The emerging Right-wing “love affair” with Israel is no coincidence. It reflects a deep ideological realignment that goes far beyond Israel itself, exposing what the Left has become.
Yeah I'm confused. My leftist Jewish friend in Berkeley cut me out of her life because in her mind I don't hate Trump enough. She said that as a Jew she just couldn't understand my perspective. I'm a center-left guy who became politically homeless. I don't understand her fear of Trump with regard to Jews. He seems fine. The left however have been screaming 'gas the Jews' since October 8.
In his second term he has threatened to cut off funding to universities that do not protect Jewish students, including insisting on protesters not wearing masks.
I am not a Trump voter, but as a Jew I would be proud to vote for him. I can't think of any president that came close to supporting Jewish causes then Trump.
I see your point I am not a Trump voter either. And yes he has been good for Israel thus far, but here's the thing with Trump and why I don't trust him: 1) he is known for changing his mind on a dime if he thinks it's good for his ego or his wallet; 2) he is definitely aligned with Russia (who knows why, but he is) and Russia has a history of hating the Jews; 3) he has been known to hang out with known anti-semites (Kanye, etc.). So . . . he's good for Israel for now and I'll take it, but -- he's probably angling for a Nobel Peace Prize.
I understand, and pretty much agree with your doubts, and risks you are talking about. For now, IMO, he's "good for the Jews". Let's hope it stays that way.
I would have thought the Abraham Accords would have made him a candidate for a Nobel Peace Prize.
While I am grateful for Trumps support, I wonder what's on the other side of it.
While Trump gives ammunition and support to Israel and is adamant about freeing the hostages which I am eternally grateful, his VP and Musk supported the far right Natzi party in Germany prior to their elections.
Musk beamed in on a far right rally to tell those in attendance to not be ashamed of their past. That gives me chills.
Trump freed all the Jan 6th rioters, including the proud boys. He ordered a stop to rooting out and reforming recruits with far right beliefs. Why? For what reason is he supporting hate?
Speaking of hate, does it not frighten you that the Trump Admin spends so much time hating on gays and trans people? Immigrants? Of science? Or the arts? Hitler did the same thing, before moving on to the Jews. Hate creates hate. We Jews are bringers of the light.
Finally, project 2025, which is being enacted on our government, and on all of us, calls for Christian Nationalism.
There's no room for us in that narrative.
We are useful for bringing the second coming of Christ, and to help make Israel a country that is also nationalistic in nature. Why else were Israelis taking to the streets? To protest this, undemocratic action on the Supreme Court.
Jews will always be wary of the far right, and for good reason.
Trump spends all of his time hating on gays and trans people? How so? I think most of us are accepting of homosexuals and trans people(who comprise a fraction of one percent of the population, at least as trans people are concerned). I think that most normal people are sick and tired of their attempts to mainstream a depraved agenda.
Your former friend has a serious case of TDS. When it comes to the Jews, Trump is more than “fine.” His record on Israel and antisemitism during his first term was stellar, and he’s already repeating that record of support and accomplishment less than two months out from Inauguration.
As for the Democratic Party, I fear that its reflexive opposition to everything Trump and the Republican Party does will lead it further away from what was once vigorous support for the Jewish state and against antisemitism in this country.
It's very sad. The Left has abandoned any pretense of objectivity, humanity, Western values. All is HATE, it consumes them.
I personally think that the Pavovian- Skinnerian indoctrination approach to education, started in the '70s, has used brain center modification to nullify individual agency, informed decision-making, seasoned through experience, morals, and objective thought ... The foundation of Western thought.
The brain's dopamine cycle (IMO) has been trained to only respond to anger, blameshifting, blind hatred, & outrage. The left's minions are like robots, incapable of rational thought. Like zombies. Not human anymore.
Every word is true yet I can't even tell you how many serious Zionists I know who simply refuse to accept these facts because they can't. It would mean having to dump the Democratic party and they can't do that so they struggle with cognitive dissonance and believe comforting lies.
All true. And the current “might-makes-right” approach of the Trump administration doesn’t bode well for Israel in the longer term. Zionists should see a great deal of similarity between Ukraine and Israel. The left’s love of Ukraine and hatred of Israel is about as confused and disturbing as the right’s love for Israel and hatred of Ukraine.
