July 21, 2026
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With attacks on Jews worldwide and the State of Israel reaching a fever pitch, the Jewish people commemorate Tisha B’Av – a solemn time that has combined many catastrophes into a single day of mourning, including the destruction of both Temples, expulsions and massacres throughout history.
Empires and Regimes Tried to Erase the Jews
The ancient Babylonians destroyed the First Jewish Temple on the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av in 586 BCE. The Roman empire destroyed the Second Temple on the same date in 70 CE. Rome renamed the land Palestine to try and sever the Jewish connection to Israel and drove the survivors into exile. This year, Tisha B’Av begins at sundown on July 22, a day of fasting, prayer and remembrance. The Babylonian empire included what is today’s Iran.
Nearly two thousand years later, the Babylonian and Roman Empires are long gone – the Jewish people remain but continue to face threats from old and new enemies. Since the Temples were destroyed, Jews have prayed facing Jerusalem and closed Passover seders and Yom Kippur services with the same vow, “Next year in Jerusalem” – nearly two thousand years before the modern State of Israel existed.
Within days of Tisha B’Av, on July 18, 1290, King Edward I expelled every Jew from England – the first time a European kingdom expelled its entire Jewish population. Those who stayed risked seizure and death. The ban held for more than 350 years.
The attempts to erase the Jews did not begin with the medieval world and did not end with the Holocaust. Exactly 704 years after the English expulsion, Iran directed the bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994, killing 85 people. More than three decades later, no one has been brought to justice – and the regime that ordered the attack is still at work.
Rising Extremism Threatens Jews
Iran never stopped. The same regime behind the attack in Argentina continues its war against the U.S. and its regional allies.
Yet as America directly confronts Iran, Vice President JD Vance has turned the blame toward Israel and the Jews. Vance recently accused Israeli influence campaigns of “manipulating” American opinion on the Iran war, telling influential podcast host Joe Rogan that foreign influencers can “go to hell.” Vance also told Rogan and his millions of listeners that Jeffrey Epstein had “connections” to Israeli intelligence. Both allegations tap into age-old antisemitic conspiracy theories.
The same animosity toward Israel reached the floor of Congress. More than 100 House Democrats – nearly half of their caucus – voted to cut off all U.S. military aid to Israel on July 15. Far-left activists threatened U.S. Democratic Rep. Adam Smith through a campaign of intimidation and violence. Smith changed his position and voted against Israel after “my family’s home was vandalized, a fire has been set in my driveway and there have been demonstrations in the middle of the night.”
His account confirmed a warning issued the same day. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said American counterterrorism had long overlooked far-left political violence and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar described a “growing operational alliance between leftist activism and Islamist terrorist organizations” – with Israel on the front line.
The growing hostility toward Israel within the Democratic Party is driven by the far-left Democratic Socialists of America. Prominent leaders supported by the DSA include NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The extremist organization recently adopted a platform calling to abolish the American two-party system and its presidency, Senate and Supreme Court. The DSA also backs the Palestinian “right to resist” – the same language Palestinian terror groups use to justify murdering Israelis.
Enemies Fall, the Jewish People Endure
The Jewish people have outlived every power that set out to erase them. Edward I expelled its Jews in 1290. They returned under Oliver Cromwell in 1656. Soon after, they built London’s Bevis Marks synagogue, where Jews have worshipped without a break for more than 300 years.
British Jews now face a new wave of hatred. An Islamist terrorist carried out a deadly assault on a synagogue, Iran-backed terrorists torched Jewish ambulances that served the whole community and many Jews have been harassed in the street.
Renewed antisemitism is driving many British Jews to consider leaving for Israel – but they do not stand alone. The founder of Muslims Against Antisemitism is challenging fellow Muslims to confront the bigotry in their own ranks and a London pastor is fighting the Church of England’s recent push to falsely brand Israel “genocidal.”
Some countries are changing course. Argentina was once a safe haven for fleeing Nazis and long obstructed investigations into the Jewish community center bombing on its own soil. Now, Argentina stands among Israel’s closest allies and is seeking to prosecute those responsible for the attack. Many Israelis cheered for Argentina against Spain in the World Cup final. Argentina lost to Spain – now one of Israel’s loudest accusers in Europe, and a hotbed of antisemitism.
Through it all, the Jewish people respond to the hostility with continued resilience. The ultra-Orthodox Chabad movement launched, “Born to Be a Yid,” billboards in NYC to “build confidence, joy, strength and connection” among Jews. In Queens, congregants whose synagogue was vandalized with feces vowed to “continue praying and to be proud Americans.”
This is what Tisha B’Av has come to represent: The saddest day on the Jewish calendar is living testimony to survival. Many nations that set out to erase the Jews are gone. The Jewish people remain – still facing Jerusalem, still proclaiming, “Next year in Jerusalem.”
Tisha B’Av ‘a call to look inward,’ rabbis say
Yeshiva University President Rabbi Ari Berman, as told to the Jewish News Syndicate:
“… We need not only to mourn for a destroyed Jerusalem. We’re being called to defend Jerusalem today, and that’s truly our opportunity, responsibility and mission.
“A lot of our challenge today is that we’re seeing people lie about the Jews – and undermine the Jewish story and Zionism. We’re seeing it in our politics today, and people are waiting to see: what are the Jews going to do? We need to respond with absolute clarity and with truth – and we need to defend Jerusalem.
“The vision of the Temple is not just for the Jewish people, but for all of humanity where the inspiration to act with truth and kindness lives for all.
“That’s why Tisha B’Av and our mission is not really just for the Jewish people but for all people of moral conscience to work together to bring goodness and to dispel hate to the world.”
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This content is developed by The Focus Project in partnership with MERCAZ USA. The Focus Project distributes weekly news and talking points on timely issues concerning Israel and the Jewish people, including antisemitism, anti-Zionism and the delegitimization of Israel. It represents a consensus view across a spectrum of major American Jewish organizations. MERCAZ USA recognizes and respects the diversity of views on these issues among its readers and the community at large.
