U.S. Jews and Israel 'are no longer exceptional': Dahlia Lithwick and Joshua Leifer on being 'Trump's chess pieces'

4 snips

Dec 12, 2025

Guest

Joshua Leifer

Guest

Dahlia Lithwick

Dahlia Lithwick, an award-winning journalist and senior editor at Slate, and Joshua Leifer, a Haaretz columnist and historian, delve into the complex relationship between American Jews and Israel. Lithwick emphasizes the urgent need to confront the dissonance of supporting Trump while fearing authoritarianism. They discuss how Israel has overestimated its power in global politics and the importance of adapting to a more transactional reality. Additionally, they urge American Jews to rethink their strategies in combating rising antisemitism and political ostracization.

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ANECDOTE

Hostage Square Dissonance

Allison describes being in Hostage Square the night the ceasefire was announced and seeing crowds thank Trump.
She contrasts that with friends in the U.S. preparing nationwide 'no kings' protests the next day.

INSIGHT

Democracy Or Transactional Gains

Dahlia Lithwick argues you must choose between democracy and Trumpism rather than treat them as selectable goods.
She refuses to subordinate rule-of-law values to transactional gains even if Trump achieved concessions on Gaza.

ANECDOTE

Freed Hostage Praises Trump

Allison recounts Elizabeth Surkoff, a progressive freed hostage who said she'd still be captive if Kamala Harris were president.
The anecdote exposes dissonance between progressive values and pragmatic praise for Trump's actions.

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When it comes to liberal American Jews and President Donald Trump, the “cognitive dissonance is real,” said award-winning journalist Dahlia Lithwick on the Haaretz Podcast.

While Lithwick “doesn’t dispute for a minute" the fact that the U.S. president and his envoys “did yeoman’s work” negotiating a cease-fire deal, it is not enough for her to soften her perception of the level of danger that Trump represents.

With democracy and rule of law being challenged, “You have to ask yourself, am I transactional enough to say that I will subordinate all of that to parochial interests?” she said in her conversation with Haaretz columnist Joshua Leifer and podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer.

“If you say you can pick and choose which authoritarian you want to align yourself with, cross your fingers and hope you know this time, being a court Jew is going to work out – history suggests otherwise.”

In their in-depth discussion, Lithwick and Leifer also consider the trends in U.S. politics on the right and left, which are upending the long-held assumptions of American Jewish life and the urgent need to confront the new “transactional” reality and abandon “magical thinking.”

“American Jewish organizations sold the idea to American Jews that they were more powerful than they were. And I think Israel sold to American Jews – and also Israelis – that Israel is more powerful than it is,” Leifer said.

For U.S. Jews to effectively fight for their interests, including the battle against antisemitism, he said, they must leave behind “the old rhetoric and strategies – because no one cares anymore.”

Read more from Haaretz columnist Joshua Leifer:

In Blood-soaked Israel-Palestine, the Dangerous Status Quo of Before October 7 Has Returned

It's Clear What Defendant Netanyahu Gets Out of a Pardon. But What's in It for Trump?

The Ultra-hawkish Right and anti-Zionist Left Have Drowned the American Jewish Majority

Why Netanyahu Is Sharing Leftist Conspiracy Theories About a Mossad Sex Cabal

Israel's Right Wing Bet the Country's Future on American Christian Nationalists. That Has Backfired

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