Its not the same to the left because Ukraine is the victim of left wing public enemy number one, Putin and Israel cannot be a victim because Jews are part of the oppressor class.
While I understand and, in some capacity. agree with the “left’s love of Ukraine and hatred of Israel” and vice versa, however I believe that the right does NOT hate Ukraine. Conversely, it’s not Ukraine that they hate; it is the war itself. Notwithstanding Trump’s admiration of Putin (which is disturbing), it is the consensus and reality that Ukraine will never win the war. It may not lose it, but it won’t win it. And, the Trump administration is tired of funding the war and certainly does NOT want to be part of any future war. Hence, the pressure on Z to make peace. And, the Euros to defend themselves.
With Israel, I’d like to believe that part of the reason of the right’s support is moral. While they may not like Jews, they certainly like Arab/Muslims less. They’ve not forgiven the radical terrorists who destroyed the WTC and certainly haven’t forgotten. They may not like the Jews, but at least the Jews aren’t terrorists. As an aside, the right abhors the “Globalize the Intifada” saying and saw it play out on NYE in NOLA.
You overlook that in extremis the situation for Israel and Ukraine is identical: confronted by an implacable foe who wishes to erase them from existence.
The right doesn't hate Ukraine. We sorrow for all the senseless loss of life. But we understand the real roots of the conflict, and the history of Ukraine. It's not something we should be supporting. We hope for peace.
Nor are we unconditionally approving of certain of Israel's actions. I say his as a longtime supporter of Israel's right to exist.
1) Israel has used us as the always-available teat for $$f. It reciprocated with NOTHING. Israel is now an upper middle-class economy, therefore, it can BUY its arms from the US. NO MORE GIFTS.
2) Its lobbyists AIPAC do not even do the US the courtesy of registering as foreign lobbyists under OUR LAW FOR SUCH...FARA. That must change.
3) Isreal manufactures arms and trades them for oil from Azerbaijan, a Muslim country that is actively pursuing the genocide & complete erasure of Christian Armenia, the victim of the 1st real genocide of the 20th century, by Muslim Turks. Isreal ENABLES the completion of this genocide, which killed 90% of Armenia's population in 1915-23. For SHAME, ISRAEL. You, of all nations, should understand how barbaric this is, & support little Armenia. For shame.
So, many of us who support Israel in its quest for freedom also deplore several of it practices, and rightfully so. While I'm sorry about Gaza, they asked for it with 10/7/23. Too bad, so sad. My .02.
1) AIPAC is not a foreign agent. It receives money from American Jews and Christians who support Israel. It does not receive any money from Israel. You may disagree with the law, but the law doesn't require American organizations that do not receive foreign funding to register as a foreign agent.
2) Israel has complicated foreign relations and has very good relations with very few Muslim countries, among them Azerbaijan, an important relationship which serves as a counterweight to a hostile Turkey and an even more hostile Iran. Obviously, Azerbaijan was involving in ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh, but this is less on Israel than on Russia, which prior to its invasion of Ukraine served as a defender of Armenia and a counterweight to Azerbaijan.
The non Jewish anti Israel drek are evil but don’t worry me. It’s the demented, bizarre, tiny but very loud Jewish Israel haters who are most abhorrent.
Uzi, YES times 100. Central to the theme of this fine essay is THAT hugest most invisible elephants in one of the rooms i.e. the "Jewish Values" raised Democrat leaning fundamentalists who come from 'the tribe'. We, the Jewish People of all sorts have a golden opportunity in this Time we are living in. Unless the non-left-of-Left Jewish individuals/groups/organizations are willing to step back into the future of Jewish STUFF ... then there is no reason to expect the left-of-Left Jewish entities to wake up from woke.
The irony of the Left constantly calling people Nazis and Fascists while their own side is going on marches and screaming “gas the Jews”…I mean, it would be too stupid to put in a movie. They keep repeating “anti-Zionism is NOT antisemitism” (it is) and they call ppl “Zionists” or “Zios” as a pejorative now. They use antisemitic tropes and think they’re morally immune because ZioNiSm.
