Zionism and American Jewish Politics
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Zionism and American Jewish Politics
Zionism has occupied a central but increasingly contested place in American Jewish political and communal life. For much of the twentieth century, support for Israel became an important component of organized American Jewish identity. Yet American Jewish attitudes toward Zionism have never been uniform. Religious affiliation, political ideology, generation, attitudes toward Israeli governments, and differing understandings of Jewish peoplehood have all shaped how American Jews relate to Israel and to Zionism itself.
The contemporary debate is particularly complicated because identification with the word "Zionism" does not necessarily correspond directly with attitudes toward Israel. Recent polling and commentary indicate that some American Jews who decline to identify as Zionists nevertheless support Israel's continued existence as a Jewish state. Others identify as liberal or democratic Zionists while strongly criticizing Israeli government policies. Still others advocate non-Zionist, post-Zionist, diasporist, binational, or explicitly anti-Zionist approaches to Jewish political identity.
These divisions increasingly intersect with American electoral politics. AIPAC, J Street, Jewish federations, denominational organizations, progressive Jewish groups, and other institutions represent competing approaches to Israel and American political advocacy. Debates over Gaza, Israeli settlements, Palestinian rights, antisemitism, campaign spending, and the Democratic Party have consequently become debates about the future of American Jewish politics itself.
Zionism, Identity, and American Jewish Opinion
One of the most significant developments in contemporary American Jewish life is the widening distinction between support for Israel and identification with Zionism. Surveys and commentary suggest that substantial numbers of American Jews continue to support Israel's existence while feeling uncertain about, uncomfortable with, or opposed to describing themselves as Zionists.
The meaning of the term itself is disputed. For some American Jews, Zionism means simply support for Jewish national self-determination and Israel's continued existence. Liberal Zionists frequently combine this position with support for Palestinian self-determination, territorial compromise, democracy, and criticism of Israeli governments. Other Jews associate contemporary Zionism more directly with Israeli nationalism, occupation, settlements, or the policies of Israel's political right.
As a result, surveys asking whether American Jews are "Zionists" may measure attitudes toward a contested political label as much as attitudes toward Israel. This helps explain findings in which support for Israel's existence remains considerably stronger than explicit Zionist identification.
Generational change is important but does not explain the entire phenomenon. Younger Jews have often demonstrated greater willingness to question traditional communal assumptions about Israel and consider binational, post-Zionist, or anti-Zionist alternatives. At the same time, uncertainty about the Zionist label also appears among older American Jews.
American Jewish Institutions and Israel
American Jewish organizations helped institutionalize support for Israel after its establishment in 1948. Federations, religious movements, advocacy organizations, educational institutions, charities, summer camps, and other communal bodies incorporated Israel into American Jewish organizational life.
This institutional consensus has become increasingly difficult to maintain. Israeli settlements, the peace process, religious pluralism, the Netanyahu governments, the judicial overhaul controversy, relations with Palestinians, and the Gaza war have produced disagreements between American Jewish organizations and within their memberships.
These divisions also reflect differences among Jewish religious movements. Orthodox Jews often hold political and religious attitudes toward Israel that differ substantially from those of Reform, Conservative, secular, and religiously unaffiliated Jews. Consequently, the idea of a single organized "American Jewish position" on Israel increasingly obscures substantial internal diversity.
Some establishment organizations have responded by reconsidering how Israel is discussed in communal institutions. Others continue to treat Zionism and attachment to Israel as foundational components of Jewish communal identity. Critics argue that this can marginalize Jews who are anti-Zionist, non-Zionist, or strongly critical of Israeli policy.
AIPAC, Elections, and Pro-Israel Political Power
AIPAC has become one of the most visible organizations in debates about American Jewish political influence and U.S. policy toward Israel. Its political network and associated electoral spending have played an increasingly prominent role in congressional primaries, particularly Democratic contests involving candidates critical of Israel.
Supporters view pro-Israel political advocacy as legitimate participation in American democracy and argue that maintaining a strong U.S.-Israel relationship remains an important political objective. Critics object to the scale and methods of political spending associated with pro-Israel groups and argue that such intervention can discourage debate over American policy toward Israel.
These disagreements have become especially significant within the Democratic Party. American Jews have historically leaned heavily Democratic, while Democratic voters and younger Americans have become more critical of Israeli policy. Congressional primaries involving Israel-critical candidates have therefore become tests not only of AIPAC's electoral strength but of Israel's changing position within Democratic politics.
Polling indicating discomfort among American Jews with some forms of AIPAC intervention further complicates assumptions that AIPAC necessarily represents a unified American Jewish political position.
J Street and the Liberal Zionist Middle
J Street emerged as an institutional expression of liberal Zionism and as an alternative to more traditional pro-Israel advocacy. It argues that support for Israel can coexist with criticism of Israeli governments, support for Palestinian national rights, opposition to settlement expansion, and advocacy for a negotiated political settlement.
The organization's development illustrates the changing boundaries of acceptable disagreement within American Zionism. Positions once viewed as belonging to the left of organized Jewish politics have in some settings become part of a broader political middle.
Yet liberal Zionism itself faces pressure from opposite directions. Supporters of more nationalist Israeli policies sometimes view liberal Zionists as insufficiently supportive of Israel. Meanwhile, anti-Zionist and increasingly Israel-critical progressives question whether Zionism can be reconciled with Palestinian equality and universal liberal principles.
J Street and similar organizations therefore occupy an increasingly difficult political space between traditional pro-Israel advocacy and a growing progressive challenge to Zionism itself.
Liberalism, Zionism, and Generational Change
A longstanding question in American Jewish politics concerns whether liberal political commitments and Zionism can continue to coexist comfortably. This issue has become especially important because American Jews have historically been disproportionately associated with liberal and Democratic politics.
Israeli political developments have repeatedly tested this relationship. Settlement expansion, the rise of the Israeli religious and nationalist right, the judicial overhaul controversy, and the conduct of the Gaza war have intensified questions about whether American liberal Jews can simultaneously defend Israel as a Jewish state and maintain commitments to democracy, equality, civil liberties, and Palestinian political rights.
