Love the Jews, Hate the State? Love the State, Hate the Jews!
The Paradox of Jewish Statehood and Contemporary Antisemitism
Israel is the only Jewish state. States are powerful entities deserving of criticism. So, what are the implications for Jews when the only Jewish state is criticized or excused for its actions?
This is not a complicated equation. But it is a complicated question.
It is complicated because it is all too common for the actions of a state to be held against the citizens of that state, or against individual members of the ruling class within that state. This is even more common when the state in question claims to be representing, or acting on behalf of, members of that community.
Many on the left assert, correctly, that it is antisemitic to hold individual Jews responsible for the actions of Israel. At the same time, many individual Jews on the left feel a responsibility to speak out against the actions of Israel, because they see those actions being taken “in their name.” In other words, in theory, individual Jews shouldn’t feel a special obligation to speak out, because only antisemites would think they bear any relationship to Israel’s actions. Yet not only do we speak out, we leverage our Jewish identity to undermine both the hegemony of the Jewish state in Jewish life AND its power to inflict on Jews worldwide shared responsibility for its actions.
When a synagogue posts a sign outside that reads “We Stand with Israel” and someone defaces that sign with the words “Free Gaza,” is that an attack on Jews, an attack on Israel, or an attack on a Jewish institution for standing with Israel? In other words, should Jewish religious or cultural institutions that stand with Israel be immune from critique, even protest, for taking that position? When the State of Israel incorporates a Jewish star into its flag, is it reasonable to demand that the star itself not be seen as a symbol of the state, but rather as a symbol collectively owned by all Jews? What about a menorah, which is part of the emblem of the State of Israel? Should non-Jews be expected to distinguish between a menorah (seven branches, secular symbol) and a hanukiah (nine branches, religious symbol)? Or should all Jewish symbols, even those adopted by the state of Israel, even those worn by members of an occupying army, be exempt from targeting in protests against the actions of Israel?
If you want to understand the ongoing debate about antisemitism vis-a-vis Israel, these questions are instructive. Critics tend to take a broad view of what should be acceptable, given the importance of holding nation-states accountable for their actions. Defenders tend to take a narrow view, given the deadly consequences of antisemitism throughout recorded history. Each side is weaponizing it position as part of a wider effort to discredit the other. Given the stakes, as each side sees it, this is understandable, if unfortunate.
Into this messiness steps a mendacious actor: the Republican Party. Remarkably, it doesn’t care about Jews or Palestinians. The Party is openly antisemitic and Islamophobic, responsible for promoting both a deadly antisemitic conspiracy theory and a ban on Muslim immigration. The Republican Party loves Israel, but Jews, not so much. It only cares how it can leverage the situation for its own ends. Most recently, those ends include weakening the influence progressives have within liberal arts colleges and universities, or the power those institutions wield, or both.
It’s working. The Right is stoking divisions between groups that are usually (but, because of the war in Gaza, not currently) largely aligned: Jews and Muslims, Arabs, and their respective allies. Those divisions weaken progressives, and the Democratic Party, and any institutions where those groups have influence. At the same time, acts of antisemitism by Republicans and their allies are papered over with pledges of fealty to Israel.
Israel, led by the largely Trump-aligned Bibi Netanyahu, is pursuing its — and his — narrow interests. This is leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians, the destruction of Gaza, the empowerment of settlers, the endangering of Jews worldwide, and a proxy war within liberal social movements and political parties in the US and beyond.
So, what’s the solution? It starts with three things. The world needs to take seriously Jewish safety. Israel needs to take seriously its own power. And Jews need to stop letting antisemites purchase pardons with pro-Israel pablum.
In theory, the world cares about Jewish safety. In reality, it doesn’t. This is mostly neglect and partially malicious. In other words, the world doesn’t care about Jewish safety because the world doesn’t care much about Jews, just as the world doesn’t care about most groups outside of themselves. The world’s attention is focused inward or elsewhere. At the same time, antisemitism is longstanding and real, and undoubtedly impacts how some around the world think about Jewish safety. Even some of those who speak powerfully about Jewish safety, particularly the safety of Jews in Israel, have other interests in mind (religious, political, financial). And a small few, like Germany, are so genuinely concerned with Jewish safety they neglect the safety of others.
In the absence of a world that genuinely cares about Jewish safety, many Jews don’t feel safe. Most Israeli Jews don’t feel safe. As they see it, they are surrounded by people who want them dead, and by a world that doesn’t value Jewish life. Almost every Jew in Israel can trace their family history back to a point when they fled or were expelled from a country that was unsafe for Jews. This causes them to underestimate the power wielded by the state. Power that Israel has accrued in the name of Jewish safety, yet is being used in ways that make it less safe, while making others (largely Palestinians) suffer ongoing harm.
Elon Musk visited Israel recently. Penance for a tweet agreeing with an antisemitic post on X, and for his ongoing fight with the ADL. The actual truth, to borrow a phrase from Musk, is that support for the Jewish state reflects not at all on an individual’s feelings about Jews. Some avowed white nationalists embrace Zionism, seeing Israel as an ethno-nationalist model; Richard Spenser called his mission “sort of white Zionism.” To their great shame, Israel and too many of its Jewish allies accept this tainted support, providing cover for some of the most world’s most powerful antisemites. Ask someone right-wing you suspect of antisemitism how they feel about Jews and watch them wax poetic about their love of the Jewish state.
We cannot snap our fingers and make the world care about Jewish safety, or make Israel grapple with its own strength, or make AIPAC kick Pastor John Hagee to the curb. But we can insist, whenever possible, that the world and Israel and its Jewish allies do better, that the communities we are in do better, that we do better, to move each towards a new reality.
