I have said it before and I will say it again. Living in the Netherlands today, the moment the word Israel is mentioned, something snaps in people. It is not debate. It is not discussion. It is hysteria.

I have seen it everywhere. On the street. At work. On LinkedIn. People lose all sense of reason. Educated and uneducated, young and old, left wing, religious, secular. It does not matter. The reaction is the same. Rage, slogans, blind hatred.

At first, it did not get to me. I wrote it off as ignorance. Mass thinking. People repeating what they are fed. I told myself these are not serious minds, just noise. A kind of social madness. Annoying, yes, but distant.

But then something else started to happen. Something that does hit deeper. In discussions, especially online, many of the loudest anti Israel voices suddenly claim to be Jewish. That is where it becomes unsettling. Maybe some are lying. I hope they are. But what if they are not?

Because that changes everything

The Netherlands has a very small Jewish population. Around forty thousand. Yet in these debates, it feels like half the country suddenly presents itself as Jewish while tearing Israel apart. That contradiction is impossible to ignore. And it creates a fear I cannot shake. What happens if things get worse here? What happens if antisemitism, whether open or disguised, reaches a point where Jews can no longer live safely in Europe? History shows that this is not a wild idea. It is a pattern.

Those who spent years attacking Israel will still have a place to go. They can point to their identity and be welcomed into the Jewish homeland. And people like me, who stood firm, who defended Israel openly, who never bent under pressure, might not even be able to prove a bloodline clearly enough to enter.

That thought is hard to accept.

Because supporting Israel today is not easy. It isolates you. The loudest voices dominate the conversation, and most people follow what is loud, not what is true. It is easier to shout slogans than to think. Easier to join a crowd than to stand alone.

And right now the crowd has chosen its target.

Look at the world. Conflicts everywhere. Brutality everywhere. Yet only one country is placed under a microscope every single day. Only one country is judged as if it has no right to defend itself. That is not coincidence. That is obsession. People call it morality. It is not morality. It is selective outrage. It is trend driven anger. It is the need to belong to something that feels righteous without doing the hard work of understanding reality.

Israel is a functioning democracy in a region where that is rare. It contributes to science, medicine, technology. It protects life in a region where life is often treated cheaply. And it faces enemies who openly call for its destruction.

That last part matters.

Because this is not a theoretical conflict. It is not a classroom debate. It is survival. So when outsiders attack Israel, I can explain it. Ignorance. Propaganda. Social pressure. But when Jews join that same chorus, something breaks. It feels like a line has been crossed that should not be crossed.

Disagreement is one thing. Undermining the existence of your own people in a time of danger is something else entirely.

This is not about being blind or uncritical. It is about understanding what is at stake. There is a difference between criticism and alignment with forces that would erase Israel completely. That difference matters, even if many pretend it does not.

What I see today is a world that has learned nothing. The language has changed. The tone has changed. But the pattern feels familiar. Blame the Jews. Isolate the Jews. Hold them to standards no one else is expected to meet.

And once again, many people go along with it.

So yes, this is a lonely position. Supporting Israel openly comes with consequences. Social, professional, personal. But silence would be worse. Because in the end, this is not about fitting in. It is about standing firm when it is uncomfortable. It is about refusing to join a wave of hostility just because it is popular.

And most of all, it is about remembering one simple truth.

If people do not stand with their own when it matters most, they should not be surprised when no one stands with them later.

Time To Stand Up for Israel

Time To Stand Up for Israel is an independent foundation dedicated to fighting misinformation, countering antisemitism, and providing clear, fact-based education about Israel. We do not engage in internal Israeli politics. We stand on two core principles: Israel has the right to exist. Israel has the duty to defend itself.

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