Generational differences have amplified the debate. Younger American Jews have generally grown up farther removed from Israel's founding and early wars and within a political culture in which Palestinian narratives are considerably more visible. Some retain strong connections to Israel while adopting highly critical political positions. Others move toward diasporism, binationalism, post-Zionism, or anti-Zionism.
The result is not necessarily a simple disappearance of attachment to Israel but a fragmentation of the older consensus over what that attachment requires politically.
Polling, Political Parties, and Jewish Voters
Polling demonstrates that American Jewish political opinion cannot be reduced to a single position on Israel or Zionism. Attitudes vary according to age, religious denomination, ideology, party affiliation, and degree of religious observance.
American Jews remain strongly represented within Democratic politics, although Orthodox Jews are substantially more likely than other Jewish denominations to identify with Republicans. Israel has increasingly become a source of tension within these traditional partisan patterns.
The growing divide between younger and older Americans over Israel creates additional complications for Jewish political organizations. Declining support for Israeli government policies among Democrats and younger voters has made conventional bipartisan pro-Israel advocacy more difficult.
At the same time, American Jews may distinguish sharply between attitudes toward Israel's existence, the Israeli government, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli military policy, settlements, Palestinians, and Zionism. Polling results therefore depend heavily upon the precise questions being asked.
Gaza and the Transformation of American Jewish Opinion
The Gaza war accelerated political changes that were already developing within American Jewish life. The October 7 attacks initially strengthened identification with Israel for many Jews and heightened fears of antisemitism. The subsequent war also generated growing criticism of Israel's military conduct and intensified disputes over civilian casualties, humanitarian conditions, proportionality, and Palestinian rights.
American Jewish reactions have ranged widely. Some Jews have become more strongly Zionist because they interpret hostility toward Israel as evidence of the continuing need for Jewish national security. Others have become more alienated from Israeli policy or from Zionism itself.
This divergence has placed substantial pressure on communal organizations attempting simultaneously to support Israel, respond to antisemitism, maintain internal Jewish unity, and accommodate growing criticism of Israeli policy.
Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and Political Debate
Few subjects in contemporary American Jewish politics are more contested than the relationship between anti-Zionism and antisemitism.
Some Jewish organizations argue that attacks on Zionism can sometimes reproduce antisemitic stereotypes, deny Jewish collective rights, or target Jews because of assumed connections with Israel. Episodes of anti-Jewish violence associated with Israel-Palestine rhetoric have strengthened these concerns.
Other Jewish writers and organizations insist that opposition to Zionism must remain conceptually distinct from hostility toward Jews. Jewish anti-Zionists themselves demonstrate that opposition to Zionism exists within Jewish political traditions as well as outside them.
The debate becomes particularly contentious when criticism of Israeli government policy, opposition to Zionism, advocacy for a binational state, and antisemitism are treated as interchangeable concepts. Much of the contemporary discussion therefore concerns where meaningful distinctions should be drawn among these positions.
Netanyahu and American Jewish Liberalism
Benjamin Netanyahu's political career has played a major role in widening divisions between Israel and portions of American Jewry. His alliances with the Israeli right and religious parties, disputes with Democratic administrations, settlement policies, judicial overhaul efforts, and conduct of the Gaza war have generated criticism from American Jewish liberals.
This has contributed to a distinction between support for Israel and support for its government. Liberal Zionists increasingly argue that opposition to particular Israeli governments can be consistent with, or even required by, Zionist commitments to democracy and Israel's long-term future.
Critics of this position argue either that liberal Zionists underestimate threats facing Israel or, from the opposite direction, that liberal Zionism cannot overcome deeper conflicts between Jewish nationalism and Palestinian equality.
Democratic Primaries and the Politics of Israel
Democratic congressional and Senate primaries have become important arenas for disputes over Israel. Candidates increasingly differ openly over Gaza, military assistance, Palestinian statehood, AIPAC, Zionism, and the definition of antisemitism.
These contests reveal changes in the political environment surrounding Israel. Positions once considered politically dangerous within mainstream Democratic politics have gained greater electoral viability in some districts and constituencies.
Jewish candidates themselves increasingly represent competing approaches. Some defend conventional or liberal pro-Israel positions, while others support stronger restrictions on Israeli policy or question older Zionist assumptions. Consequently, debates over Israel can no longer be described simply as disagreements between Jewish and non-Jewish political constituencies.
Competing Futures for American Jewish Politics
The weakening of a single communal consensus has produced several competing visions for the future.
Traditional Zionist organizations continue to argue that Israel should remain central to American Jewish collective identity. Liberal Zionists seek to preserve Jewish national self-determination while strengthening democracy, Palestinian rights, and political compromise. Diasporist thinkers emphasize the legitimacy and permanence of Jewish life outside Israel. Anti-Zionist Jews seek communal institutions that do not organize Jewish identity around support for a Jewish nation-state. Others advocate binational or post-Zionist political frameworks.
These alternatives demonstrate that the contemporary dispute is larger than a disagreement about particular Israeli policies. It concerns the relationship among Jewish religion, peoplehood, nationality, democracy, universalism, Diaspora life, and political power.
Historical Development of American Zionism
American Jewish arguments about Zionism predate the establishment of Israel. Early American Jews debated whether Jewish nationalism was compatible with American citizenship and whether Jews constituted primarily a religious community, a people, or a nation.
Zionism eventually achieved broad acceptance within organized American Jewish life, particularly after the Holocaust and the establishment of Israel. Israel's survival, the Six-Day War, Soviet Jewish emigration, Holocaust memory, and the development of powerful communal institutions further strengthened the relationship.
Yet dissent never disappeared. Religious anti-Zionists, socialists, assimilationists, diasporists, peace activists, liberal Zionists, and other groups challenged different aspects of the emerging consensus.
Later disputes over the occupation, settlements, the Oslo process, Palestinian statehood, Israeli religious politics, and the Israeli right reopened many of these older arguments. Contemporary disagreements therefore represent both a new political crisis and the revival of questions that have existed throughout the history of American Zionism.
Zionism, Lobbying, and American Political Power
Debates about American Zionism frequently intersect with broader arguments about lobbying and political influence. Pro-Israel organizations participate in American politics through lobbying, campaign spending, voter mobilization, public advocacy, education, and coalition building.