Another reason for this bizarre blind spot is the Left has now taken the Jew out of the Holocaust, and the Jew-hating out of the Nazi. They try to make it out to be universal because they fetishize victimhood; they don’t wanna “give” Jews the Holocaust. Genuinely jealous of the murder of 6 million people. It’s the same reason Candace Owens hated to see the starving hostages released and had to play a video of starving Muslim children that day-an odd mix of envy and disgust. I hear ppl say all the time “oh what makes them so special?” They have a mental derangement.
A recent survey asked which was of more concern, liberal or conservative antisemitism. I can't remember another time when that question would have been asked.
The irony of the woke Left being held up as the good guys, the kind guys, the tolerant guys, is mind boggling. They’re such authoritarians - disdainful and dismissive of anyone who dares oppose or contradict them. I’m a former leftist- but the Left left me long ago. Now I’m centrist, but looked down upon by many of my progressive friends. Wherein lies the irony - no kindness, goodness or tolerance to be seen!
In the US, the republicans, formerly conservatives became neocons and then fled to the neoliberal side of the political equation. I agree with those who say Trump has done these things but we must not forget that all he does is for his own gain. He is a racist and bigoted antisemite down deep.
I view antisemitism in simple terms:
1. Ignorant antisemitism. Those who denigrate Israel and Jews or do not defend them ( like the love affair with the “anti racism” concept). These people do know what they do not know and try to learn. Note: I have never met one of these.
2. Stupid antisemitism. The same as above but do not care to learn the facts ; rather they are as lemmings dragging us all off the cliff.
3. Hatred antisemitism. We all know of the Proud Boys, Nick Fuente, etc.
The second is the most dangerous because the first doesn’t exist and the third is well known. These people drag their peers along with them to the destruction of Jewish life.
My former friends who think they are progressive and liberal are a threat to my very existence and they do not care. Their lack of support and their active pro Palestinian stance secondary to a well oiled Palestine propaganda machine are helplessly stupid, mindlessly chasing after any cause.
Again, an excellent editorial that needs to be read by the stupid and the ignorant.
I’d be careful to label people antisemites that have a record of pro-Jewish and pro-Israel actions. Seems like you’re conflating Trump’s possible bigotry in other areas with antisemitism.
Every politician acts out of personal gain; Trump is no different. But it is not an argument against him, since it applies to virtually all politicians. (There are arguments against him, like there are with many politicians, but this argument of him being self-serving is weak in my opinion.)
Let’s not forget that his son-in-law is Jewish and his daughter converted to Judaism. I don’t think this is talked about as much as it should be with regard to Trump’s pro-Israel and pro-Jewish actions both recent and during his first presidential term.
I get it but Trump is like the little street urchin in India I knew who would throw wet buffalo dung against a wall to dry to use as cooking fuel. The result may be positive but it is also acrid. In other words I don’t trust a dishonest person; does that mean all politicians are not to be trusted? Partly.
The universities has been manufacturing this political shift for 25 years. The professoriate has slowly but steadily excised all pro-Israel and pro-Western voices, replaced them not with liberal professors but with self-proclaimed leftists, so that now nearly two generations of educated westerners hate their own civilizations, but, unwilling and unable to self-destruct, they have come to see Israel as the last bastion of western culture and the first thing that needs to be destroyed.
Kudos to the professors — they have succeeded in their brainwashing campaign.
Well done!! Thanks! The so-called 'palestinians' are not a People. They may perhaps be considered a violent oriented political movement? They are a professional ploy to undermine the 'West' and the State of Israel and the Jewish People. If recent history is correct isn't it that perhaps 95-98% of the persons claiming to be 'palestinians' are from families who arrived starting in the late 1800s for work into the Land of Israel i.e. the Ottoman declared zone of Palestine?? Those arrivals were Arab-Muslims from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, etc.? The exceedingly small percentage of people who were locals under the Ottomans were Palestinian in a specific qualifying sense like Jewish-Palestinians; Druze ones; Christian ones etc.??
It seems to me that in the US the divide between right and left is more complicated than just their position on Israel. The other cultural issues dividing the sides are gay rights and abortion. The right has a history of opposing both. Yet it strongly supports Israel. That is a paradox for many American liberal Jews. I say Israel should enjoy its allies wherever it can find them for as long as it lasts—knowing full well that nothing lasts forever.
