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Never Again: How the West Betrayed the Jews and Itself
When seen through Jewish eyes, the global future looks darker than it has for generations. Fuelled by venomous Israelophobia, violence against Jews, from Amsterdam to New York, from London to Melbourne, is back. Jews across the West are forced to hide their identities, while in the supposed safe haven of Israel they live under constant threat of rocket fire, shootings and stabbings. To make matters worse, in the United States and across Europe, digitally-fuelled nationalist chauvinism is on the march. It is no exaggeration to say that we are seeing the end of the golden age of post-war safety for Jews.
This speaks volumes about the health of the West. Although Jews are among the first in the firing-line, liberal democracy itself is under threat from radicals on both sides of the political spectrum. Unforgivably, we have spent decades undermining our own values of patriotism and tradition, loyalty to peoplehood and homeland, a belief in borders and our peculiar religious and cultural sensibilities. These instincts, which had anchored human society since the dawn of history, were repressed in the name of Never Again; but they slowly gave birth to the opposite.
Never Again? How the West betrayed the Jews and itself is an urgent new polemic from the author of the acclaimed Israelophobia, which discloses the social and historical causes of the maze of hostility in which Jews are now trapped. Charting the development of this dangerous cultural and geopolitical moment through a collapse in Western leadership since the Second World War, the award-winning columnist, broadcaster and foreign correspondent Jake Wallis Simons offers a searing analysis of the state of the West, arguing that we must remember our older values and stand up for them before it is too late.
'Essential reading and an urgent and chastening warning to our leaders and voters' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE
'Nobody reading this book can be left in any the fight against the latest evil upsurge in antisemitism must be won to ensure Western civilisation has a future' ANDREW NEIL
'A compelling and timely call to fight for our Western values' NIGEL FARAGE
'A timely diagnosis that captures the flawed mindset that is undermining the confidence of the West' KEMI BADENOCH
'A brave and sane voice in a debate all too often shorn of either' ANDREW ROBERTS
'A book about how to recover our confidence . . . recounted in a civil, Scrutonian and occasionally elegiac tone by a man who has lived the story he is telling' DANIEL HANNAN
'An essential book for our troubling times' BERNARD HENRI LÉVY
'Jake Wallis Simons is a brave and brilliant writer who can be trusted to bring rare moral clarity to the most contested issues of our times' MICHAEL GOVE
'A must-read for scholars, activists and concerned citizens alike' AYAAN HIRSI ALI
'I felt a whole lot better after reading this book' ALLISON PEARSON
'Bang on' BORIS JOHNSON
This speaks volumes about the health of the West. Although Jews are among the first in the firing-line, liberal democracy itself is under threat from radicals on both sides of the political spectrum. Unforgivably, we have spent decades undermining our own values of patriotism and tradition, loyalty to peoplehood and homeland, a belief in borders and our peculiar religious and cultural sensibilities. These instincts, which had anchored human society since the dawn of history, were repressed in the name of Never Again; but they slowly gave birth to the opposite.
Never Again? How the West betrayed the Jews and itself is an urgent new polemic from the author of the acclaimed Israelophobia, which discloses the social and historical causes of the maze of hostility in which Jews are now trapped. Charting the development of this dangerous cultural and geopolitical moment through a collapse in Western leadership since the Second World War, the award-winning columnist, broadcaster and foreign correspondent Jake Wallis Simons offers a searing analysis of the state of the West, arguing that we must remember our older values and stand up for them before it is too late.
'Essential reading and an urgent and chastening warning to our leaders and voters' SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE
'Nobody reading this book can be left in any the fight against the latest evil upsurge in antisemitism must be won to ensure Western civilisation has a future' ANDREW NEIL
'A compelling and timely call to fight for our Western values' NIGEL FARAGE
'A timely diagnosis that captures the flawed mindset that is undermining the confidence of the West' KEMI BADENOCH
'A brave and sane voice in a debate all too often shorn of either' ANDREW ROBERTS
'A book about how to recover our confidence . . . recounted in a civil, Scrutonian and occasionally elegiac tone by a man who has lived the story he is telling' DANIEL HANNAN
'An essential book for our troubling times' BERNARD HENRI LÉVY
'Jake Wallis Simons is a brave and brilliant writer who can be trusted to bring rare moral clarity to the most contested issues of our times' MICHAEL GOVE
'A must-read for scholars, activists and concerned citizens alike' AYAAN HIRSI ALI
'I felt a whole lot better after reading this book' ALLISON PEARSON
'Bang on' BORIS JOHNSON
Kindle Edition
Published October 2, 2025
68 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 28, 2025
Jake Wallis Simons was the editor of 'The Jewish Chronicle', the oldest Jewish paper in the world. Having left the role, he has more time for politics. His previous book, 'Israelophobia', examines Western hostility to the only Jewish state. With this book, he broadens his scope and deepens his research. Mr. Simons is no longer just defending Israel: he's defending the West and its values.
