Fears are growing in Israel about profound transformations within the American political scene, with the decline of the center and the rise of extremist movements on both sides of the divide, in parallel with the emergence of Vice President J.D. Vance as a potential successor to President Donald Trump, at a time when traditional support for Israel is eroding, especially among young people and members of the Jewish community in the United States.
During an interview with Ron Kaufman and Professor Aryeh Eldad on Radio 103 FM, the former Israeli consul in Los Angeles, Yaki Dayan, warned of the weakness of the joint American support between the two parties for Israel, and the growing political forces opposing it, in addition to the widening gap with the younger generation within the American Jewish community.
Dayan said Israel’s political situation was clearly reflected in an interview J.D. Vance gave to Joe Rogan’s podcast, which he described as the most listened to in the United States.
He explained that during the interview, Vance quoted from a report published by “Time” magazine, which talked about Israel’s use of a public relations office with the aim of changing the president’s position on the agreement that Dayan described as “bad” with Iran, noting that Israeli parties came out against the president because of that.
Dayan added: “What is most dangerous is that he repeated a conspiracy theory that says the Mossad is affiliated with Jeffrey Epstein, and this is a red flag in the United States.” “These are very problematic matters.”
Commenting on Congress’ discussion this week of halting security aid to Israel, Dayan saw that the move reflects a expanding phenomenon, represented by the gradual disappearance of the American political community.
He said that the perception that had prevailed for many years, that support for Israel was unanimous in both the Republican and Democratic parties, was beginning to collapse.
He added: “The left is moving more towards the left, and the right is moving more towards the right. “When we talk about Vance, we talk about isolationism, and in this case Israel is not necessarily a great asset.”
He continued that the parties of the right and left meet when it comes to anti-Semitism, stressing that Israel faces a not-so-simple problem among the younger generation.
The former consul pointed out that there are widespread demographic and political changes within the United States, and said: “Strange figures are now entering American politics, and we will eat a lot of gravel from them.” “There is no doubt about that.”
He considered that the seriousness of the matter doubles when these positions are issued by Vice President Vance, who, according to his estimation, may become President of the United States after two and a half years.
Dayan touched on the decline in support for Israel among members of the Jewish community in the United States, stressing that this support is clearly eroding, especially among the younger generation.
He said: “We make a lot of mistakes because we do not understand the composition of the Jews there.”
He explained that about 16 million Jews live in the world, and they are mainly concentrated in two demographic centers: Israel and the United States.
He added that only about 12% of American Jews belong to the Orthodox movement, and are characterized by strong support for Israel, while the rest belong to the Reform and Conservative movements.
Dayan stressed that he does not believe that Israel has the luxury of losing any Jew, warning that a misunderstanding of the composition of the American Jewish community exacerbates the distance between the two parties.
He pointed out that there is a difference between maintaining the connection between the two communities and allowing American Jews to dictate Israeli policies.
He said: “I also want the one who decides what to do to be the one who lives here and performs all his duties, but does that mean a rupture?”
He concluded by stressing the necessity of working to restore the relationship, considering that Israel does not sufficiently understand the composition of the Jews in the United States, nor the extent of the need for a great connection between the only two remaining Jewish communities in the world.
Between the rise of Vance, the decline of the political center, and the erosion of support among American Jews, Israeli concerns seem to go beyond a change in an American administration, as they are related to a generational and political shift that may change the nature of the relationship between Washington and Tel Aviv in the long term.
