Liberals & Progressives
Allies by David Hazony, SAPIR Journal, Vol. 17, Spring 2025
Our true enemies will always be the antisemites, whether Left or Right. We should ally with those who side with us against them, with little regard for their reasons or ultimate goals. Because “ultimate goals” are a faraway thing, and the antisemites are here now.[….] By fighting tomorrow’s war at the expense of today’s, we don’t just undermine our power to win today’s. We also risk losing a great deal of what we will need to fight tomorrow’s.
Jewish values in an age of political betrayal by Marc Weisman, Jewish News Syndicate, May 27, 2025
Jewish activists have stood at the forefront of labor movements, civil-rights marches and anti-apartheid campaigns, believing that liberalism and Jewish values were one and the same.
Podcast: What the Progressive Movement Gets Wrong About Israel (24’), Aviva Klompas interview with Brianna Wu, Boundless Insights, Season 1, Episode 64, May 26, 2025
Podcast: Why won’t Israel fight for the Democrats? With Rep. Ritchie Torres, Haviv Rettig Gur, Ask Haviv Anything (Episode 6, 41’), March 25, 2025
Abandoning the Democrats is a losing strategy for Israel, says Rep. Ritchie Torres, perhaps the most outspoken supporter of Israel in the US House of Representatives. The fight over Israel inside American politics is a proxy for a much larger battle over the future of the Democratic Party and the character of America, he argues. Those who don’t like Israel, he says, tend to take a dim view of the promise of America.
How Anti-Israel Orthodoxy Became A New Religion by Joe Roberts, Flashpoints & Frontlines, March 5, 2025
Activism has turned into fundamentalism, where only total ideological purity is tolerated.
Why this former American Jew has stopped apologizing by Carra Glatt Ben-Baruch, The Times of Israel, October 27, 2024
Good liberal Jews genuinely feel compassion for those killed and displaced on both sides. They want peace. But they are also embarrassed.
John Fetterman Has No Regrets by Peter Savodnik, The Free Press, August 18, 2024
Once a party darling, the senator’s pro-Israel stance has led to protests outside his home and detractors inside his office.
Liberal Jews Deluded Themselves on Palestine by Hussein Aboubakr Mansour, Tablet, June 26, 2024
The antisemitism of the Palestinian cause is not a bug; it‘s a feature of the new politics in America.
Jamaal Bowman’s Defeat Is a Fatal Blow to the Anti-Israel Left by Amanda Berman, The Daily Beast, June 25, 2024
The first “Squad” member to be kicked out of office by his party proves real progressives reject antisemitism.
Zionism and Liberalism in America by Michael J. Koplow, SAPIR, June 17, 2024
The fates of Israel and world Jewry are entwined. The liberal order is essential for both.
Stanford student protests are forcing the left’s moral reckoning by Nadav Ziv, The Hill, June 14, 2024
Why the left united around hatred of Israel by Jonathan S. Tobin, Jewish News Syndicate, April 12, 2024
The growing disconnect between American Jews and mainstream Jewish organizations by David Bernstein, eJewishPhilanthropy, April 9, 2024
Confront the New Cossacks by David L. Bernstein, Jewish Priorities, February 11, 2024
As Liberal Jews Feel abandoned by the Left — What’s next? by Adam Milstein, The Jerusalem Post, January 10, 2024
The Liberal Betrayal of the Jews, video series with Prof. Ruth Wisse, Tikva Fund, December 2023:
- Part I (35’42”): Can Liberals Confront Anti-Semitism?
- Part II (41’18”): The Dark Side of Holocaust Education
- Part III (38’30”): Equality and Excellence: Can They Coexist?
- Part IV (38’14”): The Meaning of Jewish Exceptionalism
How Oct. 7 Is Reshaping the Zionist — and Anti-Zionist — Left in the US by Yehuda Kurtzer, Forward, November 30, 2023
The Zionist left is reengaging to broaden the establishment’s big tent — and the anti-Zionist left is staying far outside.
