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Global Response to Oct. 7 Shows the ‘Collapse of Morality,’ Says Israel’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism
US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Israel’s special envoy for combating antisemitism on Wednesday night lamented what she described as the global “collapse of morality” revealed in the world’s response to the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel.
“What the responses to 10/7 were, were an indication to a collapse of morality,” Michal Cotler-Wunsh said to a packed room at the Moise Safra Center in New York City. “If you could not unconditionally condemn without a ‘but,’ — unequivocally, without a ‘but’ at the end of the sentence — what happened on 10/7, that’s not progress that’s regress. If you could not unequivocally condemn it that was an indication of collapse of morality.”
Cotler-Wunsch, who currently has three children serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, made the remarks at an event celebrating the publication of the 20th anniversary edition of “A Letter in the Scroll” by the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom. The event involved a panel discussion about Jewish identity, antisemitism, and other topics that featured Cotler-Wunsh, as well as human rights activist Natan Sharansky and others.
Cotler-Wunsh, who grew up in Canada but now lives in Israel, also discussed the “tsunami of antisemitism” that has taken place around the world post-Oct. 7, and how it can “only be identified and combated” with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. Beyond classic antisemitic behavior associated with the likes of the medieval period and Nazi Germany, the IHRA definition includes denial of the Holocaust and newer forms of antisemitism targeting Israel such as demonizing the Jewish state, denying its right to exist, and holding it to standards not expected of any other democratic state.
Wednesday’s event came after the Anti-Defamation League released a report earlier this year showing antisemitic incidents in the US rose 140 percent last year, reaching a record high. Most of the outrages occurred after Oct. 7, during the ensuing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Meanwhile, such outrages have also skyrocketed to record highs in several other countries around the world, especially in Europe, since the Hamas atrocities.
Cotler-Wunsh told the crowd gathered at the Moise Safra Center that she believes its also important to educate the younger generation about antisemitism and help them interpret and understand the rise in anti-Israel and anti-Zionist sentiments around the world following Oct. 7.
“What has been the most overwhelming piece of my exchanges and interactions with young Jews is to try to make it accessible how it can be that in response to the worst attack of Jews since the Holocaust — fueled by antisemitic hate that burned, raped, mutilated, massacred, and abducted hundreds on 10/7 — what we have witnessed is a tsunami of antisemitism.”
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people, kidnapped 251 hostages, and perpetrated mass sexual violence, including torture, and gang-rape, during their surprise invasion of the Jewish state last fall. The onslaught started the ongoing war in Gaza, the enclave ruled by Hamas.
“It is the oldest hatred in the world that has mutated, as Rabbi Sacks explained, by latching on to the guiding social constructs of the time,” Cotler-Wunsh said on Wednesday, while explaining the evolution of antisemitism to now include visceral opposition to Israel. “And the understanding that in that way antisemitism has mutated over thousands of years, creating new strains, enables us to understand what we have seen.”
“The IHRA definition has never been more important if we are going to be able to identify and combat all strains of what Rabbi Sacks described as an ever-mutating, shape-shifting virus [that is antisemitism],” she added.
During the panel discussion, Sharansky discussed being “shocked” at how anti-Israel sentiment has spread like wildfire across American college and university campuses following the Oct. 7 attacks, and how “they will be so open talking against human rights [and] rights of women.” The famed refusenik, who was a political prisoner in the Soviet Union, also talked about “celebrations on campuses” following the deadly Hamas massacre and said he was extremely disappointed in how “easily American public opinion, a big part of it, is not our allies in this.”
Anti-Israel protests erupted on university campuses across the US this past academic year, with demonstrators declaring support for Hamas, calling for Israel’s destruction, and in some cases even threatening and attacking Jewish students.
Sharansky — who has been appointed chair of the global advisory board of The Rabbi Sacks Legacy Foundation — was also critical of Israeli intelligence agencies for being “arrogant” and “so unprepared” regarding the Oct. 7 massacre, and failing to prevent it from happening or taking action to stop the attacks early on.
Wednesday night’s event ended on a positive note as Cotler-Wunsh discussed an “awakening” that has happened among Jews around the world and how they have risen up to show support for Israel after Oct. 7. She mentioned the troves of people from all corners of the world who traveled to Israel post-Oct. 7 to show support for the country as volunteers but also to serve as reservists in the military.
