2026 Jewish Blueprint for Survival

By: Ginette Weiner

Two Jewish women are seated in a Jewish Deli.  The waiter takes their order and serves them. A short while later he returns and asks, “Is anything alright?”  Today, very little feels ‘alright’. The world seems increasingly volatile, headed towards confrontation.  Biased inaccurate narratives preside in favor of facts or truths. The pure hatred of Israel is widespread.  Those who support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish State, Zionists, all Jews, are fair game for the hunt.

What we are doing as a people, our organizations, our leadership is not working.  Change is one of the hardest things we do as humans.  When I was a Social Worker, it was clear that people are ready to make substantive change only when they approach rock bottom. They are killing us, attacking us, intimidating us, marginalizing us with no clear end in sight. Our reality has changed. We need to change with it.  So what changes are needed to strengthen our inner resources, our renewal and resilience?

Our Resources are not Unlimited

I have been reading about multi-millions raised for good causes, charities, etc. in the Hamptons, NYC & elsewhere for decades. I couldn’t help but think if instead, we had been raising funds for our very own Public Relations Firm to get the truth and beauty of Israel out to the public, to the world, we would be in much better shape. Let 2026 be the year we put aside our differences and do this.

-Stand With Us has easy to digest pamphlets ‘Myths Vs.Truths’, dispelling with hard facts, the Big Lies about Israel committing genocide, etc.  Why are we not flooding multimedia, social media with these pamphlets, using a simple format, a one line Big Lie followed by a one line refutation, using hard facts? Why are we not dropping hundreds of these on a weekly basis on the doorsteps of mainstream media as our protest to their relentless Israel false smears? Our Jewish leaders should consider adopting an empty chair format. On stage, ask the empty chair: Question: Why Abbas, and your “Palestinian” Arabs, refused each fair peace offer every single time and never made a counter offer? Answer:  We will never accept the “evil Zionist entity with any boundaries. It’s not about land.” Question: Why are you, Hamas, building tunnels to kidnap Israelis rather than building communities of peace and prosperity? Answer: Because our goal is to rid the Middle East of all Jews, then go after you worldwide.” This is an effective attention getting strategy which also exposes verifiable facts.

-In 2015, Post Gaza Protective Edge,  we had a chance to counter the growing anti-Zionist hate on our campuses, and in mainstream media with force and join together to combat the Big Lies. We did not. Our own Jewish youth are confused, unsure what to believe. Why are we not now funding relentless, non-stop full page ads, huge billboards with the hate speech of these “Palestinian” Arabs as outed on Palwatch? With Abbas’ own speech blaming the Jews for The Holocaust, the numerous times they rejected offers for peace with dates and years for all to see. These Arabs are victims of their own rejectionism but make themselves out to be victims of Israel. And now Israel is so viscerally hated, almost nothing we say, no barrage of facts will change this but still we must combat and penetrate their false portrayal as victims of Israel.  We are in damage control and survival mode.  It may be too little, too late but still we must try.

-Let the world know we are done being victims. Learning self defense may initially feel uncomfortable but quickly transforms into feeling empowered and confident, more fully able to engage with all aspects of civil life, of Jewish life in all its forms, from synagogue to rallies to just walking down the street.  This is our new reality whether we like it or not.  We need to fund hard core self defense training for every single Jew, young to old, to learn how to take down an attacker without hesitation, using every form of legal self defense.  We should each own a bullet proof, stab proof vest. Our synagogues, community centers should be visibly surrounded by guards, and Jewish men & women, patrolling with all the visible, legal gear they are allowed.

For 2026, I say, no more dead Jews. I envision a crowd of Jews attending a rally, each trained with, and comfortable using a full range of self defense tactics, carrying legal weapons, taking down an attacker in an instant, with no hesitation because they are quietly fierce, and are trained to do so. We are done being victims. The next time you are even thinking about attacking Jews, think again because this time, we will take you down, and ask questions later.

-Tell the Mamdanis of this world we will not accept the crumbs you throw us. We will not grovel. Ever. We demand full Jewish Civil Rights, nothing less. When you call for the elimination of Israel as a Jewish State, when you appoint Tamika Mallory to an official position who praises  “Black Hitler”, Jew hating Nation of Islam Louis Farrakhan as her G.O.A.T, Greatest Of All Time, but then deny you are an antisemite, you insult our intelligence.  As Judge Judy says, “don’t spit on me and tell me it’s raining.”

So to all who voted for this dishonest, disingenuous dangerous double speaker Mamdani, and to all who will vote for anyone with his anti-Israel views, I will end with a memorable line from that grand movie, ‘Notorious’, “You are protected for a time by the enormity of your stupidity.”  Because history shows us, when they come for the Jews, you are next.

About the Author:  Ginette Weiner, is a published commentator in Jewish and mainstream newspapers.  She holds an MSW & a Certification in “Defending Israel from Media Bias”, 23rd Mission to Israel, Honest Reporting: June, 2015.