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(July 2, 2026 / JNS)
"For those old enough to remember the general hoopla and feel-good atmosphere of the American bicentennial, the general lack of enthusiasm surrounding the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is shocking … and discouraging. Unlike 50 years ago, when the entire nation seemed to fairly burst with patriotic fervor, this year’s commemoration has a downbeat flavor to it.
"Even worse, some Jews are—for the first time in the history of the country—beginning to think that America is no longer a safe place. Some are even openly speaking of it as no different from any other stop in the last two millennia of Jewish Diaspora waystations.
"The reasons why are not far-fetched. But rather than giving up on the United States at a time when Jewish life is starting to feel precarious, Jews should be doing the opposite. They should not only be joining wholeheartedly in the America 250 celebrations. They should be doubling down on their determination to fight for it.
Partisanship and woke ideology
"Some of the lack of enthusiasm for America 250 is due to the hyperpartisanship of these times, with many Democrats and liberals being reluctant to celebrate the country led by a man they despise: President Donald Trump.
"But a lot also has to do with the pervasive influence of left-wing ideologies like critical race theory, intersectionality and settler-colonialism, that helped generate a spate of antisemitism that has rocked this country following the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. These toxic ideas now dominate American education, journalism, culture and the arts. A half-century ago, they were largely unknown and confined to portions of the academy where progressives were just beginning to make their way in their long march through American institutions. But today, the belief that the United States is an irredeemably racist nation that has been more a force for evil than good has become widespread.
"This neo-Marxist worldview is patently false. And yet, it has played an outsized role in convincing a great many people, especially the college-educated who now make up the vast majority of those who vote for Democrats and identify as liberal, that old-fashioned patriotism of the sort that was commonplace in 1976 is not merely out of fashion. It’s downright wrong.
"And it is due to the growing influence of such thinking that many are starting to feel like the golden age of American Jewry is over.
"Antisemitism isn’t merely rising to unprecedented levels; it is being mainstreamed by corporate media outlets like The New York Times. More than that, for the first time in American history, it has become an organizing principle of politics. Hatred for Israel and the normalization of blood libels against the Jewish state are now the litmus test by which left-wing activists view candidates, including those who are otherwise down-the-line liberals on every other issue, such as Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), who just lost a primary that will mean the end of his career as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
"Sadly, the same phenomenon is beginning to make itself felt on the American right as well. Though the overwhelming majority of Republicans and conservatives are pro-Israel and philo-semitic, the influence of Jew-hating podcasters—namely, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the even crazier commentator Candace Owens and the Holocaust-denying neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, along with enablers like media celebrity Megyn Kelly—is also on the rise. Worse than that, Vice President JD Vance has been sending signals that not only is he neutral about the debate on the right about antisemitism, but that he is ready to jettison the U.S.-Israel alliance.
The fruits of American liberty
"With the academy and so many other sectors of American life becoming hostile environments for Jews who won’t bend the knee to woke hatred for Israel and the Jewish people, it’s understandable that many no longer think of it as the “Goldene Medina” in the way their immigrant forebears did.
"That’s sad, but it’s also counterproductive. Instead of throwing in the towel on what admittedly sometimes seems like a sinking ship, Jews should understand that they have no choice but to stand and fight for their place in society.
"One reason for doing so is that, contrary to the assumptions of many Jewish liberals, America has always been a uniquely welcoming place for Jews. From its earliest days, the American republic not only didn’t erect barriers to Jewish equality and participation that were a given in Europe, as well as in the Arab and Muslim worlds. With few exceptions, Jews have always been treated as equal partners in the American experiment in constitutional government, rather than, as is the case elsewhere, a tolerated minority.
"The principles of Judaism were baked into the Western Enlightenment thinking that was intrinsic to the mindset of the framers. And that made itself felt in a variety of ways. President George Washington’s famous letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, R.I., in which he wrote that “happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance” was not merely a personal sentiment. Though Jews were a tiny minority in America, they had taken an active part in the American Revolution. And in a republic without an established religion and in which many of the various Christian sects had a living memory of persecution in Europe, religious freedom was enshrined as the nation’s “first freedom” in the Bill of Rights.
