Let’s not forget why Israel exists. It’s not a mere luxury. It is a necessity. It is necessary for the survival of the Jewish people. Our people have long been subjected to pogroms and persecutions, so it is clear that the Jewish state is the only safe haven for Jewish people when the world inevitably turns on us.

Anti-Israel activists are antisemitic when they hold Israel to a double standard, deny Jews’ right to self-determination and demonize the Jewish State. Anti-Zionism is often antisemitic because it plays to ancient antisemitic tropes when criticizing Israel, reminding American Jewish communities of Jews’ painful history of oppression.