Here is what I am thinking.

First, I am thinking about Donald Trump. By itself, that’s a bad sign. But it seems to me that it is also necessary or, better said, inevitable. And because it is inevitable, that is why it’s a bad sign. He dominates our world like no one ever has. And, to quote Tim Walz (who was talking about something a bit different, I believe), it’s weird. That is a fact.

Now, let me go from fact to opinion. My opinion is that Donald Trump is a terrible human being. Talented in many ways, for sure, but – perhaps because of those talents – he is a terrible human being. Yes, that is a subjective statement. I recognize that.

But now let me go from opinion to fact. Donald Trump is a Fascist. Of course, someone can argue against that, just like they can argue that Tuesday doesn’t really follow Monday, but they are just as wrong. Yes, Fascism as a word is a human construct, but the elements that make a Fascist are all present in Donald Trump. And that means that, if you like Donald Trump, whether you know it or not, you like a Fascist. And if you like the way that Donald Trump is governing the United States, whether you know it or not, you like Fascism.

Here is what Google’s AI says defines Fascism: (1) Extreme nationalism, (2) Authoritarianism with a single, dominant leader, (3) Militarism with violence and war as legitimate tools for national expansion, (3) Social hierarchy based on racial or national superiority, (4) Suppression of opposition, (5) Cult of personality, (6) Corporatism where businesses come under the influence or control of government, (7) Scapegoating, (8) Anti-democratic, or opposition to free elections and the rule of law, (9) Subordination of individual freedoms to the perceived needs of the state.

Other definitions would add to these things like (1) a leader who never admits mistakes, (2) political power derived from denial of reality, (3) fixation with perceived national decline, (4) disdain for human rights while pursuing its goals, (5) embrace of para-militarism, (6) control of media to undermine truth, (7) obsession with national security, (8) defining one’s nation as under siege, (9) intertwining religion and government, (10) disdain for intellectualism and the creative arts, (11) rampant cronyism and corruption, and (12) seeking to expand territory, perhaps through armed conflict. (These come from a definition published by Keene State College in New Hampshire.)

And, I would add one more element. In Fascist societies, legislative and judicial figures subordinate their own independence to the whims of the government. Certainly, that happened in agermany and, to a large extent, is happening here.

I have made the comparison between the rise of Hitler in Germany in the early 1930s and the stage where we find ourselves today (the only real exception being Hitler’s dominant antisemitism), and would argue against anyone saying that this is an extreme analogy. As someone I recently read said (paraphrasing): it doesn’t mean that we are going to end up like Nazi Germany, but it also doesn’t mean that this is impossible.

Of course, in addition to his position regarding Jews and their insidious influence on German society, Hitler had his own private army, even before he attained governmental power. I used to say that a private army was one important element of Fascism that Trump lacked, but I can’t say that any more, can I? Now, it is clear that the ICE troops are Trump’s private army. That is another fact, and brings the United States closer to being under the control of a true Fascist.

Let’s go to antisemitism. Right now, the Trump government is obviously concentrating on immigrants as the biggest domestic enemies of his country. He is not saying anything antisemitic. In fact, he is again and again promising to root out antisemitism, and is (I believe, along with many others) using perceived or falsified antisemitism as an excuse to go after groups or individuals with whom he disagrees on other grounds, the biggest example being Harvard and other universities. Yes, they have had problems related to Jews and supporters of Israel, but he is making it worse for everyone by his attacks on universities and their finances, and making it more difficult for them to correct their self-perceived problems. (But that’s for another column.)

But the point is that Trump could change his position on Jews on a dime, and his followers would most likely follow suit without qualms. The American Jewish community still votes 75% or so for Democrats, and this is unlikely to change during the Trump years, so all Trump has to do is decide that American Jews (perhaps as opposed to their Israeli counterparts) are enemies of the state. Maybe their citizenship should be taken from them (Trump is now talking about the possibility of taking citizenship away from certain classes of Americans), and maybe they should all be deported to Israel or, if they can’t all fit in there (although they could if Israel actually succeeds in taking over Gaza and the West Bank)……who knows what would be next?

No, I don’t expect this will happen. But, as I stated above regarding Trump’s Fascism in general, you can’t say that it is impossible.

For a long time, some critics have been saying that Israel is a Fascist state. I don’t think that is correct, although some of the elements of Fascism I quoted above would fit. But there are a few differences. Israel is a parliamentary democracy, and parliamentary democracies can put together terrible governing coalitions with terrible coalition leaders. Israel certainly has shown it is able to do that. But Israel, as opposed to the United States, is actually under siege, and has been since its creation in 1948, so its security problems are real ones.

To use a time-worn analogy, I would say that, largely as a result of the October 7 attack by Hamas, Israel has “gone postal” and has determined to wipe out its enemies for once and for all, whatever the cost. Close to 60,000 Palestinians have paid the ultimate price for that, and millions of others have had their lives thrown completely off balance. To end slavery, 600,000 Americans died during a Civil War in the 1860s. Will the death of 60,000 Palestinians lead to long term Middle East peace? We don’t know the answer to that. And is the death of 60,000 necessary in the attempt to reach Middle East peace? That is a question that can’t be avoided. And while I believe that, at some point, the violence in Gaza was necessary to disarm Hamas to the extent possible, now I believe it has gone well beyond the boundaries of decent human conduct. But this is the result of what happens when a society “goes postal”.

No matter how successful Israel will be in securing stability for its citizens, and irrespective of what the next Israeli government might look like, it is going to take a long time before Israelis trust each other or its neighbors, and maybe even longer before its neighbors trust can trust Israel. I will never see that day.

And, sadly, irrespective of what post-Trump America looks like, it is going to take a long time to undo the damage being foisted upon American institutions (which were far from perfect before Trump came to power), and perhaps it will take just as long to give Americans confidence in their own government and to give other countries the confidence in American stability that they had before the Trump years.

This said, it is clear that both the United States and Israel are in transition periods. The only question is what each of them is transitioning to. Will the next stage portend a better world?

Remember the Chinese sage who was recently asked: What is the impact of Napoleon on Europe’s society? And who answered: It is much too soon to tell.