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Ran Bar-Yoshafat - IDF special forces reservist on what is at stake
Meet Ran Bar-Yoshafat, the deputy director of the Kohelet Policy Forum and an IDF special forces reservist. I reached out to Ran after learning about his experience speaking at UC Berkeley. On February 26, Ran was scheduled to speak on campus about his experience fighting in Gaza and the role of international law and the rules of wartime conduct. What transpired, even before he spoke, was a riot. 200 protesters stormed the venue, breaking glass at the entrance and forcing students and Ran to evacuate through a tunnel under police protection. When asked about the rioters’ expressions of antisemitism and anti-Zionism, Ran said, “it is a much bigger problem than a Jewish or Israeli problem. It’s the collapse of Western civilization.”
Let us not forget - Israel is at war. It is fighting a terrorist regime that has the explicit goal of eliminating Israel and the Jewish people. In an interview after the attacks of October 7th, Ghazi Hamad, a top Hamas official said the Oct. 7 bloodletting is “just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth, because we have the determination, the resolve and the capabilities to fight. We will do this again and again.”
Ran is well aware of what is at stake and he is putting his life on the line to protect not only his nation but also the values and interests of the Western world. Many in the west are failing or flat out refusing to take the words of Iran and its proxies at face value. At this current moment, the words of Natan Sharansky come to mind: “Over the years, I have come to understand a critical difference between the world of fear and the world of freedom. In the former, the primary challenge is finding the strength to confront evil. In the latter, the primary challenge is finding the moral clarity to see evil.”
Natan Sharansky’s quote helps put into context our conversation with Ran. As you will soon hear, Ran has the immense task of confronting evil. Here in the west, at this moment at least, all we are being asked to do is obtain the moral clarity to see the evil embodied by Hamas?
We are meeting Ran today because few media outlets have chosen to amplify the voices of IDF soldiers. I encourage us all to listen to Ran and think deeply about his perspective and why he has chosen to fight for Israel’s right to fight.
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By Tyler GodoffMeet Ran Bar-Yoshafat, the deputy director of the Kohelet Policy Forum and an IDF special forces reservist. I reached out to Ran after learning about his experience speaking at UC Berkeley. On February 26, Ran was scheduled to speak on campus about his experience fighting in Gaza and the role of international law and the rules of wartime conduct. What transpired, even before he spoke, was a riot. 200 protesters stormed the venue, breaking glass at the entrance and forcing students and Ran to evacuate through a tunnel under police protection. When asked about the rioters’ expressions of antisemitism and anti-Zionism, Ran said, “it is a much bigger problem than a Jewish or Israeli problem. It’s the collapse of Western civilization.”
Let us not forget - Israel is at war. It is fighting a terrorist regime that has the explicit goal of eliminating Israel and the Jewish people. In an interview after the attacks of October 7th, Ghazi Hamad, a top Hamas official said the Oct. 7 bloodletting is “just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth, because we have the determination, the resolve and the capabilities to fight. We will do this again and again.”
Ran is well aware of what is at stake and he is putting his life on the line to protect not only his nation but also the values and interests of the Western world. Many in the west are failing or flat out refusing to take the words of Iran and its proxies at face value. At this current moment, the words of Natan Sharansky come to mind: “Over the years, I have come to understand a critical difference between the world of fear and the world of freedom. In the former, the primary challenge is finding the strength to confront evil. In the latter, the primary challenge is finding the moral clarity to see evil.”
Natan Sharansky’s quote helps put into context our conversation with Ran. As you will soon hear, Ran has the immense task of confronting evil. Here in the west, at this moment at least, all we are being asked to do is obtain the moral clarity to see the evil embodied by Hamas?
We are meeting Ran today because few media outlets have chosen to amplify the voices of IDF soldiers. I encourage us all to listen to Ran and think deeply about his perspective and why he has chosen to fight for Israel’s right to fight.