On September 14, after showing US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vinamin Netanyahu, a huge two-,000-year-old block of the western wall in the sacred location of Al-Kuds, declared their national alliance “as strong and durable as stones.” Unfortunately, he’s wrong, the economist wrote.
The report added that Israel is increasingly dependent on the United States when it is segregated in the war in Gaza. During the current UN General Assembly, older friends, including Australia, the UK, Canada and France, will recognize the Palestinian state even as Israel expands its settlements in the West Bank. America is everything between Israel and its status as Paria, which has miserable significance in its diplomatic, legal and military security.
That’s not the case for all the certainty of Netanyahu that its relationship with America is completely solid. The Israeli Prime Minister has riled the Trump administration and ignores the rifts deep within the foundations of the alliance. Democrat voters have long been drifting from America’s most spoiled allies. Republican voters are also losing faith. He added that the sudden loss of popular support in America would be a catastrophe for Israel.
The American polls are amazing. The percentage of Americans who support Israel as Palestinians is the lowest in 25 years. In 2022, 42% of American adults saw Israel as a disadvantage. It’s now 53%. A recent YouGov/Economist poll found that 43% of Americans believe Israel is guilty of genocide in Gaza. Over the past three years, Israel’s unfavourable views of Democrats over the age of 50 have risen 23 percentage points. Among Republicans under the age of 50, support is evenly divided compared to 63% in Israel in 2022. Between 2018 and 2021, the percentage of evangelicals under the age of 30 who supported Israelis over Palestinians plummeted from 69% to 34%. Polls added that they believe the shift is enduring.
American public opinion, which has served as a pillar of solid support for Israel for decades, is changing rapidly. The latest survey shows that negative attitudes towards Israel have reached the highest level in a quarter century. This trend is particularly pronounced among Democrats and younger generations, with a significant decline even among Republicans (traditionally solid supporters of Israel).
The main driver of this shift is the shocking image of Gaza’s devastation and civilian casualties. It is an image that stirs the moral consciences of American citizens, especially young people, and revived basic questions about the scale of military aid and the unconditional support of Tel Aviv in Washington. The combination of humanitarian empathy, human rights concerns, and criticism of America’s unequal approach to both sides amplified this growing change.
The gap between generations and partisans is also deepening. Within the Democrats, support for Israel has fallen to its lowest historic level, with critical views dominating among voters under the age of 50, in universities and urban communities. These changes may force American politicians to reconsider military aid and diplomatic support or attach new terms to them.
For Israel, this change is not just a passing poll, it is a strategic warning. Reliance on formal support by the US government is no longer a guarantee of international legitimacy. A new generation of American voters take the human rights narrative seriously, and if Tel Aviv continues to rely on hardware-driven responses, the risk of increased Congressional isolation and reduced lobbying will only increase.
The economist’s conclusion message is clear. If Israel wants to maintain historic ties with its long-standing allies, it must pay close attention to the moral and humanitarian concerns of American society.
MNA/