Dostoevsky Was an Antisemite. I Still Think You Should Read Him


6 min read
4 min read
5 min read
10 min read
Double standards, ancient hatred, and the real war Israel faces today.
Israel stands at the center of a growing storm. The threats it faces today are not limited to the battlefield but extend across the global stage in forms both overt and insidious. A powerful alignment of state actors, terrorist groups, and international organizations is lining up against Israel, threatening Israel's security, sovereignty, and even survival.
Some of Israel's enemies, like Hamas and Hezbollah, openly call for its destruction and commit unspeakable atrocities in their pursuit of that goal. On October 7, Hamas launched an assault on Israel that was one of the largest terror attacks in modern history, resulting in mass murder, rapes, kidnappings, and thousands of casualties. It was the opening salvo of a genocidal campaign. Hezbollah and other groups joined, unprovoked, and together they have rain 23,000 missiles on Israeli towns in just one year.
Iran funnels millions into these terror organizations, providing them with the resources and firepower to carry out their genocidal agendas. Iran’s goal is clear: the elimination of Israel through proxy wars and direct confrontation.
While the world condemns Israel for its attempts to defend itself, it fails to hold Hamas, Hezbollah, and their backers accountable for mass murder, hostage taking, the use of human shields, the indiscriminate firing of missiles at civilian populations, and many other blatant violations of international law.
However, it’s not just bullets and bombs that Israel is up against. A different, more subtle war is being waged through the delegitimization of Israel on the global stage. International organizations, human rights groups, media, college professors and even state governments present themselves as morally upstanding defenders of justice, yet they consistently apply double standards to Israel. While the world condemns Israel for its attempts to defend itself, it fails to hold Hamas, Hezbollah, and their backers accountable for mass murder, hostage taking, the use of human shields, the indiscriminate firing of missiles at civilian populations, and many other blatant violations of international law.
Israel is not just facing war on five physical fronts - Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian terror groups in the West Bank, Yemen, and Iran - the war it faces extends into the realm of international diplomacy, media, and lawfare. While terrorists murder, kidnap, and launch thousands of attack drones and rockets at Israeli civilians, much of the world stands by, issuing condemnations not at the perpetrators, but at Israel itself for daring to defend its people.
Consider the hypocrisy in the way global powers treat different conflict zones. In the recent wars in Ukraine and Syria, 40 nations received more than 10 million civilian refuges, humanely allowing them to evacuate war zones. Yet, these same powers closed ranks in the Gaza war, refusing to allow Palestinian civilians to evacuate. As Gazans were pleading to be let out, and as Israel appealed for the same, the global community rose as one, declaring a new moral principle that was apparently created for a conflict that involved Jews, exemplified by Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s strange slogan, “No forcible displacement.”
This refusal not only reveals a staggering double standard but constitutes a clear violation of international law. Under the Geneva Conventions, civilians in conflict zones have the right to seek safety. The international community’s selective enforcement of these principles when it comes to Israel exposes their hypocrisy. As the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board observed, “Only when it can damage Israel does it become the liberal position to close the borders and keep refugees penned in a war zone.”
After abandoning the Palestinians to a war zone, these same global powers, media outlets, and international bodies obsess over Palestinian casualties, far more than they do over the deaths of Ukrainians, Somalis, or any other civilians caught in conflict. This selective outrage conveniently shifts blame onto Israel, and ignores both their own role in allowing the inevitable to happen and the role of terror groups like Hamas in strategically engineering these tragedies. When Israel strikes back, it is condemned for harming civilians—even though those civilians are being used by Hamas (and the international community) as human shields. Indeed, Hamas’ October 7 playbook took for granted that the world would react this way, which is the clearest revelation of the deep anti-Jewish bias at play, and the ultimate indictment of Western ‘moral standards’.
Instead of supporting Israel’s legitimate defense against the radical Islamist drive to annihilate it, global leaders pressure Israel to stop its military efforts prematurely, ensuring that Hamas and Hezbollah survive to attack again. The cycle repeats, all under the guise of "human rights" and "justice." But the double standards are glaring.
