Wednesday, the office of the Minnesota congresswoman Betty McCollum published a statement condemning the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as a “hate group” after it sponsored a Facebook advertisement critical of her. Condemnations of AIPAC and the “Israel Lobby,” which now predominate on the political left, have been a longstanding bipartisan feature of anti-Israel rhetoric in the U.S., ascribing to the group a near-supernatural power to dictate American foreign policy and stifle debate. As Sharon Goldman explains, such fantastical assumptions about Jewish influence go back many centuries, and have changed little:

Leaders of the movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel, known as BDS, frequently make use of dangerously overwrought descriptions [when speaking about] Israel, as do its supporters. Recall Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s now-deleted 2012 tweet: “Israel has hypnotized the world; may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” The tweet taps directly into the trope that Jews are not only powerful, but all-powerful—capable of hypnotism that only Allah can reverse.

This . . . language is ubiquitous in BDS [circles], as when Mahmoud Nawajaa, the General Coordinator of the BDS National Committee, accused Zionists of “brainwashing” and controlling U.S. policy, and when the famous BDS supporter [and former member of the rock band Pink Floyd] Roger Waters narrated a documentary film titled “The Occupation of the American Mind.”

That’s how you can recognize the old anti-Semitic canard at work: Israel, the unnaturally powerful Jew of the international arena, has grown into the most oppressive, most dangerous genocidal country in the world and it must be stopped in its hegemonic, demonic tracks.

The Mossad’s heist of a vast Iranian nuclear archive in 2018 provided abundant evidence that Tehran was not adhering to its commitments; it also provided an enormous amount of actionable intelligence. Two years later, Israel responded to international inspectors’ condemnation of the Islamic Republic’s violations by using this intelligence to launch a spectacular campaign of sabotage—a campaign that is the subject of Target Tehran, by Yonah Jeremy Bob and Ilan Evyatar. David Adesnik writes:

The question that remains open at the conclusion of Target Tehran is whether the Mossad’s tactical wizardry adds up to strategic success in the shadow war with Iran. The authors give a very respectful hearing to skeptics—such as the former Mossad director Tamir Pardo—who believe the country should have embraced the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Bob and Evyatar reject that position, arguing that covert action has proven itself the best way to slow down the nuclear program. They acknowledge, however, that the clerical regime remains fully determined to reach the nuclear threshold. “The Mossad’s secret war, in other words, is not over. Indeed, it may never end,” they write.

Which brings us back to Joe Biden. The clerical regime was headed over a financial cliff when Biden took office, thanks to the reimposition of sanctions after Washington withdrew from the nuclear deal. The billions flowing into Iran on Biden’s watch have made it that much easier for the regime to rebuild whatever Mossad destroys in addition to weathering nationwide protests on behalf of women, life, and freedom. Until Washington and Jerusalem get on the same page—and stay there—Tehran’s nuclear ambitions will remain an affordable luxury for a dictatorship at war with its citizens.