Two Elections, One People

Israel’s election will define the future of the Jewish state, just as America’s political contest will shape this nation for the next several years. Two elections, one people will determine the political character and content of each of these societies.

On October 27, Israelis will elect the 26th Knesset. A week later, on November 3, Americans will vote in pivotal midterm elections. These are separate elections in two sovereign democracies, but their consequences will profoundly impact the Jewish people.

The Israeli election therefore presents American Jews with more than a question of who should govern Israel. This campaign raises fundamental issues about Israel’s future: the strength of its democratic institutions, the relationship between religion and state, the treatment of minorities, the responsibilities of citizenship, the prospects for peace and the kind of Zionism Israel will embody. Although American Jews do not cast ballots in Israel, the outcome will inevitably affect their relationship with the country—and Israel’s place within American public life.

The American election will shape the 120th Congress and impact President Donald Trump’s final two years, as well as influence policy and practice involving democratic institutions, the economy, the United States’ relationship with Israel, and the government’s response to antisemitism.

Decisions made in Jerusalem and Washington will affect Jewish security, identity, political belonging and the relationship between the two great centers of contemporary Jewish life.

“One people” does not mean one politics. American and Israeli Jews remain connected by history and fate even as they disagree over what Jewish security, democracy, Zionism and moral responsibility require or ought to look like.

American Jews approach these elections more divided than they have been in many years. For Jewish Americans, these elections raise interconnected civic and communal questions: our place in American society, our relationship with Israel, and the meaning of Jewish peoplehood at a moment when Zionism is fiercely contested and antisemitism is a growing concern.

The stakes are critical in both societies. The division is not simply between supporters and critics of Israel. Most American Jews continue to affirm Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish homeland, but they increasingly disagree about what supporting Israel means. Is solidarity with Israel expressed by defending its government during a time of war, or by challenging policies that may endanger its democratic and moral future? Does Zionism demand loyalty, criticism—or both? Can opposition to an Israeli government be separated from opposition to Israel itself? And where is the boundary between legitimate criticism of Israel and rhetoric that denies Jewish history, collective rights or safety?

These questions have become intensely important to Jewish Americans. Religious and secular Jews, younger and older Jews, and Jews on the political left and right often experience Israel differently. For some, Israel remains an indispensable refuge and the central expression of Jewish self-determination. For others, Jewish identity is grounded more firmly in American citizenship, religious practice, culture or commitments to universal justice. Many hold several of these attachments simultaneously and struggle when they appear to come into conflict.

The war in Gaza has widened these fractures. American Jews share much of the trauma of October 7 and concern for Israel’s security, yet they differ sharply over the conduct and duration of the war, Palestinian suffering and the policies of Israel’s government. Jewish institutions, congregations, campuses and even families have become arenas for arguments that were once easier to manage and contain.

The American election creates an equally difficult set of choices. Many American Jews remain politically aligned with the Democratic Party, especially on abortion rights, health care, civil rights, economic opportunity and the defense of democratic institutions. At the same time, Jews are increasingly troubled by hostility toward Israel and Zionism within parts of the left and by rhetoric that sometimes crosses into antisemitism.

Republicans frequently present themselves as stronger defenders of Israel and more willing to confront certain forms of antisemitism. Yet many American Jews remain deeply alarmed by President Trump, threats to democratic norms, Christian nationalism and the presence of antisemitic conspiracies and anti-Zionist extremists on the right.

American Jews can consequently feel politically homeless: suspicious that parts of the left will defend every vulnerable minority except Jews, while fearing that parts of the right will defend Jews only when Jewish interests serve a larger ideological or partisan project. Neither party, it would appear, has fully earned the community’s confidence.

This tension is sharpened by disagreement over antisemitism itself. Jews broadly recognize attacks on synagogues, Holocaust denial and holding American Jews collectively responsible for Israel’s actions as antisemitic. But they disagree over anti-Zionism, campus protests, restrictions on speech and whether accusations of antisemitism are sometimes used to silence legitimate criticism. Even the language intended to protect Jews has become politically contested.

AJC’s 2025 survey found that 93% of American Jews regarded antisemitism as a significant problem and more than half had altered some behavior because of it. Its earlier survey found that American Jews perceived serious threats from the extreme left, extreme right, Christian nationalism and extremism carried out in Islam’s name—not just from one ideological source.  ADL recorded 6,274 antisemitic incidents in 2025, the third-highest annual total in its records, although definitions and classifications in such audits remain debated. 

The stakes in the United States extend far beyond Israel. The midterms will influence the balance of power during Trump’s second presidency, the independence of American institutions, the economy, immigration, education, reproductive rights and the government’s response to hate and political extremism. For Jews, these are not abstract policy disputes. They concern the durability of the pluralistic democracy that has allowed Jewish life in America to flourish.

The two elections thus confront American Jews with parallel questions. What makes a state both strong and democratic? How should a society balance security and liberty? What obligations accompany political power? How can Jews defend themselves without surrendering their values? And how can a divided people continue to argue without allowing disagreement to destroy the bonds between them?

“Two Elections, One People” does not suggest that Jews share one political program or will vote as a bloc. They do not, and they will not. It recognizes something more demanding: Jews remain connected even when they disagree about the meaning of that connection.

This year, American Jews will be watching one election from afar and participating directly in another. In Israel, the future of the Jewish state and its democracy will be contested. In America, the future of the democracy in which American Jews have built their lives will be contested as well.

Two countries. Two democracies. Two elections. One diverse and divided people whose future will be shaped by both, and whose collective future is linked. 

Steven Windmueller is an Emeritus Professor of Jewish Communal Studies at the Jack H. Skirball Campus of HUC in Los Angeles. His writings can be found on his website, www.thewindreport.com