Protection is what we asked for

(JNS) — Are they serious? The president of the United States is finally doing what the Jewish community dreamed the Biden administration would do to stop antisemitism on campus. They are taking action — actual, tangible, visible action to hold campus agitators and foreign funders accountable. Yet instead of applauding this long-overdue shift in domestic policy, some in our community are wringing their hands and crying about “authoritarianism” and “chilling speech.”

Let’s be honest. For years, the Jewish community has asked for federal enforcement. We demanded investigations into the foreign nationals and organizations fomenting chaos and antisemitism on American college campuses. We pleaded for federal funding to be used as leverage against institutions that refuse to act to protect their Jewish students. This isn’t new. It’s not controversial. It’s what we asked for.

And now, when U.S. President Donald Trump takes such steps — detaining individuals involved in illegal activity and making clear that there are consequences — we recoil. Why? The answer is simple: Fear.

We are a people shaped by centuries of persecution. Pogroms. Expulsions. Genocide. That trauma runs deep. And today, it manifests as something almost unrecognizable, a fear of fighting back. Fear of being blamed. Fear that standing up for ourselves will unleash even more hatred. So instead, the community cowers. In the Diaspora, many Jews convince themselves that moderation and silence are the only acceptable Jewish responses.

Even worse, a small, radical segment of our community—loud, self-righteous and more connected with liberalism rather than tradition—believes that it has the authority to speak on behalf of all of us. Spoiler alert, they don’t.

They ignore, condescend or outright dismiss the voices of Jews who don’t fit their mold. They ignore Chassidic, Orthodox and Sephardic Jews. From the many unsafe cities for Jews in America, they speak of human rights as if in Israel, our human rights are disconnected. They consider Jabotinsky Jews—named for Vladimir (Ze’ev) Jabotinsky, who founded the Betar movement—who are willing to stand up like we are some strange, backward tribe unworthy of consultation and certainly unqualified to be counted as part of the “real” Jewish community.

Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, sent a letter last week to the leaders of Jewish federations across the United States, making clear that objecting to the Trump administration’s plans to deport students for holding anti-Israel views and defund and penalize universities is outside the Jewish consensus.

Fingerhut was right to advise local federation CEOs not to sign onto a statement issued by the Jewish Council of Public Affairs, which was misleading, divisive and out of touch with reality. The JCPA letter didn’t reflect the consensus of the Jewish community; it reflects the politics of a few. And it certainly didn’t reflect the needs of Jewish students and families who are living in fear on campuses and in cities worldwide.

Fingerhut showed the kind of moral clarity our community needs.

Ronn Torossian is an Israeli-American entrepreneur and president of Betar USA.