海角大神

The GOP has been a pro-Israel party for decades. Is that changing?

When Vice President JD Vance went to the University of Mississippi last October , he had reason to believe he was among friends. Mr. Vance had been a close ally of Charlie Kirk, the conservative group鈥檚 founder, who had been assassinated a month earlier. Mr. Kirk鈥檚 widow, as a potential 2028 presidential candidate.

Then came the questions from the audience. One student asked whether it was 鈥渁 conflict of interest鈥� for a wealthy supporter of Israel to give millions of dollars to Donald Trump鈥檚 campaign, and then for the president to have 鈥減ro-Israeli policies.鈥�

A young man in a baseball cap had an even more pointed inquiry. 鈥淚鈥檓 a 海角大神 man, and I鈥檓 just confused why there鈥檚 this notion that we might owe Israel something, or that they鈥檙e our greatest ally,鈥� he said. He complained about billions in U.S. foreign aid to Israel being used for 鈥渆thnic cleansing in Gaza.鈥� Israel鈥檚 religion is also openly hostile to 鈥渙urs,鈥� he concluded, to a burst of applause from the crowd.

Mr. Vance let the applause fade. 鈥淟et me say a few things about this,鈥� he said. Alliances are about pursuing interests; sometimes Israel and the U.S. have similar interests, and sometimes they don鈥檛. But 鈥渨hen people say that Israel is somehow manipulating or controlling the president of the United States 鈥� they鈥檙e not controlling this president.鈥�

Are there 鈥渟ignificant theological disagreements鈥� between Jews and 海角大神s? 鈥淵eah, absolutely,鈥� Mr. Vance continued. 鈥淢y attitude is, let鈥檚 have those conversations. Let鈥檚 have those disagreements when we have them. But if there are shared areas of interest, we ought to be willing to do that, too.鈥澛�

For decades, Republican leaders have been staunch supporters of Israel. Democrats in recent years have been roiled by internecine battles over U.S.-Israeli relations. (Read Part 1 of this two-part series here.) By contrast, the GOP-controlled Congress has continued to have Israel鈥檚 back. Lawmakers who have bucked the party line on the issue have either quit (such as former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene) or been ousted by Trump-endorsed primary opponents (as happened this week to Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie). running as critics of Israel and the war in Iran remain confined to the fringes.

Beneath the veneer of unity, however, clear cracks are emerging. Younger conservatives have grown skeptical of U.S. aid to Israel and, in some cases, suspicious of the political influence of Jews. The Gen Z students who came to see Mr. Vance in Mississippi are part of a generation that will shape the Republican Party after Mr. Trump leaves the public stage. And many see reflexive solidarity with Israel as a shibboleth that belongs in the past, to be replaced by a more isolationalist foreign policy.

In 2022, only 35% of Republicans under age 50 viewed Israel negatively, according to the Pew Research Center. By March 2025, with Israel at war in Gaza, that share . In March 2026, held a negative view of Israel, compared with 24% of over-50 Republicans. Likewise, a poll this week found that 55% of potential Republican voters between the ages of 18 and 44 disapprove of Mr. Trump鈥檚 handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and 63% of that same cohort oppose providing additional military and economic aid to Israel. While Democrats as a whole hold far more negative views about Israel than Republicans, the gap between the parties is roughly equivalent to the generational gap within the GOP.

鈥淥n the Republican side, more so than the Democratic side, this is a generational divide,鈥� says Andrew Day, a senior editor at The American Conservative. 鈥淥lder Republicans are pretty much the last remaining cohort that still support Israel unconditionally.鈥�

Rising voices of dissent

Lately, some of the harshest criticisms of Israel on the right have come from podcasters and media personalities with ties to Mr. Trump鈥檚 MAGA movement. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson who have shared conspiracy theories about Jews that echo within the broader right-wing digital ecosystem. An uproar erupted last year within the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, when its president expressed support for Mr. Carlson after he was attacked for hosting Nick Fuentes, an online streamer who espouses racist and antisemitic ideas, on his podcast.

