The Psychology Behind American Jews' Loyalty to Netanyahu

Disclaimer: As an American Jew living in Israel, nothing in this piece is intended to offend or demean. The following reflections are rooted in my academic background in Jewish history, pursued at several leading universities, and are offered in the spirit of critical inquiry and communal self-reflection.

One of the clearest proofs that American Jews, no matter how deeply they love Israel, how devoted they are to the Zionist ideal, and how earnestly they long for the country’s prosperity and success, are entirely detached from what actually takes place in the Land of Israel, is their enthusiastic support for Benjamin Netanyahu.

The man who handed over the Negev to the Bedouins. The man who allowed Arab land-grabbing gangs to take over the Galilee. The man who emptied the IDF’s armories, who blames the left for everything he never has done in 20 years, under whom the army shrank by sixty percent, who build less Jewish homes than any of his predecessors. The man who fed Hamas for over a decade. The man with hundreds of documented public lies; is regarded as near-consensus among American Jews, from Kahane supporters on the right to advocates of the two-state solution on the left.

Even those who do criticize him,, each for their own reasons, dare not voice that criticism outwardly. At first glance, this may seem noble, commendable, even. American Jewry’s choice to refrain from interfering in Israeli domestic politics is a respectable stance. Perhaps even the correct one.

But the fact remains: this is a captive audience that does not understand what is unfolding before its eyes. An audience that is highly intelligent, and that only deepens the mystery.

One could say the same of the twenty Knesset seats - a sixth of Israel’s electorate - who still support this Hamas enabler. But they, unlike American Jews, are generally less educated, less affluent, less versed in history and cannot read English. In comparison, American Jews are on a whole different intellectual and cultural plane. Perhaps even from another time altogether.

In a way the smartest of Jews (In the U.S.) and the dumbest of them (In Israel) support him.

Yet within the American Jewish right, the situation is far worse. There, people actually believe that Netanyahu is right-wing(!) - a belief about as credible as the American communists who once believed Stalin was “the sun of the nations.”

Any true Israeli right-winger knows that Netanyahu is perhaps the closest thing we’ve had to a post-Zionist Prime Minister since Rabin or Barak.

There are myths that serve American Jewry. but the question remains: How can you love and cherish something so deeply if you do not know it at all?

There’s no doubt. The man under whose leadership Arabs have grown in strength to unprecedented levels. Who kept inventing excuses for why Iran remains a nuclear-threshold state. Who is afraid to build new Jewish settlements - even within the Green Line (67 boarders), who works with ballot harvesting, who handed the courts disproportionate power, and then, instead of correcting that sin responsibly, committed yet another by changing the system for purely political reasons. Who will do absolutely anything to get re-elected regardless of national security - is still admired.

He is not right-wing. He is not Zionist. Netanyahu is, in many ways, Made in the USA. Shaped during his formative years in the United States. That, indeed, is a thoroughly Israeli problem.

The truth is painful.

This is selfish admiraiton. US's Jews unwillingness to see Netanyahu for what he truly is, is part of their unwillingness to look in the mirror and acknowledge their own position as American Jews removed from the actual sacrifice of living here. This too mirrors the mindset of many of his supporters from lower socio-economic backgrounds in Israel - who like US jews never went "all-in" for Israel.

his local base too often avoid confronting their own origins and the reality of their limited contribution compared to the people of the kibbutzim, the moshavim, and the pioneers who have built this country - whose ancestors laid its foundations, and who, almost without exception, would never vote for Netanyahu.

The high IQ successful American Jew, like the unsuccessful and peripheral low IQ Israeli Jew whose parents came from a desert primitive land, share one thing: a deep affection for a phenomenon (Israel) to which their contribution is limited. Bibi ? just their excuse why it's OK to not understand or build Israel. be it if you live here, like his fans, or be it if you are in NYC.

Netanyahu gives this bizzare coalition what they want - peace of mind in knowing that maybe they did not give everything for Zionism, or are not capable, and that still, everything is okay.

Uncle Bibi will take care of it.

He will speak polished English, shake hands, with his baritone voice - but like the American Jews and like the not-so-smart Israeli Jews posing as right-wingers who support him, he, like them, will not put everything on the line. He is the perfect excuse to avoid responsibility and self-reflection.

But do not blame him. Netanyahu sells what is in demand. What you have not understood is that you, and what you are not - is the product.

At the very least, after reading this article, you will no longer be able to say you didn’t know that.