The next four years will be informed by the pre-Trump era, but no, not entirely, as the world does not stand still. What is certain is that the rhetoric will change and Washington’s first instinct will be to seek European partners.
I write as a friend, who has said more than once that the EU is the single most ambitious and successful peace project in modern history. But if the EU is serious about tackling antisemitism and preserving historical memory of the Holocaust, it cannot neglect, minimize or wish away threats to the existence of Israel, the world’s lone Jewish-majority country and home to nearly 7 million Jews.
History certainly does not repeat itself. However, after the signing of the "Abraham Accords," one is reminded of the European reaction in 1979. Instead of enthusiastically supporting peace treaties between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, statements from Brussels and Berlin were conspicuously reserved.
Die Welt, one of Germany’s most influential national newspapers, asked AJC CEO David Harris to write a piece about the latest deadly Islamist terror attacks in Paris, Nice, and Vienna. Harris assesses the challenges facing France and Austria, and other European countries, and offers ten policy recommendations for what governments should do to counter the jihadist threat and address integration challenges.
I am not naive about the complex history of Polish-Jewish relations, or the accusations emanating from both sides. Yet I believe, as the son of parents who suffered at the hands of both Berlin and Moscow, that what we share in common far exceeds what divides us. And those commonalities are profoundly important in our contemporary world.