See how mr. Trump turned against his friends and associates - Mike Pompeo, Bill Barr, Mike Pence, Michael Cohen , notice how he treats his allies (NATO) and how easily he abandons moral obligations ( Ukraine) and you'll have an accurate prediction of how much, when push come to shove, his 'love affair' with Israel will be worth.
Joshua - you have so 'nailed' the left wing-anti Israel rhetoric.
The agencies and NGO's part in this evil conspiracy you have explained in a way that for some of them I hadn't considered. How Amnesty International became a twisted mouthpiece for Hamas is beyond me. None of the agencies you mention have done anything to free hostages, look after them, have them fed and given medical intervention - however constantly feed utter lies about Israel.
Politically Israel has been moving inexorably to the right for decades and will only continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Americans and other western nations generally have pro-Israel sympathies and that reflexive inclination to support Israel’s policies has in turn pulled US and UK mid-east foreign-policy to the hawkish right.
But even in peak GWOT / 2nd intifada days, British PM Tony Blair and hawkish conservative George W. Bush stilled pushed for a two-state solution and were openly critical of Israel at times—more aligned to Obama on Israel policy than to Trump. Reagan and Bush-41 pushed for ceasefires and conditions on military aid to Israel that would put them to the historical left of Joe Biden, who was nonetheless criticized for being beholden to his far-left base due to the fact that he didn’t give into Israel’s every wish without objections.
Perhaps that historical trend is to your liking, but you can’t expect it to not induce backlash among western liberals who haven’t marched as far rightward in that parade as Israelis and their western admirers have.
Yeah I'm confused. My leftist Jewish friend in Berkeley cut me out of her life because in her mind I don't hate Trump enough. She said that as a Jew she just couldn't understand my perspective. I'm a center-left guy who became politically homeless. I don't understand her fear of Trump with regard to Jews. He seems fine. The left however have been screaming 'gas the Jews' since October 8.
In Trump's his first term he:
1. Moved the embassy to Jerusalem.
2. Cut off funding to UNRWA.
3. Cut off funding to PA (and pay for slay).
4. Added antisemitism to Title XI.
5. Abraham Accords.
In his second term he has threatened to cut off funding to universities that do not protect Jewish students, including insisting on protesters not wearing masks.
I am not a Trump voter, but as a Jew I would be proud to vote for him. I can't think of any president that came close to supporting Jewish causes then Trump.
I see your point I am not a Trump voter either. And yes he has been good for Israel thus far, but here's the thing with Trump and why I don't trust him: 1) he is known for changing his mind on a dime if he thinks it's good for his ego or his wallet; 2) he is definitely aligned with Russia (who knows why, but he is) and Russia has a history of hating the Jews; 3) he has been known to hang out with known anti-semites (Kanye, etc.). So . . . he's good for Israel for now and I'll take it, but -- he's probably angling for a Nobel Peace Prize.
I understand, and pretty much agree with your doubts, and risks you are talking about. For now, IMO, he's "good for the Jews". Let's hope it stays that way.
I would have thought the Abraham Accords would have made him a candidate for a Nobel Peace Prize.
I hear you. Well, it didn't get him the prize, so some suspect he really wants it.
I'll bet he'll win if he gets Saudi Arabia to join.
It very well may. I would love to see that, but the Saudis had said that is dependent on a two-state solution and we know that isn't happening.
While I am grateful for Trumps support, I wonder what's on the other side of it.
While Trump gives ammunition and support to Israel and is adamant about freeing the hostages which I am eternally grateful, his VP and Musk supported the far right Natzi party in Germany prior to their elections.
Musk beamed in on a far right rally to tell those in attendance to not be ashamed of their past. That gives me chills.
Trump freed all the Jan 6th rioters, including the proud boys. He ordered a stop to rooting out and reforming recruits with far right beliefs. Why? For what reason is he supporting hate?
Speaking of hate, does it not frighten you that the Trump Admin spends so much time hating on gays and trans people? Immigrants? Of science? Or the arts? Hitler did the same thing, before moving on to the Jews. Hate creates hate. We Jews are bringers of the light.
