As Jewish communities worldwide grapple with rising antisemitism and growing anti-Israel animus, the murderous terrorist attack in Washington, D.C., that left two Israeli embassy staffers dead last week marks a dangerous turning point—and calls for action are growing louder.
Yuval David, a journalist and political adviser on American Jewish affairs and antisemitism, called the attack a "harsh reminder" of security concerns facing Jewish communities worldwide.
Explaining Israel: The struggle for effective Hasbara — Yuval David
"The American Jewish community had a severe wake-up call about security, and we're now questioning how good is the security that we have outside our Jewish events, Jewish institutions, Jewish schools and synagogues," David said.
When asked whether he had feared such an incident given the current climate in the United States, he said, “That’s why I’ve been saying after this horrendous terror attack... that I’m shocked, but I'm not surprised.”
"We’ve been seeing these demonstrations, protests and riots happening in public spaces—on campuses, outside Jewish businesses—and even people infiltrating Jewish businesses, Jewish schools or Jewish centers, and yelling out these slogans that are truly slogans about hate. When people yell out 'Free Palestine,' we have to ask: free Palestine from what, and free Palestine to what?
"We, as a Jewish people, need to talk about what these slogans [and] the 'placard strategy' of hate speech is all about. 'Free Palestine' might sound nice to the untrained ear, but 'Free Palestine' is about freeing the region from Jews, from Christians, from Druze, from Baha’is, from secular Muslims—anybody who doesn't follow the Islamist agenda—from the river to the sea—we need to express that that expression means the Islamists want to eradicate Israel from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea and kill anybody who is not of them or like them."
David criticized shifting global public opinion, which has increasingly turned against Israel despite the October 7 Hamas attack and terrorists still holding 58 hostages.
“We just saw the release of one of the American hostages, which is wonderful—but what about the rest of the hostages? I also question the Israeli government. I also question governments around the world. Do they really not care? They keep talking about brokering peace, negotiating a ceasefire—but do they realize that Israel still has hostages being held?" he asks.
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Pro-Palestinian demonstration at Harvard University
(Photo: Boston Globe, GettyImages)
"How can this war end if hostages remain in captivity? How can it end if Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Houthis and all these terrorist groups are still attacking Israel? It’s a terrible question, but once again, the way Israelis and Israeli leadership are conveying the message isn’t getting through to the rest of the world.
"It’s upon us, Jewish activists and advocates, to speak about the narrative correctly. Hopefully, the official Israeli representatives will also correct the way they speak about this publicly, so maybe the world will understand.”
He highlighted a broader failure in messaging, criticizing the concept of hasbara for its inherently defensive posture. "It's as if it's always in the defense of who we are, but we're not properly sharing the narrative of who the Jewish people are. We're not properly sharing the narrative about what all of these Islamist and Palestinian slogans actually mean. We're also not truly sharing the narrative of what Zionism means and who the Jewish people are," David said.
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Pro-Israel rally near the Capitol building in Washington, DC
(Photo: Drew Angerer / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
"There are people around the world who believe that Zionism and Israel are all about a white supremacist apartheid state, that Zionism is a racist movement. They don't know that Zionism is not racist—it is the most successful anti-colonial movement, a successful indigenous rights movement. They don't know that Israel is a vastly diverse country. Twenty percent of Israeli society are Arab Muslims, and Arab Muslims are represented in the Knesset, in courtrooms across the country, and even on the Supreme Court."
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He stressed the need to push back against the outsized impact of misinformation targeting Jewish communities on social media. "We need to reconnect to our Jewish identity and recognize that, according to Jewish thought, Jewish culture, Jewish philosophy, Jewish education and Jewish religion, every single one of us is a representative of our people," he asserted. "Jewish peoplehood is built upon religion, education and action. Limud Torah—we need to recognize that each one of us has to be an activist. We all have impact, and we're failing on social media."
David emphasized grassroots activism as a crucial strategy for countering the spread of hate online and in real life. “What each of us can do is to be more Jewish, to engage in political and social action, to write op-eds, post on social media and have conversations not just within our echo chamber, but also outside of it. There are so many Jewish events happening. Every Jewish organization is putting on events all the time around the world, outside of Israel. So maybe say, ‘Hey, I’m going to go to this event and bring three friends who usually wouldn’t go’—maybe they’re Jewish, maybe they’re not.
"The Zionist movement needs to follow in the footsteps of other civil rights, social justice and human rights movements. It wasn’t about one person or one group of leaders—it was about everybody rising up and doing something for the movement. This is the movement of the Jewish people, and we all need to do more.
"Every Jew and ally needs to spend five minutes a day—or even five minutes a week or month—going to the accounts of Jewish activists, influencers, media figures, political personalities and organizations like Hillel and other news outlets. Click like, comment positively and share their content. We need to shift the algorithms on social media.”