As the world welcomes the news that Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire, Saturday’s decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities and join Israel’s war to destroy the Islamic regime’s path to a nuclear bomb remains a historic moment in U.S. leadership and crystallized the deep affection Trump has for the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
In the days before the U.S. joined the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in attacking Iran’s nuclear installations, it was clear that Israel’s mission was succeeding. In just 48 hours, its air force gained control of the skies over Tehran and unsettled Iran’s offensive positions by destroying many of its missile launchers.
Trump ran on a clever campaign of resuscitating American exceptionalism and he is a leader who reveres strength and admires those who project power and a determinative spirit.
For their part, Jewish Americans would be wise to learn from Israel’s muscular response toward Iran and reflect on how, in a remarkable display of Jewish grit and resolve, Israel’s isolation in the global arena is diminishing as allies like the US affirm their support and adversaries must reckon with a proud and effective people who are committed to protecting their country.
Indeed, the IDF’s brilliance in battle tracked with Trump, bolstering his praise for Israel. Last Friday, after being asked by a reporter if he would tell Israel to halt its attacks against Iran, Trump answered, “I think it’s very hard to make that request right now. If somebody is winning, it’s a little bit harder to do than if somebody’s losing.”
His endorsement of Israel’s precision pounding of Iranian targets culminated in a powerful address to the nation delivered in the hours after the US military conducted its successful strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Trump highlighted partnering with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and thanked Israel’s military for its work in degrading the Iranian threat.
In just over three minutes, Trump demonstrated a philosemitism that, to date, has been unmatched by any sitting US leader.
It also bears mentioning that Israel’s spectacular military power has elicited a whimper from Western European powers, whose own dithering attempts at diplomacy in response to Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been surpassed by Israel’s path to regional powerhouse.
Released after America’s strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, the leaders of Germany, France, and the UK, also known as the E3, affirmed “support for the security of Israel” in a statement that lacked the condescension that all too often accompanies any Israel-worthy communication coming from Western Europe.
While domestic realities and cultural shifts make it unlikely that countries like France and Britain will relinquish their place as Israel’s frostier allies, one can expect that, at least for the foreseeable future, these nations will grow more muted in their criticism of an empowered Jewish state.
Israel’s recent actions against Iran convey an inversion of the Jewish American experience, which is guided mainly by assimilationist tendencies and misguided assumptions that diluting Judaism’s particularities while engaging in outreach to our enemies will render our community more palatable to those seeking our demise.
For decades, U.S. Jewry has sought acceptance in left-leaning academic, cultural and political spaces by embracing “social justice” movements, with their overt anti-Jewish platforms doing little to sink liberal Jewish backing.
It’s a phenomenon that was evident during the summer of civil unrest in 2020 when over 600 Jewish groups signed onto a full-page New York Times ad, calling the overtly anti-Jewish Black Lives Matter group the “current day civil rights movement in this country,” that represents our “best chance at equity and justice.”
Whether it’s Jewish voters granting outsize support to candidates whose antisemitism is excused away by a younger generation desperate to gain acceptance in trendy circles or legacy groups issuing squeamish declarations of pro-Israel support in a bid to cover for a party that makes no moves to pivot from its antisemitic leanings, these actions inevitably lead to a weakening of Jewish identity.
It’s a feebleness that is easily detected and manipulated by our adversaries, who, in recent years, have launched an insidious campaign of intimidation and harassment across US cities and campuses.
The surge of antisemitism in America has mirrored a Jewish American entrenchment in liberal causes.
Dan Senor, host of the Call Me Back podcast, confirmed in his “State of World Jewry” address last month that American Jewry is, simply put, not “meeting its moment” and that the Jewish “awakening” witnessed across generational and political arenas after the October 7 slaughter in Israel has dissipated with the passage of time.
Israel’s mission in Iran has shifted global currents in its favor as more nations naturally wish to align with a fierce actor and courageous entity that understands the difference between strategic allies and ideological foes.
For Jewish liberals who for years have put their faith in the wrong people and policies, it’s time to recast priorities away from universal values and take a page out of the Israeli playbook on what it means to be a strong Jew.