To rephrase a passage from a favorite radio program of my youth, there will be no return to those thrilling days of yesteryear when Israel enjoyed wall-to-wall bipartisan support on Capitol Hill and around the country.
Back in those olden times around the turn of the 21st century, support for Israel was the locomotive that delivered votes for foreign aid for the rest of the world.
That was then, this is now. Even without the Trump administration’s virtual elimination of food, and medical and humanitarian assistance to the rest of the world, the Israeli locomotive has been derailed.
The pro-Israel core in each party is shrinking – faster among Democrats but among Republicans too, particularly those under the age of 50. A majority of Democrat senators recently voted (unsuccessfully) to block a weapons sale to Israel just as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing an assault on Gaza City.
The wave of global sympathy for Israel following the October 7 Hamas massacre that killed more Jews in a single day than at any time since the Holocaust has been clouded by pictures of the civilian death toll of Israel’s massive bombing campaign in retaliation.
Diaspora division
Israel, like its Diaspora and its friends in America, has been divided between those supporting a government bent on revenge and territorial expansion and those prioritizing the return of the hostages.
Top officials of the Israeli government demanded the blocking of food and humanitarian aid to Gazans, seeming to say, “Let them eat sand,” while Netanyahu insisted “There is no starvation in Gaza.”
He and his band of extremists were seemingly unable to understand that every picture of starving Gaza children – even when incorrectly captioned in The New York Times – was a victory for Hamas.
Yet the deterioration was well underway before October 7, 2023. It began in earnest with Netanyahu’s return to the prime minister’s office in late 2022 with the most right-wing government in the nation’s history that began pushing an agenda anathema to many Israelis and many of the country’s friends around the world.
He pressed for legislation that would effectively end the nation’s independent judiciary and put it under political control. And not coincidentally, cause criminal corruption charges to be dropped, for which he was already standing trial.
Well before that, Netanyahu had given up on American Jewry, the critical foundation of political support in Washington, in favor of courting Evangelical Christian and Republican voters. Most Jews were uncomfortable with Netanyahu’s messianic coalition of religious and nationalist extremists.
Zohran Mandani
Nowhere are the dramatic changes in Israel’s fortunes clearer or more alarming than in the race for mayor of New York. Zohran Mandani, 33, a Muslim born in Uganda of Indian heritage who calls Israel an “apartheid state” and supports Palestinian statehood, is leading among Jewish voters in his campaign to head the city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel.
Mandani’s leading opponents – incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and former governor Andrew Cuomo – have the support of the older Jewish community and establishment. The key word is “older.” Two recent polls show Mandani leading with 43% Jewish support, including 67% among younger Jewish voters. Even among Conservative and Orthodox Jews, he had 21% support.
The Forward reports Jewish voters “strongly disagree” with Mandani on Israel while supporting his candidacy, which appears to validate a trend in recent years showing Israel is a diminishing priority for many Jews, particularly the post-Baby Boomer generation. His popularity is attributed to domestic issues, such as the cost of living in the city.
MAGA isolationism
On the other side of the political spectrum is the isolationism of the MAGA movement. The most prominent figure is Vice President JD Vance, who has insisted that the Ukraine war and the Houthis are Europe’s problems, not ours. Alt-right and white nationalist activists and podcasters are among those demanding the US curtail foreign humanitarian as well as security commitments, including for Israel.
Axios reports “cracks are emerging in the MAGA base” over Trump’s support for Netanyahu’s “maximalist war strategy.”
One crack is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) of Jewish space laser fame. Greene has accused Israel of genocide and introduced several measures to block military aid to the Jewish state, but with little Republican support, so far, at least. AIPAC accused her of betraying “American values,” and she hit back by demanding the lobby register as a foreign agent.
Trump reportedly told a prominent Jewish donor, “My people are starting to hate Israel,” according to the Financial Times. It cited an unnamed Middle East expert who warned of “a narrative in the right-wing, in the MAGA world, that is very anti-Israel, very anti-Jewish.”
Israel is losing friends high and low, Right and Left, and in Jewish and non-Jewish places. Can this be reversed? Not as long as Netanyahu and the extremists are calling the shots. Return to the pre-Netanyahu yesteryear? Nope. Rebuild and restore? That depends.
Right now, there is no evidence that Israeli leaders recognize the depth of the problem or are working to devise creative strategies to address it.
The 'day after'
On the contrary, Netanyahu, who clashed with then-president Joe Biden over Israel’s lack of a “day after” plan, is now planning a stepped-up assault on Gaza City without any clear plan about what happens next or how to return the remaining hostages. Instead, his day after plan is to drive out Hamas, take military control, and find some Arabs who will come in and run it.
Biden’s day after planning meant preparing for transition to Palestinian statehood, something Netanyahu vociferously rejects. Trump’s is unclear. One concept he mentioned is to relocate the population and develop a “Riviera” with casinos, luxury condos, hotels, and office towers.
Israel cannot control the lives of millions of Palestinians if it wants to be a Jewish and democratic state, end slipping into pariah status, and resume its rightful place among the family of nations.
Much work lies ahead, starting with electing leadership more interested in Israel’s survival as a democracy and in the fate of the Jewish people in Israel and around the world at a time of unprecedented peril. Sadly, there is little reason to believe that is likely to happen anytime soon.
The writer is a Washington-based journalist, consultant, lobbyist, and former legislative director at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.