Readers might fear Mr. Simons has abandoned liberalism and become a raving nationalist. Their fears would be unfounded. Mr. Simons makes clear throughout the book the Far Right is a foolish response to the Far Left. Instead, he reminds the reader of the liberal code that built the West and made it an attractive destination. He laments that, in recent years, the code has been diminished, if not denounced.
Citizens and residents in the West might be perplexed by strange alliances that form in Western cultures. Why, for example, would progressives stand with Hamas, an Islamist death-cult? And why would Western states - committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion - allow bigots, criminals, and fanatics of certain cultures to go about their business? Mr. Simons knows why, explaining in detail.
Being Jewish, Mr. Simons focusses on the criticism of Israel that has dug its claws into Western thinking. (Indeed, his previous book was dedicated to the topic.) With this work, Mr. Simons attacks the roots of anti-Zionism. He follows them to universities, pundits, and foreign agitators that have worked in shadow for years. Rather than a vicious, anti-liberal purge, he proposes a rational, reflective response.
At the heart of the book is an understanding that patriotism and national chauvinism are not synonymous. Love of Country need not entail hatred of every other. Mr. Simons calls for restoration of national life, reverence of national culture, and resurrection of national purpose. His book is ultimately optimistic. Condemnation of cultural trends is beginning to gain ground. If the wrong person stands at the helm, however, he or she could steer us into the abyss.
Readers might fear Mr. Simons has abandoned liberalism and become a raving nationalist. Their fears would be unfounded. Mr. Simons makes clear throughout the book the Far Right is a foolish response to the Far Left. Instead, he reminds the reader of the liberal code that built the West and made it an attractive destination. He laments that, in recent years, the code has been diminished, if not denounced.
Citizens and residents in the West might be perplexed by strange alliances that form in Western cultures. Why, for example, would progressives stand with Hamas, an Islamist death-cult? And why would Western states - committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion - allow bigots, criminals, and fanatics of certain cultures to go about their business? Mr. Simons knows why, explaining in detail.
Being Jewish, Mr. Simons focusses on the criticism of Israel that has dug its claws into Western thinking. (Indeed, his previous book was dedicated to the topic.) With this work, Mr. Simons attacks the roots of anti-Zionism. He follows them to universities, pundits, and foreign agitators that have worked in shadow for years. Rather than a vicious, anti-liberal purge, he proposes a rational, reflective response.
At the heart of the book is an understanding that patriotism and national chauvinism are not synonymous. Love of Country need not entail hatred of every other. Mr. Simons calls for restoration of national life, reverence of national culture, and resurrection of national purpose. His book is ultimately optimistic. Condemnation of cultural trends is beginning to gain ground. If the wrong person stands at the helm, however, he or she could steer us into the abyss.
August 31, 2025
A book determined to make the world a worse and more divided place than it already is. Avoid. Simons is a fraud. A public school boy pretending to be an everyman. He is a bigoted and divisive figure bent on making us hate each other. Shame. He wants to drive UK support for the Netanyahu murder programme. Hell no. Who pays him to say this stuff? Simons is a toxic mouthpiece for the Israeli regime and their murderous grasping war. He is endorsed by Farage, Johnson, Gove, Badenok and all the culture war luminaries. Boycott. Simons has drunk all the Kool-Aid and now lures us to drink deep ourselves. Just say no.
November 10, 2025
I really like and respect the author. however I found this book to be somewhat disappointing in two areas. First, I believe that he's unrealistically optimistic about the possibilities of finding solutions to the Arab Israeli conflict as it's playing out now in israel. Second, I found it quite annoying that there were dozens of references to his podcast, including the name of it. The results is a general feeling of having been reading an infomercial for the podcast.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews