The Right Should Reject Anti-Zionism

Anti-Zionism, or opposition to Israel, has a foothold on the American right. Podcasters and influencers bash the world’s only Jewish state with a venom reserved for no other. They decry its alleged depredations, spread conspiracies, and demand a breaking of the US-Israel relationship.

If only these Israel-haters were confined to the margins. Some of the right’s most prominent commentators, such as Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, have taken up the anti-Zionist cause. They see Israel as a drain on America and the bane of Christendom. America’s conservative movement should brook none of this, and many are rightly fighting back. This fall, a civil war erupted on the right between those who denounce this cancer and those who won’t. It’s unclear which side will win.

Most conservatives see anti-Zionism for what it is: conspiracy, grift, and Jew-hatred. But trends on the right bode ill. A growing number on our side flirt with anti-Zionism or embrace it. Allowing the right and the Republican Party to be consumed by it would be a grave mistake. It would harm our country’s strategic interests and stain its moral record. Obsessive Israel-haters should have no place in the conservative movement.

There should be room to disagree with Israeli policies. President Trump, the most pro-Israel president in American history, doesn’t always see eye to eye with the Israeli government. The same is true of other Zionists on the right. No two countries, even close allies, agree on everything. Yet anti-Zionism goes beyond reasonable criticism of Israel. It’s a malevolent ideology that opposes Israel’s Jewish character and right to exist. It’s indistinguishable from the Jew-hatred that has long blighted civilization.

Many progressives hate Israel because they hate America. They consider Israel, as they consider the United States, neocolonial, systemically racist, and right-wing authoritarian.

Antipathy to Israel was once mainly a province of the left. In recent decades, hatred of the Jewish state moved from the fringes to mainstream progressivism. Elite colleges and universities are awash in anti-Israel bilge and churn out students who want to “globalize the Intifada.” Democrats in Congress like Bernie Sanders, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar attack Israel with alacrity. New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani accuses Israel of genocide and says he will arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he come to NYC. Many progressives hate Israel because they hate America. They consider Israel, as they consider the United States, neocolonial, systemically racist, and right-wing authoritarian.

The right has largely resisted such anti-Israel hysteria. Many Republicans recognize that a strong Israel redounds to the United States’ benefit. They applaud its battles against radical Islam, value its technological advances, and see its priorities as consonant with America’s. Many also support Israel out of their Christian faith, believing that God bequeathed Israel to the Jewish people. Evangelicals for decades have been some of the most adamant advocates for the US-Israel relationship.

America benefits greatly from its partnership with Israel. It is the strongest country in the Middle East, and it pays to have strong countries on America’s side. It kills terrorists who would do the United States harm. It has the region’s most capable military and most advanced economy. Its high-tech sector has given the world the USB flash drive, Waze, and Wix. It has 135 firms on the NASDAQ, behind only America, Canada, and China. Bilateral trade totals some $55 billion annually, enriching both our nations. Each year, Israel welcomes hundreds of thousands of Americans, many of whom are devout Christians keen to visit holy sites and walk where Jesus walked.

Israel also shares American values. Minorities have full political rights, unlike elsewhere in the region. It is also the sole Middle Eastern country whose Christian population is rising. Israel is home to a messy democratic system not unlike the one in the United States—one in which the press criticizes politicians and politicians criticize each other.

Deprived of its strongest friend, the Jewish state would turn to America’s foes, namely China and Russia, for succor.

Consider the consequences of an anti-Zionist American right. If Republicans joined Democrats in expelling Israel from the US orbit, security cooperation between the two countries would lessen and make the United States more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Americans would lose access to Israel’s high-tech sector, which has produced modern innovations that many in the United States use daily. Deprived of its strongest friend, the Jewish state would turn to America’s foes, namely China and Russia, for succor. They would, in turn, be strengthened by their partnerships with Israel. The United States would be less secure and less prosperous as a result.