The United Nations, supposedly a neutral body committed to peace, has been complicit in this anti-Israel bias. UN facilities and employees have repeatedly been found aiding Hamas by allowing terrorists to use their buildings as launch sites or human shield zones. UNRWA, the agency tasked with aiding Palestinian refugees, operates under a unique and deeply flawed definition of refugee status—one that is applied only to Palestinians and passed down through generations. This double standard perpetuates their refugee status and ongoing misery, while being wielded as a political bludgeon against Israel. UNRWA has also been implicated in the radicalization of young Palestinians and in allowing its schools to be used for storing weapons. Yet, when Israel defends itself, it is Israel that is condemned, while the UN's role in sustaining both the conflict and Palestinian suffering goes largely unnoticed.
Resolution 1701 promised Israel the disarmament of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the cessation of rocket attacks. Yet today, Hezbollah has amassed an arsenal of over 150,000 missiles, and has fired 10,000 in the past 12 months right under the noses of 10,000 UN peacekeepers from 50 nations.
Nowhere is this hypocrisy more evident than in the UN’s failure to enforce its own resolutions, and then to use that very failure against Israel. Resolution 1701, passed in 2006 to end the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, promised Israel the disarmament of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the cessation of rocket attacks. Yet today, Hezbollah has amassed an arsenal of over 150,000 missiles, and has fired 10,000 in the past 12 months right under the noses of 10,000 UN peacekeepers from 50 nations. Until Israel responds, there is global silence in the face of these war crimes. When Israel responds, headline news begin, global concern pours in with calls for Israeli restraint and immediate diplomatic efforts for ‘ceasefire’. And just this week, when Israel requested the peacekeepers leave to avoid potential collateral damage, 40 countries refused, and these peacekeepers are transformed – again by the global community - from failed peacekeepers into this war’s convenient second batch of human shields.
The global response to Israel’s efforts to defend itself is marked by staggering hypocrisy. As journalist Daniel Greenfield characterized it, when Israel is involved, “rape is resistance and beepers are genocide”.
This global alignment of powers against Israel, dressed up in the language of human rights, is both cynical and immoral. They demand that Israel cease defending itself and negotiate with groups that openly seek its annihilation. They want Israel to stop fighting so that Hamas, Hezbollah, and others can survive—and strike again. All of this is done under the pretense of morality, but in truth, it is a coordinated effort to weaken and isolate Israel, leaving it vulnerable.
This is not a new phenomenon. It’s an age-old story, one that has been repeated throughout Jewish history. During World War II, the Nazis played the role of the murderers. The rest of the world either assisted them or turned a blind eye in silent acquiescence.
My birth country, Canada, famously said “None is too many” when asked how many Jewish refuges they were willing to save from the Nazi Holocaust. As George Steiner wrote in his haunting 1981 novel, The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H., where he imagines Hitler surviving the war and being captured in Argentina by the Israelis, Hitler's defense during a makeshift post-war trial includes a chilling claim: “When I turned against the Jew, no one came to his rescue. No one. France, England, Russia, even America, despite its large Jewish population, did nothing. They were glad the exterminator had come. They did not admit it openly, I grant you that, but secretly, they rejoiced.” (p 164-7)
We have to ask why. Why, after centuries of persecution, does the world still only empathize with Jews when they are dying, and try to stop the Jewish people from building and defending their homeland? Why does the international community fail to see the blatant antisemitism driving these efforts?
Remarkably, what we are seeing today aligns with ancient prophecies found in the Torah that predict the events that will happen at the End of Days, many of which are read in synagogues during the upcoming Sukkot holiday. The prophet Zechariah (14:2) declared: "For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle." Ezekiel (38:14-16) also foretold a time when nations would converge against Israel: "You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land." While we may have envisioned Zecharia and Ezekiel speaking of physical armies, perhaps today we are seeing this prophecy take shape through diplomatic, economic, and ideological forms. The nations may not all send soldiers, but they are united in their desire to undermine Israel.
The global campaign against Israel is part of a deeper, more ancient struggle foretold in the Bible and played out across millennia.
Zecharia (12:3) also wrote, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.” In today’s world, that battle is as much ideological and political as it is physical. The international community’s attempts to pressure Israel into submission through both military and diplomatic means reflect this prophetic warning. The battle is not only for the land but for the legitimacy of Israel's very existence.
The global campaign against Israel, veiled in the language of justice and human rights, is nothing new. It is part of a deeper, more ancient struggle foretold in the Bible and played out across millennia. As King David wrote, "See how your enemies make an uproar, and those who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your people... They have said, 'Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more'" (Psalm 83:2-4).
