Members of the United Nations Security Council meet on the day of a vote on a Gaza resolution that demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan leading to a permanent ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, March 25, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Ambivalence, if not outright hostility, towards Israel has been around in Europe and the West for a while, perhaps for decades. Three of our so-called allies managed to escalate it into hostility not long ago. The UK, Canada, and France have forcefully condemned Israel’s continuation of the war in Gaza. They find Israel’s war to stop the genocidal rule of Hamas inexcusable. Their proclamations have prompted a few other European “friends and allies” into action. They have decided that because of Israel’s intransigence in refusing to end the war in Gaza, it is up to them to take the reins of leadership — and some are advocating for the immediate recognition of a Palestinian state.

In addition, the EU is deliberating whether to impose targeted sanctions to punish Israel for the situation in Gaza and the continuation of fighting. Obviously the images coming from Gaza are difficult to watch — but they are being caused by Hamas, which refuses to end the war by releasing the Israeli hostages and giving up control of Gaza — and also because Hamas has been stealing international aid and killing any Palestinians that protest their rule. None of this seems to be landing in European capitals, however.

Why isn’t the EU pressuring Hamas, and perhaps even more so Qatar, the main enabler and financier of Hamas, into returning the hostages, disarming, and leaving Gaza? Is it because of a deep-seated animosity toward a Jewish state, or perhaps due to pressure from their large Muslim populations, which are significantly against the existence of a Jewish state? Isn’t Europe aware of the rising level of antisemitism — or do they not care? Perhaps 80 years after the Holocaust, they are tired of hearing Jews complain.

Even as France and other countries push for the recognition of a Palestinian state (which would be a reward for terrorism, if done in response to Oct. 7, 2023), it is Israel’s courage and actions that are transforming the Middle East, so far without involving Palestinians. It is Israel who weakened Hezbollah enough to give Lebanon literally fresh air and a chance for democracy, not French President Macron’s neo-colonialist ambitions. Israel also provided the environment for the people of Syria to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, and Israel is the country building ties across the Arab world.

Any effort to establish a Palestinian state in the UN General Assembly would happen under the auspices of Philémon Yang, the UN General Assembly President, who declared that it is time to end more than 70 years of wars between Israel and Palestinians. He added that this requires the end of Israeli occupation and the implementation of UN resolutions aimed at ending these wars. Yang either forgot or doesn’t know the history of the region — and how the UN has undermined peace and the security of the Jewish state at almost every instance since 1948. To talk about a just peace and living with dignity in two states after the massacre of October 7 without first getting rid of Hamas, freeing the remaining hostages from Hamas clutches, and acknowledging Israel cannot safely go back to its 1967 borders is ludicrous.

Perhaps Yang can convince Palestinians to extend a genuine peaceful gesture to Israel. This would go a long way — but it’s extremely unlikely any meaningful gesture can or will happen given the Palestinians’ history of supporting terrorism and denying Israel’s right to exist. Any effort to unilaterally establish a Palestinian state under these conditions would only lead to more violence.

Jaroslava Halper, a daughter of Holocaust survivors, grew up in communist Prague, experienced the Six-Day and Yom Kippur wars from a distance, but lived through Prague Spring and Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. She escaped to Canada in 1976, where she finished her MD at the University of Toronto. She trained in pathology at the Mayo Clinic, where she also obtained a PhD. She is a professor of Pathology at the University of Georgia in Athens GA. She considers it of utmost importance to defend Israel and Judaism (at least in writing), and fight antisemitism.