As Israel continues to fight its just war against a monstrous terrorist army that committed the largest slaughter of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust, the Jewish nation and people are facing challenges of existential proportions. Israel is fighting wars on multiple fronts and our future and stability in the Diaspora are intrinsically tied to our homeland. Sadly, Hamas and its hordes of allies abroad are exacting a significant strategic cost on Israel.
This additional war front, most notably in North America and specifically on its campuses, is not a new front but more amplified given the surge of antisemitism across our continent post-October 7.
For far too long, the festering animosity towards Israel and, by extension, Jewish students, has gone largely unaddressed, been persistently overlooked, or simply ignored. This negligence has culminated in unprecedented acts targeting Jews and in blatant manifestations of antisemitism. Campuses have been a breeding ground of hate for decades, whether espoused by professors who peddle antisemitic tropes, marching mobs chanting for the destruction of the Jewish state, or university heads doubling down in defense of institutional antisemitism.
Unsurprisingly, this situation has now blown up for all to witness. We Jews are facing a trifecta of hate: from the far Left (who have exploited marginalized communities for their agenda), the white nationalist Right, and radical Islamists. Diaspora Jews and most organizations in this space have been primarily reactive over the years and not proactive in addressing this hate that has now metastasized. I do not believe it is too late to change the trajectory and turn the tide, but we need to effectively address this situation in a unified, urgent, proactive, and strategic manner.
Despite the prominence of our Jewish communities and institutions, there still is not a strong coordinated continental strategy for Israel advocacy across the North American campuses. There are individual campus initiatives such as ours in Pittsburgh that have had local success. Our Federation has been investing for years in our Israel Campus Ambassadors program in partnership with our local Hillel and Community Relations Council. With this model, we fund pro-Israel activism through speakers, our Israel Fellow, a wide range of programs, and a leadership trip to Israel to train the next generation of pro-Israel students.
Unfortunately, the war on Israel and Jews on campus is much bigger than a few campuses with good initiatives; these initiatives need to be scaled and built upon significantly.
For years, I have seen a gap and have floated the idea to colleagues about the need for the establishment of a national entity solely and uniquely focused on combating the anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda that has permeated our campuses. This entity needs to be coordinated in a proactive way, with a coalition of the willing, most notably the organizations who engage with students, to serve as part of an advisory committee.
While some organizations have made strides on a smaller scale, the prevailing rise in antisemitism and the dismal climate on campuses indicates that the current model is not working. There are organizations that may address campus activism within their extensive portfolios, however, I am advocating for the establishment of a dedicated entity singularly focused on advancing the campus activism sector. Achieving tangible success and fostering genuine change demands a concerted, coordinated effort supported by national organizations that will expand and amplify these initiatives.
Several important components should make up this entity that would span across North America. The entity will operate in regional sectors, each with its own operational coordinator and team. Each sector will be provided with the same educational materials, training sessions, marketing tools, and plans on how to run local pro-Israel activism programs and combat antisemitic hate on campus. Activism training will include running social media campaigns, how to build bridges within the non-Jewish organizational sector, engaging with student government, dealing with the media, and working with campus administrators. Access to a top-of-the-line diverse speaker’s bureau, marketing support, and trainers will be made available, along with operating budgets for each campus. There will be regional gatherings to bring campus activists together to take part in strategic planning, best practice sharing, networking, and relationship-building.
A unified plan, led by activists with experience
THERE WILL be activism seminars held in Israel, whereby the students will bear witness to the atrocities and impact of October 7 and be exposed to a wide range of outstanding leaders at the forefront of pro-Israel advocacy.
The professional team charged with leading this effort would all be former activists or have a community organizing background to expertly coach the local campus chapters as they implement their plans. The top 30 largest Jewish-populated campuses across the country should be targeted in the initial stages and, depending on available funding, more campuses will be added. There are a lot more details to a successful operational plan, but I hope you have a glimpse of the enormity and importance of such an endeavor. The ultimate vision is to create an engaged, prepared, proactive, confident, and coordinated student (Jews and their allies) movement on campus.
Our Jewish students are feeling isolated and under attack. It is our obligation to listen to them and gather our resources to offer support. The funding that would make this possible is out there, but we need to inspire the vision.
Approximately 20% of charitable giving over $10 million in the United States comes from Jewish donors, whereas Jews make up less than 2% of the population. Most of these gifts are given to secular organizations.
Unfortunately for the Jewish community, there are not enough Jewish-directed gifts of similar magnitude and we as a Jewish communal system have an opportunity to inspire the giving of such gifts. With vision, strategy, and urgency to address this important challenge of Israel advocacy, we can inspire transformational philanthropic giving.
I ENVISION a unified plan, with a strategic vision that is backed by enough resources to make dramatic change. For this high impact and timely vision to actualize, there is a need for mega philanthropists to come together as a collective and fund the need. Since a vast majority of mega-giving by Jewish philanthropists is targeted to secular causes – and they are very important – I strongly believe now is the time for fellow Jews to lean into ourselves, especially when we are so marginalized and at war. Now is the time to come together, to pool our resources, and take back the proverbial street to reverse the course of history.
This is the time for brave philanthropists to invest in our future. There is no better time than now, as it is an existential moment for transformational philanthropy.
The writer is the senior vice president and chief development officer at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. He has 30 years of experience in the Jewish communal sector, nearly entirely at Federation. He is an IDF veteran and was a pro-Israel student activist leader in the 1990s.