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2026-11-11 Israel-Palestine-Jordan
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A New Consensus: Democrats and Republicans Compete in Their Dislike of Israel
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Ilya Maximov
[Regnum] The results of the 2026 midterm elections have made support for Israel toxic for both American parties. The long-standing bipartisan commitment, which seemed unshakable until recently, is crumbling before our eyes from both sides—and this is no longer a change in rhetoric, but a structural shift in the political landscape.
Historically, the American-Israeli alliance has rested on a broad bipartisan consensus, dating back to the Harry Truman administration's initial recognition of Israel and the bipolar confrontation of the Cold War. For decades, the Jewish state enjoyed the favor of both Republican and Democratic presidents, and congressional votes on aid to the Middle Eastern nation proceeded smoothly.
| After Israel won the Six Day War in June 1967, yes. From 1948 until June 1967, America was indifferent after they voted for Israeli independence at the UN. But do go on... |
However, the scale of military and financial aid—approximately $3.8-4 billion per year—has increasingly become a political issue. Following the brutal strikes on Gaza in response to the Hamas attack in October 2023, and now amid the failed joint war with Iran, unconditional support has given way to deep domestic political divisions.
As Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the influential Washington think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, noted in a commentary for The Dispatch, the relationship has experienced serious crises before, but "never before has there been such a simultaneous decline in support from the progressive left and the populist right."
Sociologists claim that Americans' attitudes toward their ally have changed dramatically. A joint study by the Associated Press and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago found that 58% of US citizens believe the aid provided to Israel is excessive.
| Yeah, yeah. How many Americans are financially illiterate or indifferent? Start the count with how many voted Democrat a week ago... |
According to another Pew Research Center poll, 60% of Americans view Israel with hostility, up from just 42% in 2022. For the first time in 25 years of research, Gallup researchers found that Americans sympathize with the Palestinians more than with the Israelis (41% versus 36%).
| How much is thanks to the anti-Israel bots and paid influencers posting vicious nonsense about Israel all over social media? |
A poll by the independent Chicago Council on Global Affairs shows that the majority favors reducing or completely ending aid to its Middle Eastern ally.
| Already done. Quit whining already. |
Parties adapt to the mood, and that's why the direction shifts so quickly.
Under these conditions, open hostility toward Israel, tinged with characteristic anti-Semitic stereotypes that, not long ago, would have irrevocably destroyed a candidate's career, has become the norm in some election campaigns.
Since the election results were announced, members of both parties have openly criticized both the country itself and the Israeli lobby. The Middle Eastern ally has found itself in a very difficult position: it has detractors both within the current Republican administration and in the newly Democratic-controlled Congress.
In Israel itself, these changes are seen and perceived with alarm. "Democrats and Republicans are competing to see who can distance themselves from us the most," Israeli journalist Amir Tibon noted in response to questions from CNN.
"Israelis don't understand the depth of the hole the country has fallen into and the grave consequences that are approaching," Yedidia Stern, an expert on relations between the two countries, stated in Ynet.
| Yes, they do. They've just survived worse, so they aren't panicking they way you'd hoped. So sorry. |
In recent years, the Republican Party and its supporters remained the main bastion of Israeli support in the United States. However, after the election, many senior party members cited this as a key factor in their defeat.
| Principles have costs, but that doesn't mean they should be abandoned. |
On the day the results were announced, US Vice President J.D. Vance released an analysis of his defeat, citing poll results. They showed that relations with Israel were one of the main reasons voters turned away from conservatives. Other reasons included the war with Iran, which the Israeli lobby also contributed to, the cost of living, and the administration's failure to always put the country's interests first.
| There are things JD is very, very good at analyzing. This is one where he stopped partway through, ignoring the big picture. But he is still young as a politician. Let's see how he thinks about such things four years from now. |
"Our voters showed up. And these four reasons are why many of them voted Democrat," Vance wrote on social media.
The day before, the American leader also supported this view. In an interview with CBS, Donald Trump noted that Americans have "tremendous animosity" toward the Middle Eastern state, which was one of the reasons for his party's defeat.
Moreover, he hinted that the Israelis would now have to repay the US for many years. "Without us, Israel would not exist," Trump remarked.
The media notes that Benjamin Netanyahu has effectively become persona non grata in Trump's circle, and their ostentatious friendship was merely a media asset.
