US President Donald Trump’s decision to join Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran has brought Israel’s partnership with the president, his administration, and the Republican Party to an all-time high. But that doesn’t mean Israel should turn a cold shoulder to the Democrats, quite the opposite. This is the time to begin mending our relations with this party.
Contrary to Israel, US politics involve continuous competition between two major parties, with the power shifting every few years from one party to the other.
The American governance system includes a delicate array of “checks & balances” among the legislative, executive and judicial sub-systems and a scenario as we witness now, where the White House, House of Representatives, and Senate are firmly in the hands of Republicans and most of the judges in the Supreme Court are conservatives, is quite rare.
History teaches us that the stronger the hold of one party on these institutions, the more likely it is that the pendulum of power will shift toward the other party in the subsequent elections.
President Trump’s unwavering support for Israel since he began his second term, and especially his decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, have brought Israel’s relations with his administration and with the Republican Party to an unprecedented peak of trust and partnership.
At the same time, our relations with the Democratic Party have gone through a long and painful process of deterioration that started soon after president Barack Obama was elected. The first major friction occurred when Obama delivered his controversial appeasement speech in Cairo in 2009. Thereafter, the intensity and frequency of subsequent frictions escalated.
The climax came when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress in 2015 and argued against the nuclear deal that Obama was promoting with the Iranians. His speech was viewed by many Democrats as a humiliating act of defiance against the president and his administration.
While we experienced some moments of exaltation during the Biden administration – in particular when he delivered his “Don’t” speech and sent two aircraft carriers to deter our enemies from trying to take advantage of our dire situation immediately after October 7 – friction continued to appear and the relations reached a low point when secretaries Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin threatened an arms embargo if Israel did not accept their terms for humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Over the last decade, far Left elements in the Democratic party, led by a “Squad” of four congresswomen and (the Jewish) Sen. Bernie Sanders, gained significant ground among mainstream Democrats who had traditionally been strong supporters of Israel.
Torn between support for Israel, Democratic Party values
American Jews, who had always tended to favor the Democratic Party, found themselves torn between their natural support for Israel and their loyalty to a party whose values were close to their hearts.
Every Israeli should be thankful to President Trump for his bold decision to join the fight against the “Axis of Evil” led by Iran.
However, we shouldn’t let our gratitude carry us too far in taking actions or making statements that will be viewed by the Democrats as though we have decided to divorce from them.
The fact that Zohran Mamdani, a “foster child” of Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC, the most prominent member of the “Squad”), known for his anti-Israel rhetoric, recently won the primary in the Democratic Party for the mayoral position of New York City is a clear signal that the political pendulum has already started its move toward the far Left.
Maintaining bipartisan support in America has always been a strategic goal of Israel. Especially now, when Israel’s sympathy toward a Republican president is at its peak, we should also extend a hand of friendship and collegiality to the Democratic Party.
Our focus should be on leading figures located closer to the center of this party, such as Gov. Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania) and Gov. Gavin Newsom (California), who are already warming up toward the presidential race in 2028. Both have already taken steps to differentiate themselves from the far Left factions in their party, and as the race evolves, they will surely continue to drift toward the center.
We still have three long years to mend the ruptures that have been created and rebuild trust and friendships with the future leaders of the Democratic Party and the population segments that support them. If we fail to do so, we may find ourselves on the brink of catastrophe by January 2029.
The writer is a professor and former executive vice president of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He is a senior research fellow at the Neaman Institute for National Policy Studies.