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| The question is not what Donald Trump did to Israel. The larger question is what Donald Trump did to America. |
Among many American Jews, there has been an endless debate over Donald Trump and Israel. Some view him as one of Israel's greatest friends. Others view him as reckless, unpredictable, and ultimately dangerous to the Jewish state. Supporters point to diplomatic achievements, while critics point to strategic confusion and personal volatility. Yet both sides may be asking the wrong question.
Israel, despite its many internal divisions, remains a remarkably resilient nation. Israelis live in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods on earth. They have survived wars, terrorism, missile attacks, intifadas, international isolation, hostile administrations, and diplomatic betrayals. The Jewish state was born into crisis and has spent most of its existence navigating threats that would have shattered many other nations. Israel understands a hard truth that generations of Jews learned through centuries of exile: no foreign leader, however friendly, can ultimately be relied upon for Jewish survival.
America, however, entered the Trump era from a position of extraordinary strength. It possessed the world's largest economy, the world's most powerful military, and institutions that had survived civil war, world wars, economic depression, and political scandal. The United States was hardly perfect, but it remained the central pillar of the democratic world order. Its greatest strength was not military power. Its greatest strength was trust—trust in institutions, trust in elections, trust in the rule of law, and trust that fellow Americans, despite fierce disagreements, remained part of the same national family. That trust has been steadily deteriorating for years. Donald Trump did not create the disease. But he accelerated it.
Trump understood something that many politicians before him did not. He understood that fear attracts attention faster than hope. Anger mobilizes voters faster than persuasion. Outrage spreads faster than facts. The modern media environment rewarded conflict, and Trump became its greatest practitioner. Every disagreement became a war. Every criticism became an attack. Every compromise became weakness. Every institution that challenged him became suspect.
The result was not merely another rough chapter in American politics. The result was the transformation of politics into a permanent state of national emergency. Americans increasingly came to view every election as a struggle for survival. Every political opponent became an existential threat. Every policy dispute became a moral crusade. The language of democratic disagreement was replaced by the language of total warfare. This development should deeply concern anyone familiar with Jewish history.
The rabbis taught that the Second Temple was destroyed because of sinat chinam—baseless hatred among Jews themselves. Whether one interprets that teaching literally or symbolically is beside the point. The lesson is timeless. Nations are rarely destroyed solely by external enemies. More often, they weaken themselves from within. The walls may remain standing, but the social fabric begins to unravel. Trust disappears. Shared assumptions vanish. Citizens stop seeing themselves as members of a common society. America today increasingly exhibits these symptoms.
Large numbers of Americans no longer trust the media. Large numbers no longer trust universities. Large numbers no longer trust federal agencies, courts, election officials, or public health institutions. On both the left and the right, there is a growing belief that the entire system is fundamentally illegitimate whenever it produces outcomes they dislike. Such a mindset is poisonous to constitutional government.
A republic cannot function if every defeat is interpreted as theft. It cannot function if every election is viewed as fraudulent whenever one's side loses.It cannot function if citizens are convinced that half the country consists not of misguided fellow Americans but of enemies who must be defeated at all costs.
Trump did not invent these attitudes. They existed long before he descended the escalator in 2015. But he recognized their political utility and amplified them. Instead of calming tensions, he often poured fuel on them. Instead of strengthening confidence in democratic institutions, he frequently undermined it whenever those institutions failed to serve his immediate interests.
The tragedy extends beyond politics. Trump helped normalize a culture in which performance became more important than substance. Public life increasingly resembled entertainment. The loudest voice often received the most attention. Complexity became a liability. Nuance became weakness. Expertise became suspect. The ability to generate outrage became more valuable than the ability to govern. This cultural shift may ultimately prove more damaging than any specific policy decision.
A nation can recover from a bad trade agreement. It can recover from an unsuccessful military operation. It can recover from economic mistakes. History is filled with examples of countries rebounding from poor leadership and flawed decisions. Recovering from the collapse of civic trust is far more difficult.
When citizens cease believing in the legitimacy of institutions, rebuilding confidence can take generations. Once cynicism becomes entrenched, every effort at reform is viewed with suspicion. Every leader becomes suspect. Every outcome becomes evidence of conspiracy. A society trapped in perpetual distrust eventually loses the ability to solve even its most basic problems.
Israel has many challenges ahead. It faces threats from hostile neighbors, regional instability, terrorism, and demographic tensions. But Israelis possess a hard-earned realism. They understand that survival depends ultimately on their own strength, their own sacrifices, and their own unity. America's challenge is different.
America must rediscover the civic virtues that made its institutions strong in the first place. It must relearn that disagreement is not treason. It must relearn that compromise is not surrender. It must relearn that constitutional government requires patience, restraint, and mutual legitimacy.
Donald Trump will eventually leave the political stage, just as every political figure does. The deeper question is whether the habits he encouraged will leave with him. The damage inflicted upon American civic culture may long outlast any presidency.
History may ultimately conclude that Trump's greatest impact was not on foreign policy, not on Israel, not on the Middle East, and not even on the Republican Party. His greatest impact may have been convincing millions of Americans that their fellow citizens were no longer partners in a shared national project. For any republic, that is a dangerous belief.
The Iran Memorandum of Understanding may ultimately become the most revealing example of the Trump era. After years of presenting himself as the man who would never tolerate Iranian aggression, never permit Iranian nuclear ambitions, and never negotiate from weakness, Trump suddenly found himself celebrating a vague and unfinished agreement whose central disputes remain unresolved. The agreement reportedly includes a ceasefire, discussions regarding sanctions relief, reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and a sixty-day framework for future negotiations, while leaving many of the most difficult questions for later talks. Critics and supporters alike continue to debate what exactly has been achieved and what has merely been postponed.
What matters politically is not whether one supports diplomacy or opposes it. Nations negotiate with adversaries all the time. The issue is the widening gap between rhetoric and reality. Americans were told for years that Iran would be forced into unconditional concessions. Instead, they are now being asked to celebrate a memorandum of understanding—a preliminary political framework rather than a final settlement—whose advocates themselves acknowledge requires extensive future negotiations.
The deeper damage falls not upon Israel but upon the American public. Citizens are repeatedly encouraged to believe that every development is a historic triumph, every negotiation is the greatest deal ever achieved, and every criticism is evidence of disloyalty. When reality inevitably proves more complicated, public trust suffers another blow. Americans become increasingly cynical, not merely about politicians but about the very possibility of honest political discourse.
Israel, meanwhile, has learned through bitter experience that agreements on paper are only as valuable as the willingness and ability of governments to enforce them. Israelis have lived through ceasefires, understandings, road maps, disengagements, and diplomatic frameworks. They know that the Middle East has a long history of documents that look impressive at signing ceremonies and far less impressive when confronted by reality.
The irony is striking. Trump entered politics promising to restore American strength and end the era of weak deals. Yet the Iran MOU has raised questions across the political spectrum precisely because it appears to defer many of the hardest decisions while presenting itself as a historic breakthrough. Whether the agreement succeeds or fails is almost secondary. The larger issue is that Americans are once again being asked to substitute political theater for sober analysis.
And that may be the defining feature of the Trump era. The damage is not simply measured in foreign policy outcomes. It is measured in the growing inability of Americans to distinguish between a final achievement and a press conference, between a lasting solution and a temporary headline, between governing and performing. A republic cannot thrive when spectacle consistently replaces substance.
For the United States, it may prove to be the most expensive legacy of all.
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| REPUBLISHED |
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/trump-hurt-americans-more-than-the-damage-hes-done-to-israel/