Dr. Lee-Ann Hadar: The Quiet Divorce – American Jewry and the End of the Zionist Consensus

Dr. Lee-Ann Hadar argues that the assumption that support for Israel is an inseparable part of American Jewish identity is collapsing. Polls show that 61% of American Jews hold a negative view of Netanyahu, and only a third define themselves as Zionists. Nearly half of those under 35 support a binational state. The war in Gaza has made the rift visible.

In an extensive opinion piece, Dr. Lee-Ann Hadar argues that the basic assumption underlying American Jewish relations with Israel—that support for Israel means support for any sitting government—is collapsing. He describes a slow but growing process of identity disengagement, not a dramatic anti-Zionist defection but a deeper shift. The article cites polls: 86% of American Jews define themselves as pro-Israel, but 61% hold a negative view of Benjamin Netanyahu, and only a third define themselves as Zionists. Nearly half of American Jews under 35 now support a single binational state—a figure that has doubled in four years. Hadar attributes the change not to campus protests or TikTok, but to a return to an older American Jewish tradition that predates the Six-Day War, in which Judaism was seen as a moral and religious heritage rather than a territorial claim. He notes that the war in Gaza has made the rift visible, with 61% of Jewish adults saying Israel has committed war crimes. The article warns that the pro-Israel coalition is becoming a Republican coalition, and that establishment organizations may preserve their institutions but lose their public.