Washington (Somalia Today) — Benjamin Netanyahu spent years turning Republican support for Israel into a political shield in Washington. Now even that shield is showing cracks.
The Israeli prime minister had already lost much of the Democratic Party after years of bitter clashes over settlements, Iran, Gaza and his close alignment with the American right.
But a deeper problem is emerging for Netanyahu and for Israel: a growing number of Republicans, especially younger conservatives, no longer see support for Israel as automatic.
The shift has accelerated during Israel’s war in Gaza and widened during recent tensions over Iran, as President Donald Trump and his allies pushed to end the fighting while Netanyahu’s government signalled a harder line.
For Netanyahu, the timing is dangerous. He faces one of the toughest election battles of his career later this year, with his right-wing coalition under pressure after years of war, hostage anger and international isolation.
A strained alliance
Netanyahu built his US strategy around the Republican Party for more than 15 years.
He challenged Barack Obama over the Iran nuclear deal, addressed Congress in 2015 despite White House objections, and cultivated evangelical leaders, conservative donors and Republican lawmakers.
That approach helped him survive Democratic anger. But it also made Israel’s standing in the United States more partisan than at any point in recent memory.
Now, the pressure is starting at the top of the Republican Party.
According to a new book by New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, Trump warned Netanyahu during Gaza ceasefire talks last year that “all the Jews are sick of you” and that the two countries could face a “divorce” if Israel refused to accept a peace deal.
Trump has also reportedly described Netanyahu as “fucking crazy” during private discussions over Israeli military action. He later insisted their relationship remained good, but added: “We have to keep him a little bit sane.”
Vice President JD Vance has gone further in public, warning Israeli officials not to attack Washington’s Iran diplomacy.
“If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” Vance said.
The message was blunt: even in Trump’s Republican Party, Israel can no longer assume unlimited patience.
America First backlash
The anger has grown louder among high-profile “America First” voices who oppose US military involvement in the Middle East.
Tucker Carlson has accused Netanyahu of manipulating Trump into war with Iran and called the president a “slave” to the Israeli prime minister.
Megyn Kelly, Marjorie Taylor Greene and other conservative figures have also questioned whether US policy serves American interests or Israeli ones.
That argument has spread quickly through the online right.
Ben Shapiro, one of Israel’s strongest defenders in conservative media, has faced a backlash from listeners who oppose US support for Israel. Candace Owens has escalated her attacks on Israel and on pro-Israel conservatives.
Further to the right, Nick Fuentes and his “Groyper” followers have spent years attacking mainstream Republicans as too loyal to Israel. Their openly antisemitic message once sat on the fringe. It now echoes, in softer forms, across parts of young conservative media.
For older Republican leaders, this remains alarming but manageable. For Israel’s supporters, it is a warning that the next generation of conservatives may not inherit the same emotional attachment to Israel.
Polls flash warning
Polling shows the change clearly.
A Pew Research Centre survey in April found that four in 10 Republicans held an unfavourable view of Israel. Among Republicans aged 18 to 49, that figure rose to 57 per cent.
A Quinnipiac University poll this month found that one in five Republicans believes the United States gives Israel too much support. That share has tripled since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
A University of Maryland Critical Issues poll last year found that less than half of Republicans believed Israel’s military actions in Gaza were justified as self-defence. Among Republicans aged 18 to 34, only 22 per cent backed Israel’s actions.
“Something is absolutely brewing among young Republicans,” poll director Shibley Telhami told Axios.
The wider Republican Party still backs Israel more strongly than Democrats do. Gallup found in February that 70 per cent of Republicans sympathised more with Israelis than Palestinians.
But that figure was down 10 points from 2024, and pro-Israel strategists see the trend as more important than the topline number.
Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, said Republican and evangelical leaders remain as pro-Israel as at any point in decades. But he also warned that polling numbers across the US electorate, including among Republicans, are “dangerously low”.
Netanyahu or Israel?
The central question is whether Republicans are souring on Netanyahu, on Israel’s war conduct, or on Israel itself.
Netanyahu’s critics say he has made Israel too dependent on one party, one ideology and one generation of American voters.
They argue that his Gaza strategy, his fight with US presidents and his embrace of hard-right politics have damaged Israel’s long-term standing.
His defenders say Israel faces enemies on several fronts and cannot outsource its security to Washington opinion polls. They argue that Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran forced Israel into wars it did not choose.
But the political damage is visible.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza after the October 7 attacks reshaped global opinion. Images of ruined neighbourhoods, mass displacement and rising civilian deaths have reached young conservatives who distrust both foreign wars and establishment Republicans.
The Iran debate sharpened that distrust. Many on the right saw the prospect of another Middle East war as a betrayal of Trump’s promise to put America first.
For Netanyahu, that creates a new vulnerability. He can still count on many Republican lawmakers, evangelical leaders and older conservative voters. But he can no longer assume that Republican support will always grow stronger when Democratic support collapses.
For years, Netanyahu had one answer to his critics in Washington: the Republicans were with him.
Now even that answer sounds less certain.
