Can Jewish and Arab Americans Turn the Tide for Peace in the Middle East?

posted on: Jul 22, 2026

By: Ghassan Rubeiz / Arab America Contributing Writer

The Arab and Jewish communities in the US have more in common than public discourse appears to indicate, especially their concern about the future of Israel and its relations with its neighbors.

Israel is entering one of the most consequential moments in its modern history. The political and military establishment shows no sign of shifting course. A majority of Israelis support remaining in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon. Settlement expansion in the West Bank continues unabated. Roughly two-thirds of Gaza remains under occupation. The ideological center of gravity of the Israeli Jewish population has moved sharply to the right, embracing a “right by might” doctrine that treats territorial control as the foundation of national security. With no peace-oriented leadership on the horizon, Israel’s regional stability agenda focuses almost exclusively on neutralizing Iran, while the Palestinian question goes unanswered. Meanwhile, the Abraham Accords is frozen, but it could still evolve into a genuine framework for regional development and security, only if they expand beyond their membership.

These two communities, together with more than ten million US citizens, are uniquely positioned to help steer Israeli and U.S. policy toward a more constructive role in the region. Their shared concern about Palestinian rights and American democratic values gives them a moral and civic responsibility to take action. Some critics are speaking loudly.

As Israel’s strategic stagnation continues, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak recently warned that Israel’s occupation of Lebanon in the 1980s was counterproductive then and remains so today. As reported by Melanie Lidman of the Associated Press, Barak cautioned that “our very presence will become the only goal.” He sees the occupation too costly to his country. His warning applies equally to Gaza and the West Bank: occupation becomes self-perpetuating, draining Israel’s moral standing.

American Jews are among the most influential communities in the United States. They have supported Israel politically, financially, and culturally for decades. Yet many of them now fear that Israel’s current path threatens the moral integrity of Jewish America as much as Israel’s own future. Israel’s conduct outside international norms risks undermining the values—equality, freedom, justice—that have made Jewish Americans central to liberal causes at home. Increasingly, Jewish Americans are divided on how to remain loyal to Israel while staying true to their own civic ideals.

Arab Americans, meanwhile, have grown in number, education, civic engagement, and political power. They possess cultural fluency, knowledge of the Middle East, and transnational ties. But they also face shrinking political space: advocacy for Palestinian rights is routinely mischaracterized as antisemitic and college students and professors who criticize Israeli policy face professional risk. Arab Americans understand that withdrawal from occupied territories without mutual trust and security will not produce lasting peace.

Neither community shows real appetite for joint action right now. Each community waits for the other to move first—Arab Americans expecting Jewish institutions to distance themselves from Israel’s current course, Jewish Americans expecting Arab advocacy to soften its language on Israel’s legitimacy. Yet the two sides are not equally positioned to move first. Arab Americans are advocating on behalf of the side absorbing the greater human cost—the deaths, displacement, destroyed homes—while Jewish Americans hold the stronger political hand in Washington, with deeper institutional access and a longer history of influencing U.S. policy toward Israel. That asymmetry carries an obligation: established Jewish American institutions -not the more vulnerable Arab American ones – are better placed to extend the first hand toward joint advocacy. Such a shift is unlikely to happen in a vacuum—it would more plausibly follow new leadership in Washington or Jerusalem, or a ceasefire durable enough to convince both communities that diplomacy, not deterrence, is where the real opening now lies.

The international community’s response to Israel’s hegemony has been slow and weak. U.S. public opinion is shifting, but Congress remains largely supportive of the status quo. Humanitarian neglect in Gaza and escalating displacement in the West Bank raise moral alarm among most Americans, even as Washington deepens U.S.-Israeli defense integration— thereby widening the gap between public sentiment and congressional action.

This is precisely why Arab and Jewish Americans must act together—not in parallel statements, but in joint pressure that takes the form of a shared lobbying effort conditioning military aid on a political horizon for Palestinians, or a joint public letter to Congress from leaders of both communities expressing concern about US policies in the Middle East. They are the two constituencies most affected by Israel’s trajectory and most capable of mobilizing to safeguard the security of both nations. By working jointly, they can model pluralism at a time of rising ethnocentricity in the United States, and help prevent America and Israel from seeking solutions through perpetual war.

It is time for both communities to overcome inherited suspicions and embrace a shared mission: guiding Israel and Palestine toward a democratic, viable, regionally integrated future. Their partnership may be the most powerful untapped force for peace in the Middle East.

Ghassan Rubeiz is the former Middle East Secretary of the World Council of Churches. Earlier, he taught psychology and social work in his country of birth, Lebanon, and later in the United States, where he currently lives. He has contributed to political commentary for the past twenty years and has delivered occasional public talks on peace, justice, and interfaith topics. You can reach him at rubeizg@gmail.com

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Arab America. The reproduction of this article is permissible with proper credit to Arab America and the author.

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