textbooks teaching jihad and martyrdom, I asked her how this could lead to peace between our peoples. Her response? “No one will tell us how to educate our children.”
In November of 2004, I had the honor of representing Israel at the Women for Peace conference in Geneva. The initiator and co-chair was Suzanne Mubarak, the wife of then-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak; the other co-chair was Switzerland’s then-foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey. Each participant presented her country’s concept of how women could contribute toward peace. The essence of the presentation I gave on behalf of Israel was that peace is about what we teach our children.
Worldwide demonstrations against Israel
Today, while recognizing that the countries surrounding us are educating their children to hate Israel, this cannot be the reason for the mass pro-Iran and anti-Israel demonstrations taking place in the major cities of the Western world.
Demonstration after demonstration sees Iran being promoted as the good guy and Israel as the bad guy. How can we comprehend a mass pro-Iran rally in New York’s Times Square that states, “Iran is defending itself against terrorist aggression from the US and Zionist regimes.” It also called for Tel Aviv to be burned to the ground.
Saturday, June 21, saw a major demonstration in central London with placards displaying an image of Iran’s leader, Ali Khamenei, under which was written “Choose the right side of history.”
Dave Rich, head of policy at the UK’s Community Security Trust, asked: “Why is it that so many women on that march happily chanted ‘We stand with Iran’ while dressed in a way that would see them beaten and imprisoned by that same Iranian regime – and despite all the horrors it perpetrates on its own people, most of whom would be glad to see the back of it (even if they don’t welcome Israeli and American bombs)?”
As if these demonstrations were not enough, Jews in Britain and elsewhere were shocked to see the vile anti-Zionism projected at the Glastonbury Festival that attracted more than 200,000 participants. The crowd at the music festival, led by British rapper Bob Vylan, chanted “Death to the IDF” and “Free, free Palestine” as hundreds of Palestinian flags were flown.
Danny Cohen, a former director of the BBC and current president of Access Entertainment, expressed shock at the display of racist hate and was even more disgusted that the BBC chose to broadcast this live. He fears that this will inflame the UK’s antisemitism, which has already reached unacceptable proportions.
What are the messages that we Jews and Israel are receiving from the free world when subjected to hate rallies being staged in New York, London, or any other democracy?
The first is that our refusal to be eliminated appears to be the cause of the hatred toward us. The second message – whether we live in Israel or elsewhere – is that we are blessed to have our own state. Am Yisrael chai.
The writer is the president of the Israel, Britain and the Commonwealth Association and has chaired public affairs organizations in Israel and the UK.