In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.Last week, Vice President JD Vance appeared on Allie Beth Stuckey’s podcast ‘Relatable’ and touched on a subject that has become increasingly contentious on the American Right: Israel, the Jewish community, and the line between legitimate criticism and something darker.Vance criticized an increasing tendency to conflate criticism of “a particular government” with Jew hatred. Comparing progressives’ instinct to label everything as racist, Vance rightly pointed out how the overuse of such labels blunts its power, rendering such criticism meaningless.
Stuckey, however, rightly pushed back, saying, “From my vantage point, the bigger problem … is Israel derangement syndrome. … The obsession that some people have, even on the Right, with blaming all of their problems on Israel, and all of their disagreements with Trump on some secret Israeli influence. I’m not saying all of those people hate every Jewish person, but it seems to get there really fast.”To a point, Vance is correct to express frustration at some Jewish online personalities’ aggressive criticism of him of late. A large number of pro-Israel voices have been operating at an 11 on the hysteria scale lately, responding to every criticism of Israel as though it were evidence of antisemitism. There has been too much eagerness to assume the worst motives, and too little willingness to distinguish between criticism of a government and hatred of a people.But the pushback Vance has been on the receiving end of did not emerge out of thin air.For the better part of almost three years, Jews have watched people lose their minds in real time, and the speed with which it has happened has been genuinely unsettling. There is rightful concern that we’re watching the spread of that mind virus into the White House. On the Left, ideas that once lived comfortably on the political fringe have marched steadily into the mainstream. A man with a Nazi tattoo just won a Democratic primary for Senate in Maine, and is in a dead heat with his incumbent opponent. Nationwide, socialists and activists whose rhetoric would have been disqualifying only a few years ago have now overtaken local party organizations, dominated Democratic primaries, and increasingly shape the conversation within institutions once considered to be in the political center. The obsession with Israel, Zionism, and Jewish power has become so consuming in some corners of the Left that it functions almost as a worldview unto itself, providing a simple explanation for every conflict, every grievance, and every perceived injustice. Jews have seen this impulse to scapegoat crop up throughout our history, and it never ends well. And it’s alarming the extent to which similar tendencies have begun to emerge on the Right.The names of the individuals cashing in on this phenomenon are familiar: Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Thomas Massie, to name a few. There is a growing ecosystem of influencers, commentators, and politicians whose fixation on Israel surpasses their concern with the actual enemies of the United States. Their beliefs quickly evolve into suspicion of Jewish influence, speculation about divided loyalties, or elaborate theories about how American foreign policy is secretly directed by Israel and American Jews. We have already watched this pattern consume large portions of the Left, and the wildfire is spreading to the Right.This kind of derangement is not simply a threat to Jews, nor is it merely a threat to the Democratic or Republican parties. It is a threat to the country’s ability to think clearly about its allies, its enemies, and its own interests. These dangers are far greater than a handful of pro-Israel activists occasionally being annoying online, even if the vice president is more concerned about Jewish kvetching. Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Lake Lucerne Summit at the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler, Pool Photo via AP)
