Our answer to those who seek to erase us must be our commitment to democracy, equality, and peace
The recent election of Zohran Mamdani in New York, a politician whose campaign promoted the erasure of Israel as a Jewish state, marks a dangerous normalization of anti-Israel extremism at the heart of American democracy. When calls for a world without Israel move from fringe student rallies into one of the most visible elected offices in the world, cheered rather than condemned, it signals a profound moral slippage. For Jews everywhere, and for anyone who believes in liberal democratic values, this is not just a political shift. It is a warning.
For the past two years, I have lived inside the darkest corners of human cruelty. As the head of a civil commission documenting the October 7 atrocities, I have witnessed the cruelest of acts, listened to testimonies no one should ever have to hear, and watched as many looked away when women’s bodies became a battlefield. I shared stories of the victims with a weight that often feels unbearable. I know what this evil looks like.
Yet the greatest threat to Israel’s future today is not the brutality and antisemitism that were unleashed against us on that day. It is the assault on our very legitimacy and humanity. Like Mamdani, many around the world spread false narratives that seek to demonize Israel, to erase the Jewish people’s right to self-determination, and to portray the world’s only Jewish democracy as a local villain to be defeated. This movement does not stop at criticism of government policy. It denies Israel’s very right to exist.
In this moment of profound cynicism, Israel stands at a crossroads. We can respond by turning inward, or we can do something far more important: reclaim the values on which Israel was founded: our commitment to democracy, human dignity, equality, and an unrelenting pursuit of peace. Not instead of security, but alongside it. Not in naïveté, but in moral clarity.
Because the most powerful answer to those who seek to dehumanize us is not rage. It is integrity. It is the refusal to become what our enemies claim we are. It is to live our values so visibly that no lie can eclipse them.
Israel must rise to this challenge and show again and again who we choose to be after the darkest chapter in our history. This will be the beginning of our healing as a nation and as a people, and the best response to the raging hate.
Strength alone will not safeguard Israel in the 21st century. It cannot protect our story, our legitimacy, or our moral standing. Instead, Israel’s future depends on three commitments:
First, we must make the pursuit of peace a national identity, a defining principle of who we are. Peace is not naïve. It distinguishes us from those who glorify death. Calling for peace, consistently and sincerely, even when the world does not listen, will become Israel’s most powerful narrative.
Second, we must renew our democratic foundations. The internal fractures that preceded October 7 revealed how delicate democracy can be. Rebuilding trust in our democratic institutions, strengthening the rule of law, protecting minority rights, and embracing civic equality are not internal matters alone. They shape how the world sees us, and how we see ourselves. A confident, liberal, democratic Israel undermines the lie that we are oppressors by nature.
Third, and essential for healing, women must be at the center of Israel’s rebirth. After a massacre in which women’s bodies were deliberately targeted as a weapon of war, sights that I can never unsee, the answer, the only answer, is to build a society where women are fully protected, respected, and empowered to lead. Nations that elevate women in government, diplomacy, and security become more peaceful, more just, and more stable. This is not symbolic. It is strategic. It is the first step to national recovery. Women must be in leadership in the next chapter of Israel. The world must see that the country that endured the most brutal gender-based crimes of this century is responding by becoming a global leader in protecting them.
Some will say or think as they read this that now is not the time. That peace is unrealistic. That values are a luxury in a region of existential threats.
They are wrong.
Defending Israel and holding onto our humanity are not opposing choices. They are inseparable. This is the only answer. We can protect our children with strength and still raise them to see dignity in every human life. Our values are not a weakness. They are our greatest strategic asset.
Israel’s answer to those who seek to erase us must be our commitment to life.
We answer hatred by demonstrating what moral leadership looks like. We answer lies with truth. We answer dehumanization with a deeper commitment to human dignity. We did not choose this darkness. But we can choose how we emerge from it.
BY: Writer Dr. Cochav Elkayam Levy is an expert in international law and human rights