The political influence of these organizations is substantial but should not be confused with the political preferences of all American Jews. Jewish organizations disagree sharply with one another, Jewish donors support competing candidates and causes, and American support for Israel has historically arisen from numerous religious, geopolitical, ideological, strategic, and domestic political constituencies.
The rivalry between organizations such as AIPAC and J Street illustrates this diversity. Even organizations commonly described as "pro-Israel" can disagree substantially over settlements, Palestinian statehood, military assistance, Israeli democracy, and relations with American political parties.
American Jewish Identity Beyond Zionism
A growing portion of contemporary Jewish political debate concerns whether American Jewish identity requires Zionism at all.
Diasporist and anti-Zionist thinkers argue that American Jewish culture, religion, ethics, community, and political life possess independent value and should not be organized primarily around Israel. Some advocate constructing institutions in which Jews can participate fully in communal life without affirming Zionism.
Supporters of Zionism respond that Jewish peoplehood and the historical relationship between Jews and the land of Israel cannot easily be separated from contemporary Jewish identity. Others seek an intermediate position in which Israel remains important without functioning as the defining center of Diaspora Jewish life.
These debates indicate that the future of American Jewish identity may be increasingly pluralistic rather than organized around a single relationship to Israel.
Conclusion
The history of Zionism in American Jewish politics is not a story of uniform support followed by uniform decline. It is a history of changing coalitions, competing definitions, institutional struggles, generational differences, religious divisions, and recurring debates about Jewish identity and political responsibility.
The contemporary period is marked by an especially visible gap between attachment to Israel and willingness to identify with Zionism. At the same time, disputes over AIPAC, J Street, Democratic primaries, Netanyahu, Gaza, Palestinian rights, antisemitism, and anti-Zionism have made Israel an increasingly divisive subject within American Jewish political life.
American Jewish politics consequently appears to be moving away from a model in which major institutions could plausibly claim a broad communal consensus on Zionism. In its place is an increasingly pluralistic and contested landscape encompassing nationalist Zionism, liberal Zionism, religious Zionism, diasporism, non-Zionism, post-Zionism, and anti-Zionism.
The central question is therefore no longer simply whether American Jews support Israel. It is what forms that relationship should take, how much political and communal authority Israel should exercise within Diaspora Jewish identity, how Palestinian rights should be incorporated into Jewish political thinking, and whether Zionism will remain the principal framework through which American Jews understand their collective relationship to Israel.
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Zionism, Identity, and American Jewish Opinion
| Andrew Silow-Carroll | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | August 12, 2026
Examines whether American Jews who support Israel should continue identifying with the increasingly contested word "Zionism," highlighting a gap between support for Israel's existence and willingness to adopt the label.
| Andrew Silow-Carroll | The Times of Israel | August 12, 2026
Discusses survey findings showing that many American Jews support Israel as a Jewish state while declining to describe themselves as Zionists.
| Peter Beinart | Jewish Currents | August 2026
Argues that declining identification with Zionism presents a major challenge to American Jewish establishment organizations whose communal programs have long centered Israel.
| Peter Beinart | Jewish Currents | July 29, 2026
Criticizes major American Jewish institutions for prioritizing defense of Israel in ways Beinart argues conflict with liberal democratic commitments in the United States.
| Andrew Silow-Carroll | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | July 12, 2026
Explores growing American Jewish openness, particularly among younger Jews, to political arrangements that depart from the traditional two-state Zionist consensus.
| Mira Sucharov | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | July 10, 2026
Argues that support for a binational state among younger American Jews does not necessarily amount to rejection of Jewish national identity or Zionism.
| Andrew Lapin | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | July 10, 2026
Reports that local Jewish federations are beginning to measure Zionist identification directly and finding substantial ambiguity about the term.
| Andrew Lapin | The Times of Israel | July 10, 2026
Describes how American Jewish federations are reconsidering assumptions about Zionism as surveys find strong attachment to Israel alongside weaker attachment to the label.
| Associated Press | The Times of Israel | July 8, 2026
Reports major differences between religiously affiliated and secular American Jews over Israel, Zionism, Gaza, and the place of Israel in Jewish identity.
| Tiffany Stanley | Associated Press | July 8, 2026
Presents AP-NORC polling showing substantial political, religious, and generational divisions among American Jews regarding Israel and Gaza.
| Nadav Ziv | The Forward | June 7, 2026
Examines progressive Jewish experimentation with post-Zionist politics and debates over what might replace Zionism as a framework for Jewish collective identity.
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | June 3, 2026
Investigates changing definitions and levels of Zionist identification among American Jews and what those changes mean for debates over antisemitism.
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | May 27, 2026
Reports survey findings showing substantial support among younger American Jews for a single binational state.
| Martin Indyk | The Atlantic | May 20, 2026
Examines the difficult political position of American Jews caught between attachment to Israel, liberal American politics, antisemitism, and opposition to Israeli government policies.
| Benjamin Balthaser | Jewish Currents | April 16, 2026
Explores the history and potential of diasporist Jewish politics as an alternative to organizing American Jewish identity primarily around Zionism.
| JTA | The Forward | April 9, 2026
Reports deteriorating American views of Israel and considerable skepticism toward Benjamin Netanyahu among American Jews.
| Jeremy Ben-Ami | J Street | March 29, 2026
Presents a liberal Zionist definition emphasizing both Jewish national self-determination and Palestinian national rights.
| Haaretz Staff | Haaretz | March 26, 2026
Examines increasing alienation from Israel among portions of the American Jewish community and arguments over whether Zionism remains a viable basis for Jewish identity.
| Josh Nathan-Kazis | Jewish Currents | March 11, 2026
Critically analyzes polling methodology used to characterize American Jewish attitudes toward Israel and contemporary Middle East politics.
| Andrew Silow-Carroll | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | March 5, 2026
Examines liberal Zionists attempting to maintain a political space between anti-Zionism and increasingly nationalist forms of pro-Israel politics.
| Shaul Magid | The Forward | February 24, 2026
Argues that American Jews frequently use competing definitions of Zionism, causing debates over Israel and Jewish politics to talk past one another.
| Andrew Silow-Carroll | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | February 22, 2026
Presents responses from American Jewish readers demonstrating the wide range of meanings they attach to Zionism and Israel.
| Haaretz Staff | Haaretz | February 20, 2026
Examines efforts on the American Jewish left to construct Jewish political identities that are less centered on Zionism and the Israeli state.
