Israel’s Crisis in Washington Is Now About Public Opinion, Not Just the White House
The article argues that Israel is facing a fundamentally different kind of crisis with the United States than in past disputes. It recalls the 1975 “reassessment,” when President Gerald Ford halted economic aid and froze arms shipments after talks between Israel and Egypt collapsed, and notes that 76 senators signed a pro-Israel letter, including then-senator Joe Biden. It also points to 2015, when 83 senators wrote to President Barack Obama backing a long-term deal that would significantly increase aid and preserve Israel’s qualitative military edge.
The writer says those earlier crises were manageable because American public opinion broadly favored Israel and helped sustain bipartisan congressional support. That environment, he argues, has disappeared over the past decade because of large Qatari investments and the rise of a progressive, woke culture in academia. Since October 7, with only brief exceptions, Israel is no longer “the public’s favorite,” and the article describes this as a sweeping shift already underway.
The piece says the situation changed again after Donald Trump “turned around,” leaving Israel without anyone willing to defend it in Congress and no prospect of another supportive letter. It adds that current criticism of Trump’s reported surrender to Iran does not help Israel, because much of that criticism blames Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for dragging Trump into war.
The author says the main problem is not merely a hostile or critical U.S. administration, but Israel’s own internal conduct. He blames ministers’ talk of destroying Palestinian villages, settler violence against innocent Palestinian farmers, the failure to arrest perpetrators who enjoy direct or indirect backing from government ministers, talk of settlement in Gaza or southern Lebanon, a soldier damaging a statue of Jesus, and the spread of illegal outposts. In his view, these actions convince Americans that Israel is no longer the peace-seeking state they once supported. He concludes that only a policy change, not just hasbara, can restore Israel to the “family of nations,” and says this is impossible under a Ben Gvir, Smotrich, and Goldknopf government, but could be possible in a national-Zionist government.
