Why conservatives have shifted on Israel

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DC Bureau: GOP Midterm Convention Preview

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After investing $32 million into Michigan’s Democratic primary, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC, planned on spending heavily to defeat progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed in the general election. To AIPAC’s surprise, Republican nominee Mike Rogers turned down its offer.

While the Trump administration continues to tout its pro-Israel line, the rest of the party is starting to shift. The conservative turn on Israel has been years in the making. What was once an unimpeachable consensus on the right has fractured under pressure from a new generation of internet-savvy conservatives.

I went through millions of online comments to document this shift. The generational gap within the conservative coalition is hard to overstate.

According to a recent New York Times/Siena poll, 72 percent of Republicans under 30 believe President Trump has been too supportive of Israel. Only 11 percent of conservatives over age 65 agree. 

Even among evangelicals — historically the most reliably pro-Israel demographic — less than one-third of young people favor Israel over the Palestinians. This generational shift has been on open display since the start of the Iran War; a conflict younger Republicans are only half as likely to support as their older peers.

The political formation of young conservatives is increasingly happening on the internet. Many young........

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