Israel must stop apologizing for its existence

This commentary first appeared at The Jerusalem Post

From Amine Ayoub

Since its foundation, Israel’s existence has been treated as a provocation. A home for the Jews? In the Middle East? That can’t be right.

There is a truth that many are afraid to say out loud: Israel is not hated for what it does; Israel is hated for what it is: a self-confident, successful, unapologetic Jewish state in a region – and a world – that never wanted it to survive.

This hatred is not logical. It is not rooted in politics; it contradicts the facts. And yet it pulses through international institutions, universities, Western media and the streets of Europe’s major cities. It has become acceptable – even fashionable – to condemn Israel for defending itself, to brand it as a colonial project and to advocate not for coexistence but for its annihilation.

Nevertheless, Israel continues to exist. And not only does it continue to exist; it is outstanding. Despite incessant pressure, it builds, innovates, integrates, defends and creates. This is not just resilience; it is quiet defiance. And that is precisely why it will endure.

Since its foundation, Israel’s existence has been treated as a provocation. A home for the Jews? In the Middle East? In lands where Jews had lived for centuries, long before Islam existed? The very idea was violently rejected by its neighbors.

Within 24 hours of Israel’s founding in 1948, five Arab states invaded in an attempt to nip it in the bud. They failed. So did every other attempt to destroy it – from conventional wars to intifadas, rocket attacks and terror tunnels.

But Israel’s victory on the battlefield was only one front. The deeper – and more insidious – war is the war of perception. And in this war, Israel faces a far darker force: the normalization of anti-Jewish double standards disguised as social justice.

Today, anti-Zionism has become the socially accepted mask of anti-Semitism. Its supporters no longer shout “Death to the Jews”, but “From the river to the sea”. They no longer burn down synagogues; they boycott Jewish businesses, intimidate Jewish students and deny Jews the right to self-determination under the language of liberation.

THIS HATE is hidden behind the word “Palestine” today, but its goal remains the same: Jewish legitimacy, Jewish security and Jewish survival.

It is important to make it clear that criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism. But denying Israel’s right to exist is anti-Semitism. To measure it by impossible standards by which no other country is measured is anti-Semitism. And treating its people as permanent suspects, even when they are under attack, is anti-Semitism.

Nevertheless, even if the hatred grows louder, Israel must not flinch. Its response must not be appeasement; it must be moral clarity.

The world accuses Israel of apartheid while Arab citizens sit in its parliament, attend its universities, serve in its judiciary and walk freely in every city. The world calls it a colonial project, as if the return of a people to its indigenous homeland after two thousand years of exile, persecution and genocide is colonialism. The world accuses it of genocide, while its army warns civilians before hitting terror targets embedded in homes and hospitals – something no other army in the world does.

Israel must stop apologizing for its existence

Israel cannot spend its energy begging the world to understand it. It must stop apologizing for its existence. There is no moral justification for its enemies firing rockets from playgrounds, carrying out terrorist attacks in synagogues or abusing its own people as human shields. There is no moral high ground in calling for the annihilation of a nation.

So how does Israel respond? Not just with military strength, but with narrative strength.

It needs to start telling its story again – and tell it better. The world doesn’t need another defensive press release. It needs truth with a backbone. It needs voices that no longer chase Western approval but assert moral reality.

Israel must no longer allow its enemies to define the terms of the debate. “Occupation”? The land that Israel is accused of occupying is the same land that has been offered to the Palestinians in countless peace offers – all rejected, not because of the borders, but because of Israel’s existence. “Colonialism”? There has never been a Palestinian state that could have been colonized. Jews are not strangers in Jerusalem, Hebron or Tiberias. They are locals who are returning home.

And to those who chant “Free Palestine” and at the same time excuse the murder of Jewish civilians, Israel must reply: Freedom is not the right to wipe out another nation.

But the strategy must not stop at defense. Israel must go on the offensive culturally, diplomatically and intellectually. It must invest massively in media, storytelling and international education. Not dry facts, but courageous narratives that make the truth tangible.

People don’t gather around spreadsheets; they gather around stories. The story of Israel is powerful – one of trauma, triumph, rebirth and hope. The world needs to hear it from Israelis themselves, not filtered through foreign correspondents or activist NGOs with political agendas.

Beyond communication, Israel must redefine its alliances. For too long it has sought the love of Western elites, which they will never grant it. It is time to forge partnerships not just with governments, but with people – from African innovators to Eastern European thinkers to Arab dissidents who admire Israel’s strength and stability.

Israel’s moral support may not come from the traditional halls of European diplomacy, but from a new coalition of nations and individuals who admire what it truly stands for: Freedom, innovation and survival.

Internally, Israel must never allow external hatred to poison its own soul. The answer to hatred is not fear; it is confidence. Confidence in its democracy, its resilience and its diversity. The Jewish state must remain what it has always wanted to be: a beacon of pluralism and progress in a region suffocated by tyranny. Its greatest retribution against its enemies is to continue to flourish.

And for Jews worldwide, the message must be loud and clear: You owe no one an apology for supporting Israel. Zionism is not extremism; it is justice. It is the belief that Jews have the right to live safely in the only country that exists to protect them when the world turns its back – as it so often does.

Israel was never meant to be popular. It was meant to survive. And it has done more than that; it has given a scattered people a future, dignity and a flag to rally around. This flag, blue and white, is not a symbol of conquest. It is a promise: Never again will Jews be dependent on others for security, justice or identity.

Yes, the world may hate Israel. But Israel does not exist to be liked. It exists to be free. And in its freedom, it has outlasted every enemy, defied every expectation and proven time and again that hate is not stronger than history.

In the end, Israel does not have to win hearts to be victorious. It just has to stand tall, clear and fearless.

And it will.

The author, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, is a political analyst and writer based in Morocco. Follow him on X/Twitter: @amineayoubx.