Generation of Lions Will Usher in 50 Years of Prosperity, Former Israeli Premier Predicts
At Harvard, an optimistic message stressing action
[The Crimson coverage of Prime Minister Bennett’s visit to Harvard focused on the loud protest aimed at preventing his talk at Harvard Business School. That protest promoted a Harvard professor, Tarek Masoud, to post to LinkedIn: “I am not on campus this week due to a family emergency in Cairo, but I am disappointed in the student protesters trying to shut down Naftali Bennett’s speech at the Harvard Business School today. Have we learned nothing from the last year? We must never allow ourselves to be prevented from hearing alternative perspectives, whether they are Israeli, Palestinian, or Martian. This behavior has no place in a university. Enough. I hope Mr. Bennett speaks to a packed house today and that he has to answer lots of smart and tough questions posed by students who still understand what Harvard University is all about.” I’m pleased to be able to offer here a report from Michael Segal on what Bennett actually said at a Harvard appearance earlier yesterday. Segal is a neurologist and neuroscientist, a 1976 graduate of Harvard College, and a frequent and valued commenter here at The Editors. —Ira Stoll]
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett spoke at Harvard Chabad on Thursday 6 March. Attendance was limited to about 100 because of the size of the room, but it was packed with many undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. Interest was no doubt heightened by a recent Channel 12 poll showing that a Bennett-led party would win as many Knesset seats as the Likud, led by current prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Bennett described how Israelis showed they were a “Nation of Lions.” For weeks, after the October 7th attack from Gaza, institutions seemed paralyzed, but individuals stepped up to take charge. Many people drove multiple times to rescue others from battle areas, saving many lives on each run. Some were eventually killed by terrorists. He was also impressed with the skill of women in combat, describing a 22-year-old who ran a rescue operation with the skill that would make any CEO want to hire her. Israel’s young generation hadn’t gone soft: they surprised their elders by springing into action.
Bennett dwelled on the theme of action, connecting it to Jewish tradition, in which feelings are less important than action. He also noted that modern computing has turned information into a commodity, leaving action as the key element, which emerged in abundance.
He was very optimistic, predicting that the new generation fighting this war will usher in 50 years of prosperity, as did the “greatest generation” in the USA that fought World War II. He noted that Jewish Israelis have an average of 3.1 children per family, making Israel the only Western country to be over the replacement level of 2.1. Multiplying quality by quantity, he predicted a great future.
Students asked Bennett about what they could do to help. Bennett stressed the importance of feeling a closeness with Israel, and visiting at least once a year. He urged students to speak up for Israel, saying that if one person does this in a group, 5 others will feel empowered to do the same. This is already playing out at Harvard, where the anti-Israel demonstrations of 2023 have been followed by record attendance at Chabad and Hillel events, part of the pushback I envisioned in a December 2023 article about the demonstrations.
Bennett didn’t mention the importance of American Jews being comfortable speaking Hebrew, but his focus on the role of Judaism in his life made that implicit. He described becoming increasingly religious as he was growing up, but entering into a “mixed marriage” with his wife Gilat being Jewish but not observant. This changed when they were living in NYC: they saw a sign saying something like “Bored with your Shabbat services? Join us.” The learners’ minyan was led by a guy named George, who created an atmosphere so positive that it drew Gilat into Jewish observance. Naftali Bennett had supposed that George was doing this weekend gig to make a bit extra money, but after visiting George’s luxury apartment he realized that something else was going on. This was my college classmate George Rohr, who was not just an exemplar of the welcoming vibe of Chabad, but became a key benefactor of Chabad, with a focus on its college campus activities.
Bennett was asked about how the Ukraine war would interact with issues facing Israel. Months after taking office as prime minister, Bennett met with President Putin. A 1-hour meeting turned into a 5-hour meeting; Bennett prides himself on developing deep relationships. When the Ukraine war started, President Zelensky asked Bennett to help, which he did, flying to Moscow to meet with Putin in the second week of the war. Bennett seemed pained that the deal that he and Putin discussed was close to that likely to emerge under President Trump’s mediation. The Vision Thing is good, but Bennett cautioned that often it doesn’t come to pass until everyone feels exhausted. I empathized, having floated in October 2023 a similarly magical solution to the Gaza war, with the Saudis assembling an Arab peacemaking force “before Israel reduces Gaza to rubble.” Bennett’s take-home message about the Ukraine war was that there is a breakdown of the rules-based system of international affairs: Israel needs to be strong and self-sufficient in the chaotic new environment.
As Bennett was leaving, I gave him a red kippa with the words “Khadesh Yameinu Kikedem” (“Make Things Great Again”). He may have a chance to use that line from the Bible to bond with President Trump, in due course.
Harvard Medical School professor Jack Elder told me "I attended the [Harvard Business School] event. Many similar messages were presented. The auditorium was packed."
The Crimson article mentioned that the site of the HBS talk, Klarman Hall, seats 1,000. But Prof. Elder's message conveyed more information about the HBS event than the entire Crimson article.
I read the laugh-and-cry-about-it Crimson report on the demonstrators at this event. Nothing at all about what Bennett actually had to say. So, I appreciate this account.
The Crimson article really is hilarious. Dressed up as high drama and radical "resistance," these demos are just the same old cat-and-mouse game with the almost entirely harmless cops, just as they were in my day in the Sixties (but even less seriously). One leader of the protests hilariously praises the crowd for diverting from one blocked route by saying “In the heat of the struggle, you got to reroute." Not quite Che Guevera or "workers of the world unite," but I guess it makes them feel good.
It is stories like this that make me miss most the good old days of the now disappeared Crimson comments sections, where the real issues and actual facts would be discussed.