But just as Israel has survived every attempt to destroy it, so too will it withstand the current storm. Israel’s enduring strength and the survival of the Jewish people are a testament not only to their resilience but to the fulfillment of ancient promises.

You wrote that this hatred is part of a ancient prophecy. But you left out an important part -- one that never seems to get mentioned. אם בחוקותי תמאסו וכו. and that אין ישראל נגאלין אלא ע"י תשובה.
I am not racist against anyone I am only a proud Jew and pro Israel, I don't like any type of anti semite and anti zionist my mother( obm)was also a proud Jew even in Auschwitz- Bikerau( one of the sub camp of Auschwitz)) I can't get in to it but the summary is having a confrontion with Dr. Joseph Menegele( also known as " the angel of death) ( may his name be erased) the one that decided who will live or die in Auschwitz, one day there you don't have to go to h--l because you are there already, and this is all survivors memories, also the people that went through 10/07 will also have memories and could have nightmares like survivors, survivors didn't get therapy unforturenately, the survivors of 10/07 must get therapy it is very important for their health
What is racism? Racism is the act of judging people by their bloodlines. Suggesting that my character is malformed because my bloodline is "from the erev rav(mixed multide)" rather than from "real Israelites" is the very essence of racism.
It is one thing to stereotype and to pre-judge individuals by the community they come from, a community which educates their children a particular way and which interacts and shares values, but quite another thing to pre-judge by bloodline.
Possibly the head of current political programming is a descendant of Oswald Mosely!
Who is Oswald Mosely I never heard of them? Please give me information about this individual.
So I have a question. This morning I was having a conversation with a relative who asked me why I am not concerned with poor Palestinians who are starving. I replied that I do not want ANYONE to suffer, and I wish there were a kindertransport for the the children. She accused me basically of "only caring about Israel." How else would any of you replied? Mr. Shore, could you please weigh in here? Thank you and Shavua tov!
Why do you want a kindertransport for Palestinan children, there was kindertransport for Jewish kids because the Nazis(may their name be erased) wanted to kill them, most of those kids never saw their parents again they were murdered in the Holocaust, in Gaza they found Mein Kanif( my fight) in Arabic Adolf Hitler's( may his name be erased) hate menifesto and why do want to save kids that will kill Jews in a heart beat, all citizens of Gaza were included one way or another to help in the massacre of 10/07, so no one is innocent also there a picture of their mosque that they build on the holiest site of Judaism and have problem with Jews and our holiest site which they build a mosque illegally, I don't get Jews feeling sorry for our enemies, they have the same goal like the Nazis
Thank you for your feedback. I had to back down a little bit in this discussion b/c she doesn’t really understand the points you made. She doesn’t know anything about the mosque, and I could tell she was getting agitated.
I believe that the "mosque" that Judy is referring to is the Dome of the Rock, which is not mosque, and was built during the 7th Century. There is, in fact, a mosque nearby, but it is not as dominant in the picture as the Dome of the Rock. Both were built "legally" according to the laws of their times.
It is a good question. During World War II, the English moved large numbers of children away from major bombing targets. They did their best to protect their children. There are many reasons why this hasn't happened in Gaza.
Also understand that when Gazans report children being killed, they are including child soldiers (teenagers) who are carrying weapons. We should care about Gazan children being used as soldiers; it is a war crime and it is the Gazans who are the criminals when these children are killed.
You could also point out that it was the Gazans who started this fighting; they knew what the consequences would be but they chose to start the fighting anyway. The fighting would stop if the Gazans chose to stop it.
Thank you. In discussions with other people I HAVE pointed out that the Gazans indeed were the ones who started this fight. The relative I spoke of placed the blame on Netanyahu. Imo, we are just blaming the victims when we do that. This particular relative and I have voted for the same U.S. presidential candidate, but she and I are miles apart when it comes to the war in Israel. I’ve been there and have friends who live there. She cannot say the same in either case.
GREAT piece!
I doubt that ADS is Jewish if they are they must be from the erev rav(mixed multide) that got the real Israelites that left Egypt in trouble, the troublemakers that Moses unfortunately shlepped along when the Jews left Egypr that was a thorn for them, and didn't help us on our journey in the desert for 40 years
Ezekiel 38:14 seems to indicate that Israel is going to go through a period of “dwelling safely” in the land before the first Gog-Magog War. In my opinion that has not been fulfilled since 1948.
