Fortunately, the Jews do have a few friends, and these include the Coalition of Catholics against Anti-Semitism, whose first annual conference, scheduled several months ago, begins today at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. Mary Eberstadt writes:

I have spoken to several Jewish friends since October 7 and its fallout about the devastation to Israeli and American families, the outrageous behavior on some elite secular campuses, and the conference at Franciscan University. One after another, all have said they were amazed to see Catholics taking the initiative to stand alongside them. That reaction tells us something vital: the truth that Christians should help Jews because we are Christians is both powerful and underutilized.

The de-churching of large parts of the West is no neutral social trend. It never has been. Not only is rising secularism producing people who believe there is no truth—what Pope Benedict XVI dubbed “the tyranny of relativism.” Even worse, a sizeable number of the students of that tyranny are now not only post-Christian, but pre-civilization: cheering on a world in which the most feral rule and rampage as they will, and empathy vanishes.

You can read the rest of the article at the link below. For more on the subject I also recommend this, by Amanda Achtman.

If Iran succeeds in obtaining nuclear weapons, the war in Gaza, let alone the protests on college campuses, will seem like a minor complication. Jonathan Schachter fears that this danger could be much more imminent than decisionmakers in Jerusalem and Washington believe. In his view, Israel seems to be repeating the mistake that allowed it to be taken by surprise on Simchat Torah of 2023 and Yom Kippur of 1973: putting too much faith in an intelligence concept that could be wrong.

Israel and the United States apparently believe that despite Iran’s well-documented progress in developing capabilities necessary for producing and delivering nuclear weapons, as well as its extensive and ongoing record of violating its international nuclear obligations, there is no acute crisis because building a bomb would take time, would be observable, and could be stopped by force. Taken together, these assumptions and their moderating impact on Israeli and American policy form a new Iran concept reminiscent of its 1973 namesake and of the systemic failures that preceded the October 7 massacre.

Meanwhile, most of the restrictions put in place by the 2015 nuclear deal will expire by the end of next year, rendering the question of Iran’s adherence moot. And the forces that could be taking action aren’t:

The European Union regularly issues boilerplate press releases asserting its members’ “grave concern.” American decisionmakers and spokespeople have created the unmistakable impression that their reservations about the use of force are stronger than their commitment to use force to prevent an Iranian atomic bomb. At the same time, the U.S. refuses to enforce its own sanctions comprehensively: Iranian oil exports (especially to China) and foreign-currency reserves have ballooned since January 2021, when the Biden administration took office.

Israel’s response has also been sluggish and ambiguous. Despite its oft-stated policy of never allowing a nuclear Iran, Israel’s words and deeds have sent mixed messages to allies and adversaries—perhaps inadvertently reinforcing the prevailing sense in Washington and elsewhere that Iran’s nuclear efforts do not present an exigent crisis.