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | February 11, 2026
Explores the surprising combination of declining Zionist self-identification and continuing support among many American Jews for Israel's existence.
| Andrew Silow-Carroll | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | February 11, 2026
Shows that uncertainty about identifying as Zionist extends beyond younger American Jews and is visible among older generations as well.
| Gil Troy | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | February 9, 2026
Defends a pluralistic conception of Zionism and argues that survey results reveal confusion about terminology rather than straightforward rejection of Israel.
| Emily Tamkin | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | February 9, 2026
Argues that the contested term Zionism can obstruct more substantive discussions about Jewish, Israeli, and Palestinian political futures.
| Andrew Lapin | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | February 5, 2026
Reports JFNA findings that only a minority of American Jews use the Zionist label even though a large majority support Israel's continued existence as a Jewish state.
| Mimi Kravetz | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | February 4, 2026
Interprets polling differences between identification with the word Zionism and support for the political principles commonly associated with it.
AIPAC, Elections, and Pro-Israel Political Power
| Noel King and David Dayen | Vox | August 12, 2026
Examines how AIPAC's campaign spending has become an increasingly controversial issue in Democratic primaries and debates over U.S. policy toward Israel.
| Ron Kampeas | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | August 5, 2026
Explores attempts by an AIPAC critic to appeal to Jewish and pro-Israel Democratic voters after winning a major primary.
| Ron Kampeas | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | August 3, 2026
Examines AIPAC's role in Democratic electoral politics through the renewed contest between Cori Bush and Wesley Bell.
| Jacob Kornbluh | The Forward | July 29, 2026
Reports Yair Lapid's outreach to both AIPAC and J Street as Israeli opposition leaders reassess relations with an increasingly divided American political landscape.
| Ron Kampeas | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | July 20, 2026
Examines tensions between traditionally Democratic Jewish voters and changing Democratic attitudes toward Israel.
| Joel Swanson | The Forward | June 26, 2026
Interprets a contest between two Jewish Democratic politicians as reflecting competing Jewish strategies toward Israel, antisemitism, and political belonging.
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | May 29, 2026
Investigates AIPAC-linked political fundraising mechanisms and the organization's efforts to influence Democratic primary elections.
| JTA | The Forward | April 14, 2026
Reports polling showing significant American Jewish discomfort with heavy AIPAC spending in Democratic primary contests.
| Ron Kampeas | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | April 1, 2026
Covers Democratic efforts to condemn AIPAC while examining concerns about separating legitimate criticism of lobbying from antisemitic political narratives.
| Marianne LeVine | The Washington Post | March 21, 2026
Investigates large-scale super PAC spending, including efforts by AIPAC-linked organizations to shape congressional primaries.
| Washington Post Staff | The Washington Post | February 18, 2026
Examines accusations that AIPAC-linked political operations obscured their involvement in Democratic primary advertising.
| JTA | The Forward | April 8, 2025
Reports AIPAC's efforts to target Democratic politicians opposing certain arms transfers to Israel and the resulting debate within Democratic Jewish politics.
| Ron Kampeas | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | March 25, 2025
Compares reactions across American Jewish political organizations to the nomination of strongly pro-settlement evangelical Mike Huckabee as U.S. ambassador to Israel.
J Street and Liberal Zionism
| Jeremy Ben-Ami | J Street | September 3, 2022
Defines J Street as a Zionist organization while defending criticism of Israeli policy and distinguishing such criticism from rejection of Israel's existence.
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | June 15, 2021
Examines J Street's exclusion from a major American Zionist umbrella organization and the ideological divisions behind the controversy.
| J Street U Participants | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | July 30, 2019
Describes how a J Street-sponsored Israel trip introduced young American Jews to both Israeli and Palestinian narratives.
| Jesse Steshenko | The Forward | July 17, 2019
Offers a young American Jew's personal account of moving from Zionist identification toward rejection of Zionism after participating in a J Street trip.
| Ben Sales | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | June 5, 2019
Explores efforts to reconcile progressive American politics with organized pro-Israel advocacy.
| Hannah Dreyfus | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | November 27, 2018
Describes how J Street U came to occupy a political middle ground between more traditional Zionist organizations and anti-Zionist campus activism.
| Aziz Abu Sarah | The Forward | September 11, 2015
Uses participation by a Muslim Zionist in J Street to examine the organization's broader definition of pro-Israel politics.
| Sigal Samuel | The Forward | March 24, 2015
Examines debates at a J Street conference over liberal Zionism, Palestinian rights, and the future of the two-state framework.
| Forward Staff | The Forward | March 2015
Reviews J Street's emergence as a liberal Jewish counterweight to older pro-Israel lobbying organizations.
| Ron Kampeas | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | March 27, 2012
Chronicles J Street's evolving relationship with Israel and the organization's attempt to institutionalize liberal Zionism in Washington.
| Bret Stephens | Tablet | March 26, 2012
Presents a conservative critique of Beinart's claim that Israeli policies were alienating younger liberal American Jews.
| Ami Eden | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | July 19, 2011
Examines Jeremy Ben-Ami's effort to articulate J Street's challenge to the traditional American Jewish pro-Israel establishment.
| Jeffrey Goldberg | The Atlantic | May 17, 2010
Discusses Peter Beinart's argument that liberalism and Zionism were increasingly separating among younger American Jews.
| Tablet Staff | Tablet | May 17, 2010
Interviews Peter Beinart about his critique of American Jewish institutional leadership and its relationship to Israel.
American Jewish Institutions and Israel
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | November 21, 2025
Reports concern among Jewish communal leaders that younger American Jews are increasingly distant from conventional Zionist institutions.
| Forward Contributor | The Forward | August 27, 2025
Criticizes American Jewish institutions for what the author views as excessive reluctance to confront the Netanyahu government over the Gaza war.
| Philissa Cramer | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | December 9, 2024
Reports mainstream American Jewish organizations publicly opposing proposals by the Israeli far right to reestablish Jewish settlements in Gaza.
| Ron Kampeas | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | March 19, 2024
Shows tensions between Senate leader Chuck Schumer and establishment Jewish organizations following his call for Israeli elections.
| Ron Kampeas | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | February 15, 2024
Reports the consolidation of two longstanding liberal Zionist organizations as the American Jewish left reorganizes its Israel advocacy.
