DEFCON 1 for Democracy in the US and Israel

It’s time to get past Jewish anger at the left post-October 7 and fight the Trump/Bibi agenda like our lives depend on it.

You know this: Israeli and American democracy are under withering assault. Constitutional crises in both countries are upon us.

Critical lifelines of democracy are being cut and curtailed: the free press, civil society institutions, individual freedoms and more.

Next up for both Trump and Bibi? Direct disregard of judicial orders. What then will – or can – anyone do to stop them or hold them to account? Where do law enforcement and military loyalties lie – to the law or to the ruler? Can our democratic systems – once taken apart – ever be restored?

Eighty years post World War II, two autocratic leaders and a well-oiled, highly-motivated far-right machinery are taking metaphoric (and literal) chain saws to the pillars of the two liberal democracies whose laws, protections and guardrails have ensured Jewish safety and success in the post-Holocaust era.

While many Jewish Americans are screaming, hollering and protesting – a surprising number are holding back, afraid of being identified with the “left” or “pro-Palestinian” or “anti-Israel” allies.

Somehow, in the face of all that Bibi and Trump are doing, too many in our community still see the ‘left’ as a greater threat to their interests and values than the early-stage fascism taking hold in both countries.

It’s important to examine why.

Partly, it’s continued trauma from the horrific events of October 7. The pain of that day is insurmountable for many and, perhaps even more importantly, so too is the anger over the anti-Israel sentiment and even antisemitism that coursed through parts of the pro-Palestinian left over the past 17 months.

Perhaps for some US Jews, the antisemitism, white nationalism and neofascism of the right was expected – but the betrayal experienced from friends and allies on the left burns deeper?

Well – I would say gently and with empathy – we must find our way past the anger and betrayal. You don’t have to embrace every leader on the pro-democracy side of the battle we’re in to recognize the vital importance of the fight and that – to win it – we have to stand together, even with those with whom we disagree.

Acknowledging the existential danger to Israel posed by the Netanyahu/Ben Gvir/Smotrich government doesn’t line you up with anti-Zionists or Israel haters.

Bibi Netanyahu leads a government whose backgrounds and values are anathema to the majority of Jewish America. The racism. The zealotry. The desire to tear apart the democratic foundations on which the country was founded and that made it a country Jewish Americans could love.

Most thoughtful, mainstream Jewish American leaders will acknowledge privately what they hesitate to say publicly: that Netanyahu is one step away from turning Israel into a country their children and grandchildren will want nothing to do with.

Yet they refuse to say this out loud or to rally pro-Israel opposition to the far right’s agenda. They prefer silence, fearing their criticism will only embolden antisemitism on the left.

That silence is damaging. By failing to model how one critiques what’s happening in Israel while demonstrating love for the people and country itself, we’re aiding and abetting in creating a system that penalizes critics of Israeli government actions and policies that we ourselves know are wrong. Not a dynamic that is good for Jewish Americans.

In fact, the Trump/Musk/MAGA world is actively using ‘the fight against antisemitism’ as a smokescreen for tearing apart much that made this a country where Jews found safety, and ultimately success and prosperity.

Our collective story started as immigrants – often as refugees, seeking asylum from danger in other countries. Then, the US provided amazing public education that allowed us to advance and create better lives for our families.

Our rights as a minority – often subject to discrimination and prejudice – were protected by the courts, the constitution and the rule of law. We became trusted allies to other marginalized groups seeking equality of opportunity and protection of individual and collective rights.

The notion that every aspect of this Jewish experience – immigration, education, the rule of law – is now under attack by an antidemocratic, populist movement with a white nationalist undercurrent using the fight against antisemitism as a pretext is self-evidently ludicrous.

With the alarm bells for American democracy ringing so loudly, it is time for Jewish Americans to stand up for our values and principles and to fight to save American and Israeli democracy.

I and most of Jewish America abhor Hamas, everything they did on October 7 and everything they stand for. We are appalled by some of what has happened in the most extreme of the protests against the Gaza War and what is said at the fringes of some progressive groups about Israel and Jews.

But we must not let our anger, grief and shock be weaponized by those looking to take apart the fundamentals of two countries we hold dear.

Earlier this week, the official social media account of the Office of the Prime Minister in Israel posted the following:

“In America and in Israel, when a strong right wing leader wins an election, the leftist Deep State weaponizes the justice system to thwart the people's will. They won't win in either place! We stand strong together.”

Trump and Bibi are populist autocrats running the same anti-democratic playbook. Attack. Discredit. Name call. Divide.

We must not give in.

Jewish America: heed the alarm. Step up to the moment. Recognize the danger Trump, Bibi and their allies pose to our way of life and to the world we’re leaving our children and grandchildren.

The existential danger isn’t from those criticizing the actions and policies of Israel’s government from the left. It’s from those in power dismantling all that has in fact made Israel and the United States great. All that Trump, Bibi and their allies are looking to tear down.

Speak now. Act now. Or regret your silence for the rest of your lives.