8 September 5 • 2019
jn

views

S

tatements from President 
Donald Trump about American 
Jews “being disloyal” set off a 
firestorm of criticism from Jewish 
groups. It was clear that the president 
was criticizing liberal Jews for not 
prioritizing support 
for Israel rather than 
promoting anti-Sem-
itism, as some on the 
left tried to assert. 
This latest rehashing 
of the debate about 
Trump — in which 
the majority of liberal 
Jews were given yet 
another opportunity to vent their 
distaste and rage about his presiden-
cy — shed little light about either 
Middle East policy or the realities 
of American Jewish politics. But it 
should have reminded us of some-
thing that ought to be of enormous 
interest to American Jews: the dis-
connect between American Jewish 
ideas about Israel and the views 
of the overwhelming majority of 
Israelis. 
To the extent that the kerfuffle 
about Trump’
s remarks was tethered 
to political reality, it should have 
generated an acknowledgement from 
both sides of the aisle that the major-
ity of American Jews have never 
considered Israel to be a litmus-test 
issue determining their votes. The 
majority of Jews who consider 
themselves liberals and Democrats 
see it as one among many issues, 
of which those related to what they 
term social justice are the priority. 
That’
s why Trump’
s status as the most 
pro-Israel president yet — or, if you 
will, the American “king of Israel”— 
hasn’
t done a thing to counteract 
his epic unpopularity among Jewish 
voters, who continue to reject him 
in numbers that dwarf those of other 
segments of the electorate. 
But once we discard the foolish 
talk about this being a matter of loy-
alty, the fact remains that Trump’
s 
approach to the Middle East remains 
far more in touch with the views 
of most Israelis — not to mention 

the political realities of the region 
— than his American Jewish critics 
seem willing to acknowledge.
The proof of that startling yet inar-
guable conclusion is to be found in 
the tenor of the current Israeli elec-
tion campaign.
Trump is wrong to say that all 
American Jews who won’
t vote for 
him don’
t care about Israel. Whether 
you agree with them or not, many 
of his liberal critics, including main-
stream Democrats who remain stal-
wart supporters of the U.S.-Israel 
alliance, really do worry about and 
support the Jewish state. But they 
also remain stuck in the same debate 
about the peace process and the 
need for a two-state solution that 
has dominated the conversation in 
this country with respect to Israel 
for four decades (Camp David 
Accords). Within this group, the 
debate about Israel remains focused 
not just on criticism of Israeli Prime 
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 
his close friendship with Trump, but 
also centered on the idea that the 
Israeli government’
s policies are the 
primary obstacle to peace with the 
Palestinians.
The core reason for disaffection 
with Israel is a product of demo-
graphic change in which assimilation 
has undermined a sense of Jewish 
peoplehood among many young-
er Jews. It’
s also true that many 
American Jews have bought into the 
false notion that Israel is betraying 

Jewish values by not surrendering 
territory and creating a Palestinian 
state in the West Bank, Gaza and 
Jerusalem in the vain hope that this 
will magically produce peace as 
opposed to more bloodshed.
But what few in the United States 
have noticed is that while American 
Jews continue to talk as if it is 1993 
or 2000, the Israeli public has moved 
on from the peace process as an elec-
tion issue.
It’
s true that Netanyahu’
s ability 
to hold onto the office he’
s held for 
more than a decade is very much in 
doubt when Israelis vote on Sept. 17. 
Yet what most American Jews also 
don’
t seem to understand about the 
election is that his main competition 
isn’
t offering an alternative policy on 
the peace process.
To the contrary, the Blue and 
White Party — led by former Israel 
Defense Forces’
 Chief of Staff Benny 
Gantz — is doing its best to run 
to the right of Netanyahu on the 
Palestinians. Gantz and the other 
leaders of his party went to the bor-
der with Gaza earlier this month, 
pledging to be even tougher on 
Hamas than Netanyahu has been. 
They also promised never to relin-
quish the Jordan Valley in the West 
Bank and to maintain settlements 
there forever. Nor have they showed 
any appetite for trying to revive 
negotiations with the Palestinian 
Authority, which most Americans 
assume is exactly what Netanyahu’
s 

opponents would do if he were 
defeated.
Indeed, how could Gantz or any 
possible alternative to the prime 
minister act differently if he or she 
were at all serious about trying to 
win? P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas 
hasn’
t even condemned the latest 
terrorist attack that resulted in the 
murder of an Israeli teenager and 
the wounding of other members of 
her family. When the murderers are 
caught, they can still depend on sal-
aries and pensions from the P.A. as a 
reward for their crimes.
A consensus that there is no 
partner for peace exists across a 
broad spectrum of Israeli society 
stretching from the center-left to the 
center-right. Even the remnants of 
the Labor Party that once champi-
oned peace are talking about other 
issues. While Netanyahu is trying 
to label all of his opponents as 
“leftists” who wish to sabotage the 
country’
s security with concessions 
to the Palestinians, the voters may 
now be more interested about the 
religious-secular divide, political cor-
ruption and the economy than peace 
offers that the Palestinians have con-
sistently rejected.
While Trump may not know much 
about American Jews, he does know 
that most Israeli Jews have drawn 
the only possible conclusion they 
can from almost 26 years centered 
around a “peace process” (Oslo 
Accords) that many in this country 
who claim to love Israel have stead-
fastly ignored: There is no partner 
who wants to talk peace. Those who 
took such great umbrage at Trump’
s 
comments would do better to think 
about why they are so out of touch 
with Israeli public opinion, rather 
than continuing the pretense that 
they know what’
s best for the Jewish 
state. ■

 
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS—

Jewish News Syndicate. Follow him on 

Twitter at: @jonathans_tobin.

What’s Missing from Israel’s Election Campaign?

guest column

Jonathan Tobin

To the extent that the kerfuffl
 e about 
Trump’
s remarks was tethered to political 
reality, it should have generated an ac-
knowledgement from both sides of the 
aisle that the majority of American Jews 
have never considered Israel to be a lit-
mus-test issue determining their votes.