Mr. Carlson, across multiple platforms, was once a Trump ally but has become sharply critical of the president on a number of fronts, particularly foreign policy. In May, he that Mr. Trump had been 鈥渕ore of a hostage than a sovereign decision-maker鈥� in going to war with Iran. 鈥淚srael pushed the United States president, who caved. And I鈥檓 not giving him a pass, but that鈥檚 just a fact,鈥� he said.

Republicans say Mr. Carlson and other anti-Israel commentators don鈥檛 represent the views of the party. 鈥淭hat is a lot of noise 鈥� loud voices who don鈥檛 actually affect policy or the direction of the party,鈥� says Sam Markstein, a spokesman for the Republican Jewish Coalition. He says many social media users 鈥渉ave been served a poisonous cocktail of anti-Israel propaganda,鈥� and that it鈥檚 Republican officials who are actually pushing back against it, while Democrats are 鈥渃aving鈥� to the extremists in their coalition.

Both parties accuse the other of spreading bigoted content, says Dov Waxman, a political scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles,聽. And each side is 鈥渜uicker to call it out or even to recognize it when it arises on the other side of the political spectrum鈥� than when it鈥檚 within their own ranks, he adds. Even some Republicans who support Israel, for example, have .

Extreme and, at times, bigoted views about Israel and Jews have become increasingly common among Gen Z voters of all political stripes. found that young voters who might have voted for Democrats in the past but now identify as Trump Republicans were more likely to express anti-Israel and antisemitic views. , more than half of all voters aged 18 to 29 agreed with a statement paraphrased from Mr. Fuentes: 鈥淎merica should end the slavish surrender to Israel, its wars, and its demands for foreign aid.鈥� A similar share of respondents agreed with a statement paraphrased from Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who is Palestinian American: 鈥淚srael is an apartheid state, engaged in racist oppression against Palestinians.鈥�

Ongoing economic fallout from an unpopular war with Iran has heightened scrutiny of Israel among conservatives. Many commentators allege that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu arm-twisted Mr. Trump to launch U.S. attacks, a claim that appeared to be bolstered by in the runup to war, though it has been strongly denied by . The criticisms haven鈥檛 altered the position of Mr. Trump, who calls himself a 鈥渂est friend to Israel,鈥� or broken the lock of pro-Israel views among Republican leadership in Washington. But some predict that lock can be picked. 鈥淭here鈥檚 always a lag between shifts in public opinion and votes in Congress,鈥� says Professor Waxman.

Some conservative donors who support Israel and regard the Democratic Party as implacably hostile have also begun to worry about antisemitism on the right. The problem 鈥渋s nascent,鈥� says Eytan Laor, a Florida-based fundraiser for Mr. Trump and other Republicans. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 problematic and disturbing.鈥� Mr. Laor, who is Jewish, points to social media misinformation about Israel and its military conduct. 鈥淲e have a lot of work to do,鈥� he says.

The evangelical effect

Republican support for Israel was not always a given. The Zionist movement in the U.S. didn鈥檛 find a home on the right until the Reagan realignment, says Doug Rossinow, a historian at Metro State University in St. Paul, Minnesota, who is writing a book about American Zionism. Before then, support for Israel had been mostly a liberal cause. That changed due to the rising influence of evangelicals within the GOP.

鈥淭he demographic or social basis for Zionist politics in the Republican Party [is] evangelical Protestants,鈥� says Professor Rossinow.

While the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, has become a b锚te noire on the left for its super PAC spending, the largest pro-Israel political organization is actually . The evangelical-led group celebrated the appointment of Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor, as Mr. Trump鈥檚 ambassador to Israel. Mr. Huckabee, who ran for president in both 2008 and 2016, has used biblical language to laud Israel as an ally and defend its territorial rights.

Yet even among evangelical voters, a generational divide has opened. An April analysis of Pew Research Center data found that half of white evangelicals under the age of 50 held an unfavorable view of Israel, compared with 20% of white evangelicals over 50, a 30-point gap. 鈥淭here is currently no young cohort within the general U.S. population that can be said to view Israel positively,鈥� the analysis concluded.

