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political memo
Votes in the Senate made clear that the longtime bipartisan consensus in support of Israel is, at least for the moment, in tatters.
July 31, 2025, 6:41 p.m. ET
For years, Democrats have warned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, with his right-wing politics and policies, was undermining their party’s backing for Israel that dates to the nation’s inception in 1948.
In recent days, amid mounting scenes of starvation and devastation in Gaza, it has become clearer than ever that the longtime bipartisan consensus in support for Israel is, at least for the moment, in tatters.
Democrats have long objected to Mr. Netanyahu’s policies, in particular his efforts to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and his far-right government’s conduct of the Gaza war. But some supporters of Israel fear that the hatred of the prime minister — Israel’s longest-serving leader, who has been in power with only one interruption since 2009 — is metastasizing into a broader rejection of Israel.
Support for Israel’s military action in Gaza has plunged into the single digits among Democrats. Across the country, local Democratic officials are pushing for embargoes on military and financial support of Israel. And long-boiling anger over the Gaza war among the party’s activists is manifesting in striking new ways in the halls of Congress.
On Wednesday night, a majority of the Senate Democratic caucus, including more moderate lawmakers, voted for a resolution calling to block the export of automatic assault rifles for use by the Israel National Police, which is overseen by Itamar Ben-Gvir, perhaps the most extreme right-wing member of the government.
A slightly smaller group voted for a measure urging the blocking of the sale of some bombs.
The measures failed, but they amounted to an extraordinary rebuke of the Netanyahu government and its handling of the escalating humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
“Do I think the relationship between Israel and the Democratic Party is irreparably damaged? The answer is no,” said Representative Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat and an outspoken supporter of Israel, who said he would have opposed restricting aid to Israel. “Do I think the relationship between Netanyahu and the Democratic Party is irreparably damaged? The answer is yes.”
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The shift in Democratic public opinion concerning Israel and its government is unmistakable. What it means and whether it is an enduring realignment for the Democratic Party, or a more transient response to carnage in Gaza, is a source of anguished debate among traditional Democratic supporters of Israel.
Some have taken those changes — along with increasingly vocal anti-Zionism on the left that they believe sometimes veers into antisemitism — as evidence that their party is no longer a welcoming place for them, a view already shaping the political contours of next year’s midterm elections.
Others argue that, just as they support the United States and oppose the Trump administration, it is possible — and, in fact, necessary — to draw clear distinctions between supporting Israel’s existence and its defense and opposing the country’s government and its policies, a line some senators tried to walk this week.
“We can recognize Israel as an ally of the United States, an important ally, and also recognize that we have a responsibility as humans to step up wherever we see this sort of starvation,” said Senator Angela Alsobrooks, Democrat of Maryland, who said the crisis in Gaza was “the No. 1 issue” she was hearing about from constituents.
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The United States and Israel have had one of the world’s most intertwined partnerships since the country was founded in 1948 and recognized minutes later by President Harry S. Truman, a Missouri Democrat. Since then, Israel has become the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid, with presidents from both parties supporting the allocation of hundreds of billions of dollars in total economic and military assistance.
But in the last decade, some of Israel’s Democratic allies grew increasingly concerned that support for Israel was becoming a partisan issue, as Mr. Netanyahu, who had a frosty relationship with President Barack Obama, closely aligned himself with President Trump, while younger left-wing critics of Israel won seats in Congress.
Now, with former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. — a proudly self-identified Zionist — out of office, and as searing images of starving children in Gaza pile up, a far more critical view is becoming mainstream within the party.
In New York City, Democrats, including some Jews, embraced Zohran Mamdani as their nominee for mayor, elevating a Queens assemblyman whose anti-Israel activism played a foundational role in his path to politics.
Nationwide, a Gallup poll released this week found that approval of Israel’s military actions in Gaza had plummeted to 8 percent among Democrats. By contrast, 71 percent of Republicans said they approved of the country’s military action in the enclave.
And more generally, nearly 70 percent of Democrats expressed an unfavorable view of Israel, compared with 37 percent of Republicans, in a poll released by Pew Research Center in April. In 2022, 53 percent of Democrats and 27 percent of Republicans held negative views of Israel.
Already, some pro-Israel Democrats are quietly wondering whether they will have any representation on the 2028 presidential primary debate stage — or if support for the country, however nuanced, will be regarded as a liability.
The Wednesday votes illustrate how those sentiments are moving into the halls of Congress.
Over the past year, Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, has repeatedly tried to block weapons transfers to Israel. But the votes this week amount to a new high-water mark for those who want to restrict arms to Israel, showing how the dire conditions in Gaza and grinding war have intensified the divides within the Democratic Party.
Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington who backed the resolutions after previously voting against similar measures, cited a need to end the suffering and killing of civilians in Gaza.
“As a longtime friend and supporter of Israel, I am voting yes to send a message: The Netanyahu government cannot continue with this strategy,” she said in a statement.
Halie Soifer, the chief executive of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said the votes were a statement on the handling of the war, not a referendum on Israel more generally. She pointed to the strong backing of congressional Democrats for authorizing $15 billion in military aid for Israel in 2024 as a sign that any drop in support for the country within the party is temporary.
“The U.S.-Israel relationship should be viewed through the lens of seven decades of the ties between our two countries,” Ms. Soifer said. “It’s a difficult time, and I do think that views — whether public opinion or among elected officials — will shift again once this war finally comes to an end.”
Some liberal Zionists argue that the best way to secure Israel as a Jewish and democratic state is to pressure the Israeli government to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza — one-third of Palestinians in Gaza are going without food for days, the World Food Program said recently — and to reach a cease-fire deal that secures the release of the hostages Hamas captured from Israel.
Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, a liberal pro-Israel advocacy group, described the Democrats who supported the measures to restrict the arms to Israel as champions of the country.
“They are courageously pro-Israel because they are willing to take political heat from the right wing in this country for standing up and doing the right thing for Israel in the long run,” he said.
While a vast majority of Republicans remain firmly behind Israel’s military actions, there are signs of fissures on the right, too, especially among younger Americans.
Ten thousand subscribers to the YouTube channel of the Nelk Boys, the pro-Trump personalities popular with young conservative men, canceled those subscriptions after Mr. Netanyahu sat for a friendly interview. A focus group conducted by Turning Point USA with young students found many expressing negative views toward continued U.S. support of the country. And this week, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a symbol of MAGA politics on Capitol Hill, became the first Republican in Congress to describe the situation in Gaza as a “genocide.”
Matt Brooks, who leads the Republican Jewish Coalition, acknowledged worrying about those generational shifts, but said his organization was proactively pushing back.
“We are committed to ensuring that what happened on the Democratic side does not take hold and fester and metastasize on the Republican side,” he said. But he declared, “Today, there is only one pro-Israel party, and that’s the Republican Party.”
Many Democrats have records that clearly show otherwise. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader who opposed the Sanders resolutions but has also urged new leadership in Israel, is a staunch supporter of aiding Israel, as is Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House Democratic leader.
But Representative Torres said it was not yet clear how much the backlash represented a response to a deadly war — or signaled a more momentous shift in American politics.
“The numbers suggest an erosion of support for Israel,” he said. “Is it a situational response to the war in Gaza, or is it a structural shift that will endure long after the war?
“I don’t know the answer,” he added.
Megan Mineiro contributed reporting.
Katie Glueck is a Times national political reporter.
Lisa Lerer is a national political reporter for The Times, based in New York. She has covered American politics for nearly two decades.
