“Shift in American Right’s Stance on Israel: Iran Deal Highlights Growing Anti-Zionist Sentiment”

In recent developments, a memorandum of understanding announced after US President Donald Trump’s meeting in Versailles on June 17 has been described by some as a capitulation. Chuck Schumer referred to it as “the art of surrender.” In Israel, the debate is no longer about whether this is a catastrophe, but rather about why it happened and who in Jerusalem should have anticipated it.

For years, Israelis believed anti-Zionism was primarily a progressive-left issue, rooted in a postcolonial intellectual tradition that framed global politics as a struggle against Western hegemony, with Israel cast as a prominent symbol of this hegemony. However, this narrative is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain as hostility toward Israel finds a foothold on the American Right as well.

Historically, figures like Pat Buchanan, with his 1992 “America First” campaign, warned against aligning too closely with Israel’s geopolitical interests. Although Buchanan’s views were once a minority perspective, overshadowed by a strong pro-Israel coalition supported by evangelical Christian Zionism, the dynamics have shifted. The scale, proximity to power, and moral rhetoric have evolved, with figures like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens commanding large audiences and using language about Israel that would have been unthinkable a generation ago.

This shift is characterized by a moral absolutism and the framing of disagreement as betrayal, echoing the activist culture that conservatives once criticized. This pattern, identified by James Lindsay as the “woke Right,” is not new but is seen across various political ideologies where politics is reduced to a moral struggle. On the progressive Left, Jews are often seen as part of an oppressor class, while on the populist Right, they are viewed through a different lens, yet both sides converge on a similar cognitive structure.

As these dynamics unfold, the world watches how political and religious communities respond, navigating the complex interplay of policy debates, public protests, and religious arguments. In this context, the biblical call for peace and justice, as seen in Romans 12:18 and Micah 6:8, remains a guiding principle for those seeking reconciliation and understanding amidst these tensions.

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