An F-35C Lightning II on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in support of Operation Epic Fury, March 3, 2026 (U.S. Department of War)
Michael Oren: The Blood Libel Comes to Iran
Voices on both the right and left are accusing Israel of once again dragging America into an unnecessary, endless war
Last week, in Washington D.C., Brian McGinnis, a veteran of the U.S. Marines, burst into a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee and started screaming, “America does not want to send its sons and daughters to war for Israel!” He kept screaming the same words about Israel killing American soldiers even as Capitol Police and a senator wrestled with him and tried to eject him from the chamber. Before they could, McGinnis and several of the guards were injured. The incident would have been quickly forgotten had it not reflected growing public sentiment in the United States.
Increasingly, voices on both the right and left are accusing Israel of once again dragging America into an unnecessary, endless war. The charge has been made by prominent liberal figures like New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and conservative antisemitic podcaster Tucker Carlson. Both claimed that the devious Benjamin Netanyahu persuaded the impressionable Donald Trump to attack Iran and essentially wage war for Israel. No fringe conspiracy theory, the belief that U.S. forces are risking and giving their lives for Israel is gaining wider acceptance in American society. The accusation is especially appealing to the majority of the population, which, according to a recent Gallup poll, now favors the Palestinians over Israel.
This demonization of Israel draws on the classic antisemitic trope of the cunning Jew who manipulates the gullible gentile like a puppeteer. As such, its growing popularity threatens to increase the antisemitism that is already skyrocketing in the United States. The belief that Israel has orchestrated this war will further alienate Israel from the isolationist “America First” wing of the MAGA movement and from the Democratic Party, many leaders of which—California governor Gavin Newsom is the latest—who favor cutting off military aid to Israel and who pledge never to accept donations from AIPAC.
For Israel, the charge that it pushed America into war is also dangerous. It will intensify the domestic pressure on President Trump to end the operation before it has achieved its goals. To counter this vicious libel, Israel must join with American Jewish organizations in mounting a concerted public diplomacy and media campaign. This will stress the extreme threats posed by Iran to both Israel and the United States and that America is fully justified in fighting for itself by itself against the Islamic Republic. Together, Israeli and American Jews must emphasize what U.S. Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth recently declared publicly that Israel is a “true ally with real capabilities,” a “steadfast partner,” which acts with “unmatched skill and iron determination.” Those extraordinary qualities, we must stress, help preserve not only Israel’s security but America’s.