Finally, project 2025, which is being enacted on our government, and on all of us, calls for Christian Nationalism.
There's no room for us in that narrative.
We are useful for bringing the second coming of Christ, and to help make Israel a country that is also nationalistic in nature. Why else were Israelis taking to the streets? To protest this, undemocratic action on the Supreme Court.
Jews will always be wary of the far right, and for good reason.
O
Trump spends all of his time hating on gays and trans people? How so? I think most of us are accepting of homosexuals and trans people(who comprise a fraction of one percent of the population, at least as trans people are concerned). I think that most normal people are sick and tired of their attempts to mainstream a depraved agenda.
Your former friend has a serious case of TDS. When it comes to the Jews, Trump is more than “fine.” His record on Israel and antisemitism during his first term was stellar, and he’s already repeating that record of support and accomplishment less than two months out from Inauguration.
As for the Democratic Party, I fear that its reflexive opposition to everything Trump and the Republican Party does will lead it further away from what was once vigorous support for the Jewish state and against antisemitism in this country.
Lefty Jews
Dangerous for America
Dangerous for Israel
It's very sad. The Left has abandoned any pretense of objectivity, humanity, Western values. All is HATE, it consumes them.
I personally think that the Pavovian- Skinnerian indoctrination approach to education, started in the '70s, has used brain center modification to nullify individual agency, informed decision-making, seasoned through experience, morals, and objective thought ... The foundation of Western thought.
The brain's dopamine cycle (IMO) has been trained to only respond to anger, blameshifting, blind hatred, & outrage. The left's minions are like robots, incapable of rational thought. Like zombies. Not human anymore.
Every word is true yet I can't even tell you how many serious Zionists I know who simply refuse to accept these facts because they can't. It would mean having to dump the Democratic party and they can't do that so they struggle with cognitive dissonance and believe comforting lies.
Excellent essay.
All true. And the current “might-makes-right” approach of the Trump administration doesn’t bode well for Israel in the longer term. Zionists should see a great deal of similarity between Ukraine and Israel. The left’s love of Ukraine and hatred of Israel is about as confused and disturbing as the right’s love for Israel and hatred of Ukraine.
Its not the same to the left because Ukraine is the victim of left wing public enemy number one, Putin and Israel cannot be a victim because Jews are part of the oppressor class.
While I understand and, in some capacity. agree with the “left’s love of Ukraine and hatred of Israel” and vice versa, however I believe that the right does NOT hate Ukraine. Conversely, it’s not Ukraine that they hate; it is the war itself. Notwithstanding Trump’s admiration of Putin (which is disturbing), it is the consensus and reality that Ukraine will never win the war. It may not lose it, but it won’t win it. And, the Trump administration is tired of funding the war and certainly does NOT want to be part of any future war. Hence, the pressure on Z to make peace. And, the Euros to defend themselves.
With Israel, I’d like to believe that part of the reason of the right’s support is moral. While they may not like Jews, they certainly like Arab/Muslims less. They’ve not forgiven the radical terrorists who destroyed the WTC and certainly haven’t forgotten. They may not like the Jews, but at least the Jews aren’t terrorists. As an aside, the right abhors the “Globalize the Intifada” saying and saw it play out on NYE in NOLA.
You overlook that in extremis the situation for Israel and Ukraine is identical: confronted by an implacable foe who wishes to erase them from existence.
Agreed!
The right doesn't hate Ukraine. We sorrow for all the senseless loss of life. But we understand the real roots of the conflict, and the history of Ukraine. It's not something we should be supporting. We hope for peace.
Nor are we unconditionally approving of certain of Israel's actions. I say his as a longtime supporter of Israel's right to exist.
1) Israel has used us as the always-available teat for $$f. It reciprocated with NOTHING. Israel is now an upper middle-class economy, therefore, it can BUY its arms from the US. NO MORE GIFTS.
2) Its lobbyists AIPAC do not even do the US the courtesy of registering as foreign lobbyists under OUR LAW FOR SUCH...FARA. That must change.