She said, “140 percent of the people called up on 10/7, showed up. That’s an incredible statistic. That’s unbelieved. They came from all over the world. They got on planes, they sat in the bathrooms that El Al let them sit on. When you were collecting money for tactical gear [for the IDF] that my 17-year-old was then disseminating all over Israel, the reason that you were collecting is because [you] showed up.”
“And that is the most important notion of ‘Hineni,’” she said, citing the Hebrew word from the Torah that translates to “here I am.” In Judaism, it refers to the concept of being present in the moment.
“If this is not going to wake us up, I don’t know what will,” she said of Oct. 7 and how it is affecting global Jewry. “[Do] not wait for the someone else to do it. There is no one else. It is on us, each and every one.”
The post Global Response to Oct. 7 Shows the ‘Collapse of Morality,’ Says Israel’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi Says ‘We Are Fighting the Jews, Not Zionism’
Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi attends the annual festival of Greek Communist Youth in Athens, Greece, Sept. 22, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Costas Baltas
Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi said on a podcast earlier this month that she is fighting Jews, not Zionism, and that she wishes for World War III.
“I was raised [to believe] that Judaism means occupation, and today, tomorrow, and a million years from now, I will continue to say that Judaism [should] be presented to the children of Palestine – children of my age and younger – as occupation, and that we are fighting the Jews, not Zionism,” Tamimi, now 24, said on “The Enlightenment Podcast” on YouTube on Aug. 8.
Tamimi’s comments were flagged by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which reported on and translated her remarks.
Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi: We Are Fighting the Jews, Not Just Zionism; Westerners Patronize Us with Their Aid, They should Shut Up When We Talk; They Will Give Us Aid, Whether They Like It Or Not, and We Will Not Thank Them; I Wish for a Nuclear WWIII, So the Whole World… pic.twitter.com/NNn5Jf7TD6
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) August 15, 2025
“The whole world needs to shut up, when a Palestinian is talking,” she said. “We are superior to the entire world, because we are the only ones in the world fighting injustice, at the expense of our lives, and the expense of our humanity.”
Tamimi continued, “Every night when I go to sleep, I put my head on the pillow, and I pray to God to protect the humanity left inside me, because I don’t want to become a killer. In this West of yours, if a mother screams at her child, he grows up to become a serial killer.”
“I have reached a point where I wish for a World War III. Whoever dies, dies, and whoever lives, lives. The important thing is that we will be over with this. I have reached this point,” she said. “Let the whole world be destroyed, I don’t care. Let them drop nuclear bombs, and destroy the whole world, so it won’t be just the Palestinians.”
These recent comments are the most recent in a long string of radical remarks by Tamimi. In November 2023, she wrote, in an Instagram post, “Come on settlers, we are waiting for you in all the West Bank cities from Hebron to Jenin – we will slaughter you and you will say that what Hitler did to you was a joke.”
Speaking about Israelis who live in the West Bank, she said, “We will drink your blood and eat your skull. Come on, we are waiting for you.”
Tamimi became famous internationally in 2017 when a video of her, then just 16 years old, slapping, kicking, and yelling at Israeli soldiers went viral as a symbol of both Palestinian resistance to Israel, and the asymmetric nature of the conflict. The soldiers did not retaliate but did later arrest her.
Tamimi was convicted on four counts of assaulting an IDF officer and soldier, incitement, and interference with IDF forces in March 2018, and was sentenced to eight months in prison and eight months of probation.
She was released a few months later, in July 2018. Since then, Tamimi has been hailed as a Palestinian human rights activist, received a book deal from Penguin Random House, and consistently received sympathetic coverage from Western news outlets.
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Trump Administration Reaffirms Opposition to Turkey Rejoining F-35 Program
A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin, Germany, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt
The Trump administration has reaffirmed its opposition to Turkey’s rejoining the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, citing Ankara’s possession of Russian S-400 missile defense systems.
In a letter sent on Wednesday to US Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), a senior State Department official reiterated that Washington remains committed to enforcing the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which penalizes countries with financial ties to Russia’s defense sector.