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | June 5, 2023
Investigates participation by major American Jewish federation officials in an event supportive of Israeli settlements despite their organizations' stated positions.
| Andrew Lapin | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | April 27, 2023
Shows how Israel's judicial crisis disrupted conventional celebration of Israel at a major American Jewish gathering.
| Ron Kampeas | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | March 9, 2023
Demonstrates denominational and political divisions among American Jewish organizations over engagement with Israel's far-right politicians.
| Philissa Cramer | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | February 1, 2023
Reports growing criticism of Netanyahu's new government among prominent American Jewish leaders.
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | December 19, 2022
Examines changes at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and tensions between Jewish communal advocacy, liberal politics, and federation institutions.
Polling, Political Parties, and Jewish Voters
| Steve Peoples and Will Weissert | Associated Press | July 9, 2026
Reports widespread dissatisfaction among American Jews with both political parties while showing continuing internal divisions over Israel.
| Shibley Telhami | Brookings Institution | August 6, 2025
Tracks declining American support for Israel, particularly among Democrats and younger voters, creating a changing environment for Jewish political advocacy.
| JTA | The Forward | June 12, 2025
Reports weakening sympathy for Israel even among Republican voters, complicating assumptions about Israel's durable bipartisan support.
| Emily Tamkin | The Forward | November 8, 2024
Argues that the idea of a politically unified American Jewish community obscures major differences in voting behavior, religiosity, and attitudes toward Zionism.
| Andrew Silow-Carroll | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | November 4, 2024
Describes how October 7, Israel, antisemitism, and partisan politics complicated previously stable voting assumptions among American Jews.
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | October 22, 2024
Explains methodological difficulties involved in polling American Jews about Israel, antisemitism, political parties, and campus protests.
| Rob Eshman | The Forward | August 8, 2024
Argues that both political parties instrumentalize Jewish concerns and Israel-related issues for partisan purposes.
| Jacob Kornbluh | The Forward | July 18, 2024
Examines how a second Trump presidency could affect Jewish Americans, Israel policy, antisemitism policy, and partisan Jewish politics.
| AJC Staff | American Jewish Committee | June 10, 2024
Summarizes survey findings on Israel, Jewish identity, relationships, antisemitism, and political attitudes among American Jews.
| American Jewish Committee | AJC | June 2024
Presents extensive polling on American Jewish attitudes toward Israel, antisemitism, political leadership, and changes since October 7.
| Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | April 2, 2024
Documents American Jewish attitudes toward Israelis, the Israeli government, Palestinians, and the Gaza war.
| Shibley Telhami | Brookings Institution | November 9, 2023
Examines generational differences in American attitudes toward Israel, including substantially weaker attachment among younger American Jews.
| Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | October 13, 2023
Reviews longstanding personal and emotional ties between American Jews and Israel.
| Shibley Telhami | Brookings Institution | July 18, 2023
Presents national polling on Zionism, Israel, antisemitism, and partisan differences in American public opinion.
| Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | May 21, 2021
Shows that American Jewish opinion about Israel and Israeli leadership varies significantly by age, denomination, and political affiliation.
| Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | May 11, 2021
Provides a detailed examination of attachment to Israel and political views regarding Israeli policy among American Jews.
| Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | May 11, 2021
Offers a broad demographic and political portrait of American Jewry, including Israel attachment, partisan affiliation, religious identification, and generational change.
| Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | October 1, 2013
Provides an earlier benchmark for American Jewish attitudes toward Israel and U.S. government support for the Jewish state.
Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, and Political Debate
| American Jewish Committee | AJC | 2026
Surveys American Jewish experiences and perceptions of antisemitism, including controversies involving Israel and anti-Zionist rhetoric.
| Yair Rosenberg | The Atlantic | June 8, 2025
Argues that antisemitic attacks directed at Zionists or Jews can strengthen Jewish attachment to Zionism by reinforcing concerns about Jewish security.
| American Jewish Committee | AJC | 2025
Examines American Jewish views of antisemitism and the relationship between hostility to Israel, anti-Zionism, and anti-Jewish prejudice.
| Franklin Foer | The Atlantic | October 7, 2024
Examines the transformation of American Jewish perceptions of antisemitism and political belonging after the October 7 attacks.
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | September 17, 2024
Offers a conceptual framework distinguishing Zionism, support for Israel, anti-Zionism, criticism of Israel, and antisemitism.
| Jewish Currents Editors | Jewish Currents | May 16, 2024
Presents a left-wing Jewish discussion of Zionism, anti-Zionism, Israel, and the political vocabulary used within American Jewish debates.
| Geoffrey Levin and Arielle Angel | Jewish Currents | March 13, 2024
Traces American Jewish criticism of Zionism and Israeli policy back through decades of post-1948 communal history.
| AJC Staff | American Jewish Committee | 2024
Presents the AJC's perspective on Jewish anti-Zionism and argues that anti-Zionist Jews represent a minority within the American Jewish population.
| AJC Staff | American Jewish Committee | May 2, 2022
Discusses pressures facing younger American Jews who feel tension between attachment to Israel and acceptance within progressive political circles.
| Ammiel Hirsch | Tablet | September 27, 2021
Presents a liberal Zionist argument that progressive American Jews have underestimated antisemitism within parts of the political left.
| Shaul Magid | Jewish Currents | September 20, 2021
Explores the possibility of American Jewish communal identity that is less dependent on Zionism and Israeli nationalism.