"It was a nation that was not merely dedicated to liberty as no other had been. It was also a place where economic freedom and the rule of law were guaranteed, thus giving Jews and other immigrant minority groups a chance to better themselves. If American Jewry is the freest and most prosperous Jewish Diaspora in history, it is a function of the governing system first conceived in 1776 and then firmly established in the framing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787. It is those founding documents that are the guarantee of Jewish liberty as well as that of everyone else.
"That this exceptionalism and tradition of liberty is under assault is not in doubt. A two-front war is being waged against the Judeo-Christian heritage that is the foundation of American liberty from both the left and the right. And given the strength of liberty’s woke opponents, pessimism about its survival, which is inextricably linked to Jewish safety, may be forgiven at times.
"But the semiquincentennial is no time to concede that fight.
No choice but to stand and fight
"We must do so not merely out of a desire to defend our lives here. We must do so because a strong America that has not abandoned the best of Western civilization and values is essential to the worldwide struggle against the forces of tyranny, both Marxist and Islamist, which threaten Israel and Jews everywhere.
"If Jewish life is unsafe in America, it will be unsafe everywhere. And that will impact Israel as well. That’s why it is essential that, rather than giving up or giving in to hysterical talk about the end of American liberty and even the end of American Jewry, we must recommit to the fight to roll back the woke tide on the left and its antisemitic echo on the right—and to defeat it.
"This may be a generational struggle in much the same way that leftist efforts to impose these false beliefs on the United States were one. But it is a battle that is necessary to fight—not just to save American Jewry, but to save the canon of Western civilization on which our freedoms rest.
"The contempt for traditional patriotism and belief in the truth that the American republic—flawed though it might be—is a force for good in the world has already been made clear by left-wing elites. But as discouraging as this discourse may be, it is a reminder that the stigmatizing and targeting of Jews is part and parcel of the same struggle that other Americans are engaging in. America is and always has been exceptional. But it will only remain that way so long as a broad cross-section of its citizens—Jews and non-Jews, liberals and conservatives, Democrats as well as Republicans—are willing to stand up against the woke forces seeking to traduce its founding values.
"The appropriate answer to attacks on Jews is not flight or a call to shelter in place. Jews must speak up and not abandon the streets or the public square to the antisemites and woke mobs. The rejoinder to anti-Jewish violence and intimidation is for Jews to act in the most quintessential American way possible: to arm themselves and make it clear that they will not be intimidated or silenced.
"Those who hate the founding principles of the United States, in addition to its Jewish residents, may seem to be on the ascent, as election results in various Democratic Party primaries have shown. But they are wrong about the end of American greatness or the need to transform it into some pale reflection of Marxist or Islamist concepts. And as dire as the situation may seem at the moment, these enemies of liberty may be sealing their own fate with their attempt to foist antisemitic extremists on a country that is inherently moderate and where Jew-hatred of this type has always been confined to outliers rather than the mainstream.
"Faith in the good sense and decency of the American people may seem like a forlorn hope when you witness the ability of figures like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to affect the future of American democracy. But those who bet against America have always been shortsighted suckers. Right now is no time to doubt that this will continue to be the case.
"On this 250th Independence Day, rather than writing off America, we should be embracing it all the more enthusiastically and pledging to defend it against those who wish to tear it down. The alternative is not merely unthinkable; it’s an abandonment of Western civilization, and all that decent people hold dear.
"Happy birthday, America! Even on your worst day, we still believe in you, and we know you’re worth fighting for."
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS. Follow him: @jonathans_tobin.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem News Syndicate, a senior contributor for The Federalist, a columnist for Newsweek and a contributor to many other publications. He covers the American political scene, foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world and the arts. He hosts the JNS “Think Twice” podcast, both the weekly video program and the “Jonathan Tobin Daily” program, which are available on all major audio platforms and YouTube. Previously, he was executive editor, then senior online editor and chief political blogger, for Commentary magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He has won more than 60 awards for commentary, art criticism and other writing. He appears regularly on television, commenting on politics and foreign policy. Born in New York City, he studied history at Columbia University.
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