The surging antisemitism among certain quarters of the American Right is the resurrection of an ancient theological framework that casts Jews as uniquely demonic. If Jews and their allies hope to thwart far-Right voices growing among its constituents, they must understand the theological battle that has begun to set roots in the Republican Party.
Christian Zionists, including Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, represent one outlook of Republican constituents, while others have begun to give credence to claims made by rising anti-Israel voices within or external to the party, voices exemplified by the likes of Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens.
This battle is based on fundamentally different Christian understandings of Jews and Judaism that have competed for centuries. The question at stake is an old one from a Christian theological perspective: Did God abandon His covenant with the Jewish people? Are Jews a rejected people?
Christian Zionists, notably evangelicals, embracing a theological philosophy called “dispensationalism,” answer with a resounding “No.”
Miraculous return
This theological framework, which began in England with John Nelson Darby in the early 19th century, gained popularity in America and views Israel’s rebirth as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.
When Jews miraculously returned to their ancestral homeland after two millennia of statelessness, precisely as biblical prophets foretold, dispensationalists saw divine validation of their reading of scripture
In stark contrast stand those adhering to “replacement theology” or “supersessionism,” which has dominated Orthodox and Catholic traditions for centuries until recently. This view holds that the Church replaced Israel as God’s chosen people after the Jews rejected Jesus. According to this perspective, Jews bear collective responsibility for deicide – the killing of God incarnate – and thereby abrogated their covenant, which transferred to Christians.
The implications of replacement theology are staggering. Once you’ve emotionally determined that Jews are collectively guilty of killing God, your brain will always find ways to portray them as evil or aligning with Satan.
As I often explain to Jewish audiences, if you hate someone, your brain will always rationalize that hatred, interpreting everything they do through that emotional lens. Even when they give charity, haters will claim they’re merely trying to look good.
Blaming the Jews
This framework established a deeply problematic association between Jews and the demonic image that is surfacing again these days. When the Black Death swept Europe, Jews were blamed. When a Christian child died mysteriously in the Middle Ages, Jews were accused of ritual murder. When capitalism seemed exploitative, Jews were branded greedy capitalists.
When Communism threatened the West, Jews were labeled Bolsheviks. In modern examples, Jews and Israel have been blamed for the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pattern is consistent: Whatever your society considers most evil: Jews become its embodiment. The Jew becomes the scapegoat onto which society projects its darkest fears. This style of theology leads to antisemitism of the worst kind and has been present since the very beginnings of the Church itself. It is a social pathology akin to an addiction.
A sober society can relapse into mass self-justifying Jew demonization extremely quickly.
Nostra Aetate
Sixty years ago, the Second Vatican Council attempted to address this toxic theology with its 1965 Nostra Aetate declaration, which absolved Jews of collective guilt for Jesus’s crucifixion.
Early drafts wanted to explicitly state that God’s covenant with Jews remained intact and leaned strongly towards the dispensationalist view. Still, this document faced fierce opposition, particularly from Arab Catholic leaders who feared it implied support for Israel. The resulting compromise created theological space for Catholics to view Jews more positively, whilst being sufficiently ambiguous as to allow traditionalists to interpret it less favorably.
Today’s conservative movement finds itself caught in this theological crossfire. Traditional Reagan-era alignment with dispensationalists, both evangelical and others, brought reliable support for Israel, but the growing populist wing increasingly embraces the old supersessionist framework.
Carlson exemplifies this tension perfectly. In a recent interview with Nick Fuentes, Carlson insisted he’s not antisemitic because he rejects the idea that someone is guilty merely for being born Jewish. He stands against antisemitism based on race.
Demonizing Jews
Yet in the same conversation, he demonized Jews for administering “collective punishment” of Palestinians and called Christian Zionism a “heresy,” going so far as to call Senator Ted Cruz, former president George W. Bush, and the ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, Christian Zionists who have been “seized by this brain virus.”
Despite claiming to “love everybody,” Carlson singles out Christians who support Israel as being people he hates.
Cruz responded to the comments while speaking at the recent Republican Jewish Coalition event and said that he had seen more antisemitism on the Right in the last six months than he had seen in his entire life, and that this is a poison in the party and the country. He went as far as to say that America, and the Republican Party in particular, is “facing an existential crisis.”
Intriguingly, the Carlson-Fuentes podcast moved on from attacking the Jewish collective to a seemingly unrelated topic of disaffected young men seeking explanations for societal dysfunction. But the juxtaposition was not a coincidence. Struggling with addiction of all sorts, unemployment, and social isolation, many find a convenient framework that provides a target for their frustrations in old-school replacement theology.
Antisemitism dynamic
Charlie Kirk recognized this dynamic when addressing antisemitism among young conservatives: “If you’re a young man stuck at home, struggling, not getting a job, not making friends, dating not going well, don’t become an antisemite. Don’t blame 0.2% of the world for your problems.”
For Jews navigating this terrain, understanding these Christian theological debates provides crucial context.
The anti-Israel sentiment among some conservatives doesn’t emerge from a political vacuum but from centuries-old theological frameworks being revived and repurposed for contemporary grievances. We must recognize that we’re witnessing a profound spiritual struggle whose outcome will determine the future of American-Israeli relations and the safety of Jewish communities worldwide. This is not just a political realignment.
The writer, a rabbi, currently serves as the educational visionary of Aish and is known for his ability to tackle difficult topics. He is an expert on Jewish and Muslim history and has given several talks on the subject of interfaith dynamics.