“The Trump administration is fully committed to protecting US defense and intelligence assets and complying with US law, including CAATSA,” the letter read
The message, signed by Paul Guaglianone of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, stated that Washington’s position “has not changed” and that Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian-supplied S-400 remains incompatible with US law and defense requirements. The official stressed that the Trump administration was fully committed to protecting American defense and intelligence assets while maintaining its obligations under the National Defense Authorization Act.
Despite the strained relationship, the letter emphasized that Turkey remains a longstanding NATO ally. US officials framed the relationship as critical to the security interests of both countries and signaled a willingness to maintain dialogue with Ankara.
In 2017, despite several US warnings, Ankara purchased the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system, leading to Turkey’s expulsion from the multibillion-dollar fighter jet program in 2019.
“The United States seeks to cooperate with Turkey on common priorities and to engage in dialogue to resolve disagreements,” Guaglianone wrote, while maintaining that Washington has “expressed our disapproval of Ankara’s acquisition of the S-400 and clearly conveyed steps that would need to be taken” in the sanctions review process.
The letter came after a bipartisan coalition of more than 40 US lawmakers pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month to prevent Turkey from rejoining the F-35 program, citing ongoing national security concerns and violations of US law. Members of Congress warned that lifting existing sanctions or readmitting Turkey to the US F-35 fifth-generation fighter program would “jeopardize the integrity of F-35 systems” and risk exposing sensitive US military technology to Russia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed during a NATO summit in June that Ankara and Washington had begun discussing Turkey’s readmission into the program.
Under Section 1245 of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon is prohibited from transferring F-35 jets or related technology to Turkey unless Ankara no longer possesses the Russian-made S-400 system and provides assurances it will not acquire such equipment in the future. Because Turkey continues to retain the S-400, US officials are legally barred from approving its participation in the F-35 program.
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Israel Responds to Norway Donating Profits From World Cup Qualifying Matchup to Aid Gaza
Alexander Sørloth of Norway scores the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup Qualifier football match between Israel and Norway on March 25, 2025, in Debrecen. Photo: VEGARD GRØTT/Bildbyran/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
The Israel Football Association has issued a statement in response to a decision by its Norwegian counterpart to give profits from their mutual World Cup qualifiying match to support humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip.
Norway will host Israel on Oct. 11 at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, in the next round of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On Tuesday, the Norwegian Football Association said it “cannot remain indifferent” to humanitarian suffering in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war, and announced that it will donate profits from the Oct. 11 game to aid humanitarian causes supporting Gaza.
“Neither we nor other organizations can remain indifferent to the humanitarian suffering and disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been exposed to for a long time,” said Norwegian Football Federation President Lise Klaveness. “Israel is part of FIFA’s and UEFA’s competitions and we have to deal with that. But we want to give the profit to a humanitarian organization that saves lives in Gaza every day and that contributes with active emergency aid on the ground.”
The Norwegian Football Association said it will reveal at a later date which humanitarian organization it will donate to. The association added that it is working with local police and UEFA to ensure the safety of players and fans at the Oct. 11 match in Oslo and will be taking “some extra security measures,” such as limiting capacity at the game. Tickets go on sale next week.
The Israeli Football Association responded on Wednesday in a statement to Telegraph Sport. It urged the Norwegian association to “make sure the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting,” for which Norway has been criticized internationally. Israel also said it “would be nice” if the Norwegian Football Association would condemn the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
“We do not usually advise associations regarding the use of match revenue, even if it is obtained thanks to a match against our proud national team, but we will deviate from our custom this time: it would be nice if some of the amount were directed to try to finding a condemnation by the Norwegian FA of the Oct. 7 massacre that claimed the lives of hundreds of Israeli citizens and children, or action in favor of the release of 50 hostages – and please, make sure that the money is not transferred to terrorist organizations or to whale hunting,” the Israeli Football Association said in a statement. It also said it aims to gain 3 points at the October match.
Israel has been unable to host matches on its home soil for international competitions because of security concerns related to the Israel-Hamas war. It competed in a qualifying match against Norway in Hungary in March, which Norway won 4-2.
The Italian Soccer Coaches’ Association (AIAC) is demanding that Israel be suspended from international competitions ahead of Italy’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against the Jewish state that are set for September and October. Italy is set to play Israel in Debrecen, Hungary, on Sept. 8, before hosting Israel in Udine on Oct. 14.