Historical Development of American Zionism
| Jordan Chandler Hirsch | The Atlantic | July 15, 2022
Reviews the larger American political history of Zionism and challenges explanations of U.S. support for Israel that attribute it primarily to American Jewish influence.
| Conor Friedersdorf | The Atlantic | July 14, 2022
Discusses historical explanations for American support of Israel and critiques simplistic claims that American Jews uniformly dictate U.S. Middle East policy.
| Shaul Magid | The Forward | October 10, 2018
Argues that Zionism operates differently as a lived nationalism for Israelis and as an identity framework for Jews living in the United States and elsewhere.
| Forward Contributor | The Forward | December 12, 2017
Examines political tensions over the relationship between Israel and American Diaspora Jews.
| James Kirchick | Tablet | March 27, 2016
Explores transformations in American Jewish identity and the declining ability of Israel to unify Jews across ideological and religious divisions.
| Tablet Staff | Tablet | June 3, 2010
Examines pressure on liberal American Zionists caught between defenders of Israeli government policy and critics demanding stronger opposition.
| Jeffrey Goldberg | The Atlantic | July 21, 2009
Discusses Michael Oren's argument that successful American Jewish life challenged classical Zionist assumptions about the Diaspora.
| Hendrik Hertzberg | The New Yorker | June 2009
Discusses changing American Jewish and congressional attitudes toward Israeli settlements and the emergence of J Street.
| Connie Bruck | The New Yorker | June 5, 1995
Examines how Israeli partisan divisions increasingly entered American Jewish lobbying politics during the Oslo peace process.
| Milton Steinberg | The Atlantic | February 1945
Provides a contemporary account of how Zionism moved from a relatively marginal position toward broader acceptance among American Jews before Israel's establishment.
Netanyahu, Israeli Politics, and American Jewish Liberalism
| Rob Eshman | The Forward | July 11, 2025
Argues that Netanyahu's political choices have inflicted lasting damage on Zionism and on the willingness of Diaspora Jews to defend Israel.
| Haaretz Staff | Haaretz | November 29, 2024
Examines academic and communal disputes over Israel, Zionism, and acceptable criticism within American Jewish institutional life.
| Rob Eshman | The Forward | November 30, 2023
Argues that Israel's far-right government threatens the democratic Zionist values historically important to many American Jewish supporters of Israel.
| Forward Contributor | The Forward | August 1, 2023
Offers the perspective of an American immigrant and former Israeli soldier opposing Netanyahu's judicial overhaul in the name of democratic Zionism.
| Andrew Silow-Carroll | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | July 30, 2023
Discusses Donniel Hartman's belief that Israel's democracy movement could create a new Israeli political coalition relevant to American liberal Zionists.
| Forward Contributor | The Forward | July 6, 2023
Presents a Zionist critique of tactics used by opponents of Netanyahu's proposed judicial changes.
| Jacob Kornbluh | The Forward | June 8, 2023
Reports Israeli Labor leader Merav Michaeli's appeal to American Jews to help rebuild an international liberal Zionist movement.
| Andrew Silow-Carroll | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | April 9, 2023
Explores ideological and social divisions underlying Israel's judicial-overhaul protests and their relevance for Diaspora Jews.
| Sruli Fruchter | The Forward | March 27, 2023
Reflects the alarm felt by young American Zionists watching Israel's judicial overhaul crisis from the United States.
| Rob Eshman | The Forward | March 24, 2023
Reconsiders Peter Beinart's earlier warnings that tensions between liberal democracy and Israeli policy could produce a crisis within American Zionism.
Competing Futures for American Jewish Politics
| Ben Sales | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | January 16, 2026
Describes the New Israel Fund's effort to defend liberal democratic Zionism against both Israel's far right and anti-Zionist movements.
| Alana Newhouse | Tablet | 2026
Presents a strongly affirmative reinterpretation of Zionism as a broader model of national renewal, illustrating one contemporary pro-Zionist response to the ideology's critics.
| Elliot Cosgrove | The Forward | December 12, 2025
Traces the development of American Zionism and asks what Zionist commitment should mean for Jews who deliberately remain in the United States.
| Haaretz Staff | Haaretz | November 21, 2025
Examines the weakening political position of moderate and liberal Zionists between increasingly polarized pro-Israel and anti-Zionist movements.
| Peter Beinart | Jewish Currents | November 5, 2025
Argues that changing urban progressive politics may be creating a coalition in which criticism of Zionism no longer excludes politicians from mainstream liberal electoral success.
| Sandra Fox and Aaron Kreuter | Jewish Currents | August 12, 2025
Examines the historically important role of Jewish summer camps in transmitting Zionism and political identity to generations of North American Jews.
| Jeremy Ben-Ami | J Street | July 27, 2025
Responds to arguments that liberal American Judaism and contemporary Zionism are becoming incompatible and defends a democratic liberal Zionism.
| Peter Beinart | Jewish Currents | June 17, 2025
Calls for new American Jewish institutions capable of supporting explicitly anti-Zionist forms of Jewish religious and communal life.
| Raef Zreik | Jewish Currents | May 6, 2025
Reconsiders Martin Buber's binationalist Zionism as contemporary Jews debate alternatives to ethnonational political arrangements.
| Jon Danforth-Appell | Jewish Currents | April 9, 2025
Argues for understanding American Jewish relationships to Israel through concrete political and institutional connections rather than treating Zionism as an all-encompassing Jewish identity.
American Jewish Politics and the Changing Meaning of Zionism
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | August 6, 2026
Examines AIPAC's response to Abdul El-Sayed's Michigan primary victory and the widening political divide between the pro-Israel organization and parts of the Democratic Party.
| Jacob Kornbluh and Hannah Feuer | The Forward | August 4, 2026
Analyzes Abdul El-Sayed's Democratic Senate primary victory as a major test of AIPAC's electoral influence and changing Democratic attitudes toward Israel.
| JTA | The Forward | August 3, 2026
Examines Cori Bush's rematch with Wesley Bell as another referendum on AIPAC, Gaza, Israel and progressive Democratic politics.
| Jacob Kornbluh | The Forward | August 2, 2026
Describes Michigan's Democratic Senate primary as a proxy struggle over Gaza, AIPAC and the future of Israel advocacy within the Democratic Party.
| JTA | The Forward | July 30, 2026
Surveys several Michigan races in which Jewish identity, Israel policy and opposition to AIPAC have become important political issues.
| Grace Gilson | The Forward | July 26, 2026
Reports concern among some Jewish political activists over Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson's attacks on AIPAC and characterization of Israel's Gaza campaign.
| JTA | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | July 15, 2026
Argues that long-standing assumptions about American Jewish security and political influence are being challenged by polarization over Israel, Zionism and antisemitism.
| Rob Eshman | The Forward | July 11, 2026
Explores why growing numbers of American Jews feel politically homeless as Israel becomes more divisive within both major political parties.
| JTA | The Forward | July 10, 2026
Reports how Jewish federations are confronting survey results showing a large gap between support for Israel and willingness to identify explicitly as Zionist.
| Forward Contributor | The Forward | July 1, 2026
Considers what victories by Israel-critical candidates in New York mean for liberal Zionist Jews and their political influence.
