Last week, I examined Trump’s implicit charge of dual loyalty directed towards American Jews. For this President, their country is not the United States, but Israel; their Prime Minister is Benjamin Netanyahu. The former claim was made at last year’s White House Chanukah Party; the latter at the most recent meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, held in Las Vegas. At that March session, Trump also described the need to close American borders to further immigration because “our country is full.”  This statement was made to a primarily Jewish audience, many of whose relatives died in Nazi concentration camps because the U.S. denied them entry. The response of the crowd to Trump’s comments: applause.

Defenders of Trump that claim he is “good for the Jews,” often argue that, after all, he has a Jewish daughter and son-in-law along with Jewish grandchildren. How that balances with a family history that is decidedly unfriendly to Jews and who himself now questions their loyalties, is unfathomable.

The other, more repeated and public defense of Trump (especially among many Jews is that he is “good for Israel.” In fact, I would contend that his policies are on course to help Israel move towards becoming a pariah state eventually threatening the country existentially.

It has always been the presumption of a vast number of political scientists—myself included—that policies and actions that weaken the U.S., have a corresponding affect upon our allies and friends. That is especially the case for Israel, a country that has few friends and only one—America—major supporter. If the former is ever facing an existential threat, it is assumed that this country would be of assistance. The quality and quantity of such aid is of course dependent upon the resources available. There are, consequently, few knowledgeable observers who doubt that Trump’s activities in the international arena have not weakened our will and ability to respond to a crisis facing any nation, including Israel. To therefore applaud Trump for moving the American embassy to Israel or for recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, is to ignore the forest for the trees. Neither action makes either country stronger politically or militarily. What it does do is shore up Trump’s political base among Jews and Evangelical Christians.

Meanwhile, for Israel’s friends to operate in a cone of silence while that nation assumes the features of an apartheid-like state, is a recipe for further Israeli isolation and diminished international support. In this country as well, the American public, and especially younger American Jews, are indicating significant reductions in support for Israel. Remember, as Trump and right-wing Republicans move in the other direction, Israel is becoming less a bi-partisan issue, a factor that can have major ramifications in the months ahead.

How long Israel will remain a “special” nation in the view of the American people, is unknowable at this point. That this question is even being asked seriously, should act as a bellwether  for Israel’s friends and allies.