Bibi and MAGA Zionism Belong in Dustbin of History
We Must Save Israel’s Future from Authoritarianism and American Radicalism
Benjamin Netanyahu has long claimed to be the great defender of the Jewish people. It is his schtick. However, the truth is that he has made the world more dangerous for Jews by embracing authoritarianism, cozying up to antisemites, and turning legitimate Jewish self-determination into a tool of fear, division, and permanent war.
Netanyahu isn’t a symbol of Jewish safety. He’s a symbol of how far we’ve strayed from our highest values.
For years he has cloaked himself in the language of strength and survival. What he’s really offered is isolation, moral decay, and the slow erosion of international trust in the Jewish state. From aligning with Viktor Orbán—a Hungarian leader who traffics in classic antisemitic tropes—to his open embrace of Donald Trump, Netanyahu has waged a campaign not for Jewish safety, but for his own political survival.
A MAGA Version of Zionism
His version of Zionism (just like Trumpism here in America) isn’t about security or dignity, it is about clinging to power by any means necessary. It is about turning trauma into a permanent justification for domination. It is about stoking existential fear so voters overlook corruption, extremism, and democratic backsliding.
There is also a deeper danger: by tethering Jewish identity to his policies, he has made Jews worldwide complicit in the eyes of the world. He has weaponized the memory of the Holocaust, invoking it to silence critics while simultaneously partnering with world leaders who venerate fascists and demonize progressive Jews.
His repeated assaults on Israeli democracy—gutting the judiciary, demonizing political opponents, inciting against Arab citizens, and ignoring the Diaspora—are not acts of Jewish leadership. These are the behaviors of a strongman. Tethered to Trump’s MAGA movement, his project leaves no room for dissent, nuance, or conscience. Meanwhile, Jews outside Israel—especially progressives, interfaith families, and people of color—are left to navigate rising antisemitism without the credibility of a moral center. When Jewish safety is defined solely by military power or nationalist purity, we lose what actually keeps us safe: solidarity, justice, and trust.
Separate Judaism from Corruption
Let me be very clear… this is not a call to abandon Israel. This is a call to separate Judaism and Jewish people from a corrupt, dangerous regime that has hijacked our name. Real Zionism should mean flourishing for all who live in the land (and love the land from afar) and respect for those beyond its borders. Real Jewish safety comes from alliances rooted in dignity and law, not from bunkers and surveillance.
When Netanyahu is finally out of office, history must not allow him a golden parachute or a revisionist comeback. His legacy belongs in the same dustbin the MAGA movement is heading for: a cautionary tale about what happens when fear, trauma, and unchecked ego replace moral leadership.
The Jewish people deserve better. The world does too.