How This Election Is Reshaping the American Jewish Political Story

With Donald Trump’s election, the liberal agenda that has defined much of American Jewish political practice will need to be recalibrated.

The results of the 2024 election won’t just shift political power in this nation to the right, as this moment will mark the undoing of the foundations of American Jewish liberalism. In its aftermath, Jews will be confronting a changing political landscape both within our community, and beyond.

This election reminded us that the United States is far more complex and divided — and most assuredly less liberal — than many of us assumed. The country is changing, and new centers of political influence have arisen to compete with Jewish interests.

But perhaps the most important change is the political transition underway within the ranks of our own communal order. Whatever changes the American body politic is undergoing, American Jews are experiencing major internal demographic and policy shifts as well.

A number of factors have contributed to this transformation. American Jewish Orthodoxy, still about 10% of the Jewish population, has increased its political presence. An increasing number of Jewish voters in this election reframed their vote around a core question, “Is it good for the Jews?” Fearing the rise of anti-Semitism, we find a growing sector of American Jewry whose political choices reflect this changing reality.

At one end of spectrum, the liberal Jewish establishment is aging. At the other end, assimilation and intermarriage are undoing the liberal Jewish base. Younger, secular and intermarried Jews are less connected to Jewish institutions or to Israel, thereby weakening Jewish liberal political influence. In addition, young Jewish progressives, disconnected and angered by Israel’s actions, have moved away from their parents’ traditional liberal politics.

The traditional liberal Jewish perspective that has defined and shaped the political voice of American Jewry is likely to dissipate, as younger, more assimilated Jews will increasingly take on the more generic cultural characteristics and political behaviors that define their generation and social class, and in the process move further away from a connection with Israel and the liberal Jewish framework.

Even among American Jewish liberals, there is today less consensus on issues such as gender, diversity and inclusion, and Israel. Not only have these demographic and ideological shifts changed American Jewry, but its relation to other groups has been altered as well. American Jewish liberals mistakenly believed that they were part of a much broader coalition, only to find in this post-election moment that there are fewer fellow travelers. The silence following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel from key coalitional allies represented a clear break as many of these folks saw Israel’s actions as problematic. This disconnect is now difficult if impossible to repair in the immediate term.

Some minority constituencies, whom we assumed to be overwhelmingly aligned with the Democratic Party voted in increased numbers for President-elect Donald Trump. His reelection acknowledges that some former allies hold sharply different views on social policy and human rights.

No wonder some Jews feel isolated, and unsure of where and how to proceed in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory.  

Uncertain about how best to assert their interests, American Jewish liberals will need to regroup, identifying a new set of core issues, causes and candidates that they can embrace.  Their evolving political agenda will need to include:

• Rebuilding partnerships and alliances around selective issues and shared concerns.
• Focusing an agenda that is strategic and identifies several key priority issues that demand collective action and engagement. Moving forward, Jewish political activism will need to be more nuanced and focused.
• Reaching back to the disillusioned and angry, seeking to bring especially young Jews into community.
• Reaching across the political divide to open conversations and connections, as a possible way to find common ground.
• Understanding and celebrating the value and role of dissent and how best to operate in such a space.
• Promoting a civics initiative designed to foster engagement on the part of young Americans in public affairs, community organizing, and civic responsibility. A particular focus must be directed toward involving the next generation of Jewish leaders.
• Defending Israel’s right to maintain its security, while seeking to re-engage disaffected elements of the Democratic Party into the pro-Israel community. Providing a richer and deeper education into Zionism, what it represents and means for the Jewish people, Jewish continuity and western civilization.

The Rise of Conservative Jewish Voices: Some Reflections

Trump received only about 32% of the Jewish vote but the priorities and policies supported by that minority of Jews will now hold sway in the new administration.

In a second Trump administration, a new cadre of Republican Jews will assume national leadership positions, asserting domestic policy positions on school choice, vouchers, gender identity, legal immigration restrictions and border security, and gun rights that are at odds with the long-dominant liberal positions.

For instance, Trump tapped former congressman Lee Zeldin, a board member of the Republican Jewish Coalition, to head the Environmental Protection Agency, despite Zeldin’s opposition to stricter environmental legislation, a Pew survey showed 71% of American Jews support.

In connection with foreign policy priorities, we are likely to see a more nationalist-based agenda, where international regional agreements and partnerships will take a back seat to an America-first mindset.

There exist multiple perspectives on what a “Jewish democratic Israel” represents. The Trump Administration is likely to endorse a “greater Israel” framework supported by the Israeli right, signaling a fundamental shift from the historic two-state premise to a more dominant geo-political position with Israeli control over disputed areas, reducing the possibility of a Palestinian State.

As a result of this election, we will encounter an emboldened Jewish Republican base, strengthened by its recently achieved political gains and by the choices and directions being signaled by this incoming administration, as reflected in President-elect Trump’s early nominations.  Long overdue is a serious reconsideration of the nature and character of the Diaspora-Israel connection. If we are unable to construct a shared vision around Zionism and what type of Israeli society we collectively envision, we are likely to experience a fundamental policy divide, further splintering America’s Jewry, politically weakening our community.

In the aftermath of this election, some Jews will surely withdraw from the political playing field, exhausted and discouraged, while others will rethink how best to perform the role of the loyal opposition, reasserting the Jewish liberal voice and forging a new effort to rekindle a political movement that has, until now, defined the Jewish encounter with America.

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Dr. Steven Windmueller is the editor of a 2021 collection of essays on The Impact of Donald Trump’s Presidency on American Jewry and Israel, https://www.amazon.com/Impact-Presidency-Donald-American-Israel/dp/161249708X.