Micah Goodman: Why do 'self-loathing' Americans hate Israel?
Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people. For this second episode in the…
Assessment
Micah Goodman argues that both the American far left and far right share a hatred of Israel but arrive at it through opposite narratives. For the far left, opposition stems from viewing Israel as a colonial oppressor; for the far right, from seeing it as a foreign or non-white influence. The podcast episode promises to unpack these contradictory critiques and their distinct visions for Israel's future, which could lead to very different practical outcomes. This framing matters because it challenges the assumption that anti-Israel sentiment is monolithic, forcing more precise analysis of American political divides over the Jewish state.