Article By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Israeli historian and political commentator Gadi Taub sharply criticized progressive Jews abroad on Tuesday, saying those who embrace what he called the “craziest progressive ideologies” are “no longer our friends” and warning that Israel was losing political support on both the Western Left and Right.
Taub made the comments at NatCon Jerusalem, a three-day gathering of conservative politicians, intellectuals, journalists and activists from Israel, the United States and Europe. The National Conservatism movement emphasizes national sovereignty, traditional institutions and the nation-state, and has become increasingly influential within parts of the American and European Right.
“We, the Jews of Israel, have a great problem with progressive Jews abroad promoting immigration. And we should start calling them out before the anti-Semites do, because we have lost the left… but we are also losing the right.” — @GadiTaub1 at NatCon Jerusalem. https://t.co/aywXUgVb7p
— National Conservatism (@NatConTalk) October 6, 2026
Taub, who holds a doctorate in American history from Rutgers University and has written extensively about Zionism, nationalism and liberalism, was speaking during a panel titled “Immigration and Cultural Replacement.” His address was titled “Immigration and the Undermining of Democracy.”
During the discussion, Taub departed briefly from the central subject of his remarks to address the role of progressive Jews outside Israel.
“We, the Jews of Israel, have a great problem with progressive Jews abroad promoting immigration,” he said. “And we should start calling them out before the antisemites do.”
Taub did not identify specific Jewish organizations or individuals, nor did he limit his criticism to a particular Diaspora community.
Taub: Issue connected to Israel’s loss of support amongst political Left, Right
He then connected the issue to what he described as Israel’s increasingly difficult political position in the West.
“We have lost the left, not due to Netanyahu or any fault of our own, because the Left has been indoctrinated by Edward Said for 40 years now,” Taub said. “It’s not something new. But we are also losing the Right.”
Edward Said, the Palestinian-American academic and literary theorist who died in 2003, was one of the most influential figures in the development of postcolonial studies. His work, particularly his critique of Western representations of the Middle East, shaped generations of academics and political activists.
Taub argued that parts of the Western Left had adopted an intellectual framework increasingly hostile to Zionism, while warning that Israel and Jews were now facing a separate challenge from elements of the political Right.
His strongest criticism was directed at progressive Jews themselves.
“Progressive Jews who think they will grovel at the feet of anti-Semites by agreeing to the craziest progressive ideologies are no longer our friends,” Taub said. “And we should be clear about it.”
Earlier in the discussion, Taub argued that Western societies had become vulnerable to Islamist movements because of what he described as a loss of confidence in their own civilization.
“There’s a perfect balance between imperialistic Islamic philosophies like the Muslim Brotherhood and the West’s loss of confidence in itself, or I would call it its autoimmune disease,” he said.
He argued that Islamist movements had learned to use Western debates over multiculturalism, racism and minority rights to shield themselves from criticism, saying forces that presented themselves as opposing racism could end up “cooperating in promoting a new form of racism.”
Antisemitism and the American Right
Taub’s warning that Israel was “also losing the Right” comes amid a growing debate within the conservative movement itself over antisemitism, Israel and the direction of the younger American Right.
Yoram Hazony, the Israeli political theorist who founded the National Conservatism movement and chairs the Edmund Burke Foundation, has repeatedly raised concerns about antisemitism gaining influence in parts of the American conservative movement.
Hazony to ‘Post’: Carlson significantly influenced young conservative political conversation
In a recent interview with The Jerusalem Post ahead of the Jerusalem conference, Hazony singled out Tucker Carlson, arguing that the former Fox News host had significantly influenced the political conversation among younger conservatives.
“In the last two years, his show is the leading clearinghouse for antisemitism on the political Right in America,” Hazony said.
Hazony said polling he had seen suggested Carlson enjoyed a positive image among a large majority of young Republican men, although he did not identify the poll. He stressed that support for Carlson should not itself be taken as evidence that those voters shared antisemitic views.
Earlier this year, Hazony warned more broadly about what could happen to American Jewish life if antisemitic ideas became entrenched across both major political camps. After arguing that antisemitism had become increasingly tolerated in parts of the political Left, he said that if Republicans followed the same course, “it’s not clear what would be left of Jewish life in America.”
Be the first to comment