When sorrows come, they don’t come in singles – and the drop in support for Israel in parts of the American public and its political system, linked to the growing wave of antisemitism, is an example of this.
Other factors are playing a part in this, directly or indirectly, such as the fact mentioned by David French in the New York Times that there are parts of a young generation which by their own statements and behavior do not rule out certain aspects of fascism, while others have positive views of communism – both not ruling out the use of violence to promote their objectives, and both being antisemitic and anti-Israel.
The establishment of the State of Israel, furthered by the Six Day War, gave American Jews an enhanced status in US society and public opinion.
I remember a senior Jewish member of the Clinton administration, in a closed meeting with Jewish leaders in Washington, saying: “Our situation as Jews in America has reached an unprecedented positive level – and that began mostly with the establishment of the State of Israel, but if God forbid something bad were to happen to Israel, we’ll be right back where we were before.”
Tragically, that happened on October 7, 2023. But instead of a wave of empathy and outrage coming from all of the American public, there were accusations – even before the IDF military actions in Gaza – blaming Israel and describing the Hamas atrocities as a justifiable response to the alleged oppression of the Palestinians.
Conspiracy theories also went wild, claiming that the Mossad was behind everything – similarly to 9/11.
Antisemitism is the fundamental trigger of hostility to Israel and not vice versa, nor is the latter primarily a consequence of the political character of this or that Israeli Government or its policies, excluding perhaps among minority Jewish voters, but rather the very existence of the Jewish state, whatever its leadership.
Coming to grips with the public relations problem facing Israel requires understanding the reality of antisemitism. The American journal Atlantic published an article two years ago by the prominent Jewish journalist and writer Franklin Foer, called “The Golden Age of American Jews is Ending.”
He argued that antisemitism from the Right and from the Left is threatening to end the era of security and prosperity for America’s Jews – and to destroy the liberal order that they helped to establish.
The article aroused extensive debate in the United States, mainly within the Jewish community. However, it had already been preceded by similar articles, as well as by explicit statements by Jewish intellectuals and views in other walks of life who raised qualms about the future of the Jews in America.
Foer’s article, however, was particularly incisive and significant, and sometimes even difficult to read, with its descriptions of threats and acts of violence against Jewish pupils in the San Francisco and Berkeley areas, and in view of the antisemitic vitriol, reminiscent of Nazi Germany, being spread in universities such as Harvard, Columbia, and Cornell.
Foer, a liberal democrat himself, does not mince words and says explicitly that the antisemitism flourishing on the American Left “does not end with the call to stop the occupation of the West Bank; it has adopted an enthusiastic desire for the destruction of the only state in the world with a Jewish majority, and supports the murderous campaign against its existence…
“This branch of the Left is attaching itself to the terrible list of attempts to erase Judaism – and consequently awakening ancient and not so ancient existential fears.”
After surveying the history of American Jewry, its positive aspects in recent decades, and how numerous Jews have reached the pinnacle of success in various fields, he concluded that “this era is reaching its end.”
“The rising political movements – Trumpists on one hand, the illiberal Left on the other – will destroy the last pillars of the consensus that the Jews helped to bring about … The golden age of American Jewry is making way for the golden age of conspiracies, irresponsible exaggerations, and political violence.”
Israel's duty as a Jewish state
Since Foer's article, the situation has worsened in all aspects. The Berkeley school incident he mentioned is no longer an isolated outrage, and the atmosphere and attitudes in numerous schools and universities, both private and public, are being poisoned by anti-Israel propaganda.
Edward Luce, the Financial Times permanent correspondent in the US and not always the most objective source where Israel is concerned, recently wrote that in Democratic election contests, “It’s Israel, stupid” has replaced “It’s the economy, stupid” as a main electoral factor.
And the recent primary victories of Abdul El-Sayed, a blatantly anti-Israel agitator in Michigan, and other victories of “progressive” candidates in Minnesota and elsewhere have borne this out, with antisemitic-tinged opposition to Israel and even Israel’s security concerns becoming a major factor in the platform.
Equally worrying is the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish trend in significant parts of the MAGA movement, part of US President Donald Trump’s Republican party, with anti-Trump TV host Tucker Carlson and others deliberating the possibility of launching a third-party movement the guiding spirit of which would be anti-Israel, as one of the people in the group said: “We do agree that we don’t want Israel dictating our foreign policy”.
Last week, Carlson even engaged in a slanted interview with Hunter Biden, the son of former US president Joe Biden, the principal theme of which was vilifying Israel, demonstrating once again that Left and Right now meet on hatred of the Jews.
It is impossible to read the above without referring to the role Israel plays in the situation facing American Jews. They are not yet packing their suitcases, but Israel must start abolishing its institutional discrimination against the majority of American Jews, which contradicts the most basic Jewish and Zionist values – and the Western Wall would be a good place to start.
This is not only its duty as the Jewish nation-state, but also its own essential interest.
David Ben-Gurion at the time stated that with the establishment of the State of Israel, there was no longer any logic in classifying Jews as either Zionists or non-Zionists, since in effect most of them, including Reform Jews, excluding the most extreme haredi fringes, had adopted Zionism as the national and spiritual ethos that unites them all.
And it is up to us to ensure that this does not change.
The writer, a former MK, served as Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 1990 to 1993 and 1998-2000.