On the world’s loudest platforms, slogans often drown out facts. We put real questions to someone who has spent his life in the trenches of advocacy and policy. David Brog is a proud American and a proud Zionist. He led Christians United for Israel, heads the Maccabee Task Force, and has written bestsellers on Israel and antisemitism. His answers point to a simple, now controversial idea in the West: strong nations with clear identities make room for real diversity and lasting peace.
The Case for Nation-States
Brog calls himself a nationalist in the plainest sense: he puts his country’s interests first and expects others to do the same. That clarity, he argues, makes the world more stable, not less. Zionism is Jewish nationalism, the right of Jews to self-determination in their historic homeland. If that principle is valid for Jews, it is valid for all. Nations that protect their borders, build strong institutions, and value their culture are better equipped to cooperate and tolerate differences. The counterfeit version of diversity begins by attacking one’s own identity and collapses into confusion and grievance.
From an American viewpoint, supporting Israel is not charity, it is strategy. When Israeli soldiers confront Iran and its proxies, they blunt a hostile regime targeting the U.S., its allies, and global shipping lanes. Israel wants to defend itself independently, but by doing so it protects American interests as well. That is what a real ally does.
Jewish Politics & The Left
Brog has watched polling for years. The trend is clear: the younger and further left the cohort, the colder the view of Israel. Yesterday’s debate with progressive Democrats centered on the pace of a two-state solution. Today, some voices openly call for Israel’s destruction. That is not policy debate, it is a break with reality.
Why do many American Jews still vote Democrat despite this? Brog stresses that Jews are not a monolith. Many are devout, many secular, and many committed to progressive ideals that clash with Bible-based Judaism and conservative Christianity. When progressivism becomes the primary “faith,” it opposes traditional Christians, and traditional Jews, on life, family, education, and Israel. Strip away the confusion, and a shared moral language emerges: respect for human dignity, justice, and truth.
A related misconception: mainstream Judaism is not anti-Christian. It is the elder branch of the same moral tree. Yes, theological disagreements exist. But on urgent ethical questions today, Jews and Christians share striking common ground. Attempts to cherry-pick obscure texts to prove hatred ignore context, persecution, and centuries of shared values.
Judeo-Christian Solidarity
Few understand the plight of religious minorities in the Middle East like Jews living there. Under Islamic rule, Jews and Christians survived as second-class subjects, paying punitive taxes and facing restrictions on worship. Enforcement varied, but discrimination did not. This history explains why Israelis speak up about the collapse of Christian communities today.
Fact: Israel is the only Middle Eastern country where the Christian population has grown and worship remains secure. Another fact cuts through campus myths: Jews are indigenous to Judea. Arab presence spread through conquest and cultural Arabization from the 7th century onward. Many Israeli Jews descend from ancient North African, Iraqi, and Levantine communities, expelled or displaced after Israel’s independence and the Six-Day War. DNA studies confirm shared Levantine origins. Israel is not settler colonialism, it is national return. Anti-colonialism, if it means anything, should celebrate the liberation of an indigenous people restoring sovereignty in their ancestral home.
Gaza and America’s Interest
The charge that Gaza is a “new Auschwitz” is false. Auschwitz was an industrial program to murder civilians. Israel fights an enemy that embeds within civilian areas and tunnels under apartments, schools, and hospitals deliberately. Even if casualties are exaggerated, Israel’s combatant-to-civilian ratio is historically low for dense urban warfare. Israel issued warnings, created safe zones, and called or texted residents before strikes. Hamas relies on civilian suffering to halt Israel, suffering is the strategy. Blame must land where the strategy begins.
Brog once supported a two-state solution. He recalls the 2000 Barak-Arafat negotiations: land swaps, demilitarized state offers, and corridors. Arafat made no counteroffer. Then came the Second Intifada. Suicide bombings tore through buses and cafés. Hamas rose as the champion of rejection. The lesson: promises of peace mean little without partners willing to accept Jewish history in Jerusalem, recognize Jewish rights, and prepare their children for building rather than destruction. Until then, hope is fragile.
Why should this matter to an American family far from rocket sirens? Because Middle East power dynamics affect U.S. security and prosperity. Iran seeks Gulf dominance, threatens shipping routes, and fuels regional instability. A stronger Iran makes the world poorer and more dangerous. Israel has pushed back, not as charity to America, but as a partner.
The Big Picture
Nations grounded in history and borders can best safeguard pluralism. Jews and Christians are not destined to be adversaries, they can stand as allies against forces that oppose both. Israel is not a foreign implant; it is a people restored to their homeland. Gaza is a battlefield, not a death camp. Peace is possible, but it depends on leaders willing to speak truth to their own people.
If truth is told as boldly and as often as lies are spread, the next generation may inherit fewer enemies and more choices. That is the work.
Adam Starzynski
Journalist | Foreign Policy Analyst
