It’s been just hours since Donald Trump was re-elected President of the United States, and for many Jews across America—particularly Jewish progressives and Jewish student activists—the prevailing mood is one of dread.
Trump’s victory is both a political shift and a profound moment of reckoning for Jewish institutions, which now face a choice between principled resistance and dangerous accommodation.
Trump’s resurgence signals an emboldened far-right movement, whose ideological tenets run directly counter to the Jewish principles of justice, equity, and compassion. His victory reflects a country grappling not with a brief detour into fascism, but with a deep-seated racism and misogyny that have always been fundamental to American politics.
Since 2016, many liberals have lamented, “This is not who we are” as a nation. But to the contrary, this is exactly who we are.
It’s not surprising that Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump—not because he was a better candidate, but because America is a deeply racist and misogynistic country.
Now, as we face another Trump administration, Jewish Americans must not only confront the external threats but also hold accountable those in our own community who would abandon our values to gain proximity to power.
The risks of complicity
Over the past decade, mainstream Jewish organizations like the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federations of North America have tiptoed closer to parts of the evangelical and white nationalist far right, drawn by their shared support for Israel. But now, the time for half-measures and compromises has passed. We are staring down a renewed Trump administration—one that promises to be even more authoritarian, with a chilling vision of America as a Christian Nationalist state.
Trump’s agenda is clear: a suppression of civil rights, the dismantling of democratic norms, and the elevation of a Christian ethno-nationalist ideal that leaves Jews and other minorities vulnerable.
We must understand the high stakes for our community and the grave danger of compromising with antisemites for the sake of defending Zionism. Mainstream institutions that continue to cozy up to Christian Nationalist leaders and overlook antisemitic rhetoric from figures on the right are risking our community’s long-term safety.
Jewish institutions have a choice: either collaborate with those who seek to erode the liberal civil society that has allowed Jewish Americans to thrive for generations, or resist, unequivocally, the fascist movement that is threatening America’s cultural pluralism.
The Palestinian question
One of the most distressing elements of Trump’s return is the likely intensification of support for Israel’s brutal war effort, which has already devastated Gaza and Lebanon and left countless Palestinians and Lebanese without a home, a family, or a future.
For those who have been deeply disturbed by the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Trump’s re-election signals more uncritical support for deadly Israeli extremism. While the Biden-Harris administration has been undeniably complicit in Israel’s violence, the reality of Trump’s unconditional backing of Israeli aggression presents an even bleaker future.
Jewish community leaders who feel relief at Trump’s return, thinking his administration will shield Israel from criticism or international scrutiny, are trading our moral tradition for complicity in atrocities and the degradation of our democracy.
The safety of our Jewish communities cannot be secured at the expense of our humanity.
The American Jewish future
Trump’s vision of governance is a direct threat to civil liberties and democratic institutions, both of which are foundational to Jewish safety in America.
Project 2025, his sweeping policy blueprint, speaks to an agenda of state surveillance, authoritarianism, and the transformation of government institutions into political weapons.
Jewish communities—especially the young, those who are vocal about human rights, and those who are committed to racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights—will find themselves among the many targets of this administration’s repressive machinery.
Those who think they can weather this storm by keeping quiet, by staying on the “right side” of pro-Israel rhetoric, need to face facts: a fascist government will not protect you.
Holding our institutions accountable
For young Jews on campuses and in communities across America, the path forward is clear: we must hold our institutions accountable.
We must demand that our Jewish federations, our Hillels, and other mainstream institutions stand firmly against Christian Nationalist extremism, renounce alliances with those who espouse antisemitism, and prioritize moral courage over political expediency.
Jewish institutions cannot ignore our voices, and we cannot allow them to collaborate with fascists in our name.
This is a defining moment for American Jews, especially for young people who see the full picture of Trumpism—a vision of authoritarian control and exclusion that, if realized, would devastate the Jewish community, alongside countless others.
We refuse to be passive observers as our leaders and institutions barter our values away for a fleeting sense of safety or access to power. We are committed to a Jewish future in America rooted in justice, inclusion, and peace—not one shackled to right-wing nationalism and hollow promises of security.
As we brace for the coming years, let us strengthen our resolve, affirm our commitment to justice, and make clear to our institutions that they will be held accountable.
The Jewish future must not be a future of complicity.
