The Hidden Story Behind US-Israel Policy: What African Jewish History Reveals \ stacker news ~Politics_And

How America’s unwavering support for Israel has backed a selective vision of Jewish identity that excludes its most ancient communities

The Historical Foundation We’ve Ignored

Africa holds some of the oldest continuous Jewish populations in the world. After Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE, African regions—Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Ethiopia, and the Horn of Africa—became major centers of the Jewish diaspora. Modern genetic studies confirm that North African Jews share direct ancestral ties to ancient Israelites and Levantine peoples.

(For the complete historical account with archaeological and genetic evidence, see: The African Roots of Ancient Jewish History: A Factual Account - also available on YakiHonne)

These weren’t peripheral communities. Alexandria became one of antiquity’s greatest centers of Jewish learning. African Jews preserved ancient Hebrew traditions, maintained synagogues, and produced religious texts for over two millennia. They are among the most ancient, genetically verified Jewish populations on Earth.

Yet US policy toward Israel has consistently remained silent about a troubling question: Why have these foundational African Jewish communities faced marginalization, discrimination, and delayed recognition?

The Policy Contradiction

For decades, the United States has provided unwavering diplomatic, military, and financial support to Israel as a “Jewish homeland” based on ancient historical claims. But the historical record reveals a profound contradiction:

The US has backed a version of Jewish identity that often excludes the very African Jews who represent unbroken continuity with ancient Israel.

The Beta Israel Example

Ethiopian Jews (Beta Israel) faced significant barriers to Israeli immigration and recognition despite their ancient lineage. When they finally gained recognition, many faced discrimination within Israel itself. The US government, despite its stated commitment to supporting the Jewish people’s right to a homeland, remained largely silent about these struggles.

This wasn’t an oversight. It reveals how US-Israel policy has implicitly endorsed a selective definition of Jewish identity—one where European Ashkenazi identity became the default “legitimate” form, while African Jews were treated as “questionable” claimants.

The Geopolitical Blindspot

US Middle East policy operates as if Jewish history is exclusively Levantine and European. This framework:

Ignores North Africa’s role as a major diaspora center for 2,000 years
Disregards the Horn of Africa’s ancient Jewish populations
Treats African Jewish history as peripheral despite its foundational importance
Creates a policy that implicitly defines “authentic” Jewishness along racial and geographic lines

The uncomfortable truth: If US support for Israel is based on ancient historical claims and the Jewish people’s right to return, why has American policy ignored Africa’s centrality to Jewish survival and continuity?

The African-American Dimension

This hidden history has profound implications for how African Americans understand Middle East policy.

Many African Americans have been told they have no historical connection to the Middle East or ancient Israelite history. Yet the evidence shows:

Significant African-American ancestry traces to regions like Igboland where Hebrew-influenced traditions circulated for centuries before colonization
The African diaspora carried forward cultures that had engaged with biblical identity across millennia
Cultural continuities survived even the Middle Passage

What would happen if this history were widely known?

How might African-American perspectives on Israel and Palestine shift if they understood that:

Their own ancestral regions were centers of ancient Jewish diaspora life
African Jews are foundational to Jewish history, not peripheral to it
US policy has supported a vision of Israel that marginalizes these ancient African communities

The Question US Policy Won’t Answer

If the United States supports Israel as the homeland for the Jewish people based on ancient historical claims and the right of return after centuries of diaspora, then why has US policy been silent about:

The discrimination African Jews faced trying to reach and be accepted in Israel?
The delayed recognition of Ethiopian Jewish communities despite their ancient lineage?
The fact that African Jews represent some of the oldest, most genetically verified connections to ancient Israelites?
Africa’s historical centrality to Jewish survival during and after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem?

The Core Revelation

US policy has backed a version of Jewish identity and Israeli statehood built more on 20th-century European Jewish experience than on the full 2,000+ year history of the Jewish diaspora—which was profoundly African.

This isn’t about questioning Israel’s right to exist. It’s about questioning which version of Jewish history and identity America has chosen to support with billions in annual aid and unwavering diplomatic protection.

The historical record shows that when Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE, Africa became central to Jewish continuity. African communities preserved traditions, maintained the faith, and represented unbroken lineage. Yet the modern state that claims to represent all Jews has often marginalized these communities—with American policy remaining conspicuously silent.

The Policy Implications

This history forces us to confront difficult questions:

On Identity: Has US support been for “the Jewish people” broadly, or for a specific, racially and geographically selective vision of who counts as authentically Jewish?

On Historical Claims: If Israel’s legitimacy rests on ancient historical claims, why does US policy ignore the African Jews who represent the most ancient, continuous populations?

On Regional Policy: How has treating Jewish history as exclusively European/Levantine distorted US understanding of North Africa and the Horn of Africa’s role in global religious history?

On Domestic Politics: How might American political coalitions shift if African Americans widely understood their ancestral connections to regions that were centers of ancient Jewish diaspora life?

Conclusion: The History That Changes Everything

Africa wasn’t on the margins of ancient Jewish history. It was central to Jewish survival, continuity, and cultural development for over two millennia. Yet US policy toward Israel has operated as if this history doesn’t exist—or doesn’t matter.

This silence reveals something profound about whose history counts, whose identity is “legitimate,” and whose claims to ancient heritage receive billions in American support versus whose receive discrimination and doubt.

The facts are clear. The genetic evidence is solid. The archaeological record is extensive. African Jews are among the oldest Jewish populations on Earth.

The question is: Why has US policy pretended otherwise?