The American right is falling out of love with Israel

[Occam's Banana]

The American right is falling out of love with Israel
https://thehill.com/opinion/interna...can-right-is-falling-out-of-love-with-israel/
{Abdullah Hayek | 30 July 2025}

Unconditional American support for Israel — once the bedrock of conservative foreign policy — is crumbling in real time.

From Congress to right-wing media and Trump-aligned grassroots organizations, a new tone is taking shape towards Israel: one of skepticism, impatience and in some cases outright hostility. The Republican Party’s old covenant with Israel is no longer sacred — and the cracks are widening fast.

In the mid-20th century, Republicans were generally skeptical of Israel, instead favoring Arab ties. Support grew later, driven by Cold War strategy, evangelical Zionism, neoconservatism and post-9/11 alliances — ultimately transforming the GOP into Israel’s most loyal political partner.

But that alliance is now eroding at a stunning pace. If Israel hopes to preserve its standing, it must act swiftly to reassert its dependability as a strategic ally — or risk forfeiting support not only from the American left, but from its most reliable partners on the right.

Nowhere is the fracture more evident than in President Trump’s second term. In April, his administration slapped Israel with a 17 percent reciprocal tariff. Israeli officials were “in complete shock” after having abolished tariffs on U.S. imports in hopes of an exemption. This signaled that Trump would not give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu everything he wanted — friendship doesn’t mean favoritism.

That message grew louder during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. Trump brokered a fragile ceasefire that Israel broke within hours. On June 24, Trump erupted in fury. “They don’t know what the f— they’re doing,” he snapped. “I’m not happy with Israel … you don’t go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them.”

And it wasn’t an isolated outburst. Two months earlier, Netanyahu had pleaded with Trump to take a hard line with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose military was planning on operating a military base in Syria, but the Israeli Air Force struck the base three days before the meeting in the White House.

Trump refused. “If you have a problem with Turkey, I think we’ll be able to work it out … as long as you are reasonable,” he told Netanyahu in the Oval Office in front of the press. In effect, Trump told Netanyahu to sit down and compromise with a regional adversary.

Then came Damascus. As sectarian violence between Druze and Bedouin communities engulfed Syria’s Suwayda province, Israel launched airstrikes on government positions in the capital, ostensibly in support of the Druze. The strikes risked a wider regional war and drew immediate outrage from the White House.

Trump personally phoned Netanyahu and demanded restraint, furious that Israel had acted without coordination and against his express wishes. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was “caught off guard” and unhappy with the airstrikes. It was the clearest signal yet that Trump’s strategic patience with Netanyahu was gone and his instinct now was to rein Israel in.

Influential conservatives are questioning U.S. support for Israel. Tucker Carlson, once staunchly pro-Israel, now voices deep skepticism. Carlson recently suggested that Jeffrey Epstein worked for Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, and argued that Americans serving in Israel’s army should lose citizenship.

Shifting Republican attitudes on Israel are increasingly visible in Congress. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) stunned colleagues this month by proposing an amendment to eliminate upwards of $500 million in U.S. military aid for Israel’s missile defense. Greene cited Israel’s recent bombing of Gaza’s only Catholic church and railed against funding “nuclear-armed Israel’s missile defense system” while Americans face domestic needs. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was the only GOP House member who voted with her, along with four Democrats.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), perhaps Congress’s most ardent pro-Israel voice, recently blasted violent attacks by Jewish settlers on Christians. “There was a Catholic church burned in the West Bank,” Graham said angrily on Fox News, referring to a church compound torched by extremist Israeli settlers. “What’s happening in the West Bank bothers the hell out of me,” he added, demanding that Netanyahu punish those responsible. When a stalwart like Graham is “incredibly upset” by Israeli settler violence, it’s clear that the old consensus is cracking.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) recently delivered a blistering segment on One America News condemning Israeli settlers in the West Bank — rhetoric rarely heard on right-wing TV. “The truth is, this isn’t an isolated tragedy. It’s part of a pattern of Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian communities … torching of homes, farms and lives,” he said, adding they’re “protected by Israeli forces who are funded by U.S. tax dollars.” Citing the killing of Saif Musallet, a Palestinian American, in the West Bank, Gaetz noted that “Israel rarely holds these killers accountable.”

Even Fox News is shifting. The network aired a surprising interview by Bret Baier with Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi. Such a platform for Israel’s archenemy would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. The move reflects growing discomfort among right-wing audiences with one-sided pro-Israel narratives and a desire for an “America First” approach.

