Liberal Americans in Israel: From familiar crisis to a new vision - opinion
Torn between their liberal ideals and their deep-rooted connection to Israel, liberal Americans in Israel got caught in a crossfire, as both of their peer groups demanded them to “take sides.”
Rotem Oreg-Kalisky(photo credit: Suf Cohen)ByROTEM OREG-KALISKYThe Gaza war has brought devastation and pain to countless lives in Israel and in Gaza alike, as wars always do. But for one group, the conflict ignited an identity struggle as well: liberal Americans who have made Israel their home. Torn between their liberal ideals (including relations with like-minded groups in America) and their deep-rooted connection to Israel (and the pain of Israelis and Jews), they got caught in a crossfire, as both of their peer groups demanded them to “take sides.”
The dilemma: Liberal values vs. supporting Israel
The majority of American Jews are liberal – and despite speculations that the rising antisemitism in America will make them move to the right, 78% of them voted for former vice president Kamala Harris. For many of them, liberal values – pursuing peace, promoting justice, protecting human rights – are not negotiable. These principles are integral to who they are and often are derived from their Jewish identity.
The choice of many liberal American Jews to live in Israel shows equally powerful commitment – not just believing in the Jewish people’s right to have their own nation-state but also being willing to take a part in its building. To many of them, Israel is more than a home – it is a part of their identity. This is true even – one might say, especially – as Israelis elect governments that are as far from liberal values as possible.
The Gaza war has intensified the challenge of maintaining both commitments. Liberal Americans in Israel are not blind to the tragic human toll in Gaza: civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction. Many of them, like many Israelis, believe that the war is taking too long, has lost its original purposes of bringing back the hostages and removing the threat of Hamas, and is now serving political needs.
On the other hand, like all Israelis and Jews around the world, they experience the nightmarish reality of enemy rockets targeting Israeli cities; they fear for Israeli soldiers and for the remaining hostages who are still in Hamas’s hands; and they learn from their friends and families in America about the frightening rise in antisemitism.
TODAY, JUDAISM’S organizing principle is shifting from Rabbinic Judaism to Zionism. (credit: TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90)
The ‘big lie’: Liberalism and Zionism are mutually exclusive
This isn’t new; it’s a new manifestation of a broader problem. Over the years, a “big lie” has taken root in the American Left, suggesting that support for Israel and liberal values are like oil and water – they just don’t go together. In some progressive circles, Israel is often cast as the oppressor, thus inherently opposed to liberal values. In these spaces, Zionism is equated with colonialism, and expressing support for Israel can result in accusations supporting its policies.
This binary framing is both false and dangerous. It ignores the fact that one can be a wholehearted patriot and believe that one’s beloved country is going in the wrong direction (as most Democrats in America feel right now).
In the Israeli case, it erases the realities of a country grappling with profound challenges and paying enormous prices, as we all witnessed on October 7 and since. It disregards the aspirations of Israelis who strive for life alongside the Palestinians – yes, even after October 7 – while living under constant threat. And it marginalizes those – like pro-Israel liberal Americans – who refuse to accept that their values must come at the expense of their identity or vice versa.
Needed: A pro-Israel progressive vision
The heart of the problem lies in the fact that there is a vacuum: Most liberal Americans have never been presented with a compelling, up-to-date pro-Israel progressive narrative (and no, I’m not talking about the “Start-Up Nation, cherry tomatoes, only democracy in the Middle East” narrative).
For years, much of the discourse around Israel in the United States has been dominated by one-sided narratives. On one side, there’s a hawkish narrative that prioritizes security above all, sometimes ignoring Palestinian suffering, and protects Israel at all costs while putting all the blame on “the other side,” whether that’s the Palestinians, the UN, the media, or even the Israeli Left.
On the other side, there’s a radical narrative that puts all the blame on Israel, holding it accountable to unequivocal moral standards in a way that ignores its legitimate security concerns, and sometimes even describing its existence as the nation-state of the Jewish people to a historical error that must be amended.
This binary excludes those we in LIBRAEL refer to as “liberal Zionists” – people who support Israel’s right to exist and defend itself while also supporting Palestinian self-determination and human rights. According to our definition of Zionism, which is based on the writings of Israel’s founding fathers, Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people – just like any other people – deserve to live in a democratic, secure, and prosperous nation-state. Liberal Zionism is merely the belief that Zionism is not at the expense of anyone else.
Liberal Americans living in Israel are usually liberal Zionists, even if they don’t think of themselves as such. They would not have chosen Israel to be their home had they believed it goes against everything they believe in; they would not have abandoned their commitment to peace, justice, and human rights had they thought those jeopardized Israel’s security.
Yet, like other liberal Zionists in the US, their voices are often lost in the cacophony of extremism, leaving them isolated, misunderstood, and even gaslighted: “You can be either a liberal or a Zionist, not both.”
The personal toll
Living at this intersection of identities comes at a price. Liberal Americans in Israel face criticism from all sides. Back in the US, their liberal allies sometimes label them as complicit in Israel’s actions – thus, allegedly, supporting Israel’s policy and government – simply for choosing to live there. Meanwhile, in Israel their progressive stances on issues like settlement expansion, hope for peace with the Palestinians, and the mounting death toll in Gaza make them targets of criticism and even hostility.
Liberal Americans who live in Israel – just like their counterparts overseas – are not willing to abandon either of their identity components. They reject the notion that supporting Israel requires turning a blind eye to its flaws or that struggling for liberal values means jeopardizing Israel’s security. But in a world that increasingly demands ideological purity, their position is a lonely one. Luckily, that’s going to change.
Toward a new narrative
To address this struggle, we need to dismantle the “big lie” and introduce a new narrative – one that acknowledges Israel’s challenging reality and affirms that liberal values and Zionism can coexist.
This narrative must begin by recognizing that Israel is flawed – like all other democracies – but not to hide behind that. Instead, it should emphasize the ongoing efforts of Israelis toward making Israel a better place, among which are the efforts to uphold ideals of human rights and justice under extraordinary circumstances, the likes of which no other Western country faces.
Even in the post-October 7 reality, such a liberal Zionist narrative must also acknowledge the need for a secure, just, and lasting resolution to the conflict, which must be pursued with caution, eyes wide open, and feet on the ground.
This is crucial: We can shout “They don’t want peace” all we want, but no one in liberal America will be convinced. No American liberal will believe “Israel wants peace” if we ignore the other side; and no American liberal will even consider thinking about themselves as Zionists merely by mentioning the hi-tech industry or the thriving LGBTQ+ community.
Such a narrative would dismantle the binaries that dominate the Israel discourse, first by offering a space where liberal Americans who support Israel can feel at home both in their values and in their support for Israel. Next, it would empower them to advocate for security, peace, and justice, without fear of being branded as traitors.
The larger challenge
The Gaza war exposed the ideological struggles of liberal Americans in Israel. But this is not just a personal struggle; it’s a mere example of a larger challenge, affecting the future of the US-Israel relations. Bridging the divide between liberal values and support for Israel is essential, as we must keep Israel a bipartisan issue in the United States.
Liberal Americans in Israel are not giving up on their liberalism, nor are they giving up on Israel. They are living proof that the “big lie” is just that – a lie.■
The writer, an expert on US politics and foreign policy, is founder and director of LIBRAEL - Liberal Israel, an NGO promoting a liberal Zionist narrative in the US.