Democratic Primaries, Jewish Voters, and Israel
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | June 24, 2026
Reviews New York primary results showing shifting centers of Jewish political influence and stronger electoral challenges to traditional pro-Israel positions.
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | June 23, 2026
Covers the primary contest between Brad Lander and Dan Goldman, two Jewish Democrats offering different versions of liberal Zionist politics.
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | June 22, 2026
Explores how Israel, Gaza, AIPAC and accusations of genocide became central issues in several New York Democratic primaries.
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | June 17, 2026
Reports on the political rise of a democratic socialist whose criticism of Israel prompted concern among organized Jewish leaders.
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | June 10, 2026
Profiles a Jewish Democratic congressional candidate attempting to appeal to voters uncomfortable with growing party divisions over Israel.
| Rob Eshman | The Forward | June 10, 2026
Argues that policies of Israel's own government have contributed to growing anti-Zionism and binational-state support among younger American Jews.
| Nadav Ziv | The Forward | June 7, 2026
Makes the case that Jews can remain emotionally attached to Israelis and Jewish collective life while abandoning Zionism as a political ideology.
| Washington Post Staff | The Washington Post | May 22, 2026
Examines a Texas congressional controversy involving extreme rhetoric against American Zionists and the bipartisan accusations of antisemitism that followed.
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | May 13, 2026
Reports Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's argument to Jewish Democrats that some anti-Zionist rhetoric crosses into antisemitism.
J Street, AIPAC, and the Liberal Zionist Middle
| Alex Kane | Jewish Currents | May 5, 2026
Examines the increasingly difficult position of J Street as progressive Democrats demand stronger restrictions on U.S. military assistance to Israel.
| Jewish Currents | Jewish Currents | April 16, 2026
Considers the tensions experienced by Jewish anti-Zionists seeking to remain engaged with Jewish communal institutions rather than abandoning them.
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | April 14, 2026
Reports polling indicating that most American Jews oppose AIPAC's use of Republican-sourced funds to intervene heavily in Democratic primaries.
| Arielle Angel and Daniel May | Jewish Currents | April 9, 2026
Discusses philosopher Elad Lapidot's arguments about antisemitism, Jewish identity and the political consequences of equating Jewishness with Zionism.
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | March 13, 2026
Examines J Street's struggle to preserve a liberal Zionist electoral constituency between AIPAC and a growing anti-Israel progressive movement.
| Jewish Currents | Jewish Currents | February 26, 2026
Discusses disagreements within American Jewish life over what Zionism now means and whether the term remains politically useful.
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | February 18, 2026
Profiles Dan Goldman's effort to defend strong support for Israel as compatible with progressive Democratic politics.
| Dan Perry | The Forward | February 9, 2026
Examines why many American Jews defend Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state while refusing to identify themselves as Zionists.
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | February 4, 2026
Reports the selection of a liberal Zionist Jewish leader for an antisemitism post by a politician strongly critical of Israeli policy.
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | January 22, 2026
Places contemporary arguments over Jewish politicians, Israel and Zionism in the long history of antisemitic allegations of Jewish dual loyalty.
American Jewish Opinion After Gaza
| The Washington Post | The Washington Post | October 6, 2025
Reports deep criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza among American Jews while documenting continued strong support for Israel's existence.
| The Washington Post | The Washington Post | October 6, 2025
Profiles American Jews whose reactions to the Gaza war range from intensified Zionist identification to alienation, anger and rejection of Israeli policy.
| Luke Tress | The Times of Israel | October 3, 2025
Reports declining American approval of Israel and major partisan and generational differences that increasingly shape Jewish political advocacy.
| The Washington Post | The Washington Post | October 2025
Provides detailed polling data on American Jewish attitudes toward Israel, Gaza, antisemitism and Jewish identity.
| Forward Contributor | The Forward | September 10, 2025
Argues that criticism of Israeli government misconduct can be understood as an expression of Zionist commitment rather than a rejection of Israel.
| Jewish Currents | Jewish Currents | June 11, 2025
Examines the difficulty of separating Judaism and Zionism politically when mainstream Jewish institutions themselves frequently connect the two.
Political Violence, Antisemitism, and Zionist Identity
| The Washington Post | The Washington Post | May 23, 2025
Examines American Jewish responses to the killing of two Israeli Embassy employees and fears about violence linked to Israel-Palestine politics.
| Forward Contributor | The Forward | May 9, 2025
Presents the perspective of a writer whose initial support for Israel's military response after October 7 shifted toward severe criticism of its conduct in Gaza.
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | October 6, 2024
Reflects on the profound divisions and emotional consequences the year after October 7 produced across American Jewish communities.
| JTA | The Forward | August 19, 2024
Examines the Democratic Party platform's extensive treatment of Israel, Gaza, military assistance and Palestinian statehood.
| Hussein Aboubakr Mansour | Tablet | June 26, 2024
Presents a strongly pro-Israel critique of liberal Jewish approaches to Palestinian activism and antisemitism on the American political left.
| Politico Staff | Politico | May 31, 2024
Reports AIPAC's escalation of its campaign against Jamaal Bowman through advertisements connecting his Israel positions with controversies over antisemitism.
