Israel, the United States’ closest ally in the Middle East, once enjoyed wide bipartisan support among Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress, but that era of goodwill has virtually vanished, much to Israel’s detriment.

Israel’s special relationship with the United States in the past few decades has rested on a foundation of bipartisanship and broad public sympathy toward Jewish statehood. This spirit translated into widespread support for Israel within the American political system. But now, it is coming under considerable stress.

The erosion is particularly evident within the ranks of the Democratic Party, which has been gradually drifting away from Israel.

One of the Democrats driving this transformation, Bernie Sanders, is Jewish. The progressive US senator from Vermont has been critical of Israeli policies in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Last month, in a stark illustration of this historic shift, Sanders sponsored two resolutions calling for the cancellation of the sale of offensive US military hardware to Israel.

Forty out of 47 Democrats in the Senate voted in favor of his resolution to block a $295 million sale of bulldozers. Two of Sanders’ supporters, Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, are Jewish. Along with Sanders, they argued that this machinery would be used to demolish Arab residential buildings in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon.

Fifty nine senators, mostly Republicans, voted against the motion. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was one of seven Democrats who aligned themselves with the Republicans.

Thirty six Democrats supported Sanders’ second resolution, which was aimed at blocking a $152 million sale of 1,000-pound bombs to Israel. They objected to it on the grounds that such bombs would liked be used in Gaza and Lebanon. Sixty three senators voted against the resolution.

Similar resolutions were proposed by Sanders in 2024 and 2025, but they were rejected by the Senate as well. In 2024, 19 Democrats voted with Sanders to deny Israel military aid. Last year, the number jumped to 24, in a vivid indication of the incremental Democratic swing away from Israel.

Earlier in April, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a vocal critic of Israel who has accused the Israeli armed forces of committing genocide in Gaza, announced that she would vote against all US military assistance to Israel, including defensive weapons.

Speaking at a forum of the anti-Israel Democratic Socialists of America, she........

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