As I type this, I have four tabs open on my computer to articles by Jewish American thinkers, ones by no means a monolith politically, but each one unconvinced that the Trump administration’s crusade against antisemitism is actually in the service of American Jews. (I use “crusade” intentionally.)

I find these articles both heartening and distressing. Heartening, because I share their views. I don’t believe in sending people to gulags even for really bad op-eds, let alone banal ones. (I could open my own column on this topic and be the fifth tab.) And I’m always glad to see confirmation of my statistics-bolstered hunch that American Jews didn’t sign onto this. The sentiment of ‘Not in My Name’ is no longer the unique purview of antizionists or nonzionists, now that it is less immediately about Israel’s actions than those of the United States. It’s entirely consistent to think Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state, and that people who disagree with that position have the right to walk down the street without being abducted.

But these pieces are distressing as well, because they serve as a reminder that at the end of the day, there are like five of us Jews—a Jew for each tab open on my laptop. Our symbolic importance to the broader world so massively overshadows our numbers or (sorry, antisemites) our influence. Pro-Israel (in any sense, to any degree, including warm feelings towards its people) but anti-Trump is ultimately a niche position that no larger entity must cater........

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