Israel is losing the US public, but not Washington’s backing

The days when Israel enjoyed overwhelming and unwavering support from the American public are over. In recent years, Americans' attitudes toward both the Israeli people and the Israeli government have soured significantly. One poll after another tells the story of a steady deterioration, driven largely by Israel's military campaigns and policies, from the Genocide in Gaza to the war on Iran.

According to a July 2026 survey by the Pew Research Centre, 42% of American adults now hold an unfavourable view of the Israeli people, up from 38% a year earlier, while 62% view the Israeli government unfavourably, compared with 59% last year.

The decline is evident across both major political parties, although it is considerably sharper among Democrats than Republicans. Favourable views of the Israeli government declined from 2022 to 2026, falling from 65% to 51% among Republicans and from 35% to just 16% among Democrats.

The findings suggest that negative perceptions are increasingly extending beyond the Israeli government to Israeli society more broadly.

Weakened foundations?

Other recent polling points to an even broader erosion of support for Israel across the American political and demographic spectrum, raising questions about the long-term political foundations of the US-Israel relationship.

An April 2026 Pew survey found that 75% of Americans aged 18-29 and 67% of those aged 30-49 held unfavourable views of Israel. The trend crossed party lines as 85% of young Democrats, 83% of Democrats aged 30-49, 64% of young Republicans, and 52% of Republicans aged 30-49 expressed unfavourable views, marking the first time that a majority of younger Republicans viewed Israel negatively.

The same survey found that the shift also extends to important religious constituencies. Among Americans under 50, half of white Evangelicals viewed Israel unfavourably, compared with 47% who viewed it favourably. Unfavourable views also reached 74% among Catholics and 80% among religiously unaffiliated Americans.

American support continues to slide among Jews as well, according to a new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Nearly one-third (30%) of Jewish Americans believe Israel committed genocide in Gaza.

This shift in perceptions is mirrored by growing public sympathy for the Palestinians. Gallup's February 2026 poll found, for the first time, that more Americans sympathised with the Palestinians (41%) than with the Israelis (36%), especially among Democrats, with 65% expressing greater sympathy for the Palestinians and only 17% siding with Israel.

Losing support from above

Clearly, Israel's image and credibility in the US have fallen to unprecedented lows. Criticism of Israel begun to emerge among Republicans, including figures long regarded as staunch supporters of Israel, like President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Growing tensions with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's offensive in Lebanon led the president to issue an extraordinary public rebuke, claiming credit for Israel's very existence.

JD Vance openly accused certain Israeli cabinet members of orchestrating paid advocacy and smear campaigns to undermine US diplomacy with Iran, warning that Israel should not antagonise its last powerful ally, telling them to "go to hell."

These exchanges exposed a divergence between American and Israeli officials. While Washington was pursuing de-escalation and diplomacy with Iran, as well as Israeli withdrawals from southern Lebanon and Syria, Tel Aviv was pushing for sustained military pressure  on Tehran and its regional allies.

Adding to these political tensions, the two chambers of Congress diverged over the controversial $1.15 trillion 2027 defence bill, which faced initial Senate Democratic opposition but ultimately passed after House approval. Democrats objected both to the administration's handling of the Iran war without congressional oversight and to provisions that would expand US-Israeli defence industrial integration through technology sharing, joint weapons production, and collaborative research and development in sensitive military fields.

In the House of Representatives, although an amendment to end US aid to Israel ultimately failed, it attracted the support of more than 100 Democratic lawmakers, reflecting an unprecedented democratic divide within the party.

While bipartisan majorities in Congress continue to support military aid to Israel, recent polling by Politico suggests that the divide over Israel that has long fractured the Democratic Party is now beginning to emerge within the Republican Party. Younger conservatives and the non-MAGA wing grow critical of Israel's influence on US foreign policy.

Costly endless wars

A growing faction of younger Republicans and “America First” conservatives is increasingly voicing opposition to Israel, accusing its leaders and lobbyists of dragging the country into fighting its endless wars that do not serve American interests, from Gaza to, most recently, in Iran.

Yet a rupture in the US-Israel alliance remains highly unlikely, particularly in the military sphere. On the contrary, the recently passed defence bill reinforces Pentagon ties with Israel by expanding intelligence-sharing, allocating $750 million for US-Israel cooperative programmes, and extending the War Reserves Stockpile Allies–Israel programme.

The bill bolsters existing US laws which underpin extensive US-Israel defence cooperation, enabling joint technology development, military procurement, training, intelligence sharing, and collaboration in emerging fields such as AI and biotechnology.

Such an unprecedented level of military integration became possible after Israel's transfer from U.S. European Command to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) in 2021, placing the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) under the same regional command responsible for U.S. military operations throughout the “Middle East”.

The new Unified Command Plan established a single regional military framework that facilitates closer US-Israeli operational planning, intelligence sharing, joint exercises, integrated air and missile defence, and contingency planning involving the US, Israel, and CENTCOM's regional partners.

The institutional integration between the two militaries has translated into the establishment of the Civil-Military Coordination Centre in Kiryat, near Gaza, enabling CENTCOM and the IDF to jointly plan and execute significant aspects of the 12-Day War, particularly aerial defence operations.

It also paved the way for Operation Epic Fury, which a former senior Pentagon official described as the first truly combined US-Israeli military partnership, reflecting an unprecedented level of integration and equality in their “war to remake the Middle East”.

US military interests

The US-Israel war against Iran marked a significant expansion of the American military footprint in Israel. Successive deployments of THAAD missile defence systems, combat aircraft, aerial refuelling tankers, and US personnel are evidence of Israel's growing role as a forward operating base for American military power.

Military cooperation has continued to expand throughout the recent US-Iran confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz. Washington has reportedly deployed 33 aerial refuelling tankers to Ben Gurion Airport and is considering sending dozens more as it evaluates options for escalating operations against Iran.

The scale of these deployments highlights Israel's increasing importance as a logistical hub for sustained US air operations in the region. Media reports suggest that CENTCOM is considering relocating some Gulf-based military assets to Israel after Iranian strikes damaged several regional bases, with facilities in the Negev reportedly under review.

At the political level, amid highly publicised political disagreements, Trump remained in close contact with Netanyahu whose seventh White House visit was described as “positive and productive”.

This suggests that the foundations of their alliance not only remain intact but that, paradoxically, the partnership is becoming more deeply entrenched at the institutional and military levels.

The future of this increasingly contested alliance depends on whether deeper military integration can remain politically sustainable as a growing number of US lawmakers question the strategic and political costs of the partnership.

Aicha Elbasri is a Moroccan researcher and columnist. She is also a former spokeswoman for the African Union and the United Nations Mission in Darfur, and recipient of the 2015 American Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling.

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Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.