The news from Israel is the job of explaining Israel to America — hasbara, Hebrew for propaganda– just got a lot harder. The government’s nakedly fascistic politics are a wakeup call to American Jews. We are enabling apartheid. We are the political lifeline for racist zealots who are going to hurt a lot more Palestinians this year. Supporting them goes against Jewish traditions. And American Jews will finally say Enough.

The longest serving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a rush to name his new government before January 2 and first order of business will be an override bill that allows the parliament to set aside Supreme Court overturnings of laws as mere “recommendation.” That’s one way Netanyahu plans to sidestep his corruption trial. Two of his ministers are convicted criminals.

The new Israeli government shows that Zionism is finally a nightmare for Jews. Israeli leftwingers report that they are “under attack,” “afraid,” and blacklisted, and that anti-occupation activists will be subject to violence of the sort Palestinians have always faced. And the “Reform movement is enemy number one” for the new government.

The Biden administration is giving Israel’s new radical right government the thumbs up. “Bibi Netanyahu is in charge of this government, okay? He’s made it very clear that his hands are on the wheel, and we’ll work with him. And most importantly, Joe Biden has a strong working relationship with Bibi Netanyahu,” says US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides.

Longtime leaders in the U.S. Jewish community, including Abe Foxman, Thomas Friedman, Rick Jacobs, and Dan Kurtzer, express fear that the new Israeli government will break the supposedly unbreakable U.S.-Israel relationship. Or as David Makovsky and Dennis Ross wrote a few weeks back in the first major sign that American Zionists are panicked by the plans, the new government will arm Israel’s “fiercest critics,” including progressives who seek to end U.S. aid and distance the U.S. from Israel. Not all these leaders are concerned about Palestinian rights. Indeed, Abe Foxman doesn’t question Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, but is upset that Israel might change the definition of Who is a Jew?

The shocking success of the racist-fascist party Religious Zionism in the Israel election three weeks ago has caused an earthquake inside the pro-Israel lobby in the United States. And that earthquake has allowed Joe Biden to take unprecedented –for him– baby-steps to confront the Israeli government.