Are We Really Safer in a World Where Might Makes Right?
The Trump-Netanyahu era poses a stark choice: live by the sword or by the rule of law. History makes clear which path keeps us safer – and lives up to our values.
In his 2017 book, East-West Street, Philippe Sands recounts the surprisingly Jewish genesis of international human rights law as we know it today.
The book provides both an accessible dive into legal history and the beautifully-told stories of two key mid-20th century architects of international law. An unexpected wrinkle in the tale is the parallel Jewish history not only of the two lawyers but of Sands himself.
If you want to hear more from Sands and about these issues, he’ll be a featured guest at J Street’s 2026 National Convention in Washington DC from February 28 to March 3.
International human rights law rests on this simple principle: states and their leaders don’t always act in the interests of those they rule – and the world needs mechanisms to hold them to account when they don’t.
In the wake of catastrophic 20th century wars, world leaders constructed a legal framework to protect individual and minority group rights from the kinds of harm unaccountable leaders and regimes had caused for millennia.
The early 21st century is testing those efforts severely – posing a stark choice about the kind of world and future in which we wish to live.
In the frightening words of Trump adviser Stephen Miller:
“We live in a world...that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power... These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”
That world view enables not only America’s removal of Nicholas Maduro, but Vladimir Putin’s seizure of Crimea and Donetsk and even Benjamin Netanyahu and the settler right’s push to entrench Israeli control over Gaza and the West Bank.
Opposing these leaders who ground their actions in a “might makes right” worldview are the institutions and rules in place since World War II to advance democracy, shared security and the rule of law.
The Jewish people should be particularly attuned to the danger if the views of the former win out.
Our history offers one object lesson after another about the risks to minorities when power is unchecked and law is subordinate to the whims of autocrats. Haven’t we learned from pharaohs, caesars, tsars and führers alike?
The last eighty years have proven the counter case – enabling an unprecedented era of Jewish security, prosperity, and flourishing in societies centering democracy, equality before the law, independent courts, free media, and a commitment to the rules-based international order.
That architecture is shaking today as, all across the globe, populist leaders are exploiting fear, grievance, and rapid social change to consolidate power while hollowing out democratic norms.
To be clear: the fear on which these leaders – from Trump to Netanyahu, Xi, Modi and Erdogan – prey is real.
Climate disruption, mass migration, technological change, and an information environment that erodes any shared sense of truth are real – and frightening – and all contribute to historic levels of wealth and income disparity.
Liberal democracies are failing to respond boldly enough to the challenges of the 21st century.
But the answers strongmen are offering – scapegoating, repression, territorial conquest, and the glorification of force – accelerate the problems they claim to solve.
The Jewish community must recognize that our obligation to defend liberal democracy is rooted both in our moral tradition and in our self-interest.
In Israel, Netanyahu may aspire for Israel to become a kind of “Sparta,” but history offers little reason to admire the model. While Sparta was feared, it proved brittle, morally hollow, and ultimately unsustainable. It left no legacy worth emulating.
In the United States, Jews need to be at the forefront of resisting the Trumpian assault on democratic institutions, minority protections, and the rule of law – not as a partisan reflex, but as a matter of communal survival and moral clarity.
How can we stand by as masked agents of the government whisk residents away without due process or, worse, use lethal force and then misrepresent the evidence – even when caught on video? How can we be silent when the Vice President jovially says, “America has a bit of a Somali problem.”
These echoes of our past must spur us to action at home. Security for every American must be rooted in the protection of democracy, the rights of minorities and guarantees of freedoms for all.
And globally, we must reject the idea that seizing land by force, ruling indefinitely over another people, and discarding international norms makes us safer. For Israel, long-term security will derive from adherence to international law and the legitimacy that confers, from diplomatic normalization and from regional integration.
Jewish tradition also provides unambiguous moral guideposts in this moment of choice.
A few months ago, I wrote about a High Holiday sermon my rabbi delivered on a foundational biblical idea: no king is above the law. In the Torah, the limits on sovereignty are clear – power must be restrained, accountable, and morally bounded.
Watching Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu place themselves above the law, weaponize state institutions against their enemies, and intertwine personal enrichment with public authority should provoke an outcry from Jewish leaders everywhere.
Similarly, to treat others today as we did not want to be treated is to violate a fundamental moral principle of Jewish tradition.
Silence in a moment like this is not neutrality, it is choosing the sword by default.
The future of our community – and, without exaggeration, the future of the democratic world Jews have helped build and depend upon – hinges on whether we speak out, act courageously, and consistently choose law over force, democracy over domination, and moral clarity over tribal comfort.
For Jews, this moment poses an ancient question in modern form: will we live by the sword or by the rule of law?
The question is squarely before us in 2026, and history will judge how we answer it.
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Sadly, we don’t seem to hear voices from any religious leadership condemning the fascist takeover of our country. Jewish or otherwise. Current Pope excepted notably. It’s fallen to groups like JStreet and other political entities for moral outrage. Where are this generation’s MLKs or Abraham Heschels marching together? but I sure haven’t heard concerted Jewish leadership ‘s voice. Too afraid to buck the perceived sentiment of Israel right or wrong? I suspect, prevalent in the mainstream Jewish community.
An excellent, powerful retort to the brutish crop from the Trump's MAGA right, including (especially?) his Jewish deputy, Stephen Miller. Can't think how it could have been any better. By the way, when so many leaders are beginning to find their voice, where are the so-called Jewish leaders (you know, the ones NPR calls on when they want to know what American Jews think).