On May 13th, 2024, Israel celebrated its 76th annual Yom Ha’atzmaut, or Independence Day. This holiday always follows one of the most somber days of the year, Yom Ha’Zikaron, or Memorial Day, which makes for a quintessential Israeli experience: transitioning from grief to celebration in a matter of hours. However, Yom Ha’Zikaron was especially somber this year, with Israel adding 826 names to the list of fallen soldiers and security service members, plus 834 civilians, most of whom perished in the horrific Hamas terror attacks on October 7th.
This year’s Yom Ha’atzmaut, therefore, was also thrown into starker relief. Israel has been at war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. Hezbollah continues to shoot rockets into Israel’s north, rendering 60,000 Israelis refugees in their own country. In April 2024, Iran took an unprecedented step by launching over 300 missiles and drones at Israel. Israel’s enduring and unapologetic existence as the Jewish state amidst a host of hostile powers continues to be one of the greatest miracles of the last 100 years of global history.
Adam Milstein believes so too. Milstein is an American of Israeli descent and a prominent Jewish philanthropist and businessman. In an article for The Jerusalem Post, he writes that, “For the first time in history, in the face of rampant antisemitism in the diaspora, there is a Jewish state. Not merely any state, but a Jewish state with power. With means. With resources, fortitude, and immense capabilities.” Milstein was born in Haifa, Israel and served in the IDF during the traumatic 1973 Yom Kippur War, when a coalition of Arab states attacked Israel and thousands of Israelis died defending their country. He understands better than most how vital Israel’s existence as a resilient, defensible state is for the security of the Jewish people.
After graduating from the Technion, Milstein moved to the U.S. in 1981 where he had a successful career as a commercial real estate investor before pursuing philanthropy. In 2000, he and his wife Gila co-founded the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation, a Jewish nonprofit that supports a wide range of causes dedicated to strengthening American values, supporting the U.S.-Israel alliance, and combating bigotry and hatred in all forms. In 2006, he and several other prominent Israeli and American-Israeli business leaders founded the Israeli-American Council (IAC), a nonprofit organization that strengthens the American Jewish community, future generations of Israeli-Americans, and the state of Israel.
Milstein has dedicated the last two and half decades of his life to the fight against antisemitism. His philanthropy and advocacy have had a great effect on the well-being of the American Jewish community as well as on the U.S.-Israel relationship. But Milstein also has a global vision, one in which Israel and the diaspora work hand in hand to eradicate the antisemitism that threatens Jews all over the world. “The Jewish state has to figure out how to fight on many fronts and lead the charge against global antisemitism.” He believes Israel has “a responsibility to protect the Jews of the world” just as it “protects its citizens with all its might.”
That’s why Milstein advocates for the establishment of “The Jewish Agency to Combat Antisemitism (JACA), similar to the Jewish Agency for Israel created in 1929” which “assist[ed] and encourage[ed] Jews worldwide to help develop and settle Israel.” He argues that “[a]s the homeland and protector of the Jewish people, Israel must take this proactive measure to combat the rising tide of hatred and prejudice. It is no longer sufficient to rely solely on Jewish communities in the diaspora to bear the burden of this fight. Israel possesses the resources, expertise, and determination needed to support them. It must do so.”
Israel and the global Jewish diaspora have often been at odds. As reported by Israeli diplomat Nadav Tamir in The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune in 2021, “The public and the political establishment in Israel has consistently taken a demanding and often unilateral approach towards diaspora Jewry, expecting it to serve as a vital resource to generate pro-Israel support.” Many in the diaspora see the policies of Netanyahu’s increasingly right-wing government as counter to Israel’s interests, making it more difficult for them to provide full-throated support. After October 7th, however, it has become clear that “[o]ur bonds are stronger than at any time in the past,” says Joanne Greenaway in The Jewish Chronicle.
To Milstein, this is all the more reason for Israel to take the lead in this fight. As the war with Hamas wears on, “antisemitism abroad continues to proliferate. Across the West, antisemitic forces shamelessly harass, bully, and assault Jews.” Protests on American college campuses are not just a Jewish-American issue but a global Jewish issue, one Israel should see as part of the bigger picture that threatens their security as well. By establishing JACA, Israel can give back to global Jewry and “reassure Jews across the diaspora that it maintains an unwavering commitment to the safety and security of Jews everywhere,” and not just Jews in Israel.
This cannot be a unilateral approach in either direction. “Jewish communities in the diaspora must continue to stand in solidarity with the Jewish state,” says Milstein. “As Israel’s greatest external advocates, diaspora Jews must continue their unwavering defense of the Jewish State in the public square.” The establishment of JACA should be seen as a “mutually beneficial” initiative. “To Israelis, Jewish diaspora support reaffirms their connection to Jewish solidarity around the globe, and in turn, Jews around the world will receive support from Israeli ingenuity, innovation, and intelligence capabilities.”
The founding of Israel will always be a miracle. Jews from across the globe banded together to establish a state that serves as “a necessary refuge to account for centuries of persecution,” commemorated every year on Yom Ha’atzmaut. Milstein insists that Israelis need to find that ambition and urgency once more. Antisemitism is only growing more pernicious, and Israel has the means to fight back. It’s vital that it reestablishes itself as the protector of the Jewish people in order to ensure “a thriving Jewish future free from persecution or ostracization,” argues Milstein. Jews from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires to Haifa depend on it. After all, “Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh L’Zeh” – all Jews are responsible for one another.