In 1997, during my first assignment as a diplomat to Washington, DC, I was deeply impressed by the support we received from the Jewish organizations. This support for Israeli diplomacy has contributed to the ability of a small country in the Middle East to influence the policies of the world’s most important power. Back then, it seemed perfectly natural that organizations representing the American Jewish community would support a small, poor country, surrounded by enemies while extending its hand in peace.
Later on, during my master’s degree studies in the United States (2003-2004), I noticed an ongoing process of Jews distancing themselves from established Jewish organizations due to their tendency to align themselves with right-wing Israeli governments and support their policies, right or wrong. These organizations became less and less representative of the vast majority of American Jewry.
Two years later, when I served as Israel’s consul general to New England (2006-2010), I was horrified by the widening gap between these so-called mainstream organizations and the majority of American Jewry. Many Jews no longer perceive Israel as it was after its independence, but see it now as a wealthy military power that isn’t interested in peace with its neighbors.
The gap widened even more with the Netanyahu government’s abandonment of the customary bipartisan approach to the US-Israel relationship, choosing, instead, a deliberate confrontation with the Obama administration. This approach led to the vast majority of American Jewry being at odds with Israeli officials and established Jewish organizations.
As a result, many of them became ambivalent in their attitudes toward Israel. Some young Jews even moved to anti-Zionist camps, helping to found organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which does not recognize the right of a Jewish nation-state to exist.
American Jews have seen Israeli governments increasingly distance themselves from the liberal values they believe in, such as tikkun olam, (fixing the world) which forms the moral backbone of most Jewish communities.
As a minority group, the American Jewish community expects Israel to provide equal rights to the Arab minority and recoils from the government’s attempt to promote de facto annexation of the West Bank and efforts to thwart a two-state solution. Living in a country with a Christian majority, they sanctify the separation of church and state and are appalled by the influence of the ultra-Orthodox establishment in Israel.
Jewish consensus
Until the 1990s, the Jewish consensus in the United States was one of almost universal support for the State of Israel and all its governments. Now, the American Jewish public distances itself from official state spokespeople and the American organizations that echo them and their right-wing tendencies. These Jews instead seek organizations with deep concern for Israel and its future that openly oppose the right-wing government’s policies.
Against this background, J Street was established as a liberal Zionist alternative. We care deeply about Israel as the democratic homeland of the Jewish people and, therefore, we support the same right of self-determination of the Palestinian people and expect the United States to promote a policy that, along with protecting the State of Israel, will lead all regional players towards a just political solution.
For the same moral reasons mentioned above, over 70% of American Jews consistently support the Democratic Party. Because of their liberal values, most Jews choose to be in solidarity with the Democratic Party’s coalition of minorities.
This explains the American Jewish community’s continued aversion to the Republican Party and to former president Donald Trump, whose perception of Jews is laced with antisemitism. Trump and many of his white supremacist MAGA Republicans expect American Jews to support the Republican Party based on the belief that there is a shared Judeo-Christian, anti-liberal, anti-Muslim ethos.
Trump is quick to insult Jews who support the Democrats. Recently, he said that any Jewish person who voted for Kamala Harris “should have their head examined.” He does not understand that times have changed and that for a majority of the Jewish public, supporting Israel now means opposing its government, just like the liberal patriotic majority in Israel.
Trump confuses concern for Israel, which according to opinion polls is shared by about 80% of US Jews, with support for Netanyahu and his government – the least popular Israeli government ever among American Jews and Israelis.
But we mustn’t forget that ultimately, US Jews are not a monolith, much less “one issue voters.” Israel is important to them, but they cannot justify AIPAC’s support and funding of candidates who claim to be pro-Israel and yet believe baseless claims of “election theft” (which reached their peak in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021). Nor can they rationalize supporting candidates who promote racism and persecution of immigrants and who deny women’s rights to their own bodies. This support increasingly alienates them from AIPAC and the government it represents, which they see as supporting the enemies of American democracy.
All of these trends are directing mainstream Jews in the US toward support for Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party.
True, there will always be anti-Israel fringes in the Democratic Party, who are a small minority in the party. And there will always be those in Congress who are still intimidated by AIPAC.
However, the vast majority of the Democratic Party and American Jewry love and care about Israel and believe that it is best served by an administration headed by Harris that will be committed to security and prosperity in Israel – but not to the realization of its government’s dangerous plans.
The writer is J Street Israel’s executive director. He has served as an Israeli diplomat in Washington and Boston and as a political adviser to the president of Israel.
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