A recently released Gallup poll based on surveys taken during February of this year, indicate a landmark transformation of the American political landscape when it comes to Israel.

In a word, more Americans now sympathize with Palestinians than with Israelis. The shift marks the first time since Gallup began tracking the issue in 1967 that Israel has lost its long-standing lead in US public opinion.

We Jews should not be surprised at the shift.   One only needs to recall that on October 8, 2023, while our people were still being rounded up and shot during the Hamas invasion of Israel and subsequent massacre of 1,250 Jews and others who had the bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, demonstrators against Israel were already on the streets of the US protesting against Israel and in support of the perpetrators of the massacre.

Those protests were clearly not spontaneous. The demonstrators were well equipped with professionally prepared posters in support of Hamas.  In addition, paid organizers were busy declaiming their anger at Israel with prepared talking points while masses of trained agitators were fanning out across the country generating anti-Israel rallies both within cities and on university campuses.

Follow up investigations since that day have shown that Qatar and Saudi Arabia were funding the training of protestors for years as well as preparing associated materials so that everything would be in readiness when the time came for the reaction to begin.  So, no real surprises there.

What was not expected, of course, was the capitulation of social action allies across the US with whom the American-Jewish community had spent years building a relationship founded on joint interests to fight racial and religious prejudice in every corner of the country.

In a shabbat sermon in March, 2024, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, Senior Rabbi of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York and President of the New York Board of Rabbis, said: “American Jews were partners with progressive movements for decades, helping to build US universities and promoting civil and human rights, but these organizations and groups sided with Hamas and condemned Israel in the wake of Oct. 7.”

The downward spiral in the attitude of the American public began well before October 7th.  Yet the events of October 7th seemed to act as an unwanted shot of adrenaline that ramped up the activity to warp speed.

For more than 50 years after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, Israeli sympathy in the U.S. often commanded double-digit leads, frequently peaking above 50%.  Nevertheless, a combination of mounting civilian casualties in Gaza, shifting partisan priorities, and a burgeoning “America First” isolationism worked to erode that traditional support.

Noteworthy among the new Gallup poll is the change in position among Democrats as well as the lack of support among younger voters.

The poll indicates that nearly 65% of Democrats now sympathize more with Palestinians, a stark contrast to the 17% who favor Israelis. While Republicans remain Israel’s strongest domestic base at 70%, their support has softened from a peak of 80% in 2023.

The divide, however, is most pronounced among youth. More than 50% of adults aged 18 to 34 express more sympathy for Palestinians. Perhaps more surprising is the shift among middle-aged Americans (35–54), who flipped this year to favor Palestinians (46%) over Israelis (28%).

All of this is helped along by a rash of anti-Israel and often antisemitic influencers like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Nick Fuentes among others who feed into the negativism when it comes to both Israel and Jews.

The implications of the effect of all of this on US foreign policy when it comes to Israel is still unknown.  However, the burgeoning acceptance of the theory that Israel was responsible for drawing the US into invading Iran, only serves to magnify the possible negative changes in how the US views Israel.

Clearly, these numbers signal that candidates can no longer assume a unified pro-Israel electorate. Instead, they face a public that is increasingly skeptical, divided, and weary of protracted foreign entanglements.

Sadly, there seems to be little that Israel can do to ameliorate this trend.   When a person running for mayor in New York City, which has the largest population of Jews in any city in the world outside of Tel Aviv, openly states his lack of support for the only Jewish state in the world, and then gets elected with over 50% of the vote with heavy support from that Jewish community, it would appear that all the flags are red.

Where does that leave us?  If we look honestly at Israel today, the Jewish state is the world’s 20th oldest democracy. Its economy is now larger, on a per capita basis, than the United Kingdom’s. Militarily, it is a regional power, and it has developed a state-of-the-art missile defense system. Once a significant recipient of humanitarian aid, Israel today donates aid and emergency services globally. In every sense, Israel has arrived fully in the family of nations – despite incredible odds and an array of threats.

We can be proud of that and there is no need to take a back seat to those who would belittle us in their effort to support societies who have built their entire raison d’être on destroying Israel and the Jewish people.   Yet, as history has shown, the barely 16 million of us worldwide are an indestructible people who remain God’s chosen and under his protection.  Frankly, we are not going anywhere regardless of what public opinion may think of us.    Am Yisrael Chai…..the People of Israel lives!

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)