Abandoned by Progressives, American Jews Will Rethink Their Priorities by Michael J. Koplow, The Messenger, October 19, 2023
The unpleasantly dawning realization for many is that we stand alone amidst a sea of erstwhile allies.
The Takeover by Samuel J. Abrams, Tablet, August 30, 2023
The key takeaway from the current research is that progressives constitute a political camp distinct from liberals. [….] Among their most distinctive features is that Jewish progressives are very distant from Israel—even to the point of expressing what some would see as anti-Israel views. […] Being highly critical if not overtly hostile toward Israel is not simply one stance among others for Jewish progressives: It is a defining feature of their political identity.
The Democratic Party’s anti-Zionist wing is growing. Here’s how. by E.J. Hare, The Times of Israel, June 24, 2023
Israel supporters should look carefully at the New York political scene – and they should be alarmed. Very alarmed.
Giving ‘progressive’ antisemites the benefit of the doubt by Jonathan S. Tobin, Jewish News Syndicate, June 23, 2023
Both mainstream Jewish groups and their allies in the Biden administration are determined to avoid taking on left-wing Jew-haters and the ideas that drive them.
Major Jewish groups leave coalition after video slams ‘woke antisemitism’ by Arno Rosenfeld, Forward, June 20, 2023
The Jewish Federations of North America and Jewish Council for Public Affairs departed the Combat Antisemitism Movement’s sprawling coalition after the group released a video decrying progressive politics.
The woke hatred for Israel is no longer just strange — it’s dangerous by Brendan O’Neill, National Post, January 30, 2023
They made more noise over a massacre that exists mostly in their imaginations than they did over a massacre that existed in the real world.
Liberals, Progressives, Wokeness and Israel by Samuel J. Abrams and David Bernstein, The Jewish Journal, December 13, 2022
“Woke Antisemitism: How a Progressive Ideology Harms Jews” by David Bernstein
Confronting Anti-Semitism in Progressive Spaces by Emily Alhadeff, The Cholent, December 2, 2022
Project Shema helps local Jews on the left find the language to effectively talk about anti-Jewish and anti-Israel bias.
Woke Ideology in the US Poses a National Security Challenge for Israel by David Bernstein, The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune, October 2022 (See also Audio: “Woke Anti-Semitism” in the US — should Israel also be worried? (39’46”), Israel from the Inside, November 28, 2022)
More Democrats Than Ever Support The Palestinian Cause, And That’s Dividing The Party by Zoha Qamar, FiveThirtyEight, September 22, 2022
Video: A Conversation with Dr. Einat Wilf (56’52”), People of the Book: Jewish Authors, Progressive Issues, Zioness, September 20, 2022
Who’s to blame for young American and Democrat coolness towards Israel? by Jonathan S. Tobin, Jewish News Syndicate, May 27, 2022
Despite the impulse to blame Netanyahu and the usual targets of left-wing scorn, the real answer is the growing popularity of theories like intersectionality that sanction anti-Semitism.
Saving Israel for Democrats by Ronald Radosh, Sapir, Vol. 5, Spring 2022
How the Palestinians stole the suffering, of well – just about everyone by David Collier, November 2, 2021
It might seem absurd to those that do not see what is going on, but the pro-Palestinian movement probably cannot believe its good fortune. They can steal any idea, make any accusation, and global antisemitism will do the rest of the work for them. Because their fight is against the Jews, their empty smears all go viral. What we see in the anti-Israel movement today is the result of decades of co-opting causes, historical revisionism and piggybacking on the very real suffering of others. Basically – if there is a bad thing happening in the world – the pro-Palestinian movement stole the idea to use it against the Jews: Apartheid, the Holocaust, genocide, refugee suffering, ethnic cleansing, victims colonialism, concentration camps, suffering freedom fighters, LGBTQ suffering, racism, suffering of victims of fascism, cultural appropriation, land grabbers, Christian suffering, victims of child killers, evicted people, and the world’s soul.