In February, Mr. Carlson interviewed Mr. Huckabee on his podcast and repeatedly challenged his assertions of shared values and interests between the U.S. and Israel. The ambassador defended Israel鈥檚 bombings in Gaza, where more than 70,000 people died according to Gaza鈥檚 Ministry of Health, in comments that Mr. Carlson the killing of children and civilians. ( and said Mr. Carlson had become 鈥渁 very angry and bitter man.鈥�)

Many evangelicals believe a Jewish homeland in Israel fulfills a biblical prophecy and is a necessary step toward the Second Coming of Christ on Earth. 鈥淚 believe [Israel] is a special place because God made it special,鈥� Mr. Huckabee said on The Charlie Kirk show. He cited Genesis 12: 鈥溾�楾hose who bless Israel will be blessed, those who curse Israel will be cursed,鈥欌�� saying, 鈥淚 want to be on the blessing side, not the curse side.鈥�

Mr. Carlson calls this belief a 鈥渂rain virus鈥� among 海角大神 Zionists, including Mr. Huckabee, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and other pro-Israel Republicans. 鈥淚 dislike them more than anybody,鈥� he told Mr. Fuentes on his show.

Money and politics

Other MAGA critics of Israel focus on its perceived financial and political influence on U.S. policy.

Ms. Greene stepped down from her House seat in January after becoming the first Republican in Congress . She also and voted to end military aid to Israel.

In March, Mr. Trump鈥檚 director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, a military veteran and former congressional candidate, resigned in protest over the Iran war, which of 鈥減ressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.鈥� He claimed Israel had lied to draw the U.S. into both the Iran war and the Iraq war, and said that his first wife, a Navy officer killed by a suicide bomber in Syria, had died 鈥渋n a war manufactured by Israel.鈥�

Mr. Kent鈥檚 comments were seized upon by Mr. Carlson 鈥� who interviewed him on his show immediately after his resignation 鈥� and by other far-right commentators, including Candace Owens and Megyn Kelly. Ms. Owens has amplified multiple antisemitic conspiracies, including unfounded claims that Israel was behind the assassination last year of Mr. Kirk.

It鈥檚 unclear how much of an effect these media figures are having when it comes to shaping public opinion on the right. , a majority of conservatives aged 18 to 34 who said they listened to Mr. Carlson and Ms. Owens actually expressed a favorable view of Israel. The poll found that Mr. Carlson鈥檚 own favorability rating was similar to that of Ben Shapiro, the conservative co-founder of The Daily Wire, who is an ardent supporter of Israel and a foreign-policy hawk.

In recent weeks, though, The Daily Wire . Mr. Shapiro, who is Jewish, and others who attack Israel and Jews, and some have suggested that his outlet鈥檚 struggles could be among Gen Z audiences.

On his podcast last week, Mr. Shapiro . While his company has had to implement layoffs, he said, polling data shows 鈥渢he positions that we take here on the show are reflective of the broad majority of Republicans.鈥�

鈥淭here is something else going on here,鈥� he continued. Commentators such as Mr. Carlson and Ms. Owens see 鈥渁n opportunity to supplant traditional conservatism with a conspiratorial, grievance-addled, nutty version of populism,鈥� he charged. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lucrative grift. It鈥檚 a dangerous grift for America.鈥�

A successful conclusion to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran and its proxies could yet defuse some of these intra-conservative battles and make the role of Israel less salient in U.S. politics, says The American Conservative鈥檚 Mr. Day.

Other analysts note Israel鈥檚 expressed openness to ending U.S. military aid as a politically savvy move. Mr. Netanyahu told CBS News鈥� 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� that . And Mr. Netanyahu faces a parliamentary election in October that could reset Israeli politics.

A bigger factor, however, will be who emerges to lead the GOP after Mr. Trump exits the stage. Some pro-Israel advocates on the right are already , who built a reputation as a skeptic of foreign wars and must now defend Mr. Trump鈥檚 decision to attack Iran as he looks ahead to 2028.

鈥淗e鈥檚 trying to be a man for all people on the right,鈥� says Mr. Day.

That might prove an impossible task, he adds, particularly as the U.S. gets further embroiled in an unpopular war in the Middle East. The American right, Mr. Day concludes, 鈥渘ow includes the most intense anti-Israel voices and the most intense pro-Israel voices.鈥