By Emily Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief and Ashley Hefner, Photographer and Staff Writer
At Yeshiva University, students may not be exposed to anti-Israel propaganda firsthand, but everyone knows how prevalent it is on college campuses throughout the United States. That’s why Ofri Landsberg, a representative from DiploAct, an organization working “to tell the true stories of Israel and the Jewish people, fight misinformation and uncover the facts,” came to YU: to tell students that although antisemitism is not on our campus, it doesn’t mean we should ignore our responsibility to combat this issue.
He, along with his colleagues Eden Melamed and Avia Avisar, emphasized that now more than ever, students, especially at YU, must equip themselves with the knowledge and skills to properly combat anti-Israel sentiments.
On March 3, the YU Political Action Club (YUPAC) held an event in collaboration with CAMERA on Campus, an organization whose goal is to “foster informed and constructive discussions about Israel and the Middle East conflict,” and DiploAct, titled “Truth Trek: Decoding Anti-Israel Propaganda.”
“After being to a few campuses, I’ve been called ‘monster’ a lot of times,” Landsberg said at the event. “I guess you didn’t feel it in the same way here at Yeshiva, but there are some campuses in different places in your country where Jews were intimidated and didn’t feel safe to go outside with their Star of David or wearing their yarmulke.”
Landsberg’s speech, titled “Civilian Soldier: The Story of the Reservist,” elucidated realities that may seem evident to YU students. These included seemingly obvious facts about the geopolitical situation Israel faces, that it is surrounded by terrorists who want to see its total destruction and the reality that in Israel everyone has to draft into the army. He highlighted these specific points for YU students to equip themselves with in order to combat false ideas anti-Israel propaganda might promote.
“Don’t be shy to get the education you need,” he said. “ I’m not expecting you to join SSI (Students Supporting Israel) or to become Yoseph Haddad and go to Times Square and start fighting with people; but if you hear a friend of yours going to an anti-Israel demonstration, or you hear someone chanting ‘Intifada, Intifada,’ even though he doesn’t know what it means, you can make a tiny difference.”
“It Felt Like Hell”
While sharing his Oct. 7 story with the crowd of 30 girls, Landsberg emphasized that he didn’t want attendees to just see him as a soldier, but also as a civilian. “The day before, I was smoking weed with my friends, let’s be honest,” he said.
Landsberg, a medical student who lives in Be’er Sheva, is also an amateur musician and previously served in Maglan, a part of the commando brigade in the IDF.
On Oct. 7, Landsberg was hanging out with his friends when he got a call from his dad early in the morning about the attack. He described how chaotic the response to the massacre was because there was no chain of command that day. “You could see groups of completely random people together,” he said. “Some random civilian with a police officer alongside a soldier with a bus driver.”
He recounted driving to the South, even laughing with some of his friends, since none of them understood the true severity of the situation until they got there. When they did, he and his friends saw “hundreds of dead bodies” along the road. They all fell silent.
“When we started getting near Gaza, everything was on fire,” Landsberg said. “It felt like Hell.” As he described the horrific scene he encountered in southern Israel, the YU students listening to his story in the Gottesman Board Room fell silent.
“When you go back to this day, you think about every move you made,” he said. “You think about every moment you could have saved in order to get to there faster, maybe to prevent one kidnapping, one murder.”
“Strengthening the Strong”
Before the war, Landsberg said he might have been considered left-wing, someone who wanted peace between Israel and other Arab nations. Now, he says it was naive to think Israel’s enemies wish the same.
“No one can take care of the Jewish people but the Jewish people,” Landsberg said. That’s why he decided to come to the U.S. and speak on college campuses. “ I felt like the most important thing in the world, even more important than the service itself in the army, was to come here and to spread the truth about what’s going on.”
Landsberg told the YU Observer that while confronting anti-Israel protesters and their hypocrisy is important, it should not be our only priority. “I believe we should also focus on ‘strengthening the strong,’ as in encouraging the supporters of Israel and giving them the tools to deal with antisemitism.”
Landsberg told the YU Observer that all YU students have the ability to make a difference. “You are brave,” he said, “Don’t be afraid to talk to people, educate them and show them the truth about Israel.”
We are with You and You are with Us
Eden Melamed also spoke about her experience since Oct. 7. She was an officer in the IDF for six years and works in the momentum program in DiploAct, helping soldiers transition into civilian life after their service.
“In Israel, people sometimes assume that support from the U.S. is automatic, that it’s a one-way street – you support us. But I believe it should be a two-way relationship, where we strengthen and uplift each other,” she told the YU Observer. “You pray, donate, and stand with us, and we need to do the same for you.”
She said that even though students at YU are on a Jewish campus, we still face criticism and even antisemitism. “That’s why this conversation matters – because you are on the front lines, answering the tough questions.”
Avia Avisar told YU students about her strong connection to the land of Israel, having served as a combat officer in the air defense unit of the IDF.
Avisar told the YU Observer that while she’s glad that YU is a safe space for Jewish people, “you won’t encounter only this type of environment throughout your lives.”
She said that although she and YU students are far in distance, we are close through our shared identity: being Jewish. “We will continue to proudly wear the symbols of our Judaism and Israeli identity – just as we were happy to see you doing,” she told the YU Observer. “I would love to say that we came to give you strength, but we left feeling even stronger after spending time with you.”
Avisar left students at the event that night with a message of hope. “Just be strong. Know that we are with you and we know that you are with us.”
Photo Caption: YU Students with Landsberg (center), Melamed (center left) and Avisar (center right) at DiploAct’s YU presentation
Photo Credit: DiploAct