At the American Prospect, Michelle Goldberg explores the possibility that America’s pro-Israel lobby is on its way to obsolescence:
Israel presents a very different picture to people coming of age today. Its most recent wars have been aggressive, brutal, and inconclusive. Almost every week brings news of some new gratuitous cruelty, like the eviction of more than 50 Palestinians from their East Jerusalem homes this week—homes that were quickly taken over by Jewish settlers. At the same time, distance from the Holocaust, and a dramatic lessening overt anti-Semitism in the United States, has reduced the sense that Israel is necessary for the Jews’ ongoing survival.
[…]In Israel, [sociologist of American Jewry Steven M.] Cohen says, analysts are trying to figure out how to contend with changing views in the United States. “Strategic analysts have long said that there has to be an adjustment in policies because American Jews can’t be relied upon to support whatever policies that Israel advances,” Cohen says.
This might be seen as good news for those who favor a more even-handed American approach to the Middle East. Yet [Jeremy] Ben-Ami, who loves Israel even if he abhors many of its policies, mourns this growing estrangement, and fears that liberal young people might drift away from the Jewish community altogether.
Read the full article here.