In the days after Israel was attacked on October 7, 2023, then-President Biden cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to make the same mistakes the US made following 9/11. Biden never publicly spelled out what he meant, but it was understood as a warning to Netanyahu, in response to the shock generated by the attack, not to overreact or overreach, as President George W. Bush had done by invading and occupying Iraq and proposing a US-led democracy agenda that would transform the Middle East. That war lasted more than a decade with tremendous cost in lives, treasure, and US prestige. It also emboldened Iran and spawned extremist groups across the Levant and North Africa, like ISIS. 

In the days before the election for mayor of New York City, a group of rabbis issued a “A Call to Action” attacking public figures like Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani whom they say “refuse to condemn violent slogans, deny Israel’s legitimacy, and accuse the Jewish state of genocide.”