And I’m assuming they will be occupying and possessing all of the land during the period leading up to that War. Euphrates to the north, Jordan River plus Manasseh’s, Gad’s, and Reuben’s east of the Jordan River, and the Nile River to the south.
And of course the assumption that Ezekiel 37 was fulfilled in 1948.
So at a theoretical level everything going on now is a run up to Israel occupying, possessing, and “dwelling safely” in “All of the land”. Blessings.
What is unfolding these days was foretold in the prophets which I think we read on Succot, now it is coming to pass unfortunately but according to Rabbi Akiva if they bad part comes to past then the redemption and (the good part will come to pass) Moshiach will be on the way
"Human Rights" is a red herring---a diversion---and is a basic platform of antisemitism and anti-Zionism. True Human Rights is a concept born out of democratic societies that work at correcting their flaws, and use the search for perfection and correction in a blanket manner. Totalitarian mindsets--i.e., the UN, UNR, etc. have subsumed the whole business of Human Rights into an antisemitic fist, as Israel---and Jews in general---have survived horrendous periods of history (not to mention today's), which makes Jews winners and winners subjugate the "Victims" of the world. That poison has seeped into virtually the whole globe.
Intersectionality has fused with Human Rights towards the eradication of Israel.
The real violaters of human rights they don't single out, only Israel they single out which doesn't violate human rights, the real culprits they don't even mention real bias, double standard, and anti semitism
It is very good to see the Orthodox supporting Israel as a political cause and a necessity for all Jews. It is good to see them supporting Israel as a moral issue as well as a religious issue. it's a great article.
Every freedom loving individual Jewish or not should support Israel, first they start with Israel and the Jews then they will come after everyone else that is what happened during the Holocaust, the Nazis( may their name be erased) murdered 6 million Jews and 5 million non Jews so when someone starts up with Jews/ Israel they should stand up because they will come for you next if you are not a Muslim, and any country that will be against Israel will suffer real big consquences like psalms 83
Right on all points, every decent human being should support Israel even if you are not Jewish, because like before you start with Jews and Israel and then they will end up with the whole world, and Jews and Israel know already the outcome, like I read a article life is like chess, you have to know how your moves will affect/ effect your outcomes in the long run what will be the future consquences of your moves, and with countries like Iran get nukes G- d forbid the whole world could be destroyed in a instance, the only one in the world to see these consquences is Israel, every body else is to anti semitic/ anti Israel to see the real consquences, a wise person foresees what will happen like Jews and Israel, I wish the rest of the world sees Israel are heroes to go against Iran(Persia)
Thank you for a fine article.
There is one point that I see continually missed... the origin of the call for the destruction of the State of Israel: it began even before the State was established. The Arabs never agreed that the State should have been established. The fight to destroy the State of Israel began on the day that the partition plan was announced.
Until I took the time to study what Islam said, I couldn't understand the intensity of this rejection. It seemed like a small "ask"; the establishment of a small Jewish state where the Arab residents would be allowed to live as they chose.
However, the religion says "no". When Allah himself says there should be no State of Israel, how do we fight this?
Maybe to show (quite easily) that the Quran is a man-made text and that Islam has no basis to stand on?
Yes, that would be nice if it were possible, but it is not an argument that can be made by people who cannot admit that their text is also man-made and who make extravagant claims about their God-given rights.
Your final statement is weird if not outright apikorsut!
Gandhi may have said it best: when asked about ‘western civilization’ that it ‘wound be a good idea’.
What were the UN "peacekeepers" doing in Lebanon? They should have been preventing Hezbolla from obtaining the artillery that they have been firing at Israel. Now the UN Peacekeepers are complaining that they are in the line of fire. If they had done their job, then they would not be in the war zone.
Goyim hypocrisy is now at a high level. Also, the comment below from Elena Schuman? is she living in the real world?
On the individual level she has a point, but on the organizational level - including schools, professional associations and government - you are correct. Which shows where the power is.
First of all the whole world is NOT against Israel. The problem when you lie like that is that you lose your credibility. The US is a Christian country and most Christians support Israel and of course the Jews in the US support Israel. Christians and Jews all over the world for the most part support Israel. People of Muslium faith, particularly those who live in Arab countries (as opposed to those who live in Asian countries who couldn't care less about Isreal either way) do often support the radical musliums who are trying to destroy Isreal. They seem to forget that the Russian and the Chineese are genociding their people on a daily basis. What is wrong with these people????
