Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in last week’s midterms. In reliably Republican Texas, James Talarico upset Ken Paxton. In Michigan, the Islamist Dr. Abdul El-Sayed defeated Mike Rogers. The wave swept across the country, with Democrats flipping seven Senate seats and 44 House seats. One of the most troubling results is the growing clout of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing.
Days after his victory, El-Sayed said that Washington was the nation’s capital, but that Michigan was the “capital of Arab America.” He also welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to end military aid to Israel and called for an end to arms sales, saying the weapons were being used to carry out “genocide and apartheid.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President JD Vance blamed the Republican defeat on the war with Iran and a growing appetite for a change in U.S. relations with Israel. The fact that a Republican vice president and a progressive senator are finding common ground on Israel should worry leaders in Jerusalem.
I see the wins by figures like El-Sayed in Michigan and Mayor Zohran Mamdani in New York as part of something much bigger. A “green-red alliance” is taking shape across the West between the progressive left associated with “woke” culture and Islamist forces.
Progressives seek to free people from obligations to faith, tradition and country. Islamists take advantage of those weakening ties to expand their influence. They benefit from the freedoms of speech and association that Western democracies protect and from a political culture reluctant to confront those who would use those freedoms to deny them to others.
This alliance threatens the West as we know it.
The alliance has already erupted onto the streets of Europe. We have all seen the massive, violent protests in France, Spain, Belgium and Germany. The Palestinian flag keeps turning up at these protests. Just days ago in Berlin, activists scaled a flagpole in front of the Reichstag, tore down the German flag and raised the Palestinian flag in its place.
What does the Palestinian flag have to do with student protests or domestic grievances in Europe? Why is a U.S. senator so eager to present himself as the representative of America’s Arab capital?
Here is what those questions reveal. Islam seeks to take over the West. It recognizes that Israel is on the front lines of this fight and that the Palestinian narrative is a tool for dismantling the Jewish state. Bringing down Israel is the key to bringing down the West itself.
Every crisis also presents an opportunity. In conversations over the past few days, I heard from senior figures in the United States who understand the scale of the threat. Most Americans have yet to wake up to it, but people in both parties see the danger, including some Democrats who won this week. We need to work more closely with them to put support for Israel back at the heart of a bipartisan consensus in Washington.
At the same time, Israel needs to take greater responsibility for its own future and broaden its circle of allies. The United States is a key ally, but relying on it alone limits our room to maneuver. We can deepen cooperation on technology and security with India and other countries in the Indo-Pacific, as well as expand economic and diplomatic ties in Latin America. In the Eastern Mediterranean, closer ties with Greece and Cyprus would strengthen our position as Turkey seeks to expand its influence.
Finally, we have to be honest about what’s happening here at home.
Israel’s election results and the talks to form a government show that Islamist parties that regard Israel’s very existence as a nakba, or “catastrophe,” are gaining power with the backing of parties on the left. Those parties are sidelining the prospect of a Jewish, Zionist unity government in favor of one that would rely on Arab parties to stay in power.
In the meantime, consider one number: 1 million.
A million illegal guns are circulating in Arab communities across Israel. It’s a ticking time bomb that could blow up in our faces at any moment. In the name of political correctness and because those involved are Israeli citizens, our security agencies don’t dare confront the threat.
If we expect the world to wake up, then it’s time we woke up here at home, too.
