If Trump turns…

American Jews must finally accept that, for the Jews, there is no left and no right. There are only friends and enemies.

There has been much talk in recent days about a possible shift in American Middle East policy to Israel’s detriment. Everyone is asking whether President Donald Trump has suddenly “turned against” the Jewish state. The fear is that the administration is marginalizing Israel, determined to cut deals with numerous hostile countries without the Jewish state’s input or involvement, including with Israel’s existential enemy, Iran.

In this regard, the signs have been mixed. While Trump certainly appears to be bypassing the Netanyahu government, this doesn’t necessarily constitute a turn against Israel. On the other hand, Trump is a mercurial man—often inexplicably so—and it is difficult to rule out the possibility that he has chosen to deviate from his previous pro-Israel stance.

If Trump has turned—and we should hope he hasn’t—then, at the very least, the Netanyahu government is in serious trouble. Netanyahu has staked more or less everything on his relationship with “my friend” Trump. If Trump turns, Netanyahu will have nowhere else to go.

Moreover, despite assurances from various Trump administration officials, such a shift would undoubtedly be very bad for Israel. Israel obviously relies heavily on the alliance with the US. While alternative allies might be found, it is difficult to see how any of them could match America’s traditional generosity and support.

Moreover, if Trump has turned, Israel’s supporters and the Jewish community in general will have to resist his policies. This poses significant risks, considering Trump’s passionate MAGA following and his often-vengeful nature. The possibility of a substantial surge in right-wing antisemitism must be taken very seriously.

At the same time, however, there can be no denying that Trump, whatever policies he adopts regarding Israel, has been very beneficial to the American Jewish community in recent months.

In particular, his administration has undertaken a determined and mostly effective effort to counter progressive and Muslim antisemitism. This is not only a good thing in and of itself, but could well rescue the Jewish community from marginalization and ghettoization.

The question, then, is where the Jews are supposed to go if Trump decisively turns against Israel. Obviously, progressive and liberal Jews already dislike Trump intensely, even though they benefit greatly from his antisemitism policies. But conservative Jews, who are among Israel’s most passionate supporters, would face an especially terrible dilemma.

The answer, it seems to me, would be to adopt something like David Ben-Gurion’s policy toward Britain after it issued the infamous 1939 White Paper. This policy statement all but banned Jewish Aliyah to then-Palestine just when it was needed most and, for all intents and purposes, renounced Zionism.

But once World War II was underway, with Britain standing alone against Nazism, the dilemma was obvious. In response, Ben-Gurion chose to adopt a simple policy: Zionists and Jews in general should “fight the war as if there were no White Paper and fight the White Paper as if there were no war.”

In the context of a Trump turn against Israel, this would seem to be the best of many bad options: Fight against Trump’s Israel policy as if his antisemitism policy did not exist, and fight for his antisemitism policy as if his Israel policy did not exist.

The problem is whether the Jewish community as a whole can get behind such a policy, because if Trump turns, the divisions within the community will only be exacerbated.

Progressive Jews will say to conservative Jews, “I told you so,” and emphasize that they had always predicted that Trump would betray Israel, even though their own side has already betrayed not just Israel but the entirety of world Jewry. At the same time, conservative Jews will likely be so paralyzed by shock and disillusionment that they will be largely ineffective in any case.

If this division is to be overcome, and it must be, the various factions of American Jewry will have to accept something that American Jews have always found very difficult to accept: For the Jews, there is no left and no right. There is no progressivism, liberalism, or conservatism. There are only our friends, our enemies, and, of course, ourselves. We are of no party but our own.

Thus, the partisan divide in the US is ultimately irrelevant, because American Jews have friends on both sides: On the left, there are the likes of Van Jones, Ritchie Torres, and John Fetterman. On the right, there are Nikki Haley, Lindsey Graham, and a great many more. American Jews should embrace them all. Let non-Jews squabble over factions and parties; the Jews lack both the luxury and the time for such indulgences.

It is not certain that Trump and his supporters have indeed turned against Israel. Despite several uncomfortable actions, Trump has reaffirmed the alliance with Israel and strongly urged his Arab interlocutors to join the Abraham Accords.

However, Jews must have no delusions. Betrayal is always possible and, historically speaking, has usually been the norm. If the Jews are betrayed by both sides, the sense of helplessness and isolation will be overwhelming. The resulting ordeal will be a grievous one.

However, despair would be unwarranted. Whatever happens, American Jews have many friends and immense resources and talent to draw upon. If the American Jewish community can be made to understand that it is possible to support Trump on antisemitism and oppose Trump on Israel simultaneously, and that petty factionalism and grievances are irrelevant, then there is little standing in the way of ultimate victory.