AIPAC and the 2024 Democratic Primaries
| Politico Staff | Politico | May 19, 2024
Examines massive pro-Israel political spending against Jamaal Bowman and efforts to mobilize Jewish voters behind George Latimer.
| Politico Staff | Politico | May 17, 2024
Investigates why AIPAC's super PAC often avoided mentioning Israel directly while spending heavily to defeat candidates critical of Israeli policy.
| Politico Staff | Politico | April 18, 2024
Reports an AIPAC-endorsed Democratic congressman's call for new Israeli leadership, demonstrating political differences even among AIPAC-supported lawmakers.
| Ron Kampeas | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | March 15, 2024
Examines Chuck Schumer's extraordinary criticism of Netanyahu and his attempt to distinguish support for Israel from support for its government.
| Noah Feldman | The Washington Post | March 5, 2024
Considers whether October 7 may push some progressive Diaspora Jews toward a Jewish identity less centered on political nationalism and Israel.
| Andrew Silow-Carroll | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | February 25, 2024
Explores how anti-Zionism moved from a relatively marginal Jewish political position into a prominent American communal debate.
| Ron Kampeas | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | January 18, 2024
Profiles Jewish political advisers working with Republican presidential candidates and their approaches to Jewish voters and Israel.
| Gillian Brockell | The Washington Post | November 19, 2023
Traces American Jewish disputes over Zionism to the movement's earliest years through figures such as Jacob Schiff.
Historical Arguments Over American Zionism
| Peter Beinart and George Bisharat | Jewish Currents | September 18, 2023
Argues that Palestinian political movements should address Israeli and Diaspora Jews directly in envisioning alternatives to the declining two-state framework.
| Marc Israel | The Forward | August 23, 2023
Describes a rabbi's decision to move from long-standing support for AIPAC toward involvement with J Street because of disagreements over Israeli policy.
| The Washington Post | The Washington Post | February 23, 2023
Reviews Eric Alterman's history of the increasingly troubled political relationship between American Jews and Israel.
| Jeremy Ben-Ami | The Forward | December 28, 2022
Argues that supporting Israel should not require endorsing Israeli right-wing policies and presents J Street's alternative definition of pro-Israel politics.
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | December 7, 2022
Reports J Street's call for AIPAC to curtail its intervention in partisan primaries and describes growing rivalry between the organizations.
| Jacob Kornbluh | The Forward | November 9, 2022
Compares the electoral performance of candidates supported by AIPAC and J Street during the 2022 midterm elections.
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | November 4, 2022
Examines J Street's effort to differentiate itself from AIPAC by emphasizing democracy and domestic progressive priorities.
| Andrew Silow-Carroll | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | October 20, 2022
Uses the history of American Jewish arguments over who qualifies as a "good Jew" to illuminate contemporary conflict over Zionism and Israel.
| Forward Staff | The Forward | August 24, 2022
Contrasts major donations to AIPAC and J Street and illustrates ideological competition among wealthy Jewish political donors.
Competing Pro-Israel Organizations
| Washington Post Contributor | The Washington Post | September 2, 2022
Reviews the history of the U.S.-Israel relationship while challenging narratives that explain American support primarily through Jewish lobbying power.
| Arno Rosenfeld | The Forward | June 3, 2022
Shows that despite their ideological rivalry, AIPAC and J Street have endorsed many of the same congressional candidates.
| Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | May 11, 2021
Documents the overwhelmingly Democratic orientation of American Jews while showing distinctive Republican identification among Orthodox Jews.
| Shaul Magid | Tablet | May 21, 2020
Examines the theological anti-Zionism of Satmar Hasidism and its distinctive place in Jewish opposition to political Zionism.
| Shaul Magid | Jewish Currents | March 25, 2019
Argues for recovering the historical diversity of Zionist, non-Zionist and anti-Zionist Jewish political traditions.
| Jewish Currents | Jewish Currents | March 25, 2019
Critiques Jewish Voice for Peace's anti-Zionist statement while supporting much of its substantive political analysis.
American Jewish Identity, Liberalism, and Israel
| Dov Waxman | The Washington Post | March 16, 2016
Uses historical survey evidence to examine political and religious differences between American and Israeli Jews.
| Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | March 8, 2016
Compares Israeli and American Jews on politics, religion, peace negotiations and the appropriate level of U.S. support for Israel.
| Nathan Guttman | The Forward | May 21, 2015
Examines the role of wealthy Jewish donors in American electoral politics while highlighting the ideological diversity of their political giving.
| David Eden | Jewish Currents | September 16, 2014
Presents a socialist Zionist attempt to reconcile Jewish nationalism with economic justice, internationalism and Palestinian liberation.
| Max Fisher | The Washington Post | October 3, 2013
Summarizes polling trends showing differences in American Jewish attitudes toward settlements, Palestinian statehood and attachment to Israel.
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | January 20, 2012
Examines controversy over accusations of Jewish dual loyalty and J Street leader Jeremy Ben-Ami's rejection of the term "Israel Firster."
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | May 25, 2010
Surveys reactions to Peter Beinart's influential argument that American Jewish establishment politics were alienating younger liberal Jews from Zionism.
| New York Jewish Week | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | May 12, 2010
Documents longstanding divisions among AIPAC, Americans for Peace Now, the Zionist Organization of America and other competing pro-Israel constituencies.
Zionism, Lobbying, and American Political Power
| Marjorie Ingall | Tablet | June 1, 2010
Reflects on the intense communal reaction faced by American Jews who publicly express ambivalence about Israel.
| Brookings Institution | Brookings Institution | 2007
Discusses controversies surrounding theories of the Israel lobby and the legitimate political participation of American Jewish organizations.
Broader Political Context
| Jewish Currents | Jewish Currents | June 18, 2026
Explores competing ideas about Jewish safety and argues against defining Diaspora Jewish security primarily through defense of Israel.
| JTA Staff | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | November 21, 2025
Reviews Mark Mellman's career and his creation of Democratic Majority for Israel to counter declining support for Israel within parts of the Democratic Party.
| Politico Staff | Politico | October 9, 2025
Compares reactions from AIPAC, J Street, the ADL and Palestinian advocacy organizations to a proposed Gaza ceasefire and peace agreement.
| Sheree Trotter | Tablet | November 29, 2021
Presents a pro-Zionist argument framing Jewish nationalism as an indigenous national revival and challenging colonial interpretations of Israel.
| Ammiel Hirsch | Tablet | September 27, 2021
Argues that liberal American Jews must take antisemitism within progressive political circles more seriously while defending liberal Zionism.
| Shaul Magid | Tablet | May 18, 2021
Reviews the history of Matzpen and the development of explicitly anti-Zionist Jewish-left politics.
