Published: 6 January 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
Evangelicals and Right-wing Jews invest heavily in Israel. DAVID ZENLEA argues progressives need to lean in not pull away.
The inconvenient truth is that while the Jewish mainstream has, by and large, regarded Israel as a source of good Netflix shows and a free vacation destination for teenagers, our brethren on the Right have been outthinking, outworking and outspending us.
“Just based on the formal declared transparent funding, we’re being outspent five to one, and a large amount of American philanthropy going to Israel is anonymous,” said Libby Lenkinski, vice president for public engagement at New Israel Fund.
In poll after poll, most American Jews identify as both Left-leaning politically and supportive of Israel. Yet this silent majority has almost always been a silent partner when it comes to Israel. The community played a marginal role in the state’s founding and, even as it lent increasing political and monetary aid in the ensuing years, largely remained at arm’s length from what actually happened there.
A 1950 agreement between David Ben-Gurion and American Jewish leader Jacob Blaustein, which defined how the communities would interact, reads more like an amicable divorce: American Jews and Israel respected each other’s achievements and identities, and would refrain from meddling in each other’s domestic affairs.
The exception has been the active minority of Jews – and, for that matter, evangelical Christians – on the American Right.
They worked hand-in-hand with their Israeli counterparts to advance a vision of Greater Israel more closely tethered to Orthodox Jewish theology and practice. Their accomplishments – from bankrolling Israel’s largest Hebrew-language newspaper, Israel Hayom, to running private aliyah organizations that encourage Americans to settle in “Judea and Samaria” (the West Bank) – have been breathtaking.
It’s tempting for those on the Left to demonise such efforts. In fact, though, we should emulate them.
