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Let’s be clear: the Democratic Party today is not the same party that once courted the Jewish community with steady support for Israel and mainstream values. A strain of hostility toward Jews has grown inside its left flank, and many conservatives point a finger at the man who helped reshape the party: President Obama. Call it unintended consequences, political malpractice, or a moral failure — the result is the same. The coalition Obama built made room for radicalism, and that radicalism has not been kind to Jews or to basic liberal norms.
Obama’s Big Gamble: Identity Politics Over Unity
President Obama was masterful at coalition building. He brought together young voters, minorities, activists, and donors in a way few politicians have. But that coalition came with a price: the elevation of identity politics as the primary political language. When politics becomes a contest of competing victimhoods, messy questions about allies and enemies get pushed aside. Instead of holding all bad actors to the same standard, the party often chose to protect favored groups and candidates — even when some of those candidates trafficked in anti-Jewish rhetoric or supported movements hostile to Jewish people and Israel.
Campus Activism, BDS, and the Rise of Anti-Israel Sentiment
One place this shift showed up most clearly is on college campuses and among progressive NGOs. The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and other anti-Israel currents found fertile ground inside the party’s new base. Where past Democrats might have called out anti-Israel campaigns and defended Jewish students facing harassment, too many in today’s coalition treated those campaigns as legitimate political protest. That normalization has allowed antisemitic tropes to creep back in, dressed up as righteous criticism of a foreign policy or support for an oppressed group.
Weak Condemnations and the Consequences
When lawmakers and party leaders fail to clearly condemn antisemitism — or worse, equivocate to avoid upsetting activist wings — the result is demoralizing and dangerous. Jewish voters notice. Jewish institutions notice. The broader public notices when there’s a double standard for acceptable speech. Republicans should point this out — not to score cheap political points, but to defend the right of every American to live free from religious hatred. Pretending the problem doesn’t exist because it’s politically inconvenient only lets the “monster” grow.
What Conservatives Should Do
Conservatives must be clear-eyed and steady: call out antisemitism wherever it appears, hold Democrats accountable for the coalition they built, and offer a real alternative that defends religious liberty and free speech. That means championing Jewish students on campus, pushing back against BDS in state and federal arenas, and refusing to accept identity politics as an excuse for moral cowardice. The monster that was let loose can be tamed — but it takes courage, not political theater.
