The European-Israeli conflict is the world’s oldest and fiercest, dating back to the Greek conquest of Judea in 332 BCE.
Today, there is a golden opportunity to address it: For the first time, there are recognized representatives of both Europe – the EU, and of the Jews – the State of Israel.
Convening a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), with the possible mediation and leadership of the United States, could provide Europe and Israel with tools to turn around the conflict, starting with agreeing on some core truths:
The more basic one is that for 2,300 years, Europe opposed Judaism. Such opposition was always funneled through the most relevant aspect of Judaism at the time. When Jews were in Judea (Judaism 1.0), Europe obliterated the Jewish Temple and deported the Jews.
For the next 2,000 years, it persecuted and murdered Jewish refugees in Europe (Judaism 2.0), and when Jews went to the modern state of Israel, Europe refunneled the entirety of its opposition through the Jewish state and Zionism (Judaism 3.0).
From falsities to truths
European guilt-free life today is enabled by a set of self-deceptions:
Europeans do not feel responsible for the burning of the Jewish Temple and the deportation of the Jews. Per their narrative, this was done by the Romans, not them.
Similarly, Europeans do not take responsibility for their repeated attempts to eradicate the Jews in the following centuries. For example, they believe that in the 15th Century, it was the Church, not Spain, who committed genocide against the Jews, and that in the 20th Century, it was the Nazis – we Europeans were their victims as well, they argue.
In this realm, Europeans still fail to acknowledge how consistent the holocaust was with European sentiments of the time.
Truths – 20th Century attempt to eradicate Judaism
During the late 19th Century, Jewish settlers immigrated to major cosmopolitan centers in Western Europe. In the following decades, Europeans accused them of corrupting Europe through colonizing European art, music, and culture.
Moreover, Jews have been engaging in “settler violence” – for example, reducing safety standards in coal mines they purchase, which led to injury and deaths of Europeans. This, while allegedly exploiting European financial and capital markets.
Such views were so mainstream that France went into existential turmoil in the early 20th Century during the Dreyfus Affair: Much of the French government, military, press, and intellectuals got together to put an end to what the publisher of French newspaper La Libre Parole (Free Speech) called “Jewish France.”
Similar voices were heard throughout Europe, such as by opera composer Richard Wagner, who warned about the imminent danger posed by Jewish pollution to Europe.
And so by the mid-20th Century, the idea of arresting Jews, sanctioning them, boycotting their businesses, and taking other measures to end the “Jewish occupation of Europe” had broad support throughout Europe.
Consequently, it is no surprise that when Germany invaded European countries, many locals chose to collaborate. The French, Dutch, Italians, and other Europeans arrested Jews and delivered them to the Nazis.
Guilt suppression is not limited to the continent: The UK has not begun the internal dialogue about its responsibility in the last century’s assault on Judaism.
Britain was given a League of Nations mandate to usher in a Jewish homeland, but sought Palestine for itself. It therefore incited local Arabs against the Jews, promoted nascent Muslim national sentiments (today’s Palestinians), and, instead of facilitating Jewish immigration, as it was legally obliged to do, Britain cruelly blocked Jews from coming in.
Consequently, instead of boarding ships to safety in the Jewish homeland, European Jews boarded inhumane trains to the death camps.
Britain has yet to acknowledge its responsibility in the last century’s attempt to eradicate Judaism. Yet what is more concerning is that neither the UK nor Europe began the conversation about their responsibility in the 21st-century attempt to eradicate Judaism.
Truths – 21st Century attempt to eradicate Judaism
Since its formation in 1993, the EU has invested billions of Euros to incite the global population against the Jewish state.
While the 20th Century’s attempt to eradicate Judaism was a physical one – killing Jew by Jew, the 21st Century one is an ideological one. As described in my book, The Assault on Judaism, we are in the midst of a fast-moving attempt to negate the idea of the Jewish state, and through it, negate the idea of Judaism.
Years ago, I discussed with German friends the “German moral dilemma” of paying taxes. Innocent German citizens become collaborators in the assault on Judaism by funding NGOs that incite against the Jewish state.
For example, the German government funds “Breaking the Silence.” The 21st Century version offers incentives to Israeli soldiers who turn against their brethren and “confess” their nation’s hideous crimes. In the 20th Century, Germany sought to incentivize Jews to “break the silence” about Jewish crimes of that time, and in the 15th and 16th Centuries, Spain tried the same (the Inquisition “hotline”).
As the contemporary assault on Judaism became integral to the European mindset, Europeans recycle 20th-century rationalizations: they are not against the Jews, only against “settlers’ violence”, “occupation,” and “the Jewish state’s pollution of humanity.” This leads to a new “European moral dilemma” – where were you during the 21st-century assault on Judaism?
The European interest: Reconciliation with the Jews
Can Europe pivot, and after 2,300 years, take steps towards reconciliation with the Jews?
Europe needs this more than Israel: For over 2,000 years, Jews had complete dependency on Europe, which decided if Jews would live or die. Today, Europe is the one that has the dependency: On the United States, and to some extent, on its “model ally” Israel.
Indeed, Israel can contain European sanctions, humiliation, and various other forms of European state-sponsored antisemitism.
Yet, Europe may not be able to sustain the self-inflicting damage caused by its assault on Judaism – for example, recognizing a Palestinian state had no impact on Israel, but fueled Muslim national sentiments in Europe.
On the other hand, reconciliation with the Jews would allow Europe to benefit from life-saving and humanity-altering innovations produced by the Jewish state, without built-in European interference (“was the scientist a settler?”)
Moreover, as it becomes evident that Europe uses the assault on Judaism (“little war criminal”) as a proxy assault on America (“big war criminal”), Europe can not afford to lose the protection of the United States.
President Trump ended eight conflicts. The EU should ask him to lead a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that would halt the 2,300-year-old European-Israeli conflict.
The writer is the author of the new book From Survival to Peace (2026). He is also the author of The Assault on Judaism: The Existential Threat is Coming from the West (2024), and of Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (2022). He is chairman of the Judaism 3.0 think tank. For his geopolitical analysis, visit EuropeAndJerusalem.com.