The attack on a synagogue in Bloomfield. Michigan last week should disturb anyone who believes in basic moral clarity.

According to reports, the suspect who targeted the synagogue told investigators he had lost relatives in Lebanon during Israeli strikes against Hezbollah. His grief and anger, he said, drove him to attack a Jewish house of worship thousands of miles away.

That leap, from anger at Israeli military actions to violence against Jews in the diaspora, is precisely where legitimate political grievance turns into antisemitism.

Because the premise behind the attack rests on a false and dangerous assumption: that Jews everywhere are responsible for the actions of the State of Israel.

The Ancient Logic of Collective Blame

For centuries, Jews have lived with a recurring accusation. Whenever something happens somewhere involving Jews, all Jews are held accountable.

In medieval Europe Jews were blamed for plagues. In the twentieth century Jews were blamed for capitalism and communism simultaneously. Today Jews are blamed for the decisions of the Israeli government.

The structure of the accusation has not changed. Only the language has.

When someone attacks a synagogue because of Israeli policy, the logic is simple: Jews are interchangeable representatives of Israel.

But this is not how the world works.

There are nearly sixteen million Jews globally. Roughly half live in........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)