Approaching the one-year mark of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel, the parallels with the Sept. 11 terror attack on U.S. soil more than two decades earlier resonate for Israeli author, diplomat and historian Michael Oren.
“In Israel, it’s still Oct. 7,” the former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. told an audience of several hundred people at Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center’s Schiff Hall. “That was our 9/11. We haven’t moved a minute beyond Oct. 7.”
Since its population is 35 times smaller than the U.S., Israel and its 1,200 deaths on Oct. 7, 2023, felt like the equivalent of 42,000 American casualties, said Oren, a native New Yorker who immigrated to the Jewish state after college.
A career in academia and government would follow, including a stint as U.S. ambassador from 2009-13 under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, election to the country’s parliament and a more recent role as deputy prime minister.
Oren spoke at the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples on Sept. 12, one day after the 23rd anniversary of the terror attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. It was his second local appearance since the Oct.7 attacks.
As a veteran peace negotiator for both Israeli and U.S. leaders, Oren suggested that the growing calls for a permanent ceasefire amid mounting Palestinian casualties were unrealistic and would “mean Hamas wins. And they retake Gaza, and they rearm, and they mount the next Oct. 7, because that’s what they say they’re going to do 10,000 times over until Israel is destroyed.
“If that happens, you understand the next 9/11 is going to happen here, because jihadists throughout the world are going to go crazy,” he continued. “Understand that what’s happening 7,000 miles away today is going to affect your lives here in Naples, Florida.”
Oren’s appearance was sponsored by Naples residents Richard and Camille Forman, as well as United Hatzalah, an Israeli humanitarian relief organization that provides free 24/7, emergency medical care through its network of ambulance motorcycles.
Following his remarks, Oren responded to audience questions—the first of which asked how to reconcile the ongoing war with what the questioner called “Judaism’s highest moral value” of Pikuach Nefesh, or the obligation to save a human life in jeopardy.
In response, Oren described a divided Israel where criticism of the government’s response to the war builds by the day—led largely by outspoken and anguished family members of the estimated 60 to 80 hostages who remain alive in captivity, out of the more than 250 captured nearly a year ago.
Those stark divides, and the two paths forward they represent—destroy Hamas but sacrifice the hostages or save the hostages at the cost of allowing Hamas to survive—reflect the war’s continued toll on the country’s collective psyche, said Oren. He contrasted the country’s current mood to its comparative cohesion soon after the attack.
“When I was here in Naples (this past winter), we had unity at home,” Oren said. “We don’t have that today.
“Top it off with a tremendous crisis of credibility, where the government doesn’t exactly trust the army, the army doesn’t trust the government, the population doesn’t believe anybody at this point,” he added. “And that’s a very, very hazardous situation for the state of Israel.”
But it’s when that criticism veers into questions of Israel’s right to exist, let alone defend its borders, that the specter of antisemitism emerges, Oren said.
He noted how Israel’s actions are more heavily scrutinized than those in similar circumstances—including the U.S. in the aftermath of 9/11.
“The world’s reaction to these two different responses to outrageous acts of terrorists was completely, completely different,” Oren said. “No one accused the United States of genocide, no one accused the United States of war crimes. The United States was not hauled before the International Criminal Court. The U.S. would never think of negotiating with (Osama) bin Laden and al- Qaeda. We are expected to negotiate with Hamas, a terrorist group.”
Oren also shared an update on the continued conflict Israel faces with other combatants, including recent missile attacks by Houti rebels in Yemen and daily rocket fire across its northern border with Lebanon by Iran-backed Hezbollah that has displaced 100,000 Israelis.
“Eventually it’s going to come to a major blow, and the war between Israel and Hezbollah is going to be much, much bigger than anything that transpired between Israel and Hamas,” he warned.
Despite—or perhaps due to—the escalating violence, Israel and its people remain more resilient than ever, Oren said, offering the audience a glimmer of hope amid the sobering update.
“The people of Israel, 80% went out and volunteered. They picked fruit, they made food for soldiers, they opened their homes for months to the displaced people from the north,” he said, adding that 360,000 Israeli reservists reported for military duty, with others (including Oren) volunteering years after their obligations for compulsory service ended.
Oren concluded with a reminder that while global events half a world away can seem distant from our everyday lives, the outcomes couldn’t be more consequential.
“This is a war against Islamic extremism,” he said. “We are the front lines. We are fighting a great evil. We’re fighting for this civilization. We’re also fighting for your defense. Make no mistake about it.”
About Jewish Federation of Greater Naples
The Jewish Federation of Greater Naples is the thread that runs through the fabric of the Jewish Community, its organizations and services, connecting the Jewish community. The Federation supports programs for Jewish people and the entire community in need in the greater Naples area, Israel and throughout the world, providing food for the hungry and counseling for the troubled, spearheading rescue and relief efforts for isolated Jews in distressed regions, and funding innovative Jewish educational and unity initiatives. The Federation creates a sense of community for thousands of Jewish residents in Greater Naples and its surrounding areas by creating and supporting programs to further Jewish learning, identity, pride and culture. Federation meets the challenge of providing for the needs of our Jewish brethren, wherever they may be, from young children and families to seniors. For information, visit jewishnaples.org, call 239-263-4205 or email info@jewishnaples.org.
