A special memorial event was held in the Knesset last night marking 31 years since the deadly terrorist attack at the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which claimed the lives of 85 people. The ceremony featured a keynote address by Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rav Kalman Ber.
In his remarks, Rav Ber addressed the enduring scourge of antisemitism and how it continues to take on new forms, even as the Jewish people experience miraculous survival and flourishing in Eretz Yisroel. “People around the world find many strange and varied reasons to justify their hatred of Israel—only because they are afraid of facing the simple truth,” he said.
Rav Ber referenced a recent op-ed in the Daily Telegraph by British columnist Allister Heath, who sharply criticized the antisemitic discourse prevailing in global society.
“If you scratch beneath the fury,” wrote Heath, “you’ll find something deeper. Discomfort not with what Israel does, but with what Israel is. A nation so small shouldn’t be so strong. Period. Israel has no oil. No major natural resources. A population barely the size of a mid-sized American city. Surrounded by enemies. Hated at the UN. Targets of terror. Condemned by celebrities. Boycotted, slandered, and attacked. And still, they thrive like there’s no tomorrow—in the military, medicine, security, technology, agriculture, intelligence, ethics, and sheer, unbreakable will. They turn deserts into farmland. They make water from air. They intercept rockets in the sky.”
Heath went on to list more of Israel’s extraordinary accomplishments and mocked those who try to explain them away with cynical theories. “The world watches this and can’t comprehend it. So they do what people always do when faced with a power they can’t understand: they assume it must be cheating. It must be American aid. It must be foreign lobbying. It must be oppression. It must be theft. It must be some dark trick that gave Jews this kind of power. It must be extortion. Because Heaven forbid it’s something else. Heaven forbid it’s real.”
Heath argued that the true root of the issue is spiritual, not political. “It’s not political. It’s biblical. There’s no cheat code that explains how a people returns to its homeland after 2,000 years. There’s no rational path from gas chambers to global influence.
“Because the moment you admit that Israel’s survival is not just impressive, but divine, everything changes. Your moral compass has to reset. Your assumptions about history, power, and justice collapse. You realize you’re not witnessing the end of an empire—but the beginning of something eternal. So they deny it. They slander it. And they rage against it. Because it’s easier to call a miracle a ‘scam’ than to confront the possibility that G-d keeps His promises. One by one.”
Concluding his speech, Rav Ber emphasized the need to remain true to our values and mission at all times. “In every moment and at every event—even in difficult times and in the face of painful realities—we must continue to remember who we are. To cling to our mission and to our morality.”
“We are in the Three Weeks, and the area we must most strengthen now is bein adam l’chaveiro, especially at this moment when dozens of our brothers are in distress and captivity. We say in our prayers, ‘Acheinu kol beis Yisroel hanesunim b’tzarah u’vashivyah.’ At first glance, this wording seems exaggerated. Was the entire House of Israel ever in trouble and captivity at once? The answer is: yes. Because if even one Jew is in captivity, we must all feel as if we are as well. That is the meaning of that phrase.”
“May Hakadosh Baruch Hu help us merit the return of all captives to their homes safe and sound, and may we soon witness the geulah shleimah in our days.”
{Matzav.com Israel}