3) Isreal manufactures arms and trades them for oil from Azerbaijan, a Muslim country that is actively pursuing the genocide & complete erasure of Christian Armenia, the victim of the 1st real genocide of the 20th century, by Muslim Turks. Isreal ENABLES the completion of this genocide, which killed 90% of Armenia's population in 1915-23. For SHAME, ISRAEL. You, of all nations, should understand how barbaric this is, & support little Armenia. For shame.
So, many of us who support Israel in its quest for freedom also deplore several of it practices, and rightfully so. While I'm sorry about Gaza, they asked for it with 10/7/23. Too bad, so sad. My .02.
1) AIPAC is not a foreign agent. It receives money from American Jews and Christians who support Israel. It does not receive any money from Israel. You may disagree with the law, but the law doesn't require American organizations that do not receive foreign funding to register as a foreign agent.
2) Israel has complicated foreign relations and has very good relations with very few Muslim countries, among them Azerbaijan, an important relationship which serves as a counterweight to a hostile Turkey and an even more hostile Iran. Obviously, Azerbaijan was involving in ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh, but this is less on Israel than on Russia, which prior to its invasion of Ukraine served as a defender of Armenia and a counterweight to Azerbaijan.
The non Jewish anti Israel drek are evil but don’t worry me. It’s the demented, bizarre, tiny but very loud Jewish Israel haters who are most abhorrent.
Loud and bizarre,yes. But not so tiny, unfortunately. We have always been plagued by such creatures.
We’ve always had such creatures lurking in our midst, but they really are far smaller than they sound.
I would like to think that you’re correct, but all available information contradicts that
Uzi, YES times 100. Central to the theme of this fine essay is THAT hugest most invisible elephants in one of the rooms i.e. the "Jewish Values" raised Democrat leaning fundamentalists who come from 'the tribe'. We, the Jewish People of all sorts have a golden opportunity in this Time we are living in. Unless the non-left-of-Left Jewish individuals/groups/organizations are willing to step back into the future of Jewish STUFF ... then there is no reason to expect the left-of-Left Jewish entities to wake up from woke.
The irony of the Left constantly calling people Nazis and Fascists while their own side is going on marches and screaming “gas the Jews”…I mean, it would be too stupid to put in a movie. They keep repeating “anti-Zionism is NOT antisemitism” (it is) and they call ppl “Zionists” or “Zios” as a pejorative now. They use antisemitic tropes and think they’re morally immune because ZioNiSm.
Another reason for this bizarre blind spot is the Left has now taken the Jew out of the Holocaust, and the Jew-hating out of the Nazi. They try to make it out to be universal because they fetishize victimhood; they don’t wanna “give” Jews the Holocaust. Genuinely jealous of the murder of 6 million people. It’s the same reason Candace Owens hated to see the starving hostages released and had to play a video of starving Muslim children that day-an odd mix of envy and disgust. I hear ppl say all the time “oh what makes them so special?” They have a mental derangement.
Superb essay! The woke world view is clearly animated by anti Semitism
A recent survey asked which was of more concern, liberal or conservative antisemitism. I can't remember another time when that question would have been asked.
The irony of the woke Left being held up as the good guys, the kind guys, the tolerant guys, is mind boggling. They’re such authoritarians - disdainful and dismissive of anyone who dares oppose or contradict them. I’m a former leftist- but the Left left me long ago. Now I’m centrist, but looked down upon by many of my progressive friends. Wherein lies the irony - no kindness, goodness or tolerance to be seen!
Same same.
It’s sad huh.
In the US, the republicans, formerly conservatives became neocons and then fled to the neoliberal side of the political equation. I agree with those who say Trump has done these things but we must not forget that all he does is for his own gain. He is a racist and bigoted antisemite down deep.
I view antisemitism in simple terms:
1. Ignorant antisemitism. Those who denigrate Israel and Jews or do not defend them ( like the love affair with the “anti racism” concept). These people do know what they do not know and try to learn. Note: I have never met one of these.
2. Stupid antisemitism. The same as above but do not care to learn the facts ; rather they are as lemmings dragging us all off the cliff.
3. Hatred antisemitism. We all know of the Proud Boys, Nick Fuente, etc.
The second is the most dangerous because the first doesn’t exist and the third is well known. These people drag their peers along with them to the destruction of Jewish life.