Anti-Zionism isn’t just bad statecraft. It’s a sign of civilizational decay. Holding Israel, and Jews more broadly, in contempt eats a society alive. Take a few historical examples. The Third Reich’s crusade to exterminate Jews wrecked Germany and much of Europe. Many Muslim countries paid a price for spurning Israel after its creation in 1948. Egypt wasted tons of resources trying to destroy Israel before wisely making peace in 1979. That same year, Islamic revolution came to Iran, which has ever since waged a ruinous war on Israel, the “Little Satan.” By contrast, Muslim countries that have engaged Israel, such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco, are reaping the rewards. Countries that partner with Israel do well, whereas those that oppose it do poorly.

Lest America go the way of the latter, the right should police its own. Conservatives, including me, have criticized the Democratic Party for tolerating and encouraging hostility to Israel. If Republicans fail to do the same, we are no better. We should fight this poison until it is expunged from the party.

To their credit, boomer and Gen X Republicans are mostly repudiating anti-Israel bunk. It’s young men who have been especially vulnerable to it. Their alienation stems from real challenges. Too many young men are without fathers. Too many are unemployed. Too many are unable to buy a home. Too many are living with their parents. Too many are dropping out of high school. Too many are single. Too many are addicted to pornography. Too many are wasting away online. Too many are not reading books.

The right should reach these disaffected young men before it is too late.

As they have for generations, young men should meet adversity with self-improvement. But an alarming number are adrift, instead blaming Jews, the world’s foremost scapegoats, for their woes. Many take their lead from Nick Fuentes, who rails against “Zionist Jews” and “organized Jewry” from the internet’s darkest corners. Fuentes and his hundreds of thousands of followers, termed “Groypers,” are a force to be reckoned with in the hyper-online world. Sane people realize that Jews and Israel aren’t the reason why young men are struggling. But too few realize how much conspiratorial talk appeals to this demographic. Unless Republicans confront the scourge, as Ben Shapiro has urged them to do, they risk destroying the party wholesale. The right should reach these disaffected young men before it is too late.

The right has debated about Israel before. Republicans used to have a fraught relationship with the Jewish state, deeming it a strategic liability. For decades, Democrats were the more pro-Israel party. Only at the end of the millennium, after Israel proved itself a reliable American partner and an increasing number of Christian Zionists comprised the GOP base, were Republicans staunchly pro-Israel. Their championing of the Jewish state has stood in marked contrast to the Democratic Party’s separation from it. As National Review puts it, Republicans face a “time for choosing” on Israel.

Many in the GOP have met the moment. Particularly commendable is Ted Cruz, who called the war against anti-Semitism “existential.” He and the Republican Party’s core remain staunchly pro-Israel and wise to the consequences of abandoning it. They still know right from wrong and are willing to call out evil when they see it.

Yet some who should know better have fallen short. Vice President J.D. Vance, while taking questions from students at Ole Miss in October, heard from one: “I’m a Christian, and I’m just confused why there’s this notion that we might owe Israel something, or that they’re our greatest ally, or that we have to support this multi-hundred-billion dollar foreign aid package to Israel.” The student added, “Not only does their religion not agree with ours, but also openly supports the prosecution of ours.”

This was the ultimate teaching opportunity for the student posing the question and the audience. Vance could have pointed out how the US-Israel relationship enhances America. He could have pointed out that Israel has never received a multi-hundred-billion-dollar aid package from the United States, or that Christians enjoy rights in Israel that they aren’t accorded elsewhere. He could have pointed out that Judaism and Christianity share history and a natural kinship. Instead, Vance indulged the student’s conspiracism by replying: “So when people say that Israel is somehow manipulating or controlling the president of the United States, they’re not manipulating or controlling this president of the United States.”

The truth is that Israel has never manipulated or controlled any American president, and Vance knows that. His response is emblematic of the larger problem on the right, where too many would rather sate the ascendant Israel-hatred than challenge it head-on. The problem will fester unless people like the vice president change tactics.

Forsaking Jews undermines civilizations. If the American right forgets this truth, the United States will be all the worse for it.

Daniel J. Samet is a Jeane Kirkpatrick Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on US-Israel relations and Middle East policy.