Historically, the Indian subcontinent was home to several distinct Jewish populations, of which one of the oldest and most significant were the Bene Israel, most of whom eventually settled in Israel. Nissim Moses describes their role in the Zionist enterprise:

The Bene Israel played an important role in the creation and development of modern Israel from before the establishment of the state in 1948. They participated in activities in support of Jews suffering during the pogroms in tsarist Russia. Bene Israel community members began visiting Jerusalem and other parts of Israel during the late 1800s and early 1900s. They donated money toward building a well and plaque at Rachel’s Tomb and they served in Indian units in Palestine during World War I.

After World War II, Lieutenant Ellis Ashton of [Britain’s] 3rd Maratha Light Infantry Regiment became a prominent fighter in the Haganah, where he was given the code-name “Hodi” (meaning Indian in Hebrew). He smuggled Polish Jewish refugees into Israel through Iraq, issuing them false documents, and raided British arms and weapons depots. He . . . was killed in action when he was betrayed . . . to the British.

After Israel was established, most Bene Israel moved to the Jewish state. Today there are an estimated 5,000 members of Bene Israel left in India, while the community in Israel numbers more than 60,000.

But one of the most salient features about Indian Jewry is that it experienced almost no anti-Semitism. Its members came to Israel not out of fear of persecution but out of love for their homeland.

Analyzing the recent direct Iranian attack on Israel, and Israel’s security situation more generally, Michael Oren looks to the 2015 agreement to restrain Iran’s nuclear program. That, and President Biden’s efforts to resurrect the deal after Donald Trump left it, are in his view the source of the current crisis:

Of the original motivations for the deal—blocking Iran’s path to the bomb and transforming Iran into a peaceful nation—neither remained. All Biden was left with was the ability to kick the can down the road and to uphold Barack Obama’s singular foreign-policy achievement.

In order to achieve that result, the administration has repeatedly refused to punish Iran for its malign actions:

Historians will survey this inexplicable record and wonder how the United States not only allowed Iran repeatedly to assault its citizens, soldiers, and allies but consistently rewarded it for doing so. They may well conclude that in a desperate effort to avoid getting dragged into a regional Middle Eastern war, the U.S. might well have precipitated one.

While America’s friends in the Middle East, especially Israel, have every reason to feel grateful for the vital assistance they received in intercepting Iran’s missile and drone onslaught, they might also ask what the U.S. can now do differently to deter Iran from further aggression. . . . Tehran will see this weekend’s direct attack on Israel as a victory—their own—for their ability to continue threatening Israel and destabilizing the Middle East with impunity.

Israel, of course, must respond differently. Our target cannot simply be the Iranian proxies that surround our country and that have waged war on us since October 7, but, as the Saudis call it, “the head of the snake.”