Tomorrow will be one of the most important and consequential American elections in our lifetime and only one thing is certain… the next four years, and maybe longer, will suck for Jews.
I don’t believe either candidate will stop the increasingly violent, and sometimes deadly attacks against Jews, whether we’re being shot in Chicago or stabbed in Brooklyn like over this past weekend.
I don’t believe either candidate is prepared to address the instability in the Middle East (for which the Iranian regime is solely responsible) to improve the lives of Israelis, Palestinians, Lebanese, Yemenites, Syrians, or Iranian people who do not believe terrorism is an acceptable means of political discourse.
I don’t believe Jewish kids will be able to attend most public schools or universities without being brainwashed to hate themselves by a sinister band of immoral and braindead “teachers” who leapfrog from one social justice cause to the next as quickly as they change their underwear.
That said, I don’t want to waste your time discussing the flaws and limitations of the candidates we’re stuck with. Sure, vote for who you think will be the least harmful (I did already), but don’t for a second believe we can depend on either one to ensure the safety of Israelis and diaspora Jews.
That’s up to us to do.
Let’s focus on how we can use our agency to make our lives better and control our own destiny. We are not victims, and succumbing to a victim mentality (although it may feel endlessly justifiable), is a dead end.
Victimhood leads nowhere and yields no long-term benefits for communities who embrace it as a lifestyle.
So what’s the alternative?
Here’s a short list of 4 ideas I think we should start working on for the day after. Warning, some of these ideas may seem radical, maybe batshit crazy, but we need to be willing to think outside the box if we want to move the needle meaningfully toward a brighter future.
#1 Israel must become more financially and militarily independent
Diaspora Jews are safer because Israel exists. The fact that we have a place we can go if we need to is a luxury that has been afforded to very few generations of Jews and must not be taken for granted.
What about a voluntary income tax on diaspora Jews that Jews can pay in exchange for Israeli citizenship and protection?
Cumulatively, Israel since 1946 has received roughly 230 Billion in military aid. It’s worth noting that the US has also spent significant amounts of military aid on Israel’s neighbors, many of whom are enemies, but that’s beside the point I’m trying to make.
Over 78 years, that’s roughly 3 Billion dollars a year. I’m rounding up.
There are roughly 7.5MM Jews in the US, 440K in France, 400K in Canada, 300K in the UK, 170K in Argentina, 130K in Russia, 125K in Germany, 117K in AU, and 90K in Brazil.
That’s a total of about 10MM diaspora Jews. Let’s say about 7MM are adults who earn an income.
These are mostly Western Nations, so let’s say the average income is about 40K USD annually.
Let’s assume a voluntary tax rate of 3%. That’s $1,200 per Jewish diaspora adult. Now, let’s assume only half of the Jewish diaspora adults want to participate in such a tax.
That’s about 3.5 million x 1,200 dollars would equal $4.2 Billion annually. That would replace and surpass all US economic and military aid.
Someone check my math, I’m more of a writer. I’ll edit this if I screwed up the calculations, but it sounds feasible.
In exchange, the IDF would agree to make efforts to rescue Jews abroad if needed.
#2 Israel could take the weapons the IDF has seized from Hamas and Hezbollah and give them to the enemies of our enemies to defend themselves.
Iran has spent decades building a multinational coalition of terror groups hellbent on Israel’s destruction. Even NATO countries, like Turkey, are overtly undermining Israel’s right to exist.
It’s past time Israelis began building their own coalition, starting with arms deals with nations and peoples who are besieged by radical Islamists in the Middle East, Africa, and India.
While partnering and establishing peace with Saudi Arabia is a good idea for both parties, we should not stop forging new alliances while we wait for them to come to the table.
Who would be in this coalition? I’m glad you asked.
Kurdish rebels, Sunni Tribes in Iraq, the Free Syrian Army, and Christian Lebanese resistance fighters are just a few groups that come to mind that could benefit from armaments to defend themselves against the long tentacles of Iran.
They built the Iranian Crescent to spread evil and attempt to destroy us, but we can build our own coalition with their own weapons to fight back. And we should.
#3 Diaspora Jews and Israelis should have higher rates of gun ownership within the bounds of what’s legal in their countries
If you have the right to own firearms in your country, exercise it. Jewish Americans have some of the lowest rates of gun ownership of any religion in the US.
Here’s an article I wrote earlier this year that is a good introduction to gun safety. I hope more Diaspora Jews and Israelis consider owning a weapon as another layer of deterrence against people who wish us harm.
#4 Zionist Jews, run for office in your home countries.
I am tired of complaining about the choices we have and would much rather spend my energy supporting a politician I believe deeply in.
There are very few today, sadly, who have morals and policy stances which align with my values.
Maybe someone reading this has the stomach for politics and bureaucracy and believes they can make a difference. Don’t be cynical and opt out. Go for it.
Tomorrow, no matter who wins the election, Israel will still unfortunately be a partisan issue and being proudly Jewish will still be controversial in America.
We can’t control that.
What we can control is how our community responds to threats against us.
How we fight back. How we survive. How we thrive.
We are not the first generation of Jews who have had to face adversity. We will not be the last.
So when you wake up to the news of who won the election, instead of feeling fear, anxiety, uncertainty or doubt… just have a cup of coffee and let’s get to work.
Sources
Jewish man shot in Chicago
https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/31/us/chicago-jewish-man-shooting-hate-crime-terrorism-charges/index.html
Jewish man stabbed in Brooklyn
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspect-accused-stabbing-jewish-man-brooklyn-charged-hate-crimes-rcna166305
Iranian Aggression Perpetuates Middle East instability
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-03/what-is-irans-axis-of-resistance-who-is-part-of-it/104423298
Public School and teacher are Anti-Israel
US Military Aid to Israel
https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts
Jewish Population
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-population-of-the-world
Turkey should be kicked out of NATO
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/12/06/turkey-nato-membership-alliance-russia-erdogan-sweden-syria/
Why most Jews should own a firearm
Share this post