It’s a contemptible phenomenon, but I feel less worried about it now than I did a few years ago because it doesn’t seem to have damaged the mainstream support for Israel in America.
But things can change as this generation of American youngsters – educated on anti-Israel campuses – comes of age.
That’s true… so we have a battle to fight. We have to write the truth, publish the truth, and hope to prevail.
In your book you also write about European anti-Semitism. Can you elaborate?
There’s a very deep anti-Semitic tradition on that continent. It goes back over 1,000 years, and it hasn’t gone away. It’s a cynical, weak, decadent continent. People there no longer have the spunk or energy – even to have more than maybe one child. I remain pretty cynical about Europe.
On the other hand, their domestic problems with Muslim populations are getting acute and it’s forcing more of them to become realistic. In addition, Israel has so much to offer European militaries – what’s left of them – and we have so much to offer Europe on the economic level. We do an enormous amount of trade with the European Union. So you hear a lot of rhetoric about the Palestinians from European elders, but it doesn’t add up to too much in terms of boycotting or isolating us. It’s not really happening. We have too much to give.
Some people think that within 50 years or so, Muslims will overrun Europe demographically.
It seems possible, yes. These Muslim immigrant communities have much higher birth rates than the native Europeans. It could happen. And of course if it did happen, it wouldn’t be good for Israel.
What’s your prognosis of Israel’s future?
Well, Iran is a shadow hanging over us, and it will have to be dealt with in the not-too-distant future by the United States, NATO, Israel, or some combination thereof.
Other than that, I’m optimistic. I think our deterrence is very strong. Our technological prowess, our economic power, our military power – they’re all growing and everybody’s aware of it. The Arab world is very much aware that taking on Israel is a scary proposition. Even the European countries, whose governments continue to be abusive towards us, very much want to do business with Israel.
I think we’re on the upswing. My outlook is very positive.