Gathering in Israel to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration-death camp, world leaders called for constant vigilance against anti-Semitism. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech was the most instructive, because Netanyahu encapsulated how the Holocaust defines Israeli security strategy in the 21st century.
There was little grandstanding in his speech. Instead, Netanyahu charted a brief history of the Holocaust and how it ended. The former Israeli special forces operator observed how Jews remember “with deep gratitude, the day of liberation, the entry of the Red Army into Auschwitz, the immense sacrifice of the allies, soldiers, and peoples alike.” But, he noted, “For the 6 million of our people, including 1.5 million children, the gates of hell were broken into too late.”
Then the Prime Minister made the gross loss relevant to the present.
Israel remembers, he said, “that some 80 years ago, when the Jewish people faced annihilation, the world largely turned its back on us, leaving us to the most bitter of fates.” But unlike in the 1940s, Netanyahu said, “Today, we have a voice, we have a land, and we have a shield.” The shield is the Israeli Defense Forces and their shadow allies in the Israeli intelligence services.
Netanyahu’s point: The state of Israel is both a product of the Holocaust’s destruction of Jewish communities and the intrinsic guardian against its repeat. And the prime minister was clear about Israel’s primary mission: “At the foundation of the revival of the State of Israel is one main imperative: There will never be a second Holocaust.”
But Netanyahu also explained why the Holocaust is so particularly defining for Israelis, and Jews.
“The Jewish people have learned the lessons of the Holocaust: to take, always to take seriously the threats of those who seek our destruction; to confront threats when they are small; and above all, even though we deeply, deeply appreciate the great support of our friends, to always have the power to defend ourselves by ourselves. We have learned that Israel must always remain the master of its fate.”
Here we see the exigent unilateralism at the heart of Israeli security strategy. This is a point too few observers grasp when they say that Israel must bind its security to allies. Where they see the Holocaust as a historic tragedy of immense proportion, Israelis see a shadow that never departs. A shadow they will always live with and must never take for granted.
But for Israel, with its small territory and population, the threat of a second Holocaust is renewed by the advent of nuclear proliferation. Netanyahu drew this connection point explicitly on Thursday.
“I am concerned that we have yet to see a unified and resolute stance against the most anti-Semitic regime on the planet — a regime that openly seeks to develop nuclear weapons and annihilate the one and only Jewish state.”
Netanyahu is referring to Iran. And considering recent Iranian escalations toward a revived nuclear weapons program, Netanyahu’s words cannot be discounted as simple rhetoric. Yes, Netanyahu faces a tough reelection battle in March and thus has reason to buffer his security credentials. But whether Netanyahu wins or his challenger Benny Gantz enters power, Israel will use force against an Iranian nuclear weapon if Tehran ever develops one.
Some say that the Israelis would never risk such an escalation. Netanyahu offered a rebuttal with his concluding line.
“In any case, I wish to assure again our people and all our friends, Israel will do whatever it must do to defend our state, defend our people, and defend the Jewish future.”
Jewish future: That’s the overriding philosophy in Israeli security strategy. And Auschwitz is why.
