There was a time when many people insisted there was a bright moral line between opposing Israeli government policies and targeting Israelis themselves.

That line disappeared.

Today Israelis are being harassed in hotel lobbies, filmed in restaurants, confronted on streets, denied service, verbally abused at airports, and publicly humiliated online simply for speaking Hebrew, carrying an Israeli passport, wearing a Star of David, or existing visibly as Israelis in public spaces.

And much of the world is pretending not to notice what this means.

What began as political activism against a government has increasingly evolved into something darker: the normalization of treating ordinary Israelis as legitimate public targets.

They are not targeting diplomats. They are not targeting policymakers. They are targeting tourists. People like you and me, whose only “crime” is that they carry an Israeli passport and “dare” speak Hebrew in public.

The implications of this shift are profound, not only for Israelis and Jews, but for liberal democratic society itself.

The Collapse of the Individual

One of the defining features of prejudice is collective guilt.

The moment an individual ceases to be judged as an individual and instead becomes morally responsible for an entire nation, ethnicity, or people, society enters dangerous territory. This is precisely what is happening to Israelis across parts of the world today.

An Israeli checking into a hotel is no longer seen as a guest. They are seen as a political symbol. A Hebrew-speaking family at a restaurant is no longer simply eating dinner. They are treated as representatives of a global conflict.

This transformation is deeply significant because it strips Israelis of individual humanity and replaces it with ideological abstraction. Once that happens, harassment becomes easier to justify. Humiliation becomes activism and public........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)