Polling confirms that conservative ardor for Israel is fading. A recent Quinnipiac poll found Republican sympathy for Israel had dropped to 64 percent, down from 78 percent a year earlier. Pollsters tied the decline to Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza. Overall, more Americans now hold an unfavorable view of Israel’s government than before the Gaza war began.

The message to Israel from the American right is now unmistakable: Support is no longer unconditional. To preserve its standing, Israel must act as a responsible, stable and strategically aligned partner. That means wrapping up the war in Gaza quickly, reining in extremist settlers in the West Bank and credibly demonstrating respect for civilian life and the long-term viability of regional stability.

The era of automatic American backing for Israel is ending. If Israeli leaders fail to adapt, they risk losing even their most loyal conservative allies.

 

[acptulsa]

Nuttyyahoo went so far beyond the pale that even a thousand 24/7 televangelism stations with Israeli paid commercial programs couldn't keep people brainwashed.

 

[vita3]

America is just beginning to see Israel for what it is.

 

[Anti Globalist]

The GOP could care less that most people on the right don't want to support Israel. They're still going to continue sending them foreign aid and do all their dirty work for them.

 

[acptulsa]

The GOP could care less that most people on the right don't want to support Israel. They're still going to continue sending them foreign aid and do all their dirty work for them.

Oh, they're sweating it. They're sweating.

Nuttyyahoo went after Christians with as much vigor as Muslims, and suddenly evangelical Americans couldn't just be comfortably hypocritical any more. The party may be over.

 

[Lifesoup]

Nuttyyahoo went so far beyond the pale that even a thousand 24/7 televangelism stations with Israeli paid commercial programs couldn't keep people brainwashed.

Good stuff!

 

[nikcers]

Israel got it right. You cant blame them for getting attacked and they kicked ass even though they were outnumbered and surrounded.

It will go down in history as one of the greatest strategic victorys of modern history.

If anything the woke argument against Israel defending themselves is over.

That lost the election and its not going to change the congress. The voters arent going to elect a different congress.

“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot have both.”

 

[CaptUSA]

Israel got it right. You cant blame them for getting attacked and they kicked ass even though they were outnumbered and surrounded.

It will go down in history as one of the greatest strategic victorys of modern history.

If anything the woke argument against Israel defending themselves is over.

That lost the election and its not going to change the congress. The voters arent going to elect a different congress.

“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot have both.”

Man, tagging this for later. You've got this so backwards.



Once these atrocities are fully revealed, this is NOT going to age well for you.

 

[jmdrake]

Israel got it right. You cant blame them for getting attacked and they kicked ass even though they were outnumbered and surrounded.

It will go down in history as one of the greatest strategic victorys of modern history.

If anything the woke argument against Israel defending themselves is over.

That lost the election and its not going to change the congress. The voters arent going to elect a different congress.

“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot have both.”

 

[otherone]

If anything the woke argument against Israel defending themselves is over.

If Israel actually defended themselves, this wouldn't be a conversation in America.

 

[nikcers]

If Israel actually defended themselves, this wouldn't be a conversation in America.

Yeah they dont just defend themselves.

They are our defense partners and they are part of the free world.

They devastated Iran's regime and kept them in check without the USA having to deploy American troops to do it.

The cost that they did it for is probably 1/10th the cost of a direct war.

 

[otherone]

Yeah they dont just defend themselves.

They are our defense partners and they are part of the free world.

They devastated Iran's regime and kept them in check without the USA having to deploy American troops to do it.

The cost that they did it for is probably 1/10th the cost of a direct war.

Yeah ok Dubya.

 

[nikcers]

Yeah ok Dubya.

No Dubya invaded Iraq and it was a cluster fuck.

Israel contains Iran and containment works.

We did containment against the Soviet Union and that cost less then fighting a war against the Soviet Union.

 

[otherone]

No Dubya invaded Iraq and it was a cluster fuck.

Israel contains Iran and containment works.

We did containment against the Soviet Union and that cost less then fighting a war against the Soviet Union.

What threat did Iran pose to the USA? Do we gotta drag out ol' Colin with blurry photographs?
I was told neoconservatism was dead.

 

[nikcers]

What threat did Iran pose to the USA? Do we gotta drag out ol' Colin with blurry photographs?
I was told neoconservatism was dead.

What threat does Iran pose? They dont currently pose a threat because they are contained.

If they werent contained they would pose the same threat as any destabilizing and expansionist empire.

