May, 2026. European nations continue to document a dramatic surge in real-world hate crimes, threats, and discrimination targeting Jewish communities worldwide. The line between legitimate criticism of Israeli state policies and broader prejudice against Jewish people globally is often crossed.
The Jewish state faces unprecedented legal and diplomatic pressure. International bodies and human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned its actions, with widespread accusations of grave violations of international law. The conversation around the Jewish state is highly polarized.
Polling data from organizations like the Pew Research Center shows that the majority of respondents in many Western and allied nations hold unfavorable views of Israel, heavily driven by the media.
In Europe, several political actors view Hamas as "a legitimate national resistance movement fighting against foreign occupation"even if Hamas' founding charter explicitly calls for the elimination of the state of Israel, stating that "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it". While the group's 2017 revised policy document adopts slightly different language, it still refuses to recognize Israel and calls for the "complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea".
Sivan
The month of Sivan is historically critical to Jewish survival and identity because it marks both the literal birth of the Jewish nation and a series of miraculous military and spiritual victories.
In the Six-Day War, Israel recaptured the Old City of Jerusalem and reunited the Western Wall with the Jewish people on the 28th of Iyar, with the victory fully secured and celebrated heading into early Sivan.
Earlier, in the Battle of Latrun, crucial supply lines to Jerusalem were held open during the War of Independence in Sivan. Even during the Hasmonean period, Jewish forces secured key territorial victories and fortified Jerusalem in early Sivan.
Survival through adherence to the Torah became Judaism's ultimate victory over history.
