Democratic Backing for Israel Erodes Amid Gaza Conflict and Partisan Shift

By Richard Cowan, Patricia Zengerle and Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON, July 29 — Historically, backing for Israel has been a unifying force in Washington. Today, however, Israel’s military actions in Gaza, its broader confrontation with Iran, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strong alliances with U.S. Republicans are weakening Democratic support, threatening to transform one of America’s most steadfast partnerships into a partisan fault line.

Support for Israel among Democratic voters has dropped sharply, with candidates critical of the Jewish state winning primaries and even moderate legislators increasingly willing to question long‑standing U.S. aid.

The trend is visible in Congress. This month, close to half of House Democrats backed a failed amendment to cut off aid to Israel — a measure that would once have been overwhelmingly defeated by bipartisan opposition. Israel currently receives $3.8 billion per year in U.S. military assistance, plus additional emergency funding in recent years.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and several of his deputies opposed the amendment, calling it overly broad. Yet former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark voted in favor.

Democrats are now split over whether military assistance should remain unchanged, be limited to defensive systems, or be halted entirely.

Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he hopes Israel’s October elections will help revive bipartisan backing and usher in a post‑Netanyahu era. “New governments get to change direction,” Coons told Reuters, adding, “Netanyahu has kept Israel at war for years, partly to avoid the political fallout of his choices.”

Overall attitudes toward Israel are worsening. A June Quinnipiac University poll found that 48 % of all voters and 66 % of Democrats believe the United States is too supportive of Israel, up from 16 % and 20 % when the question was first posed in 2017. “Yes, there is a lively debate, but support for Israel remains mainstream across broad swaths of both parties,” said Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, in an interview.

ISRAEL A FLASHPOINT IN MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC RACE

The shift will be tested in Tuesday’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary in Michigan, where voters will choose between competing visions of U.S. support as more congressional Democrats question longstanding military aid.

The contest between progressive Abdul El‑Sayed and Representative Haley Stevens will determine who faces Republican Mike Rogers in November and mirrors the wider Democratic debate over Israel and continued U.S. military assistance.

Stevens, who produced a video with AIPAC — the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a major donor to her campaign — argued that a strong U.S.–Israel relationship drives trade, economic growth, and protects American freedoms.

By contrast, El‑Sayed, a former public‑health official, told Fox News: “Do we want a politics that sends our money to Israel to fund genocide and apartheid instead of investing in our own children?”

A United Nations inquiry and several human‑rights groups have accused Israel of committing genocide in its devastation of Gaza, a charge Israel rejects, saying it is fighting Hamas and taking steps to limit civilian harm.

Israeli policy has also influenced other battleground congressional races, including those in New York, Florida and Colorado.

DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL ERODES

Strains with Democrats date back over a decade, when Netanyahu, speaking to Congress at the behest of the Republican majority, criticized the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by then‑President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

Criticism of Israel intensified after its Gaza war, launched in response to the Hamas‑led attack of October 7 2023 that killed roughly 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and took hundreds hostage. Gaza health officials report that more than 73,000 Palestinians have died since then.

The bombardment of Gaza has reshaped Democratic politics, energizing a backlash among younger voters and widening a generational split within the party.

Campus protests in 2024 amplified pressure on Democrats to reassess their support for Israel. Some analysts contend that President Joe Biden’s reluctance to do so contributed to Vice‑President Kamala Harris’s defeat by Donald Trump later that year.

Adding to the friction, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called for Netanyahu’s arrest on alleged war‑crimes charges.

During this primary cycle, several establishment candidates have lost to more progressive challengers who have questioned U.S. aid to Israel, mainly in districts where Democrats predominate.

Jeremy Ben‑Ami, president of J Street — a progressive pro‑Israel group that rivals AIPAC — said the intra‑party debate reflects a backlash against Netanyahu’s right‑wing leadership and AIPAC’s influence, which he described as “a toxic brew that has turned Israel into a genuine wedge issue for the Democratic Party.”

AIPAC did not respond to requests for comment.

Shibley Telhami, a University of Maryland government‑politics professor and senior non‑resident fellow at the Brookings Institution, termed the shift a “paradigm shift that now casts Israel as a villain — even a genocidal one — in a way unseen before.”

He noted that while some conservative commentators have joined the criticism, the Republican Party will continue to back Israel as long as evangelical Christians and former President Donald Trump remain steadfast.

ISRAEL RESHAPES POLITICAL BATTLEGROUNDS

The Israel divide is spilling into congressional races across the country.

Republican Representative Mike Lawler, whose district outside New York City has a sizable Jewish population, has used the Democratic shift on Israel to attack challenger Cait Conley in a hotly contested House race.

In southern Florida, moderate Representative Jared Moskowitz — a steady supporter of Israeli aid — faces a primary challenge on August 18 from democratic‑socialist Oliver Larkin, who argues that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and demands an immediate halt to U.S. military assistance.

Recent polls show Moskowitz leading Larkin by 32 percentage points.

Long‑serving Representative Diana DeGette lost the Colorado Democratic primary to Ethiopian‑born Melat Kiros, who advocates ending wars — including by cutting off military aid to Israel — while DeGette said she favors sending only defensive weapons.

Senator Mazie Hirono, who has pushed for a two‑state solution and greater humanitarian aid for Palestinians, remarked, “I believe the commitment to Israel’s right to exist remains intact; it is the Israeli leadership we seriously question.”

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