United States: Democrats and Republicans increasingly disturbed by support for Israel

In April 2026, Democratic candidate Dorothy McAuliffe conducted a survey with a question that would probably not have been asked during a Democratic primary two years ago: should the United States stop selling weapons to Israel? The survey highlighted how quickly the American-Israeli alliance shifted from a bipartisan consensus to a major divisive issue between the two parties.

Close to half of Republicans (47%) and three-quarters of Democrats (72%) see support for Israel as a source of internal party problems, according to a late March CNN poll. Some Democrats and Republicans are now campaigning on the promise to end foreign aid to Israel. The Washington Post explores the situation in an article.

Favorable opinions towards Israel are increasing, especially among Democrats, but also within both parties, particularly among younger individuals. According to a late April Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, 47% of Americans believe that the U.S. supports Israel too much, more than double the 18% recorded in a Pew Research Center survey in 2015. Since 2015, this opinion has increased among Democrats (from 26% to 66%), independents (from 20% to 51%), and Republicans (from 7% to 22%).

The partisan divide aligns with generational differences. While only 24% of older Republicans or those close to Republicans had a very or somewhat favorable opinion of Israel according to a March Pew Research Center survey, this figure rose to 57% among right-leaning individuals aged 18-49. In comparison, 84% of Democrats under 50 and 76% of Democrats over 50 had a favorable view of Israel.

A national survey conducted last year among Republicans by the conservative Manhattan Institute revealed that anti-Israel and anti-Semitic views were more common among young voters and newcomers to Donald Trump’s coalition than among traditional voters.

“The core supporters of Israel are Republicans over 50. It is not a sustainable political coalition,” said Matt Duss, former adviser to Bernie Sanders and current member of the progressive think tank Center for International Policy. Democrats, he added, “are taking sensible and courageous positions that are becoming increasingly politically sound.”

Already incensed by the Israeli-Gaza conflict, Democrats began to use Israel’s role in the war against Iran to criticize President Donald Trump and the Republicans. Forty Democratic senators recently voted in favor of a resolution by Senator Bernie Sanders to block arms sales to Israel, compared to 27 who did so in July for a similar measure.

External groups supporting Israel have become a political liability for candidates they endorse in House and Senate elections nationwide, particularly in Michigan, a crucial state for Democratic hopes of gaining Senate majority. “This is what America wants, and unfortunately, the leaders of both parties have not listened,” said Adam Hamawy, a war surgeon involved in Gaza. “If they want to be elected or selected in the next elections, you will see more and more people criticizing Israel than before.”

On the right, Donald Trump is facing dissent from supporters who say the war against Iran goes against his “America First” slogan. Some Republican primary candidates, with slim chances of success, are basing their campaigns on open hostility towards Israel.

“We can criticize Russia, no one is offended. We can criticize Ukraine, no one is offended. We can criticize the Vatican,” said James Fishback, a candidate in the Republican primary for governor of Florida, whose campaign appeals to the party’s most extremist wing. “We should not fight in anyone’s wars.”