"Eliminate the diaspora, or the diaspora will eliminate you." These remarks by Zeev Jabotinsky are emblazoned on a wall at the Tel Aviv institute that bears his name. They sum up the deep hostility of the ideological father of Israel's right wing toward the Jewish diaspora, which a hardline Zionism is literally seeking to "eliminate."
The divide has been stark between the followers of Jabotinsky, now represented by the Likud party, and the "founding fathers" of the State of Israel, the Labor Zionists who for decades maintained dialogue and cooperation with the diaspora. The overwhelming support of American Jews for the Israeli-Arab peace process further strained relations with Likud governments, first under Menachem Begin from 1977 to 1983, but especially under Benjamin Netanyahu, first from 1996 to 1999, then from 2009 to 2021 and again since December 2022.
Israel's current prime minister has long preferred to work with "Christian Zionists" rather than with Jewish communities in the United States. He has criticized the "personal insecurity" and "loss of identity" of American Jews, but above all blames them for not supporting him as unconditionally as do evangelical Christians, who are engaged in what they see as a true crusade against the "evil" of the Palestinians.
