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I am uneasy celebrating Passover this year.

Passover reminds us that we, the Jewish people,were slaves in Egypt and emerged from that bondage to become a nation with acountry of our own. Yet celebrating freedom feels uncomfortable when, at thesame time, we deny this freedom to others. I refer to how messianic Jews treatthe Palestinians.

The war with Iran will not end well. Despite thedestruction inflicted by Israel and its allies, there is no indication thatIran’s regime will be changed or that radical Muslim forces in the region—orworldwide—will be eliminated.

When the war ends, revenge will follow. Israeliseverywhere may become targets—but not only Israelis. There is no distinction inthe eyes of Muslim extremists between Israelis and Jews. Synagogues and Jewishinstitutions around the world will be at risk. Being Jewish will become notjust uncomfortable, but dangerous.

For 2,000 years, Jews survived by moving from acountry they felt under threat to a country that felt safer. Over a period offive hundred years my family moved from Spain to Holland, to Italy, to Kosovo,to Macedonia. That strategy no longer works. The world has become oneinterconnected village. There is nowhere to run.

So where do we go?

Israel is supposed to be the answer—the one placewhere we can defend ourselves.

Immigration to Israel will accelerate, as alreadyseen among French Jews. But how safe is Israel? The Arab world can affordmultiple defeats; Israel cannot. One lost war could be its last and in a momentof existential despair, nuclear weapons could come into play.

Israel came close to that point during the Yom Kippur War. MosheDayan who was the Chief of Staff of the Israeli DefenseForces at the time, warned Prime Minister GoldaMeir that the country’s survival was in question andraised the nuclear option. She refused to follow his recommendation. I suspect that today’s leadership, drivenby religious zeal, would apply the option.

Professor Samuel Huntington of Harvard argued in1996 already that a broader civilizational conflict—between Judeo-Christian andMuslim worlds—is already underway. It has not yet reached full scale, but afterthe utmost destruction of Gaza and Iran it could. The risk of escalation, evento nuclear confrontation, is real.

Under the circumstances existing today, celebratingfreedom this Passover feels uneasy.