WNAM MONITORING: A growing number of young Republicans in the US are turning against Israel, raising questions about whether the party’s long-standing support for that country can be taken for granted, the Axios news website reported Sunday.
“Something is absolutely brewing among young Republicans,” said Shibley Telhami, director of the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll and professor of government and politics.
Republican support for Israel has come under strain as Israel’s military campaign has devastated the Gaza Strip, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has clashed with US President Donald Trump’s team about efforts to end the Iran war.
For years, Netanyahu sought to offset declining Democratic support for Israel by cultivating Republicans. But recent polling and criticism from prominent right-wing figures suggest cracks are emerging in that support, particularly among younger conservatives, according to the report.
An April Pew Research Center poll found that four in 10 Republicans hold an unfavorable view of Israel. Among Republicans aged 18 to 49, that figure rises to 57%, while one in four Republicans aged 50 and older hold a negative view.
A Quinnipiac University poll this month found that one in five Republicans said the US is too supportive of Israel — three times the level recorded after the Oct. 7 attacks three years ago.
A University of Maryland Critical Issues poll also showed that less than half of Republicans, 46%, believed Israel’s military actions in Gaza were justified as self-defense. Among Republicans aged 18 to 34, only 22% backed Israel’s actions.
The backlash has been fueled by high-profile “America First” anti-interventionist voices, including Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who have criticized US support for Israel.
Carlson accused Netanyahu of manipulating Trump into joining the Iran war and called the US president a “slave” to the Israeli premier.
US Vice President JD Vance also criticized Israeli officials who opposed the Iran deal. “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,” he said.
Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, said Republican and evangelical leadership remains strongly pro-Israel, but warned that polling numbers on Israel across the US electorate, including among Republicans, are “dangerously low.”
