Every generation faces moments when it must decide where it stands as evil rears its head. In today’s world, one of those moments is the relentless global campaign to delegitimize Israel — the only true democracy in a region too often scarred by dictatorships, religious extremism, and terror groups that glorify the murder of civilians.
Let me be clear: supporting Israel does not mean blind loyalty to every policy of any particular government. It means recognizing the unshakable truth that a free, sovereign nation has the right to exist — and the absolute duty to defend its people when faced with terrorists who target innocents in the name of a cause.
Too often, we see the world excuse or downplay the horror of terrorism: suicide bombings, hostage-taking, stabbings in city streets, rocket attacks on playgrounds — all softened by talk of “root causes.” Meanwhile, Israel is vilified for doing what any sane country must do: protect its families from murderers who promise to do it again.
When children are kidnapped, families slaughtered in cafes, or seniors dragged from their homes and killed, there is no moral high ground for the terrorists who plan or praise these atrocities. Yet we see time and again that the so-called human rights champions of the world find it easier to condemn Israel than to name the evil that actually perpetuates the conflict.
This is where I see a stark difference between standing with Israel and the constant push to “stand with Ukraine.” Israel is a free nation surrounded by enemies sworn to erase it from the map — a tiny democracy defending itself from terror networks that embed themselves in civilian neighborhoods and broadcast videos of innocent deaths as trophies. That’s not a regional border dispute; that is the fight against barbarism.
Ukraine, on the other hand, is a tragic, complex regional conflict rooted in centuries of shifting borders and great-power rivalries. Yes, Russia’s invasion is brutal and wrong — but Ukraine is not a stable democracy in the same sense. It is riddled with oligarchs, corruption, and deep entanglements that have long made it a pawn in bigger geopolitical games. It is not a fight against an ideology of terror or a genocidal promise to wipe out a people; it’s a power struggle, a regional war that risks becoming endless mission creep for outsiders who do not have vital national interests at stake.
What’s more, there is no credible threat that Russia will roll across Europe unchecked like Hitler’s tanks in 1939. That’s fearmongering, not strategy. And yet, the same people who hesitate to stand firmly with Israel’s right to self-defense — who scold Israel for fighting terrorists — will send billions to Ukraine indefinitely, with little demand for accountability or a clear endgame.
Israel’s survival is a moral line in the sand. It is not about “occupying someone else’s land” or warmongering. It is about refusing to surrender to groups whose charters openly call for extermination. That’s the difference: this is not a territorial squabble; it is about civilization versus barbarism.
To stand with Israel is not to stand against Palestinians who want a better future. It is to stand against the terror groups that hijack their hope, drain their future, and use their communities as shields in a perpetual propaganda war. The greatest tragedy for Palestinians is not Israel’s existence — it is the radicals who profit from endless bloodshed while the world looks the other way.
So yes, I stand with Israel — just as I stand with any free people who refuse to bow to terror. I stand with the families who want to send their kids to school without rockets overhead. I stand with the principle that freedom and security go hand in hand, and that we do not have to apologize for defending either.
Supporting Israel and questioning endless support for Ukraine are not contradictions. They are the same principle: the defense of free nations must be rooted in reality, clear purpose, and moral courage. It must not be hijacked by blank checks, cynical politics, or hollow slogans that ignore who the real monsters are.
Evil only grows when we excuse it. That is true for the terrorists who bomb buses in Tel Aviv and the elites who cozy up to autocrats while pretending to fight for democracy abroad. We must see both clearly — and choose which side of the line we want to be on.
If you ever believed in standing up for freedom, stand with Israel. If you ever believed in calling out terror for what it is — the murder of the innocent to break the will of the free — then say so without apology. And if you ever believed that foreign wars should be backed only when they serve a just cause and our own interests, then demand the same honesty about every “flag wave” our leaders try to sell us.
Some truths don’t change: freedom must be defended, terror must be called out, and the line between the two must never be blurred.
References
Freedom House. (2023). Freedom in the World 2023: Israel. Freedom House.
https://freedomhouse.org/country/israel/freedom-world/2023
Hamas Charter. (1988). The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). Yale Law School Avalon Project.
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp
Human Rights Watch. (2021, April 27). A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution. Human Rights Watch.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution
Transparency International. (2023). Corruption Perceptions Index 2023: Ukraine. Transparency.org.
https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2023/index/ukr
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2010). Organized Crime and Instability in Central Africa: A Threat Assessment. United Nations.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. (2023). Hostilities in Ukraine: Civilian Impact Situation Report. UN OCHA.
https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/ukraine/
World Bank. (2023). Ukraine Overview. The World Bank.
https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/ukraine/overview