However, the Israelis themselves are far more terrified of the loss of billions of dollars in military support, without which the IDF risks losing its combat capability, as it relies heavily on American weapons and equipment. And, of course, the loss of its diplomatic status as the United States' main Middle East ally, which provided even better protection than the F-35 and other modern developments.
| Times of Israel editor Haviv Rettig Gul regularly points out that without American support, Israel will be a bit weaker. And as a result, they will not have the leaway to be so kind and careful when fighting their enemies. Israel will still win overwhelmingly, because the other choice is being annihilated, but they won't warn the Gazans or Hezbollah civilians to get out of the way before the bombs drop, and they won't bother to be as precise in their targetting, and so more of the enemy will die in the process of being defeated. No doubt Mr. Maximov will whine about that, too. |
"Our entire aviation fleet is American military aircraft; we depend on American parts and weapons. The last three years have shown how dependent we are on American missile defense systems," said Yakov Katz, former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post.
| No doubt. But how many of those parts and those airplanes contain considerable Israeli feedback in their development? Israel can back-engineer the parts if America chooses to cut off the supply. and is already bringing manufacture of all sorts of interesting things in house because current suppliers have chosen to demonstrate Israel cannot trust them, with more to come. And after supplying the home front, Israeli manufacturers will become competitors on the world market -- and everyone knows about Israeli quality. |
It's not as if Republicans haven't tried to capitalize on the electorate's growing hostility toward Israel. On Election Day, the US president announced the end of annual aid to his ally, amounting to approximately $4 billion, beginning in 2027.
Formally, it's unclear whether he has the legal authority to do so, as such matters are overseen by Congress, which has been re-elected to the Democrats. However, in practice, there's little doubt the initiative's success, as the Jewish state has even more detractors within the Democratic Party.
| In practice, Bibi has been trying for decades to end America's ability to restrict Israeli actions through threatening to cut off funding and delivered supplies. So it doesn't matter whether President Trump has the authority to cut off the funding, when Israel is perfectly capable of refusing to accept it. |
New members of Congress from the so-called progressives, representing the party's left wing, are already promising that Israel will suffer greatly. "We're just getting started," said Megan Romer, co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America.
This means that Congress's hostility toward the Jewish state will only grow in the future. New lawmakers are already calling for an arms embargo against the country.
One of the most radical newly elected congressmen, Michigan Senator Abdul El-Sayed, declared in his victory speech: "Palestinian children should be able to grow up in the land of their ancestors without being murdered at our tax expense." Many of his colleagues supported this idea.
| So that'd be Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and ultimately Arabia, because Arabs come from Arabia just like Jews come from Judea. Fine: get going to where you came from, y'all. |
California Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna said in a video statement: "We will change policy when we regain control of Congress. No aid to Israel and no military sales."
| That one goes both ways -- the War Department has bought Iron Dome and a number of other things from Israel, including an amazing clotting agent for battlefield first aid kits. Israel will deeply regret the necessity, but it's clear where the blame goes for that decision. |
There are also those who believe that simply cutting off military aid is no longer enough, including new Representative Avila Chevalier of New York. "We need to stop funding Israeli war crimes with American taxpayers, impose a complete arms embargo, and grant the Palestinians the right of return," she proposed shortly after the election.
| Israel is not your country, Ms Chevalier. Your ability to make decisions stops at the water's edge. |
The right of return is a call to open the country to millions of Palestinians who claim refugee status due to the displacement of their ancestors during the 1948 war. Accepting these millions would end Israel's existence as a state with a Jewish majority.
| Which is why Israel has never and will never do so, though they ran a small scale experiment a while back. it didn't go well. |
While the moderate part of the party is trying to downplay such attacks, it is expected that the divisions will continue to intensify, and ultimately, left-leaning Democrats will win over the rest of the party.
Both Israelis and American Jews understand this perfectly well. Israeli President Isaac Herzog noted that anti-Israel sentiment "is in the air of our great friend and ally."
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, a leading figure in Reform Judaism in the United States, stated that a change of era is taking place in relations between the two countries. "The golden age of American Jewry, defined by the years when most members of the older generation of millennials, Generation X, and baby boomers grew up, built careers, and started families, has ended," he stated in his sermon last Friday.
| Yes, he did. Both the Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel had articles, which I did not think necessary to post here. |
It must be said that the changing attitudes toward Israel are evident not only in polls, political decisions, and statements, but also at the everyday level. According to the New York City police, more than half of the hate crimes committed in October involved harassment of Jews, even though they comprise only 12% of the city's population.
| No doubt Mayor Mamdani is frustrated that his people are underachieving in this area versus expectations. |
And over the past week, 179 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in the United States, which is 26% more than the week before.
Support for Israel has ceased to be the default position for American politicians. If this shift isn't recognized by the Israeli leadership, the erosion of support will continue regardless of who wins the next election, and sooner or later, Israelis will finally lose their most powerful and influential ally.
| Que sera, sera. If it gets bad enough, the Jews will leave, taking their knowledge, skills, and culture of innovation elsewhere. Look at Spain, Afghanistan, Iraq, among many others, to see what it looks like afterward. |
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Posted by badanov 2026-11-11 00:00||
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