{"id":9403,"date":"2025-12-04T05:35:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T05:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/natharatmouchrika.net\/home\/?p=9403"},"modified":"2025-12-04T05:35:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T05:35:59","slug":"the-israel-lobby-is-melting-down-before-our-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/natharatmouchrika.net\/home\/?p=9403","title":{"rendered":"The Israel lobby is melting down before our eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Last month, a top staffer at the Jewish organization J Street who had worked for Obama and Harris explained that Congress\u2019s tradition of backing Israel \u201cno matter what\u201d was imposed by a \u201cwell-funded group of\u2026 Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA small, organized and well-funded group of American Jews treated the issue as a threshold question in elections, and most candidates decided it wasn\u2019t worth antagonizing them,\u201d Ilan Goldenberg\u00a0wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not long ago, such attacks on the Israel lobby (including my own) were dismissed as antisemitic conspiracy theories. Now, a leading Jewish organization publishes them.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s because the American Jewish community is today in open crisis over its historic support for Israel. Prominent Jews are finally attacking the lobby, a political structure created 60 years ago by leading Jewish groups to make sure there was no daylight between the Israeli and U.S. governments.<\/p>\n

The crisis was catalyzed by the insurgent victory of New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who broke a rule of American politics. You can\u2019t be an anti-Zionist and be taken seriously in American politics.<\/p>\n

The Israel lobby spent tens of millions to defeat Mamdani, led by Bill Ackman and Mike Bloomberg, yet Mamdani still beat Andrew Cuomo\u00a0twice<\/em>. After the general election last month, the Jewish establishment spoke with fearful force. Mamdani\u2019s election is \u201cgrim\u201d and \u201cominous,\u201d the Conference of Presidents\u00a0said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cZohran Mamdani\u2019s elevation to Gracie Mansion reminds us that antisemitism remains a clear and present danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ADL announced a \u201cMamdani-tracker\u201d on the idea that Mamdani will promote antisemitic violence\u2014a claim based on Mamdani\u2019s criticisms of Israel. \u201cMamdani has promoted antisemitic narratives\u2026 and demonstrated intense animosity toward the Jewish state that is counter to the views of the overwhelming majority of Jewish New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the lobby thought it was knocking Mamdani down, it failed. Two weeks after the election, Mamdani went to the White House and spoke of Israeli \u201cgenocide,\u201d and Trump did nothing to contradict him. It\u2019s about time we heard that word in the White House.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s courage set off the new Israel-critical discourse, but it has been enabled by a broader social movement. Young Americans are turning against Israel over its anti-Palestinian policies of genocide and apartheid.<\/p>\n

Rahm Emanuel brought the sad news to the largest Jewish organization, the Jewish Federations, last month. Noting that Obama toured Israel before he announced his presidential campaign in 2007, Emanuel, who is running for president, said that in 2028, no Democratic candidate will dare follow the traditional playbook.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody is leaving America to travel to Jerusalem. That\u2019s the politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

And not only Democrats. Emanuel said that all young people, left and right, are turning on Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook where Israel stands in America with people under 30,\u201d he said. \u201cForget party. It is a political risk today to take a [pro-Israel] position. Israel is extremely unpopular\u2014I want to drive this point home for all of us who support a Jewish state\u2013 today, Israel for a generation under 30, the last two years will be as seminal a definition as what the Six Day War was for [an earlier] generation. But we have to be honest about the task we have here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Israel lobby is melting down before our eyes. At that same conference, Eric Fingerhut, a former Congress member who leads the Federations, said Israel\u2019s bad image was the result of an international conspiracy:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have experienced a planned and coordinated attack on Israel\u2019s standing in North America and on the Jewish community that supports Israel. Fueled by billions of dollars in dark money\u2026. [from ] Iran and Qatar and China and Russia and more. Spread by the most advanced communications tools ever invented\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The conference was devoted to restoring Israel\u2019s good place in the American discourse\u2013 \u201ca major long-term rehabilitation of the narrative of what Israel means.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it failed, spectacularly. Coverage of the event focused on another meltdown \u2014 author Sarah Hurwitz, a former Obama speechwriter, who\u2019s\u00a0lamented<\/a>\u00a0that talking to young people about Israel today means trying to get through a \u201cwall of dead children.\u201d<\/p>\n

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