When “unprecedented times” are not-at-all-unprecedented by Daniel Gordis, Israel from the Inside, October 25, 2021
And how the Sunrise Movement controversy proves that on one issue, at least, Theodor Herzl was dead wrong.
A strategic reset for Jewish community relations and advocacy by David Bernstein, eJewishPhilanthropy, October 18, 2021
Do we dig in our heels with progressives because it used to make sense, or do we pivot and develop new partnerships and strategies that reflect our community’s interests today?
Memo to Progressives: Israel’s Iron Dome Saves Palestinian Lives, Too by August Pfluger and Michael Makovsky, Newsweek, September 26, 2021
When it comes to anti-Israel attacks on Jews, it’s time to name the enemy by Gil Troy, Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, June 23, 2021
Not naming the distinctly left-wing roots of this hatred suggests that those doing the condemning do not want to alienate supposed allies.
The left slides into acceptance of anti-Semitism by Jonathan S. Tobin, Jewish News Syndicate, June 22, 2021
Banning an Israeli food truck at a Philadelphia event shocked some Jewish leftists. But why? Their acceptance of anti-Israel hate has inevitably led to such prejudice.
Jews Are Being Silenced by Leftists by Mallory Mosner, The Judean People’s Front, May 23, 2021
What I learned from being canceled by a “social justice” publication on Medium.
I support Israel because I am progressive by Zach Bodner, The Times of Israel, May 22, 2021
There’s a difference between legitimate criticism and one-sided, biased condemnation of a country trying to protect its citizens
Stop Being Shocked by Bari Weiss, Tablet, October 14, 2020
American liberalism is in danger from a new ideology—one with dangerous implications for Jews
Scraping the Bottom of the Progressive Barrel by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, October 1, 2020
Peter Beinart’s Wedge by Neil Rogachevksy, Mosaic, July 16, 2020
The don of liberal Zionism has come out against a two-state solution. His argument is delusional and messianic. But that’s not the real problem with it.
Sanders, AIPAC, and Israel by Dr. Alex Joffe, Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,460, February 26, 2020
Unpacking Senator Bernie Sanders’s announcement that he will not attend the annual AIPAC Policy Conference because the organization provides a “platform” for “leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights” reveals a gambit to split American Jews not only from AIPAC but from Israel. Accusing Israeli leaders and voters of being “right wing” and “racist” sets the stage for other Democratic candidates and American Jews to chance being labeled as the same.
Video: What is the Role of Progressive Zionists in the Social Issues of Our Time? (33’15”) An interview with Zioness Amanda Berman, The Jewish Center for Public Affairs, JCPA CRCast, October 18, 2019
The Real Reason The Left Hates Israel by Sharon Goldman, Forward, July 30, 2019
When human rights become acceptable collateral damage by Evelyn Gordon, Jewish News Syndicate, July 3, 2019
Palestinians’ rights matter when targeted by Israel, but not when targeted by the Palestinian Authority. And Israeli rights never matter, except when violated by Israel.
Video: Guy Bechor: Progressive Jews Are More Dangerous to Israel Than Iran (9’55”), May 14, 2019
How Dare Chelsea Clinton Defend The Jews? by James Kirchick, Tablet, March 19, 2019
A run-in at NYU reveals the unavoidable truth: The war for the soul of the left will be fought over anti-Semitism.
The Progressive Assault on Israel by Bret Stephens, The New York Times, February 8, 2019
A movement that can detect a racist dog-whistle from miles away is strangely deaf when it comes to some of the barking on its own side of the fence.
Progressives Can’t Ignore Jewish Particularism by Ammiel Hirsch, Jewish Week, October 9, 2018
The growing inclination among liberal Jews to de-emphasize Jewish distinctiveness is the gravest threat to the future of liberal Judaism.
