The Blue Wave Opportunity: Post II
The Opportunity Presented by the Blue Wave – II
What It Means for America, Jews, and Israel
This is the second post that explains why I believe that the historic Blue Wave vote provides the Jewish community and our allies an opportunity to prevent the antisemitic and anti-Israel agenda of the Democratic Socialists of Americas from dominating the agenda of the new Democratic Party, but also to begin to positively reset the U.S.-Israel relationship.
These will be fateful and momentous years for our community. And when history of the Jew’s of America is written, what we do today, literally today, tomorrow, next week, next month will shape the verdict that history reaches about our generation. May it not be said that we were weighed in the balance and found wanting.”
––- Rabbi Ammi Hirsch, Nov 6, 2026.
The response of many pro-Israel people I know to the Democratic Blue Wave has been despair and alarm. Given the hostility toward Jews and Israel that has grown since October 7, that reaction is understandable. Before the election, I was also alarmed. But what cannot happen is for that alarm to turn into paralysis. Rather, it is incumbent upon the Jewish community and our allies to embrace our commitment to the liberal democratic principles that has been a foundation for the U.S.-Israel relationship and to intervene to prevent that which we fear most from happening.
With that in mind, I will say something that seems counterintuitive to the lived experience of Jews since October 7th and especially in this last year where antisemitism and antizionism are increasingly gaining institutional footholds in both the Democratic and Republican Parties. I see a glimmer of hope in the Democratic Party blue wave.
When I look at what happened, when I understand the actual dynamics that drove that wave, I do not see it as handing the DSA the mandate to determine the direction of this new majority. And I do not see it as a mandate to completely repudiate the U.S relationship with Israel. Instead, I see an opening that would be foolish for us to ignore. An opportunity that, if we seize it, may enable us to stem the growing tide of antisemitism and antizionism and put America back on the right path–both in repudiating the extremism of both the left and right and repairing its relationship with Israel, its sister democracy.
The election was not about Israel. The Blue Wave was above all a rejection of Trump and Trumpism. Voters who had supported him became angry about prices, tariffs, the Iran war, corruption, and the sense that his administration was attending to its own interests rather than theirs. Younger voters, Hispanic voters, moderates, and other groups moved toward Democrats. They chose candidates who, at least, appeared to understand their problems and offered credible alternatives. They did not necessarily choose a party-wide ideological program.
The new Democratic majority is not a single political movement. The DSA-associated faction is highly organized and visible, and it has already influenced the rhetoric and policies of Democrats well beyond its membership. But its members are a small part of a much larger delegation that is mostly characterized by people who won competitive races by addressing the issues that Americans made clear are uppermost in their minds: affordability, health care, corruption, and responsible government. This was not a mandate for extremist views, but a mandate for a return to democratic principles and to working for the future of all Americans.
That is particularly important when it comes to Israel. Throughout the campaign, mainstream and social media devoted extraordinary attention to Gaza, Netanyahu, AIPAC, and anti-Israel candidates. For those of us who follow these issues closely, it could appear that Israel was at the center of the election. It was not. Polling on voters’ leading concerns consistently pointed to the economy, democracy, health care, and government accountability. Israel was not a principal driver of the national result. In fact, foreign policy polled at less than 3% of what drove Americans to the polls.
We also need to distinguish between what Americans say about Israel from how much the issue matters in their lives. Recent surveys show a serious deterioration in Israel’s standing, particularly among younger Americans and Democrats. But unfavorable views of Israel do not necessarily mean opposition to Israel’s existence or even in supporting an end to every form of cooperation. Many Americans distinguish the Israeli people from Netanyahu’s government. Millions still feel a strong affinity with Israel, including substantial evangelical Christian communities.
The weakness in much anti-Israel sentiment may be its shallowness. Young people can repeat the attitudes prevalent in their social circles without making Israel a central political commitment. They still need jobs, affordable housing, health care, and a government capable of addressing their problems. The DSA has tried to connect Israel to affordability, but it doesn’t take much to understand that blaming American economic hardship on Israel, a reflection of the claims made by the Nazis, is not a solution to the real problems facing Americans. For the new Democratic Party to maintain the support of the American people, they will have to deliver practical results, not ideological rhetoric.
This is not meant to minimize the dangers of the organized antizionist movement and the increased normalization of opposition to Israel inside Democratic Party culture. Yet, with the preponderance of votes for Democrats reflecting “bread and butter” issues rather than ideology, is there is an opportunity to keep that focus even with respect to so-called non-domestic policies? Is there an opportunity to separate criticism of Netanyahu or particular policies from rejection of Israel’s legitimacy, and to make the case for a relationship grounded in American interests and shared democratic principles?
It is somewhat of a myth to say that the United States and Israel were always joined at the hip. American presidents and Israeli prime ministers disagreed—sometimes sharply—while maintaining a relationship founded on security cooperation, shared interests, and recognition of each other’s sovereignty. We should seek to rebuild that kind of relationship rather than assume the extraordinary alignment of Trump and Netanyahu is the only measure of American friendship with Israel.
In past years, a majority of Americans felt that Israel shared our values. That belief has significantly eroded, especially among younger Americans. But it has not occurred in a vacuum because there has also been an erosion of a political culture in the United States committed to the belief in liberal democracy. And that is where we face the larger challenge. On the left and right, illiberal movements increasingly treat constitutional limits, pluralism, and equal citizenship as obstacles to their objectives. The principles of individual liberty, representative government, separation of powers, and the rule of law are neither Democratic nor Republican property. They are the common inheritance that allows Americans to disagree without treating one another as enemies.
This is where we have agency. Jewish organizations working on holding politicians accountable on issues of antisemitism and support for Israel should coordinate more effectively, and they should not act alone. We need to both better coordinate among ourselves, while at the same time building alliances with non-Jewish civic organizations committed to restoring constitutional government and responsible political leadership. These are not local problems, and they do not exist in a vacuum. We need to broaden our message to focus on the larger issues facing Americans and the urgency of restoring our political culture.
The immediate task is to hold the new majority to the commitments on which it was elected. If its members promised to make life more affordable, improve health care, combat corruption, and restore responsible government, those must remain their priorities. When an ideological minority attempts to redirect the agenda, the larger majority must be prepared to resist. And we should make the same demands of Republicans: loyalty to constitutional principles and the public interest, not to personalities or factions.
The lesson I draw from the blue wave is not that the danger has passed. It has not. The movements that have weakened our political culture, made antisemitism more acceptable, and turned hostility to Israel into a badge of political virtue, are still with us. But this election has not settled the matter in their favor. Americans demanded that elected officials take the responsibilities of government seriously. That creates an opportunity—if we are prepared to act on it.
Our task must be larger than defending Israel or combating antisemitism alone. We must help restore the political culture in which Jews, Israel, and all Americans can flourish–one grounded in equal citizenship, individual liberty, representative democracy, the rule of law, and the recognition that political opponents are not necessarily enemies. We must organize across geographic and institutional boundaries, build alliances beyond the Jewish community, and hold leaders accountable for what they do once in office.
I began by saying that we have agency. I want to end there because that is the crucial point. We cannot control every election, and we cannot assume that either party will protect our values on its own. But we can organize, persuade, collaborate, and insist that those elected to govern live up to the commitments they made to the American people. The future of the U.S.-Israel relationship, the place of Jews in American life, and the character of America itself are not foreordained. The opening to impact this may be limited and may not last long. But it is real enough that we have an obligation to seize it. We may not succeed but then I ask myself, and my community, a simple question: What choice do we have but to try.