By Rabbi Daniel Schonbuch, LMFT (VINnews)
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During my recent interview with Professor Mordechai Kedar on The Viktor Frankl Podcast, he issued a sobering warning: if Americans want to understand what their society may look like in a decade, they should look closely at Europe today. The cultural upheaval, rising extremism, demographic shifts, and ideological infiltration reshaping the European landscape, he argues, are not isolated phenomena. They are a preview of where the United States and Canada may be headed if current trends continue.
A Scholar With Unique Insight
Professor Kedar brings decades of expertise to this analysis. Fluent in Arabic, deeply knowledgeable about the Arab world, and a former lieutenant colonel in Israel’s elite Unit 8200 (its equivalent of the NSA), he has spent his career studying the region’s politics, ideologies, and strategic threats. In our discussion, he mapped out a complex but coherent picture of the geopolitical and cultural forces reshaping both the Middle East and the West. His conclusion was blunt: America is approximately 15 years behind Europe, and the Atlantic Ocean is not wide enough to buffer the changes occurring abroad from impacting our society.
Qatar: The Hidden Power Behind Western Radicalization
One of Kedar’s strongest assertions concerned the outsized influence of Qatar, which he described as “the enemy of mankind… the enemy of westernism… the enemy of America.” According to him, Qatar has poured “gazillions of dollars” into universities, cultural institutions, and academic programs throughout the United States and Europe. These funds are not benign. Much of it supports organizations aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, which Kedar calls the spearhead of political Islam — a movement dedicated not to coexistence, but to the gradual Islamization of Western society through ideology, activism, and cultural pressure.
Nowhere is this influence more visible than on American campuses. In our conversation, Kedar explained how decades of Qatari-funded programming, combined with the intellectual legacy of scholars like Edward Said, have transformed academic institutions into ideological battlegrounds. Students are taught to interpret Western history as oppressive, Israel as a colonial aggressor, and radical movements as justified resistance. Scholarship has been replaced with activism; inquiry replaced with indoctrination. “This is exactly what happened in Europe,” Kedar emphasized, “and America is following the same path — just 15 years behind.”
Academic radicalization doesn’t stay confined to classrooms. It spills into politics, media, and public life. Kedar highlighted how recent election results in New York were celebrated in parts of the Islamic world as a symbolic “peaceful victory” — a political transformation occurring barely two decades after 9/11. While he does not claim these politicians are extremists, he argues that foreign ideologues see such shifts as evidence that America is weakening from within. “They see America changing,” he said, “and they believe time is on their side.”
Europe as the Cautionary Model
Kedar’s comparisons to Europe were some of the most striking parts of our interview. France is now grappling with chronic antisemitism, radical enclaves, and demographic upheaval. Britain, once a global powerhouse of Western civilization, faces increasing political intimidation from extremist networks. Belgium, Sweden, and Germany are experiencing similar pressures. “What happened there,” Kedar warned, “can happen here. The only difference is time.”
One of the deepest challenges, he argues, is denial. Western governments and intellectual elites often refuse to acknowledge Islamist ideological threats for fear of appearing intolerant. This cultural hesitation — the inability to “name a spade a spade,” as he put it — is precisely what allowed Europe’s situation to deteriorate. Kedar believes the United States is trapped in the same cycle of willful blindness.
Why This Matters for American Jews
Kedar’s message to American Jews in particular was direct: many already feel unsafe, and that trend may accelerate. He emphasized that when societies destabilize, Jews historically become the first targets. “If America ever becomes dangerous for Jews,” he told me, “their only safety net is Israel.” The point was not alarmism, but preparedness — a reminder that large-scale cultural shifts can have immediate consequences for Jewish communities.
A Call for American Awakening
As the host of The Viktor Frankl Podcast, I walked away from this conversation feeling the urgency of Kedar’s message. His warning is not a prediction of doom, but a plea for vigilance. Free speech, academic honesty, national security, and cultural confidence are not relics of the past — they are the foundations of a stable and free society. Europe ignored the signs. America still has time.
