Danny Ayalon, a vigorous advocate for Israel and former ambassador to the U.S., says he is worried about the growth of Jewish anti-Zionism in the United States.

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?

Israel’s steady lurch to the right is a predictable outcome for a country founded on Jewish supremacy and discrimination against Palestinians. 

This election could also be viewed as the outcome of longstanding antidemocratic forces, an inheritance from fascistic leaders like Vladimir “Ze’ev” Jabotinsky, rabbis like Meir Kahane,  the unwillingness of sequential Israeli governments (left to right) to control a violent and rabid settler movement, and even the consequences of the Zionist movement itself which preached not only Jewish nationalism, but Jewish supremacy. 

The New York Times appears to be tired of cheerleading for Israel, witness two opinion pieces this weekend: a long report by Thomas Friedman in which the columnist admitted at the start that “the prospect for a two-state solution has all but vanished;” then, a full page offering by the entire Editorial Board headlined that says that Benjamin Netanyahu’s likely next coalition government “is a significant threat to the future of Israel.” Neither article mentions apartheid.

Tom Friedman deplores the Israel lobby for assisting Netanyahu in preventing any U.S. president from taking action on Palestinian disenfranchisement. “AIPAC and American Jewish organizations who have done Bibi’s bidding…at every turn used their power and influence to still the hand of any [U.S.] administration wanting to have a more serious and energetic and vigorous policy. And for that they will have to answer to history,” the New York Times columnist says. He said this effect is now working on the Biden administration.

The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman condemns the incoming Israeli government, with “outright racist, anti-Arab Jewish extremists” set to become cabinet ministers.

Expect Biden to parrot conservative pro-Israel writers in the New York Times who hail the lately-fallen Israeli government as a model for the United States in its inclusion of an Arab party. Shmuel Rosner calls it “thrilling.” Too bad that NPR also salutes the “hell of an experiment.” All these positive reviews leave out Israeli apartheid.

Offering the new Israeli government as a model for fixing American democracy, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman leaves out the fact that its policies are as rightwing as Netanyahu’s, that numerous human rights organizations say it practices apartheid, and that it exalts a Jewish nation state law that gives Jews exclusive rights that Palestinians don’t enjoy. All in a day’s work for the man who pushed the Iraq war in his “personal crusade” for democracy in the Arab world and refuses to apologize for doing so.

Israel’s threat to attack Iran has been made so many times that it has lost much of its danger to shock — but it would be a huge mistake to dismiss the Israelis’ statements. Even if Bennett is bluffing again, the supercharged atmosphere in the region raises the danger of a terrible accident. What’s more, Israel continues its violent sabotage program against Iran.

The New York Times slants its coverage of the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal talks, leaving out the Israeli role.