Content Warning: This story contains mentions of violence.

“It’s the granddaddy of them all,” President Donald Trump said before the Israeli Knesset, referring to the ceasefire deal he brokered between Israel and Hamas earlier this month. “This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East.”

Since its creation, the U.S. has been Israel’s ultimate insurance policy. Now, conversations surrounding the rise of influential anti-Zionist politicians like Zohran Mamdani lead many to wonder how long Israel has to collect before anti-Zionism becomes a default viewpoint in our political discourses.

Anti-Zionist rhetoric like Mamdani’s is not exclusive to left-wing circles, either. Influential right-wing figures like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens routinely question and decry support for Israel. They base their arguments on “America First,” dismissing the indigenous connections that many on the left rely on to diminish Israel’s standing.

Before it realizes a “new dawn,” Israel owes all who support its existence as a Jewish state a reconstitution of its democratic purpose and earnest efforts to rehabilitate its image on the world stage. Having the right spokespeople in place is as key to securing peace as the provisions of Trump’s plan themselves.

There is one thing Israel can do to minimize the impact of anti-Zionist, anti-Israel sentiment in the U.S. and around the world: Follow up on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pending charges of bribery and corruption.

Upholding the rule of law in Israel at this time, even for the most powerful, is crucial if the Jewish state intends to rebuild its relationships with its historic allies and, more importantly, the young American voter.

In the last two years, nearly 70,000 people have died, according to Gaza and Israeli officials. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas murdered and mutilated over 1,200 innocent men, women and children. They recorded themselves as they burned Israelis alive and took 251 people hostage for 738 days in the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.

As it stands, 90% of homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to UN estimates, and many Palestinians remain at risk of disease and malnutrition with critical medical infrastructure destroyed.

The trauma of the last two years will take time to heal. But our leaders owe all of us — especially those most devastated by the conflict’s atrocities — the full political wherewithal of the most powerful nations on Earth to inspire visible change in the region.

Merely reconstructing Gaza physically will not be enough to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish state going forward, nor will it effectively curb growing anti-Israel sentiment that leads to antisemitism. Hamas, which precipitated this conflict with its Oct. 7 attacks, is a faceless terrorist organization. However unjustly, that fact made Netanyahu the symbol of the brutal conflict for American voters. Just look at the data:

Immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, the New York Times found 47% of voters in the U.S. supported Israelis over Palestinians — a 27-point margin over the 20% of those who indicated the opposite. Now, for the first time in the poll’s history, more American voters support Palestinians than Israelis.

Similarly, a December 2023 poll showed 22% indicating that they believed Israel was intentionally killing civilians in Gaza. That number rose to 40% last month.

These polls are not to be dismissed — they are part of an urgent public relations crisis that exists at the very heart of Israel’s traditional support system. The numbers show a massive shift in Americans’ perceptions of the Jewish state and mark the loss of a generation of young voters.

Failure to effectively remove Netanyahu as Israel’s champion and replace him with someone who will commit to protecting the country’s security, without the baggage of the last two years, will cement Israel’s global isolation and loss of support among young people.

Netanyahu’s removal and the subsequent election of a new Israeli leader will have democratizing effects in Israel, no doubt. But perhaps most poignantly, it will give mainstream Jewish Americans the space to reclaim support for Israel in their communities and on their college campuses. In a “new dawn,” Israel’s acceptance among my peers not only matters — it is paramount.

In the 2024-2025 school year, Hillel International reported the largest number of antisemitic incidents on college campuses in the history of its survey. As a result, funding for this university and others like it was frozen. In the same year at Northwestern, we lost our president and we will lose our provost. We simply cannot permit these antics to persist.

Supporters of Israel know why they can’t afford it to become a pariah state: Perceptions of Israel go hand-in-hand with perceptions of Jews. It is why debates about whether anti-Zionism constitutes antisemitism cannot lead to a consensus and why antisemitic attacks come coupled with pro-Palestinian symbols and messages. In these and all cases, Jews, no matter how adherent or supportive of Israel, are targeted and ostracized.

I hope the euphoria of the Israeli hostages returning home after 738 days in terrorist captivity holds. That by appropriately channeling empathy for them, rage against their captors, and sympathy for all innocent civilians killed, leaders from the U.S., Israel and Arab nations involved do not allow “business as usual” to proceed.

But furthermore, I look forward to coming to love and support a renewed Israel — one committed to the kinds of democratic values it has spent the vast majority of its history living up to and one that sees a post-Netanyahu future for itself the way it sees a post-Hamas future for Gaza.

Historically, Jewish supporters of Israel in America have been equally committed to the values of free speech, civil rights and the rule of law at home. American Jews marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to end racial segregation and secure civil rights. Likewise, Jewish Americans were leaders in the feminist movements of the 1970s and fought for better conditions and pay for workers throughout the 20th century.

When the beacon of American hope was needed most, Jews advocated for the persecuted who sought refuge and a better life in America.

It was Emma Lazarus — a Jew — whose immortal words, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” will live on the symbol of American freedom forever.

Jewish culture still exists in the fabric of American political life. Now, Israel must have the political courage to let us preserve it.

Aidan Klineman is a Medill junior and author of “Off-Campus: White House.” He can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.