When President Trump addressed the American public at the outset of the current war with Iran, he did something striking: he didn’t mention Israel.

Instead, he opened with a history of American grievances. US troops killed by Iranian proxies. American hostages taken and tortured. Direct attacks on American personnel and interests. He framed the conflict not as a favor to an ally, but as a matter of American security.

Israel’s presence in the speech was indirect. Hamas was referenced as an Iranian proxy, October 7 was mentioned in the context of American hostages, while the central argument was unmistakable: this is about America.

This mention wasn’t left out by mistake; it’s all a political choice. Over the past two years, public opinion in the United States has shifted hard against Israel. A recent Gallup poll shows that forty-one percent of Americans now say they sympathize more with the Palestinians in the Middle East situation, while 36% sympathize more with the Israelis. On the left, recent DNC polling has shown that Kamala’s support of Israel hurt her in the polls, while the right is leaning into framing Israel as the boogeyman of unnecessary foreign intervention. 

In that environment, tying a war with Iran too closely to Israel is risky politics. Trump understands where public opinion sits and so he framed the war as America First.

This trend should concern anyone who cares about the long-term strength of the US–Israel relationship.

This goes beyond geopolitics. It’s what happens when messaging fails for years on end.

For much of the past two years, pro-Israel and anti-antisemitism organizations have largely pursued one of two........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)