After J.D. Vance and 103 Democrats: Stay in Your Party. Fight for Israel There!

Why pro-Israel Democrats and Republicans should use the trust influence and relationships they have built within their own parties rather than abandoning them.

Since the founding of the State of Israel, support for the U.S.-Israel relationship has been a tradition shared by Democrats and Republicans.

Recent events have convinced me of something important. Vice President J.D. Vance’s interview with Joe Rogan and the recent House vote, in which 103 Democrats voted for an amendment that would have ended U.S. security assistance to Israel, have led many Jewish Americans and other supporters of Israel to ask whether they still belong in their political party.

Leaving is not the answer.

Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, your greatest influence is where you have built relationships, earned trust, and established credibility. Walking away may feel satisfying in the moment, but it also means surrendering the influence you have spent years building.

The better path is to stay, speak up, organize, and help keep your own party committed to a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.

We should respect our political differences while recognizing that, when it comes to Israel, we are fighting the same fight. It is now clear that this fight exists within both parties. That is exactly why engagement matters more than retreat.

Don’t leave. Stay and fight.

Anti-Israel activists’ strategy is to make pro-Israel voices feel discouraged, isolated, and unwelcome, and they would welcome seeing us leave the political spaces where we have influence. Whatever their motivations, walking away would reduce the presence and power of pro-Israel advocates within both parties.

We should not hand the antisemites that victory.

For many American Jews, the past weeks have been frightening, regardless of party affiliation. Antisemitic and anti-Israel voices appear to be emerging from both sides of the political fence, emboldened by the belief that this may be their moment. Their sudden visibility can create the impression that they represent a much larger movement than they actually do. They do not. They remain a fringe and a minority within both parties, while the great majority of Americans continue to reject antisemitism and recognize the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship. We should take the danger seriously, but we should not allow fear to exaggerate the strength of those who oppose us or divide Jews along partisan lines.

Vice President J.D. Vance’s recent interview with Joe Rogan was deeply disturbing to many of us who support Israel. Vance accused elements of the Israeli government of conducting a well-funded campaign to manipulate American public opinion, undermine diplomacy with Iran, and prolong the war without a clear objective. He also suggested that the United States might not have entered the conflict without pressure from Israel. Those are serious accusations, and they deserve far more analysis than I have space to provide here.

Words from a vice president matter. They shape political debate, legitimize certain arguments, and signal where a future administration may be headed. Whatever Vance’s intentions, his language risks reinforcing the old and dangerous idea that Israel secretly manipulates American policy and pushes the United States into wars for its own benefit. His remarks also appear to place him closer to the isolationist faction of the Republican Party associated with Tucker Carlson and others who increasingly portray support for Israel as contrary to American interests.

I believe Vance is also preparing a political defense for an Iran policy that has failed to produce a lasting or satisfactory outcome. Rather than acknowledge the difficulty of confronting a revolutionary regime that has destabilized the region for nearly half a century, it is politically convenient to portray Israel as the obstacle to peace. That would be a profound mistake. Israel did not create the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions, terrorism, regional proxies, or hostility toward the United States.

Putting partisan differences aside, the best outcome for the Iranian people, Israel, America, Europe, and the wider world would be the end of the Islamic regime and the restoration of freedom and representative government in Iran. I made the fuller case in my May 26 article, “The Window Is Now to End Iran’s Islamic Regime.” The last 47 years have demonstrated what this regime has cost Iran’s people and the world. We should not resign ourselves to another generation living with the same tyranny.

The Window Is Now To End Iran’s Islamic Regime

Myths About Israel, Debunked: Why Iranian Democracy Is the Path to Peace

The recent failed House vote on an amendment to eliminate U.S. security assistance to Israel alarmed many people, including me. I was deeply disappointed that 103 Democrats voted for it (against Israel), but Congress rejected the amendment, and assistance continues.

I’ve written previously about how much of this assistance is spent in the United States, supporting American jobs, strengthening our own defense industrial base, and enhancing the security of both countries.  Also how the return in R&D back to the US is worth more than $3.8 Billion that Israel receives in credit to spend here in the US.  Also Israel spends close to $20 billion in the US.

The Counterargument to the DSA’s Position on Israel

For that reason, I believe it is important to distinguish between members whose overall records consistently oppose Israel and those who may cast an occasional symbolic vote but continue to support the U.S.-Israel relationship when outcomes truly hang in the balance.

We should evaluate elected officials by the totality of their records, not by a single vote viewed in isolation. It is entirely possible that some members would have voted differently if the result had depended on their vote, but we shouldn’t assume motives without evidence. What we can evaluate is a member’s record over time.

I believe many of the democrats here did exactly that.  So feel better.

The broader lesson is this: Jews who have spent years building influence within the Democratic Party should not abandon that work. Republican Jews who have strengthened support for Israel within their party should not abandon theirs.

Instead of spending our energy trying to persuade pro-Israel Americans to switch parties, let’s devote that energy to strengthening pro-Israel voices where each of us already has credibility, relationships, and influence. We should also respect those doing the same work within their own party.

If both major parties remain home to strong supporters of Israel, America will be stronger, Israel will be more secure, and the bipartisan foundation of that alliance will endure.