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Over several quarters after prominent human rights groups concluded that the Israeli military had engaged in systematic destruction in Gaza, the American political establishment continues in rigid denial. Virtually all GOP lawmakers and the majority of Democrats continue to support massive U.S. arms transfers to Israel, rendering it impossible to admit that these weapons are enabling ongoing atrocities.

Central to Justifications for Arming Israel

One frequent claim is that Israel represents the nation of “the Jewish people.” During U.S. officials address publicly, they often state that hatred of Israel is synonymous with hatred toward Jewish people worldwide. This kind of rhetoric conflates Israel with global Jewry, thereby shielding the state from scrutiny by brandishing accusations of bigotry.

Merging Israel with “Jews Everywhere”

Such rhetorical device is both absurd and harmful. In the words of Voltaire reportedly said, “If people believe in falsehoods, they will continue to commit atrocities.” Yet violence persist in Gaza with no end in sight.

Israeli forces has continued with methodical – and deliberate – slaughter of Palestinian civilians, not only through bombs, missiles, and gunfire, but also by using hunger as a weapon of war. Humanitarian aid has been restricted or severely constrained, ignoring international alerts that food intake in Gaza had dropped below sustenance levels. The situation have been described as more severe than “a living nightmare.”

Irony of Prejudice

Paradoxically, the country frequently portrayed as the ultimate target of antisemitism has become one of the world’s most powerful sources of it. By insisting that it represents Jews globally, the state of Israel seeks to associate Jewish people worldwide with its deliberate atrocities, genocide, and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

False Equations

The Israeli government, backed by a decreasing number of Americans, blurs itself with Judaism and “the Jewish people” in a familiar marketing pattern. The core message promotes misleading equations: Israel = Jews, support for Israel = support for Jews, and denunciation of Israel = antisemitism. A subtext of these claims is that the Israeli government = exemption from accountability.

In the 1980s, activists targeted apartheid South Africa with peaceful sanctions and did not accused of being anti-white. In recent years, the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement focusing on Israel – criticized as an apartheid state by numerous human rights organizations – routinely faces accusations of antisemitism, including from progressive Democrats and prominent Jewish organizations.

Personal Reflection

Having been a young student in Hebrew school, I never would have imagined that the religion and reverence for Israel would become so manipulated. I was unaware that charitable efforts in Israel would eventually be overshadowed by actions of killing and oppression perpetrated in the name of defending Jewish people. The dignity of the Jewish tradition has been twisted and desecrated by destructive policies.

Official Narratives

Among Israel’s Basic Laws, enacted in 2018, states that the state is the “national home” of the Jewish people and that the right to practice sovereignty is “exclusive” to Jews. This codifies the official attempt to appropriate Judaism and assert to speak for all Jew, regardless of their views.

More and more, though, Jewish people do not support these approaches. Polling show significant opposition to core Israeli policies among Jewish communities in the U.S.

Myth of Safety

American officials often amplify the trope that Israel is the guarantor of safety for Jews around the world. Former president Joe Biden once stated that absent Israel, Jewish people would be safe – a view echoed by numerous politicians. This claim is not only inaccurate but also dangerous, as it equates Jewish safety with the actions of a government engaged in atrocities.

Conclusion

Major Jewish organizations in the U.S. often automatically praise the Israeli government, no matter its actions. In the words of one writer noted, U.S. Jewish leaders assert on Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, even with the tension between legal supremacy and equal rights for all.

Even more troubling is the implicit assumption that Jewish lives are inherently more important than other lives, and that Israel’s existence is above reproach. This attitude replaces Judaism’s inclusive values with a tribal deity that prioritizes one group over another.

Such devotion to Israel fuels the pernicious idea that “Jews” are synonymous with Israel. Any such claim is damaging, especially as Israel persists in ethnic cleansing, mass murder, and destruction. Distinguishing Jewish identity from the actions of the Israeli state is essential for ethical clarity and truth.