Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent trip to the U.S. included the long-anticipated meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden. By most accounts, their visit went as well as expected, given the administration's public criticism involving Israel's domestic disputes and its courting of Iran's terrorist regime.
While stateside, Netanyahu also encountered distinctly different Jewish communities outside the politically charged conference rooms and assembly halls.
In New York, several protests throughout the week contained a string of displays by progressive Jewish Americans and Israelis decrying the country's democratically elected government, with public figures Jeremy Ben-Ami, leader of the J Street lobby (an organization which has purportedly demonstrated anti-Israel tendencies) and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) accelerating the chorus of voices undermining the Jewish state.
Incidentally, a counter pro-Israel rally was held last Thursday, in which over 20 organizations, most retaining a small slice of J Street's $10 million budget, assembled to support Israel.
Absent from the gatherings were various larger Jewish groups, whose "mainstream" status remains, at best, dubious, given their historic role in openly pressuring Israel's right-leaning coalitions on issues ranging from egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall to current government attempts aimed at instituting changes to the judiciary.
Increasingly, the organizations' Israel advocacy relies on the Jewish state adhering to an agenda palatable to a liberal donor base, who, attempting to keep a younger generation of Jews involved, are lurching left.
Responding to this drift requires Jewish conservatives to invest in Christian engagement.
Reorienting efforts toward those sharing areas of ideological alignment will mitigate progressives' reach in the political and communal spheres while upholding a strong U.S.-Israel alliance.
Indeed, last month's piece in Tablet explores the rising organizational clout within progressive Jewish spaces. While examining the number of American Jews identifying "as politically progressive," The Takeover references a 2022-23 Keren Keshet survey on Jewish Americans.
It found there are about "twice as many progressives who are between the ages of 18-29 as there are liberals (48% vs. 25%) fall into that young age range." According to the study, Jewish progressives are more detached from Israel, with 42% saying that the "U.S. is too supportive of Israel."
One of the institutions attending Thursday's rally, Students Supporting Israel (SSI), emphasizes that it does not operate as a Jewish organization, with approximately 30% percent of its members not Jewish. In last year's interview with The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), the group's co-founder, Ilan Sinelnikov, conveyed the importance of drawing from a wide range of students.
Upon celebrating its 10th anniversary last August, SSI boasts a presence on almost 200 North American campuses and is the "largest registered pro-Israel movement" on college campuses.
Underscoring the consequence of preserving Judeo-Christian relations are former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who deliver a profoundly moving and informative tribute to the significance of Israel to both Jews and Christians in their new film, "Route 60: The Biblical Highway."
While traveling down the sacred road, the duo reveals the foundational value of historical sites in areas including Nazareth, Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem, Be'er Sheva, along with other places revered by both religions. Friedman, an orthodox Jew, and Pompeo, a Christian, discuss the connection of Judea and Samaria, which lie within Israel's biblical heartland, to modern-day Israel.
The film weaves stories from scripture and gives viewers a first-hand look at archaeological evidence linking different faiths to this ancient land.
Aside from helping debunk the false libels targeting Israel, both diplomats' personal and professional partnering publicly affirms that consolidating behind Judeo-Christian bonds is central to cultivating a positive paradigm involving U.S. foreign policy.
Exposing the truths regarding philosemitic contributions to Israel's success story must also be passed to future generations of Jewish students.
Advancing academic collaboration between Christian and Orthodox Jewish Americans is a step towards achieving this goal by incorporating philosemitism in the classroom.
Yeshiva University recently partnered with the nonprofit Christian advocacy group The Philos Project to launch a Master's program specifically for Christian students through the school's Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. Upon completing the four-semester program, students will receive a Master's in Jewish Studies.
Thankfully, Jewish conservatives are also taking corrective measures to stem the ideological tide across American universities.
Larry Arnn, president of Hillsdale College, is slated to speak at The Tikvah Fund's upcoming Jewish Leadership Conference. That the head of a Christian liberal arts school is addressing a gathering whose theme centers on "Renewing American Education: A Jewish Strategy" demonstrates promising proof that the traditional ethos cohering both communities will generate new opportunities for educational cooperation.
Jewish conservatives can blunt the metastasizing of progressive policies and positions by partnering with evangelical Christians, whose moral clarity and principled certainty involving support for Israel is collapsing among Democrats and within Jewish legacy groups.
Writing in The Wall Street Journal almost 15 years ago, Jewish conservative intellectual Norman Podhoretz accurately explained that in "virtually every instance of a clash between Jewish law and contemporary liberalism, it is the liberal creed that prevails for most American Jews."
It's precisely this circumstance that engenders leaders of institutions purporting to strengthen support for Israel among Democrats to back House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' choice to endorse, the no-friend-of-Israel Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., for reelection.
Is the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) genuinely rooted in its mission as "The Voice of Pro-Israel Democrats"? They defended the endorsement of a congresswoman who was appropriately removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) for repeatedly tarnishing the Jewish State.
This begs the queston, what exactly represents the definition of a "Pro-Israel Democrat."
It is time for Jewish conservatives to move beyond outdated forms of interfaith dialogue and develop concrete avenues through which Christian and Jewish Americans can pivot from external influences and curate the academic, political, and diplomatic synergy required for preserving a robust U.S.-Israel relationship.
Irit Tratt is an independent writer residing in New York. She obtained her Master's in International Affairs with a focus on the Mideast from George Washington University. She has worked as a legislative assistant for several members of Congress. She maintains her advocacy work through her involvement with organizations such as The Tikvah Fund, The Republican Jewish Coalition, and The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). Irit is a steering committee member on the Board of Fellows at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). Ms. Tratt has been published in The Jerusalem Post, The American Spectator, The Algemeiner, JNS, and Israel Hayom. Read More of Irit Tratt's Reports — Here.
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