WHEN HATE PROVES THE PROMISE

It’s getting harder and harder to keep up with the conspiracy mill. Just when you think you’ve heard the wildest possible accusation against Israel and the Jews, some online influencer manages to take it a step further.

This past week, in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s tragic killing, the internet rumor machine decided to pin the blame on Israel. The theory goes like this: Kirk had supposedly shifted his stance on Israel, and for that crime, the Mossad took him out.

It sounds insane — because it is insane. Tyler Robinson, Kirk’s murderer, has already been caught, turned in by his own law-abiding and horrified family. His confession, shared in real time with friends over messaging apps, has been made public.

The motive couldn’t be clearer: Robinson, who came from a right-leaning family, had been radicalized to the far left through a relationship with a transitioning roommate. The murder wasn’t about Israel at all — it was about Charlie Kirk’s opposition to trans individuals.

But what’s truly disturbing isn’t the lunacy of the “Israel-killed-Charlie-Kirk” theory itself — it’s how quickly it spread, and how confidently it’s being repeated. Within hours of his death, the “story” was bouncing around online forums and social media feeds as if it were an established fact.

Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Green, Alex Jones, and now even Roger Stone — people who have no business being rabid antisemites, but somehow are — have all endorsed or amplified the accusation, lashing out at anyone who dares express doubt. It’s trash agitprop, taken to a whole new level.

And Charlie Kirk’s assassination isn’t the only story feeding the American far-right’s anti-Israel, antisemitic mill. More and more, leading voices on the far right have found it convenient to cast Israel as the villain in their fever dreams.

The “America First” wing of the MAGA coalition — once dismissed as fringe — is now loud, aggressive, and frighteningly influential. Millions of followers hang on their every word and are being conditioned to believe that Israel — which is to say, Jews — is the root of every American problem. It’s utterly bizarre.

What makes it even more bizarre is that Donald Trump — the political figure who mainstreamed this coalition — has been the most supportive president Israel has ever had. The embassy move to Jerusalem, the recognition of the Golan, the Abraham Accords — all happened under Trump in his first term.

And since returning to office in January, his administration has consistently given Israel the backing it needs, militarily and diplomatically, not least in the many international forums where Israel is relentlessly vilified.

Yet within the very movement that cheered him to victory, a dark current of raw Jew-hatred has been steadily gaining ground. It’s a toxic fusion of old-fashioned antisemitism with new-age conspiracy culture — a phenomenon that is as irrational as it is dangerous, and one that is now creeping into the mainstream.

And these conspiracies aren’t confined to the latest headlines. Last year, a twelve-hour so-called “documentary” titled Europa: The Last Battle went viral in far-right circles. It is, quite literally, a pro-Nazi propaganda reel, recycling every antisemitic trope imaginable — from “Jews control communism” to “Jews control capitalism” — and repackaging them as hidden truths that “they” don’t want you to know.

Today, clips from this monstrosity circulate on TikTok and X, and on chat groups, as bite-sized “red pills” for a new generation of extremists who’ve never so much as opened a history book but are utterly convinced that Jews are behind everything sinister and evil in the world.

This is where the so-called “horseshoe effect” becomes painfully apparent. On paper, the far right, the far left, and Islamist extremists should have nothing in common. They clash over economics, religion, culture, and even the very definition of freedom. Yet somehow, they all land in the same place when it comes to Israel and the Jews.

The far-right calls Jews globalist puppet-masters, the far-left brands Israel a colonial oppressor, and Islamists call for jihad until the Jewish state is wiped off the map. The rhetoric may differ, and the justifications may vary — but the target is always the same. Antisemitism and Israel-bashing are the one point of agreement uniting factions that otherwise despise each other.

Meanwhile, the space for sane politics keeps shrinking. Lucid, thoughtful voices — people who want to talk about policy, strategy, or actual facts (yes, facts, not conspiratorial fantasy) — are drowned out by the noise of inflammatory agitators. It’s no longer reasoned debate, it’s a shouting match where the loudest lie wins. And the only message that cuts across the political spectrum is that Jews are guilty.

It’s frightening to see conspiracy theories, old and new, gain traction so quickly, and to realize that for many, these fantasies have become “truth.” The reach and speed of digital antisemitism is unlike anything we’ve ever faced before.

And yet, the irony is that none of this is new. Antisemitism has always been obsessive, irrational, and cyclical. Each wave dresses itself up as “modern” — Jews are the antichrist, the infidel rejectors of Mohammed, anarchists, communists, capitalists, Zionists, globalists — but in the end, it’s the same old prejudice reheated for a new generation.

And paradoxically, as devastating as this hatred is, it almost always has a counterintuitive effect — it sharpens Jewish identity. History shows, time and again, that persecution pushes Jews to remember who they are, their covenant, and why their heritage matters.

We see it even now: since October 7th, Jewish immigration to Israel has risen, and real estate prices in Israel remain buoyant as more and more diaspora Jews purchase homes in the Promised Land. The very pressure meant to break us instead reminds us of where we belong.

This is precisely the message embedded in Parshat Nitzavim (Deut. 30:1-3): וְהָיָה כִּי־יָבֹאוּ עָלֶיךָ כָּל־הַקְּלָלוֹת הָאֵלֶּה… וַהֲשִׁיבֹתִי אֶת־שְׁבוּתֶךָ — “And it shall be, when all these curses come upon you… then God will restore your fortunes and take you back in love. He will bring you together again from among all the peoples where your God has scattered you.”

The medieval commentator Ramban, himself no stranger to the irrational hatred of Jews, famously explains that this is not a conditional promise, but a prophecy of how Jewish history will unfold. There will be exile and persecution, which will involve suffering and arbitrary harassment. But that will inevitably be followed by return — first to God, and then to the Land.

The pattern is clear: first, suffering → then, realization → then, return → and finally: redemption.

Seen through this lens, the curses of hatred and persecution, as absurd and cruel as they are, paradoxically serve as reminders of Jewish identity and destiny.

Antisemites, whether on the right or the left, think they are undermining the Jews. They might even believe that they have the wind in their sails, and that the destruction of Israel and elimination of Jews is within reach – but in reality, they are unwittingly fulfilling the covenant, driving Jews back to their roots, to their people, and to their land.

And that is the great irony of our moment. The digital swamps may churn out new lies every day, and millions may swallow them whole, convinced that Jews lurk behind every evil. But their obsession only proves the point recorded in the Torah. Our covenant endures, the pattern repeats, and the Jewish people remain.

Every wave of hatred that imagines it will finish us off instead becomes the backdrop for renewal — of faith, of peoplehood, and of attachment to our land. That is why Israel stands, why Jewish life flourishes, and why, no matter how loud the agitators shout, redemption is always on the horizon.