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If one were dead set on dividing President Trump’s MAGA coalition at the seams, how would he proceed? Trying to drive a wedge through the immigration issue doesn’t necessarily make sense: Tightening and securing America’s borders is so core to the nationalist-populist MAGA project that there can be little room in the coalition for much dissent. Trying to divide MAGA along economic laissez-faire or populism lines is also doomed to fail: As important as pocketbook issues are to everyday Americans, the wonky details of fiscal policy generally don’t stoke fiery passion.
One could do a lot worse, however, than focusing on Jews — and specifically, on the respective relationships between American Jews and American Christians and between the United States and Israel. I experienced this firsthand, yet again, this week.
As an observant Jew, I was offline recently for the holiday of Sukkot — also known as the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles. Of all the Jewish holidays, it is the one most intimately affiliated with pure joy and happiness. As it says in Leviticus, “you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for a seven day period.” And so I did.
When I came back online Wednesday evening, I learned that while I was off, the unhinged conspiracy theorist Candace Owens had ludicrously accused me of foreknowledge — or perhaps complicity — in the murder of my own friend Charlie Kirk. A claim like that is appalling behavior, at best. Anything goes, it seems, to push the (utterly baseless) narrative that the Jews had something to do with Kirk’s death.
Owens is hardly the only prominent right-of-center voice who has embarked down this dark road. Tucker Carlson, the onetime cable news king now moonlighting as a dissident podcaster, has evinced an unhealthy obsession with the Jewish people and the state of Israel. From accusing Israel of “genocide” to entertaining Hitler/Nazi apologia to “just asking questions” about whether Jeffrey Epstein was a Mossad asset to dismissing the Hebrew Bible itself, Carlson’s agenda has become entirely clear.
The list goes on. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and her former colleague Matt Gaetz spend an inordinate amount of time these days railing against alleged — and allegedly nefarious — Jewish and Israeli influence on American culture and politics. Lower-name conspiratorial Jew-haters sometimes find their way onto the nation’s most popular podcasts.
All of this, meanwhile, while Trump, the leader of the MAGA movement, remains avowedly supportive of tight-knit U.S.-Israel relations. The Trump Justice Department and broader administration, moreover, remain stalwart supporters of the safety and security of the Jewish people. From his first to his second term, Trump has been the most pro-Jewish president in American history.
So, what gives?
The immediate goal of this concerted disinformation operation is the debasement of American Jews, but the more politically salient goal is the gaslighting of American evangelical Christians — the core of the MAGA base, and an overwhelmingly pro-Jewish, pro-Israel constituency. By focusing so much on the Jewish people and the Jewish state, these provocateurs have a much broader goal in mind than merely ostracizing America’s small Jewish minority. They want to alienate evangelicals too.
The goal, then, seems to be nothing less than the complete supplanting of MAGA with a new political movement — an angry, ultra-conspiratorial, unbiblical, neo-pagan movement of misfits and their hangers-on.
Given the extraordinarily ambitious (and dastardly) nature of that goal, the stakes are enormously high. Historically, political movements die when they become subsumed by paranoid Jew-hatred. So too do societies crumble and nations perish when they turn on their Jewish populations and fall prey to the world’s oldest bigotry.
And for evangelical Christian supporters of the Jewish people and the Jewish state, the entire operation is nothing less than a collective slap in the face. Jews are harmed, and Christians are insulted.
The contrast of what I experienced during Sukkot and what I discovered afterward is both stark and illuminating. While I was “rejoicing” with my family before God, as I am commanded to do, agents of destruction were fabricating the most outlandish lies imaginable to sow division and resentment. It is the eternal struggle of humanity going back millennia: justice versus tyranny, order versus chaos, light versus darkness.
I know which side of that eternal divide I am on. My hope is that the American right and the MAGA coalition know which side they are on too.
Josh Hammer’s latest book is “Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West.” This article was produced in collaboration with Creators Syndicate. @josh_hammer
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Ideas expressed in the piece
Certain right-wing figures, including Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Matt Gaetz, are attempting to fracture the MAGA coalition by promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories and attacking Jewish-Israeli influence. While the author was observing Sukkot, Owens accused the author of foreknowledge or complicity in Charlie Kirk’s murder, pushing the baseless narrative that Jews were involved in Kirk’s death[2].
These provocateurs have a broader agenda beyond targeting American Jews—they aim to alienate evangelical Christians, who form the core of the MAGA base and remain overwhelmingly pro-Jewish and pro-Israel. By focusing obsessively on Jewish people and Israel, these figures seek to gaslight evangelicals and drive a wedge between them and their Jewish allies.
The ultimate objective appears to be supplanting MAGA entirely with an “angry, ultra-conspiratorial, unbiblical, neo-pagan movement of misfits.” This represents a collective insult to evangelical Christian supporters of Israel and constitutes an attack on both Jewish and Christian communities simultaneously.
History demonstrates that political movements die when consumed by paranoid antisemitism, and societies crumble when they turn against their Jewish populations. The stakes are enormously high, as this represents the eternal struggle between justice and tyranny, order and chaos, light and darkness.
President Trump, the MAGA movement’s leader, remains avowedly supportive of tight U.S.-Israel relations and has been the most pro-Jewish president in American history, with his administration maintaining stalwart support for Jewish safety and security.
Different views on the topic
A growing faction within the conservative movement views Israel as “baggage, not a cause,” with voices on the New Right questioning whether supporting Israel serves American interests[1]. This perspective reflects increasing skepticism about foreign entanglements and prioritizes an “America First” approach that some argue should not include unconditional support for Israel.
Some conservative influencers have openly questioned Israel’s morality and legitimacy, with figures like Tucker Carlson accusing Israel of “genocide” and entertaining historical revisionism regarding Nazi Germany, while questioning whether certain events involve Israeli intelligence operations[1]. These voices argue they are simply asking legitimate questions about American foreign policy and Israeli actions.
Critics contend that arguments linking Israel’s survival to Western civilization’s preservation inflate Israel’s role and exaggerate its importance to global affairs[1]. This perspective suggests that framing Israel as essential to Western survival represents an overreach that conflates legitimate policy debates with civilizational struggle.
Within young conservative circles, particularly Generation Z, there has been a trend toward less favorable views of Israel and increased receptiveness to antisemitic content, creating energy that Kirk had been working to contain before his death[2]. This demographic shift reflects broader generational differences in how younger conservatives view America’s international commitments and alliances.
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