What a strange idea President Rivlin had to invite European leaders to Yad Vashem to condemn the revival of anti-Semitism, especially in Europe. Despite its political importance, this move reflects the extent to which the Israelis are self-sufficient in relation to the Old Continent. The idea that the memory of the Holocaust must be refreshed to combat contemporary anti-Semitism is futile: It is Israel itself accused of turning the Holocaust into a tool for achieving its goals, while anti-Zionists divert the "lesson" to the needs of the Palestinian struggle, while accepting the Holocaust and the Nakba.

It is a strategic mistake to see contemporary anti-Semitism as a continuation of the 1930s. True, it still exists in the classical extreme right, but it flourishes mainly as anti-Zionism in the Muslim circles and in the post-colonial extreme left. The deep problem is turning the "lessons of the Holocaust" into the moral basis for the fight against anti-Semitism. This is a victim and a non-political reason: showcasing Jewish suffering to call for an end to hatred, rather than confronting Israel's new sovereign anti-Semitism. When the justification for Israel's existence is based on the victim's memory, Europe can see it as a kind of humanitarian tent for Jews, and less a sovereign state. As a result, Israel does not, in Europe's view, exercise its legitimate right to self-defense. Once the Israeli soldier is no longer a survivor of the striped pajamas extermination camps, he has become monstrous to Europeans.

European recognition in Israel is therefore based on feelings of guilt towards the Jews - and by implication - towards the Palestinians. Europe turns a blind eye to Arab-Muslim anti-Semitism, which is the main source of contemporary anti-Semitism, believing that the Arab world is not responsible for the Holocaust, while Europe disadvantaged the Palestinians when it contributed to the establishment of the Jewish state. What is more natural for some Yad Vashem attendees than to continue immediately after a visit to Ramallah? The reliance on the Holocaust in this context, further reinforces the myths of the new anti-Semitism - extinguished, conquest, and original sin.

Israel is paying the price of a fundamental strategic failure on the symbolic level, a failure stemming from the concealment and denial of the elimination of 11 Jewish communities living in the Muslim world, two-thirds of whom became Israelis and even constitute the vast majority of Israelis. The Arab world war in Israel is a war against those who were deported, suffered from violence and endorsed by Arab countries under the influence of nationalism and Islamism.

This is the arena that President Rivlin should have invited European leaders to. But where could it have existed? Is there a museum such as Yad Vashem that commemorates this memory and anchors the State of Israel in the environment and history of the Middle East? Israel cannot respond to its existential accusations against it by its constant justification and presentation of the victims. There is no need for Europe. Israelis must once again find inside them the power of persuasion and the certainty of sovereignty; Historical and political sovereignty, not sacrifice, to fight its enemies.

Samuel Trignano is professor emeritus at the University of Paris-Nanterre; His book "The Jewish State, Beyond Normal" was recently published by Carmel