SerpApi.Org
Last week, a senior American politician made a highly disturbing admission.
Washington Representative Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services committee, revealed that he had voted in favour of cutting American military aid to Israel because of the violence and intimidation he and his family were facing.
Mr Smith said: “My family and I have had our home vandalised, a fire has been set in my driveway, my neighbours’ lives have been disrupted by demonstrations in the middle of the night, town halls meant to be forums for dialogue have been shut down, and a staff member has been physically assaulted.”
Mr Smith had previously said he would oppose the cut in aid to Israel. It appears that this legislator did not change his mind on the issues at hand. The mob changed it for him.
The vandals and the arsonists did not need to win the argument. They simply made the cost of disagreeing with them unbearable.
Here in Britain we should recognise this story because we have already lived a version of it.
In February 2024, Mike Freer, the Conservative MP for Finchley and Golders Green, announced he would not stand again after his constituency office was firebombed.
It was, he said, “the final straw” after more than a decade of threats tied directly to his support for Israel and his work challenging anti-Semitism. “Because I have such strong views on the Middle East, and I’m pro-Israel, this has led me to become a target,” he said at the time.
What links Mr Smith’s Washington and Mr Freer’s Finchley is not a shared position on the Middle East – it is the methods being used against those who believe that the West should continue its support for the region’s only democracy in its fight against jihadism.
The lesson these campaigns of political violence teach is explicit: back away from support for Israel and for the Jewish community, or your family pays the price.
The experiences of Mr Smith and Mr Freer represent direct evidence of the growth of extreme Left-wing terrorism and intimidation. It is debate replaced by threats, the ballot box replaced by firebombs.
We cannot blame this simply on Iranian proxies operating on foreign soil, or on the destructive division deliberately driven by China’s TikTok. We must accept that citizens of our country believe that it is permissible to commit violence and bullying in service of their hatred for the Jewish State.
We should also be in no doubt that this intimidation extends beyond our political representatives. Since October 7, this culture of intimidation has been felt across society by the Jewish community.
It has been experienced in the education system, in arts institutions and the workplace. It has left many British Jews feeling isolated, displaced and in fear.
As a result new government funding has been provided for Jewish security, and this is to be welcomed, but building higher walls around the Jewish community is not the answer. Sustained, committed leadership to address the roots of anti-Jewish hate is required across civil society.
It is the only way British Jews can rebuild confidence in their place in Britain, and we can all be sure that terrorism and violence will not be allowed to influence our democracy.
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