As was widely reported last week, during vetting as a potential vice president pick for Kamala Harris in 2024, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was asked by her team whether he had ever been an agent for Israel or spoken with an undercover Israeli agent. As the only Jewish candidate for the vice president spot, Shapiro found it offensive, replying, “If they were undercover, how the hell would I know?” He understood the tough scrutiny but questioned if it was aimed just at him. Harris’s team hasn’t commented.
The Harris campaign’s suspicions of Shapiro’s loyalty are nothing new for Jewish Americans. The charge of dual loyalty against Jews in America goes way back in US history. Dual loyalty is one of those ugly, persistent antisemitic tropes that question whether Jews can ever be fully loyal to the country they live in.
Long before Israel existed, people suspected Jews of putting their faith or community ties first. They see Jews as outsiders who can’t be trusted. After Israel’s founding in 1948, the accusations sharpened. Critics claimed American Jews prioritized Israel over the US. The dual loyalty charge is an antisemitic canard that’s popped up in politics, foreign policy debates, and public life for generations, always casting doubt on Jewish patriotism without real evidence.
Charges of dual loyalty are offensive and misguided. Being a Zionist and advocating for a strong US-Israel relationship fully aligns with “America First” priorities. As a country that shares values and strategic examples with America, advocating for Israel advances US security, innovation, and democratic values. Israel is America’s strongest strategic ally, not a rival.
Dual loyalty smears have dogged American Jews since the early 20th century. During World War I, people whispered that Jews couldn’t be trusted, as their hearts were split between America and their European kin.
The McCarthy era cranked up the paranoia even more, painting Jews as potential subversives with hidden agendas.
These baseless accusations fed endless suspicion.
Such dual loyalty smears never really went away, and now, the slander has flared up in our times. After 9/11, some folks questioned Jewish Americans’ allegiances. More recently, during the Iran nuclear deal fights and campus protests, Jewish officials and students got hit with the same tired accusation. Jewish students were told they’re more loyal to Israel than America.
Dual loyalty considered antisemitism by IHRA
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism actually calls out the dual loyalty accusation as antisemitism. It says that labeling Jews as inherently disloyal to their own country is a classic, ugly form of hatred that keeps resurfacing.
These dual loyalty charges really sting. The slanderous charges alienate a community that’s punched way above its weight in serving the United States.
Jewish Americans have been overrepresented in the military, intelligence, Nobel Prizes, and tech breakthroughs for generations. Yet the smears keep coming, conveniently ignoring how pro-Israel advocacy consistently lines up with US strategic interests, not against them.
There are times when Jews can be their own worst enemies. Jonathan Pollard’s 1985 arrest as a spy for Israel provided an evergreen example for dual loyalty accusers. Pollard was a US Navy intelligence analyst who passed classified secrets to Israel, got caught, and ended up serving 30 years in prison before his 2015 release and 2020 move to Israel.
In a 2021 Israel Hayom interview, Pollard said, “We’re Jews, and if we’re Jews, we will always have dual loyalty,” suggesting young Jews in the American security agencies might spy for Israel too. That kind of talk only fed ugly stereotypes and briefly strained US-Israel ties.
But Pollard was an outlier, plain and simple. His crime wasn’t typical, and many American Jews condemned him outright. Jewish leaders such as ADL’s Abraham Foxman called Pollard’s spying a straight-up betrayal. His actions never reflected the Jewish community’s loyalty to America.
Josh Shapiro’s been openly pro-Israel since his teens. He even volunteered on an Israeli Kibbutz (not for the IDF as widely spread by antisemites) as a kid and has pushed hard against campus antisemitism. In his soon-to-be-published memoir, Shapiro drops the bombshell about the 2024 vice presidential vetting process, with the Harris team’s lawyer, Dana Remus, asking him if he’d ever been a double agent for Israel or dealt with Israeli agents.
Former Biden antisemitism envoy Aaron Keyak called the question “horrifying” and blatantly antisemitic. The ADL slammed it as a textbook revival of ancient Jewish disloyalty tropes. Some on the Left painted him as too Israel-focused, and many pundits claim it’s likely that Shapiro’s pro-Israel positions were the factor that led Harris to favor Tim Walz for her running mate instead.
Of course, Shapiro’s Zionism lines up perfectly with core American values like democracy and fighting terrorism.
Shapiro and many Jews before him are held up to a glaring double standard.
Looking at Pollard and Shapiro, we find two very different stories, yet both feed the same old antisemitic playbook.
Pollard’s real crime became a weapon to paint all Jews as disloyal, while Shapiro’s vetting got twisted with baseless double-agent questions just for being pro-Israel and Jewish. These isolated moments are outright smears that keep distracting from the truth. American Jews’ support for Israel bolsters American interests; it does not undermine them.
A strong US-Israel alliance advances American interests. Israel shares intelligence on threats like Iran and ISIS, co-develops tech like Iron Dome (benefiting American troops), and serves as a Middle East bulwark against authoritarianism.
America and Israel’s shared common democratic principles, religious freedom, and economic ties strengthen both countries. Being a Zionist means supporting a key ally in global innovation, aligning with “America First” by bolstering US competitiveness against China and Russia.
Accusers’ claim that American military aid to Israel drains resources and that Pollard’s case proves systemic. These issues are absurd. American aid makes up less than 1% of the US budget. American aid to Israel yields returns in security.
Pollard’s actions were condemned by Jews and Israelis. When it comes to dual-loyalty charges, the antisemitic horseshoe effect is on full display. Far Left progressives question loyal American Jews like Shapiro, and far Right antisemitic tropes weaponize these accusations; however, mainstream America can only benefit by rejecting it.
Dual loyalty charges are antiquated and harmful. Being truly loyal to the US means advocating for America first.
Recognizing Israel’s role in America’s strength is the least an American First advocate should do when advocating for a formidable United States. Americans must reject smears, notably the dual loyalty charges, and support Jewish American leaders like Shapiro. US-Israel ties are a patriotic imperative.
American Jewish Zionists don’t have dual loyalties. There’s zero contradiction in supporting both Israel and the United States. Both countries share the same strategic goals and the same core values of democracy, freedom, and fighting terrorism.
When an American stands up for Israel, they’re standing up for America’s interests too.