They would have the same potential threat level of Hitler or Hirohito.

Europe and China were massacred by their expansive forces. Hundreds of millions died and they had to reindustrialize.

The only difference is we stopped Iran's expansion by arming Israel so we didnt have to spend enormous resources fighting them in a war.

 

[otherone]

What threat does Iran pose? They dont currently pose a threat because they are contained.

If they werent contained they would pose the same threat as any destabilizing and expansionist empire.

They would have the same potential threat level of Hitler or Hirohito.

Europe and China were massacred by their expansive forces. Hundreds of millions died and they had to reindustrialize.

The only difference is we stopped Iran's expansion by arming Israel so we didnt have to spend enormous resources fighting them in a war.

 

[nikcers]

George Bush did premptive war and regime change in Iraq.

We didnt do regime change to Iran.

All we did was containment.

This is the policy we had prior to Bush that dates back to Eisenhower of containment.

 

[otherone]

All we did was containment.

You said Israel did the containment. Unless by "we" you mean the United States of Israel.

 

[nikcers]

You said Israel did the containment. Unless by "we" you mean the United States of Israel.

The USA supported Israel. Our world class navy and our air force. Our army manned air defenses.

So the overall cost was atleast 1/10th what it would have cost.

Thats because in the end the neighborhood countries paid us.

Trump went to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and they are going to invest trillions into the US economy.

Trump even got gifted a flying palace. A huge jet plane was gifted to the Pentagon.

They didnt want Iran expanding and taking control over their people.

 

[unknown]

"Yesterday I spoke to a Christian pastor from Gaza.

There are children starving.

And Christians have been killed and injured, as well as many innocent people.

If you are an American Christian, this should be absolutely unacceptable to you.

Just as we said that Hamas killing and kidnapping innocent people on Oct 7th is absolutely unacceptable.

Are innocent Israeli lives more valuable than innocent Palestinian and Christian lives?

And why should America continue funding this?

The secular government of nuclear armed Israel has proven that they are beyond capable of dealing with their enemies and are capable of and are in the process of systematically cleansing them from the land.

Most Americans that I know don’t hate Israel and we are not antisemitic at all.

We are beyond fed up with being told that we have to fix the world’s problems, pay for the world’s problems, and fight all the world’s wars while Americans are struggling to survive even though they work everyday.

And many of us, even though we are Christians, no longer want to fund and fight nuclear armed secular Israel’s wars especially when it leads to starving children and killing innocent people including Christians.

Of course we are against radical Islamic terrorism, but we are also against genocide.

You see..

When you have worked your entire life, and will only receive a $1,000 Social Security check, but noncitizens were given $3,500 and more, you are pissed off.

When you have worked your entire life, and all your elected federal officials have recklessly spent and sent your hard earned money to every foreign country and every foreign war and NGO to the point we are almost $40 TRILLION in debt and inflation has caused life to be unaffordable, you are pissed off.

When you have worked your entire life, and your elected federal government officials refuse to fix the absurd problems that makes all insurance unaffordable, you are pissed off.

And for the younger generations, who are trying their hardest to make it in this ridiculous system, they feel hopeless!

And that makes me burn with anger.

None of this is antisemitic and I, along with millions of Americans, refuse that manipulative label.

It’s the consequences of decades of America LAST policies, nonstop foreign intervention, and the American people clearly seeing the truth and suffering.

Here is where I stand.

No American should face persecution of any kind because of their identity.

Not Jewish American.

Not Muslim American.

Not Christian American.

Not White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, mixed American.

And on and on.

We already have hate crime laws against that and that’s not who we are in America and we have and should continue to work hard to not allow ourselves to become that.

My position is this.

As a U.S. Representative, I represent the American people.

My full focus is on fixing America’s problems.

And right now, the problems in America are threatening my children’s future.

I consider that a war against my children.

Every single person, no matter who they are that continues to enslave my children in debt, continues policies that make their lives unaffordable, and prioritizes foreign countries and foreign wars above my children’s lives and livelihoods, I see as the enemy waging the war against my children and their generation.

I will continue to push for world peace because that is the type of world I want for my children and all the world’s children.

I want America to put American companies and American jobs first and to protect American land and American homes from foreign consumption.

Most importantly, I demand the federal government serve the American people, who pay your salaries.

September 30th brings another annual government funding deadline.

I sincerely hope Republicans, out on August recess right now, will return in September with a renewed focus to stop funding foreign wars and stop waging the fiscal war against my children and their entire generation."