Progressives for Israel by Zachary Thacher, Tablet, October 4, 2018
A Sanders supporter makes the progressive’s case for Israel
Sorry, Liberals: Anti-Zionism Is Anti-Semitic by Petra Marquardt-Bigman, Forward, August 7, 2018
If American Jewish progressives really seek change… by Daniel Gordis, The Jerusalem Post, July 18, 2018
The US Left is the greatest existential threat facing Israel Avi Perry, Arutz Sheva/Israel National News, July 1, 2018
Can you imagine a denial of financial aid, a denial of military support, or even a pro-BDS agenda exercised by a future US Democrat-controlled government?
The Loneliness Of The Liberal Zionist by Jarrod Tanny, The Forward, June 5, 2018
How Jewish Progressives Can Stand Up Against Left Anti-Semitism by Carly Pildis, Tablet, May 8, 2018
We must fight progressive anti-Semitism from the inside, before it destroys the social justice movements we helped to build—and alters the core values and political attachments of American Jewry
Natalie Portman and the Crisis of Liberal Zionism by Eric Levitz, New York Magazine, April 26, 2018
Video: Former Governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm shares her connection to Israel (7’24”), AIPAC, March 4, 2018
Anti-Semitism Is Creeping Into Progressivism by Jonathan A. Greenblatt, Time, June 30, 2017
So Wrong by Nevet Basker, The Times of Israel, June 28, 2017
How a Changing American Liberalism Is Pulling American Jews away From Israel by Evelyn Gordon, Mosaic, May 18, 2017
‘Left’ behind – Israel as a progressive cause by Daniel Elbaum, The Times of Israel, May 17, 2017
Why DOES The Left Hate Israel? (4’06”), Blue Collar Logic, March 30, 2018
Does Feminism Have Room for Zionists? by Emily Shire, The New York Times, March 7, 2017
For my part, I am troubled by the portion of the International Women’s Strike platform that calls for a “decolonization of Palestine” as part of “the beating heart of this new feminist movement.
A Liberal Zionism for the Trump Era by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, March 6, 2017
Never Again/ Silence = Death by Rachel Wahba, The Times of Israel, January 16, 2017
Why Liberalism vs. Zionism Is a False Choice by Elliot Cosgrove, The Jewish Week, January 11, 2017
In word and in deed, liberal Zionists must flatly reject the contention that it is somehow a contradiction to be both liberal and a Zionist.
On settlements and elsewhere, the Jewish left reaps what it sows by Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg, Jewish News Service, November 4, 2016
Black Lives Matter’s Anti-Semitic Bedfellows by Gary C. Gambill, The National Interest, September 13, 2016
Are Jews who refuse to renounce Israel being excluded from “progressive” groups? by Alan M. Dershowitz, Gatestone Institute, August 24, 2016
Progressive Silence Over Islamic Extremism is Homophobic by Paul Miller, Observer, June 14, 2016
When Your Liberal Values Need Not Apply by Leora Eisenberg, The Times of Israel, May 26, 2016
Why Is the Left Silent About Gaza Tunnels? by Jay Michaelson, The Forward, May 13, 2016
When the left fails to condemn Palestinian terrorism, its condemnations of Israeli actions — settlements, checkpoints, wars of attrition — ring hollow.
Why the Left Hates Jews by Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, April 29, 2016
Israel and the Jewish diaspora make progressive pieties look silly.
The Left’s hatred of Jews chills me to the bone by Stephen Pollard, The Telegraph, April 28, 2016
Is liberal Zionism dead on North American college campuses? by Andrew Silow-Carroll, The Times of Israel, April 6, 2016:
In an increasingly polarized pro- and anti-Israel discussion, where is the missing left?
