Europe’s Shameful Betrayal of Israel 

Today marks two years since Hamas unleashed an unprecedented massacre in southern Israel. In the early hours of October 7, 2023, Islamist militants burst through the Gaza border by land, air, and sea, and overran army posts and dozens of communities. They murdered 1,200 people, mostly Israeli citizens and civilians, many of whom were attending the Nova music festival in the Negev desert. A further 4,000 were injured, and 251 were abducted and held hostage in Gaza. Today, 48 hostages remain, with just 20 of those thought to be still alive. 

In the aftermath of such a horrific attack—the worst against Jews since the Holocaust—you might have expected, or at least hoped, that the Western world would come together in solidarity, to mourn those who lost their lives and to aid Israel in its existential fight against Hamas. 

But that’s not quite how things played out. Certainly, there were many who expressed their shock and horror at the events of October 7. And plenty of politicians and leaders made all the right sympathetic noises. Yet there was also a wave of equivocation—and, in some quarters, outright celebration. On October 8, as the world was still only learning the full extent of the horrors Hamas had committed, protestors claiming to be ‘pro-Palestine’ took to the streets across the West in celebration of this pogrom. 

In New York’s Times Square, the supposedly socially conscious left gathered to chant “Resistance is justified” and “From the river to the sea,” while organisers framed the rally as “solidarity” with Palestine. At Harvard University, one of the world’s most elite educational institutions, a coalition of student groups released a statement holding Israel “entirely responsible” for the unfolding violence. Antisemitic, Islamist militants were likened to freedom fighters with a disturbing frequency. It was a sickening display of callous victim-blaming, which under any other circumstances would have been considered grotesque and cruel. But usual standards ceased to apply, so long as Jews were the victims. 

As important as it is that we remember the barbarism of October 7, it is also vital that we don’t forget the response of the West’s great and good in the following days. The situation has hardly improved since then, either. If anything, things have only gotten worse. An atmosphere of virulent Israelophobia has emerged. In Spain, Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz ended a video on X with “Palestine will be free, from the river to the sea.” In France, leaders of the left-wing La France Insoumise refused to condemn Hamas outright. The party’s parliamentary chief, Mathilde Panot, was even summoned by police on suspicion of “justifying terrorism.”

In academia, our supposedly learned betters have also displayed a startling ignorance. Across European campuses, official moves went beyond criticism into institutional ostracism. Ghent University voted to discontinue ongoing collaborations with selected Israeli government bodies and universities, which affected EU-funded projects and Erasmus links. Trinity College Dublin’s board then approved full divestment from companies headquartered in Israel and an end to ties with Israeli universities. In the UK, student unions such as Cambridge UCU formally campaigned for academic boycotts and for universities to halt research partnerships linked to Israel’s defence sector. From Oxford to Yale to the Sorbonne, university students set up ‘pro-Palestine’ encampments, where they could LARP as revolutionaries and threaten ‘hunger strikes,’ foregoing their usual iced matcha in solidarity with the people of Gaza. 

Israelophobia was only bolstered by the mainstream media. The BBC, the UK’s state broadcaster, repeatedly made fact-checking errors when it came to war in Gaza, accepting at face value practically all information fed to it by the Hamas-run Health Ministry and from local journalists who were likely pressured by Hamas. In June, the BBC repeated unverified claims that Israeli troops had fired on Gazans waiting at an aid station. And earlier this year, it had to remove one of its own documentaries, Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, after it was found that the programme’s 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official. 

This kind of performative, self-righteous activism has become inescapable. Celebrities seemingly can’t go 10 minutes without calling to “free Palestine.” Musicians ranging from Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters to the insufferable Bob Vylan are obsessed with the Palestinian cause. No aspect of culture is safe, with attempts now being made to push Israel out of the World Cup and even Eurovision. Israeli football fans were hunted down in the streets of Amsterdam in November 2024, and an Israeli conductor was banned from participating in a Belgian classical music festival, like scenes straight out of the 1930s. 

Two years on from October 7, there can be no doubt that Europe has abandoned Israel once and for all. The nations that once promised ‘never again’ in the wake of Nazi atrocities have started falling like dominoes in their recognition of a Palestinian state. First, Spain, Ireland, Norway, and Slovenia last year, and joined by the UK, France, Portugal, and Belgium last month. While European governments continue to demand that Hamas release the remaining hostages, at the same time, our leaders reward Hamas by giving them exactly what they wanted. 

This cowardice has had severe consequences. Antisemitism has made a terrifying comeback in Europe. In the UK, the Community Security Trust logged 1,521 instances of anti-Jewish hatred between January and June of this year—that works out to around one every three hours. The British Jewish community is also still reeling from an attack on a synagogue in Manchester last week, which coincided with Yom Kippur, leaving two dead and three injured. France, meanwhile, recorded nearly 1,600 antisemitic acts in 2024, and saw a string of arsons and attempts—most dramatically the Rouen synagogue fire in May 2024 and another foiled attempt in La Grande-Motte. Germany similarly reported antisemitic incidents nearly doubling in 2024, alongside attacks such as Molotov cocktails thrown at a Berlin synagogue. The Netherlands hit a 40-year high with 421 incidents in 2024, while Spain’s Jewish community reported a 321% surge year-on-year. Together with repeated arson attempts on synagogues across the continent, these numbers show a Europe where Jewish life is once again under open threat. 

Indeed, the Jewish community in Europe is feeling this intensely. Juan Caldes, European Advocacy Coordinator at the European Jewish Association, told europeanconservative.com that the flourishing of Israelophobia and outright antisemitism is causing many Jews to live in fear. “Jews all across Europe are scared of speaking Hebrew on the streets,” he said, “many hide their kippot and any religious symbols, others change their Jewish names for civil names when they order their groceries or take an Uber.” These remarks capture a grim reality—Europe is failing to protect its Jewish citizens. In fact, its media, cultural, and political classes often help facilitate this hostile environment.  

This lands with particular force today, as leaders across Europe issue set-piece statements to mark the October 7 anniversary. The words are both solemn and, in many cases, all too familiar. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said, “We will never forget the horrors of the Hamas attacks on October 7,” before urging a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages and a pivot towards a two-state solution. France’s Emmanuel Macron wrote on X: “Two years after the unspeakable horror of Hamas terrorism, the pain remains raw… the release of all hostages and a ceasefire must take place without delay.” British prime minister Keir Starmer reiterated that October 7 was “the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” then went on to qualify his support for Israel with calls for a ceasefire and a two-state solution. 

And yet, these words ring hollow when Europe’s Jews are having to make daily calculations about how Jewish they can appear in public without fearing for their safety. As Caldes puts it: “Empty words are no longer enough. Sending condolences, although always well received and appreciated, are not enough. Our political leaders must take practical steps, such as the United States in the past nine months, and adopt a zero-tolerance policy against antisemitism.” 

Two years later, any remembrance without resolve is just ritual. If Europe means “never again,” it must prove it.