My former friends who think they are progressive and liberal are a threat to my very existence and they do not care. Their lack of support and their active pro Palestinian stance secondary to a well oiled Palestine propaganda machine are helplessly stupid, mindlessly chasing after any cause.
Again, an excellent editorial that needs to be read by the stupid and the ignorant.
I’d be careful to label people antisemites that have a record of pro-Jewish and pro-Israel actions. Seems like you’re conflating Trump’s possible bigotry in other areas with antisemitism.
Every politician acts out of personal gain; Trump is no different. But it is not an argument against him, since it applies to virtually all politicians. (There are arguments against him, like there are with many politicians, but this argument of him being self-serving is weak in my opinion.)
Let’s not forget that his son-in-law is Jewish and his daughter converted to Judaism. I don’t think this is talked about as much as it should be with regard to Trump’s pro-Israel and pro-Jewish actions both recent and during his first presidential term.
I get it but Trump is like the little street urchin in India I knew who would throw wet buffalo dung against a wall to dry to use as cooking fuel. The result may be positive but it is also acrid. In other words I don’t trust a dishonest person; does that mean all politicians are not to be trusted? Partly.
And don’t forget his drug addled Nazi in charge.
The universities has been manufacturing this political shift for 25 years. The professoriate has slowly but steadily excised all pro-Israel and pro-Western voices, replaced them not with liberal professors but with self-proclaimed leftists, so that now nearly two generations of educated westerners hate their own civilizations, but, unwilling and unable to self-destruct, they have come to see Israel as the last bastion of western culture and the first thing that needs to be destroyed.
Kudos to the professors — they have succeeded in their brainwashing campaign.
Well done!! Thanks! The so-called 'palestinians' are not a People. They may perhaps be considered a violent oriented political movement? They are a professional ploy to undermine the 'West' and the State of Israel and the Jewish People. If recent history is correct isn't it that perhaps 95-98% of the persons claiming to be 'palestinians' are from families who arrived starting in the late 1800s for work into the Land of Israel i.e. the Ottoman declared zone of Palestine?? Those arrivals were Arab-Muslims from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, etc.? The exceedingly small percentage of people who were locals under the Ottomans were Palestinian in a specific qualifying sense like Jewish-Palestinians; Druze ones; Christian ones etc.??
It seems to me that in the US the divide between right and left is more complicated than just their position on Israel. The other cultural issues dividing the sides are gay rights and abortion. The right has a history of opposing both. Yet it strongly supports Israel. That is a paradox for many American liberal Jews. I say Israel should enjoy its allies wherever it can find them for as long as it lasts—knowing full well that nothing lasts forever.
See how mr. Trump turned against his friends and associates - Mike Pompeo, Bill Barr, Mike Pence, Michael Cohen , notice how he treats his allies (NATO) and how easily he abandons moral obligations ( Ukraine) and you'll have an accurate prediction of how much, when push come to shove, his 'love affair' with Israel will be worth.
Joshua - you have so 'nailed' the left wing-anti Israel rhetoric.
The agencies and NGO's part in this evil conspiracy you have explained in a way that for some of them I hadn't considered. How Amnesty International became a twisted mouthpiece for Hamas is beyond me. None of the agencies you mention have done anything to free hostages, look after them, have them fed and given medical intervention - however constantly feed utter lies about Israel.
Politically Israel has been moving inexorably to the right for decades and will only continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Americans and other western nations generally have pro-Israel sympathies and that reflexive inclination to support Israel’s policies has in turn pulled US and UK mid-east foreign-policy to the hawkish right.
But even in peak GWOT / 2nd intifada days, British PM Tony Blair and hawkish conservative George W. Bush stilled pushed for a two-state solution and were openly critical of Israel at times—more aligned to Obama on Israel policy than to Trump. Reagan and Bush-41 pushed for ceasefires and conditions on military aid to Israel that would put them to the historical left of Joe Biden, who was nonetheless criticized for being beholden to his far-left base due to the fact that he didn’t give into Israel’s every wish without objections.
Perhaps that historical trend is to your liking, but you can’t expect it to not induce backlash among western liberals who haven’t marched as far rightward in that parade as Israelis and their western admirers have.