Iron Dome: How Israel's stunning success turned into a colossal failure - opinion

• Author: NADAV TAMIR
• Published date: 29 September 2021

The IDF's impressive 1967 victory following a period of existential anxiety in the months leading up to the war generated record high enthusiasm for Israel on the part of American Jews and Americans in general, enthralled by David vanquishing Goliath. But the seeds of the gradual reversal in the views of many Democratic voters and young American Jews about Israel were planted in the years following that victory. It was not only the result of the natural tendency by progressives to back the underdog; it also stemmed from the moral and strategic implications of the prolonged occupation and of the arrogance of the settlement movement that took control of Israeli politics.

Israelis, of course, are shocked when an American lawmaker refuses to approve funding for a life-saving defense system. We are also stunned that anyone can criticize Israel when it struggles with a terror organization such as Hamas. But it is important to understand that as we are blind to the nuances of American politics and view the Iron Dome incident in Congress as stemming from anti-Israel sentiment when, in fact, it reflects power struggles within the Democratic Party on domestic priorities. By the same token, most progressives do not realize the nuanced differences between Hamas and the population of Gaza and between Iron Dome and offensive weapons. All they see is Israeli unwillingness to end its ongoing occupation of another people while the US taxpayer is required to foot the bill and deal with the consequences.

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The decades-long success of "Israel supporters" in Congress is also turning into a flop in front of our very eyes. Initially, this support was a sacred goal of Jewish organizations to make up for US inaction during the Holocaust and mobilize help for a young state surrounded by enemies. But the stronger these groups grew, the more aggressive and arrogant they became in order to silence any hint of criticism and deviation from the automatic support for the policies of the governments of Israel. This worked well as long as Israeli governments attempted to end the occupation and as long as bipartisan policy kept support for Israel within the domestic political consensus. However, these organizations gradually lost touch with the liberal/progressive majority of the Jewish community and with many Democratic voters. Above all, they lost touch...