Politically divided American Jewish community prepares for Israeli elections

NEW YORK (AP) — American Jews say they have much to gain in this month’s contentious elections in Israel, as three years of conflict in the Middle East stir up emotions across the United States, from street protests to midterm elections.

But they are sharply divided along political, religious and often generational lines over the desired outcome in a vote seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and held against the backdrop of the lingering trauma of the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, which sparked the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s supporters, particularly among Orthodox Jews, believe he is protecting a country they love and that is central to their identity. Many liberal Americans and younger Jews believe his policies have damaged Israel’s global standing, engendering widespread anger that also threatens them in the United States.

The situation is particularly difficult as anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic violence increase. Even harsh critics of Netanyahu’s actions, whether over Gaza or Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank, argue that responsibility for attacks on Jews cannot be placed solely at his feet.

“A lot of American Jews are really torn. They want to shout from the rooftops, ‘Stop the pogroms in the West Bank,’ but also shout to everyone, ‘Stop the allegations of genocide and double standards against Israel,'” said Rabbi Dan Levin of Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, Florida.

Israel is important to the identity of American Jews

Levin’s large Reform synagogue is one of several in the United States holding educational programs this fall because congregants feel “deeply emotionally invested” in Israel’s elections, even though, as non-citizens, they cannot vote.

Under Israel’s complex multi-party political system, the outcome of the October 27 elections is impossible to predict. Polls suggest a tight race between a Netanyahu-led bloc and an alliance of rivals for control of the government.

Many American Jews have Israeli friends and family. More broadly, support for Israel is a key part of the religious identity of many American Jewish adults ages 45 and older, particularly those who identify as religiously Jewish, according to a recent AP-NORC poll.

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The largest Jewish denomination in the United States is Reform, which emphasizes progressive values. Many Reform Jews see no contradiction between their liberalism and their Zionism — understood as the Jewish people’s aspiration “to live as a free people in our country,” said Rabbi Josh Weinberg of the Union for Reform Judaism, an umbrella group of more than 800 Reform synagogues in North America.

But they worry about the growing power of the ultra-Orthodox in Israel’s political and religious life, as well as settlement policies and the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank, which they perceive as contrary to their values, Weinberg added.

“If Netanyahu wins, I worry a lot about the younger generation of American Jews who might continue to be, I say this kindly, disenchanted and who might just say, ‘OK, that’s it. I’m giving up on Israel,'” he said.

According to the AP-NORC poll, only four in ten religious Jewish adults under 45 in the United States say that supporting Israel is “extremely” or “very” important to their Jewish identity, prioritizing other forms of connection, such as celebrating Jewish holidays.

Anti-Semitism is a major concern

In the same poll, a majority of Jewish adults said that prejudice against Jewish people is an “extremely” or “very” serious problem in the United States today.

As Israeli elections approach, many communities are concerned about their effects on anti-Semitism.

“Some American Jews believe that a different style of prime minister, closer to previous ones who constantly spoke of the desire for peace, would change the way American Jews themselves are perceived,” said Jonathan Sarna, professor emeritus of American Jewish history at Brandeis University.

However, even Netanyahu’s critics do not believe that anti-Semitic acts would stop if Israel changed its government, especially when outrage over his administration’s actions toward the Palestinians is used to incite violence against all Jews, regardless of nationality or political orientation.

“’There is only one solution, the Intifada revolution’ – we mean that as a call to rise up and use violence against the Jews,” Weinberg said of a popular protest chant referencing the violent Palestinian uprising. “So when someone says that in Ramallah, that’s one thing. When someone says that in Minneapolis, what exactly are they calling for? That seems pretty clearly anti-Semitic to us.”

READ MORE: Scars of October 7 fuel deep divisions around Netanyahu ahead of Israeli elections

But some believe different Israeli policies could help stem the trend.

“Someone who decides to drive a car into a synagogue or attack Jews in the street, that’s their responsibility. You can’t blame that on Israel’s actions,” said Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, a rabbinical human rights organization. “But… I think it will be a very scary time for Jews around the world if there is another Netanyahu government and if he continues his policy of expanding occupation, ethnic cleansing and eternal war.”

Stanley Weinstein, an Orthodox Jew from Florida, rejects much of the criticism of Israel’s military and policies, especially given the threats the state faces from militant groups like Hamas in Gaza as well as in other conflicts that continue to simmer despite tenuous ceasefires, including in Lebanon and with Iran.

Weinstein views Israel’s security as crucial, especially given the rise in anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric among American political figures on the left and right that he has observed even from his home in Miami Beach’s diverse and vibrant Jewish community.

“I’m appalled as an American. I’m appalled as a Jew. And I say, thank God there is an Israel,” he said.

Netanyahu, Trump and elections closed with unity at stake

For American Jews, Israel will also loom large in the U.S. midterm elections – when voters will decide who will control Congress for the next two years. The November 3 election comes a week after Israelis went to the polls.

From New York to Michigan and beyond, support for the Palestinians and the withdrawal of U.S. aid to Israel are growing issues among Democratic voters.

Israeli and US elections could affect the two countries’ long-standing alliance. This confrontation has been particularly close – but not without recent tensions, notably because of the joint war in Iran – under the Trump and Netanyahu administrations.

READ MORE: Support for Israel not a priority for young American Jews, new poll finds

Even though some Israeli policies have become controversial in the United States, among American Jews there is still substantial support for the State of Israel, said Jason Isaacson, political director of the American Jewish Committee, a major advocacy group that strives to broadly represent Jews in the United States and abroad.

“There is strong support for continued U.S.-Israel relations and for the necessity of Israel’s survival,” he said.

Regardless of their faith and politics, some American Jews are very concerned about the prospect of further divisions caused by the Israeli elections.

“This may be the most important election in modern Israeli history, because the nature of the current administration is so divisive that it is tearing the people apart,” said Levin, the Reform rabbi of Boca Raton.

Weinstein, the Miami Beach Orthodox stalwart, says Netanyahu has done “a tremendous job.” But he shares the same concern for the future.

“The biggest problem in Israel today, which doesn’t exist, is unity. For me, that’s what’s at stake,” he said. “Is there a way to unify the country, unify the people?”

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