Suspicion, Integration, and Postwar Transformation
The history of Jews in the United States stretches back to the seventeenth century. Yet for much of that history, Jews were viewed with suspicion and faced various forms of discrimination. Antisemitic organizations operated openly, and social exclusion remained common well into the twentieth century.
The turning point came after World War II, which ended in 1945. Antisemitism became discredited by its association with the Nazi enemy. At the same time, Jewish participation in the U.S. armed forces brought millions of American soldiers into direct contact with Jewish fellow citizens, replacing inherited prejudice with personal familiarity. In the decades that followed, Jews became increasingly visible in American public life — culturally, academically, and politically — expressing their identity more openly than had been possible before the war.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Jewish participation was highly visible in the civil rights movement and in efforts to dismantle racial segregation. While that visibility came at a cost, as Jewish activists were targeted by white supremacists in the American South, involvement in the struggle against racism continued. Jewish voices were also prominent in opposition to the Vietnam War, to the point that U.S. President at the time, Lyndon Johnson, reportedly expressed frustration with what he perceived as strong Jewish opposition, contrasting it with support for Israel.
By the mid-1960s, American Jews were largely integrated into the fabric of American society. Yet integration alone did not automatically translate into a deep strategic bond between Washington and Jerusalem. Israel was not regarded as a close ally under either the Eisenhower or the Kennedy administrations, as both were suspicious of the former Prime Minister of Israel, Ben-Gurion, and generally maintained a cool posture toward Israel.
1967: The Strategic and Emotional Turning Point
The Six-Day War in 1967 between Israel and a coalition of Arab countries, primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, marked a decisive turning point.
At a moment when the United States was mired in Vietnam and facing expanding Soviet influence in Europe and the Middle East, Israel defeated Soviet-backed Arab armies in just six days. The speed and scale of that victory reshaped perceptions in Washington. Israel was no longer viewed primarily as a vulnerable state seeking protection, but as a capable regional power that had effectively rolled back Soviet influence in the Middle East.
At the same time, 1967 transformed the emotional landscape of American Jewry. For many American Jews, the war produced a new sense of affinity and belonging to Israel. What had previously been a distant state became central to communal identity. This shift strengthened political support and deepened the sense that Israel’s fate and American Jewish identity were interconnected.
Geopolitical alignment and communal identification now reinforced one another. The alliance was anchored not only in strategic calculation, but in a broad American perception of shared interests and shared values.
Fractures Within and Beyond the Jewish Community
We are now witnessing the beginning of an erosion of this alliance. The war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon over the past two decades have fractured the American perception of shared culture and shared principles. The assumption of automatic moral alignment has weakened.
This fracture first became visible within parts of the American Jewish community, particularly among younger Jews, where identification with Israel is no longer as instinctive or unquestioned as it once was. From there, it has extended, and continues to extend, into broader American society, especially among younger voters.
From National Consensus to Political Polarization
On the surface, with the US and Israel waging a joint war against Iran, the alliance appears strong, but in the current war with Iran, Israel is increasingly seen as dragging the United States into conflicts that are not its own, wars that serve the interests of Israel and its hardline government. Polls indicate that only 25 percent of Americans supported the war in its early days.
In the minds of many Americans, this war has become closely associated with two political figures: Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump. Both are deeply polarizing figures, particularly among younger voters, who have faced, and in different ways continue to face, corruption allegations or legal scrutiny. That association shapes how Israel itself is perceived by the people of its top supporter.
Netanyahu’s efforts to weaken judicial constraints within Israel, his reliance on far-right coalition partners, and the racist tone adopted by some members of his government sit uneasily with the democratic image that once underpinned the American–Israeli alliance. For liberal American Jews, whose communal memory includes fighting segregation, racism, and authoritarian tendencies in the 1950s and 1960s, this alignment is especially jarring.
The Narrowing Base: Christian Zionism
Perhaps the clearest sign of the weakening American–Israeli alliance is the growing reliance of parts of the American political system on Christian Zionist support. This represents a narrowing of the alliance’s base.
Christian Zionism is rooted in a literalist reading of the Bible and an apocalyptic understanding of history. At its theological core, it is not a pro-Jewish doctrine but a framework in which Jewish sovereignty serves a Christian eschatological narrative. The ultimate horizon of that narrative is not Jewish continuity, but conversion or destruction. Its support for Israel is therefore instrumental, embedded in a prophecy-driven vision of the end of days.
The Alliance’s Foundation Has Eroded
The American–Israeli alliance was strongest when it rested on two pillars: broad American public support and affinity for Israel on the one hand, and the perception that the alliance served U.S. interests and advanced American goals on the other. Today, we may be witnessing a rapid unraveling of that foundation. Israel is no longer viewed as positively in the United States as it once was. The destruction of Gaza has left many Americans either opposed to Israel or ambivalent toward it. The war with Iran is widely seen as not clearly advancing core U.S. interests.
The two pillars that have supported the alliance since 1967 have begun to crack. Alliances endure when they command wide civic legitimacy; they weaken when they become tied to polarizing leaders, partisan identity, or narrowing ideological bases. What was made through the convergence of perception and interest may now be coming undone through misalignment.
(this article first appeared on EgyptianStreets.