The point is not that EVERYBODY is against Israel - the point is that there is an international war against her - one that is not usually identified Yes, we know we have many friends and appreciate the Christian support especially.
Thank you for your clarity in this article! As Israel endures the growing hatred of the rest of the World, we also know that Hashem will send Moshiach to deliver Israel, and end this madness.
Right, I agree, the world now sounds like Psalms 83 all enemies unite to be against Israel and Hashem, in the end Hashem will judge and destroy our enemies and this time can be the foot steps of Moshiach
A student Ince asked Rabbi Elchinon Wasserman, zt”l, why did Eisov’s angel wait to attack Yakov, and not attack Avraham or Yitzchom?
The answer was that the angel was not concerned of Avraham:kindness and Yitzxhok: Avodah/ Tefila. Those 2, without clarity, would not be unique with true justice and clarity until Yakov highlighted Torah.
This article clarifies this
How does the author account for the self hating Jews like Blinken?
Answer: I deal with this complex psychological question in my book in the depth that it deserves, but for here I can say the overly simple explanation is that there is massive pressure on all Jews today to show they are not supportive of Israel - if someone wants to fit into to the 'progressive' world, they need to check their Jewishness at the door - for Jews who lack the depth of understanding about being Jewish and Israel, who lack the 'inner armor' needed today to withstand these pressures, they can easily turn (Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Jew, https://www.amazon.com/dp/1957466103?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_9SS934PEMVHQRWNB8KRA_3&starsLeft=1&skipTwisterOG=1)
When the Jews went of Eygpt there were people caled the erev rav( mixed multitude) that got the real Jews/ Isrselites in trouble and these types of Jews could be reincarnations of these ancient troublemakers Jews also believe in reincarnation which us under the radar there is a Hebrew name for reincarnation ( wheels if the souls)
The nonsense about Gaza being an “open air prison” is ridiculous. It’s the only “prison” where the prisoners are free to leave. That no other country wants to admit them is a separate issue. Why no “Kindertransport” to evacuate young children? Probably because Sinwar prefers dead Palestinian children who are better advertising for his cause.
And thousands are starving in the latest civil war in Sudan.
1000 times yes to your comments!
Now, Israel found a very expensive designer Birken bag costing 32, 000 dollars that the wife of Sinwar(may his name be erased) how did it get to the tunnels, also Sinwar family lived in the lap of luxury, I read in the Jewish Press Dennis Prager instead of condemning Jews and Israel the west should thank Israel/Jews for fighting for freedom for the west and standing up to Islam/Muslim, Israel and Jews are the good guys Iran and other countries are the bad guys I wonder if this is actually gog and magog mentioned in Ezekiel which we say on Succot I dreamt a while back there will be a war of good vs evil the Jews/Israel are on the good side the others on the evil side, who will be on the right side of this history unfolding before our eyes, I stand with Israel and freedom of the west
I totally agree with the article. AM ISRAEL JAI from Buenos Aires.
Amen!!!!
ההתקפה על ישראל בקרב אומות מערב התחילה ברצינות כבר בשנת 2008 כאשר המחבל הארור מקניה - יימח שמו ותיפח רוחו - הושם (לא נבחר) בבית הלבן. לאחר שהאדונים שלו בערב הסעודית בזו ולעגו לא, הוא פנה לאויביהם המושבעים ומכר את שירותיו לאיראנים. הסכם הגרעין שלו עם מחבלי איראן היה מעין הפתרון הסופי לשאלת היהודים ונועד לאפשר לאיראנים לרכוש בסופו של דבר את הנשק הגרעיני להשמדת "הישות הציונית." מאז ועד עכשיו, כל אויבי ישראל קיבלו עידוד והעצמה במאבקם נגד ישראל! אבל השם יתברך איתנו ואנחנו ננצח! ב"ה
Insidious is a good word to describe what is happening. Israel will prevail however, because G-D said he would ensure that. G-D BLESS ISRAEL.
The treat Stephen Sondheim obm wrote a song called I'm still here. His lyrics describe the challenges Americans faced throughout history but states that in spite of everything "I'm still here." This is Israel, plain and simple. Btw--Sondheim was Jewish. Shavua tov!
Right, Am Yisrael Chai
Amen!!!!
אמן כן יהיה רצון!