Friend or Foe: How to Tell Who Israel’s Real Enemies Are by Lex, Israellycool.com, March 16, 2016
I Was the Pro-Israel Poster Boy at Brandeis — Here’s Why I Quit by Gabriel Goldstein, The Forward, March 14, 2016
The Regressive Left, Divest This!, March 13, 2016
Liberal Jews Without Liberal Organizations by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, January 21, 2016
The Progressive Case For Israel by Binyamin Arazi, Israelicool.com, January 4, 2016
Why does the left care more about Islamophobia than anti-Semitism? by Brendan O’Neill, The Spectator, September 9, 2015
I’m Young. I’m Liberal. And Yes, I’m Zionist. by J.E. Reich, The Forward, July 20, 2015
Why are liberals bashing Michael Oren? by David Suissa, Jewish Journal, July 7, 2015
A model for resolving clashes between Jewish and liberal values by Evelyn Gordon, The Jerusalem Post, June 22, 2015
Israel’s abortion policy is an all-too-rare example of a compromise that gives both sides something important
A Letter to My Liberal Jewish Friends by Michael Doran, Mosaic, May 28, 2015
I Support Israel…. Because I Am A Liberal by Alexandra Markus, IsraellyCool.com, February 25, 2015
How Much Zionism is Acceptable to the BDS-Lite Movement? by Alexander H. Joffe and Asaf Romirowsky, The American Interest, January 7, 2015
My Jewish Feminist Problem by Phyllis Chesler, Tablet, December 16, 2014: “Why my sisters can’t think straight about Israel”
Zionism, The Moral Struggle by Ryan Bellerose, Israellycool, December 15, 2014
The Left and the Jews by Alan Johnson, Fathom, Autumn 2015
I’m Done Apologizing for Israel by Rabbi Menachem Creditor, Huffington Post, September 21, 2014
Dear Fellow Liberals: I’m Done Apologizing for Israel by Jennifer Moses, Time, September 18, 2014
The peculiar case of liberals criticizing Israel by Mitchell Bard, Jerusalem Post, September 3, 2014
Israeli Liberals’ Advice to Diaspora Jewish Counterparts: Grow Up by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, August 28, 2014
Stop the whining, liberal Zionists! by Andrew Silow-Carroll, The Times of Israel, August 27, 2014
How liberal critics failed Israel by David Suissa, Jewish Journal, August 14, 2014
An Alternative Model for Pro-Israel Liberals by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, March 28, 2014
Why Liberals Must Repudiate the BDS Movement by Howard Wohl, The Tower, March 2014
Like the far-Leftists who failed to recognize the evils of the Soviet Union, many Americans today—including some of its most influential editors—can’t see what’s wrong with anti-Israel activism. And liberalism itself is in now in danger.
Why The Left Should Stop Carping and Love the Jewish State, Again by Joshua Muravchik, The Tower, February 2014
Mystery Solved: Why Are Some Liberals Claiming Israel is At Fault For Their Lack of Support? by Barry Rubin, Rubin Reports, January 13, 2013
Why I am a Zionist by Tom Doran, Jewish Journal, January 9, 2013
Why My Fellow Liberals Should Support Israel in Her Conflict with Hamas by Jonathan Miller, Huffington Post, November 20, 2012
A Dose of Nuance: Peter Beinart‘s mis-identity crisis by Daniel Gordis, Jerusalem Post, April 11, 2012
Peter Beinart‘s Offense Against Liberalism by Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, Huffington Post, March 30, 2012 (also video)
The Liberal Case for Israel by Jonathan Miller, Huffington Post, November 28, 2011
Engaging With Israel: Challenges and Opportunities for American Jews by Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, March 30, 2011: A discussion with Peter Beinart at CCAR Convention, New Orleans
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Bret Stephens: “The Liberal Case for Israel” Shalom TV, February 2, 2010 |
Progressives Should Support Israel by Steve Sheffey, Huffington Post, March 30, 2011
8 Reasons Leftists Should be Pro-Israel by Alan Krinsky, Huffington Post, July 20, 2010
Israel: A Normal Country by Jose Maria Aznar, David Trimble, John R. Bolton, Alejandro Toledo, Marcello Pera, Andrew Roberts, Fiamma Nirenstein, George Weigel, Robert F. Agostinelli and Carlos Bustelo, Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2010
The Liberal Betrayal of Israel by Daniel Greenfield, Sultan Knish, May 30, 2010
Israel: An Apartheid State? by maozisrael, July 28, 2010
“How Can You Defend Israel?” by David Harris, Huffington Post, December 27, 2010