Yoram Harzony spearheads a movement called National Conservatism, which purports to promote the concept of Civic Nationalism as a broader political movement. For years, Harzony has promoted various forms of this, including an endorsement for Stephen Wolfe’s The Case for Christian Nationalism. Harzony comes out of the Edmund Burke Foundation and has affiliations with the Herzl Institute (not the Herzl Museum). This has led to many claims that Harzony is a subversive or otherwise attempting to interweave foreign interests into nationalist projects. Harzony’s civic nationalism project is untenable because he attempts to bypass or transcend the ethnic questions that are at the core of national identity. This has also made difficult the relations between different nationalist factions, like the Americans and the Europeans. Nevertheless, he has platformed many rising voices on the Right and shifted the discourse in a positive direction.
His National Conservatism Conference is a modern equivalent of CPAC for nationalism and should be viewed as a mixed bag much like TPUSA. This week, NatCon went to Jerusalem, bringing together Jews, Christians, and everything in between to discuss nationalism in Israel. One of the more viral speeches was that of William Wolfe. Wolfe leads the Center for Baptist Leadership and worked in the first Trump Administration. His support helped win Willy Rice the Southern Baptist Convention presidency in June.
If one was expecting William Wolfe to grovel to the Jews in Israel, that is far from what happened in his speech, which focuses on the fundamental right to reevaluate the relationship between America and Israel. He first distinguishes between American Jews and Israeli Jews, arguing that American Jews are progressive even after the Left has demonstrated actual antisemitism. This leads to the question of why so much of the conversation in conservatism is dominated by 1-1.5 million out of 77 million voters. He then discusses the declining support for Israel amongst younger Republicans.
The first reason Wolfe cites as the cause is the war fatigue on the Right. He contrasts the security of America with Israel being surrounded by hostility. To Wolfe, the Trump Coalition desires national sovereignty, including with relation to Israel. He even got a few claps for supporting an American withdrawal from the UN. He went on to oppose the Iran War, stating that while he supports the president, he and Matthew Peterson, who also spoke at NatCon, would have advised the President against it.
Then he takes on Dispensationalism, noting that he works with many Southern Baptists who hold to this view.
I love my Southern Baptist brothers who are dispensationalists, but the reality is that theology is waning in the United States and in the light of people who want American national sovereignty back, simply saying ‘because the Bible says so,’ in light of these very difficult and complex conversations, isn’t going to work…the reality is that argument continues to have less purchase.
This received an attack by Phil Johnson for indulging in “pragmatism.” Wolfe has articulated in the past that “because the bible says so” is a compelling argument, but in the context of this discussion, that argument does not work—something he articulated in the clip, which Phil Johnson probably reacted to before watching. Really, Phil Johnson is subtly calling him antisemitic but does not want to say it aloud. Many dispensationalists make this theology a primary issue and attach support for Israel to the Gospel, so even the hint of opposing the dispensationalist claims about Jews can be tantamount to antisemitism in certain Christian circles. Wolfe is not even lambasting dispensationalism nor making a theological argument but is simply relaying to a Jewish audience in Jerusalem that support for Israel is declining in America because dispensationalism is dying in America.
Wolfe then cites George Washington’s Farewell Address, which warns against both unhealthy affections and antipathy for foreign nations. He uses Washington’s words to warn against those who call Israel the foremost threat to America as well as those who claim, “that no matter what happens, we must always stand with Israel.”
Lastly, please stop the Nazi hunting…this has been alluded to already, but I want to point out where this is particularly poignant on the right. JD Vance is the successor to Donald Trump. JD Vance, not Marco Rubio, not Ted Cruz…this is most particularly where the issue, this Nazi hunting, antisemite hunting issue is being used to actually try and give the Neocons power back again after a Trump era.
Wolfe addresses an ongoing dynamic on the Right. James Lindsay is the most forthright against Vance, outright calling him “woke right,” while others have attacked wanting to reroute existing welfare programs to stay-at-home mothers as socialism. Ben Shapiro, who has not subtly supported Rubio, opposed Vance’s notion that Americans should be able to afford to live where they grew up. Vance has led the government task forces investigating visa fraud, directly taking on cheap immigrant labor many Chamber of Commerce types are loath to oppose. Others, like Joel Berry, seek to frame Vance as their guy, which is demonstrably untrue since their allies like Lindsay give away the game. While there are small factions attempting to supplant the inevitable nomination of Vance, there are more that seek to co-opt him as their champion.
NatCon Diplomacy
Wolfe claimed that his speech was not screened by the conference, but it can hardly be said that he went rogue, as other speakers shared similar sentiments with the Israeli audience. Matthew Peterson expressed his opposition to the Iran War while arguing that the future of Israeli-American relations would look different than the past. He even addressed anti-white racism whites have undergone through the education system.
Blaze contributor and rising star, Jonathan Keeperman (AKA Lomez) went to NatCon to argue that America should view Israel as an ordinary nation with a realist foreign policy, presenting this view as what most Americans believe:
Instead, the majority of Americans on the right especially harbor a variety of complicated views on Israel, often inchoate and lacking in any detailed knowledge or sustained attention. They are at present suspicious of the value of our country’s geostrategic partnership. They are exhausted by efforts to use the Holocaust or Jewish suffering generally as a moral obligation to support Israel. They are completely unmoved by accusations of anti-Semitism and any hardline approaches to disavow and shame Israel’s critics and even those who soberly advocate for a more restrained foreign policy. These conversations cannot be off limits.
While there will undoubtedly be cringe speeches by Zionist speakers, like Jeremy Boreing, there was a pattern of those warning the Jews against their behavior of weaponizing the holocaust and hurling labels of antisemitism towards opposition. Just as these speakers were warning the Israelis, they were also dangling a carrot, giving them the off-ramp to accept normal relations with the United States. This is something the Neocons are strongly against.
This the JD Vance position on Israel, while the Trump Administration is a generational transition towards a realist foreign policy with Israel which will have broad electoral support. Where many on the Right do demonstrate disdain for Israel (and not without merit), naming the Jews and running a campaign on hard opposition to Israel is an electorally cancerous strategy. The boomercons are not there. Equally as futile would be to warn the Jews against weaponizing the Holocaust and decrying antisemitism. That would be asking them to relinquish their superpower. Maybe, Yoram Harzony thinks, “this time is different,” as he aligns NatCon with JD Vance. NatCon promoted Wolfe’s speech more than most other speeches for a reason.
William Wolfe worked for the State Department. He went to NatCon Jerusalem as a diplomat to deliver this reality check. He was not alone in that endeavor. Whether their warnings will prevail remains to be seen, but history gives no indication that the Israelis, or Jews more broadly, will accept the off-ramp or change their behavior.
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