Short answer: No. As of August 2026, Zbigniew Brzezinski is not someone Shop Israel's audience should count as a supporter of Israel. He died in 2017, and his record was mixed at best: he helped broker Israel's landmark peace with Egypt while serving in government, but for decades afterward he was one of the most prominent establishment critics of Israeli policy and of pro-Israel lobbying in Washington.
What Zbigniew Brzezinski has actually said and done
1977 to 1981: As U.S. National Security Advisor under President Jimmy Carter, Brzezinski was a key architect and adviser behind the Camp David process, signed in September 1978, and the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, signed on March 26, 1979. That treaty normalized relations between Israel and Egypt and has held for more than four decades, as detailed by the Wilson Center.
2006: In an essay for Foreign Policy magazine, Brzezinski publicly praised John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt's controversial "Israel Lobby" thesis, writing that they had "rendered a public service by initiating a much-needed public debate" over pro-Israel lobbying influence on U.S. foreign policy, while also stating that "an anti-Israel bias is not the same as anti-Semitism," according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
September 2009: In an interview, Brzezinski said that if Israeli jets flew over U.S.-controlled Iraqi airspace to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, the United States should intercept and be prepared to shoot them down, calling it potentially "a Liberty in reverse," a reference to Israel's 1967 attack on the USS Liberty. The remark was reported by The New Republic and separately covered by Tablet.
2010: Brzezinski publicly criticized the Obama administration for demanding an Israeli settlement freeze and then backing off when Israel resisted, arguing the retreat undercut U.S. credibility and stalled the peace process. He also argued that Washington should not follow Israel's lead on confronting Iran, as reported by the National Iranian American Council.
May 26, 2017: Brzezinski died at age 89 in Falls Church, Virginia, as reported by NPR.
Context: a career built on policy, not personal affinity
Zbigniew Brzezinski (1928 to 2017) was a Polish-born, Roman Catholic scholar and statesman with no personal or family connection to Jewish identity. His relationship to Israel ran almost entirely through his foreign-policy career rather than through any personal advocacy or affinity. His single largest positive contribution was structural and historic: as Carter's National Security Advisor, he was one of the architects of the Camp David process that produced Israel's first peace treaty with an Arab neighbor.
Beyond that, Brzezinski built a long public record as a policy critic of successive Israeli governments and of what he saw as excessive pro-Israel influence over U.S. Middle East policy. He publicly defended the Mearsheimer-Walt "Israel Lobby" thesis, argued against Israeli settlement expansion, opposed unilateral Israeli military action against Iran, and in 2009 suggested the U.S. should be willing to intercept Israeli warplanes crossing Iraqi airspace toward Iran, a remark that drew sharp pushback from pro-Israel commentators at the time. He held no formal role in Israeli affairs after leaving government, and there is no record of donations, boycott statements, or event appearances specifically tied to Israel. His public record on the subject is limited to think-tank writing, op-eds, congressional testimony, and interviews on U.S. Middle East strategy.
The bottom line
Zbigniew Brzezinski's record on Israel is mixed at best and net critical: a historic role in securing Israel's peace with Egypt, paired with decades of outspoken criticism of Israeli policy and of pro-Israel lobbying in Washington, including a 2009 remark suggesting the U.S. should be willing to shoot down Israeli jets. He is not someone Shop Israel's audience should read as a supporter of Israel.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