About Rabbi Daniel Schonbuch, LMFT
Rabbi Daniel Schonbuch, LMFT, is a New York–based psychotherapist, author, and host of The Viktor Frankl Podcast, a rapidly growing platform exploring psychology, culture, faith, and current events through the lens of Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy. He is the author of five books, including Viktor Frankl and the Psychology of the Soul, and is the founder of the Torah Psychology School of Coaching and Counseling. His work focuses on helping individuals find meaning, build emotional resilience, and navigate complex social and political dynamics with clarity and compassion.
Hashem Yerchem
I sincerely hope he’s wrong.
There’s a lot of reason for Hashem to be teaching us harsh lessons.
For one, there’s a lot of outward chesed, with abuses happening in private.
Women in our communities are being treated extremely unfairly by batei din. There are too many frum women who Trust what they were taught in Bais Yaakov, and are being forced into poverty after a divorce that they didn’t choose, by our system.
Instead of doing the difficult work of long term sholom bayis,
Men are running around getting second, third and fourth marriages, while women, in disbelief and shock are left destitute.
Or worse, they are just telling everyone that their wife is crazy, and getting hetter meah rabbanim.
Too many rabbanim are supporting this behavior.
Massive Chilul Hashem inside our communities.
There’s a lot more to say.
Do Teshuva
I’m a bit taken aback by all the negative comments . You don’t have to be a professor see the “writing on the wall” .Leaving is not that simple either ,as history shows us .
I’ve been saying this for the past 2 years to anyone who cared to listen. London has a vibrant Jewish community but now with many safety issues, like NYC is now ever increasing. The both have extensive shmira patrol.
The only thing America has going for it are the first two constitutional amendments: Learn from Yaakov Avinu this week and – TAKE ADVANTAGE* OF THEM – but the 2nd one is dramatically curtailed by NYC. Another major difference is migration to another less radicalized state (Ie: FL or TX) within the USA is a lot simpler. (*Not only milchama/arms, but also L’fleita/escape hatch. Ensure your passport expiry is up to date and plan a “what-if”. You MUST at least have that this discussion with your family as we’re still in Galus!)
15 years ??
That’s very optomistic, it’ll be a lot sooner than that
He must be on drugs or eating Bath salts
3 years- Not ,,15 also Not London- Mogadishu, or if your lucky: Eswatini
Off by ten years
Probably more like 5 years
I am not as pessimistic as the author of this article. When the Jews first came to New York City, in 1654, as refugees from Recife, Brazil, they had to deal with a very anti-semitic official, by the name of Peter Stuvesant, who was then the Dutch Governor of New York. He called the few Jews who came over a “wretched people”, and imposed many restrictions on them. However, the Jews eventually prevailed and had all of those restrictions lifted. About two hundred and ten years later, during the American Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant issued his infamous order, prohibiting Jewish merchants from certain areas, where the Civil War was being fought. Jewish leaders went to President Abraham Lincoln, who immediately rescinded Grant’s order. Lincoln stated “the children of Israel shall have my assistance”, and reproached Grant. When Grant became President, he asked for forgiveness from the American Jewish community, and appointed more Jews to his administration, than had been the case, up until that point. If New York and the USA was such a bad place at that time, we never would have experienced a mass immigration to the USA, from Russia and Eastern Europe of over 2,000,000 Jews, who fled persecution and pogroms (between 1880-1920). Therefore, in 2025, I don’t think the scare tactics in this article, to uproot Jews from the USA, ae going to work. Jews must use their political influence and continue to support Eretz Yisrael, without having to run away.
It already looks like Saudi Arabia
At the current rate, it will not take 15years. We will see the likes of Kristallnact in 5 years or less given the current trajectory of the voting public. Especially if a demorat is elected in 2028. dont believe it, just look at who has been elected & who is currently running for office or planning to run. Yidden make sure that you are a citizen of 2 countries & have current passports for both
why does HIAS encourage this
Who cares what Kedar says?